Mace

Buzdovan or topuz are words of Turkish origin, meaning – the mace. At first it was just a club as the oldest type of weapon, which evolved into a mace – a bat or a club of a heavy head, usually of a spherical shape. The mace head could have spikes or nails and was called the “morning star”. Later on, a six flange mace became quite popular – its head consisting of six metal ribs or edges, the flanges. There is a variation with a chain – a heavy head attached to a short club with a chain, so one could hit harder and it also it was hard to avoid it. Only extremely strong men could handle a mace. Marko’s legendary “heavy mace” weighed 66 okas = 85 kilos!

LANGUAGE

The word buzdovan comes from a noun, buzda – club, bat

RELIGION AND TRADITION

Marko’s mace is similar to the Heracles club and the Germanic god Thor’s hammer

ART

Ženidba Popović Stojana (Popović Stojan’s Wedding)Marko Kraljević and othe song about him.

HISTORY

There are interesting mace designs in the Military Museum of Belgrade.