To
me," etc.[4] Francesco da Barberino, a poet of the 13th century, in the
7th part of his Documenti d'Amore (printed at Rome in 1640), which
instructs the lover to whose lot it may fall to escort his lady on a
sea-voyage (instructions carried so far as to provide even for the case of
her death at sea!), alludes more than once to these plural rudders. Thus -
" - - se vedessi avenire
Che vento ti rompesse
Timoni ...
In luogo di timoni
Fa spere[5] e in aqua poni." (P. 272-273.)
[Illustration: ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE DOUBLE RUDDER OF THE MIDDLE AGES
12th Century Illumination (After Pertz)
Seal of Winchelsea.
12th Century Illumination (After Pertz)
From Leaning Tower (After Jal)
After Spinello Aretini at Siena
From Monument of St Peter Martyr]
And again, when about to enter a port, it is needful to be on the alert
and ready to run in case of a hostile reception, so the galley should
enter stern foremost - a movement which he reminds his lover involves the
reversal of the ordinary use of the two rudders: -
"L' un timon leva suso
L' altro leggier tien giuso,
Ma convien levar mano
Non mica com soleano,
Ma per contraro, e face
Cosi 'l guidar verace." (P. 275.)
A representation of a vessel over the door of the Leaning Tower at Pisa
shows this arrangement, which is also discernible in the frescoes of
galley-fights by Spinello Aretini, in the Municipal Palace at Siena.
