What was a morning star?

Answer 1

A morning star was a weapon, a club with spikes.

could be 2 weapons

morning star mace answer#1 described that except it was a club with a ball at the end with spikes on the ball

and morning star flail which is the same thing but the ball is connected to the stick by a chain and swung over the head to take people off horses

The modern usage of the term morning star has drifted considerably from the original usage. Historians and medieval weapons experts classify the mace, flail and morning star as distinctly different.

A mace is a short-handled weapon usually intended to be used single-handed (though there are a few example of two-handed maces, they are considered oddities). The mace is a wooden rod, 18-30 inches long, with a metal head at the end. The distinguishing characteristics of the mace's head were that it was either (a) a solid metal ball (usually 4-6 inches in diameter) covered with studs, much like the heads of modern rivets, or (b) a metal cylinder (6-8 inches long and 2-3 inches in diameter) with several 1-3 inch flanges protruding perpendicular to the long axis. For the most part, the mace is a bludgeoning weapon, intended to bash and break bones though blunt-force trauma. the mace is essentially an advanced club.

A flail is a development of an agricultural tool used for wheat and grain threshing (beating the grains from a sheaf of grain). As such, there were both single and (more commonly) two-handed versions. Both consisted of a main wooden shaft, 2-4 feet long. At the end, a small metal eye was affixed. One or more (generally no more than 3) shorter (2-3 foot) wooden rods were connected to this eye via 6-8 inch lengths of chain. Rarely, these rods would be metal clad, or have portions metal studded like a mace-head, or, very rarely, wit small spike-like protrusions. However, like a mace, the flail was a bludgeoning weapon, intended to cause blunt-force trauma.

The morning star was a much later development. As armor thickened, the bludgeoning effects of the flail and mace became much less effective, as the strong steel being used was able to absorb the force of the blow without causing any trauma to the wearer. While the construction of the morning star is such that it is frequently confused with the mace, there is a very important distinction. Instead of using metal studs or flanges, the metal head was covered in 6-inch steel spikes, which strongly resembled nails. The morning star is a piecing weapon, like an arrow or spear. The mid-length handle was to give the wielder sufficient momentum to allow the narrow spikes the ability to punch through the stronger armor becoming more commonplace.

The important distinctions between the three are the basic design (single rod vs multiple rods) and the intended usage (bludgeoning vs piercing).