Barefooted Envoys

 I uploaded a new chapter of my book, "The Enchanting Encounters with the East." This paper is the first part of Unit VI, The Witness in the Den. It focuses on the Catholic missions to the Far East launched during the 13th and 14th centuries. These enterprises took advantage of the new world order initiated by the Mongols. View https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael

The article is available for Discussions during the nearest three weeks. You may address your remarks to my email address mikebis@yandex.com later. 

The paper has received a welcoming response from Avital Heyman, an art historian and an expert in medieval visual culture. 

I have made considerable progress with the draft paper on light galleys, covering Byzantine innovations, Latin achievements, Medieval Triremes & Centerline Rudder, Horse transports, and Purpose-built galleys. The last topic left is Displacement & Maintenance. If I don't find interesting data, I will drop it altogether. 

I am still translating materials for my Russian lecture of Unit IV of the same book, Mapping Marvels & Monsters: In the Shadow of the Iron Gate. The talk outlines multiple twists of the medieval legend of Alexander the Great and the Iron Gate and compares them against historical data. There is so much to say that I might divide the subject into two parts. 

My latest reading program included Lilia Campana's "Technical Experimentation in Ship Design during the Last Decades of the Serenissima." The author shows that the experiments with the galley design in Venice continued even through the 18th century. This evidence might be a significant contribution to my project.

Light Galleys (4)

 I have made good progress on Chapter 2. covering many issues, such as speed and watering of the crews, coastal shipping and beaching, shipworm and life expectancy, visibility, and seaworthiness. 

I am currently checking the section dealing with Byzantine innovations: full deck, dromons, and galea. Though I filtered the data from my previous search, I resolved to look for more info. The chapter  comprises 13 pages (about 5 K words) and will probably be much longer. I would like to add a section of transport galleys carrying supplies and horses. 

I have requested and received John E. Dotson's article, "Safety Regulations for galleys in mid-fourteenth century Genoa: Some thoughts on medieval risk management." The report was unavailable in my search engine, and I asked the author to send me a copy. John is the emeritus professor at Southern Illinois University. He agreed to answer my questions, and for the first time, I have a correspondent who studies the same field and can give me some guidance. I wanted to know his opinion on the life expectancy of light galleys and their cruising range. The professor admitted that the issues were slippery but gave me some hints. He also sent me two additional  articles which somehow cover the subject. 

Besides writing a chapter, I am preparing a zoom lecture for the Institute of Integration. Based on Unit IV of my book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East," this presentation reflects the medieval myth of the confrontation between Alexander the Great and the clans of the chaos of Gog-Magog. There is abundant data, and I may divide the discourse into two parts. 

 

  

  

Light Galleys (3)

 I have made a plan of the current chapter with a working title, Light Galleys, to ease the development. It includes 16 or 17 topics and each of them needs an extra brief research. I have already covered a few items: 

LBR dimensions [length-to-beam ratio of the hull]

Functions of galleys

Sailing season

Nocturnal voyage

Operational range

Speed and watering of the crews 

   The scope of the narrative becomes enormous. I wrote 6 pages and covered about a third of the thematic list. However, now I work with confidence, realizing that I know the storyline and guess how I can narrate it. This is the key to the creative activity. 

I am ready to correct some misconceptions, even expressed by the leading scholars and primary sources. For example, medieval warships couldn't ram their rivals or galleys could  confront large round ships. I don't pledge to be original for the sake of originality. In many cases I agree with the leading experts after I get to know the facts. 

I recently read E.S. Gurkan's contribution, "Deception, Dissimilation, and Misinterpretation of the Information" in the 16th century Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans were the masters of fake news. West European courts had to hold spy nets to reveal the military intentions of the Turks. The destination of naval voyages were sometimes hidden even from admirals of the fleet. 

DECEPTION, DISSIMULATIONAND MANIPULATION OF INFORMATIONIN 16TH-CENTURY OTTOMAN EMPIRE

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DECEPTION, DISSIMULATIONAND MANIPULATION OF INFORMATIONIN 16TH-CENTURY OTTOMAN EMPIRE

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DECEPTION, DISSIMULATIONAND MANIPULATION OF INFORMATIONIN 16TH-CENTURY OTTOMAN EMPIRE

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The Underdog and the Power Strife on the Steppes

The paper completes Prester John's saga. The echo of the power strife on the steppes reaches West European intellectuals, who remake it in the contest between the overwhelming Christian overlord and a budding pagan rival. The underdog wins this geopolitical game to become the ruler of Asia while his adversary demises. I also added the Bottom Line and the Notes to the whole unit. 

The article is available at  https://www.academia.edu/89214577/The_Underdog_and_the_Power_Strife_on_the_Steppes 

and is open for discussion, in which you are welcome to participate. Interestingly, that after uploading this work on the Academia site, I gained a fan, The International Institute for the Study of the Nomadic Civilizations of UNESCO. 

I presented my interpretation of Prester John's saga in Unit V of my book, "The Enchanting Encounter with the East," published in 2022 by Authorhouse and in eight papers on my Academia site.  

I intend to continue uploading the rest of the chapters of my second book: Unit VI, with four episodes. Only then can I estimate my current potential as a writer. I plan to get close to 10 K views. Until then, I hope to present the opening parts of my third project about shipping in the medieval and renaissance Mediterranean.

Light galleys (2)

 I  assessed the material and transformed all Bits & Pieces into one file. I labeled all the scraps and wrote a list of labels to make them functional. 

Despite many distractions, I continued developing the storyline about the light galleys. I started sowing my Bits and Pieces together to make long sheets. Indeed, there are so many topics that they will cover the whole chapter or even two chapters. The main themes, as I see them now, are:

•  the galley layout, 
• the function of the fleets, 
• naval bases, 
• the geopolitics of blue-water powers.   

My latest reading on the subject is Matthew King, The Norman Kingdom of Africa and the Medieval Mediterranean. (THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, 2018). This dissertation has enriched my  understanding of the geopolitical vision of the kingdom of Sicily, especially Roger II, who expanded his territory to include south Italy and Ifriqiya, a coastal strip in North Africa. He aimed to control east-west traffic in the central Mediterranean, i.e., the strait of Messina and the Sicilian Channel, by making Sicilian ports obligatory stopovers for shipping. 

I have attracted many readers to my latest contributions to the Academia site though my aim, to reach 10 K views, is still not at a corner. I plan to attain this goal throughout next year. 

https://www.academia.edu/84142155/The_Fifth_Crusade_or_Waiting_for_the_Train_that_Would_never_Come

https://www.academia.edu/85954261/The_Scourge_of_God

Other papers are available https://independent.academia.edu/BaizermanMichael

Light Galleys (1)

 The following is an update of my work on a new chapter. 

Due to all sorts of distractions, I continue assessing the data on light galleys. The good news is that I will finish the evaluation soon. I skip the material concerning other matters and concentrate all my findings in a single file for further consideration. I also decided to make an exclusive vocabulary in this chapter to facilitate possible corrections. 

I still have reservations about the scope of the material. Most of the things I collect cite the same facts in a new manner. I will decide later which version is preferable or will make a mix. I may save some of these repetitions for the concluding section of my paper. I will also reduce citations. Sometimes, I can paraphrase the idea since the original one is not so bright (at least, in English translation). In other cases, I will look for an original citation instead of citing secondary sources. 

At this stage, I also check the value of some facts. For example, several medieval authors mention binding galleys with cables as a guarantee of a strict battle formation. It seems unbelievable since in confined spaces, where most naval battles occurred, this measure would lead to a lack of maneuverability, with some oared ships running aground and others colliding. The galley flexibility was one of its main advantages, and fleet commanders must have realized it. 

Another topic I concentrate on is  using ports as supply stations and shelters. Galleys depended on ports because of their limited operational ranges. The East Roman Empire held sway on large parts of the Mediterranean as long as it had naval bases on the islands and coastlines. The rise of the Arab fleets led to the seizure of the major islands, which they used as refueling stations in raiding the European shores. Then, the Crusaders captured the Levantine littoral, depriving the Fatimid navy of the freedom of action and exposing Egyptian waterfront to harassments.

Similar tactics define the engagement of the fleets during Genoese-Venetian wars, Ottoman-Venetian wars, and the struggle to control North African outposts between Spain and the Porte. 

Light Galleys

 I began to estimate the collected material on light galleys, the ultimate warships of the medieval Mediterranean.

In truth, many articles I picked concern other subjects, and I will retain them for the future. There are a lot of corrections and additional notes; some of them refer to Chapter 1. The previous chapter studies the main differences between galleys and round ships. While reading each file, I write "bits and pieces," even on familiar topics. That allows me to reconsider some paragraphs and add valuable data. I watch the growth of additional branches of the main issue and sometimes research them to realize if I can propose new developments to my storyline.  

I am a little worried about the scope of my project. Chapter 1, designed as an introduction, grew very large, whereas Chapter 2 appears to be enormous. I wonder what I will do with this monster to make it readable. I can relentlessly cut the material, though I will lose essential facts. 

I hope that I will convey the essence of my research. 

As for the latest contributions, I have understood Latin shipwrights' role in improving the twelfth-century galley design. They added an outrigger, a rowers' frame superimposed on the deck. It enabled them to place two rowers on the same bench. These paddlers practiced stand-and-sit strokes, which improved the craft's speed. The new arrangement released much space in the hull for stowing armament, victuals, water, and spare parts. 

I have to share with you a sample of my recent reading. Jeff Emanuel contributed to the book on the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean. 

https://www.academia.edu/40197955/Seafaring_and_Shipwreck_Archaeology_pp_423_433_in_the_Oxford_Handbook_of_the_Phoenician_and_Punic_Mediterranean_2019

The chapter connects Phoenician seafaring with the Canaanite maritime traditions. The Canaanites apparently introduced pegged mortice and tenon joints in their shell-first construction. Another innovation was the loose-footed sail and brailed rig, which enabled the sailors to modify the sail configuration according to weather vagaries.