Bill (weapon)

A bill is a class of infantry polearm developed from the billhook, an agricultural implement used for trimming tree limbs. Billhooks were adapted to military use through addition of various projecting blades. In English, the term 'Italian bill' is applied to the similar roncone or roncola, but the Italian version tended to have a long thrusting spike in addition to the cutting blade. 16th and 17th century English texts and inventories distinguished among several varieties of bill, including the black, brown and forest bills, but the differences between them are currently not fully understood. Other variants include the bill hook and bill-guisarme. Along with the longbow, the bill is often associated with late medieval English armies of the Hundred Years' War and Wars of the Roses.