Medieval

GENERAL SHIP TYPES

Medieval Naval History Sail 18 Min Read

Round Ship (Ship Type) Medieval ship type popular in the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries and the Christian Crusaders’ transport of choice. Unlike the swift, more comfortable galleys that transported the wealthiest crusaders and pilgrims to the Holy Land, the round ship was ungainly and slow. Because of the need for large amounts of cargo space for retainers, equipment, and…

Newsletter

Get the latest from Weapons and Warfare right to your inbox.

Follow Us

Most Recent

Crusades Medieval 9 Min Read

ARAGONESE CRUSADE

The Aragonese Crusade or Crusade of Aragón, a part of the larger War of the Sicilian Vespers, was declared by Pope Martin IV against the King of Aragón, Peter III the Great, in 1284 and 1285. Because of the recent conquest of Sicily by Peter, the Pope declared a crusade…

Medieval Military and Naval 10 Min Read

Grace Dieu 1420

I never saw so large and so beautiful a construction’ Luca di Masa degli Albizzi, Florentine Captain of the Galleys, 1430. The greatest of all medieval ships, Henry V’s the Grace Dieu was a remarkable vessel of a similar size to HMS Victory, although with her towering castles she looked…

Book Review Medieval Ottoman Piracy Sail 19 Min Read

H-NET REVIEW PUBLICATION: ‘MALTA: A SMALL NATION WITH A HUGE HISTORY’

Ayse Devrim Atauz. Eight Thousand Years of Maltese Maritime History: Trade, Piracy, and Naval Warfare in the Central Mediterranean. Gainseville University Press of Florida, 2008. xiv + 379 pp. $69.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8130-3179-8. Reviewed by Thomas Scheben Published on H-War (December, 2008) Commissioned by Brian Ditcham Malta: A Small Nation…

Ancient Galley Medieval 5 Min Read

QUINQUEREMES AND HEAVIER WAR GALLEYS

The word trireme (Greek trieres) is usually taken to mean a war galley with three banks of oars, superimposed one above another. Representations of galleys with two and three banks of oars have survived; in the fifth century, Athenian rowers were divided into thranitai, zygitai, and thalamitai, according to the…

Most Popular

The Mauryan Empire Military

Chandragupta governed a true monarchical imperial state. The king ruled with the help of a…

The Military of the Byzantines

Dominant military forces of the Middle East between the fourth and fifteenth centuries. At Manzikert…

Wars of Charlemagne

The composition and equipment of Charlemagne’s army was continuously evolving. Initially, the Carolingian Army was…

Japanese Siege Weapons

Early Fortifications Although fortifications were constructed in Japan prior to the feudal period, frequent conflicts…