A quarterstaff, also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European polearm, which was especially prominent in England during the Early Modern period.

Joseph Swetnam was an English pamphleteer and fencing master. He is best known for a misogynistic pamphlet and an early English fencing treatise. Three defensive responses as pamphlets were made by Rachel Speght, Ester Sowernam and Constantia Munda.