In its developed form, the Zweihänder has acquired the characteristics of a polearm rather than a sword.

They also taught the use of the Zweihänder (as mentioned above), the dussack, the spear, the quarterstaff and the longsword.

Take for example the German Zweihänder sword, a long double-handed weapon used for quick, powerful cuts and thrusts.

These should not be confused with a longsword, which is always intended to be used with two hands, but is not as large as the Zweihänder.

Weapons such as the naginata or nagamaki were more effective by far when compared to any possible use of nodachi for anti-cavalry purposes, very much like the European counterpart Zweihänder.

Such Swiss and Landsknecht phalanxes also contained men armed with two-handed swords, or Zweihänder, and halberdiers for close combat against both infantry and attacking cavalry.

This title was relevant for the Landsknechts, because a certified "master of the long sword" wielding the Zweihänder was entitled to twice the pay of a normal soldier (Doppelsöldner).

On some large weapons, such as the German Zweihänder, a metal cover surrounded the ricasso, and a swordsman might grip it in one hand to wield the weapon more easily in close-quarter combat.

Historical terminology overlaps with that applied to the Zweihänder sword in the 16th century: French espadon, Spanish espadón or Portuguese montante may also be used more narrowly to refer to these large swords.

Public Agenda: (January 16th, 2006) The 'Greatsword' or 'grete Swerd' is referenced today mostly as an extremely large or powerful weapon, like the 'Zweihänder', in comparison with less sizable weapons like the falchion.

Although often confused with the Kriegsmesser ("War Knife"), it has to be clearly distinguished from the Grossmesser, being more than 1500 mm long and shaped more like a scimitar, originating as the Hungarian version of the German Zweihänder.

In the Western world, swords of an equivalent size such as the Zweihänder may have been used to batter into formations of pikemen or to cut out the front legs of a galloping horse, although the historical accuracy of this information is also a matter of debate.

The Zweihänder swords develop seamlessly out of the German "Langschwert" (longsword) of the Late Middle Ages, and they became a hallmark weapon of the German Landsknechte from the time of Maximilian I (d. 1519) and during the Italian Wars of 1494-1559.