A bardiche or berdiche ("long poleaxe") is a type of pole weapon known in the 16th and 17th centuries in Eastern Europe. Ultimately a descendant of the medieval sparth (Danish axe), the bardiche proper appears after 1500, but there are numerous medieval manuscripts that depict very similar weapons beginning c. 1250. The bardiche differs from the halberd in having neither a hook at the back nor a spear point at the top.