The Galley and the Galleon
The Galley
The galley remained the main instrument of naval warfare in the Mediterranean Sea from the Archaic Period—ca. 6th century BCE—until the requirements of ocean-based trade and warfare in the 17th century produced the high-hull, multi-decked galleon.
Although also rigged for one or two large sails, under battle conditions the galley’s effectiveness—its speed and maneuverability—relied massively on the oarsmen’s skill and muscle power. For as long as the galley remained the backbone of France’s royal navy (that is until the last quarter of the 17th century), great attention would be placed in the building of such ships and the marshaling of human resources. An ordinary French galley would have 26 pairs of oars with six oarsmen per bank or 312 oarsmen overall, as in the case of Toms’ engraving, whereas a grand “reale” (a flagship-rank royal galley) would have as many as thirty-two banks with six or seven oarsmen, or as many as 448 oarsmen (Glete, 98).
The background of galley oarsmen varies across the Mediterranean navies of the time. Freemen, conscripts, war prisoners, and slaves sometimes shared the bank. In the case of France in Vincent de Paul’s time the galley oarsman was most often a slave, his status conferred by his capture in war, or his conviction as a criminal. In the 1690s the French Galley Corps reached its all-time peak with more than fifty vessels manned by over 15,000 men and officers, becoming the largest galley force in the world at the time (Bamford, 52). Although the state did not see to the improvement of the fortunes of these men beyond sustaining them for the purpose of war, Vincent de Paul’s reaching out to them–probably the most maligned class of men in France—was a unique gesture of humanity and personal humility.
Although mostly supplanted by ships of the line in the early 18th century, the galley and the French Galley Corps were maintained as elements of the French navy until their abolishment in 1748 (Bamford, 272-3).
The Galleon
Tall hull ships with sails capable of carrying great cargo volumes and negotiating strong oceanic currents already appeared in the early 13th century. As Dominguez notes the Portuguese galleon evolved from the square rigged caravel and was a compromise between the great carrack or nau and the aforementioned square rigged caravel or war caravel (also called caravela de armada or Portuguese man of war) that evolved into a new design of ship, but kept its hull design similar to that of the galley.
First the caravel and then the multi-tiered, three- or four-masted galleon became an icon of Spanish and then European imperial expansionism. Much larger and more stable than the galley in high winds and rough seas, a better platform for artillery, more difficult to board, faster, and very maneuverable, the evolving galleon will become the backbone of European naval geopolitics across the seas and oceans.
Without the need for oarsmen, the nature of the naval force changed. Great emphasis was placed on building classes of skilled sailors and naval officers, and manning effectively and sustainably massively expanded banks of artillery pieces. The servicing and maintenance of evolving sailing, armaments and navigation infrastructure represented both a technological and managerial revolution in naval warfare. Dozens of new trades and craft specializations emerged to produce this new type of ship, transforming port cities like Marseilles, Toulon, and Brest in France, economically and socially. The great cost and technological sophistication of these vessels meant that only a few early modern European states would emerge as Great Powers in the 18th century. The Dutch, the French, and the English emerge as the master builders of this type of naval vessel.
The drawings of Dutch vessels under construction included in the 1647 Nauium uariæ figuræ et formæ a Wenceslao Hollar: in diuersis locis ad uiuum de lineatæ & aquaforti æri insculptæ are reproduced in the 19th century chromolithograph on display.