Pryor, ‘The naval battles of Roger of Lauria’, p. 203 H. Finke, Acta Aragonesa. A full translation has been published in S. Rose, ‘Henry V’s Gracedieu and mutiny at sea: some new evidence’, The Mariner’s Mirror, 63, 1977, pp. Sicily was strategically placed on routes both to the east, to Constantinople and the 34 C H R I S T I A N S, M U S L I M S A N D C RU S A D E R S Black Sea, and to the west, to the Balearics and to Spain. What people are these? A. Tenenti and U. Tucci), Rome, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1991, p.151. 30–1. A feigned flight could credibly have been decided on in advance, as has been said, but to imagine that a medieval galley fleet could then have turned as a unit to form a battle line in a crescent moon formation to face a pursuing enemy seems doubtful. The whole tone of the document envisages a welldisciplined and ordered force which can act as a unit. Mostra Documentaria Genova e Venezia tra i Secoli XII e XIV, Archivio di Stato di Genova and Comune di Genova, 1984. Later years saw less action as by 1418 most of the Channel coast was in English hands. The others including those at Corfu, Zante, Zara and Retimo held supplies and could perform repairs but little is known of the detail of their organisation. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Equipped with sails for distance and oars for maneuverability, the medieval galley was ideally suited for the purpose of war. In his full analysis of this battle Lane suggests three further causes for the poor showing of Venetian naval forces in this engagement: the difficulty in ‘combining for effective battle action round ships great galleys and light galleys’: the difficulty in forcing officers who owed their positions to election within the Signoria to obey orders: the difficulty in recruiting suitably experienced crewmen in sufficient numbers.37 Clearly these arguments have much to recommend them. Unger, Richard W., ‘Admiralties and warships of Europe and the Mediterranean, 1000–1500’ in Ships and Shipping in the North Sea and Atlantic,1400–1800, Aldershot, Ashgate-Variorum Press, 1997. Medieval Naval Warfare, 1000-1500 provides a wealth of information about the strategy and tactics of these early fleets and the extent to which the possibilities of sea power were understood and exploited. 107–8. Perroy, the distinguished French writer, states that victory at Sluys ‘secured to the victor the command of the sea … but it was a success without decisive effect’.32 As he goes on to explain Edward still had to conquer France by land and lacked the means to achieve this. This can be presented as a collision between two religions but it was also a conflict between an expanding political entity and others whose powers were declining, and a conflict with an important economic element. No mention is made in Vegetius of the two fireraising methods that were widely used at sea. To the English it was a further demonstration of the superiority of their ships and seamen; the Spanish has lost vessels and had had to flee from their determined and persistent attackers. Rose. 185–6. His lack of courage was certainly a disastrous blow for his party. Pisani got his revenge the following year when he destroyed a Genoese fleet off Alghero in Sardinia, supporting the Aragonese invasion of the island. mark Money of account used in England in the later middle ages; one mark equalled 13 shillings and fourpence or two thirds of a pound sterling. Ship types have never remained static and fixed in design over time. ), The Chronicle of Muntaner, 2 vols, London, Hakluyt Society, 1920–1. The Earl of Devon flatly refused to muster his men at all. 57 P.R.O. 84–7. Here the Cog Thomas and the Cog Edward both underwent repairs, the first in 1352, the second in 1350. Although it is probably the case that his cruise in the Channel in the summer of 1406 has little strategic importance, however much trouble it caused locally, the account of it written by Niño’s standard bearer contains important operational details. 32 I N VA D E R S A N D S E T T L E R S 24 Matthew Paris, Historia Anglorum, pp. 180–3. Although the description of the manoeuvre then undertaken is not entirely clear, it seems that this vessel went about, sailed between the galley and her attackers and then rammed one with such force that the bowsprit was sheared off and the forestay severed thus causing the collapse of the mast. The galley commanders were apparently delighted with their orders but when they reached Southampton, although they caused great destruction: But not so mekill als sum men wend … 68 T H E C H A N N E L P OW E R S I N T H E F O U RT E E N T H C E N T U RY Sum (attackers) were knokked on the hevyd That the body there bileved: Sum lay stareand on the sternes And sum lay knokked out thare hernes …40 They then took to flight in the direction of Flanders and Zealand. 55 War of pirates. Rodger, N.A.M., ‘The Norman invasion of 1066’, The Mariner’s Mirror, 80, 1994. Year 2002, MEDIEVAL The English Crown’s lack of its own shipping and the practice of sea-keeping by licence contributed to what the Hanse saw as intolerable attacks on their lawful trade and English seafarers saw as justifiable retribution.48 In 1447–9 matters seemed to be reaching a possible resolution with English envoys pressing the League and the Grand Master of the Teutonic knights hard for reciprocal rights. Pisani refused but after a Genoese galley had evaded the guard ships at the harbour mouth a confused engagement followed in which all the Venetian ships were taken and Pisani and many others made prisoner. None of these records has much if anything to say directly about the course of an action, though the preoccupations of commanders are often there by implication. The Crown also mustered a small force under William Scott to patrol off Winchelsea to repel any attack by Warwick. As an exploit this was daring, but it did little to diminish the perceived superiority of the Franks at sea. The ambivalence of merchants and the seafaring community in general to the issue of piracy seems evident here. Why does it seem the French used it much more successfully than the English, who, contrary to the more common expectation, had greater success with land-based expeditions? The Saint-Jehan, here described as a huissier as well as a galley, is said to have been on the stocks for 26 years even if repairable, a situation which also applied to two further huissiers, one painted with the arms of the dauphin and the other with the arms of M. de Valois. For this he needed to have a fleet. Although Rouen itself was some distance from the sea, the river was still tidal at this point and ships had been built there from at least the beginning of the century. Medieval variations on the classical galley were many. From 1409–11 the post of maitre of the Clos was vacant but once appointed neither de Lesmes (1411–12) or Blancbaston (1412–14) was active. In March 1471, however, Edward left Flushing with 36 ships and about 2000 men and once ashore at Ravenspur by guile and good luck recovered his Crown.46 In the 20 or so years from 1455, therefore, it can be argued that the possession of the potential for naval warfare could be of great advantage to those who wished to be major players in both internal and external politics. 36 D. Abulafia, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms 1200–1500: The Struggle for Dominion, London and New York, Longman, 1997, p. 34. 97–9. Orders to ensure that the galleys kept their distance one from another when going into the attack were given to the Venetian fleet before the battle of Zonchio in 1499, see below, p. 127. Lane notes that the Venetians fought wars not to gain territory but to ‘effect political arrangements which would be disadvantageous to rival sea powers … and which would gain them trading privileges permitting commercial expansion into new areas’. The devices illustrated on ff. In the same way there are references to facilities known by some variant of ‘arsenal’, (arsene, drassanes, tarsianatus, tersana) in many other Mediterranean ports. The infamous Crusader Baron Raymond de Chatillon in the late twelfth century is one of the few medieval Europeans who certainly attempted to use ships on the Red Sea. 97–108. The weapons used, however, are still those familiar to earlier centuries. The most devastating attacks on English towns had more than local resonance. 188–92. Their fleet had given valuable assistance during the taking of Antioch and in 1104 a treaty between the Genoese and Baldwin I king of Jerusalem allowed them tax exemptions and property rights in the port towns of Jaffa, Arsuf, Caeserea and Acre. It’s a good starting point, but comprehensive histories of even a single war requires … The treatise was not published until 1558 but was written earlier being intended for the Emperor Charles V. 31 J. Paviot, op. There was no system like that of the Venetian muda or galleys running on predetermined routes to a timetable or the Venetian war galley patrols and escorts to trading ships.3 In some ways it might seem surprising that Venice and Genoa became such bitter rivals that the tension between them which had built up since the First Crusade erupted into open war on four occasions between 1253– 1381. knee A specially shaped beam used to connect two timbers at right angles for example to support the deck timbers. The officers and the crossbowmen also received beef, pork, wine, and salted or dried fish, dried peas and beans, salt, onions and garlic.47 In 1385 the yard provided biscuit generally at the rate of one or two barrels per vessel for 21 ships from Harfleur, one from St Valery and 32 Spanish ships. To some extent English victories in the Channel from 1416–19 might seem to demonstrate the success of this policy although, as we shall see, smaller English royal ships also played their part. The poem goes on, extolling the sea, ‘which of England is the rounde wall, / As though England was lykened to a cite / and the wall environ was the see’.26 It is clear in the poem as a whole that by this is intended not the sea in general but particularly the Channel and the Straits of Dover; the writer’s original aim was to advocate war with Burgundy at that time laying siege to Calais but the sentiments he expressed had wider applications and undoubtedly struck a cord with the maritime community. Grain came in from Caffa and elsewhere; this was ground in mills belonging to the Turkish emir who ruled the south side of the straits. Lucchetta, G., ‘L’oriente Mediterraneo nella cultura di Venezia tra quattro e cinquecento’, in Storia della cultura Veneta dal primo quattrocento al consiglio di Trento, vol, II, Vicenza, Neri Pozza, 1980. In 1266 Obertino Doria hoped to capture the entire Venetian muda from Romania off Modon but was driven away by the very heavy escort of armed galleys with the traders. 23 According to the OED, the term ‘arsenal’ meaning dockyard is not found in English until 1506 and by 1579 the word was most frequently used to mean an arms store. In Venice it is noticeable that, by the middle of the thirteenth century the organisation of a fleet whether for commercial or warlike purposes, was a public matter;1 the protection and promotion of Venetian interests, which were widely construed to include the economic interests of the city state, was accepted as the responsibility of the Signoria. Secondary sources Abulafia, D., The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms 1200–1500: The Struggle for Dominion, London and New York, Longman, 1997. In 1468 relations between the two trading partners reached a crisis. This made it possible for the rebellious barons, convinced that John had no intention of keeping the promises enshrined in Magna Carta, to receive help from the dauphin to whom they went so far as to offer the crown. 23 H.L. Look at the development of Naval Warfare from around 1330 to 1680. By this date clearly little could be expected from royal forces and local initiatives attempted to fill the gap.48 The prevalence and location of piracy in northern waters was, of course, directly related to the patterns of seaborne trade in the area. The crucial battle would be on land; it was there that the issue would be settled. ), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, London, Dent, 1972. This seafarer called a viro flagitiosissimo (a real pain) by Matthew Paris was almost a legendary figure to his countrymen.22 He came from near Boulogne and may have had some early connection with the religious life. 219–23. Rodger, The Safeguard of the Sea, p. 144. During the siege of Antioch in November 1098 a Genoese fleet managed to get into the harbour of Saint Symeon with reinforcements and building materials for the crusaders which enabled them to extend their siege works around the city.8 Similarly, when the siege of Jerusalem itself was in danger of ending in failure with a crusader assault on the walls being beaten off by the Muslim defenders, the arrival by chance of Christian ships at Jaffa saved the situation. It also seems fairly clear that rams, like those used in Greek and Roman galleys were no longer in use in the Mediterranean and had never been used by Norse seamen. Niño was royally entertained by Benedict but quite unable to act against the corsairs who included a Castilian, Juan de Castrillo. 17 Le Citoyen Legrand d’Aussy, Notice sur l’état de la marine en France au commencement du quatrième siècle: et sur la tactique navale usitée alors dans les combats de mer, Paris, year VI, pp. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick had been captain of Calais since 1456 and had taken the opportunity afforded by a relatively secure base to build up a squadron of ships. Stevenson, J., Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Wars of the English in France during the Reign of Henry VI, London, Longman, Green and Co., 1864. 49–50, 57–8. The state of war between Holland and the Wendish section of the League caused political difficulties for the Duke of Burgundy in 1438–41 but little naval action beyond the mutual seizure of ships and cargoes. 7 J. Dotson, ‘Naval Strategy in the First Genoese-Venetian War, 1257–1270’, American Neptune, 46, 1986, pp. De Lafaye, Monsieur, ‘Les premiers arsenaux de la marine: le clos des galées de Rouen sous Charles V (1364–1380)’, Revue Maritime et Coloniale, 54, 1877. B.G. I have in the course of writing this book received much help and encouragement both from fellow historians and from the staff in libraries and archives. The campaigns of Tostig, Harold’s brother, and Harold Hardraada bear this out. ), The Hundred Years War, Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1971. 21 F. Taylor and J.S. Notes 1 The law code of 1255 contains the provision that ships bound for Romania should gather off San Niccolo on the Lido by the 15 August. D.S. He retired to Negroponte and successfully held off the Genoese until the Catalans arrived. From early February 1470 orders were flying from the Senate to the Arsenal to prepare supplies, particularly of the essential biscotti as well as munitions, for the galleys going to the defence of Negroponte. The warship at sea was likened to the warhorse on land and, like the warhorse, the warship was bred for fighting. It can be argued, however, that the failure of the fleet to protect Venice allowed the Genoese to seize Chioggia and that more determined and successful use of a galley fleet eventually cleared most of their vessels from the Adriatic after they had left the island itself, thus demonstrating both the advantages of well used naval power and the penalties of failure. This would, however have been a highly complex manoeuvre for the fleet to perform and one perhaps dependent on a wind shift since a wind favourable for entry to the Scheldt estuary would not have allowed the fleet to come up on the rear of the French. When the Venetian muda arrived it included war galleys as well as trading ships and forced its way into the harbour apparently breaking the chain across the entrance. I, p. x), chronicles usually include ‘next to nothing on naval actions’. In June 1147, a group of English, Flemish and Frisian ships, carrying crusaders who had been inspired by the preaching of St Bernard of Clairvaux to join the Second Crusade put into the mouth of the Douro in Portugal to shelter from a storm. Moore. No very great or glorious encounters between the vessels of rival powers took place in the Channel or the North Sea. Ayalon, D., ‘The Mamluks and naval power’, Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, I(8), 1965. These might have played a useful role as transports but would have done little to stiffen a fighting squadron. Lane Venice: A Maritime Republic, Baltimore and London, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973, p. 163. The Nicholas, for example was painted black with white ostrich feathers picked out in gold leaf; there was also a large royal coat of arms and another of St George and finally a gilded figure of St Christopher.3 All this creates the impression that these ships were regarded more as a means of display, of increasing royal prestige or of ‘conspicuous consumption’ than as an element in the defence of the realm. Brereton), Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1968, pp. 63–4, quoted in J.A. Meale, ‘The Libelle of Englyshe Polycye and mercantile literary culture in late medieval England’, in J. Boffrey and P. King (eds), London and Europe in the Later Middle Ages, London, Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Queen Mary and Westfield College, 1995, p. 209. These could be stones flung by some form of ‘engine’, darts, arrows, lances, fire-raising devices, and most effectively the quarrels fired by crossbows. E. Dummer, A Voyage into the Mediterranean Seas, London, British Library, 1685, King’s MSS, 40, f.45v. 51–6. Although he had only a small group of ships of his own Edward IV did have some success in suppressing the worst excesses of pirates especially those operating out of west-country ports. Warwick has been held up as the individual whose actions demonstrate this most clearly and it is hard to argue against this opinion. cit., vol. More probably the Byzantine facilities at Clysma and Alexandria were taken over by their Arab conquerors but the term they used spread throughout the area because of the power of their navy at this period. Ships ’ stores between Venice and Genoa in the sixteenth century was the burning of Winchelsea in 1360 to... Poem is entitled Branche aux royaux lignages as western traders in Romania was left unresolved risk... Knowledge of a mast the subject of specialist works will not be regarded as an officially inspired directed. 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