BETWEEN VENICE AND THE LEVANT: REEVALUATING MARITIME ROUTES FROM THE FOURTEENTH TO THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

References

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• 1998 . Le système de l'Incanto Pryor is cited by many researchers in the field. His conclusions are used to support various claims regarding navigation at sea throughout the Mediterranean, including: Balard, ‘Les transports’, 8–9; Stöckly, 132; N.A.M. Roger, The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain, 660–1649 (New York,; S. Rose, ‘Islam Versus Christendom: The Naval Dimension, 1000–1600’, The Journal of Military History, 63, no. 3 (July, 1999), 562–3, 567
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• Geography Following Pryor, Balard claims that a voyage along the southern shores of the Mediterranean was considered a high-risk adventure throughout the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Commercial ships found it difficult to sail against the NNW winds, and were frequently swept back to go aground on the shores of Egypt and Africa. Galleys with a shallower draught, he writes, took advantage of the coastal routes as in ancient times. See respectively Pryor, 73; Balard, ‘Les transports’, 8–9
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• As was the case for pilgrims and travellers in past times, my voyage was not uneventful. Progress westward from the Levant was thwarted by the Meltemi winds which carried my modest vessel towards the southernmost islands in the Aegean, only to narrowly escape going aground on the southern shores of Kasos Island due to confused winds in the proximity of the shore. Fierce gusts near Spina Longa in Crete tore one of the sails, and the passage north-westward from the SW tip of the Peloponnese demanded much patience, as it had demanded from mariners 500 years ago. Close to Ston in Croatia, the fierce Bora winds tearing down the mountain slopes were also a danger to my craft. One night in an open anchorage the wind was so ferocious that again we were at risk of grounding. In his diary the traveller Sir Richard Torkington mentioned a similar case where the sailors opened all hatches and doors to allow the wind to pass through the vessel as much as possible, thereby reducing the tension on the anchor—information I found very useful. The homeward voyage was not all plain sailing either, and I was compelled to spend five days in Ios Island due to a storm in the Aegean Sea
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• 1989 . Mariner's Mirror , This paper is based on research carried out for a masters degree under the supervision of Prof. Benjamin Arbel at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of History. Those with reservations about Pryor's conclusions include: N.M.H. Fourquin, ‘Review Article’, 75, 104; P. Horden and N. Purcell, The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History (London, 2000), 137–43
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• Hyde . ‘Navigation’, 521
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• On the numerous variations in routes and stops, see also ibid. 532; Horden and Purcell, The Corrupting Sea, 139–40
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• 1584 . Reyssbuch des Heyligen The same terminology is used in other diaries included in that collection. S. Feyerabend, ‘Beschreibung der Wallfahrt zum H. Grab Herrn Steffan von Gumpenberg’, in Landes (Frankfurt, 236r–7r
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• Meshulam of Volterra , 80 – 1 . Ya'ari, 25
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• Balard . ‘Navigations génoises’, 782–3
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• Ibid. 784 – 5 . , 793
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• Newett , M. M. 1907 . Canon Pietro Casola's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Year, 1494 236 Manchester ‘Steffan von Gumpenberg’, in Feyerabend, Reyssbuch des Heyligen Landes, 237v; V. Castagna, Pellegrinaggio ai luoghi santi: Liber peregrinationis di Jacopo da Verona (Verona, 1990), 52; Niccoló of Poggibonsi, A Voyage Beyond the Seas, 1346–50, T. Bellorini and E. Hoade, eds., (Jerusalem, 1945), 5; A. Ya'ari, Travels in Palestine (Jerusalem, 1946), 131 (Hebrew); Hans von Hirnheim, Des Ritters Hans von Hirnheim: Reisetagebuch aus dem Jahre, 1569, mit einem Nachworte heraugegeben von Ferdinand Khull (Graz, 1897), 25
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• Baumgarten , Martin . 1732 . The Travels of Martin Baumgarten, a Nobleman of Germany, Through Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and Syria in Three Books London 496
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• 2002 . Voyages, 1557–65 ‘…a sol a monte ne stava bocca di Cattaro per Tramontana largo miglia 20. Malonta per Maestro Tramontana, Budua per Greco, Trasto alla quarta di Greco ver Tramontana, Dulcigno per Levante, et Antivari per Greco Levante, et fu tutto il giorno nuvolo.’ Alessandro Magno, Wilfred Naar, ed., (Fasano-Paris, 606
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• 1567 . Biblioteca del Civico Museo Correr, Venezia, MS Cicogna 3596/29. [‘Viaggio per Cipro della Nave Giustiniana,’] I am currently preparing a full transcription of the text for publication
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• Naufrages Tenenti bases his thesis on data extracted from insurance policies. However, in any case, most wrecks are to be found along the shores, where shoals and rocks are often a cause of damage or sinking: Tenenti, 45–65, pl. II. Pertes de Mer (Échouages ou Naufrages)
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• Pryor . Geography 13 – 4 . , 35, 95, 119, fig. 2, fig. 27; Huygens, Peregrinationes tres, 51
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• 2006 . Earth-Sciences Reviews , : 2005 POEM Group, ‘General Circulation of the Eastern Mediterranean’, 32 (4) (1992, 285–309; C. Millot, ‘Circulation in the Mediterranean Sea: evidences, debates and unanswered questions’, Scientia Marina 69 (Suppl. 1), 5–21; N. Hamad, C. Millot, I. Taupier-Letage, ‘The Surface Circulation in the Eastern Basin of the Mediterranean Sea’, Scientia Marina 70 (3) 457–503
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• Geography Pryor, 92; Pryor, ‘Winds’, 73, 82; See also, Huygens, Peregrinationes tres, 43, 51–2
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• Goldreich , Y. 2003 . The Climate of Israel, Observation, Research and Application 48 – 51 . Springer : Heidelberg . ; R. Heikell, Mediterranean Cruising Handbook (Cambridgeshire, Imray, 2004), 122
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• 1971 . Digest of Selected Weather Problems of the Mediterranean Compare Pryor's claims with data collected by the US Navy Weather Research Facility regarding prevailing winds in different stations along the shores of the Mediterranean: E. R. Reiter, The Navy Weather Research Facility (Virginia, Appendix C: ‘Statistics of the Etesian, Frequency (%) and strength (Beaufort) for the three most frequent wind directions at selected island and coastal stations (average of observations at 08:00, 14:00 and 20:00 LT) (Metaxas)’, 1–3
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• Mediterranean , 122 – 3 . If the wind is strong enough to pass over an obstacle such as an island, it will blow with great force down the leeward slopes of the obstacle. Otherwise, the wind will alter its direction up to 90 degrees from its original course, as is the case with the Etesian winds in the Aegean sea and the Bora winds in the Adriatic during the summer months: Heikell, 118
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• Geography , Pryor, 93, 95; Heikell, Greek Waters, 25–6
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• 1980 . Handbook for Forecasters in the Mediterranean, Part 2: Regional forecasting aides for the Mediterranean basin See for example the US Navy conclusions regarding visibility and the haze effect in different parts of the Mediterranean: L. R. Brody and J. R. Nestor, Naval Environmental Prediction Research Facility (California, VII-13, V-19, VI-33
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• 1848 . Early Travels in Palestine London In addition, Saewulf's stop at the island of Cephalonia was due to a storm (‘we were driven by a tempest…’) and was not predetermined for trade purposes as implied by Pryor: T. Wright, 31
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• Huygens . Peregrinationes tres 37 – 8 .
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• Ibid. 40 – 1 . , 43; Pryor, Geography, 98;
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• 1970 . Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand, 1403–6 New York Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, 18–21
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• Hoade , E. , ed. 1970 . Geography Pryor, 98; Wright, Early Travels, 33. Other travellers also mention a similar event: see ‘The Itinerary of a Certain Englishman, 1344/5’, in Western Pilgrims (Jerusalem, Rpt., 58; Guillebert de Lannoy, Voyages et ambassades de Messire Guillebert de Lannoy, chevalier de la Toison d'or, seigneur de Santes, Willerval, Tronchiennes, Beaumont et Wahégnies, 1399–1450 C.P. Serrure, ed., Société des bibliophiles de Mons (Mons, 1843), 127
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• Peregrinationes tres See Huygens, 48; Pryor, ‘Winds’, 81
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• Early Travels Wright, 34. Huygens, Peregrinationes tres, 48
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• Early Travels Wright, 47; Huygens, Peregrinationes tres, 51–2
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• Aescoly , A. Z. , ed. 1999 . A Voyage See respectively, Niccolò of Poggibonsi, 127; Bernhard von Breydenbach, Peregrinations: un viaggiatore del quattrocento a gerusalemme e in egitto, Ristampa anastatica dell'incunabolo (Roma, 245–6; Jean Thenaud, Le Voyage d'outremer (Égypte, Mont Sinay, Palestine) de Jean Thenaud suivi de La Relation d l'Ambassade de Domenico Trevisan auprès du Soudan d'Egypte, 1512, C. Schefer, éd. (Genève, 1971), 121–3, 216; The Story of David Hareuveni, copied from the Oxford Manuscript (Jerusalem, 1993), 31 (Hebrew); ‘Beschreibung der Reyß ins heylig Land, Daniel Ecklins von Arow’, in Feyerabend, Reyssbuch des Heyligen Lands, 401; Magno, Voyages, 297–306; ‘Beschreibung der Wallfahrt zum H. Grab Herrn Albrechts Graffen zu Louwenstein’, in Feyerabend, Reyssbuch des Heyligen Lands, 205
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• 1978 . La Navigazione Mediterranea nell'Alto Medioevo In earlier times it is probable that most of the vessels tacked mainly to the NE just to reach Rhodes or the Lycian shore. Even so, crossing northward from Egypt was the common route for the return voyage. See also the article by Abraham Udovitch and comments by Eliyahu Ashtor: A.L. Udovitch, ‘Time, the Sea and Society: Duration of commercial voyages on the southern shores of the Mediterranean during the high middle ages’, in Centro italiano di studi sull'alto Medioevo (Spoleto, 503, 509, 541–5, 558–9
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