Medieval Ships and Seafaring

Oxford Handbooks Online

Medieval Ships and Seafaring  
Susan Rose
The Oxford Handbook of Maritime Archaeology
Edited by Ben Ford, Donny L. Hamilton, and Alexis Catsambis

Print Publication Date: Dec 2013

Subject: Archaeology, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
Online Publication Date: Sep 2012 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199336005.013.0019

Abstract and Keywords

Seafaring in northern waters and the Western Approaches developed in a different way
from that in the virtually landlocked Mediterranean and Black Seas. This article describes
seafaring over different regions during the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries. Most
seafarers during the fourteenth century were involved in commercial trade. During a
warfare situation, most ships carried some kind of arms. There were some changes in the
rigging of the ships and design of the vessels in the fifteenth century. By the end of the
fifteenth century CE, however, these changes were much less pronounced. For use
inshore, for fishing, or for the transport of small local cargoes, all kinds of craft existed,
exhibiting special adaptations for particular local circumstances. The mingling of
seafarers from all the leading maritime powers of the Mediterranean in Iberian ports
provided for great advancements science of navigation during the fifteenth century.

Keywords: seafaring, warfare, navigation, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, commercial trade

Introduction
To the Romans the Mediterranean was the Mare Nostrum, “our sea,” and this familiar,
almost cozy term perhaps reflects the way in which seafaring, whether by traders or by
imperial fleets, was not seen as something extraordinary. In this the Romans followed the
example of the Greeks, who for the most part lived in close contact with the sea, ships,
and mariners. Europeans living in the confused and difficult times after the end of the
late Antique period had more varied and complex relations with the maritime world.
These relations changed gradually, particularly in the period between 1000 and 1500 CE.
Many Europeans never saw the sea or had contact with any vessels other than river craft;

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

others were skillful and careful ship builders and navigators gradually acquiring the skills
and the confidence to make long voyages that by the end of the fifteenth century would
span half the globe. Still others owed their living to the sea, whether as fishermen or
traders, viewing the sea and ships in a practical and empirical way. Underlying these
attitudes were the stern facts of geography and the natural world. Differences in the
nature and conformation of the coastline and in climate, ocean currents, and prevailing
winds all influenced humans’ relationship with the sea. For these reasons, until around
the mid-fifteenth century, seafaring in northern waters and the Western Approaches
developed in a different way from that in the virtually landlocked Mediterranean and
Black Seas. Each region will therefore be considered separately.

(p. 427) Northern Waters

The Vikings

In northern waters, especially once the Roman authorities had withdrawn, it would be
easy to characterize seafaring as lawless and violent, an arena beyond the reach of any
law where might was right. Long before the emergence of the Vikings as an identifiable
group, robbery at sea was commonplace, widespread, and beyond the power of rulers to
control (Haywood 1999: 41–81). It was probably hard to define exactly where legitimate
trade shaded into robbery; this was an uncouth age when self-help was of more use than
any appeal to rulers and their courts. Yet particularly in the world of the Norsemen, the
sea and ships were a source of wonder, longing, and adventure. The poetry of the sagas is
full of images of seafaring and the exhilaration of being on board a ship. A mariner’s
spirit “roams beyond the enclosure of the heart” and is drawn irresistibly to follow “the
whale’s path / over the sea’s expanse” (Exeter Book, “The Seafarer,” lines 58–60, quoted
in Rose 2007: 1–2). At the same time, the Norsemen were skilled navigators and excellent
boatbuilders. Their ability to voyage safely across the North Sea from Scandinavia to
Shetland, Orkney, and the Faeroe Islands and then farther to Iceland, Greenland, and the
enigmatic Vinland demonstrates this.

The archaeological evidence, provided by the well-known vessels excavated from burial
mounds and others recovered from sites like Roskilde fjord, reveals the design and
construction methods of Viking longships. There are clear differences in the details of
hull design and rigging between those used as ceremonial or war craft, like the Oseberg
or Gokstad ships, and those used for various trading purposes, like the vessel known as
Skuldelev III (Crumlin-Pedersen 2002: 303–338; Ravn et al. in this volume). All, however,
belong to the same tradition of shipbuilding, being clinker-built with a double-ended hull.
The freeboard was lower on the warships intended to be rowed into battle than on vessels
intended to carry cargo. These were normally sailed using one square sail on a mast
stepped more or less amidships. There was a single steering oar at the stern. Written

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

records complement this evidence. The Norse Sagas not only describe sea battles and
raids but also give indications of the way the ships were sailed and navigated on long
voyages (Marcus 2007: 35–99). The dismay caused by the state known as hafvilla is well
described. The term meant that the ship’s master and navigators had become completely
disoriented and could no longer determine what course to follow. This occurred when the
wind dropped or became fluky and uncertain, the sky was obscured by clouds so that no
heavenly bodies could be seen, or a fog descended. Experienced seamen like the Vikings
from at least the tenth century used the Pole Star and the Sun as direction-finding aids.
They may have had some fairly crude way of estimating their northing or southing. They
certainly were expert in the interpretation of small indications of their whereabouts, like
the presence of seabirds and cloud patterns (Marcus 2007: 100–118). Other documents,
such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, make plain the fear inspired by the incursions of
Vikings, so that coastal areas became dangerous and (p. 428) the sea a source of terror
(Whitelock 1961: 85–86). Attempts made at defense included, in southern England, the
organization of a small squadron of ships owned by the Crown (Rodger 1997: 7–17). This
force had some success in encounters in bays and estuaries. More important was the
acceptance of the idea by the beginning of the eleventh century that all seamen and ship
owners had an obligation to contribute to the defense of the realm (Rodger 1997: 23–25).

Ship Types and the Maritime Community, 1100–1500 CE

The Bayeux Tapestry, made circa 1080 CE, after the cessation of Viking raids, depicts
William the Conqueror’s army embarked for the invasion of England on vessels much like
some of those excavated at Skuldelev. The images of boatbuilders at work and their tools,
also included, seem to belong to the same tradition (Thorpe 1973: figs. 37–46). It is
probable that all along the shores of the North Sea and the Channel, Viking influence on
ship design persisted for some time. The existence of a community of seafaring men with
much in common, unaffected by the varying fortunes of realms and rulers, may lie behind
the way in which many specialist terms relating to the building or equipping of ships can
be found in a closely related format in many of the languages spoken in the same area.
Sandahl (1982: 3–4) called such terms “Channel words.” Examples are (in modern
English spelling) “luff,” “helm,” and “bowline.” Another indication of the cohesion of a
specifically maritime community from the twelfth century are the many versions of the
Laws of Oléron; this collection of “case law” relating to the duties of shipmasters and the
rights of crewmen and other matters relating to the operation of ships can be found in
almost all the languages of seafaring nations from this period (Ward 2009).

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

By the thirteenth century

there is more visual and
documentary evidence of
changes in ships and
seafaring. Images of ships
are common on the seals
of port towns, while
illuminated manuscripts
often include pictures of
ships illustrating the lives
of saints or incidents in
chronicles (Flatman 2009)
(Figure 19.1). Official
documents include
shipbuilding and repair
Click to view larger
accounts, orders
Figure 19.1 The matrix of the seal of Rye, one of the
leading Cinque Ports, dating from the fourteenth assembling fleets and
century. It shows the type of standardized ship image giving directions to their
often found on the seals of port towns at this date.
Reproduced with the kind permission of the author. commanders, and the
particulars of customs
accounts, which often include details of merchant shipping such as tonnage and crew
numbers (Friel 1983). Vessels may be described simply as batella (boat) or navis (ship) or
by other apparently more specific terms, such as “hulk” or “cog.” The excavation of the
Bremen Cog and of the ships found in the Ijsselmeer has provided extensive and
important information on the design and construction of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century
workaday vessels (Gould 2000: 178–187; Hutchinson 1994: 15–21). However, it is still
hard to relate the terms used in documents with precision either to images of ships or to
those excavated. The image and inscription on the seal of New Shoreham has led to the
conclusion that “hulks” were distinguished by their hull shape, in which the planking
curved upward at both stem and stern, creating almost a banana-shaped profile.1 On the
other hand, the term “cog” can be found as early as the ninth century describing a Frisian
vessel and as late as 1513–1516 CE in the customs accounts of Chichester (Burwash
1947: 193). It is used both of trading ships (p. 429) and warships. Clearly, it would be
strange if developments in ship design did not take place during this span of time, making
the term “cog” perhaps no more specific than navis. Looking at the iconographical record
and excavated remains from the whole period, however, some common features do
emerge. Cogs had hulls that were much beamier than Viking ships’ had been. They were
clinker-built, with a single mast supporting a yard with an oblong sail. The sail could be
adapted to changing weather conditions either by reefing points or, later, by the use of
bonnets, an extra strip of sail cloth attached at the foot of the sail. Gradually, from the
late thirteenth to early fourteenth century the side rudder or steering oar was replaced
with one hung on the sternpost. Temporary raised platforms, or castles, at the stern and
the bow designed either to provide cabins for elite passengers or to be used in sea battles
were also incorporated into the superstructure of some vessels. There could also be a top

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

castle at the masthead for use as a lookout or from which missiles could be thrown
(Gardiner 1994: 8–9). Ships like this could range in capacity from under 40 to over 300
tuns (that is, the standard Bordeaux wine barrels that were used to measure the capacity
of a vessel). They were seaworthy, robust, and (p. 430) well suited to conditions in their
home waters. Oared vessels, sometimes called galleys, also existed but were neither
identical to the galleys of the Mediterranean nor as much favored by mariners as beamy
“round” ships.2

Ships and Trade

Most seafarers of this

period were involved in
commercial trade. Some
vessels might carry
passengers; this could be a
major part of their
employment in a few
places, like ports on the
Kentish coast with regular
crossings to France and
Click to view larger
Flanders, or for the
Figure 19.2 Map illustrating seafaring routes along shipmasters who carried
the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
pilgrims to the great
shrine of St. James at
Compostela. Their main business, however, was the transport of goods, whether
coastwise from port to port, or across the Channel and the North Sea, through the Sound
into and out of the Baltic, or southward to the ports on the north coast of Spain and on to
Seville and Cartagena (Figure 19.2). Chaucer’s description of the Shipman, one of the
Canterbury Pilgrims, lists his ports of call—Gotland to the Cape of Finistere and then on
to creeks in Brittany and Spain—and thus in fact gives a good idea of the range of English
ships and mariners at the end of the fourteenth century (Coghill 1974: 28). The fleets of
the Hanseatic towns regularly visited Iceland, Bergen, the League towns in the Baltic,
and English ports (especially London and Lynn), and also sailed westward to Biscay for
salt (Mackay and Ditchburn 1997: 211). Most voyages were fairly short, along well-used
trading routes. Across the Channel to Normandy, Flanders, or (p. 431) Calais were the
routes taken most frequently by English vessels (Rose 2007: 64–75). The longer and more
demanding voyage from England or Flanders to Bordeaux for wine was normally made
only by the larger ships, often traveling in convoy for fear of pirates, who, as in earlier
times, infested most coasts.

Warfare at Sea

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

In this situation, more or less all ships, except the very smallest fishing boats or coastwise
traders, carried arms of some kind. There was no real distinction between warships and
commercial ships. Although, especially in England, any vessel in port might find itself
arrested for service in a royal fleet, this commonly involved the logistical support of a
royal expedition overseas, perhaps transporting soldiers and victuals north for Edward I’s
wars in Wales and Scotland or, later, across the Channel during the Hundred Years’ War.
Virtually every inlet capable of sheltering a ship could contribute to such fleets, while
major ports like Sandwich, Southampton, Dartmouth, and Bristol were home to many
vessels. A similar situation existed in Brittany and the coast of northern France. Sea
battles were a rare occurrence that usually happened in sheltered coastal waters. This
was the case at Sluys: in 1340 CE, Edward III managed to trap a French fleet in the
shallow waters of the Scheldt estuary and won a crushing victory; he celebrated by
issuing a gold noble featuring an image of himself on board his Cog Thomas. His fleet
included a small group of “king’s ships” whose role was, perhaps, to lead the arrested
ships into battle and stiffen the resolve of their crews (Rose 2002: 63–65). The French
Crown had initially attempted a different approach to acquiring a navy, setting up a
galley-building yard at Rouen at the end of the thirteenth century, but this was not a great
success; vessels from this yard were disregarded in favor of galleys hired from the
Castilians and the Genoese (Rose 2002: 13–16). These vessels were well suited to
mounting raids on the southern coast of England, a tactic that caused much destruction
and also much fury in places like Winchelsea and Southampton (Rose 2002: 68–71). All
seamen and merchants trading in these waters complained frequently and vociferously
about losses to sea robbers, but often they, on other occasions, were guilty of the same
crime.

Changes in the Fifteenth Century CE

Click to view larger

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

Figure 19.3 A wooden carving illustrating a two- Closer and more regular
masted early-fifteenth-century sailing vessel that contact with shipping and
may be based on a Genoese carrack. It was originally
on a bench end of the now demolished chapel of St. seamen from Genoa,
Nicholas at King’s Lynn, Norfolk. Reproduced with Venice, and the Florentine
the kind permission of the Victoria and Albert
port of Pisa may have been
Museum, London.
one of the drivers behind
the beginnings of change
in both northern ships and seafaring in the fifteenth century. Pictorial evidence as well as
evidence from ships’ inventories and accounts makes clear that gradually over the course
of the century changes were made in the rigging of some ships (Rose 1982: 191–194).
Two-masted vessels with a mizzen mast, likely lateen-rigged, similar to that carved on a
bench end in a church in King’s Lynn, appeared in the first decades of the century but
were replaced fairly quickly by the better-balanced three-masted rig, whose extra
foremast probably carried a square (p. 432) sail like the main mast (Hutchinson 1994: 42–
44). The source of these innovations may have been the Genoese carracks that regularly
visited the south coast of England and Flanders on trading voyages (Figure 19.3). Some
were also captured during Henry V’s campaigns in 1415–1417 CE and incorporated into
his fleet of royal ships. Royal interest in shipping was considerable at this time, with the
Clerk of the King’s Ships running a sophisticated shipbuilding and repair yard at
Southampton (Rose 1982).3 This interest was not maintained under Henry VI, but from
the 1440s, some (p. 433) of the most prominent noble families owned and built ships. This
was especially the case with the Earl of Warwick, who in the 1460s and 1470s used them
to advance his political aims with some tactical skill (Richmond 1998–1999: 1–19). The
clinker-built hulls of the earlier period were now becoming obsolete as English
shipwrights acquired the skills needed to build frame-first carvel hulls following the
example of southern European shipwrights.4 Cannon were also used at sea in small
numbers, probably doing little more at first than adding to the noise and confusion of
battles in which boarding an enemy vessel remained the major form of combat. Not until
the final years of the century did Henry VII acquire ships carrying quite large numbers of
guns of sufficient caliber to have at least the potential to be “ship-killing” weapons
(Oppenheim 1896: 216–217, 261). Of the other rulers in northern Europe, the French
Crown had ceased to have much interest in maritime matters. Its attention in the later
years of the fifteenth century was focused on land warfare in Italy. In 1395–1400 CE,
ships of members of the Hanseatic League conducted vigorous campaigns against the
notorious Vitalienbruder pirates based in Frisia. Later in the century, the League also did
its best to exclude English ships from the Icelandic trade and from trading directly with
Baltic ports, largely through trade embargoes and the seizure of goods. There was little
warlike activity in northern waters in the second half of the fifteenth century.

Long-Distance Voyages

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

This mention of the Icelandic trade, largely conducted by merchants from Bristol or Lynn
who traded general goods for stockfish, indicates how English seamen were gradually
becoming willing to sail farther afield, moving beyond the routes across the Channel or to
Bordeaux. Some of the reasons behind this transition were political; the loss of Gascony
to the French in 1453 CE ensured that the wine trade was no longer firmly in English
hands. Seamen from Bristol or other western ports now looked more frequently to
northern Spain and Portugal as alternative destinations. In 1457–1458 CE, Robert Sturmy
of Bristol took three ships into the Mediterranean, probably with the intention of trying to
break into the alum trade previously monopolized by the Genoese based in Chios. This
voyage ended in disaster, but by the late 1470s other Englishmen were trading in the
Mediterranean (Jenks 2006: 7–28). Improvements in ship design and seaworthiness,
together with the spread of better navigational techniques, especially those developed by
the Spanish and Portuguese, may have also increased the willingness of mariners to
undertake longer voyages. Bristol records contain references that are not yet fully
understood to voyages in the 1480s to somewhere called “the isle of Brasil,” while in
1497 CE Cabot set out from this port on the voyage that took him to Newfoundland and
North America. It is possible that, even though there is no trace in the records,
adventurous traders from Bristol, or other West Country ports or perhaps French or
Breton ports had made their way to the Newfoundland Banks and its fishery well before
Cabot’s journey (Rose 2007: 175). What is clear is that, although seamen in northern
waters had been notable for their boldness in the centuries before 1000 CE, in the period
around (p. 434) 1000 to 1500 CE most mariners in this region seemed to operate on a
small scale, sticking to known routes and known technology. The sea was not seen or
celebrated as a source of adventure or inspiration. For a more innovative and
enterprising approach it is necessary to turn to seafaring and ships in southern Europe,
in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal.

The Mediterranean Region

Ship Types

In this region, seafaring clearly owed much to the mariners of Roman times; this tradition
continued under the Byzantine Empire, which has been characterized as a thallasocracy
(rule of the sea). It was also handed on to the Muslim rulers who, from the second half of
the seventh century CE, after their capture of the Byzantine dockyard at Alexandria,
commanded ships able to engage the Byzantine fleet (Unger 1980: 33–55, 96–102).
Warships were predominantly oar-powered galleys that could be operated very effectively
in these waters, despite their low freeboard and need for frequent halts in order to
replenish the victuals and water needed by their crews. The design of these vessels,
however, underwent considerable change over the period to 1500 CE (Figure 19.4). The
bireme galleys of the later Roman period were replaced by the monoreme dromons of the

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

Byzantines (Pryor and Jeffreys 2006). For longer voyages, these vessels probably used
lateen sails as well as oars, rather than the square sails of antiquity. They were also
equipped, for use in battle, with a “spur” at the bows projecting above the water
(allowing boarders to pour across into an enemy ship or for its banks of oars to be broken
up) rather than the underwater ram used to sink or capsize enemy ships in Roman times
(Gardiner 1995: 101–116). Byzantine and later Muslim vessels could also be fitted with
some kind of siphon mechanism in the bows for delivering Greek fire, the inflammable
liquid that could cause devastating damage to an adversary (Rodgers 1967: 41–45).

Accounts exist from around 1270 CE for the building of galleys for Charles I of Anjou.
These documents include dimensions and the technical terms used for the components of
the hull and rigging. There was a foredeck, a poop deck raised above the sternpost, and a
gangway running the length of the vessel between the banks of rowing benches. The
average crew for galleys of this type was around 108 oarsmen and 36 marines, usually
armed with crossbows. There would also be two sailing masters, four helmsmen, and a
couple of ship’s boys. A modern calculation has suggested that each crewman needed 22
kg of biscotti (the essential carbohydrate fuel for an oarsman) per month at sea. Nearly
70 liters of wine would also be provided per man for the same period. These requirements
for a large crew and quantities of supplies limited the use of galleys (Gardiner 1995: 110–
111).

Click to view larger

Figure 19.4 Two three-masted Mediterranean
“round ships” in the background with a galley, mast
raised, but no sail set. In the foreground off a rocky
island are two galleys prepared for battle. The one in
the rear is a Muslim (probably Turkish) vessel, while
that in front is a galley of the Crusading Order of St.
John of Jerusalem, which was based on Rhodes
during the fifteenth century. The disposition of the
armed men is clearly shown. From the Hours of
Pierre de Bosredont. Reproduced with the kind

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

permission of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York Naval architecture

(p. 435)
(G. 55, f. 140v).
manuals, or treatises, with
directions for calculating
the form of the frames that made up the skeleton of a carvel-built hull, including basic
technical drawings, came into existence by the fifteenth century. These were produced by
men with direct knowledge of the craft, even if the shipwrights themselves were reluctant
to share their secrets. They reflect the practices of the galley-building (p. 436) yard of the
Venetians, the Arsenale, easily the largest industrial enterprise in Europe. The best-
known are those by Giorgio Trombetta (Anderson 1925) and Michael of Rhodes. By this
date, in fact, Mediterranean galleys were successful and sophisticated vessels used to
maintain regular trade routes running to a timetable. The trade network of the Venetians
stretched from the port of Tana on the Sea of Azov to Sluys, the outport of Bruges in
Flanders. The ships, of a standard design (described as “similar to each other as one
swallow’s nest to the next” by a fifteenth-century German pilgrim) (Gardiner 1994: 2004:
148), had two or even three masts carrying lateen sails used in favorable conditions,
while the oarsmen rowing alla sensile (three men on the same bench each pulling a
separate oar) powered the vessel in unfavorable winds or on the approach to a harbor.
The alternative a scallacio system (three or more men to a bench all pulling on the same
oar) was not used until the sixteenth century CE (Gardiner 1995: 123–126). The Genoese,
Florentines, and Aragonese all had galley fleets designed in much the same way. The
degree of state control over shipping and the organization and success of war fleets
varied between these maritime powers. Control by the authorities was strongest in
Venice, where not only were galleys built in a state-owned yard but there was also a state-
owned rope walk, a state-owned bakery for the biscotti, and state-owned forests to
produce timber for shipbuilding (Lane 1973: 363). Venetian galleys sailed on dates set by
the authorities, with precise orders regarding the ports to be visited and the goods to be
traded (Lane 1973: 339–342).

Merchants and shipmasters from these ports also operated round ships, or “coche”
beamy sailing vessels whose design from the fourteenth century shared some features
with the cogs of northern Europe. This was particularly the case with the adoption of the
sternpost rudder, said to have been introduced into the Mediterranean by raiders from
Bayonne circa 1304 CE (Gardiner 1994: 69–76). The most successful of these round ships
were probably the carracks of the Genoese. They were used in bulk trades for goods like
corn and alum, a fixative used in the cloth industry. They also carried cargoes of mixed
goods, everything from dried fruits, wine, and olive oil to items like gold dust and grains
of paradise, on voyages to Southampton, where the details of the cargoes are recorded in
the local port books (Cobb 1961). They were also engaged in trade with both Muslim and
Christian states throughout the Mediterranean. Venetian round ships were not as closely
controlled as the galleys, although the authorities did become involved if there was any
danger of war at sea.

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

Our knowledge of the

shipping used at this
period by the remnants of
the Byzantine Empire and
the Muslim rulers of the
southern coasts of the
Mediterranean is not so
extensive (Figure 19.5). It
Click to view larger has been pointed out that
Figure 19.5 Map illustrating seafaring routes along the prevailing seasonal
the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea.
winds, the sea currents,
and the configuration of
the coastline caused difficulties for mariners from the northern coast of Africa who
wished to sail north (Pryor 1992: 12–24). It has also been suggested that aspects of the
prevailing culture, especially in Egypt and Syria, were actively hostile to seafaring, seeing
the sea as the abode of darkness (Hillenbrand 1999: 558–559). Evidence for this view is
patchy. While Islamic rulers during the period of the Crusades were intimidated by
Christian (p. 437) fleets, such as the one that attacked Alexandria in 1174 CE, fairly
extensive port facilities were built by a Seljuk sultan at Alanya on the southwest coast of
Turkey in the early thirteenth century (Hillenbrand 1999: 564–566). Saladin, moreover,
pursued an active maritime policy against the Franks (Ehrenkreutz 1955: 100–116). The
Mamluk kingdom does not seem to have been much involved in maritime matters after
the final collapse of the Crusader states, but the rulers and inhabitants of the Maghreb
were competent mariners both as pirates and in more legitimate trade.

Castile was able to extend its maritime power into southern waters only after its capture
of Seville (1247–1248 CE) and finally Algeciras (1340–1344 CE) left the Moors without
ports on the Iberian coast (Rose 2002: 117–118). Piratical attacks by both Christians and
Moors on shipping in the western Mediterranean remained a problem throughout the
medieval period and beyond. In the Red Sea, in the Persian Gulf, and along the coast of
East Africa as far south as Lamu and Zanzibar, Arab trading ships remained as active as
they had been for centuries. There is evidence from the first century BCE that seafarers
in the region understood how to use the seasonal pattern of the trade winds to reach
India and return (see chapters by Blue, and Gaur and Vora, in this volume). Until the
arrival of Europeans in the Indian Ocean, the ships used by local traders were
constructed without the use of iron. The hull planking was held together by a form of
stitching using twisted cords made of coir (the husk of coconuts). These open boats were
navigated with skill across the seas to India and the Malay Peninsula using charts,
written sailing directions, and astronomical observations as early as the end of the tenth
century (Hourani 1995: 87–113). Certainly, this traffic across the Indian Ocean up the
Persian Gulf and thence overland to Baghdad was one of the routes by which Chinese
goods reached the West.

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

(p. 438) Warfare at Sea in Southern Waters

The Crusades
Apart from the 1191 CE expedition of the Crusader Reynald de Chatillon down the Red
Sea in an attempt to attack Mecca (Hillenbrand 1999: 293), the waters of the Gulf and the
Indian Ocean were normally peaceful. The same cannot be said of the Mediterranean. Sea
battles, organized attacks on commerce, and invasions mounted from the sea were
relatively more common here than in northern waters and often reveal a more
sophisticated appreciation of naval strategy and tactics. Both political and commercial
rivalries could lead to conflict. The religious and cultural divide between Christian and
Muslim regions, obvious from the late seventh century CE, was also a factor but one that
could be overridden by more practical commercial concerns. It has been suggested that
while Crusaders in the late eleventh century saw their primary purpose as the recovery of
the holy sites in Jerusalem, their sometimes reluctant Byzantine allies were more
interested in recovering parts of the empire lost to Islamic rulers (Riley-Smith 1996: 22–
26). Similarly, Italian merchants were happy to maintain a trading base at Alexandria
despite papal injunctions against trading with Muslims.

The early success of the Crusading project owed a great deal to the fleets of both
Byzantium and Italian maritime cities. Ships brought reinforcements and vital supplies to
the Crusaders. The long trek overland from Burgundy or Germany to the Middle East,
especially the dangerous and difficult march through Anatolia, was soon largely
abandoned in favor of traveling by sea to ports in Syria from Italy or France. It is
significant that the commanders of both the First and the Third Crusades clearly
understood the urgent need to capture and hold cities on the coast—Antioch, Tripoli,
Acre, and Jaffa. During the First Crusade, the successful siege of Antioch, which was a
turning point in the whole expedition, owed much to the arrival of a Genoese fleet with
supplies in November 1098. The fall of Acre to Richard I in 1191 was essential to any
further military action in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade (Rose 2002: 35–42).

The Genoese-Venetian Wars

The sea traffic to Outremer, whether carrying military supplies, pilgrims, or trade goods,
soon became of great importance to most Italian maritime cities. This in fact became the
first arena in which the long-running conflict between Genoa and Venice took place. It is
worth considering the nature of this rivalry and how it was fought out largely at sea. Both
cities were largely dependent on maritime trade for their survival. Both wished to extend
their influence in the eastern Mediterranean, the source of many of the luxuries that
found a ready sale in western Europe. Both needed to establish bases in the region for
their merchants and for access to shipyard facilities for their fleets. The merchant elites
and ruling classes of both cities also wished to be the dominant trading power in the
region, particularly when it came to relations with the Empire in the East and its capital
at Constantinople. (p. 439) These basic factors caused poor relations between the two
cities, which at times flared up into open warfare fought out largely by attacks on each

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

other’s commerce at sea and set-piece battles between their galley fleets (such as in the
years 1257–1270, 1293–1299, 1350–1355, and 1378–1381 CE). Open warfare eventually
came to an end not because either side had won a decisive victory or because the rivals
had reached an acceptable compromise but because the advance of the Ottoman Empire
altered the balance of power in the region. Genoa was forced to withdraw from the
Aegean and the Black Sea, while Venice became in effect the leader of European
opposition to the extension of Ottoman power (Dotson 2001, in Rose 2008: 427–439).

The way in which these wars were conducted forms a striking contrast with what has
already been said about war at sea in northern waters, where it is hard to find any real
strategic understanding of naval power. Northern rulers used ships in an almost casual
way, with little continuity of purpose; there seems to have been the belief that at times of
need suitable vessels would easily be found in the ports and pressed into royal service.
There was no need for a continuous navy; ad hoc solutions to a crisis were sufficient.5
Only in England during the reign of Henry V was there some indication of a different
policy, expressed not only in the ships built for the Crown but in the mounting of regular
sea-keeping patrols in the Channel until the Treaty of Troyes (1421 CE) made them
redundant (Rose 1982: 47–52). In both Genoa and Venice, however, the continuing need
for vessels able to fight at sea was well understood. Their solutions to the problem of how
to organize and support such a fleet differed. Venice favored tight control by the state,
while Genoa took a more “free enterprise” approach, but both were able to send strong,
well-equipped fleets into battle.

John Dotson (1986, 2001), in a series of articles on the Genoese-Venetian wars, has
emphasized the way in which the seasonal winds and trade routes of the Mediterranean
allowed for a form of “control of the seas” by a well-led fleet. The galley fleet or the
trading ships of the enemy could reliably be expected to be off certain narrows within a
fairly short time span. For either city, attacks on its commerce were of much greater
importance than the intermittent opportunistic piracy common in the English Channel—
trading fleets were their lifeblood in a very real sense. Thus, for example the Venetians
defeated Genoese galley fleets off Acre in 1258 CE, near Spetsai in 1263 CE, and at
Trapani in 1266 CE, while the Genoese captured Venetian ships and the proceeds of a
whole year’s trade off Abydos (on the Gallipoli peninsula) in 1262 CE and a further four
trading ships near Monemvasia. The most complex campaign in these years was probably
that of 1264 CE, when the Genoese fooled the Venetians into thinking their fleet had
sailed east to Pera when in fact it was lurking off Durazzo. On this occasion the Genoese
successfully captured the entire Venetian galley fleet and the goods it was carrying. The
only vessel to escape was a large round ship, the Roccafortis (Rose 2008: 408).

It is evident, however, from the way the Venetian-Genoese conflict waxed and waned that
while each could do great damage to the other, each city lacked the ability to deliver a
true knockout blow to its opponent. To do this, warfare at sea (p. 440) needed to be
backed up by a campaign on land. The War of Chioggia (1378–1381 CE) brought Venice to
the brink of disaster as the Genoese successfully recruited their Hungarian allies to
attack by land. The Venetians in the fifteenth century suffered in a similar way at the

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

hands of the Ottoman Empire. The Venetians could not hold on to the island of
Negroponte once the Turkish land army was ashore, nor could they defend their crucial
Peloponnesian bases, Modon and Coron, once the Turks had conquered the interior of the
peninsula (Rose 2002: 109–116).

Roger of Lauria and the Aragonese

War between the Venetians and the Genoese was based on commercial rivalry. On the
other hand, Peter III of Aragon used naval forces very effectively during the War of the
Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302), a conflict with its roots in political and dynastic rivalries.
He and Charles I of Anjou were in dispute over the Crown of the Regno, a kingdom which
at this date (the late thirteenth century) included Naples, the south of Italy, and the island
of Sicily. Some action at sea was probably inevitable given the fact that Peter also ruled
Catalonia and its capital, Barcelona, while Charles was based in Provence, with the major
port of Marseille. The naval aspects of the war have attracted much attention because the
commander of Peter’s fleet was Roger of Lauria, who has been hailed as an admiral fit to
stand beside the most prominent figures of later ages (Pryor 1983, in Rose 2008: 295–
316). His success may have been due to no more than the fact that he and perhaps his
crews had more experience in galley warfare than their opponents and were personally
brave and determined. For this relatively brief period, Aragon could well consider itself a
naval power in a way that was not possible for many other medieval states. It is perhaps
not surprising, with this heritage, that mariners from the western Mediterranean—the
Catalans, Aragonese, and Genoese—were responsible for many of the advances in
maritime skills in the fifteenth century discussed below.

Navigation and Seamanship

The mingling of seafarers from all the leading maritime powers of the Mediterranean in
Iberian ports may have provided the stimulus for the great advances in the science of
navigation during the fifteenth century. Even in Roman times a basic form of sailing
directions existed. The Periplus of Scylax of Caryanda dates to the fourth century BCE
and gives directions for voyages in the Mediterranean. The Periplus of the Erythraean
Sea from 60 CE gives not only sailing directions but also useful tips for those trading in
the Red Sea and across the Gulf to Persia (see Blue in this volume). The earliest surviving
medieval sailing directions are the Compasso da Navigare (1250 CE), which included
precise directions for entering major ports. A text like this may well have been used in
conjunction with a chart, although the earliest surviving example is the Carta Pisana from
1274 CE. The portolani (as this and similar maps were called) depicted reasonably
accurate coastal outlines; courses could be set using the rhumb lines leading from the
maps’ compass roses. Using (p. 441) these and a magnetic compass, something which
was now routinely in the possession of many shipmasters in this area, a suitable course
could be laid off on the chart. More general mapmaking also made great advances during

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

the fourteenth century CE; the best-known family of cartographers, based in Majorca,
produced major works like the Catalan Atlas of 1375 (Rose 2007: 51–56).

Other innovations included a system for estimating the course made good by a vessel set
out in the Toleta de Marteloio and the eventual extension to seafaring of a method of
determining the latitude of any point on the globe, originally devised in classical times for
use on land. This method entailed the measurement of the altitude of either the sun above
the horizon at noon or the Pole Star at night using a simplified astrolabe or other
instrument. Calculations according to the rules and tables to be found in books like the
Regimento do Astrolabio e do Quadrante were then necessary to establish a vessel’s
position in terms of latitude (Rose 2007: 56–59). Longitude presented greater problems,
which would not be solved until the eighteenth century. Navigation in this way was
becoming not just a matter of hard-won experience but a science based on astronomy and
mathematics.6 Mariners from the western Mediterranean became more confident in their
ability to voyage farther afield, initiating settlement on the Canary Islands in the
fourteenth century CE, Madeira in 1420 CE, the Azores in 1427 CE, and the Cape Verde
Islands in 1456 CE. Some credit, at least for the steady accumulation of experience in
more scientific navigation and for the making of more accurate maps and charts, may be
due, according to some historians, to Henry the Navigator and his court, based at Sagres
(Parry 1974: 113–129; Phillips 1998: 213–219). The ultimate outcome, was, of course, the
discovery of the route around the Cape of Good Hope to India pioneered by the
Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias (1488 CE) and Vasco da Gama (1497–1499 CE) and that
across the Atlantic to the Caribbean first followed in 1492 CE by Christopher Columbus, a
Genoese supported by the rulers of Castile.

Conclusion
At the beginning of this discussion of medieval seafaring, emphasis was placed on the
way in which ships and seafarers in northern waters differed from those in the south. The
stormy waters of the North Atlantic, the fierce tides and shifting sandbanks of the
Channel, and the North Sea made for a harsher maritime environment than the more
predictable seasonal changes in the winds and the weather of the almost tideless
Mediterranean. By the end of the fifteenth century CE, however, these differences were
much less pronounced. For use inshore, for fishing, or for the transport of small local
cargoes, all kinds of craft existed, exhibiting special adaptations for particular local
circumstances: the need to beach on a stony shore, or to launch into the surf; a rig
adapted to long-reaching courses in steady winds, or one suited to short tacks into a
narrow harbor. On longer voyages, however, a degree of (p. 442) consensus had been
established as to the best and most practical design, which now became generally known
as the caravel (Gardiner 1994: 91–98). Equally, shipmasters contemplating such a journey
were expected to have at least some understanding of navigational instruments and their
use at sea. The experienced but rough and ready mariner who as late as 1571 CE was

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Medieval Ships and Seafaring

described by William Bourne as laughing at charts and astronomical observations and

saying he could do as well as “star shooters” by keeping an “account upon a boord” was
gradually being edged out of seafaring (Rose 2004: 176). The new exponents of
mathematical navigation were better educated and increasingly of a higher social rank.
Columbus and Cabot were both prepared and able to negotiate with monarchs for
support. Drake and his colleagues in Elizabeth’s reign were familiar figures at court.

It is also the case that just as an earlier maritime community had spread knowledge of
the Laws of Oléron widely along the sea lanes, mariners in both southern and northern
Europe exchanged knowledge of techniques and courses. In 1477 CE Columbus probably
made a voyage as far north as Iceland. Later in 1478 CE he traveled to Madeira and
eventually married a close relation of one of the town’s first settlers. He did not set out
across the Atlantic without some good experience in long-distance voyages and the
prevailing winds (Fernández-Armesto 2000: 14–17). Similarly, in another linking of the
traditions of the North and the South, the Italian Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) set out from
Bristol in a locally built vessel. We might also observe that the enthusiasm for new
experiences found in Viking sagas seemed to be reborn in the plans of the most
prominent seamen of the late fifteenth century CE. Columbus could even declare in 1498
CE that he believed he was on the brink of discovering “the Earthly Paradise where no
man may go save by the grace of God” (Fernández-Armesto 2000: 104). Such fantasies
were, of course, a long way from the experience of most workaday seamen plying short
routes. They served, however, to ensure that ships and seafaring had a renewed
prominence in European affairs at the end of the fifteenth century CE, with profound
consequences for the future development of the world and its peoples.

References
Anderson, R. C. 1925. Italian naval architecture about 1445. Mariner’s Mirror 11: 135–
163.

Burwash, Dorothy. 1947. English merchant shipping 1460–1540. Newton Abbot, England:
David and Charles.

Cobb, Henry S. 1961. The local port book of Southampton for 1439–40. Southampton:
Southampton University.

Coghill, Neville, ed. 1974. The Canterbury tales. London: Folio Society.

Crawford, Anne. 1992. The Household Books of John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, 1462–
1471, 1481–1483. Stroud: Alan Sutton.

Crumlin-Pedersen, Ole. 2002. The Skuldelev Ships I: Topography, archaeology, history,

conservation and display. Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum.

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Dotson, J. E. 1986. Naval strategy in the First Genoese-Venetian War 1257–1270.

American Neptune 46: 84–90.

Dotson, J. E. 2001. Foundations of Venetian naval strategy from Pietro II Orseolo to the
Battle of Zonchio 100–1500. Viator 32: 113–125. Dotson 1986 and 2001 are reprinted in
S. Rose, ed., Medieval ships and warfare, 403–439. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008.

Ehrenkreutz, A. S. 1955. The place of Saladin in the naval history of the Mediterranean
Sea in the Middle Ages. Journal of the American Oriental Society 75: 100–116. Reprinted
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Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. 2000. Columbus and the conquest of the impossible. London:
Phoenix Press.

Flatman, Joe. 2009. Ships and shipping in medieval manuscripts. London: British Library.

Friel, Ian. 1983. Documentary sources and the medieval ship: Some aspects of the
evidence. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and Underwater Exploration 12
(1): 41–62.

Gardiner, Robert, ed. 1994. Cogs caravels and galleons: The sailing ship 1000–1650.
London: Conway Maritime Press.

Gardiner, Robert. 1995. The age of the galley: Mediterranean oared vessels since pre-
classical times. London: Conway Maritime Press.

Gould, Richard A. 2000. Archaeology and the social history of ships. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

Haywood, John. 1999. Dark Age naval power: A reassessment of Frankish and Anglo-
Saxon seafaring activity. 2nd ed. Hockwold-cum-Wilton: Anglo-Saxon Books.

Hillenbrand, Carole. 1999. The Crusades: Islamic perspectives. Edinburgh:

(p. 444)

Edinburgh University Press.

Hourani, George F. 1995. Arab seafaring in the Indian Ocean in ancient and early
medieval times. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Hutchinson, Gillian. 1994. Medieval ships and shipping. London: Leicester University
Press.

Jenks, Stuart. 2006. Robert Sturmy’s commercial expedition to the Mediterranean (1457–
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Lane, Frederic C. 1973. Venice: A maritime republic. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
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Lockwood, Shelley, ed. 1997. Sir John Fortescue: On the laws and governance of England.
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Mackay, Angus, with David Ditchburn. 1997. Atlas of medieval Europe. London:
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Phillips, J. R. S. 1998. The medieval expansion of Europe. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Pryor, John H. 1983. The naval battles of Roger of Lauria. Reprinted in S. Rose, ed.,
Medieval ships and warfare, 295–332. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008.

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William Soper, Keeper of the King’s Ships 1422–27. London: Navy Records Society.

Rose, Susan. 2002. Medieval naval warfare 1000–1500. London: Routledge.

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Sandahl, Bertil. 1982. Middle English sea terms. Vol. 3, Standing and running rigging.
Uppsala: Acta Universittatis Upsaliensis.

Taylor, E. G. R. 1956. The haven-finding art: A history of navigation from Odysseus to

Captain Cook. London: Hollis and Carter.

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Society.

Tinniswood, J. T. 1949. English galleys 1272–1377. Mariner’s Mirror 35: 276–315.

Unger, Richard W. 1980. The ship in the medieval economy 600–1600. London: Croom
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Ward, R. 2009. The world of the medieval shipmaster: Law business and the sea, c. 1350–
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Notes:

(1) . The inscription read as follows: Hoc hulci signo vocor os sic nomine digno (By the
sign of a hulk I am called Mouth which is a worthy name). This becomes comprehensible
when one learns that New Shoreham was earlier called Hulksmouth.

(2) . The English Crown ordered the building of so-called galleys for defensive purposes
at the end of the thirteenth and in the mid-fourteenth centuries. Little or nothing is
known about the way they were used. Balingers, a ship type combining both oars and
sails, enjoyed some popularity as fast transports or raiders up to the first half of the
fifteenth century (Unger 1980: 171–172; Tinniswood 1949 in Rose ed. 2008: 25–68).

(3) . Full details of Henry V’s naval activities, including a transcription and translation of
the account book of the Clerk of the King’s Ships for 1422–1427, can be found in Rose
1982.

(4) . The Household Books and other documents relating to John Howard, Duke of
Norfolk, in the second half of the fifteenth century contain mentions of ships called
carvels, e.g., a listing from 1468 CE in which 8 out of 22 ships are described as carvels
(Crawford 1992: xliv).

(5) . Sir John Fortescue, in his Governance of England (written in the 1470s), pointed out
that it was too late to build a navy when the enemy were already at sea, but no English
ruler took much notice of this until the sixteenth century (Lockwood 1997: 96–97).

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(6) . The whole subject of navigation from classical times to the eighteenth century is
discussed in E. G. R. Taylor’s The Haven-Finding Art: A History of Navigation from
Odysseus to Captain Cook (1956). Parts III and IV are most relevant for the medieval
period.

Susan Rose

Susan Rose is a professor at Open University in the United Kingdom.

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