TheHistoryFiles.com: History and Hardware of Warfare

CARAVELLE (Caravel)

Caravela Latina / Latin Caravel: Caravel Boa Esperana of Portugal. Caravela Redonda / Square-rigged Caravel: Caravel Esprito Santo of Brazil Portuguese caravel, adorned with the Cross of the Order of Christ. This was the standard model used by the Portuguese in their voyages of exploration. It could accommodate about 20 sailors. In the summer of […]

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A POLICY OF HATE

The Russian émigrés would certainly not be welcomed back. Not only had they done nothing for their homeland, but the simple fact was that ‘Russia had been conquered with German blood for the protection of Europe against Russia’. When shortly after the German invasion of the USSR the Russian Grand Duke Vladimir, then living in […]

Model, Sail

18th century "REALE"

The name “REALE” indicates that the galley belonged to the King of France; also from 1526 the admiralty vessel of the Captain of the French galleys was called “REALE”. The original craft is an exact reproduction of a typical end of 18th century “REALE”, sumptuously decorated by the famous sculptor Pierre Puget; the stern ornamentations, […]

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Egyptian exploration (ancient Egyptian exploration)

Ancient Egypt was a civilization that flourished along the valley and delta of the NILE RIVER in northeastern Africa for more than three millennia, from before 3300 B.C. until 30 B.C. Many of the themes associated with ancient Egyptians are familiar: the great pyramids and their burial chambers; sphinxes and other statues combining human and […]

Austria, Medieval, Ottoman

HABSBURG MILITARY MEDIOCRITY – H-WAR

Why was the Habsburg army slower and less brilliant than its European rivals between 1649 and 1918? I am certainly no expert on this topic, having read only very generally on Austrian history, but in the interest of providing a basis of discussion, I’ll posit the following general ideas: 1) The Habsburgs were almost […]

History

EUROPEAN WARS OF INSURRECTION 1830-50

A revolution against the Austrian Netherlands produced the seceding country of Belgium in 1830, a year that also saw another revolution in France. Unrest was in the air. The 1830 Belgian Revolution led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic, and neutral Belgium under a provisional government and a national congress. The November Uprising (1830–1831)—also […]

Medieval Battle

“BATTLE OF THE MASTS”

A reconstruction of an Arab dromon-shūnī The shūnī was a general classificatory name for an Arab galley though it is often referred to as a type on its own. Her equivalent was the Byzantine dromon. # The real name of Konstans II (641–68) was Flavios Herakleios, but he was crowned as Constantine and he used […]

Viking

Gokstad Ship

By James Grout “So great, also, was the ornamentation of the ships, that the eyes of the beholders were dazzled, and to those looking from afar they seemed of flame rather than of wood. For if at any time the sun cast the splendour of its rays among them, the flashing of arms shone in […]

Cog, Medieval

COGS IN CONTEMPORARY ART

A remarkably realistic depiction of a sea fight between two cogs, dated to c. 1300-1320 by details of the armour and the ships’ construction. The picture emphasizes the importance of shock combat as the ultimate arbiter of boarding fights, although the two archers, identifiable as English longbowmen by the size of their bows and their […]