Editing Pitchfork (section)

==History==
In [[Europe]], the pitchfork was first used in the [[Early Middle Ages]], at about the same time as the [[harrow (tool)|harrow]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=McNeill |first1=J. R |last2=Stewart Mauldin |first2=Erin |title=A Companion to Global Environmental History |date=November 2012 |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |isbn=9781118977538 |page=342 |edition=1st}}</ref> These were made entirely of wood.<ref name=FarmCollector/>

In the Middle Ages, pitchforks might on occasion be employed as an [[improvised weapon]] in battle by [[peasants]] unable to obtain a proper weapon.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://medieval-period.com/medievalmen.html |title=Medieval Men |publisher=Medieval-Period.com |access-date=February 13, 2014 |archive-date=August 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812011048/http://www.medieval-period.com/medievalmen.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The visual idiom of a mob of peasants staging a [[revolt]] while armed with just [[torches]] and pitchforks is well-known, if not necessarily historical, and seen or parodied in several works.