224 Chapter 12
defensive works until the nineteenth century. Walls
were lowered and thickened to widths of forty feet or
more. Bastions became wedge-shaped and were laid out
geometrically so that every section of wall could be
covered by the defender’s guns. The works were then
surrounded by a broad, steep-sided ditch that was usu-
ally faced with brick or stone.
The cost was enormous. The guns were expensive
and required large numbers of skilled men and draft an-
imals to maneuver. The new fortifications required less
skill to construct than their medieval predecessors, but
their scale was far larger and their expense proportion-
ately high. The development of artillery had increased
the already heavy burden of warfare on states and sub-
jects alike.
The development of navies, though not taking
place in earnest until the sixteenth century, was des-
tined to have a similar effect. It rested upon changes in
shipbuilding that by the fifteenth century had created
vessels capable of crossing an ocean or using artillery in
a ship-to-ship duel. The new ships were the result of a
hybrid cross between two traditions of shipbuilding—
the Mediterranean and the north European. The ships
changed the world as few innovations have done before
or since.
The dominant ship types in the medieval Mediter-
ranean were the galley and the round ship. The galley
was intended primarily for war. Long, narrow, and light,
its chief virtues were speed and maneuverabilty inde-
pendent of the wind. However, it was too fragile for use
in the open Atlantic or for extended use in its home wa-
ters between October and May. It also lacked carrying
capacity, and this, together with its high manpower re-
quirements, limited its usefulness. Though galleys were
sometimes used for commerce, especially by the Vene-
tians, the preeminent Mediterranean cargo carrier was
the round ship. As its name implies, it was double-
ended and broad of beam with a high freeboard.
Steered like a galley by side rudders located near the
stern, it normally carried a two-masted rig with triangu-
lar lateen sails (see illustration 12.4). The round ship
was not fast or graceful, but it was safe, roomy, and
thanks to its high freeboard, relatively easy to defend
against boarders. Its carvel type construction was typi-
cally Mediterranean. The hull planking was nailed or
pegged edge on edge to a skeleton frame and then
caulked to create a water-tight, non-load-bearing hull.
The ships of northern Europe were different. Most
were clinker-built like the old Viking longships with
overlapping planks fastened to each other by nails or
rivets. Their variety was almost infinite. By the middle
of the thirteenth century, the cog had emerged as the
preferred choice for long voyages over open water. Of
Baltic origin, the cog was as high and beamy as the
roundship. A long, straight keel and sternpost rudder
made it different from and more controllable than its
Mediterranean counterpart. The Genoese, in ships de-llustration 12.4
The Evolution of Medieval Ship Types.These two ship
models represent the best current thinking on the appearance and
construction of medieval ships. (A) is a medieval round ship with
a lateen sail and steering oars of the type used to carry crusaders.
(B) is a model of the Mary Rose,Henry VIII’s “great ship” that cap-
sized in 1545. It may be regarded as an early galleon. Note the
gunports.AB