Chapter 2 (headpiece)
Chapter 2 (headpiece)
Drop cap, H
Het varen met weynig volk, het nauw en zober behelpen in leeftocht en ons ingeboren zindelijkheid, die de schepen langdurend macht, doet den Nederlantschen scheepvaart bloeyen, en niet het scheepsfatzoen.
NICOLASWITSEN, 1671.[4]
These remarkable words are characteristic and show that something else than the determined forms of ships is necessary to make a people prosperous and great. If this were not so, our types of vessels, says Witsen, would have been copied immediately by other nations.
Sobriety and cleanliness are two capital virtues of the Dutch race, but, beside these virtues, our ancestors possessed one other important quality: they were builders of economical ships and our present builders have preserved this quality.
Let us hope, with full confidence, that this will always be so in the future.
Witsen maintained—and this fact acquires a certain significance if it be compared with what goes before—that foreigners who have come to Holland to learn our art of shipbuilding, could not after returning home, imitate our processes. I am not surprised, therefore, to see these foreigners write that they could not use our architecture or our measures.
Many a ship, says the author mentioned, has been analyzed and measured abroad, but never has it been imitated; nor have our builders ever harvested any praise for their work.
What Witsen then says about the English is quite characteristic: “In deze braveeren zy (de Engelschen) opentlyk allen Landaert en wanen niemant huns gelyk in deze konst te hebben”[5]. He imputes this unfavorable judgment on the Dutch to the fact, that nothing relating to naval architecture has ever been published in the Netherlands. It will be seen, further on, that, as a matter of fact, people abroad hold another opinion.
Data, which may not be doubted, teach us that, even in the highest antiquity, the peoples living on the shores of the Mediterranean were acquainted with navigation. Again, at the present time, the most savage, the least civilized nations, settled by the banks of rivers, had their boats, however primitive their forms may have been. Several ancient ships were exhumed in Northern Europe during the second half of the last century. It may be concluded from this that the people who lived near the water were familiar with navigation from the earliest times.
Moreover, it is evident that the long, narrow “canoe” obtained from the hollowed out trunk of a tree was the oldest form of boat. The pole, which was the primitive mode of propulsion, was soon replaced by the paddle and the oar.
Man, by nature, seeks his ease; hence there is no cause for astonishment that he should from the beginning have called the wind to assist him in moving over the water. This accessory means soon became the principal agent of propulsion.
The oldest inhabitants of the Netherlands were acquainted with navigation, long before the Roman domination, and it is to be supposed that they could only have reached the various points of their territory by water.
Cæsar tells us (HOLMES, p. 52) that the Britains used very light vessels composed of a frame of linden branches covered with skins. On the other hand, Pope Marcellinus (A. D. 293-304) relates to what an extent the Saxons were to be feared because of their agility and adds that their boats were made of buffalo skins stretched tight over flexible wood.
By the side of the long vessels with oars, there must have existed very soon broader and less swift boats. These boats were propelledby sails and finally they wholly displaced the ships with oars.
Nothing concerning these primitive boats has been preserved.
It is well known that the oldest inhabitants of our country came from the East. They, doubtless, were acquainted with the art of shipbuilding and they must have adapted their types to the necessities forced upon them by the state of the navigable highways of our low-lying lands.
It can be assumed that the cradle of the naval architecture of the Netherlands was in the Baltic Sea. So, let us turn our eyes first in that direction where, from the most distant times, the art of shipbuilding must have reached a high degree of perfection. This follows not only from the vessels of the time of the Vikings which have been found, but also from the researches made in late years. These researches have authorized the conclusion that, even in ancient times, the peoples of the North seem to have crossed the North Sea. The Swedish archeologist Montelius even assumes that there were already continuous relations between the West coast of Sweden and the East coast of England at the close of the age of stone.
Long before the expeditions, properly so called, made toward the South by the Vikings, the latter crossed the sea, and it is settled beyond question that they were given to navigation at the beginning of our era. Tacitus speaks of the powerful fleets of the Swedes which, in his time, did not use sails but only oars. The author of the workVesterlandenes indflyelse poa Nordboenes og saerlig Nordmaennenes ydze kulture leveesat og simfundfs Jorhold i Vickingetidenaf ALEXANDERBUGGE[6]1905, seems authorized, under these conditions, in saying that the navigation of the North owes its origin to the Suevi and the Goths settled on the shores of the Baltic, whence it passed later to the Norsemen and the Danes. It may also be added, we believe, that the same was the case with regard to the Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium and a part of the North of France.
The celebrated German philologist and archeologist, Professor H. Zimmer, supposes that the Norsemen visited the Shetland Islands between the years 590 and 644. This supposition has been confirmed by the researches of Dr. Jacob Jacobsen, who lived for a long time in these islands in order to study there the Norse names of the villages and to pick up still other traces of the Norse language. This savant also concluded that the Norsemen must have already visited the Shetland Islands about the year 700.
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If these facts be compared with what used to be done on the Mediterranean, where the endeavor was always made to land at night, it is impossible to repress a sentiment of admiration for the Norsemen who crossed the sea fearlessly as far as Iceland and Greenland. Their naval architecture must even then have reached an extraordinary degree of perfection, full proof of which is found in the construction of the superb ships “Oxberg” and “Gokstad”, found in the neighborhood of Sandefijord (Christiania Museum of Antiquities).
Hence it is scarcely probable that the peoples of the North should have learned anything at all about shipbuilding during their expeditions across Western Europe. On the contrary, this part of Europe, including the Netherlands, must have borrowed the art of shipbuilding from them. It was also only very much later that a navy and fleet were spoken of in England. (See HOLMES,Ancient and Modern Ships, 1900.)
Afterwards, the Norsemen extended their excursions more and more toward the South; they settled in Normandy and took possession of England. It was in the course of these expeditions that they became acquainted with the naval architecture of the Mediterranean. It is needless to say that they must then have appreciated the perfection which the latter had reached. Furthermore their interest demanded it. They borrowed, in particular from the nations of Southern Europe the anchor which these, in their turn, had learned from the Greeks. The Norse word “akkeri”, which meansanchor, seems to be borrowed from the Anglo-Saxon “ancor” which owes its origin to the Latin word “ancora”. The word “forkr”, meaning a boathook, is also of foreign origin; it comes from the Anglo-Saxon “forca” and from the Latin “furca”.
The types of the Norse vessels have, however, not been changed as the result of contact with the South. The extraordinary life of the Vikings and their continual piracies justify the conclusion that the merchant ship was not improved among them, but rather among the peoples engaged in a more regular trade. There is really,in my opinion, no cause for astonishment that this development should have taken place in the North-Western part of Europe. There are some even who claim that the vessel “busse”, generally in use during the Middle Ages, came to us from Normandy and dates from the beginning of the XIth century. In order to support this claim, they take their stand on the fact that the word “busse” appears first at about this time in the Chronicles.
J. Steenslup has called attention to a people of seamen called the “Butsecarlas” (mentioned in the old Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of the year 1066 and in the book of Florent Wigorniensis, dating from 1052), who occupied the coasts of Hasting and Yorkshire. This writer also calls attention to the second part of the word, which belongs to the Norse tongue, while the word “buza” occurs frequently in the Old Norse and the Old Swedish, near the XIIIth century, and means a boat of sharply curved form. This word, however, is of Romana origin: it corresponds, so it said, to the Old Frenchbuseorbuce(dating from about 1080); hence it is considered that the vessel “buce” is originally from Normandy.
This, however, does not seem to be so sure. It has been shown, as a matter of fact, that the same shapes of ships have been preserved for ages even though under other names.
The fact that the wordbuseis used for the first time about the year 1050 is, therefore, no proof that the type of vessel in question only appeared at this time. I am rather inclined to think that the type under consideration was already in existence, but that it was namedbuseorbuzein Normandy only toward 1050 and, probably, after having undergone a few unimportant changes.
Shipbuilding was imported from the Baltic into the Netherlands by the most ancient inhabitants of this country, the Frisians and the Saxons, who then developed it aside from any foreign influence.
In this respect, the quotation from Witsen, which appears on page 47 of his well known work, becomes really important:De Vriezen komt de lof toe van de herstelde scheepsbouw in Nederland, zoo de meeste schryvers willen[7]. The question is, indeed, that of a development of its own in the North-Western part of Europe; the special and identical forms, still found to-day, to a great extent, from Denmark to Belgium, are sufficient proof of the fact.
This is why the Baltic may be spoken of broadly as the Northern centre, in opposition to the Mediterranean Sea as the Southern centre. The development of shipbuilding had this Northern centre as its starting point and finally reached its highest mark in the Netherlands. France and England came later.
The art of shipbuilding spread gradually through the Netherlands, which continued to go forward until the time when France dominated all by the continental blockade.
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Let us return now to the types of ships. It has been said, that several boats of the Vikings have been found. One, especially, was discovered at Haugen in 1867, and another at Gokstad in 1880. Before that, in 1865, three had already been found in Jutland three specimens which seemed to date from the Vth century. The largest of these was 70 feet long.
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A Viking vessel was also discovered at Charbuw, near Pommeren. The last discovery was made in the suburbs of Oxenberg, near Christianiafjord, Norway, in 1904.
All these boats are for oars; still sails could be used, they being attached to the mast put up in the centre of the vessel. Considering their beam, these ships are not so long as the vessels for oars of the Mediterranean; in fact, their breadth is to their length as 1:5. They are full near the middle and become narrower at the bow and stern. The stem and the sternpost, which are both curved, rise very high above the water. An oar attached to the stern was used as a rudder.
Their construction differed also from that of the Mediterranean vessels; here, only ships having smooth sides are met with, whereas the Viking boats are clinker built.
The “Gokstad” is one of the most beautiful specimens of this type. HOLMEShas described it in detail, in his fine workAncient and Modern Ships, pp. 55et seq.This vessel is 77 feet and 11 inches long, 16 feet and 7 inches broad and 5 feet and 9 inches deep; it is also clinker built and rivetted.
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Turning now toward Norway, let the fishing boats still in use there to-day be considered; the resemblance of these boats to the Viking ship will be found striking both in shape and structure. It is this which makes HOLMESsay (p. 60): “Suchan instance of persistency in type is without parallel in the history of shipbuilding”.
It has been seen that this fact occurs not only in Norway but among all nations. There is nothing to cause astonishment in again finding the most ancient models in fishing boats. No class is more conservative than are fishermen, who build their barks as their forefathers did and on whom necessity alone can force new forms.
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Aside from the specimens discovered in the North, little is left of the oldest types of ships. There is nothing left of them save a few vague descriptions and imperfect reproductions. In this order of ideas, the coat of arms of the city of Amsterdam is the best known document which the Netherlands supplies. WITSEN’s work contains, on page 362, several reproductions of these arms dating from different epochs.
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HOLMESreproduces, besides, the ships which figure on an old Bayeux tapestry (1066), as well as the “Sandwich Seal” of 1238, the “Dover Seal” of 1284 and the “Pool Seal” of 1325 (pp. 67 and 68). These three seals agree with the oldest of the arms of Amsterdam and the ship which they carry is, in every respect, similar to that of the said city. Too much importance cannot be attached, however, to this detail, because, just as the lion of heraldry is very little like a real lion, it is to be supposed that the heraldic ship is not a faithful reproduction of the real type.
The old illustrated Bible of 1200-1220, preserved in the Royal Library of The Hague, and which seems to have come from Northern France, contains also a remarkable reproduction; the type of boat which it gives is also like the preceding ones.
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The identity of all these figures allows it to be supposed that a single type of ship ruled in Western Europe; while the clearly pointed out timbers of the planking shows clinker built work.
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The reproduction of the Bayeux tapestry shows, besides, that the sail was very early in use; the pilot of one of the ships shown there holds the sheet in his hand. Besides—and this fact is worthy of notice—these vessels all have sensibly vertical stems and sternposts, just as they are still found in our times on a few Norwegian fishing boats.
The “cog”, the vessel in the arms of Amsterdam, is a very well known mediæval type, of which the importance becomes marked in Western and Central Europe from and after the XIIIth century, when the Hanse towns and the Frisians improved it greatly.
This ship, which was very broad for its length, was hard to board, whence its usefulness in time of war.
The “cog” seems to date back further than the institution of the Hanseatic league (1250) judging by the fact that its name was known well before this date. Thus, the inhabitants of the Netherlands had to equip several cogs wherewith to fight the invasions of the Norsemen (810-1010). It was the application of the feudal system to navigation. (See LACROIX, p. 88.) It is known that this policy was finally established under Charlemagne who subjugated the Frisians in 785 and the Saxons in 804. (Mr. J. C.DEJONGE,History of the Navy of the Netherlands, Vol. 1, p. 6.)
It is needless to say that everything was soon put to work to escape it. A charter of the Roman King Otho I (936-973) calls for a tenth of a “cog” (Kogschult) of which the product came to the bishop of Utrecht. It was the commutation for the obligation to serve the prince with cogs. This obligation seems, in principle, to have struck more especially the countries lying along the present Zuyder Zee. (Mr.DEJONGE, Vol. I, p. 7.)
The “cog” only appears for the first time in Germany in 1211, when the Emperor Otho IV allowed the inhabitants of Wismar to maintain two “cogs” (Cogken), and as many small vessels as they desired.
There are some who claim that the word cog, “Kuggr” in old Norse, comes from the Italian “cocca”, the Spanish “coca” or the old French “coche” and, consequently, they believe that the word is of Romance origin. This does not seem likely; the “cog” is a type of vessel copied from the old Viking boat and adapted to the special conditions of the navigable highways in the low lands of the North-West of Europe. Hence it was robust and full to facilitate grounding.
In reality, the “cog” was unknown in the Mediterranean; this follows from what the Florentine historian Villani relates in connection with the battle of Zierikzee. If this vessel had beena Mediterranean type, the author would not have directed especial attention to this form of ship. Hence the “cog” really belongs to Northern Europe and owes its perfecting to the Frisians and most of all to the Flemings.
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The “cog” was generally in use in the XIIIth century and it may be assumed that the Norsemen already knew it in the time of the Vikings. Unfortunately, very little concerning it has come down to us. The oldest reproductions which we possess are those of the seals of Amsterdam and Harderwijk. But the ship which figures in the arms of the former city has undergone many changes in the course of the ages. Witsen says that it is an ill drawn figure and he imputes this defective work to the ignorance of the engravers. (WITSEN, p. 363.)
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The arms of Harderwijk agree with those of Damme (JAL,Gloss. nautique, p. 1051); there is no doubt that the two seals show the same ship (the only difference being that the Damme boat carries two towers). If then the Harderwijk ship represents a “cog”, as is claimed by WITSEN(p. 364, 2d column), the same must be the case with the one of Damme.
In so far as the Amsterdam seals are concerned, Witsen further remarks, that the oldest could not date before the year 1200, as Amsterdam did not rank as a city before that time. He adds that it is clearly seen from these arms “hoe het met de bouwery der Kogschepen oulinx heeft gestaen en hoe haer gestalte steeds is veranderd met den tyt, gelyck men ook hedens-daegs (dus ten tyde van dien schryver) de gestalten der schepen steeds verandern ziet” (bl. 364.)[8].
The cogs were clinker built.
Most of the reproductions show only a rounded bow. It can therefore be deduced that the boat which appears in the arms of Harderwijk is a variation of the ordinary “cog”. It should be noticed that all the old types of Dutch ships show, like the “cog”, a slightly rounded bow with no beak.
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Although the old Flemish engravings of the XVth century show different types of ships, it is to be remarked that none of these latter is called a “cog”. Still all these engravings show thick-set boats, with a rounded bow, which must certainly have been derived from the “cogs” which have been scarcely changed.
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There is even a reproduction which dates from the beginning of the XVIth century and which shows a Zeeland “cog”. The bow and stern seem there to be identical in shape; it is to be assumed however, judging by the position of the mast which is at about one-third the length of the ship abaft the stem, that the bow was fuller than the stern. The stem is curved as is also the sternpost; the tiller passes through astatie[9]. The mast rakes a great deal, as was required by the use of the old sprits; the vessel is also provided with lee-boards.
The reproduction does not show clearly whether the hull is clinker built. It is very possible that the sides were carvel built, because this style of work was already in use at that time. The boat has no “arcasse”[10]; the hold is covered with convex hatch covers.
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This Zeeland “cog” is derived, doubtless, from the primitive “cog”. Let us suppose this vessel as having a little fuller ends; as having the mast in the middle; as having a steering oar instead of a rudder; the lee-boards suppressed and a clinker-built hull; we shall have an idea of the “cog”. This being so, the cause of the existence of our “bom” becomes more important; this latter boat, as is well known, has been greatly enlarged during the past century and has gained fullness at the ends so as to increase its capacity. This is noticeable when the bow of a “bom” is compared with that of the boat used for catching shrimps. This latter has still the old rounded forms and is not so wide in proportion to its length.
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Let us suppose then that the “bom” is less square at its ends, higher at bow and stern, that is to say: having a little more sheer, like the boats of former times; there will be had avessel which, with its clinker built sides, will differ little from the old “cog”, still met with as a rarity in our fleet of fishing boats.
Changed in this way, the “bom” no longer differs so much from the “Egmonderpink” reproduced and described by WITSEN(p. 168); it might even be concluded that it descends therefrom. It can be understood from this how it is, even in our days, that the “bommen” are often called “pinken”.
Thus a picture, in the town Museum of The Hague, shows the beach at Schevening covered, not with “bommen” but with “Egmonderpinken”.
This subject will be taken up again in speaking of fishing boats.
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The shrimp fishing boats have been less changed; consequently, aside from thecounterwhich was added later, they differed less from the “Egmonderpink” which, finally, are found again almost complete in the Ostend fishing boats, as LELONGhas pointed out in hisEncyclopedia of Naval Architecture, p. 17.
The “bommen” were still able in the XIXth century to render good service as coast guards. There is nothing to prove that they existed in Witsen’s time; the contrary is more likely, as this author does not mention them. He merely says that, beside the “Egmonderpinken”, other and much smaller fishing boats were seen on the beach and that they carried only fore and aft sails. If these boats had differed much in shape from the “pinken”, it is to be believed that mention of the fact would have been made. (See WITSEN, p. 168, 2d column.)
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The artist who reproduced the Zeeland “cog” has left also the drawing of a “Doghboot” which also came from Zeeland (WITSEN, p. 170, 2d col.) and which resembled very much this “cog”. The stem is a little longer, the “statie” is not closed and the vessel has no convex hatch covers. The rig only differs entirely from that of the “pink” and everything leads to the belief that this kind of boat came from the South.
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The same artist gives a figure of a “Heude” or “Heu” from Brabant, which might be called a small Zeeland “cog”. Still, there appear to have been larger “Heudes”, judging by the Brussels “Heu” which was a vessel carrying two pieces of artillery, but of which the reproduction does not give the means for determining the shape of the ship.
It will be well to note here that great circumspection should be used in the matter of these different names adopted to designate such or such vessel. These names have been the cause of much confusion, an example of which is offered by the famous discussion which took place at Groningen, in 1902-1903, as to the question of knowing what a “pram” was.
The crusades, which began in 1096, contributed largely toward perfecting the ship. It was the same with the invention of the compass in the first half of the XIIIth century (HOLMES, p. 66). Commerce and navigation rose higher and higher. Already in the course of the XIIIth century, Damme became the ware house of Northern Europe. Italy, Spain and France brought their products there.
The old maritime customs of Damme served later as the basis of maritime law in Holland, Northern Germany (M. KOENEN, p. 50), Sweden and Denmark.
The XIIIth century saw commercial treaties concluded with the Hanseatic cities and, in 1252, tariffs were fixed (M. KOENEN). “Losbogen, scharpoise, eenvaren” (boats with high sides) and “hekbooten” are in question in these tariffs; and these names are also found in an act made between the Lords of Kuyck and of Dordrecht to settle a difficulty concerning the city duties at the former of these towns.
Among the “losbogen”, are found the boats which were unloaded at the bow or “booge”, as is still done with vessels which carry wood.
The boats used on the Scarp, a tributary of the Scheldt, are placed among the “scharpoises or exarpoises”.
The “eenvaren” were boats handled by a single boatman, and the “hekbooten” were boats which had a square stern.
These few denominations suffice to prove that, even at so early a period, there were different kinds of boats and that alongside of the “cog” there were other vessels of smaller size.
In the beginning, the “cog” was guided by oars, as were other ships; this method was abandoned gradually in the XIIIth century and the steering oar gave place to the rudder.
It is not possible to determine, for Holland, the time when this change occurred; the various coats of arms of Amsterdam can throw no light on this subject. The ship, on many of them, has no rudder, symbolical, doubtless of the fact that people could sail for all parts of the globe (WITSEN, p. 634), and that vessels started from Amsterdam bound to all the countries upon earth.
It is to be assumed, nevertheless, that it was also in the XIIIth century that the rudder was introduced into Holland. Some persons have tried to make out that there was a certain connection between the adoption of the compass and that of the rudder; this latter became forced, they say, when, thanks to the compass, more and more distant expeditions could be undertaken.
For my part, I do not think that there can be the slightest connection between the two events; the Norsemen, in fact, crossed the North Sea before the rudder was known.
The oldest reproductions of the “cog”, however primitive they may be, have a mast with the sails and rigging of the boat at the centre. I know of no reproduction showing oars. Hence it can be deduced that the sails and rigging formed the main outfit and that the oars, of which the number, even on the largest “cogs”, was limited to a maximum of 32, or 16 on each side, were used only in calm weather. This is what is done at the present time for vessels of less importance, such as the “hoys”.
Hence the oars were only an accessory, the reverse of what was seen for the galleys, where the oars were the main feature and the sails and rigging were secondary. That is why, contrary to what is seen for the “cog”, no reproduction of a galley without oars has been met with.
It is therefore wrong that the name of galleys should be given sometimes to “cogs”. The former were never implanted in the Netherlands, Mr. de Jonge has already pointed out the inaccuracy of the passage of the Annexes ofWagenaar, vol. 3, p. 50, where that author relates that the eleven hundred ships sent against Antwerp by Count William III were almost exclusively galleys.
However, there is a question of galleys in the history of the Netherlands; but it is not a question of the Mediterranean type. Their number was limited and they were used only on rivers.
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An engraving which dates from about the year 1600, and shows the Scheldt in front of Antwerp, as well as a view of Gouda, shows boats of this kind.
These galleys were only large rowboats, a little longer than the ordinary ones (DEJONGE, Vol. I, p. 80) and carried only 32 oars at the most. The largest Netherlands galley belonged to the guard of Amsterdam and was called the Terror of the Zuyder zee. Those which were used in naval battles come from the South.
Any one who knows the national character of the Dutch will not be astonished at seeing that the galley had no success in Holland. The trade of the galley slave was considered too vile and no volunteer rowers were to be found; furthermore slavery did not exist and serfdom had been early suppressed. (WITSEN, p. 194, col. 1.)
However, the cogs did not confine themselves to the simple forms which have been sketched. The constant wars, which brought out the fortified castles of the Middle Ages, soon led to the construction on the sea of structures of the same sort, and gradually there were seen to develope among us also the towers which arose at the bow and stern of the ships. The seals of Amsterdam give a striking illustration of this.
Military tactics were not without their influence on this way of building vessels. The crusades and the subsequent relations with the peoples of the Mediterranean, among whom the practice of castles was known, made us familiar with these superelevated constructions. If, in a first encounter, the enemy’s vessel could not be sunk, it was boarded so as to bring about a hand to hand fight. The conqueror was then he who had at hand the most robust ships and who could place himself sufficiently high up to let fly his arrows at the enemy. Nothing was more natural, then, than to imitate on ships the fortified castles with their crenelated towers. If the enemy succeeded in boarding the ship, the defense withdrew to the castles. There should be no cause for astonishment therefore at finding the old tops on the masts and at learning that even the boats were hoisted there in order more surely to crush the adversary under a shower of arrows and stones (Mr.DEJONGE, p. 20).
It can be conceived that the movable castles should not have answered to expectations and, therefore, that an arrangement was soon reached to make but a single body of the castle and the ship, and thence to raise the bow and the stern.
Portugal and Spain, imitating the Mediterranean, had the start of us in constructing castles.
Thus the vessel of the XVIth century is seen to develope gradually and we can understand how the intermediate low part between the forward and after castles should persist.
In the beginning, the deck did not exist in the central part. Then, in order to protect this last against stones and other projectiles, it was covered with a wooden lattice (See, among others, WITSEN, p. 51, col. 2), while its sides were furnished with loopholes covered with pewter, to make it more difficult to scale in case of boarding.
The English seals, more finely and more artistically engraved than ours, give an excellent idea of the progressive development of the castles. Five of them show the sides of the ships as clinker built, while the seal of the city ofPoolemakes the rivets really visible. The castles are so clearly shown in their successive phases of development, that any explanation is unnecessary. The steering oar, which is seen on the oldest seal, is replaced by a rudder on the others. The Boston seal shows a well turned out three-masted vessel with smooth sides.
All the seals, save this last, show the forms of “cogs”, which proves once more the identity of the types of ships of the North-West of Europe. (Holmes states, on page 70 of his work, that the Poole seal gives the oldest English reproduction of a ship with a rudder, 1325.)
As has been said already, the adoption of the compass was the signal for cutting loose from the coast and for undertaking more distant voyages. We learn, especially in theReygersbergh Chronijk van Zeelant(published by Boschhorn) Vol. II, p. 212, that about 1440, when the use of the compass had scarcely become general, the Zeelanders worked more and more toward the South, making toward Portugal and Spain.
Before then, these countries seemed so far away that, when starting on a voyage thither, the seamen went to confession and the Holy Sacraments were received.
At the same time with the invention of the compass, another event came to produce a great influence on shipbuilding; it was the invention of gunpowder, with the consequent adoption of artillery.
The history of the Netherlands speaks for the first time of the use of artillery in connection with the expedition of Duke Albert against the Frisians in 1396. It seems, however, to have been used at the siege of the castle of Rozenburg-lez-Voorschoten, in 1351 (M.DEJONGE, Vol. I, p. 28).
Cannon were not used either at the battle of the Sluis or in the maritime expeditions of King Richard III. But they were in general use on board ship in the XIVth century. (HOLMES, p. 71.) The Genoese and the Venetians in the South, and the Hanseatic cities in the North, who were the masters of all peoples in commerce and navigation, were the first to adopt them. (M.DEJONGE, Vol. I, p. 29.)
It was natural that artillery should modify war tactics and it can be said that the military value of ships depended on the number of guns which they carried. Finally, ships were built exclusively for war, and the practice of the Middle Ages, which was to utilize merchantmen for this purpose, must needs be abandoned.
The United Provinces did not decide at once to build special ships. Hence the dimensions of existing types had to be increased, in order that a larger number of guns could be mounted. The difference between sea-going ships and inland vessels became more and more marked. The war ship was evidently the one which departed the most from the old forms, for the reason that it had to undergo every change which had been advantageously adopted by the enemy.
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The earliest guns were not greatly to be feared. The proof of this is found in the fact that the coverings of staterooms and castles were sloped, like roofs, so as to make the bombs thrown by the foe roll off more easily.
The name of cog disappears as ships increase in size. The vessels met with are generally called “Hulken” and “Baertzen” toward the end of the XIVth and during the XVth centuries; and, after all, says Witsen, they are only types of ships formerly in use in our country. The “Hulk”, he adds, the larger of the two, used to sail for distant lands; its capacity was as great, sometimes, as 200 lasts. (WITSEN, p. 494, col. 2.)
The “Baertze” was a ship equipped as much for coast defenseas for war at sea. In 1518, there were built a very large number of them which ran under sail, but which could be moved by oars in calm weather. (WITSEN, p. 483, col. 1.)
Hence these two types were merchantmen, the “Baertze” especially being used for war. Their equipment included oars too, which were used when the wind failed.
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Nor did the XVth century, itself, see any ships built exclusively for war. This century has left us some very beautiful reproductions of Flemish origin (See,Der Meister W. A.of MAXLEHR, 1895, p. 1), on three of which appear the names of “Baertze”, “Barge” and “Kraeck”.
The ships shown there have the same characteristics and differ from each other only in their rig. It is seen that they are bluff-bowed and that their bow is rounded as is also their stern.
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Aside from the “Kraeck” none of these vessels carries artillery: all have, however, a castle, still of quite simple construction, at bow and stern. The “Kraeck” alone was supplied later with windows in the stern above the gallery.
Then too, in these reproductions, all the castles, except those of the “Kraeck”, have no roof. This last vessel is the largest, beyond doubt; its very name brings at once to mind a type of ship of which the size and the strong construction seem to find their origin in the Spanish “Carack”, whence the name of “Kraeck”.
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The form of this vessel scarcely differs, however, from that of the others; the bow especially approaches rather the Dutch type than the type of the Spanish carack or of the galleon (compare the figure reproduced in VANYK’s work, p. 9). Hence it may be supposed that the “Kraeck” should have differed from other vessels only by larger castles, stronger rig and increased size.
The “Barge” and the “Baertze” give, with vessels shown on other reproductions, an idea of the Dutch ship of the XVth century. No “Hulken” are met with among these vessels; they were clinker built (WITSEN, p. 496, col. 1, Caravelle), while all the reproductions under consideration show only ships with smooth sides.
Besides the “Hulken”, there were “Razeilers” and “Krayers” which had also clinker built sides. Here, then, is found the old way of building “cogs”, and it may be stated that we are in the presence of vessels which owe their origin to this type of ship, and only have a different name because of certain changes of detail in the matter of their rig or the construction of their castles.
A Flemish miniature of the XVth century gives a very remarkable reproduction of a vessel of the time. A “cog” with overlapping planks is seen here. In accordance with the custom of the Middle Ages, this ship has three masts with tops, a castle at bow and stern, and guns; there are no gun-ports.