Editing Francisca (section)

==Use==

The [[Roman Empire|Byzantine]] historian [[Procopius]] (c. 500–565) described the Franks and their use of throwing axes:

{{blockquote|...each man carried a [[sword]] and [[shield]] and an axe. Now the iron head of this weapon was thick and exceedingly sharp on both sides while the wooden handle was very short. And they are accustomed always to throw these axes at one signal in the first charge and thus shatter the shields of the enemy and kill the men.<ref name=Underwood/>}}

Procopius makes it clear that the Franks threw their axes immediately before [[hand-to-hand combat]] with the purpose of breaking shields and disrupting the enemy line while possibly wounding or killing an enemy [[warrior]]. The weight of the head and length of the haft would allow the axe to be thrown with considerable momentum to an effective range of about {{convert|12|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Even if the edge of the blade were not to strike the target, the weight of the iron head could cause injury. The francisca also had a psychological effect in that, on the throwing of the francisca, the enemy might turn and run in the fear that another volley was coming.<ref name=Underwood/>

Some sources, strangely, describe the francisca as both the "main weapons" of the Frankish infantry around the time of Clovis and also describe the francisca as being a fierce melee weapon.<ref>Oman, The Art of War in the Middle Ages. Pages 15-17</ref>