The flail is a very ancient and widely used weapon. At first it was used as an ordinary agricultural tool to separate grain from grain chaff. It was later adopted for military use by adding weights or spikes to the shaft or by adding chains carrying weights. The flail was used in Europe at the beginning of the 13th century. The flail continued to be used until the 18th century. In addition to Europe, flails were used in China, India and Japan. Larger flails were used by knights or foot soldiers and smaller flails were used by horsemen.