The New World in the North : 129 



sel with a very small amount of decked-in space. Originally it was a 

 ship to be rowed but it became also a sailing vessel. It was a double- 

 ender, having relatively sharp lines both at the bow and the stern and 

 with both the stem and stern prolonged upward. Amidships, the ves- 

 sel was broad with relatively flat floors. The lines of the Viking ship 

 were sweeping and graceful, producing a vessel that could be easily 

 driven — that could carry a considerable burden and still remain buoy- 

 ant and seaworthy. The "clinker" or "clincher" type of construction 

 added considerably to the strength of this vessel. 



The medieval ship that was very extensively used farther south in 

 Europe had a quite different form. Whereas the Norse vessel was rela- 

 tively long and narrow, the medieval vessel of the French, English, 

 Dutch and German coasts was relatively round and bowl-shaped with 

 a blunt bluff bow and stern. These ships depended largely on the use 

 of sail and soon were using several masts whereas the Norse vessels 

 held to the single mast, set amidships, carrying one large sail hung 

 from an elevated yard. The medieval ship was largely a cargo carrier 

 and a general utility boat. On the occasions when it was used as a war 

 vessel, special structures were erected at the bow and stern that could 

 carry fighting men on platforms raised above the general deck. 

 These structures had walls like an old-fashioned fort and were 

 known as the "forecastle" and the "aftercastle." In time they became 

 permanent structures so that there were additional decks fore and 

 aft and this, in turn, set the pattern for the later vessels with many 

 decks such as we see in the Spanish galleons and the English war ves- 

 sels of the eighteenth century. The term "aftercastle" has disappeared 

 but the forecastle survives as the contraction "fo'c's'le" which is the 

 name for that portion of the ship used by the crew as living quarters. 

 It was formerly the forward section of the upper deck but now may 

 be located anywhere. 



The medieval type of sailing ship from the French seaports and the 

 Channel ports of England was extensively used during the period of 

 the crusades to carry pilgrims to Malta and other ports in the Medi- 

 terranean on their way to the Holy Land. 



Beginning with the ship of a very generalized pattern, local dif- 

 ferences began to develop in the different countries. The Hanseatic 

 League grew up in northern Germany. An increasing volume of trade 

 between the Hanseatic ports called for larger and heavier vessels and 

 this, in turn, demanded an increase in sail area. Holland and the Low 

 Countries generally specialized in ships adapted to shallow waters as 

 we]5 as ships that could sail the open sea, and they experimented also 



