162 ruthy gertwagen
known as the uscerius/uxerius (from the Arabic ‘ushārı̄) and, by the thirteenth century,
under the name tarida. The freeing up of the holds by removing oarsmen from below
deck must have given western vessels a greater carrying capacity (30–40 horses) than
Byzantine ones, which could carry only 12. Like the Byzantine horse transporters,
they had ports, sealed when at sea, and ramps at the stern for embarking and disem-
barking horses. They were, however, an improved version, not only in hold capacity
but also in airing the much larger number of animals, either by enabling the quarter
ports to be opened when beaching en route, or by some form of forced ventilation
into the holds. From the time of the Third Crusade, this innovation contributed to
the revolution in the transportation of Crusaders and their horses over the long dis-
tances from Europe to the Levant (Pryor, 2006: 289–290).
Until the introduction of the galleys for horse transport, sailing ships under the
name naves (singular: navis) were used for this purpose, pioneered by the Venetians
in their expedition of 1123. Like the taride they had hatches to allow airing the
horses. This means that sailing ships grew in size compared to those of the eleventh
century. Whereas the Serçe Limanı wreck displays an opened ship without forecastle
or stern castle (corresponding to contemporary iconography), images from the late
twelfth century show ships with forecastles and stern castles, two masts and more than
one deck (Pryor, 1994: 67–70).
These data point to the importance of the logistical needs of Crusaders for the
long-distance transport of supplies and large armies, including horses, as a major
incentive to increase sailing vessels’ size. Economic factors were, however, comparably
important. By the twelfth century, Europeans could pay in cash or with industrial
products for Asian “spices” and eastern Mediterranean bulk commodities. The estab-
lishment of the Crusader Kingdom in 1099 provided the West with new markets and
with free access to the holy places that stimulated an increase in pilgrimage that used
these vessels. From the twelfth century the economies of various regions of the
Mediterranean, including the Byzantine and Muslim worlds, began to coalesce, creat-
ing an international market. All these led sailing ships to reach their maximum size in
the thirteenth century. By the late-thirteenth century, two mosaics from San Marco
show the first depiction of three-masted ships (Pryor, 1994: 70).
Did changes in hull-form and size of ships between the eleventh and twelfth cen-
turies lead to differences in performance? Not necessarily. Historical records show
that sailing times against prevailing winds, quite normal when returning to Europe
from the south-eastern Mediterranean or when following or side winds veered, took
both naves and great merchant galleys at least twice as long as with following winds.
The reason for this bad upwind performance was their rounded hull configuration.
There was nothing to prevent excessive leeway being made when beating into the
winds. Likewise with the taride and the great fifteenth-century Venetian pilgrim gal-
leys, as Pietro Casola’s graphic description of his experience against strong and stormy
contrary winds during his home voyage in 1483 makes clear (Pryor, 1994: 73–74;
Newett, 1907: 292, 296, 299). It has also been argued that the limited capabilities of
these ships caused them largely to avoid squally, unpredictable winter weather. Thus
ships stayed in port from the end of October to the beginning of March. At Pisa,
twelfth-century city statutes forbade a master who brought his ship into port from
leaving until the first of March. The common belief is that the real motive behind the
closure of the port was fear of rain or fog that prevented astronomical navigation. This