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1. PrinciplesSailing is the use of non-expendable wind energy for the propulsion of boats or ships, the movement of which is not limited to the direction of the wind, because they are moving within two media – water and air. With the wind from the side, the hull of the vessel is pressing on its immersed surface (the “lateral plane”) against the water in such a way that the wind pushes the vessel forwards at the desired angle to it. In the parallelogram of forces that arises here, the desired forw…

A shipyard is an establishment for the organization and execution of shipbuilding. Its most important locational factor is the need for shipping space, necessitated in ports since the Middle Ages by commercial activities (Trade). Thus the early modern seaports with a large market share also had correspondingly large shipyard capacities available, though shipyards immediately experienced the effects of a stagnating or declining trade economy in the form of diminishing orders. Where a shipyard cou…

1. WatersShipping is the exploitation of waterways employing watercraft. Water creates much less much less frictional resistance than land, permits the use of much larger vehicles, and makes it possible to use freely available currents and wind energy for propulsion. Hence boats and ships are the most economical vehicles to operate, though of course they can only reach places located on navigable waters: to fulfill their function, they need harbors as mooring places, starting points, and destinat…

As intermediaries in every seaport, shipbrokers consigned cargo to skippers, shipowners, and maritime merchants in return for a commission (a percentage of the total sales). Originally this so-called courtage (finder’s fee) was freely negotiated and was paid equally to buyer and seller, or in the case of financial transactions, by the debtor alone. As late as the 16th century, with a rate of only 2 to 7 tenths of a percent it hardly provided an adequate livelihood [3], but it increased in the course of the early modern period, and by the 19th century at the latest it…

1. Middle Ages Unlike coastal shipping, which is conducted within sight of the shore, deep sea navigation ventures into the high seas without reference to the coast. There was already some deep sea navigation in the Middle Ages. In the Pacific, the Polynesians in their sailing catamarans navigated by interference patterns in the waves of the sea and by the stars. In the Indian Ocean, Arab sailors made use of the monsoon. In the Mediterranean, high mountains and islands generally made it …

1. GeneralThe use of cranes to transfer heavy goods between ships and land enabled wooden machines to replace human labor. Shipboard cargo gear does not count as a harbor crane, but it was in use throughout the entire early modern period to unload large cargo ships outside harbor approaches that were too shallow. In antiquity, mobile cranes had been installed in harbors when needed. The first stationary harbor cranes were built in the first half of the 13th century in harbors from Norway to Fland…

1. Concept and definitionIn the British Isles, coastal shipping is defined as commercial traffic around the British and Irish coasts. Shipping in inshore waters in the Netherlands was called binnenvaart (not to be confused with  binnenscheepvaart or inland navigation on rivers and canals). However binnenvaart did not include coastal shipping outside Dutch waters, which in the early modern period was considerably more important. In principle, a similar concept applied too in Scandinavia, Italy, and elsewhere, except that coastal shipping …

1. System In bow hauling, river boats (Inland navigation) were pulled on a long line from the bank, using human or animal muscle power, usually upstream (see fig. 1). On canals with little or no current, it was done in both directions. The practice relies upon the provision of a continuous, fixed tow path along the watercourse, the installation and maintenance of which (e.g. repairs after flooding, keeping the riverbank free of vegetation, see also River control), like the deployment of…

1. State of researchIn the early modern period, there were so many different types of harbor, with the larger ones fulfilling such a wealth of diverse functions, that no scholarly presentation covers all relevant aspects (for an initial survey, see [13]). To date there has been no synoptic overview of the development of harbors in Europe and overseas, even rudimentarily. Numerous studies are limited to the development of individual harbors or groups of harbors, particular aspects, or the archaeological record [1]. Even titles that sound quite promising [19] fail to convey a coh…

Insurance covers losses of assets brought about by specific events by distributing them among a larger number of persons. The events relevant to marine insurance are accidents at sea up to and including sinking as well as hijacking and its consequences. In the early modern period, marine insurance in the narrower sense covered damage up to and including loss of ship and cargo, in the broader sense also the consequences for the individuals affected.The beginnings of marine insurance in the late Middle Ages differed greatly from current forms of insurance, but they sha…

A shipping company is a business enterprise that invests money in ships (Capital, accumulation of) in order to make a greater profit by transporting goods and/or passengers than would be achieved simply from carriage charges. Longer voyages increased the chances for profit but also increased expenditures for ships, tackle, crew, and commercial organization as well as the risk of loss through shipwreck, hijacking, piracy, disease, and much else. Such voyages therefore increased the capital requir…

1. MaterialUntil the end of the early modern period, shipbuilding, which still included boatbuilding [13. 92], was a wood craft: tree trunks were the raw material for all watercraft [9. 14]. For the hull, the hardwood of the oak was preferred; its tannins guaranteed durability even when constantly immersed in water. Though oak grows naturally throughout Europe’s entire oceanic climate zone except the far north [10. 315 f.], in the early modern period high demand made it a scarce commodity; many large ships required it for their deep sea navigation (Por…

1. IntroductionAll economically developed societies of the early modern period used land routes and watercourses (as their particular topography permitted) to transport people, goods, and information. Such routes shaped territories’ economic geography and, in consequence of this, determined the emergence of cultural centers. Water transport enjoyed the fundamental advantage that boats and ships could carry far heavier cargos than land vehicles, but navigable waterways were not present everywhere …

1. Seafaring practice European navigation in the early modern period was tasked with ensuring that regular passages under sail from one harbor to another worldwide were conducted as reliably and safely as possible (Deep sea navigation) [7]. It was the responsibility of the captain, with the helmsman as his deputy. The two took alternate watches, each informing the other of the prevailing course when changing the watch. The aft deck gave them the necessary clear all-round view to monitor the condition of the ship and sails, as we…