History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce, Volume 1 (of 4)

by W. S. Lindsay

CHAPTER XIV.

Early efforts of France to restore the civilization of Europe—Charlemagne, A.D. 771-814—Protection against pirates—Efforts of Venice to suppress piracy—Rise of Marseilles—Monopoly in shipping trade—Customs on shipping—Spain; its early commercial importance—Superior influence of the Venetians, which was invariably used to their own advantage—Participation of Genoa and Pisa in the profits derived from the Crusades—Venice claims the dominion of the Adriatic, A.D. 1159—Annual ceremony of espousing the Adriatic—Bucentaur state barge—Form of espousal—The progress and commercial policy of Venice—Variable character of her laws, A.D. 1272; which were protective generally, especially as regards her ships—Official exposition of the trade of Venice—Her ships and dockyards—Merchant galleys—Their greatest size—Contract for the construction of vessels—Great variety of classes—The Gondola—The Tarida—The Zelander—The Huissier—The Cat—The Saitie—The Galliot, &c.—The Galeass—The Galleon—The Buzo—Government merchant galleys—How engaged, equipped, and manned—Nobles’ sons taken on board—Capacity of these vessels—Crew, and regulations on board—Value of their cargoes—Despatch boats—Consuls; their establishment, duties and emoluments—Ancient ships’ consuls; their duties—The Cartel—Conditions of the contract—Restraints upon seamen—Extraordinary display on the departure of any important expedition—The reception of the commander, and his plan of inspection—Signal to depart—Adaptation of merchant vessels to the purposes of war—Regulations at sea—Stringent rules to regulate the loading of vessels.

Early efforts of France to restore the civilization of Europe.

About A.D. 500.

France may be ranked among the earliest nations which emerged from the darkness and inactivity into which Europe had fallen, after the invasion of the barbarous tribes of the north; her Merovingian princes, who were highly civilized compared with even the best of the marauders who had overrun the Roman provinces, having devoted themselves to agricultural and other industrial pursuits, and having thus paved the way for the revival of maritime commerce. As the barbarians had divided what Rome had united, and Europe was broken up into innumerable communities with no interest in common, navigation could not be otherwise than dangerous in seas infested by pirates, while strangers could not count on friendly reception at ports occupied by semi-civilized nations: the French princes, however, by the suppression of the Visigoths, obtained possession of Marseilles, then, with the exception of Constantinople, the most important commercial city in Europe, and thus caused their civilizing influence to be felt along the shores of the Levant.

But Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, at this period slowly succeeded in rivalling, if not in superseding, the great maritime city of the French. The practice of piracy, however, unfortunately continued long after civilization had again dawned on the shores of the Levant; nor, indeed, as we have seen, did Amalfi, though the first to do so, become really worthy of note as a commercial entrepôt till the close of the eighth century, and even then its maritime commerce was comparatively insignificant and of little importance, until a more enlightened ruler removed a yet further portion of the dark cloud still hanging over the fairest portions of the continent of Europe.

Charlemagne, A.D. 771-814.

Protection against pirates.

The extensive conquests of Charlemagne, unlike those of but too many of more ancient times, tended to spread far and wide the benign influence of civilization, and to secure by all possible means the peaceful operations of trade. The security of property once re-established, the enterprise and cupidity of mankind discovered with alacrity cheap and expeditious modes for exchanging the products of labour with distant as well as with neighbouring nations. To encourage the people under his rule to enter upon commercial transactions, Charlemagne concluded treaties of commerce with various foreign princes, including the Saxon kings of the Heptarchy, to which reference has been already made. He repaired the lighthouse built by Caligula at Boulogne, erecting fresh ones at those points where the greatest danger was to be apprehended, provided effectual means of defence against the pirates and the Saracens, and encouraged those of his people who were willing to embark in over-sea occupations.

A.D. 838.

This new commercial energy, which first showed itself under the kings of Lombardy, rapidly bore fruit, when Charlemagne resolved that the trading rights of Amalfi, Venice, Marseilles, and of other cities should be rigorously respected. His son, Louis le Débonnaire, followed the bright example of his illustrious father; but the destruction of Marseilles by the Saracens shortly after his death put an end for a while to the progress of commerce in the south of France. Nor, indeed, was Charles the Bold successful in recovering the losses sustained by the capture of Marseilles, while the invasion and piracies of the Normans on the north side of France, and the repeated attacks of the Saracens on the south, well nigh destroyed the seeds of progress sown by Charlemagne, so that the preservation of any form of civilization for some time seemed almost hopeless.

Efforts of Venice to suppress piracy.

But the exiles from other nations, who had, three centuries before, planted their future homes on a few barren isles in the Adriatic, now, A.D. 997, raised a fleet to suppress the Istrians and Dalmatians, who had made descents upon their city by sea as well as by land. Sailing in pursuit of their enemies, they destroyed or captured many of their vessels, compelling them to sue for peace, by these means proving to the neighbouring nations that they were strong enough to vindicate their rights and to protect their commerce. From that period the power and influence of Venice steadily advanced. The natural advantages of the city, in point of security, more than counterbalanced the inconveniences attending her situation; while the character of her constitution and laws afforded a guarantee that industrious and intelligent citizens would reap the full reward of their labour. Gradually rising by her industry, daring,[647] frugality, and above all by her prudence in keeping aloof from the dissensions of other peoples, and confining herself as much as possible to commerce, she obtained extensive privileges from the Greek emperors, and became not only the commercial emporium of Italy but also of Greece.

Rise of Marseilles.

We have already referred to the extensive trade carried on by Marseilles at a very early period, and pointed out the many advantages which the situation of that port conferred upon its possessors with regard to the trade of the Mediterranean; advantages which might now be extended and materially developed by the passage for large vessels across the Isthmus of Suez, if the rulers of France would only adopt a more liberal and enlightened policy. We have likewise attempted to describe the commerce of Marseilles under the Roman Empire, which, so far as can now be traced, must have been of considerable importance; but, like other commercial towns, its early history, in connection with the business of shipping, is shrouded in doubt and in the mystery of romance.

Various writers, however, confirm the prevailing opinion that the shipping belonging to or frequenting Marseilles was very considerable during the dark and early part of the middle ages, as great numbers of pilgrims took their departure from that port to the Holy Land, although it is not until the time of the Crusades that we have any authentic records of the extent of the intercourse between the two places: however, from these records, it is manifest that trade attracted pilgrims to Jerusalem quite as much as devotion, or, at least, that one speculation by no means excluded the other. Though ready to mingle commerce with their devotion, there is no doubt that when the fervour for the Crusades rose to enthusiasm, the people of Marseilles were among the foremost in this infatuation. They not merely conveyed numbers of crusaders and pilgrims in their ships, but the noble families of Marseilles entered freely into these fanatical expeditions, while the city itself advanced large sums of money and was liberal in its presents to the Frank lords who obtained oriental principalities.[648]

A.D. 1163.

A.D. 1190.

A.D. 1279.

Hence, during the domination of the Franks in Syria, the most intimate relations subsisted between them and the city of Marseilles. Thus, in 1163 the Marseillais lent Rodolph, bishop of Bethlehem, two thousand two hundred and eight bezants upon security of his castle and his possessions in the city of Acre. In 1190 they assisted in besieging that city, and obtained, as the price of their services, various commercial advantages. In 1279 they sent corn to the Grand Master of the Order of Jerusalem, by which means their mercantile franchises were confirmed in Palestine: indeed, the history of Marseilles records many services rendered to the potentates of the time, the consideration for which was, however, invariably the concession of some commercial franchise or the confirmation of ancient privileges, so that amidst all their religious enthusiasm they never forgot their own interests.

Monopoly in shipping trade.

A.D. 1234.

The spirit of monopoly soon, however, exhibited itself at Marseilles as in other places. Her viscounts, who were the lords paramount at the time, had permitted ships belonging to the order of the Temple and of St. John of Jerusalem to frequent the port of Marseilles; but when the commonalty of that city were enfranchised from the jurisdiction of the viscounts, they refused to recognize the freedom of the ships of the military orders, and levied upon them vexatious duties. The two orders complained to the constable of the kingdom of Jerusalem, and the vessels of the Marseillais with their other property were about to be seized by force in the port of Acre, but a negotiation set on foot at Marseilles happily prevented a rupture. In 1234 the burgesses, convened together at the Hotel de Ville at Marseilles, gave permission by a solemn act to the two orders of the Temple and of St. John of Jerusalem to send respectively two ships each, annually, to their port, one at Easter and one at Midsummer, to load or unload any goods they pleased under payment of the usual duties. Each vessel might take on board any number of merchant passengers who desired to make the voyage, and fifteen hundred pilgrims. In the event of the Templars and Hospitallers requiring more vessels to carry cargo belonging to their convents, they were permitted to despatch them; but these supplementary vessels were not permitted to embark either merchants, or pilgrims, as passengers.

Customs on shipping.

Although religious differences were professedly not allowed to interfere with foreign commerce; and although in a convention made between the bishop and the commonalty it was stipulated that all Christians, Jews, and Saracens should have the right of frequenting Marseilles with their merchandise, of discharging their ships’ cargoes, and of selling and buying unrestrictedly; yet the records of the Customs show, that while the duties were one denier per livre upon numerous imports, the burgesses of Marseilles were exempt from this duty, and that the shipping of the Levant was placed in a different category. Syrian merchandise paid two bezants[649] and a half per livre; from Alexandria, the rate was one bezant and a half; and from the island of Gerbi, upon the coast of Africa, three bezants and a half. There were also other municipal dues. If a foreign ship in the port of Marseilles took on board pilgrims, passengers, or cargo for the Levant, the owner was obliged to pay the commonalty one-third of the freight. It will be seen, therefore, that Marseilles exacted as high differential duties as her republican neighbours of Italy.

Again, while the Christian religious bodies received many privileges as shippers, the Jews throughout the whole of this period were ground down under excessive taxes. In the same spirit, the Venetians shut them out from the Damascus trade; the Spaniards, as far as they could, expelled them from Spain, and they were then universally persecuted, as much, it may be, from popular indignation against the social evils they were supposed to promote, as from the hatred engendered by religious prejudice. Yet, in spite of the atrocious treatment which the Jews[650] received from the so-called Christians, they were the means of greatly developing the commerce of the middle ages, and have ever since rendered important service in promoting friendly intercourse between nations, and thereby extending civilization. To the Jews, as much as to the Lombard merchants, we are indebted for the introduction of bills of exchange, by which great facilities have been afforded for the development of trade, and a system of the most perfect security established for remittances to the most distant parts of the globe.

The records of Marseilles demonstrate that the French had for many centuries carried on an important trade with all the Mediterranean ports, as also with India by way of Alexandria,[651] but they do not seem to have made voyages to any of the Atlantic ports. Though daring as mariners in the early portion of their commercial career, the French relapsed during the middle ages into idleness, and, with the exception of the inhabitants of Marseilles, were more notorious as wreckers, who plundered any vessel cast on their shores, than as industrious and honest seamen. Those who resided on its western shores had a wide field for their plunder; for in those days, when vessels hugged the land, the wrecks were numerous along that portion of their coast and especially in the Bay of Biscay, which has been proverbial throughout all time for the storms and the heavy seas which roll in upon it from the Atlantic.

Spain; its early commercial importance.

Spain, after having been conquered by a mixed multitude of Orientals, had by the eleventh century reached a position in manufactures, commerce, and science, superior to that of any country of the West, its port of Barcelona[652] being the principal centre of the intercourse with the eastern countries bordering upon the Mediterranean. Relieved too, except in its south-eastern provinces, towards the close of the ninth century from the yoke of the Saracens, her people had slowly but surely increased in influence and power. Intrepid as mariners, and skilled in ship-building, the Catalonians built not merely all the vessels they required for their own trade, but supplied foreigners to a large extent with their galleys and ships of burden. The ship-owners of Barcelona were then largely employed by the merchants of France, Flanders, and other nations, and stood so high in repute that even the nobility of Spain at that time, and for centuries afterwards, did not disdain to be ship-owners. As the Barcelonians lived under neither an oligarchy nor aristocracy, a certain republican equality subsisted among its citizens. A hundred merchants administered the municipal affairs of the city, and sent thirty-two members to the Council. They also exercised the duties of the consulate and regulated the exchange, sending men chosen from their body as representatives to the Cortes of the provinces. The whole of the early history of the trade of Barcelona[653] shows that its inhabitants owed their progress rather to their natural inclinations for the sea, and their rapidity and skill as mariners and ship-builders, than to the peculiar advantage of the port or to any local consideration.

Superior influence of the Venetians, which was invariably used to their own advantage.

But the Venetians still kept ahead of all their commercial rivals; and when invited as we have seen to transport the Crusaders to the Holy Land, they were strong enough to stipulate, over and above the exorbitant freight which they had obtained, for the privilege of establishing factories in any place where the arms of the Crescent were replaced by those of the Cross. Nor were these extravagant terms sufficient. In the latter Crusades their exactions were increased. Thus, Venice then demanded and obtained a moiety of whatever the Crusaders acquired by arms or by convention, with the assumption, after the fall of Constantinople, of many special advantages, such as the general lordship over Greece, and of the towns of Heraclea, Adrianople, Gallipoli, Patras, and Durazzo, with the islands of Andros, Naxos, and Zante. These acquisitions materially increased the wealth and influence of the Venetian republic, and left it almost without a rival in the waters of the Levant.

Participation of Genoa and Pisa in the profits derived from the Crusades.

It may therefore be assumed that during the long and protracted wars in the Holy Land, Venice was, without doubt, the first maritime power in Christendom, for, as we have shown, there was then no other power which had ships enough to convey the hosts of fanatics who, from every nation in Europe, were hurrying on to the coasts of Syria;[654] and although Genoa and Pisa also participated in the profits realized from the Crusades, she was by far the greatest gainer. Indeed it has been well said of her people, that while the Christians lavished money on the Crusades without any return, the Venetians turned everything they touched to an incredible profit. Besides furnishing the largest proportion of the transports, she secured many contracts for military stores and provisions; while her ships were the principal storehouses from which the armies were supplied at enormous profits to their owners. “There are charters yet extant,” remarks Dr. Robertson, in his History of the Reign of Charles V.,[655] “containing grants to the Venetians, Pisans, and Genoese, of the most extensive immunities in the several settlements which the Christians made in Asia. All the commodities which they imported or exported are thereby exempted from any imposition; the property of entire suburbs in some of the maritime towns, and of large streets in others, is vested in them; and all questions arising among persons settled within their precincts, or who traded under their protection, are appointed to be tried by their own laws, and by judges of their own appointment.”

A.D. 1124.

Venice claims the dominion of the Adriatic, A.D. 1159.

Nor were the Venetians in all cases satisfied with a moiety of the spoils of war beyond their gains by trade. Historians say[656] that, when Tyre was besieged by the united forces of the republic and of Varemond, bishop of Jerusalem, the Venetians stipulated that on its reduction they should receive two-thirds of the spoil and property captured. Indeed, the troops on shore complained loudly that while all the fatigue, dangers, and hardships of the two months’ siege fell upon them, the Venetians lay at ease in their ships, deriving large profits on everything they supplied, and exacting their full portion of the plunder agreed upon before the operations commenced. Thus riches poured into Venice securing for her a position far beyond that of any other republic. Having brought under subjection the people inhabiting the shores of the Adriatic, she claimed its dominion; the declaration of Pope Alexander III. when he visited Venice confirmed her claims; and other nations admitted them when they asked permission to pass their merchandise and ships through the Gulf. But when the Pope exclaimed to the Doge, “That the sea be subject to you, as the spouse is to her husband, since you have acquired it by victory,” he had little idea that the Venetians would consider its dominion as more than an honorary title, much less that they would compel even the clergy to pay their share of the tax levied for the special defence of the Adriatic.

Annual ceremony of espousing the Adriatic.

Bucentaur state barge.

On various occasions the Venetians exhibited the greatest punctiliousness lest their rights to the sovereignty of that sea should be infringed. Every year the ceremony of espousing the Adriatic was performed with extraordinary magnificence by the Doge. A state galley, celebrated as the Bucentaur,[657] preserved from time immemorial in the Venetian arsenal, carried the Doge and Senate upon these occasions; and everything which could add pomp and splendour to this annual ceremonial was employed, the public functionaries and foreign ambassadors being present as well as the senators and chief nobility. The Bucentaur, of which the drawing on the preceding page is an imperfect representation, measured 110 feet in length, and 21 feet in width. A covered deck was specially appropriated for the Doge’s reception; and the splendour of her equipment equalled the most gorgeous floating palaces of ancient Egypt.

Form of espousal.

In this magnificent state barge the Doge, accompanied in the manner described, was rowed, amid the sound of music and the loud acclamations of the people, from the city to an appointed spot on the waters of the Adriatic. As a sign of the perpetuity of the dominion of the republic over that sea, the Doge cast into it a ring, in token of his love, exclaiming, “We wed thee with this ring in sign of a real and perpetual dominion!”[658] This peculiar and splendid matrimonial ceremony was observed annually, throughout many centuries, until 1795, when Napoleon, having conquered the once proud and powerful city, handed Venice and all its wealth and territory over to Austria: nor did the Bucentaur escape the notice of the rapacious conqueror, who stripped her of her gold, which, with her other valuable contents, he transferred to the treasury of Milan. The hulk afterwards, under the name of the Hydra, became a guard-ship, mounting seven guns, and was anchored to protect the mouth of the Lido, till, in 1824, a decree of the Aulic Council ordered her final demolition. A model of this once magnificent and historical barge, which, in the course of centuries must have been frequently rebuilt, is now preserved in the arsenal of Venice.

The progress and commercial policy of Venice.

Although the Holy Wars gave Venice, Genoa, and Pisa a position which they might never otherwise have attained, other causes contributed to revive the spirit of commerce between different and distant nations. The Italians, by their intercourse and commercial relations with various cities of the Greek empire, and especially with Constantinople, had obtained a knowledge of the valuable trade of the East, and had cultivated a taste for its precious commodities and curious manufactures. They were consequently not slow to embrace and develop direct intercourse with India; hence, in the course of the twelfth century, Venice established a regular commerce with the East through the ports of Egypt, which she maintained during four centuries. Introducing into their own territories manufactories of various kinds, and carrying on these with surprising ingenuity and vigour, the Italians transplanted from warmer climates several new productions which furnished the materials of a lucrative and extended trade. “All these commodities,” remarks Dr. Robertson,[659] “whether imported from Asia, or produced by their own skill, they disposed of to great advantage among the other people of Europe, who began to acquire some taste for an elegance in living unknown to their ancestors, or despised by them. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the commerce of Europe was almost entirely in the hands of the Italians, more commonly known in these ages by the name of Lombards. Companies or societies of Lombard merchants settled in every different kingdom, and were taken under the immediate protection of the several governments, with the enjoyment of extensive privileges and immunities. The operation of the ancient barbarous laws concerning strangers were suspended with respect to them; and they became the carriers, the manufacturers, and the bankers of all Europe.”[660]

Variable character of her laws, A.D. 1272;

The commercial policy of the Venetian republic frequently varied, and though generally protective and sometimes strictly prohibitory, the most perfect freedom was in many instances allowed to foreign merchants to encourage them to make Venice the chief depôt for the supply of produce and manufactures to the markets of Europe. By the decrees of the Grand Council, during the latter half of the thirteenth century, when Venice had reached the zenith of wealth and splendour, her merchants were allowed to import freely from the Levant, from Marseilles, and from other ports of France, produce and manufactures of every kind, provided they were warehoused in the markets of the republic; while they had equal freedom in the export of their own manufactures. This freedom was likewise extended to Flanders. Cloth imported from that country paid no duty. Ship-owners were encouraged by special laws to import iron, tin, and lead, the Senate having in view the policy of concentrating in the city of Venice as many articles of merchandise as possible, so as to attract merchants to that exclusive market, and to secure there a stock of goods for the lading of Venetian merchant ships to the Levant, as also an abundant supply of raw materials for their home manufactures.

which were protective generally, especially as regards her ships.

In the midst, however, of this liberal policy, the Venetians seem always to have kept clearly before them the interests of their own shipping. In the registers of Venice may be found numerous instances of the anxiety of the merchants to monopolize in their own ships their commercial intercourse with other countries. Thus, in the year 1319 there is a record of one Tomaso Loredano, a merchant of Venice, who had despatched eleven hundred tons of sugar to London, stipulating that the amount arising from its sale should be invested in English wool, to be shipped exclusively in Venetian vessels. Laws were also in force which levied differential duties equivalent to one-half their value upon certain goods imported in foreign vessels; while in some cases the ships of foreign nations were not allowed, under any circumstances, to enter the ports of Venetia.

Again, a special law provided that neither German, Hungarian, nor Bohemian traders should have any dealings with Venetian merchants except in Venice itself: these traders were, therefore, compelled to resort thither for the purchase of whatever goods they required, the Venetian merchants being at the same time forbidden to convey them inland, probably to avert any danger of plunder by the barbarians, by whom the interior was too frequently infested. But, perhaps, the most unwisely rigorous portion of this law consisted in the enactment which forbade the Germans, trading with Venetia, from showing their own goods to any foreigner before offering them to the Venetian merchants, and, at the same time, prohibiting those who had brought their goods to Venice to carry back to other places any portion of them that remained unsold. Nevertheless, in spite of such prohibitory laws, a very considerable foreign commerce was carried on with Venetia; the Germans, Armenians, Moors, and Greeks, having each their respective places of resort (fondas) in its capital, and the Jews from first to last being its leading bankers.

Official exposition of the trade of Venice, A.D. 1421.

From a speech which the Doge, Tomaso Moncenigo, delivered in the Senate of Venice to Francis Foscari and the Florentine ambassadors, who, in A.D. 1421, sought the aid of the Venetians against the Duke of Milan, some idea may be formed of the extent of the commerce of Venice in the days of her prosperity. “Every week,”[661] remarks the Doge, “there arrive from Milan seventeen to eighteen thousand ducats; from Como, Tortona, Novara, Pavia, Cremona, Palermo, two thousand ducats each; from Bergamo, one thousand and five hundred ducats; and from Monza, Alexandria, and Piacenza, one thousand each.... The bankers, also, declare that in every year the Milanese owe us a balance of one million six hundred thousand ducats.” “The same and other cities,” he adds, “import from us cloths to the value of nine hundred thousand ducats; while France, Lombardy, and other countries receive annually from Venice, pepper, ginger, woods for dyeing, slaves, and soap to the value of one million eight hundred and seventy-one thousand ducats.” The entire commercial wealth of Venice the Doge estimated at twenty-eight millions and eight hundred thousand ducats. But he expressly states that he does not include in this the duty on salt, which Filiasi values at one hundred thousand ducats (47,500l.), or that derived from conquered districts, which he reckoned (in a subsequent speech) at four hundred and sixty-four thousand (220,400l.). “Consider how many ships,” exclaims the Doge, “the collection and delivery of these goods maintain in activity; whether to deliver them in Lombardy, whether to seek them in Syria, Roumania, Catalonia, Flanders, Cyprus, or Sicily, and all parts of the world. Venice gains from two and a half to three per cent. on the freight. See how many persons gain a livelihood by this business—brokers, artificers, sailors, thousands of families, and at last the merchants, whose profits amount, at least, to six hundred thousand ducats.... This is the produce of your garden; do you wish to destroy it? Surely not; but we must defend it against all attacks; seeing that you are the only people to whom the land and the sea are equally open; you are the channel through which all riches flow; the whole universe is interested in your prosperity; all the gold and silver in the world come into your hands.”

Nor, indeed, though as Count Daru has suggested there may be some inaccuracies in these numbers owing to the errors of copyists, were the words of the old Doge those of merely idle bombast. Besides the revenues recapitulated by him, in the home manufacture of silk, cloth, arras, glass, gold, silver work, and wax, the Venetians, by means of their wealth and skill, assisted in some measure by their system of protection, and by their geographical position, carried on a very extensive and lucrative trade, which, with other branches of their commerce, greatly increased when they obtained the supremacy over their commercial rivals, the Pisans and Genoese. Not the least valuable object of merchandise at that period was the traffic in slaves; for, strange inconsistency! while the Popes rigorously prohibited all commerce with the Infidels, a prohibition to which the Venetians reluctantly submitted, the Church allowed the purchase and sale of slaves without hindrance in the open markets of Europe!

Her ships and dockyards.

Merchant galleys.

The arsenal of Venice, which included also the dockyards, had long been the admiration of foreigners; and when that city reached the plenitude of her power, there was nothing of the kind superior to it in the world. Embracing a vast area of land and water, surrounded by walls, and flanked with towers, it presented the appearance of a stupendous fortress. The preparation and equipment of the fleets, destined either for the service of the republic, or for trading purposes, were here effected, as all commercial vessels trading to foreign ports were then, and long afterwards, armed for defence. Some of their galleys employed in distant voyages, such as to Flanders or England, are described as having had two sails only, one on each mast, of very great dimensions, the masts being of extraordinary length.[662]

A.D. 1172.

Their greatest size.

There is a tradition of a ship built at Venice, shortly before the quarrel between the Venetians and the Emperor Manuel, so large that, when she reached Constantinople, it was remarked that “no vessel of so great a bulk had ever been within that port;” but no historian has furnished posterity with her dimensions. She is merely described as a vessel with three masts and “of immense size,”[663]—a statement which may be one of comparison; and consequently she may not have been greater in her capacity than the larger class merchant ships of the present day. One historian[664] describes her as being large enough “to make twenty ships” (coasters?); another[665] states that being at Constantinople himself, at that time, he found that she was able to shelter from fifteen hundred to two thousand fugitives, whom she conveyed to the Adriatic. Nor, indeed, is there any reason for doubting the existence of such a ship. Vessels employed in the Crusades carried, in various instances, eight hundred persons,[666] and the ships of Marseilles frequently took on board a thousand passengers[667]—(pilgrims?); wherefore it is not unreasonable to suppose that the Venetians may have built a ship which actually made a somewhat distant voyage, with two thousand persons on board, and such provisions, clothing, and valuables as the fugitives could collect in the emergency. Although furnished with three masts, she does not appear to have carried any sails except the foresail, mainsail, and mizen; nor is there any mention of vessels of any nation, so early as the twelfth century, fitted with topsails; though they occasionally may have carried, in fair weather, triangular sails.

That the wealthy merchants of the Italian republics, and especially of Venice, owned various vessels of considerable dimensions, there can be even less doubt, as there is ample evidence in confirmation of this opinion. Twenty years after the period when the Venetian merchants resident at Constantinople found refuge in the large vessel to which we have just referred, mention is made of five of their ships which returned from Constantinople to Venice,[668] carrying seven thousand men-at-arms; or fourteen hundred men to each, if equally distributed. Although, in this case, the length of the voyage and the class of men are supplied, the mere fact of a ship being able to carry so many persons furnishes, in itself, a very imperfect idea of her dimensions, as they may have consisted of cabin or steerage passengers, troops, or pilgrims, to whom very different extents of space would be allotted. Even at the present day the Muhammedans, in their over-sea pilgrimages to the tomb of Muhammad, are satisfied with one-eighth of the space which the law of England requires for the transport of her meanest subjects; while the amount of space varies in different nations, and materially depends upon the length and character of the voyage.

Contract for the construction of vessels.

The only definite information we possess with regard to the actual dimensions of the vessels built by the Venetians during the periods of their prosperity, is to be found in a contract which their ship-builders made to furnish the king of France, in 1268, with fifteen ships. Of these vessels M. Jal[669] has furnished a minute description, together with their dimensions, as specified in the contract. The largest, the Roccaforte, was 110 feet in length over all, and only 70 feet length of keel, with 40 feet width of beam, and no less than 39½ feet in depth. The Saint Mary and Saint Nicholas were respectively 2 and 10 feet shorter, their width and depth being in somewhat similar proportions. The other twelve were smaller, having an extreme length each of 86 feet, with a keel of 58, a beam of 18, and an extreme depth of 29 feet. The two largest had each two decks, 5½ feet in height. Their bows and sterns were somewhat alike, and contained several cabins, with two poops, one above the other, the upper constituting a castle or fighting-deck like the vessels of more ancient times. Their respective crews consisted of 110 seamen; and the contract price for the construction of the largest of these vessels appears to have been fourteen hundred marks, or 933l. 6s. 8d. The smaller craft cost 466l. 13s. 4d., and they carried 50 men for their working crew.[670]

It is to be regretted that no details are given of the size or number of their masts, yards, sails, rigging, stores, or armament. The contract merely states that the larger vessels are to have two masts and two square sails, the foremast reaching over the bows, and answering the purpose of both mast and bowsprit; but what will strike the nautical reader most in these vessels is their extreme depth and their great width in comparison with their length.

MALTESE GALLEYS.

Great variety of classes.

Every account shows that the classes of vessels belonging to the Italian republics were even more numerous and varied than those of our own time. Besides the galleys we have named, the Venetians had others, which were about one hundred and thirty-five feet long, carrying three sails, very rapid in their movements, and so easily manœuvred, that they were kept almost exclusively for warlike purposes. A third description of galleys, carrying four sails, known by the name of the Mossane, were chiefly employed in the commerce of the Levant. Beyond these, the whole of the Italian republics owned a description of ship called coccas, or cocches,[671] of very large capacity, which were also frequently employed in the trade of the Levant. The accompanying drawing of two modern Maltese galleys, running side by side, which exhibits a great resemblance to another plate given by M. Jal from a drawing by an artist of the end of the fourteenth century, no doubt fairly represents the Venetian war galley of that period, and is at the same time not unlike another galley we also give by that author, the original sketch of which is in the famous MS. of Virgil in the Riccardi Library at Venice.

RICCARDI GALLEY, WITH THE EAGLES.

The Gondola.

But though varying very much in class, size, and form, as well as in name, ships were then generally distinguished, like the vessels of the ancient Greeks and Phœnicians, as the “long ships” of war, and the “round ships” of the mercantile marine, both being propelled, to a greater or less extent, by oars. The Venetians likewise possessed the Dromond and the Draker, vessels almost exclusively employed on short voyages for the purposes of commerce. They had also a small trading vessel called the Galleon, not unlike the galliot[672] of the present day; and the Pamphyle, which, in the ninth century, was worked with two banks of oars, but, in the fourteenth, had no oars, and during the fifteenth century must have disappeared altogether, as no mention is made of her after that period. From time immemorial they have had their gondolas, still to be seen upon the canals of that once gay and beautiful city. Though the following is the representation of the modern gondola, time has made little if any change in its form.

PRESENT GONDOLA.

The Tarida.

Beyond the galleys already named, the Italian republics, especially the Genoese, possessed merchant galleys, which were named Taridas, and were chiefly employed in the trade between the Levant and Constantinople. Marino Torsello recommended the use of the Tarida, which had been previously known under the name of Galata, to Pope John XXII. towards the commencement of the fourteenth century.

The Zelander.

The Huissier.

During the tenth century the Zelander, or Galander,[673] figures with the Dromond and the Pamphyle; but three centuries afterwards these vessels had discontinued the use of oars and had become sailing vessels under a somewhat similar name. The accounts which have been preserved of the Zelander describe her as a vessel of extraordinary length and great swiftness, having two banks of oars, and a crew of one hundred and fifty men. Contemporary with the Zelander we have the Huissier, a vessel of a peculiar description, and deriving her name from having an opening or large port in her poop, through which horses were shipped, for the conveyance of which these vessels seem to have been more especially designed. This large opening, when the Huissier had completed her loading, was securely closed and caulked, like the bow and stern ports in the ships of our own time employed in the timber trade.

The Cat.

The Saitie.

The Galliot, &c.

In the list of ships engaged for the expedition against Crete (A.D. 949) mention is made, not merely of Huissiers, Zelanders, and Pamphyles, but of vessels known as Zelander-Huissiers and Zelander-Pamphyles, or of a description embodying the qualities and advantages of both. “Cats,” to which William of Tyre, speaking of an incident in 1121, calls attention, were sharp-beaked ships, larger than galleys, having one hundred oars, each of which was worked by two men, or “double banked” in the phraseology of our own time. The Saitie, or Sagette (arrow), was a small, fast-rowing vessel, or barge, propelled by oars, but considerably less than even the smallest class of galleys. In the twelfth century this description of craft had from ten to twelve oars on each side, and was employed during the five succeeding centuries for the same purposes as the Brigantine. The Galliot, the Furt, the Brigantine, and the Frigate became in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries diminutives of the galley, and were known as the Galeass, when large, broad, and heavily armed. The galeass had her oars ranged, either in threes upon a single bank, or had twenty-six oars on each side, in which case, the oar being larger and heavier, from six to seven men, seated upon the same bench, were employed upon it.[674]

The Galeass.

The galeass figures among the drawings of other vessels of a similar class in the representation of a naval engagement, of, as is presumed, the fourteenth or fifteenth century. With the exception of the very high poop, she, in nearly all other respects, resembles the galeasses which formed the vanguard of the fleet at the battle of Lepanto (A.D. 1571). Of these a drawing may be seen in Charnock’s work on Naval Architecture.

The Galleon.

In the tenth century the Saracens possessed large and very heavy ships, which, according to the Emperor Leo, were called Cumbaries, or Gombories. The Venetians adopted this large ship of burden, and Sagarino, the chancellor, says that they, by whom they were called Galleons, built and armed thirty-three of these vessels. Charnock furnishes a drawing of a Galleon of the sixteenth century, A.D. 1564.

The Buzo.

These vessels were built with round sides, and broad throughout; short, high out of the water, and of considerable draught when laden. The Venetians had also a merchant vessel called the Buzo, or Busse, which was not unlike the galleon, with the sides bulging out and sitting well upon the water, capable of carrying very large and heavy cargoes. According to Matthew Paris, Richard I. had several busses in the fleet which he took to the Holy Land. Although they had three masts, they were, he says, “scantily provided with sails.” It is not known precisely in what manner the ships (nefs) differed from the busses, but the Italians mark the union of the two ships in their buzo-navi. A Venetian statute of 1255 makes mention of these, together with the busses and the nefs or nés, each class being distinctly specified. Like the nefs, and the common busses, the buzo-navi had two masts, and carried lateen sails.[675]

Perhaps, however, the sketch on the opposite page ([p. 493]) furnishes a better idea of the ordinary and smaller class of vessels of the Italian republics between the tenth and sixteenth centuries than any other which has been preserved. It appeared for the first time in a little book, published by M. Lanetti,[676] and was copied by him from an old painting by Vittore Carpacci, which, he says, he had often seen and admired in the chapel of St. Ursula by the side of the church of San Giovanni and Paolo at Venice.

Government merchant galleys.

Among the Italian republics, but more especially in Venice during the plenitude of her power, the construction, equipment, and armament of galleys for mercantile purposes constituted a very important branch of the business of the government. Vessels thus built were put up to auction for freightage only, and the privilege of employing them on the “long voyage” was sold by the government. No other merchants of Venice were permitted to send their ships to those ports to which the privileged galleys were consigned.[677]

SMALL GALLEY.

How engaged, equipped, and manned.

Nobles’ sons taken on board.

When the mercantile vessels thus engaged were completed and armed, the public crier announced throughout the streets and highways of Venice that a certain number of galeasses were ready for the annual expeditions to Egypt and other countries. This proclamation, issued under the authority of the Doge and the senate, while it allotted the vessels to the highest bidders, required that the charterers should submit to a severe examination, with the object of ascertaining whether those who offered to incur the responsibility of navigating the vessels, possessed the necessary capital and qualifications. Once satisfied in this respect, the government handed over the ships all ready for the voyage to their commanders. For some centuries a singular law, or rather an ancient custom having the authority of law, prevailed among the Venetians. With the object of assisting the families of the indigent nobility, each of these hired galeasses, whatever might be the voyage undertaken, were required to receive on board eight sons of poor nobles, who were allowed the pay of seventy pieces of gold for the expedition, with a mess suitable to their rank. These young nobles had likewise the privilege of carrying four hundred quintals of specie or an equivalent, free of freight, to defray their expenses at the ports they visited, or they might turn the money to account in trade so as to improve their condition.[678]

Capacity of these vessels.

Crew, and regulations on board.

Each of these vessels are said to have carried, on an average, five hundred tons of cargo under hatches, besides a large quantity of cargo upon their decks, a ton then consisting of only a thousand weight. Their crews consisted of no less than two hundred men, of whom one hundred and fifty were necessary to work the oars and sails. Twelve of the smartest men of the crew were selected to attend to the duty of steering the vessel under the order of the pilots, of whom there were two in each vessel. These twelve men, on whom the more important duties devolved, were required to take the lead in the work of seamanship, especially in going aloft to furl sails: they bore the name of “gallants,” whence, no doubt, the word top-gallant sails. Although the master assumed the command, the crew were under charge of the leading pilot, who had a chief mate, whose station, as now, was invariably at the bow of the vessel. There were likewise on board a carpenter, smith, archer, and armourer, and their assistants, furnished from the government arsenal. Besides several cooks, there was a storekeeper, and four inspectors, who kept an active watch over everything shipped and delivered, under the direction of a clerk or super-cargo, to whom all the merchandise was entrusted.

Value of their cargoes.

Despatch boats.

The value of the cargoes brought back in the galeasses, especially from Egypt and Syria, amounted on an average to about two hundred thousand ducats, and consisted to a considerable extent of precious stones, spices, perfumes of Arabia, with everything tending to administer to the luxuries and pleasures of the wealthy Venetians. Large quantities of medicinal drugs were also imported, the greater portion of which were afterwards distributed over the markets of Europe. This eastern trade was a source of immense profit, alike to the merchants and government. Paul Morosini, in a letter to the syndic at Nuremburg,[679] says that in his time the republic had twenty-four large galleys, divided into squadrons, with settled periods of departure for the East, carrying the mails, or rather the despatches of the government, with letters from private individuals. Besides these, the government had in their service numerous despatch boats, known as “geippers,” which served in war as scouts, and, during peace, for any service requiring unusual speed.

Consuls; their establishment, duties, and emoluments.

In all the commercial places of importance throughout the Mediterranean, where sovereignty was not exercised by the Venetians, they established consuls, investing them with considerable power, so as to ensure the respect of foreigners. Each consulate had a chaplain, a notary, and a physician. The establishment was allowed to levy a duty of two per cent. on all Venetian imports and exports, a percentage which is said to have yielded the consuls of Syria and Alexandria an annual income of no less than 25,000 ducats. The Venetian consuls were not merely the advocates of their countrymen in any wrongs they might suffer, but they had also judicial authority in cases of controversy, and sometimes even decided disputes among the native population.

Ancient ships’ consuls; their duties.

Ships’ consuls appear to have existed at a very remote period in all the ports of the Mediterranean.[680] Their duty was to watch over the interests of the vessels of the nations they represented, to see that no frauds were committed, and especially that the persons who provisioned them used honest weights, and “mixed no water with the wine” they sold. They were allowed a half share in all penalties imposed, and were entitled to a present of a “carpet,” a curious gift, for every enemy’s ship captured: should, however, the consul connive at any of the frauds committed against the ships or crews it was their duty to watch over, they were liable to lose their office, and even to be branded on the forehead as rogues and outcasts. The same ordinance ordained, that “any person who shall wilfully cut the cable of a ship should be impaled alive.”

The Cartel.

It was a general rule at all the Mediterranean ports to engage by “cartel,” or proclamation, such ships as were required for special purposes. In those of Aragon and at Marseilles the cartel was usually inscribed upon a board of wood, and affixed to the point of a spear or lance. This cartel stated the number of ships required, and the object and character of the expedition. The ceremony was one of a formal and somewhat attractive description. Garlands of green leaves and ribbons of the most conspicuous colours ornamented the cartel board. The royal banner, or that of the prince who required the ships, floated by the side of the cartel, and a herald repeated in a loud voice the conditions of the charter, formal contracts being executed in the presence of a notary. These contracts were very minute in their details, and specified not only the size of each ship, the number of the crew, the extent of space to be allotted to the passengers, or for the conveyance of horses, but even the size of the rigging, with an inventory of almost every article which had been shipped for the use of the vessel and crew.

Conditions of the contract.

Like the contracts or charter-parties of our own time the conditions varied. Sometimes the charter-commissioners were left to engage for the whole ship, or at a stated rate for each passenger; such rates varying, as now, with the nature of the accommodation afforded, and ranging from the “paradise”[681] and other cabins, where the passengers had the greatest convenience, down to the berths in the lower hold, where they were exposed to stifling heat or offensive smells. In the case of three-decked vessels, or more likely of those with lofty towers or poops, the cost of passage from Marseilles to Syria averaged about four livres tournois in the “paradises” or best parts of the vessel, sixty sous tournois[682] on the main-deck, and forty sous tournois on the lower deck. It is not stated whether the rates of passage included provisions and other necessaries, but these were probably provided by the passengers themselves. The conditions of the charters made at Venice and at Genoa were similar to those entered into at Marseilles.

Restraints upon seamen.

It is a remarkable fact, that the seamen were occasionally obliged to pay for their berths. Besides having a limited space in the hold allowed for their clothes, they had a space on deck allotted to them for sleeping; but if the mattress of any one of them exceeded, in however small a degree, the regulated weight of fifteen pounds, or, if placed upon a bed, the seaman was called upon to pay not only for the excess, but for the total weight of his mattress, according to the rate at which passengers were charged for their accommodation. The law, indeed, provided sleeping places for the seamen; but the owners seem to have expected them to spread their mattresses upon the sails or coils of rope, or at least in places passengers would not occupy, and it is certain that those who insisted on their legal rights were thus punished whenever they in the slightest degree infringed them.

Extra ordinary display on the departure of any important expedition.

The reception of the commander, and his plan of inspection.

In the case of vessels of war, or rather those vessels whose services were more required for warlike than for commercial purposes, even greater formalities were made use of when they took their departure for a distant voyage or for an important expedition. When the hour for departure arrived the commander came on board, preceded by trumpeters, and followed by the officers of his staff. The most perfect silence prevailed on board, and every man was at his post ready to answer any question the commander might be pleased to put to him. The account, in Joinville[683] of the scene on board of the galley of the Count de Japhe describes what probably often took place. “This count,” he says, “had disembarked in a most grand manner, for his galley was all painted within side and without with escutcheons of his arms, which were a cross pattée gules on a field or. There were full three hundred sailors on board the galley, each bearing a target of his arms, and on each target was a small flag with his arms likewise of beaten gold. It was a sight worthy to be viewed when he went to sea on account of the noise which these flags made, as well as the sounds of the drums, horns, and Saracen nacaires (tymbals or tambourines) which he had in his galley.” The captain, seated in his state chair, having received the homage of his officers, commenced his tour of inspection of every part of the ship, ascertaining for himself that every oar was sound and in its place, and the rowers on each bench thoroughly well trained and effective. He then as carefully examined the men at arms, crossbow-men, steersmen, and sailors, testing their various accoutrements and appointments to see that everything was in order; the different departments of the ship were then minutely gone over, including his own cabin, which was generally in the lower range of the poop or under the upper deck.

Signal to depart.

Everything being now ready for departure, the rowers, at the sound of a trumpet, simultaneously moved their oars; but if the wind was fair, the oars, at a given signal, were as simultaneously thrown upwards, the sails set, and the vessel under full pressure of canvas proceeded on her voyage. A general holiday usually accompanied the departure of a fleet. In Venice, these rejoicings were celebrated with even greater pomp and magnificence than that which characterized almost every public solemnity of the middle ages. The Doge, with the dazzling pageantry of his court and council; hundreds of gay gondolas covering the placid waters, which flowed from the Adriatic among the numerous islets upon which the proud city had been erected; senators in their scarlet robes, and the élite of the Venetian dames, famed for their grace and beauty, and arrayed in the gorgeous dress of the period, constituted a display of wealth and grandeur never since surpassed. But a dark cloud overshadowed those gay and glittering scenes. The galley slaves, with their hideous misery, or reckless daring, formed a saddening contrast to the haughty bearing of the Doge and the splendour of his court, and still more so, when we remember how much that court owed to the daring and unwearied toil of these slaves who were the chief instruments of its wealth.

Adaptation of merchant vessels to the purposes of war.

Throughout the middle ages, the nations of the Mediterranean depended for the constitution of a navy on their merchant shipping almost as much as England. The sovereigns of Europe and the Italian republics had each, no doubt, some ships of their own, though generally these were too few for carrying on war with rival nations of any maritime position. The great barons also, during the feudal system, owned vessels as well as castles; and those especially who lived on the sea-shore possessed one or more ships, which they employed for war or commerce, in accordance with their tastes or ambition. During the period, too, of the Crusades, many noblemen who had no connection with the sea, and whose estates were far away from it, built vessels for themselves, which were always available for warlike purposes. When the time for action arrived these ships were ranged under the flag of an admiral chosen by their owners, generally though not always with the approval of the sovereign. Nor was there much difficulty in converting their trading vessels into ships of war, as most of them were already armed, and every sailor being trained to war, an extra number of men, with a few machines for throwing stones or arrows, were sufficient for the purpose.

Regulations at sea.

In the management of their ships, and in almost everything relating to maritime affairs, the Italian republics were in a great measure guided by the ancient Rhodian laws.[684] These alike regulated the conduct of merchants and masters. When a merchant sailed in a ship which he had chartered on his own account, he was almost supreme on board. If several merchants embarked, and shipped goods, having hired the vessel among them, the majority decided upon the general management of the ship. When bad weather supervened, and it was a question of shortening sail, or when it became necessary to go out of the direct course to avoid pirates, the master invariably consulted the charterers. But if the merchants gave directions that the ship, for safety, or any other purpose, should enter a certain harbour, in disregard of the master’s advice, he was no longer responsible for any event or accident arising from such a proceeding; on the other hand, if the master did anything from which fatal consequences ensued, he was liable to heavy punishment, and held responsible for all damages. In case of danger, either by tempest or an enemy, every person on board, including merchants and passengers, was bound to use his utmost endeavours for the protection of the ship and cargo; and merchants, passengers, master, pilots, steersmen, and sailors, all became soldiers whenever a suspicious craft appeared. The trade of a ship-owner, even under the best conditions one of a precarious and speculative character, was doubtless then full of danger from the number of pirates in every sea, and especially in the Mediterranean.

Stringent rules to regulate the loading of vessels.

Every merchant ship, by the laws in force among the Italian republics, was subject to prescribed rules to prevent them from being overladen. When launched, two experienced inspectors measured the ship’s capacity, and, in conformity, marked upon her sides a line which it was forbidden to submerge. At Venice this mark consisted of a cross painted or carved, or formed with two plates of iron. The ships of Genoa had a triple mark of three small plates of iron fastened upon a particular line on each side of the hull, indicating a limit in depth which was not to be exceeded; while, in Sardinia, the centre of a painted ring marked the extent of the immersion allowed by law. The laws, also, prescribed many other details in the loading of the ship and in the stowage of her cargo, which, during the whole period of the middle ages, were enforced with the utmost rigour.