It is highly probable that the latter half of the fourteenth century witnessed many improvements in ships built in the Mediterranean. This was no doubt due, in part, to the intense commercial rivalry that existed at that time between Venice and the other Italian Republics. Fig. 34 is taken from a MS. Virgil in the Riccardi Library, reproduced in M. Jal's[14] work. It represents an Italian two-masted sailing-ship of this period. This is one of the earliest illustrations of a ship with a permanent forecastle forming part of the structure of the vessel. The stern castle also appears to have a permanent, though not a structural character. Ships of somewhat similar type were used in England in the reign of Richard II. at the end of the fourteenth century. Fig. 35 represents one of them, the original being in an illustrated manuscript in the Harleian Library. It was written by a Frenchman of the name of Francis de la Marque in Richard's reign. There are illustrations in manuscripts still in existence written about this period, which confirm the fact that this type of ship was then prevalent. [Illustration: FIG. 33.--Venetian galleon. 1564.] The reign of Henry V. (1413 to 1422) was one of great naval development. The king himself took a most ardent interest in the Royal Navy, and frequently inspected the ships during their construction. Under his auspices some very large vessels were built for the fleet. Lists of this king's ships are still in existence. They are classified under the names Great Ships, Cogs, Carracks, Ships, Barges, and Ballingers. The largest of the great ships was the _Jesus_, of 1,000 tons; the _Holigost_, of 760; the _Trinity Royal_, of 540; and the _Christopher Spayne_, of 600; the last-mentioned was a prize captured by the Earl of Huntingdon. The majority of the ships were, however, from 420 to 120 tons. The carracks were apparently not English-built ships, as all those in the king's navy were prizes captured in 1416 and 1417. The three largest were of 600, 550, and 500 tons respectively. The barges are given as of 100 tons, and the ballingers ranged from 120 to 80 tons. The total strength of the Royal Navy about the year 1420, as given in the list compiled by W. M. Oppenheim from the accounts of the keepers of the king's ships, is 38; of these 17 were ships, 7 carracks, 2 barges, and 12 ballingers. It is worthy of notice that there were no galleys included in the list. [Illustration: FIG. 34.--Italian sailing ship. 15th century.] [Illustration: FIG. 35.--English ship. Time of Richard II.] Henry invaded France in 1415 with a fleet of 1,400 vessels, which had been raised by impressing every British ship of 20 tons and upwards. The home supply not being sufficient for his purpose, Henry sent commissioners to Holland and Zealand to hire additional vessels. In all 1,500 ships were collected and 1,400 utilised. These figures give us a fair idea of the resources of this country in shipping at that time.