Page 132 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo I

132 XXXIX Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

Amphibious and joint operations in the Mediterranean in
the crusading era c.1050-C.1250

Dr Matthew BEnnETT

t a conference of this nature I am conscious that most of the contributors deal
A with periods of history much more recent than the one which I am studying. So I
want to make some basic factors clear at the beginning. The theatre of operations for my
study is the Mediterranean, or rather the central and eastern parts of that sea. It will come
as no surprise to this audience that I have chosen to focus on the role of the Italians in
amphibious and joint operations in the period approximately 1050-1250 CE. This can be
described as the era of the Crusades during which Latin Christian forces, fighting on land
and sea, recovered and then lost again, Jerusalem and territories mainly on the Syrian
coast. The main recruiting area for crusaders was to be found in north-western Europe,
although crusading campaigns were launched in Spain, Germany and the Baltic from the
Christian kingdoms there. I am going to provide a general overview, rather than a detailed
case study; but I will present tactical examples as well as broad strategic principles.
In strategic terms, the almost landlocked Mediterranean has two noticeable features.
The first is that it contains strings of islands which act almost as stepping stones across
it. This was especially important during period when the fleets, mostly composed of
oared galleys, just as they had been in the Ancient world, had a limited range and needed
to beach up at night for rest and watering of the crews. The second factor was the nature
of the prevailing winds and currents: these favoured movement from West to East and
North to South, and hence the Christian states on the northern shores over the Muslim
powers on the southern coasts. This meant that sailing from Cyprus to Acre (Akka) on
the Syrian coast was relatively easy; but working up the coast to intercept these transits
from Egypt was fairly difficult.
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In addition to these advantages, from the mid-12 century onwards, western techno-
logical advances in naval architecture created the roundship, a much taller and broader
ship than the traditional galleys, dependent upon sails, but almost invulnerable to at-
tack by shallow-draft craft. Such vessels were to prove crucial in attacks on coastal
fortifications, no longer simply blockades, but as floating siege engines which towered
over defensive walls and allowed attackers to storm the fortifications. The most famous
example of this advantage was the capture of famously impregnable Constantinople not
once, but twice, in 1203 and 1204.
There was a range of craft available to all the peoples of the Mediterranean, though,
ranging from the fast one-deck galley (known as the sagitta, or arrow) to the standard
warship epitomised by the Byzantine dromon: a two-decker with 40 oars per side and a
crew of 200, designed for sea warfare and furnished with a beak (above the waterline)
rather than the ram of Ancient times. There is no space in this presentation to go into
detail about such vessels, though, as its main focus is on amphibious actions, so I shall