e in 1373, that vessels built specially for
the purposes of war would have a great advantage over the hired
merchantmen which had to be adapted for fighting each time they were
impressed.

It is highly probable that the latter half of the fourteenth century
witnessed many improvements in ships built in the Mediterranean. This
was no doubt due, in part, to the intense commercial rivalry that
existed at that time between Venice and the other Italian Republics.
Fig. 34 is taken from a MS. Virgil in the Riccardi Library, reproduced
in M. Jal's[14] work. It represents an Italian two-masted sailing-ship
of this period. This is one of the earliest illustrations of a ship
with a permanent forecastle forming part of the structure of the
vessel. The stern castle also appears to have a permanent, though not a
structural character. Ships of somewhat similar type were used in
England in the reign of Richard II. at the end of the fourteenth
century. Fig. 35 represents one of them, the original being in an
illustrated manuscript in the Harleian Library. It was written by a
Frenchman of the name of Francis de la Marque in Richard's reign. There
are illustrations in manuscripts still in existence written about this
period, which confirm the fact that this type of ship was then
prevalent.

[Illustration: FIG. 33.--Venetian galleon. 1564.]

The reign of Henry V. (1413 to 1422) was one of great naval development.
The king himself took a most ardent interest in the Royal Navy, and
frequently inspected the ships during their construction. Under his
auspices some very large vessels were built for the fleet. Lists of this
king's ships are still in existence. They are classified under the
names Great Ships, Cogs, Carracks, Ships, Barges, and Ballingers. The
largest of the great ships was the _Jesus_, of 1,000 tons; the
_Holigost_, of 760; the _Trinity Royal_, of 540; and the _Christopher
Spayne_, of 600; the last-mentioned was a prize captured by the Earl of
Huntingdon. The majority of the ships were, however, from 420 to 120
tons. The carracks were apparently not English-built ships, as all those
in the king's navy were prizes captured in 1416 and 1417. The three
largest were of 600, 550, and 500 tons respectively. The barges are
given as of 100 tons, and the ballingers ranged from 120 to 80 tons. The
total strength of the Royal Navy about the year 1420, as given in the
list compiled by W. M. Oppenheim from the accounts of the keepers of
t