I'll even settle for ideas of passenger accommodation on vessels during Imperial Rome or later Middle Ages?
A pilgrim named Felix Fabri travelled to the Holy Land on a Venetian galley in the year 1483. These 'great galleys' were far larger and more elaborate than the ships the Normans used three centuries earlier, up to 150 feet long. Here are some highlights of his account of the voyage:
The prow has a small chamber below, in which ropes and sails are stored, and in it sleeps the officer in charge of the prow, who has a staff of his own who stay only in that chamber and carry out whatever has to be done there. ... (At the stern) the castle has three storeys: the first, in which are the helmsman and the compass, the man who tells the helmsman how the compass points, those who watch the stars and winds, and those who point out the routes across the sea; the middle one in which is the chamber of the lord and captain of the ship, and of his noble comrades and messmates; and the lowest one in which noble ladies are housed at night, and where the captain's treasure is stored. This chamber receives no light except from the hatchways in the floor above. ... (Further forward) is the kitchen, which is not covered over; beneath the kitchen is the cellar, and beside the kitchen is the stable for the animals that are to be slaughtered: sheep, goats, calves, oxen, cows and pigs all stand there together. ... On the left hand side are rowers' benches all the way from the poop to the prow, and on every bench are three rowers and an archer. (My note: Venetian galleys were rowed by professional oarsmen, not slaves) ... On the deck next to the main mast there is an open space where men gather to talk as in a forum; and it is called the forum of the galley. Now on the upper deck of this galley live the ship's company of the galley, and the rowers, each man upon his own bench, and there they sleep, eat and work. Between the benches on either side in the middle is a fairly wide space, in which stand great chests full of merchandise, and above these chests there is a walkway from the prow to the poop; the rowing masters also run along here when the oars are being worked. ... Close to the main mast is the main hatchway, through which one descends by seven steps into the hold which is the place where the pilgrims live, or where the cargo is put in cargo-carrying galleys. ... It is like a great and spacious chamber. It receives no light except for what comes through the four hatchways by which it is entered. In this hold every pilgrim has his own berth or space. Furthermore, the berths of the pilgrims are so arranged that, for the length of the ship or rather of the hold, one berth is alongside the next without any space in between, and one pilgrim lies by the side of the other, along both sides of the ship, having their heads towards the sides of the ship and their feet stretching out towards each other. Since the hold is wide, there stand along the middle of it, between the berths, chests and pilgrim's trunks, reaching from the cellar to the chamber in the prow, in which the pilgrims keep their own private property, and when they sleep, on both sides to the left and to the right, they stretch out their feet up to these trunks. ... Beneath the pilgrims is a large cavity reaching in depth down to the bottom of the vessel.... This is filled with sand right up to the planks on which the pilgrims lie; and the pilgrims lift up the planks and bury in that sand the little jugs in which they keep their wine, and eggs, and other things which need to be kept cool. (My note: the sand was presumably intended as ballast, though the pilgrims found another use for it.) ... Next to the main mast is the well for bilge water (...) All the moisture and water that visibly and invisibly gets into the galley drips and flows into that well, and it gives off the foulest possible stench, worse than that from any latrine for human excrement. This well has to be pumped out once every day, but in rough weather all the water has to be drawn out of it with no let up.
Wow thank you for this! The pic and description help immensely... and I would never in a million years have thought about the well or the sand parts especially. o____O
It does make sense about putting the noble ladies down in the locked up room for safety's sake (I presume that's why?). Thank you!!
A pilgrim named Felix Fabri travelled to the Holy Land on a Venetian galley in the year 1483. These 'great galleys' were far larger and more elaborate than the ships the Normans used three centuries earlier, up to 150 feet long. Here are some highlights of his account of the voyage:
The prow has a small chamber below, in which ropes and sails are stored, and in it sleeps the officer in charge of the prow, who has a staff of his own who stay only in that chamber and carry out whatever has to be done there.
...
(At the stern) the castle has three storeys: the first, in which are the helmsman and the compass, the man who tells the helmsman how the compass points, those who watch the stars and winds, and those who point out the routes across the sea; the middle one in which is the chamber of the lord and captain of the ship, and of his noble comrades and messmates; and the lowest one in which noble ladies are housed at night, and where the captain's treasure is stored. This chamber receives no light except from the hatchways in the floor above.
...
(Further forward) is the kitchen, which is not covered over; beneath the kitchen is the cellar, and beside the kitchen is the stable for the animals that are to be slaughtered: sheep, goats, calves, oxen, cows and pigs all stand there together.
...
On the left hand side are rowers' benches all the way from the poop to the prow, and on every bench are three rowers and an archer. (My note: Venetian galleys were rowed by professional oarsmen, not slaves)
...
On the deck next to the main mast there is an open space where men gather to talk as in a forum; and it is called the forum of the galley. Now on the upper deck of this galley live the ship's company of the galley, and the rowers, each man upon his own bench, and there they sleep, eat and work. Between the benches on either side in the middle is a fairly wide space, in which stand great chests full of merchandise, and above these chests there is a walkway from the prow to the poop; the rowing masters also run along here when the oars are being worked.
...
Close to the main mast is the main hatchway, through which one descends by seven steps into the hold which is the place where the pilgrims live, or where the cargo is put in cargo-carrying galleys.
...
It is like a great and spacious chamber. It receives no light except for what comes through the four hatchways by which it is entered. In this hold every pilgrim has his own berth or space. Furthermore, the berths of the pilgrims are so arranged that, for the length of the ship or rather of the hold, one berth is alongside the next without any space in between, and one pilgrim lies by the side of the other, along both sides of the ship, having their heads towards the sides of the ship and their feet stretching out towards each other. Since the hold is wide, there stand along the middle of it, between the berths, chests and pilgrim's trunks, reaching from the cellar to the chamber in the prow, in which the pilgrims keep their own private property, and when they sleep, on both sides to the left and to the right, they stretch out their feet up to these trunks.
...
Beneath the pilgrims is a large cavity reaching in depth down to the bottom of the vessel.... This is filled with sand right up to the planks on which the pilgrims lie; and the pilgrims lift up the planks and bury in that sand the little jugs in which they keep their wine, and eggs, and other things which need to be kept cool. (My note: the sand was presumably intended as ballast, though the pilgrims found another use for it.)
...
Next to the main mast is the well for bilge water (...) All the moisture and water that visibly and invisibly gets into the galley drips and flows into that well, and it gives off the foulest possible stench, worse than that from any latrine for human excrement. This well has to be pumped out once every day, but in rough weather all the water has to be drawn out of it with no let up.
Reply
It does make sense about putting the noble ladies down in the locked up room for safety's sake (I presume that's why?). Thank you!!
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment