Ancient and Modern Ships, Part 1: Wooden Sailing Ships

by Sir George Charles Vincent Holmes

In the reign of Richard Cœur de Lion a great impetus was given to shipbuilding and to maritime adventure in this country by the expedition which the king undertook to the Holy Land. A fleet of about 110 vessels, according to Peter Langtoft, sailed from Dartmouth in April, 1190 a.d. It was reinforced considerably in the Mediterranean; for, according to Matthew Paris, Richard was accompanied on his voyage to Palestine by 13 buccas, 100 "ships of burthen," and 50 triremes, and according to Vinesauf, the fleet consisted of about 230 vessels. The buccas, or busses, or dromons, were ships of the largest size, with triple sails. There were two sorts of galleys; some were propelled by oars alone, and others by oars and sails: the latter were the larger, and, according to Matthew Paris, sometimes carried 60 men in armour, besides 104 rowers and the sailors. He also states that some of them had triple banks of oars like the ancient galleys; but, according to Vinesauf, the majority had not more than two banks of oars, and carried the traditional flying deck above the rowers for the use of the soldiers; they were low in the water compared to the sailing-ships, and they carried beaks, or rams, which, as narrated subsequently, they used to some purpose.

The larger type of sailing-ships carried a captain and fifteen sailors, forty knights with their horses, an equal number of men-at-arms, fourteen servants, and complete stores for twelve months. There were, moreover, three much larger vessels in the fleet which carried double the complement mentioned above.

As an instance of the very large size to which vessels occasionally attained in those days in the Levant, we may refer to a Saracen vessel which was attacked by Richard's fleet near Beirut in Syria, in 1191. It was described by many of the old chroniclers. This ship had three masts, and is alleged to have had 1,500 men on board at the time of the fight. The attack was carried out with great difficulty, on account of the towering height of the sides of the Saracen vessel, and it was not till ramming tactics were tried by the galleys charging in line abreast, that her hull was stove in, in several places, and she went down with nearly all hands, only thirty-five, or, according to other accounts forty-six, having been saved.

These large ships appear to have been used by other Mediterranean Powers towards the end of the twelfth century. For instance, a great Venetian ship visited Constantinople in 1172 a.d., of which it was stated that "no vessel of so great a bulk had ever been within that port." This vessel is mentioned by Cinnamis, Marino, and Filiasi, and others, but her dimensions are not given. It is, however, known that she had three masts. Cinnamis, who was at Constantinople at this very time, states that she received from 1,500 to 2,000 Venetian refugees on board, and conveyed them to the Adriatic. The Venetians are said to have employed another very large ship at the siege of Ancona in 1157 a.d. On account of its size it was named Il Mondo.

The Republic of Venice was, during the time of which we are writing, and for a long subsequent period, the foremost maritime power of the world. It is highly probable that many of the improvements which found their way into mediæval ships owed their origin to its great naval arsenal, which was famed for its resources and for the technical skill of its employés. At one time this arsenal employed 16,000 workmen, and during the great struggle of the Republic with the Turks at the end of the sixteenth century it turned out a completed and fully equipped galley every day for a hundred days in succession. During the Crusades, Venice and the rival Republic of Genoa secured between them the great bulk of the business involved in transporting troops and stores to the East, and they frequently hired out their war and merchant ships to other Powers.

Shortly after the Crusade of Richard Cœur de Lion the trade and shipping of England appear to have undergone great expansion. In the reign of Henry III. (1216 to 1272) the historian, Matthew of Westminster, writes of them in a strain which might almost apply to our own day:—

"Oh England, whose antient glory is renowned among all nations, like the pride of the Chaldeans; the ships of Tarsis could not compare with thy ships; they bring from all the quarters of the world aromatic spices and all the most precious things of the universe: the sea is thy wall, and thy ports are as the gates of a strong and well-furnished castle."

In another place the same historian writes of the English trade as follows:—

"The Pisans, Genoese, and Venetians supply England with the Eastern gems, as saphires, emeralds, and carbuncles; from Asia was brought the rich silks and purples; from Africa the cinnamon and balm; from Spain the kingdom was enriched with gold; with silver from Germany; from Flanders came the rich materials for the garments of the people; while plentiful streams of wine flowed from their own province of Gascoigny; joined with everything that was rich and pretious from every land, wide stretching from the Hyades to the Arcturian Star."

No doubt this expansion was due, in part, to the very large participation which the English fleet took in the Crusade. Great numbers of English mariners were thus enabled to penetrate into seas that were new to them, and had opportunities of studying the commercial needs of the countries which bordered on those seas. Another cause which powerfully contributed to the development of navigation, and consequently of shipbuilding, was the introduction of the mariner's compass into Western Europe during the first half of the thirteenth century.