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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Galloglaich" data-source="post: 5224158" data-attributes="member: 77019">Ever wondered what a Medieval warship looked like?This is a model of a 15th Century Hanseatic privateer (essentially a pirate ship) the Peter Von Danzig, apparently a pretty tough warship which wrought havoc against the English during the Anglo-Hanseatic war.<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Peter_von_Danzig_1462.PNG/605px-Peter_von_Danzig_1462.PNG" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_von_Danzig_%28ship%29" target="_blank">Peter von Danzig (ship) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</a>I blundered across this when I was looking up Peter Von Danzig the 15th Century fencing master for an adventure I'm working on for the Codex.  Check out the fighting (shooting?) platform on the front of the ship.  The overall construction technique reminds me a bit of the Medieval loading crane which still exists in the town of Danzig (now called Gdansk)<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2548894100_8f6c6f688c.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />We tend to think of people in the 1400's as kind of like cave men who lived in thatched huts, but they were a bit more sophisticated.Danzig is a remarkably well preserved Renaissance town, check out the 16th Century town hall<a href="http://www.talismancoins.com/catalog/Neptune_Statue_Gdansk.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.talismancoins.com/catalog/Neptune_Statue_Gdansk.jpg</a>Similar to many of the other smaller (mostly Hanseatic) trading towns in the area, like <img src="http://www.bamjam.net/Poland/images/torun04.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Torun, <img src="http://kobasworld.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/old-town.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />and Riga all of which I hope to visit some day soon.The career of the ships captain is pretty interesting too:<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Beneke" target="_blank">Paul Beneke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</a>This guy is a great candidate for my "dilbert in the dungeon" list in the OP of this thread.  Apparently a long lived fellow, this Paul Beneke shifted his career from town counselor to privateer and Captain of the Von Danzig.  I bet he had an interesting life.  He captured numerous English vessels recovering many priceless goods including at least one highly notable art-treasure.Good fodder for campaign material perhaps, and an insight into the reality of Renaissance life in an area outside of Italy.G.</blockquote>

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