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Chris@ChristopherCant.comThe line between medieval weapons is often quite blurry, as many of the weapons have many variants, and they used to bleed together, borrowing this and that from each other. Mace and Morningstar are one of the more glaring examples of this as at the first glance, they just seem the same.
The truth is - both of the weapons have similar build and are used for blunt-force and puncture attacks, however you can find different types of mace head designs, while Morningstar is distinctive with its round head, covered in spikes (oftentimes the “top” spike being slightly longer than others). Beyond that, there’s more subtleties when it comes to the difference between these two weapons and their history.
Mace is, essentially, a club, with an attachment at the ‘collision’ end of it.
The earliest traces of the mace can be found as far as late Stone age. It went through multiple developmental stages around the year 3900 to 3100 BC (Europe), as the earlier materials of the ‘head’ (e.g. bone, stone, flint) and fixings were proving to shatter and break very easily. Later on mace heads were made from copper, bronze, and eventually iron, which led to them being more long lasting and sturdy.
During the middle ages the head shapes of mace started to have multiple varieties, most if not all as a response to the developments of different types of armor (e.g. flanged mace to thick metal armour). Overall, the Mace was a very commonly used weapon in large parts of the continents, with their own specific practical or ornamental characteristics based on who and how developed and used them. And you can find few instances of different types of makeshift maces being used even nowadays (e.g. WWI, and China-India skirmishes of 2020).
When it comes to two-handed Mace - the evidence of it is there, but quite rare, sometimes referred to as Footman’s Mace (people guess this might be because if a knight would be using a two handed bludgeon weapon, they would be using a poleaxe instead). One of the mentions of a more regular two-handed mace use would be English infantry around the early 16th century.
Unlike the Mace, Morningstar seems to be often a two-handed weapon. Most commonly seen with a wooden shaft, and its signature spherical and spiked metal head, although metal shafted Morningstars are definitely around.
Earliest mentions of the Morningstar can be found in 14th century Europe, particularly Germany. Similar to the Mace, there were multiple versions of it, but not when it comes to its shape - that stayed the same.
Instead you could differentiate based on who and how was crafting them - the military Morningstar was used by professional soldiers and was made by expert weaponsmiths, while peasant militia made their own versions by collaborating with local blacksmiths.
When it comes to the surviving weapons found in museums and enthusiast’s collections - you can find plenty of both one-handed and two-handed Morningstars.
Both mace and morningstar had versions that were specifically used for non-combat purposes. Morningstar was moreso decorative in nature, while the different types of Mace were used as ceremonial maces, whether it would be used in parades, or used by the clergy in church processions.
When it comes to two-handed weapons, as I rambled above, there were some mentions of rarely used two-handed Maces. However, if you look into the different types of medieval polearms - one will naturally start to question if some of those are actually… two-handed Maces. The line between a flanged Mace head and a Poleaxe can sometimes become questionable.
Also, if you use common search engines to figure out the difference, enthusiasts oftentimes also mention Flails. I understand where they’re coming from, as the Flail suffers from the same thing as mentioned in the beginning in the article - lines between weapons throughout history are blurry, and people borrowed ideas from each other. You can find flails with the heads that are in the shape of the Morningstar. But just like any of the Maces, they are not Morningstars. They are Flails. And if a flail has the same shaped head as a mace somewhere, that does not make it a mace. It is still a flail.
If you looked for the difference between the two not because you care about the history and clobbering people in real life, but instead you want to figure out what weapon you should start with in your next Dungeons and Dragons campaign, here’s the base stats and average consensus (based on information for 5th edition, base Mace and Morningstar):
So the main difference between these two in the DnD realm is the categories of simple and martial weapons. To use The Morningstar, your character needs to be a martial class, or, needs to gain proficiency through other means; whereas most classes will have the proficiency for simple weapons like Mace.
I get that, however…
Even with all of the gray areas and mixed and matched versions between weapons throughout history, the Morningstar’s roots are different from those of the Mace, and the Mace can have many faces, while the Morningstar has one.
Mace is that one utensil that has been around forever, and has different brands, in different tiers of quality and price, most houses have it, many have had one forever. Overall it’s available to everyone and it’s very common, and if you want to and can afford it - you can buy a fancier version of it.
While Morningstar is like your kitchen spatula. It’s there, and it’s great, and its head is a specific shape, and if it’s not that shape it’s not a spatula.
…
Weird and not fully fitting metaphors aside, maybe you could say that all Morningstars could technically be Maces, but not all Maces are Morningstars. Both of them will do well for whacking whoever you need to whack.
We are both massive fantasy, sci-fi and mythology nerds!
I started making digital art in 2009, and became a full-time freelance artist in 2016, able to work on my own schedule from anywhere in the world.
I created this blog to help young artists make the same journey.
