Galéasse

A galéasse is a Navire with veils and oar S, much larger and better armed than a galère, built with Venice starting from the medium of XVIe century. It was to gather on the same building the quality of the Galion S (robustness, tonnage, passable distance, artillery) and galères (maneuverability, independence compared to the wind).

Frightening in the Mediterranean vis-a-vis the traditional galères (see their role in the Battle of Lépante in 1571); they proved to be ineffective on the swell of the Manche vis-a-vis the English vessels (see their uselessness within the Invincible Armada in 1588).

Despite everything, the galéasses made it possible Venice to become the uncontested Master of the Mediterranean until the end of XVIIe, beginning of the XVIIIe century approximately.

Indeed, their superiority as well technological as technical, their capacity to control all the assaults - the engagements were almost regarded as lost in advance by their enemies - made it possible Venetian to extend without difficulty a commercial empire almost as large as the ancient Roman empire.

Their monopoly was then quasi-absolute. And thus the aristocratic republic became the most powerful state of the basin.

They is when other means of transport of the goods were invented and that other roads, terrestrial or maritime, were discovered, the whole allowing a transfer at least as effective, as was broken the Venetian monopoly.

That started as of XVe century, when Portuguese, follow-ups of near by Spanish and Dutch find their own roads towards spices, already known for Portuguese and Dutch (spices of the east), and unknown factors for Spanish (American spices).

It should be noted that the spices were a long time the obsession of all the sailors, and their only and single goal, their price returning the voyage " intéressant".

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