THE BEGINNING OF TRADE 



powers, but a considerable number of ships certainly went across the 

 Bay of Biscay and through the Straits of Gibraltar, which must have 

 meant a considerable test for their seaworthiness. Those who took the 

 overland route must have observed not only the Mediterranean ships 

 but also their methods of trading, and although the average Crusader 

 would not be very interested in this, the host of camp-followers who 

 followed the army most certainly would have been. 



Richard's Crusade. 



When Richard I went on his famous crusade the greater part of the 

 army was transported by sea all the way from England but the most 

 appalling waste was obvious everywhere. For instance ships were 

 loaded with wine for the crusaders in Dover, although this wine had 

 previously to be imported from France and French ports were touched 

 at on the way out. The fleet going round in the Atlantic had a very bad 

 time and a number of ships were lost. Impatient of delay Richard 

 wasted more money in hiring ships in Marseilles and eventually he re- 

 equipped his whole force in Sicily, where he wintered. The progress 

 of the fleet to the Holy Land was harassed by weather and by the action 

 of the Turks. That such a voyage as this should be undertaken by a big 

 fleet, even if the greater part of it was scattered on the way, and that the 

 ships should be stored for a year's service, are interesting notes of this 

 early period. 



The records left of the transport fleet give us a very fair idea of the 

 types of ship at sea at that time. Most of the work was done in galleys, 

 some of them 120 feet long, propelled with one bank of oars and carry- 

 ing a hundred men apiece, but there were all sorts of other ships 

 employed. The biggest of the transports were the Dromonds, after- 

 wards to have an evil reputation from their piratical operations in the 

 Channel, and one of these that was sunk in 1182 had no fewer than 

 1,500 passengers on board. The busses and the salandres were smaller, 

 while the Huissiers carried the horses which were accommodated in 

 large open castles on the poop. From Marseilles to Acre took fifteen 

 to twenty days at the very best but Richard I took no less than six 

 months to get from England to Messina. As indicating something of 

 the size of these ships it is mentioned in the inventory of one of his 

 transports that she had thirteen anchors, thirty oars and two sails and 

 that she carried forty horsemen and their mounts, fourteen footmen and 

 fifteen sailors, but she must have been very much on the small side 

 compared with some of the big dromonds. 

 King John and Trade. 



Trade suffered severely at the hands of King John, who was always 

 impecunious and none too scrupulous as to the way that he got money, 

 quite forgetting that he was killing the fabled goose. He seized goods 

 and ships just when it suited his purpose, not always even troubling to 

 give a reason, and he was constantly imposing heavy taxes. Finally he 

 entered into active competition himself, buying wine on the Continent 

 and selling it in London against the legitimate traders. Quite a large 



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