"Thursday was the festival of the Doge, Thomas Mocenigo; great stands were raised in tiers on St. Mark's Place for the women. The goldsmiths placed two silver helmets in the midst, with their enamelled plumes, which cost a hundred ducats apiece. Then came a procession of three hundred and fifty goldsmiths, dressed in scarlet and mounted on richly caparisoned horses (each harness costing three ducats) preceded by trumpeters and musicians, who marched round the Piazza in regular order. Then followed the companies of the Marquis of Ferrara and of the Lord of Mantua, the first composed of two hundred and sixty horsemen; it was a great consolation to behold so many coursers, so many devices and ornaments and flags and streamers. The tournament lasted from seventeen o'clock [four] till twenty-two o'clock [nine], and it was a marvel to see so many gentle deeds. One of the silver caskets was presented by the goldsmiths to a knight of the Marquis of Ferrara, and the other to the Lord of Mantua; and it was a great triumph to behold. On the Sunday following, the 28th of March, 1415, there was a joust,—a noble sight to see, with all these lords and their companions and devices."
Gradually the trading-galleys of the Venetians, which sailed in small fleets, left Venice at fixed seasons, and made regular voyages all over the known seas; and at the mouths of the rivers of Europe they met boats bringing inland cargoes to be sold to the Venetian captains, or exchanged for their goods. Venetian manufacturers were thus supplied with raw materials, as well as with specimens of the products of all other countries, to be imitated or excelled in Venice. As a rule, Venetian manufactures were in demand. The armor and weapons of Venice were equal to any that could be found at the same period. Her cloths of gold and silver, velvets, jewelry, and splendid adornments were unequalled, while many of the commoner articles of trade were made there in the best manner. Their immense commerce in beads and glass has already been described. In order to increase their business in the different ports which the galleys visited, Venice purchased warehouses called "factories," and put them in charge of such agents as would wisely conduct them.
When we read how slowly the unwieldy trading-galleys moved,—not more than twenty miles a day, and were a year in reaching England,—we can but admire, almost with reverence, the men who could "make haste slowly" with such perseverance as did these Venetians. In 1488 the Senate offered a reward of £650 to any ship-builder who could build a galley of one thousand tons burden.
Each galley required one hundred and sixty rowers, and altogether carried about three hundred men. They suffered great inconvenience, and encountered many dangers. The Senate made the most exact rules concerning their wages, food, the parts of the vessel to which they should have access, when and where they should go on shore, and many other details. The ship of the chief captain carried a master, a nautical adviser, eight pilots, a mate, two scribes, two doctors, a priest, a lawyer, an oarmaker, carpenter, calker and weigher, a cook, a cellarman, three servants, two fifers, and two trumpeters, besides thirty bowmen in charge of four young noblemen. The duties and salaries of each and all these men were fixed by the Senate, as well as the method of loading and unloading the ships. As we think of all this tediousness for everybody concerned in Venetian commerce in the Middle Ages, from the Doge down to the humblest servitor of them all, the commerce of the present day, with our labor-saving machinery, our swift sailing-vessels, and space-annihilating steam-engines, seems insignificant in a way.
John B. Marsh, in his "Stories of Venice and the Venetians," gives an account of the experiences of a merchant fleet, which has a special interest, as Christopher Columbus acted a prominent part in the story, which Mr. Marsh claims is authenticated in the state papers. It is essentially as follows:—
On April 12, 1485, Bartolommeo Minio was appointed captain of four galleys to make the Flanders voyage. They had been bidden in by some merchants who had goods suited to the northern markets at £220 per galley. The great galleys were loaded. The prows were fenced to afford footing to the crossbowmen. All the different officers and men were selected and bound to complete the voyage. The cargo of glass, jewels, gold, silver, furs, silks, and damasks, bales of spices, dried fruits, and Malmsey wine was all on board, and an official from the Arsenal approved of all the preparations.
Then Minio, the commander, in presence of the whole Senate and the captains who were to sail with him, took an oath upon the Bible that he would obey the regulations of the Senate regarding the galleys and the people on board, and would care for them all in good faith. The preparations being thus completed, to the sound of trumpets the rowers began their labor, and the galleys moved from the canal into the Gulf of Venice.
Between Pola and Zara it was Minio's duty to pipe all hands for action. The decks were cleared, hatches fastened down, and the four brass cannon on each galley were made ready to meet an enemy. The bowmen took advantageous positions, and went through evolutions as if in battle. This being done, the fleet was anchored for the night. Supper was served to Minio and his chief officers in the principal cabin. The bowmen and archers were in another cabin, but the rowers ate as they sat at work. Each man received eighteen ounces of biscuit, and an allowance of common wine daily, and in front of each bench of rowers was a locker for food. Having passed the Adriatic, the galleys were allowed to remain a few hours at Otranto, and reaching Messina they anchored for four days. The merchants went on shore, and exchanged some goods for oil and wine, while the oarsmen enjoyed a much needed rest. At Palermo the same stay was made, and thence they crossed to the coast of Tunis and Algiers, and passing through the Straits of Gibraltar reached Cadiz. Here a stay of six days was made, and then, having taken two pilots for each galley, they prepared to pass along the coast of Portugal and cross the Bay of Biscay. Ten hides were purchased for each galley and stretched across the holds to protect the cargo; and all having thus far been prosperous, they started upon the most dangerous part of their voyage.
Near Cape St. Vincent, on an August afternoon, Minio saw a fleet of seven armed ships bearing the French flag. They were corsairs under the command of Niccolo Griego, and one of his chief captains was Christopher Columbus. The two fleets anchored within sight of each other, and during the night the Venetians made the best preparation possible for a contest with the pirates; and at daybreak the attack was made. The Venetians fought so bravely that the battle was prolonged during the entire day, and only at sunset were they finally conquered, and that at a large loss in killed and wounded to the corsairs, and serious injury to their vessels, which they were compelled to run into the nearest port, in order to save them from shipwreck. This port was Lisbon; and as the King of Portugal was friendly to Venice, the pirates hastened to mend their ships, transfer the cargoes from the three Venetian galleys, which were worthless, to their own, and with the one that was seaworthy to sail for Honfleur.
When the news reached the King of Portugal, he hastened to assist the surviving Venetians, and sent them home as soon as possible. Two captains and many noble youths had been slain. The pirates had thrown one hundred and thirty dead men into the sea, and three hundred others were seriously wounded, many of whom soon died.