Venetian Shipping During the Commercial

8/13/2019 Venetian Shipping During the Commercial

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Volume XXYIIIJ Januarv,933 [Number

VENETIAN SHIPPINGDURINGTHE COMMERCIALREVOLUTIONTT isgenerallyhoughthat islocationf hepiceradey he ortu-1 guese iscoveryf heCaperouteo ndia rippledenetianom-merce. studyfVenetianhippingailso ustifyhat otion.he f-fectsf he ortuguewiscoveryponVenetianrade ave requentlybeenmisrepresentedecausef failureodistinguishetweenong hipsand oundhips.nmost iscussionsfVenetianommercettentionasbeen oncentratednthemerchantalleys,'typef ong hip uiltespeciallyor he ransportfspicesndotherreciousares.Butthroughoutoth he ifteenthnd ixteenthenturiesoundailinghipsformedlargerart f hemerchantarine.uringheseenturiesherelativesefulnessf he woypeshifted,owever,ecausef echnicalchangesnriggingnd rmament. recognitonfthe istinctco-nomicunctionsf heseifferentypesf hipsnthe ifteenthenturv,and f heirhangedtatusnthe ixteenth,s the ey o he istoryfVenetianhippingnthe eriodf he ommercialevolution. henvieweds a whole heVenetian erchantarinemployedn nter-nationalommerceppears ot ohavedeclined,utactuallyo havegrownncargo-carryingapacityuringhe ixteenthentury.The differencesetweenhe argeoundhip nd heong hip rgalleywere bvious o the ye.2Round hipswerehigh nd wide nd

dependentntirelyn sails; longshipswere ow and narrow ndequipped ithars.Round hips ere uilt ortabilitynd or eavycargoes;ong hips or peed ndfor ighting.heroundhipwasprimarilymerchantman,he ong hipwasprimarilywarship,nd1 Forexample,AletheaWiel,TheNavyofVenice London, g9o), pp. 14 if.2Detailed descriptionsf thevariationsf bothtypes re givenbyEnricoAlbertod'Albertis,e Costruzioni avalie I'Arte ellaNavigazione l Tempodi Cristoforoolom-bo, nRaccokadiDocumeng Studiptb.dallaR. CommisuioneolombianaRome,1893),vol. I., Pt. 4; byJohnForsythMeigs,The Story f theSeaman (London,Philadelplpia,1924); and byA. Jal,Archiologie avale (Paris,1840)*

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220 Frederic hapin anealthoughomeoundhips ere uiltspeciallyorwar,nd omeongships ere esignedorrade,et veno theirunctionsere istinctin ommercendnwar.The ong hip esignedorradearriedightpreciousargoes,he oundhip eavyargoes.The rganizationf hemaritimeradefVenicen he ifteenthen-tury as-basedn his ifferencenthe ommralfunctionsf he wotypes.Amonopolf heransportf picesndometheright aresfromheLevant oVenicehadbeengiven y aw to thegreat alleys,a specialype f ong hip? Voyages y hesehipswestward-ere r-ganizedorxportingpicesnd therrecious erchandise.esidesthewell-knownFlemishalleys,hichaterid t east s muchusi-nessnEnglands nFlandersnd alledtLisbonnd arious editer-ranean orts,here ere woother leetsfgreatmerchantalleys entwestward.hegalleysfAigues-Morteservedhenorthernhorefthewesternediterranean,he alleysfBaibaryisitedts outhernshore,ndboth leetsalled tSicilianndSpanishorts.4

These reatalleysrmerchantalleys ere ot articularlyargevesselsomparedomanyf he enetianoundhipsf he ime. heycarriedetween40and250deadweightons fcargo elow eck?3 Archivio i Stato i Venezia citedhereaftersA. S. V.), Ufficialil Cattaver,usta ,cap. i, ff. 5-7z. Theseregulationsroceededrom heprinciplehat light oods couldbebroughtoVenice rom heLevant nlyby armed hips , aternterpretedomeanthegreatgalleys,he merchantalleys f thestate. Exemptions erethenmadefor pecificwares and specific imes lthoughmany warespermittedo comeon unarmed hips

(round hips)wereobliged o pay freighto thegalleys. But spices, ven f oaded n theLevantby other hips, ould not completehetransitoVenice,between 435 and I514,except n themerchantalleys,r, fthegalleyswerefilled,n a selected hipwhich raveledwith hegalleys nder he ame ommando carryhe urplus. uch hips,whentheir argois mentioned,arried ut a negligiblemount.See referenceselowon spice mports,ndA. S. V., SenatoMisti, eg.47,ff. 9, I28; reg.48, f.12I3, reg.5z, f. 14; r g. 57,f. 34;Ufficialil Cattaver,usta , cap. 4, f. 25; A. S. V., SenatoMar., reg. 8, f.29; Arsenale,busta8, ff. -3; Marino anuto, .Diarii,58 vols. (Venice, 879-1903), vOl.XVII., col.I,8; Vol.XXXVI., ol. 382.

4 The west-bound alleyswereobligedto load all thespices nd othe- ght goodsofferedefore hey ould oadheavy oods uch s wine. See SenatoMisti, eg.47,f. o6re , 49, if.8I-84, 86, 9i; reg. 54, if.68-69.In I440 thegalleys fthemeasure fFlanders,hoseused on most f thevovages,wxereorbiddenobe over440 milliarii.SenatoMisti, eg.60, f. 249. One miiarius -.47 (leadweightons. In I48I theywere forbidden o be over450 milliarii. A. S. V.,Senato Terra, eg.8,f. I14. These limitationsere fixedn order o check hetendencyof the hipwrightsoenlarge hegalleys p to5oo or 6oo milliari A computationt thebottomf thepage,SenatoTerra, eg.3, f.75, in 1452, showsthat t that ime hemer-chantwhorented hegalley rom he tate or hevoyagewasexpectedo collect reightn430 nii iarii. The galleys f the measure f Romaniawere egallv f but140 to x65tonsburden. SenatoMar.,reg.x f? 3.


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Fenetian hipping 22IThoughmallerhey ere onsideredaferhan he oundhips ecauseinadditiono he ails nwhichhey elied uring ost f he oyagethe alleysad ars ousen nteringndeavingorts.Moreoverheywere arshipsith rewsf ver00 menrmeds the ignoria ightdirectnd ommandedy noble homt elected.6But hebulk f theVenetian erchantarine ascomposedfroundhips. n the roverbialoldenge fVenice,oughlyrom420to 450, shehad 00 uch hips f oodeadweightons rmore.7Mostofthese00were robablysed or ishingr for arryingbout heAdriaticuch umbleargoessgrain,il,wood,nd tone,nddidnotfigures ong istancearriersn he reatoutesfnterregionalrade.But tmay eestimatedhat t easthirtyothirty-fivef hem ereshipsf 40 tonsrmorendwere abituallysed nvoyageseyondheAdriatic,ainlynthe ongest ell-establishedoyagesuch s thoseoEngland,yria,nd he rimea.8 heywere he reat erchantmenftheiray, istinctnriggingnd n tructureromhe oastingesselsY

6 Forthe arge rew, eeSenatoMisti, eg.49, ff. I4-II5. Detailsof thearmament,the militaryommand, heports fcall,thefreightates, tc.,weredeterminedor achvoyagebytheterms ftheresolutionsnderwhichthegalleyswereauctioned.For theyears efore440 these esolutionsrecontainedn the eries enatoMisti, or 440-I469in SenatoMar.,and after 469 in a specialseries alled Senato,Deliberazione,ncantiGalere,which omesdownto 569. In this ast eries heyears499-I5I9 aremissing utthediary fMarino anutodoesmuch ofill hegap.7Thisfiguresgivenboth nSenatoMar.,reg. 5, f. 145 (I502), where herecords ftheConsolideiMercantirereferredoas thesource finformation,nd in the Death-bed Oration fDogeTommasoMocenigo f which hemost onvenientditionsinHein-richKretschmayr,eschichteonVenedig Gotha, 905, I920), II. 6I7. The figuresnMocenigo's ration rethe ubject fsomedispute, uttheplausibilityfthose oncerningshippingmaybe independentlystablished,fnot as in this aseconfirmed,nd thefinan-cial figures avebeensupported yindependentvidence yGinoLuzzato,Sull'Attendi-bilitadi alcuneStatisticheconomicheMedievale, n theGiornale egliEconomisti,nnoXLIV., no. 3, p. 126. Fortheratios fconversionfweightsndmeasures sedhere, ecthedissertationy theauthor epositedn theHarvardCollegeLibrary,Venetian hipsand ShipbuildersftheFifteenthnd Sixteenth enturies .

8The estimate thirtyo thirty-fives obtained yextension f the ratiofoundtoexist n Table B below. Table B gives comparisonfthenumber fships mployednthree airly epresentativeoyages bout 448-1449 and in I558-I560. The totalnum-bers mployednthe hree oyageswere ighteent the arlier ateandtwentytthe aterdate. The totalnumber fshipsof thetypehere considered as at the aterdateforty(see below). The assumptions that,f x equalsthenumber fsuch hips bout 448-I449, then 8:20 as X:40. The result,hirty-six,asbeenmodifiedn considerationf theprobablyreatermportationfgrain t the ater ate n viewofthe ncrease n thepopu-lationofVenice. GiulioBeloch, a Popolazionedi Venezia nei SecoliXVI. e XVII., inNuovo Archivio eneto, . ser., nno I., t. II., pp. -49.9Albertis, p. cit. Throughout hefollowing iscussion f roundshipsand theirvoyages heassumptions made thatships of 240 tons,or more,predominatedn the


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222 Frederic hapin aneThey raveled uch he ameroutess themerchantalleysbutwithdifferentargoes--cottonnd alum from yria,winefrom rete oEngland,laves ndfoodstuffsrom heBlack ea,andgrain, il, ndalWtetweenariousMhediterraneanorts.'0In thevolume fcargo hey arriedhethirtyothirty-fivereatround hipswere muchmoremportantart fthemerchant arineinthe ifteenthenturyhanwere he ighteenrtwenty erchantal-leyswhichnnuallyailed tthat ime.Thirty-fiveound hipswouldhave arriedbout5,000 tons fcargo11ndtwenty erchantalleysVenetian arryingradeoutside heAdriatic,nd thatthenumber f such ships-in thewhole merchantmarine remployed n a particularoyage iscussed-isan indexofthevolume ftrade. The exactfigure,40 tons, s dictated ythe ources,speciallyheshiplists f i558-i560 citedbelow, nd theassumptionmplies morecommon se of largeships t that ime hanmight e expected. But in the caseofVenicesomedistinctionsnecessary etweenocal and internationalhipping,nd thefollowingonsiderationsup-port he ssumption.The size of shipprofitablen a particularoyage epends pon thelength fthevoyage nd thevolume f goodsmoved nthat rade. Besides he pecializa-tion n riggingnd shapewhich hen xistedn theMediterraneanetweenmerchantmenfor ongvoyages nd for oasting oyages, pecializationn size is to be expected. Suchspecialization as encouragedf not dictated y the Venetiangovernment. t forbadeshipsof lessthan240 tons o load salt at Cyprus SenatoMar.,reg.13, f. 24; reg.15, f.145). When hips f theAdriatic rcoastingype egan otrade eyond heAdriaticheywere forbiddeno do so. SenatoMar., reg.9, f. 9; law of August 3, 1602, printed nPartipreseneIl'Eccellentissimoonseglio i Pregadi;condiversi eggicavatedadStatutoin Materiade Navi e sua Navigatione Venice,n. d.). That suchspecializationxistedin practiceppears rom hefact hat utof I35 shipsmentionedn ship ists n theNota-torio i Collegio A. S. V.) nos. -II, 1384-1457, as going rintendingogo from eniceto Syria, heCrimea, r Alexandria,29 were of 240 tons, r more,fourhave no sizesgiven, ndonly wo, ndtwo that id,not o,are given s less than 40 tons. To be sure,out of the 35 ships, oo were pplicants or heSyrian oyage. Concerninghe voyage oEngland, t s clear hat hipswell over 40 tonswereconsideredecessaryor he voyage.SenatoMar.,reg.9, f. i62;,reg.1 i, . 56-157; reg 13, f.27.1 Cottonand alum, enatoMisti, eg.55 f. I8I. Oll, fruitsoap, bd., reg.57 f.244; SenatoTerra, eg. 0, f. 170. Wine,SenatoMar.,reg.9, f. I62 and below. Grain,SenatoMisti, eg.55, f.;184, SenatoMar.,reg.4, f. 19. Salt,SenatoMisti, eg. 54, f.37;SenatoMar.,reg. 6, f. 27. BlackSea trade, enatoMisti, eg.54, f. 102. The transportofslaves nmerchant alleyswasforbidden,bid.,reg.4g,f. I14.ilIf the stimatef the apacityftheround hipswasmadeonthe amebasis s wastheestimateftheir umber heresultwouldbe about 4,000 tons. But anothermehis available, or n ship ists n theNotatorio i Collegio,no. io, between an., 449, andApril, 450 inclusive,here s mentionftwenty-oneifferenthipswit a total apacityf10,153 tons. The lists n theNotatorio o not nclude ll ships fanygiven lass,but aremerelyists fships pplyingo serve gainst irates rtotakepart n theSyria-noyage.The figure.wenty-oneoesnot, herefore,ndicate hefullnumber f, hip of240 tons rmore. Instead, henumber fsuch hips s better stimateds thirtyothirty-five,s ex-plained bove. Hence thetotal apacitymaybe calculated y adding o theknown apac-ity f thetwenty-onehips hat f nine pfourteendditionalhips, stimated,n thebasisofthose nown ndwithdue allowances,s 360 tons ach. The result s 13,393 tO 5,193tons.


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Fenetian hipping 223about500 ons.Such compansonerveshe urposefplacinghemerchantalleyleetsnpropererspectives but small art fthefleetsfVeniceradingutsideheAdriatic.n the hippingndustrythe alleys ere f econdarymportance.ut hey ere fprimaryimportancen hemaintenancefVenices theeadingworld arketof he ifteenthentury.heyonsistentlyarried orereciousargoesthan therhipso that comparisonn the asis fvalue nsteadfcapacityould ielduite ifferentesults.Moreover,heirveragetotal urden aswellover 50 tons ince esideshe argontheholdtheyarriedn deck veryarge rew2 and numberfpassengers.Bothrewnd assengerserellowedokeepwithhemomeersonalpossessionsmong hichheyoundlace or certainmountf al-ablewares,othathe otalweightfpersons,quipment,ndgoodscarriedn deckwasprobablysgreatsthat elow eck.13Thesewo istinctypesfVenetianerchantmen,reatalleysndroundhips, ere roductsfdistinctranchesf he hipbuildingn-dustry.hegreatalleys ere uilt y he tatenthe rsenal. heroundhipsf ommerceereuilty rivatenterprisenprivatehip-yards.Whent hend f he ifteenthenturyhetateelttnecessarytobuild oundhipshe overnmentesortedoprivatehipyards.utinthemain heproductionfroundhips s synonymousith rivateshipbuilding.After460 thewo artsf hehipbuildingndustrynd f hemer-chant arinehusistinguishedad ifferentnd requentlyontrastinghistories.he atterartf he ifteenthenturyas he eriod henthegalley oyagesweremostnumerousndregularndwhen hisbranchf heVenetianerchantarineas tthe eightf ts ame.Duringhatame eriodhe leetf arge oundhips asreducedohalfts ormerize. Inthe irstalf fthe ixteenthentury,ntheotherand,hemerchantalleyleetswindlednd lmostisappeared,but heargeoundhipsncreasednnumberothatn 560 they erecertainlyargerndprobablyore umeroushanheyad ver een.ThedeclinefprivatehipbuildingtVenice asmosteveree-tween463and 488. By1487building ascompletelyt a standstill.'4

12 In I412 thesize of the crew from ommancfero cookwas legallyfixed s 212.SenatoMisti,eg. 9,ff.14-1I5.13The resolutionsor uctioninghegalleys re fullofrulesto stopoverloadingndeck. A descriptionfthegreat alleysn 150I, quotedbyJal, . 384-387,saidthat heycarried 00 milliarii elowdeckand 5oo millianiiondeck. The average ize ofthegalleysincreasedomewhat uring he fifteenthenturyecause hesmaller ype raduallywentoutofuse.14 SenatoMar., eg. ,f. 9; reg. 2, ff. 25, I87.


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224 Frederic hapin aneThemental abitsf he olitical istorianay eadhim o ssociatehisdecline ith henaval dvancef heOttoman urks, ut heVenetiansthemselves,uch s theywere mpressedith he oliticalndmilitaryimportancef hat ewdangern the ast, idnot onsidertthe auseoftheweakeningftheirmerchantarine. nsteadhey lamed ear-by ompetitorsetterupplied ithmaterials.Thebuilding f smallerraft asthefirstart f the ndustryf-fected.River argesnd small oatswere uiltn Venetianossessionsin talyndbroughtoVenice or ale.'5Asthe orests hich adoncesurroundedhe agoons isappeared,hebarge uildersursuedhemback owardshemountains.Themajor ole n this udden epressionf theVenetianndustrywasplayed y he asternhoref heAdriatic. hegreatutcrygainstcompetinghipsntheyears467 and 469 was directedgainst par-ticularype alled maranimost fwhichwere uilt n Istria.Theyhad becomeonumeroushat t was mpracticableor he tate odis-pense t oncewith heuse ofsuch hipsn sendingupplies,uttheydisposedf he ompetitionf strianthe uturey orbiddinghe uild-ingofany hip fsixty ons rmore etween enice nd theGulf fQuarnero.'6The center fcompetitionhenmoved ownthe Adriatic.Thebitterestrotestsere aisedgainstheRagusans howere tthatimegaining leading lacentheMediterraneanarryingrade.Themulti-plicationfRagusan hipswas ttributedy heVenetiansothe lenti-ful upplyfwood, ron, nd sailorsvailable tRagusa. To meet hesituationhe enateevied n anchorageaxofiooducats nRagusanshipsvisitingnyportunderVenetian ominion.Wellmight hechronicler alipieroaythatRagusan hipshadbeenbanned romVenice.'7Later xemptionasmade fgrain hips ince heneedforfoodwasparamount.18ut he xclusionrom enetianradef hipsflyingheRagusan lag, ven f t couldbe achieved, ouldnotrevivethehomendustry.headvantagesfbuildingnDalmatiawere heroot f he rouble. enetiansought agusan hipsndbuilt heirwnships here r ntheVenetianossessionsnDalmatia.Byvariousub-terfugesagusanscquireditizenshipntheVenetianitiesfDalmatia

15SenatoMisti, eg.47, f. I51; reg.54, f. 5; reg. 59, f. 134; Arsenale, usta 6, if.I 3-' 5.16SenatoMar.,reg. 8,f. 144; reg.9, ff. 9, 2I, I36, 146, 157, I70.17 bid.,reg. 2 f. I. DomenicoMalipiero, nnaliVeneti,nArchiviotoricotaliano(Florence,843), ser. , vol.VII., pt.2, p. 620.18SenatoMar.,reg. 6, f. 57.


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Venetianhipping 22-5and kept pbusinessnder heflag f San Marco. Between487 andI490 the enatewas activeputting eeth n old lawsforbiddinguchpractices,nd npassing ewmeasuresomeet hewiles f heRagusans.The senate venwent o far stoforbidhe uildingf ny hip f hirtytons rmore nVenetian almatia,ut heprotestsftheir almatiansubjectsecuredhemodificationfthis rovision.--n their inal ormthese egulationsere esignedopermitheDalmatiansocontinueobuild he hips hey eeded or heir driaticoyages,ut osever heDalmatianndustryromny onnectionithVenetianapital,nd tocut t off ntirelyfrom nyassociationwiththeRagusans.'9Besides he ompetitionfthe nland arge uildersndthat ftheIstrian ndDalmatianoasts,heVenetianhipbuildersufferedromtherivalryfmore istantegions. hipsfrom enoa, ortugal,heBasque ountry,ndevenEnglandwere ompetingith heirsn thelongvoyages hich adbeen he hiefupportf heveryargestene-tian hips,hose ffrom oo o 00tons.Ships f hat izewere f pecialimportanceothe tate ecause f their tilitys naval uxiliariesndsupplyhips,nd thenrseftheOttomanavymade heneed fthemall themore cute. Consequently,hen ffersf oans nd ncreasedfreightates ailed o nduce rivateitizensobuild hips f he esiredsize, he ignoria asforcedobuildts wn.' Between-475 and 488the tate uilt our hips angingrom oo o 400 tons, ndbetween488and 498orderedix, fwhich t east ivewere uilt,most fthem fI200 tonS.21 Thus he tate btainedhe argehips eeded o trengthenherwarfleet,unt irates,end upplies,nd, fnecessary,mport rainandsalt.Meanwhile esperateffortsad beenmadeto recapturerom hecompetitorsfVenice he ransportfwine rom rete o England ndsince488 there adbeen ome ncreasen thenumberf arge rivateships.22 hips ists f1499 suggesthat hefleetfprivatehips f 40

19 bid., eg. 2 f. 125, I48, I87; reg.13, f. 3-7, I5.20lbid.,eg. , ff. 0, 99, I20-I2I, I62; Arsenale,usta , f. io. Therewerenoprivate enetianhips f 6oo tons rmore n 1486and I488. SenatoMar.,reg. 2, ff. 7,I57.21 SenatoTerra,reg.7, ff. 8-i00, I39-I40, 145, 157, i6I, 177, I79, 192; reg. 8, f.74;SenatoMar., eg. 0, ff. 55, I89; reg. i, f. 03; reg. 2, f. 123, 153; reg. 3, ff. 0,go; reg.4, f. 41; Malipiero,. 645;Sanuto,. 849-850; I. I241-I249; IV. 51.22 On theAnglo-Venetianuarrel ver theCretanwinetrade, ee Calendar fStatePapers,Venetian, ditedbyRawdon Brown London, 864-), I. 175 ff.,and GeorgvonSchanz,Englische andelspolitik egenEndedesMittelaltersLeipzig, 88i), I. I30-I42.A Venetian ax on foreignersxporting ine fromCretewas to some extent uccessfulnstimulatinghebuilding f arge hips. There smention fsixships f6oo tons rmorebetween 488 and I497 inSanuto, . 8I, 504,and SenatoMar.,reg. 2, I3, and 14.


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Venetianhipping 227cargoesncludingalt ndgrain ut xdudinghreepeciallasses-goods orbiddenytheChurch,oods eservedor hegalleys,ndMoorish erchantsnd heir ares.Theduesaidupon he hipsythe tate ereessened.hesenatepprovedschedulefminimumfreightates, ade rovisionor heirromptayment,ndofferedgenerousountiesobuildersfnew hips.2Sogreat as he evivalnthe uildingf oundhipsollowinghepassagef hisaw hatn 507 the ountiesereuspendedsno ongernecessarynd oo reatburdenn he inancesf hetate.27ot nlywere good umberf argehipseinguilt,uthalf f he evennprocessf onstructioneref he eryiggestypen ommercialse.28Theseearsf rosperityorhenvatehipbuilders,502-I507, werepreciselyheyears hen he iscoveryf he outeo ndia roundheCape fGoodHopewashavingts ffectn he evantradefVenice.But hat iscoveryffectednlyhe argoesf he alleys,ot hosefthe oundhips.t sevenikelyhathe iscoveryfnew outeso heEast ndWest ndies as distinctelp othe rivatehipbuildersfVenice. ThePortuguesendSpanishhips adbeen nteringheMediterraneannd akingargoeswayromheVenetians.ow heyhadnew eas osail.Therefore,romhe ointfview f heargestpartf heVenetianerchantarine,he oundhip,he earsollow-ingthe reat iscoveriesere ears fexpansion. o besure,hisprosperityasnotmaintainedithoutnterruption.omplaintsf helack f sufficientumberf hipsccurromimeo imend etween1534 and540 thereightatesn alt ereaisednd ffersfoans eremadeoencourageuilding.29ut nthe ears540-I570 theres nosign fdepression,utnsteadositivevidencehathe umberf argeroundhips addoubledincehe eginningf he entury.nly heotherranchf hemerchantarine,he reatalleyleets,an henhave eendverselyffectedy he iscoveryf he ew ailingoutes.In the etailedtoryf he isruptionndpracticalisappearancefthe oyagesf hemerchantalleys,uarrels ithhe ultanfEgyptanddiplomaticndnaval ifficultieslsewhereulk arge,3 ut t sgenerallygreedhathese ere utncidentalircumstancesnd hat

26Senato Mar.,reg.15, f. 45.27 bid.,reg. 6, f. 152. A listofthe arge hipsbuilt rbuildingn 1504 is given nSanuto,V. I000.28Listgiven nA. S. V., Notatorio i Collegio,no. 27, underdateJuly , 1507.29 GinoLuzzato, Per la StoriadelleCostruzioni avali a Venezianei SecoliXV. eXVI., inScrittitorici n Onoredi CamilloManfroniPadua, 1925), pp. 38I-401.30Wilhelmvon Heyd,Histoiredu Commerce u Levantau MoyenAge (Leipzig,I886), II. 508-552, and innumerableeferencesnSanuto, p. cit.AM. HIST. REV., VOL. XXXVIII.-17


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228 Frederic hapin anethe eterminingactorsay eeper. hreeuch eterminingactorsaybementioned-theevolutionarymprovementsnthe iggingftheroundhip,hedevelopmentfguns, ndthediscoveryftheCaperouteo ndia. Of thesehree heast nly asusuallyeen mphasizedtothe ompleteeglectf he thers.Thenaturend xtentf henfluencef he ortugueseoutereshown y he oughtatisticsf he piceradeontainedn the iariesoftheVenetiansanutotid riuli,nd nthe eportsfCa'Masserthe ecretbserverf he ignorianPortugal. eforehe iscoveries,about alf f he alleyshicheft eniceach ear ento he evant.Inthe eturnargo fthese ine rtengalleyspices ormedhe argestitem,nd n theastyearsfthe ifteenthenturyhey roughtackabout,500,ooonglishoundsf picesyear,fwhichbout,500,000poundsame rom lexandria,ndofwhich ortyofiftyer ent.waspepperYlhe ommercialffectsf he iscoveryf he ape outeoIndiawere irsteltnthe evantn 502. In the our ears502-I505theVenetiansmportedn anaverage otmore han,ooo,ooo oundsfspicesyear2 ThefirstargeargoesrrivednPortugaln 503, andin the our ears503-I506 the ortuguesemportednaveragef bout2,300,000oundsyearfwhichighty-eighter ent. as epperP3heaverage earlymportfthe wo ountriesombined as at this ime,

31Estimate ased on thefollowing iguresrom anuto, I. Ii2, I28, I65, I72; IV.38-39, 47; I Diariidi Girolamo riuli, 494-1512, publishednRerum talicarumcrip-tores, nded., vol.XXIV.,pt.3 (Cittadi Castello,9II), vol. ., pp.73, 109.I497 galleysof Beirut spice cargo 2639g olligalleysof Alexandria spicecargo 2320 colli, correctedrom 320galleysof Alexandria pepper 1250 colli

I498 galleysof Beirut spicecargo 3000 colligalleysof Alexandria spicecargo 2I55 colligalleysof Alexandria pepper 933 colliI50I galleysof Beirut spicecargo 3200 colligalleysof Alexandria spicecargo 2570 colligalleysof Alexandria pepper 950 colliThe warwithTurkey reventedalleys ompletingoyagesn I499 and I50I andduringthoseyearsnon-Venetiansxportedmorespicesthan usual from gypt, anuto, II. 37,942; IV.6-io.The colloofAlexandria qualledabout I20 lbs., bid.,XVII. I9I. For the balesontheBeirut alleys olli and cacho re used interchangeablyyPriuli, ee RinaldoFulin,Diariie DiaristiVeneziani Venice, 88I), p. 247. Thisbale hasbeenconsideredqual to

290 lbs., lthoughomemayhavebeen arger. anuto,oc. cit.;SenatoMar., eg. 2, f. 36;reg.56,f. iog.32 Sanuto,V. 260-265;V. 78, 826-828,902; VI. 129; Fulin,pp. I65-I82.33 Leonardoda Ca' Masser,Relazione opra l Commercio ei Portoghesiiell'India,1497-I506, inArchivio torico taliano,AppendiceFlorence, 845), II., 13 f. PreviousPortuguesemportsadbeen nly24.000 lbs.,n 1oi, and 73,000 lbs. n 1502.


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FenetianShipping 229therefore,littleess han he otalVenetianmportseforehediscov-eries-acomparisonhichuggestshat orhe irstew earst easthePortugueseeremoreuccessfulndisorganizingheAlexandrianpicemarkethann upplyinghe eeds fEurope.n1505 adisputeetweentheVenetiansndthe ultanfEgyptver he ricefpeppered otheastoundingscape ftheVenetianalleys nder hefire fthefortsfAlexandriandtheseverancef relationsor omeyears.Fromtheresumptionftraden 508 until5I4 theVenetianpicemportsromAlexandriaemainednly quarterfwhat hey adbeen ndpepperbecame distinctlyinortemn the argoists.4 TradewithBeirutwasless nterrupted,ccordingoSanuto, utwaslikewise elow tsformerolume.After514 the ecordsfthegalley oyageso onger ive ccurateindexesf the mountfspices eaching enice, or nthatyear hegalleysost heirmonopolyfthe ransportfspices.The roundhipswere hen ermittedo oad picesnAlexandriaorVenice,ndwhen,in 524, thegalleys rought ackno spicestwasbecause heround hipCornerahad takenthemall, and thegalleys oaded linenand wheatinstead,waresusually arried yround hips. AfterI4 Venetian olicywavered. Some spiceswerebrought y roundships, nd galleysweresometimesent nstead, r in addition, ntil 570o5 A surprisingndexofthe ize of the pice rade tAlexandria ntheseyearsscontainednaloosesheet n thearchives ftheDona dellaRosa family. This docu-mentpurports o be a copyfrom hebooks oftheVenetiancolony nAlexandria ftheamount fpepper entfromAlexandrian theyearsI560-I564, inclusive.tshows nannual xportf ,3I0,454 pounds fpepper romAlexandria lone,orfully s muchpepper s in theperiodbeforehePortuguese adenteredhe pice rade.36Uncorroboratedhis

34Sanuto,VI. I56-I57, I70, 199-207. Cargoes eaching enicefromAlexandria rerecordeds follows:1508, II00 colli, bid.,VII. 59I, 597.1509, nonereturned.1510, I000 colli, bid.,X. 799,XI. 57, 69; Fulin,p. 209.I 51 I, none returned.15I2, Ii8o colli,Sanuto,XIV. 25-26.15I3, 300 colli, bid.,XVI. I77, 209.35Sanuto,XVIII. 178; XXXV. 254,- 32, 337; XXXVI. 382; SenatoMar.,reg.i8, f.29; Arsenale, usta8, ff.2-3, busta9, f.37; SenatoDeliberazione,ncantiGalere, eg. ,libri v andv.36MuseoCivico,Venice,Archivio on' della Rosa, busta 17, f. 276. The authen-

ticity fdocumentsn thisbundle s discussed n thenote to Table A. The figures regiven irstn collie nichesse ndthen n cantara . The figure iven bove scomputedfrom henumber f cantara ssuming heywerethecantara orfori, hemeasure sed


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230 Frederic happinaneonedocument ay ot econsideredconclusiv,but t uggetsthessi-bilityf revisionf deasoncerningheaterixteenthenturyevanttrade.37It strue, owever,hatnthe pening earsfthe ixteenthenturytheVenetian upplyf spices, specially fpepper,wasconsiderablyessthant had been,nd that hroughouthe enturyenetianradersntheWest metcompetitionrom ortugueseources. This may becounted ne reasonwhy etween5o0 and 535 all thevovagesftheVenetianmerchantalleyswestward erediscontinued. sidefromthe isks esultingrom:hewars f he arly ixteenthentury,here asfar essprospectfprofito warrantending est oSpain, ortugal,England,rFlandershe xpensivereat alleys hoseole ustificationhad been heirdaptabilityopreciousargoes.Lackof spiceswasnot he nly easonwhy hegalley oyages ereso argelyiscontinued.venbeforehe ortugueseiscoveryheVene-tian tate adbeen orcedoofferounties ith hegalleys o persuadeanyone o rent hem or hewesternoyages.Whereasn thepenrod4I8-i427 theEngland nd Flanders alleys ere uctionedor:priceswhich roughthe tate n averagef about 400ducats or hefleeteachyear,38n the eriod480-1489 a subsidyf oooto5oooducatswasofferedithach alleyuctionednd he mountsidwere ar ess hanthese ubsidies. For all three f thewestern oyages he statewas prac-tically iving heuseofthegalleynd somethingesidesn order hatwares e safelymoved nd thepositionf Venice s worldmarket emaintained.9oraise reightatesresumablyould ave andicappedat Alexandria n selling pepper, qual to ninety-fourbs. See Bartholomeo e Paxi,Tariffa e Pexi e Mesure Venice, 1503), nfo paging, nd Adolf Schaube,Handrisge-schichte erRomantischen6lker esMittelmeergebietsiszumEndederKreuzziigeMu-nich,Berlin,906), p. 814. Had thecomputationeenmadeby assuming hat nichesselike colli containedI20 lbs., heresultwould have beenI,66800oo bs.37Contrast he tatementy J.A. Goris, tudesur es ColoniesMarchandesMnridion-ales a Anvers e I488 2 1567 (Louvain, 925), p. 195. See also the discussiony A. H.Lybyer, he Ottoman urks nd theRoutes f Oriental rade,Eng,Hist.Rev.,XXX.577,and, The Influence f theRise of theTurksupontheRoutes f Oriental rade, n Amer.Hist.Assoc., nnual eport,914, I. I25.38The amount eceived orthegalleyss recordedn theregistersf thesenate fterthe resolutionsor uctioninghem. These resolutionsccur t aboutthe sametime achyear, hosefor heFlemish alleysnJanuaryrFebruary.Galleys lso went t this imeto Aigues-Mortes,sually uctionedn Januarynd yielded n averageyearly rofit fabout 85o ducats.

39The threevoyages perated t a lossto the statewere those o Flanders,Aigues-Mortes nd Barbary.The Levantgalleys, rotected ytheirmonopoly f thespicetrans-port, ontinuedoyield profits in the arlier eriod.


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Venetianhipping 23IVenetianraderssinghe alleys,ut nlyn ase hereeretherhipsable oofferetterervicenproportionowhatheyhargedSuch ship ad een reatedy he ransformationhichook laceinthe iggingfroundhipsuringhe ifteenthentury,ndby hedevelopmentf irearms.he ransformationf he ne-mastedogntoafull-rigged,hree-mastedhip ossessedf pritsail,opsail,ndmizzenlateenail ccurredbouthemiddlef hatentury.he mportanceof he hangesstressedy pecalistsnearlyhipping.or xample,Oppenheimayshat heailinghipsf 485differedess n ppearancefromailinghipsf 785 thanheyidfromhose f 425.44 Thesechangesnrigging ay othavemateriallyncreasedhe peedf heship, uttheymadehermuchmoremanageable. rom hepoint fviewf afetyhedvantageshichhe ars ad iveno he reatalleywerehusargelyounterbalancedy he ew ig f he oundhip.Equallymportantnrobbinghemerchantalley fthe pecialsecurityhichad loneustifiedts xistenceas hencreasen theuse fgunsnnavalwarfare. high oundhipwell urnishedithcannonndproperlyannedould rovidesgoodprotectionromattacksa low alley hoserews ereomparativelynprotectedromgunshot.he ightalleyong emainedmportantnMediterraneanwar leetsecausealleysere eededochase alleys. utmerchant-menequiredot ffensiveut efensivetrength.hegreatalleyadalwayseenoexpensivevesselhatts reightates adbeen oublethosef he oundhips.As ongsthe alleysere omuchaferhatitwas onsiderednnecessaryo nsurehewaresheyarried,heyouldmaintainheirosition.utwhenetteriggingnd he se fmusketsand annoneprivedhemerchantalleyf ts uperiorafety,tcouldno ongerompeteith he heaperypef hipping.Certainlyhe eclinef hemerchantalleyleetsfVenice as utof llproportiono he eclinefher rade. o somextenthat adbefore535 been arriedy he alleys as hereafterarriedy oundships,41nd thismaybeoneexplanationftherenewedrosperityf

40M. Oppenheim, History f theAdministrationf theRoyalNavyand of Mer-chantShipping n Relation o theNavy (London, New York, i896), p. 40. See alsoA. Anthiaume, e Navireet sa Constructionn Franceet principalementhez les Nor-mands Paris,1922), pp. 57, 64, I27; Bernhard agedorn,Die Entwicklunger Wich-tigsten chiffstypenis ins I9. JahrhundertBerlin, 9I4), pp. 54-64; and RomolaandR. C. Anderson,heSailing hip London, 926), ch.VII.41 The shiplistsof 1558-s56o cited belowdo not show,however, nyvoyages yround hipsto theNorthAfrican ortswhich thegalleyshad visited. The riseof thepiratetatess theprobable xplanationfthe ossofthis rade.


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232 Frederic hapin aneprivatehippingtVenice fterhediscontinuancefmostf he alleyvoyages.Themid-sixteenth~nturyasprobablyheperiodwhen heVene-tian uilt leetfships esignedor rade eyondheAdriatic,amely,those f24o tons rmore,wasthe argestn itshistory. ertainlyhenumberndcapacityf uch oundhipsnprv$ate ands addoubledsince he eginningf he entury,gainwhich armore han ounter-balancedhedecline f themerchantalley leets. n i558-I559 theVenetianmerchant arinencludedortyound hips f240 tons rmore aving total apacityf 8oootons2 Theprincipaloyagesnwhich heshipswere mployeds shownn theaccompanyingable(TableA). A comparisonetweenhevoyagestthat ate ndat adatenthe reviouseriodfprosperityell eforehe iscoveryfnewtrade outes asbeenmade nTableB,so far s informationromheearliereriod ermits. xcept hatnofiguresavebeenfound ttheearlier atefor hegrain rade rfor herelativelyhort oyages,hetradesompared ay econsideredairlyepresentative.hey uggestcomparativetabilization.here s a localshiftn trade enterromSyria oCyprus,or n 1558-I56o therewere lmost oclearancesorSyria, hereasn 450 Cyprus adbeen f econdarymportance.p-parentlyotton,hichnthe ifteenthenturyurnishedhe ulk fthecargo fthe hips romyria, as n the ixteenthenturyroducednCyprus, hose ugar lantations,amousnthefifteenthentury,admeanwhileeen uinedy he ompetitionf henew ortugueseosses-sions n theWest. While, owever,yprusurnishedhe ulk fthefreightnthe ixteenthentury,enetians ere till ctiven Syriandsome art f he hip argoesmayhave ome irectlyr ndirectlyromthemainland.Anotherlight?hange etweenhe wodatess the n-creasenthe izeofships sed. Ships f6ootonswerenumerousnVenice n themid-sixteenthenturyotonlybecauseVenetians ad,bymeans fthem,egainedt eastnpart he arryingtradeetweentheMediterraneannd he nglish hannel,ut lsobecauseuch hipsweremoreargelymployednpurelyMediterraneanoyages.Thatdoesnot uggesthat hevolume f trade adbeendecreasedythePortugueseiscoveries.A definitereakn thismanitimeprosperityfVenice ppearsn

4 Only bout4000 tons factive hipping as lostbythestoppage fgalleyvoyages,a fall from 000 tonsto i000 tons,between 50I and 1540. A listof thenamesandsizesof all Venetianhips f240 tonsormore n 1557-156o, in addition otherecord fvoyages,s given nMuseoCivico,Venice,Archivio on~della Rosa,busta 17.43Sanuto,. 70-271; The Travels fPedroTeixeira Hakluyt ociety,902], P. 134.


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Venetianhipping 233I570-I577 withhe hortut xpensivearwith urkey,he oss fCyprus,nd he lague hichilledquartero thirdfher opula-tion.Thenotableactn he esultantrisissnothe low ealty ucha disastrousonjunctionfcalamities,houghhiswasadequate auseforn nterruptionf ctivity,ut heack f esiliencehichreventedVeniceromgainstablishingermerchantarinen ts ormerasis.This ncapacityocome ack ndregainer ormerositionasnotdue o declinefMediterraneanrade,r o decreasenthe olumeofgoodsobemovedetweener orts,ut o he nstableasisfhershipbuildingndustry.Theperiod efore570 had been time fprosperitynly or hebuildersf argehips. he malleresselsmployednbringingrain,wine,il, nd heeseoVenice adnot eenmade nthe ityuthadbeen oughtbroad,or here ere oVenetianhips f heirizetogoon he oyageshichhesemaller,oreignuilthipsndertook.uchwas he estimonyf heVenetianoard f rade. Thus t ppearshatalthoughhe uildersf argehips addefinitelyecovereduringhesixteenthenturyromhe epressionhichccurredn he ate ifteenthcentury,he artf he hipbuildingndustryevotedo upplyinghemoreumerousmallhipsorheAdriaticradead een efinitelyost.And he uildingf argehips adbeen epttVenicehieflyythe resenceheref killedrtisansndthe dvantageshich ereenjoyedyhipsnitledo lyhe annerf anMarco.Otherwisehey,too,mightave een urchasedromoreigners.n 53I complaintsfthe umberf argeoreignuiltesselshich ereeingurchasedyVeneians ndevengrantedherightosailasVenetianedtothere-enactmentf he awswhichorbadeuch ractices.45ut heaws ouldnotbestrictlynforced.n timesffamine hoeverroughtrain oVenice as urefgoodwill,nd fheboughtforeignhipnordertobringhe raintwaswithhe opehathethipwouldegivenheprivilegesfVenetianegistry.hus,n 542 and543 fiveoreignhipswere rantedhe ightoflyheVenetianlag.Four adbeen oughtatConstantinoplend entoVenice ith rain,nd he ther asBasquehipwhichadbeennthe ervicef he tate.4Anotheray o vadeheawwas orefitrfinishtVenice shiporiginallyuiltlsewhere.hepetitionfGiovanni orello,or x-ample,xplainedhat e ndhis ssociatesadbegun shipnthe o

'Cinque Savii, er. , busta135,ff. 9-100.4X ScnatoMar.,reg. 2, f. 85.46Ibid.,reg.26, f.72, 98,99, 07; reg.27,f.30. Thatwasan unusuallyargenum-berfor o short spaceoftitne nd was occasioned ya particularrain hortagc.


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234 FredericChapinLaneRiver olely ecausef he upplyhere fwoodz hich ouldno behadat Venicewithoutreat amage othe rsenal.Or againtheQuerinibrothersecountedow hey ad ost 720 ton hip rom,hichhey adsalvagediggingndartillery.;heywished obuild notherut ounddflicultyn gettinghenecessaryood and so boughtndrefittedBasque hip. Anothernstructiveetitionxplainedthathebody fthe hip nlyhadbeenmade wayfrom enicewhile he- ecks ndcastles adbeen dded tVeniceY4The arge umberf uch etitionscreates he uspicionhat lthoughine nd larch or uperstructurescouldbe had atVenice, he ak essentialor ody imbersad becom-edear ndvery ard ofind here.This mpressions strengthenedy n examinationfthe hipbuild-ing ndustryntheDalmatian ity fCurzola n the ixteenthentury.In favor f Curzola n exemptionad beenmadetothegeneral ulethatarge hipshould ot e builtn Dalmatia yVenetiancapital,ndVenetians ere uildingherehips f 00 to6oo ons.Theywere idedby icensesoexporthematenralseeded ofinishheir hips ree fduties.The ist fwhat hey xported aymake newonder hy heychose obuild way rom enice incet nclude pne a larch lanks,masts ndspars,ron, itch,ndcordage.ButCurzolais onvenientlyplaced cross heAdriaticrom heforestsf Monte an Angelo nApulia,he ourcef he imberssed n the elebratedagusan hips.'8Certainlyhe aksgrownn theVenetianominionsidnot ufficefor oth he emandsf he rsenalnd hose f he rivateuilders,iddespitehe onstantffortfthe tate opreserveheoakwoods,hiptimbers ereharderandharderofind.ni546when taxwasproposedon icenseso cut ak, twasassertedhat t wouldnotgr affecthebuildersf arge hips ince heyid ot cut in Ventian temrtoryne-thirdfthe ak ogs-theysed. Whetherhattatemente accuraternot, hecuttingfoakfor rivatebuilders assufficientocause hearsenal larm or ts wnsupply.Accordingly,he enaten 1559pro-vided hat hereafterll those eceivingtate oans ohelpthem uildtheirhipsmustgree ocutno oak n thedominionsf- he ignoria.Therewasnocomplaintf mmediateepressionecausof he nes-

47 bid., reg.28,ff. 5, 92; reg.36, f. II5; files,ept.ndOct.,1545, Feb. 25, 1564.The Querinibrotherstated hattwenty-fivethers, fwhomtheynamedfourteen, adbeen granted hefavor hey ought, amely, enetian egistry.48 SenatoMar.,reg. I, f. 6i, 85; reg. 2, f. 13; reg.29, f.%68; CinqueSavii, er. ,busta135, ff.65, 83. Bartolomeo rescentio, Vautica editerraneaRome, 1607), pp.3-5; Pantero antera, 'ArmataNavale (Rome, 614), p. 67.49 SenatoMar.,files, ec. 28, 1546; reg.34, f.57.


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Venetianhipping 235sityf eekingumberbroad.Yetfromuyingbroadhe ssentialtimbersobuyingbroadhe hiptself as nly step.That tepwas akenboutS9o fterhe fferfbountiesad ailedtoreviveenetianhipbuildingo tsformerevels.The aw gainstgrantingenetianregistryoforeignuilt hipswasrepealedndbe-tween590 and 599 the.ecordsf he oardf radementionifteensuchargehipsorwhich enetianegistryas ought. uringhatsame eriod lare shipswere uilt nVenice,ndthirteennVenetianossessions.W he Venetiansought osthips rom ollandalthoughheyound ome nthe slandfPatmosnd ome ntheBlack ea. The ctivitiesfFrancescoorosimnre ignificantorheinternationalhipbuildingituationf he ime. e was nterestedn hebusinessf ransportingine romreteotheWest,ut referredobuild is hipsnHollandnsteadf n Venice.Aftereginningne720 ton hip nHolland epromisedobuild ourmorefhe weregrantedountiesor hemndVenetianegistry.lthoughis hipswere ot rantedountieshey ere iven enetianegistryndfivewere uilt.5'Someyears ater, owever,n 1627, venthose uying pprovedforeignuilt hipswere fferedounties.2Butbeforeuch xtrememeasures ere aken,hefavorshown opurchasersfforeignhipshad enabled heVenetianmarine omake a tardy nd partial ecoveryfromhe lumpwhich adfollowed577. Thenumberf hips f360tons rmore nthe leetni6o6 omparesotunfavorablyith imilarfiguresor55-I559 asfollows:In I558-I559, 27 ships,otal onnage14,850tons.In i606, 27 ships, otaltonnage i,46o tons.Butmore hanhalf fthefleet,ourteenhips, ere n i6o6offoreignbuild.' Thecontinuallyncreasingependencenforeignuilthipss

5-Cinque Savii,er. ,busta25,ff. I-75, lOI, 112, 124; busta 6,ff. 5,110, 117,I8I, 182, '93, 195; busta 7, f. 12; busta 38, f. I6o, I69; busta 39, ff. , 9,70,73,135, i67; busta 40,f.6i.51 bid.,busta7, f.37;busta39, ? 167;busta 41, f. 24; SenatoMar., iles, ar.29, 1597.52Pari Prese... in Materia e Navie suaNavigatione,P. 32-33. Threeshipswereimmediatelyoughtwith he id ofthe oan; thebountiesaking,thatorm,nd all threewere Fiamengo ,e., Dutch. CinqueSavii, er. , busta 47, ff. 13, 126, i86.

53 MuseoCivico,Venice,Archivio onhdellaRosa,busta 217, f. 46, an abstractf areport f theboardof tradewhich s referredo in their rchive, inque Savii,ser. i,busta141, f. 128, althought is there tated hat hereweretwenty-sixuchships n all,twelveVenetian ndfourteenoreign uilt.


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236 FredericChapinLaneemphasizedy n enumerationf hemerchantleetnx693which ivesthe ollowingigures:4

Four-mastedhips,Made n Venice...................9.................Of foreign akebought y Venetians35On the hipyards.............5.............. ... 5OnvoyageorHebrews............................. 6Marciliane,mallerhips sed n theAdriatic68The decline nVenetianhipbuildingas thereforebviouslyargreaterhan ny decline n Venetianommerce.The papers ftheboard ftrade ivevividlyhempressionhat n the arlyeventeenthcenturyhere asplentyftrade eing one n theMediterraneanndthatVenetian-builthipswerenotnumerousnoughocarryven hebusinesshatwas nVenetian ands.Neitherhe dvancef heTurk,northesupposedxhaustionfVenice n the talianwars,northereputedossof the pice rade o thePortuguesean be said tohave

ruined er ommerce.he passing f hemaritimeloryfVenicewasprimarilyfailureokeep pwith thereagoingeoples ho xpandedmore apidly.A basic eason or his ailure asthe xhaustionfoneofthemost ital fhernatural esources,hip imber.When his epletionfthe ak woodswasfirstlearlyecognized-in the asthalf f thefifteenthentury-55he hortageeems o havebeenpeculiar o Venice. At least he Ragusans nd Basqueshad asufficientlylentifulupply o that heir ompetitionas severelyelt.Atthe ndofthe ixteenthenturyhe carcityfoak timberppears ohavebeen eneralhroughoutediterraneanountries.56In the even-teenthentury aritimeupremacyas definitelyn thehands f thatpeoplewhocontrolledhe umber esourcesf theBaltic, heDutch.57

54 CinqueSavii, ser.3, busta97.55For specific tatementsf the concern f thegovernment ith theharmdone toprivate hipbuilding y the ack of oak timber, ee Arsenale, usta 6, f. I6 and busta 8,ff.73-75; Senato Mar., reg. 19, f. 120. For the elaborate onservationolicy hende-veloped, ee Adolfodi Berenger, aggio Storicodella LegislazioneVenetaForestale alSec. VII. al XIX. (Venice, 863).56The exhaustionfSpanish uppliess indicated v C. H. Haring, rade ndNaviga-tionbetween painand the ndies n theTimeoftheHapsburgs Cambridge,9I8), pp.259-26I, andJulius lein,The Mesta:a Studyn SpanishEconomicHistory,273-1836(Cambridge,920), pp. 320-321.57VioletBarbour, utch andEnglishMerchanthippingn theSeventeenthentury,Ec. H-ist ev., I. 26I ff. MissBarbour mphasizeshe extent owhich hesupremacyfDutch hipping uring he eventeenthenturys boundup with he Dutchcontrol ftheBaltictimber rade. On Baltic upplies nd Englishoak, see,R. G. Albion,Forests ndSea Power (Cambridge, 926), chs. II. and IV.


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Venetianhipping 237It s not ntendedere odenyhat he peningf he ceanicradesplaced enicendertherandicaps.ernavalndmilitaryesourceswere o thoroughlyommittedo defendingerpositiongainstheTurk hat he ould ot ave iven oliticalackingomerchantsd-venturingothe ndies.Herrigid ommercialolicyadbeenhapedwith he ne houghtfdrawinghemaximumdvantageromerstrategicocation on the route betweenEurope and the Near East.Such fher obless remained erchantsere ound oth y apitalinvestmentsnd ommercialabitso heong xploitednd tillrofit-

ableLevantrade.Thepeoplesf Westernurope, nhamperedysuch eavyettersfpast reatness,ndbredothenavigationf heopen cean,ouldmoreeadilyrofitromhe ew pportunities.utVeniceacedhe dditional,nd,t wouldeem,ecisiveisadvantagethat he ependedpon er ompetitorsor he ssentialnstrumentsfcommerce,hips.Theneed or hips as normouslyncreasedn he ixteenthenturyby he evelopmentf heransoceanicrades. hisnew emandouldnot emet y he ld hipbuildingentersn taly.An ttemptomeetitwasmade y heberianorts,ut efore,thend f he enturyheirsuppliesereivingut.The arryingradef othhe ndiesnd venthatf heMediterraneanhenassednveryargemeasureo he oun-triesfnorthwesturopeble odraw pon he till nexhaustedorestsof hategion.nanalyzinghe hiftf conomiceadershipromheMediterraneanonorthwesturope ne houldonsiderot nly hemigrationf echnique,he hiftsntradeoutesnd radeenters,ndthe elativeffectivenessfpoliticalrganization,ut lso he epletionof he aturalesourcesf heMediterraneanegions.

FREDERIC CHAPIN LANE.TheJohnsopkins niversity.


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238 Frederic ha inLaneTABLE A

NUMBERAND CAPACTY OF Sn's OF z4oToNs ORMon EMnOYEDON- DIFFERENTOYAGESRO VENICE,558-1560Number ndCapacity fShipscleared, y Periods.

Average f First,ix1558 nd Fullyear Full year months f1559. 1558. 1559. 150Ca- Ca- Ca- Ca-.VOYAGE NQ. pacity No. pacity No. pacity No. pacityof in. of in of i-n of inships tons ships tons., ships tons: ships tons

Allvoyages...... 44-45 20, 00 41 20,04 48 20,760 27 12,840Cyprus ndSyria....... 13 7,170 11 6, 060 15 8,280 10 5,640Grain........ 11 4,920 13 6,120 9 3,72 5 2,7580England ndWest ....... 3 1,830 4 2,640 2 1,020 3 1,380Constantinople..34 1,680 4 1,620 3 1,74 1 600CorfuandZante 2-3 1,050 1 540 4 1,560 2 720Alexandria.... . 2 810 1 5,40 3 1,080 2 8Others...... 9-10 2,940 7 2, 520 12 3,360 4 1,080

The table s based h a documentn theMuseo ivico, enice, rchiviooni dellaRosa, ustaI7, entitledaviGrosseeVenetia,oroViaggi loro atroni. he bundlecontains,esidestherocumentseferredo nthe resentrticlc,copy f treaty adein I442 throughndrea ond ndvariousapers ecognizedythe rchivistss inthehandwritingf LeonardoDonG,doge OfVenice, 6oo-x612. Apparentlyhey re allpapersccumulatedytheDonl familyuringhefifteenth,ixteenth,nd seventeenthcenturies.here sthereforeoobviouseasonodoubthe uthenticityfthesehiplists.The ist fvoyagesives he xact ay fthe eparturendofthe rrivaln stria nd nthe ort fMalamocco,xcepthat heres no mentionfthe eturnfmost fthe hipssailingn 560. Theearliestntrynthisist sofOct. 9, I557, and the atest uly,1560,so that he ack fmentionfthe eturnf hipsailingn 156o0uggestshat helist scontemporaneousithhe oyages.Althoughome fthe hips ecordeds clearingorCypruslmostertainlyoadedgrainlso,voyagesor rain reentereds a separatetem ecauseome hips remen-tionedsclearingor grain oyage ithoutnymore reciseesignation;his s tobeaccounted or ythefact hat he ignoria rranged ith hip aptains osailover generalarea nd ollect hat rainheyould ind. Ofthe otal f wenty-sevenhips learingnthe wo nd a halfyearsor rain,ixteenre recorded ithouturtherndication,oursailed or olo, hreeortheArchipelago ,wo or icily,nefor a Cavalla,ndonefor


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YenetianShipping 239Cyprus. It is to be noted hat he years n questionwere s a wholeyears fbad crops nthe mainland nd country eople came to Venice to buy. AgostinoAgostini,storiaVeneziano, f.25I-262, in Bibi. Quirini tampalia, enice,MSS. Cl. IV., cod. I6.If averages or he threeyearswere taken, onstructipgiguresorthefullyear 560from hose or hefirstix months,nthe ssumptionhat he otal learancesor hatyearwere nthe ameproportiono those ortsfirstalf s the otals or 558 and i559 were othe first alves f thoseyears, he averages o obtainedwould not differrom hose ivenby as much s twoships xceptn thecaseofgrain. About eventy ercent. f thegrainclearanceswere nAugust nd sincegrain mports aried easonallyheclearancesor hefirstix months re not dequate vidence ftheclearancesor hewholeyear.

TABLE BCOMPARISONOFTHENUMBER ANDCAPACITYOF SHIPS CLEARINGANNUALLYFOR ELECTED OYAGES BOUT448-i449 AND N I558-I559

Number and Capacity ofShips cleared,by periods.VOYAGE Number of ships Capacity in tons

1448-1449 1558-1559 1448-1449 1558-1559Syria and/orCyprus ............. 12 13 5,400 7, 170English Channel and theWest .................,3 3 1, 800 1,830Constantinople and/or

Black Sea . ............. 3 3-4 1,300 1,680The figures orthe aterperiod re takenfromTable A. The figures orthe earlierperiod reestimatesbtained s follows:The estimatesor hevoyage o Syria nd Cyprus re basedon statementsf thenum-ber and capacity f the shipsgoing n the springmuda 1418, the spring nd fall mude

I426, springndfall 427, spring428, springndfall431, fall 433, andfall449. SeeSenatoMisti, eg. 2,f. 66; reg. 5,ff.8i-i9i; reg. 6,f. I6, 25, 56, 7I, 75, 104, II4,I52-156; reg.58,ff.9, 22, 26, 46, 53, 6o, 62, 73, 190, 2I3; Notatorio i Collegio,nos.7-I0.The estimate f thenumber oing o England nd the West ,which s taken o meanbeyond heStraits f Gibraltar,s based on mention f ships n I446, 1448, 1449. SenatoMar.,reg. , f. I56; reg.3, ff. 3, 48-49,70, 121, 135. The estimatefcapacitys basedonmention fthe ize ofsomeofthe hips n lists n theNotatorio,nd on theconsidera-tions hat he argest hipswereused on the voyage nd that herewere t least ix Vene-tian hips f6oo tons r more t the time. Notatorio, os. Io and I2, f. 98.The estimatesorConstantinoplend the Black Sea are based on the mention f shipson thatvoyage n 1446-1448 (Senato Mar.,reg. , f. I34; reg. 3, ff. 8, 53, 58), and thestatementsfthenumber nd size going t thebeginning f thecentury,398,1400-1402(Notatorio, o. 5). The number f shipswas the same at the beginning nd middleofthecentury.

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Venetian Shipping During the Commercial