07-02-2008, 12:19 PM
Hello,
I found a good overview article on the history of the lateen sail, and more generally the fore-and-aft sails. These later sails are, unlike square sails, parallel to the keel, and are used today on all kind of yachts and sporting boats. Their invention thus represented a revolution in rigging, and there has been now for over half a century, thanks among others to the work of Lionel Casson, enough evidence to prove that this too place in Greco-Roman times in the Mediterranean. So, it is nice to see Campbell to summarize and present concisely the evidence again.
The main points are this:
1. The lateen, both the triangular and the quadrilateral type, were introduced by Greek and Roman sailors between the 2nd century AD and 4th century AD, that is hundreds of years before the Arabs took to large scale sailing.
2. Not only lateen sails were employed, but also spritsails appeared by the 2nd century BC. Greco-Roman sailors thus invented the first fore-and-aft sailings. One of the most important inventions of antiquity in my mind, ranking alongside the watermill, concrete or glass-blowing.
3. The thesis of the European, particularly Portuguese, adoption of the lateen sail from Arab navigators in the age of discovery is no longer tenable. In fact, lateen sails were continually used in European/Christian navigation from antiquity onwards.
4. Long overlooked, although so evident: Even in countries conquered by the Muslims after 632 AD, navigation and navigation technology remained for hundred of years in the hands of the indigenous Christian population. And these people followed the same ancient shipbuilding tradition as those on the nortern Mediterranean shore. It was in this tradition in which the Muslim nomads actually stepped, when they adopted the lateen sail from the Copts.
[quote]Page 8ff.: The Mediterranean Evidence
It seems increasingly likely that the lateen may have originated in the Mediterranean where the missing link between the square and triangular sails was the brailed square sail. Brails were ropes that ran from the foot of the sail, up the front of it (fastened at various holding points) and over the upper yard to the deck.22 By pulling on the ropes sailors could wholly or partly furl the sail, and they could shorten one side of it more than the other merely by adjusting the lengths of the various brail ropes. The process is similar to adjusting horizontal venetian blinds. This was an important innovation in allowing sailors to adjust the amount of sail surface area exposed and in trimming the sail to wind conditions. Sails brailed on one side could be tilted toward the wind to further increase efficiency. A remark by Aristotle suggests that partially furled sails were used in a fore-and-aft manner by the fourth century B.C.23 This suggestion establishes the typological “missing link.â€
I found a good overview article on the history of the lateen sail, and more generally the fore-and-aft sails. These later sails are, unlike square sails, parallel to the keel, and are used today on all kind of yachts and sporting boats. Their invention thus represented a revolution in rigging, and there has been now for over half a century, thanks among others to the work of Lionel Casson, enough evidence to prove that this too place in Greco-Roman times in the Mediterranean. So, it is nice to see Campbell to summarize and present concisely the evidence again.
The main points are this:
1. The lateen, both the triangular and the quadrilateral type, were introduced by Greek and Roman sailors between the 2nd century AD and 4th century AD, that is hundreds of years before the Arabs took to large scale sailing.
2. Not only lateen sails were employed, but also spritsails appeared by the 2nd century BC. Greco-Roman sailors thus invented the first fore-and-aft sailings. One of the most important inventions of antiquity in my mind, ranking alongside the watermill, concrete or glass-blowing.
3. The thesis of the European, particularly Portuguese, adoption of the lateen sail from Arab navigators in the age of discovery is no longer tenable. In fact, lateen sails were continually used in European/Christian navigation from antiquity onwards.
4. Long overlooked, although so evident: Even in countries conquered by the Muslims after 632 AD, navigation and navigation technology remained for hundred of years in the hands of the indigenous Christian population. And these people followed the same ancient shipbuilding tradition as those on the nortern Mediterranean shore. It was in this tradition in which the Muslim nomads actually stepped, when they adopted the lateen sail from the Copts.
[quote]Page 8ff.: The Mediterranean Evidence
It seems increasingly likely that the lateen may have originated in the Mediterranean where the missing link between the square and triangular sails was the brailed square sail. Brails were ropes that ran from the foot of the sail, up the front of it (fastened at various holding points) and over the upper yard to the deck.22 By pulling on the ropes sailors could wholly or partly furl the sail, and they could shorten one side of it more than the other merely by adjusting the lengths of the various brail ropes. The process is similar to adjusting horizontal venetian blinds. This was an important innovation in allowing sailors to adjust the amount of sail surface area exposed and in trimming the sail to wind conditions. Sails brailed on one side could be tilted toward the wind to further increase efficiency. A remark by Aristotle suggests that partially furled sails were used in a fore-and-aft manner by the fourth century B.C.23 This suggestion establishes the typological “missing link.â€
Stefan (Literary references to the discussed topics are always appreciated.)
