European Naval and Maritime History, 300-1500 - Paperback

by Archibald R. Lewis (Author), Timothy J. Runyan (Author)

This first general survey of European naval and maritime history for the period from A.D. 300 to 1500 focuses on Western Europe, including the Baltic, North Sea, and Atlantic traditions, and on the Mediterranean, particularly Byzantine and Moslem naval history. The authors survey a number of interconnected areas: the use of seapower in international and intercultural relations, commerce and trade routes, naval technology and design, military tactics, the physical features of seafaring, and the geography of the sea. They make accessible to the general reader very technical scholarship, and provide numerous maps and illustrations that explain the changes in ship design and construction. The overall result is a powerful historical synthesis whiich gives students, teachers, and general readers a "feel" for the seafaring life and the place of the sea within medieval civilization.

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This volume occupies a special place in maritime history since it represents a first attempt on a popular level to present an overall survey of the rich, diverse, and exciting development of European naval and maritime power during the Middle Ages. Though a number of general surveys exist which deal with the navies and shipping of antiquity, except for the excellent though highly technical recent book by Richard Unger, The Ship in the Medieval Economy 600-1600, such surveys are lacking for the thousand years which represent medieval times.