Archive Results For: High Middle Ages
The Turkish Imperial State Barges
From 1453 to 1917, the Ottoman elite sailed the Istanbul waters in magnificent barges. Twenty-nine caiques from five to forty metres long are preserved in the Maritime Museum. They were opulently decorated with silver, carved mouldings and a canopied kiosk aft. The harem, admirals, ambassadors and lords all maintained ceremonial caiques. The number of rowers […] Read More
Filed under: High Middle Ages | Early Modern | Other (Eighteenth C) | Mediterranean | Other (Twentieth C) | Other (Nineteenth C)
Subjects include: Historic Vessels, Museums & Restoration | Ocean Liners & Passenger Craft
Medieval Ship Graffito in the Palau Reial Major at Barcelona
A drawing of a medieval ship in Santa Agata in Barcelona illuminates Catalonian political and trading changes in the 14th century, the effect of the Black Death and Mediterranean shipwrights’ adoption of the northern keel. The drawings include the ship, Sant Jordi and the Dragon, knights, noblewomen, letters and musical notes and help date the […] Read More
Filed under: High Middle Ages | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Merchant Marines | Ship Handling & Seamanship | Shipbuilding & Design
Longships, Knarrs and Cogs
Investigates the vessel types used on the Norse voyages of discovery to North America and the Holy Land. The cog is eliminated as a candidate due to its limited size and utility. Longships were sufficiently seaworthy to undertake long voyages, however their fame means that they would likely have been named in sagas describing these […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | High Middle Ages | North Sea
Subjects include: Science & Exploration | Shipbuilding & Design
The Square-Rigged Ship of the Fabrica Di Galere Manuscript Part II
The important Venetian MS known as the Fabrica di Galere contains a quantity of information about early 15th century (or late 14th century) shipbuilding which to date has been completely neglected. The paper deals with the nave quadra, the square rigged ship, which is of particular interest having a square-rigged main mast and a […] Read More
Filed under: High Middle Ages | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
The English Esnecca in Northern European Sources
The article uses many sources to illustrate the variety of names given to northern European boats. The term ‘esnecca’ is used to describe many different vessels, and these are described. The evolution of ship design from the long narrow ‘snake’ into boader, higher vessels is discussed. Read More
Filed under: Antiquity | High Middle Ages | Other (location)
Subjects include: Shipbuilding & Design
Square-Rigged Great Galleys of the Late Fifteenth Century
It generally has been assumed that great galleys of this period were always entirely lateen-rigged; however, two representations studied by the author suggest that some carried square mainsails and that others were fitted as fully-rigged ships. Depictions of fully-rigged galleys are rare, and this scarcity of representations, coupled with the dates these paintings were created, […] Read More
Filed under: High Middle Ages | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Merchant Marines | Shipbuilding & Design
Early Ship Guns Part I: Built-up Breech Loaders
The construction of built-up guns has been conjectural until their recovery from the Mary Rose, but examples of cannon from Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands are available for study. The article surmises how the barrels and chambers were made, and how the stocks were designed. Eight guns are described in detail. The article concludes with […] Read More
Filed under: High Middle Ages | Other (location)
Subjects include: Weapons
The E.G.R. Taylor Lecture 1982: Artists and Illustrators in the Early Mapping of North America
This article presents a history of the European discovery of North America in the 16th century as revealed through the study of contemporary decorative maps. Decorative charts were a common feature of European art in the 16th century and were often produced as gifts for or between monarchs or men of high rank. Their status as beautiful objects in […] Read More
Filed under: Atlantic | High Middle Ages
Subjects include: Archaeology | Art & Music | Science & Exploration
Note: In Search of the Ships that Brought the Normans to Ireland in 1169
There is a contrast between the sea-going ships of the Song dynasty in China, displacing over 370 tons with stern rudders, and the 80 ton ships which would have brought to Normans to Ireland in 1169. Despite this, the Normans were one of many waves of invaders who came by sea. Read More
Filed under: High Middle Ages | North Sea
Subjects include: Ship Handling & Seamanship | Shipbuilding & Design
The Naval Architecture of Crusader Transport Ships Part III A Reconstruction of Some Archetypes for Round-hulled Sailing Ships
Combining the data from marine archaeology, iconography, contracts made between 1246-1320 for the lease and purchase of ships for crusaders and 15th and 16th century Venetian treatises on ship building and commerce, the author has collated the information needed to construct a model three decked round-hulled crusade ship. This article continues with the rigging and […] Read More
Filed under: Late Middle Ages | High Middle Ages | Mediterranean
Subjects include: Administration | Art & Music | Manpower & Life at Sea | Ship Handling & Seamanship | Shipbuilding & Design