Lanzalonga
Medieval Italian pole weapon
- Type
- pole weapon
- Place of origin
- Italy
Lanza Longa sometimes also known in Italian as gialda.; modernly known scholarly mostly as lanzalonga, the term was also, normally, translated in Tudor period english as Long Spear, was a medieval polearm typical of Italian municipal infantry, a type of spear between 3 and 4.5 meters long
Known as "lanza longa" (long lance) precisely for the minimum length of its rod of at least 3 meters, it served to counter the charges of the enemy cavalry by forming in front of it the forehead of a forest of spikes. The blade was generally leafy - but varied in length, thickness, width - and the rod was round in section. It evolves or is replaced by the even longer pike.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q3826960 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.