Pioneering the Atlantic Route

 The full name of my future article is "Pioneering the Atlantic Route: The Genoese Vessels Paving the Way to the North Sea." 

This manuscript provides a detailed examination of the shift from overland trade to the North Atlantic maritime route, highlighting the agency of Genoese entrepreneurs and the technological evolution of the Mediterranean Cog.

While preparing this account, I received unexpected aid from two sources. 

Academia introduced an option called CiteRight, which marked my controversial claims and suggested a closer look on additional literature. This advice helped me rewrite my essay in a more nuanced way.

Additionally, I submitted my updated opus for consideration by Jenni.AI, a new reference site for researchers, and received volumes of friendly critique. It is very important for me to study new suggestions before re-editing my article, though I don't accept some of their suggestions at face value.

The first issue is the sunset of the Champagne Fairs in the first decades of the Trecento (1300-1399). Jenny.AI sees the main reason in decentralized financial innovations in Bruges, which made Champagne techniques obsolete. I claim it was one of the reasons; however I can't ignore the xenophobic politics of the French kings that led to the fairs deterioration. 

The second issue is the Mediterranean cog. Jenny.AI points to a ttransition from shell-first to frame-based ship construction as one of the primary features, forgetting that by the early Trecento this tradition was firmly embedded in ship construction in the Middle Sea (for several centuries already). Southern shipwrights borrowed other features from their northern counterparts, such as the square rig and the stern rudder. 

Jenny. AI wants me to reconsider the Genoese Black Sea monopolies as the necessary engine for the vertical commodity chain described in the Atlantic shift. I have to re-examine what I wrote about the Genoese monopoly on Anatolian alum, but this mineral could be distributed through continental (i.e., overland) or mixed overland and maritime chains). I reckon the Atlantic route as a supplementry channel and emphasize the insecurity of land routes between the 1290s and further, culminating in the Hundred Years' War between England and France (which also interfered with sea trade). 

Jenny.AI wants me to add a Discussion or Conclusion section as if I wrote a scientific paper. However, I am a writer researching scientific issues. I can endorse a certain platform but see no point in arguing against other explanations. Besides, my paper is part of a unit, and I will probably conclude in the end. 

I am currently reworking the next paper, titled "The Venetian Response: The Inauguration of the Great Galley." 

 

The Flanders Galleys (3)

 As I extend my research, I begin to understand the scope of my task, which exceeds the size of a short article. I decided to divide my essay into working blocks. 

The outline of the first block:

1. Uncorking the Atlantic route

2. The Venetian response

a. Propulsion

b. Speed

3. Safety and security

a. General

b. Safety

c. Security

The first topic focuses on the Genoese merchants' response to an unfriendly reception in France on their way to the Champagne Fairs and their search for an alternative route, which led them to Bruges. Initially run by light galleys, the Flanders line soon switched to round ships. The shipbuilders designed a new type, the three-masted Mediterranean cog, which combined the construction traditions of North and South Europe, to transport bulky commodities. 

The Venetians responded to the launch of a new route by designing a great galley, a hybrid craft that could serve both as a warship and a cargo vessel. The boat could sail in all seasons but could not withstand adverse winds, which often kept the crews penned in the harbor. 

To compete with round ships, such as the Mediterranean cog, the constructors of the great galley occasionally experimented with mixed rigging, i.e., hung square sails together with fore-and-aft sails. 

The renowned speed of the great galley is a controversial issue. First of all, the voyage under favorable winds took much less time than traveling against opposing air currents. Then, one has to take into account frequent breaks due to bad weather and provisioning (to say nothing of stops for trade) in addition to pure traveling time. 

I am still developing the section on safety and security, i.e., seaworthiness, safety regulations, arms, and armor. The last topic will cover naval artillery on board the great galleys. 

The Flanders Galleys (2)

Henri Sbonski de Passebon, 1690. A colorised engraving of a French galley

from the early 17th century

I have not posted any updates since the first stage of the new research has been, as always, dull and unimaginative, focusing on learning basic facts. 

However, a few days ago, I moved to a new stage, where I develop data and find evidence. I have even written the outline of the future article, though it may change a lot. 

Anyway, I have started asking research questions and supplying the answers. 

What made a great galley a specialized vessel?

What were the dimensions and cargo capacity of a great galley in the sixteenth century?

What do we know about the safety and security of the great galleys?

My sources are:

Lionel Casson, Merchant Galleys. In Robert Gardiner, The Age of the Galley. (Edison: Chartwell Books Inc., 2000)

 Renard Gluzman, Wrecked, Captured or Destroyed: The Challenge to Ensure Adequate Protection at Sea in the Sixteenth Century. In: Ermanno Orlando e Gherardo Ortalli (eds.), Dimensioni istituzionali del Commonwealth veneziano (secoli XIV-XVII), 2024

John E. Dotson, Safety regulations for galleys in mid-fourteenth-century Genoa: Some thoughts on medieval risk management. Journal of Medieval History 20 (1994)

 Claire Judde de Larivière, Naviguer, commercer, gouverner. (Leiden: Brill, 2008)

Renard Gluzman, Venetian Shipping From the Days of Glory to Decline, 1453–1571. (Leiden: Brill,2021)

My research will take a long time, but now I know that I can analyse the sources and reach conclusions.  

The Flanders Galleys (1)

 Hello, my readers and listeners!

   First, thank you for reading this blog. I have never dreamed of reaching almost 36 K viewers. Your silent support encourages me to continue my research. It still focuses on the seafaring of galleys in medieval Mediterranean, though it might be the last chapter in this section.

   I am currently developing the Venetian maritime trade archive, with the emphasis on the Galleys of Flanders. I guess the future article will cover the Florentine galleys as well. Also, in addition to Flanders, I will present English destinations. I may show the differences in Venetian, Florentine, and Genoese seafaring along the Atlantic line.

   I want to elaborate on the final voyages and explain how and why the galley service became a burden for maritime republics. Additionally, I will comment on the pirate activities in the Atlantic, especially in the fifteenth century. I will use English, French, and Italian sources to create a more nuanced picture of seafaring. 

   The sixth Zoom lecture on medieval battles is ready and will be delivered on February 6 for my Russian audience. You can read it in the original on my Academia page:

   https://www.academia.edu/130330389/The_Battle_of_Meloria_August_6_1284_

Deutsches Historisches Museum