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Navigating the Dutch Coast — Sixteenth-century naval charts

Sixteenth-century naval chart of the Ems Estuary.

“A convoy of around twenty large and small ships gathered. The wind was blowing from the west, which was favourable for us, so we set sail. We sailed the entire day, but during the night, the wind turned against us. The ships had to anchor near a fortress one mile from Dokkum.“1

From Emden to Dokkum
24 July – 25 July 1585

After a long wait, Samuel Kiechel departed Emden aboard a ship. For the young man from Ulm, it was his first experience on a vessel sailing out into the open sea. Sadly, strong headwinds made it a brief one.

But how did sixteenth-century sailors chart a course to their destination? How did they learn about sandbanks, shallows, reefs and safe anchorages? Naval charts became widely used, printed and published as books to give navigators access to a broad range of geographical knowledge. A Dutchman took the first and most influential step in this area: Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer’s “Spieghel der zeevaerdt” was first published in 1584.

Leaving Emden

On 24 July, Kiechel, the West Frisian nobleman he had met in Bremen, along with another Dutchman who joined them in Emden, boarded a ship. Our traveller notes that many passengers were on board. Among them was a young noblewoman who had never been at sea before. It was also Kiechel’s first time travelling by ship.

Small Dutch sailing ship carrying passengers.

The ship departed from the port of Emden, but after sailing for only a mile, it had to wait for the warships and other civilian vessels to catch up. Eventually, about twenty large and small ships assembled and set sail.

In the 1580s, the Dutch Republic had not yet become the naval power it would later be during its Golden Age in the seventeenth century. At that time, Spain was the dominant military force. To defend against such an adversary with its heavy warships, the Dutch utilised small, agile vessels capable of navigating the treacherous, shallow coastal waters and river deltas. Typical ships of this era included the herring buss, hoy and flyboat.

As the name implies, the herring buss was a seagoing fishing vessel. The hoy was a flat, versatile ship with a shallow draught that could serve as a barge, harbour boat or small warship. The flyboat (Dutch: vlieboot) functioned as a cargo vessel that could be adapted as a warship. It was cost-effective to construct, agile and had a shallow draught. The flyboat was the most commonly employed ship of the early Republic. A fleet of these vessels blockaded Dunkirk in 1588, preventing the barges transporting the Spanish army destined to invade England from leaving the harbour and joining the Armada.2

Three Dutch sailing ships depart from the coast under sail.

The ships carrying Samuel Kiechel were probably small vessels of this type. They sailed along the Dutch coast and up the rivers, confident that the heavier Spanish galleons and other warships would not dare to pursue them. The Dutch coastline was shaped by the sea and the deltas of three major European rivers: the Rhine, the Meuse and the Scheldt. The landscape along the North Sea consisted of sand dunes, beaches and tidal flats.

Kiechel noted that the fleet enjoyed a westerly wind and planned to sail for the rest of the day. From Emden, they travelled down the Ems estuary towards the Frisian islands. Beyond the islands lay the North Sea. A westerly wind was advantageous for leaving the estuary’s shallow waters and staying clear of the Dutch coast. However, it would not assist their overall journey westward.

In the evening, the wind shifted, and the fleet anchored beneath a fortress one mile from Dokkum. The ships would stay there overnight. The following morning (25 July), the sea remained rough, and the wind had not changed its direction. Due to the bad weather, passengers were allowed to leave the ships. They were taken ashore by boats and launches. Kiechel and his companions walked the short distance from the coast to Dokkum, a town in West Frisia.

Small sailing ship in a strong gale.

Navigation in the Sixteenth Century

Sailing the shallow waters along the Dutch coast was a hazardous endeavour. It relied on experienced navigators (pilots) with an intimate knowledge of the local conditions, currents, shoals and tides. While remaining further out at sea reduced many of those hazards, it deprived the ship’s pilot of fixed landmarks for determining their position and course.

Since the Middle Ages, navigators have depended on coastal reference points, keeping ships within sight of land. A pilot’s understanding of the sea depended on his experience and thorough knowledge of the coast, as well as the local conditions along his regular routes. He would observe the coast for church towers, hills, castles and other prominent features to establish the ship’s position.3

Coastal profile of the island of Walcheren and Flanders from 1596, showing the shape of the coast and notable structures as viewed from a ship.

Coastal profile of the island of Walcheren and the the coast of Flanders, 1596

Coastal profile of the island of Walcheren from 1596, showing the shape of the coast and notable structures as viewed from a ship.

Coastal profile of the island of Walcheren, 1596

Dead reckoning was the common method used to estimate a ship’s progress. From the vessel’s established position, the navigator kept track of its heading and speed. He could measure speed in a basic way by observing and timing a piece of flotsam as it drifted past, but often relied on his experience to make an educated guess. The ship’s heading could be verified by observing the wake behind it or, since the late Middle Ages, by using a compass. The starting point, heading and speed allowed the navigator to calculate the vessel’s progress. Although currents, adverse winds and storms could influence and even invalidate these calculations, proximity to the coast meant that an experienced pilot could verify and adjust his estimations using known landmarks.4

Some navigators began to document their knowledge of specific routes, initially in the Mediterranean. These compilations of navigational knowledge were called ‘portolano’ in Italian and ‘rutters’ in English; the earliest examples date from the late thirteenth century.5

Rutters were written sailing instructions that detailed courses, distances, landmarks and guidance on approaching specific ports. Occasionally, they included sketches or woodcuts of coastal profiles to help identify landmarks such as hills, mountains, churches and other structures. Because experienced sailors typically authored rutters, they often incorporated their personal observations along with information gathered from locals, who possessed knowledge of an area’s tides, shoals and currents. Before 1500, rutters were available only as manuscripts, whereas the first printed rutters appeared in the sixteenth century.6

Portolan chart showing the coastline of the Mediterranean and Black Sea from 1580.

Portolan chart of the Mediterranean and Black Sea, 1580

The earliest surviving naval charts also date from the late thirteenth century (1270s). Known as ‘portolan charts’, their origins may be based on written ‘portolanos’ (rutters) or may have developed alongside them.7 Portolan charts offered detailed representations of coastlines, including ports and key landmarks, to aid sailors in identifying their positions and destinations. These naval charts also featured a network of lines (rhumb lines) emanating from compass roses, indicating compass bearings to allow navigators to plot courses more accurately. Most portolan charts mainly depicted the Mediterranean. However, during the explorations of the sixteenth century, mapmakers expanded their geographic scope to include the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa. Some charts even illustrated the North Sea.

While dead reckoning, naval charts and portolans were useful for navigating the Mediterranean and North Sea, they proved less effective for explorers sailing around Africa or crossing the Atlantic. Portuguese navigators developed new methods that relied on the stars to determine their ships’ positions. They also introduced new tools, such as the quadrant, astrolabe and cross-staff, along with new charts, maps and mathematical tables to calculate latitude.8

However, while new navigational techniques and tools became widely used among Portuguese, Spanish and English sailors, many pilots in the North Sea, and especially in the Baltic Sea, continued to rely on coastal navigation. The oldest naval chart of the Baltic Sea was created by Cornelis Anthonisz in 1543. Anthonisz based the map on his observations of the area and, as he states, on information from experienced pilots and sailors. Additionally, he published a rutter featuring numerous coastal profiles to help navigators identify landmarks.9

Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer’s “Spieghel der zeevaerdt”

Two influential Dutch publications that greatly improved navigational knowledge and techniques in Northern Europe were the “Spieghel der zeevaerdt” (Mariner’s Mirror, 1584)10 and the “Thresoor der zeevaert” (Treasure of Navigation, 1592)11 by Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer. Both works combined sea charts, rutters and descriptions of coastlines. Waghenaer had extensive experience at sea and knew the coastlines he charted from firsthand knowledge.12

However, Waghenaer’s “Spieghel der zeevaerdt” was more than just a collection of sailing instructions and naval charts. The book begins with an introduction to navigation, featuring tables for determining the tides of the new moon, calculating the declination of the sun and stars, and listing distances and directions between landmarks.

Titlepage of Waghenaer’s “Spieghel der zeevaerdt” (1584)

The coastlines of the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Atlantic, stretching from the Low Countries to England and Spain, are divided into segments. Each segment is accompanied by a description and sailing instructions, followed by a chart. Waghenaer drew his charts at a scale of 1:400,000. He included depth measurements around harbours and illustrations of coastal profiles to help users identify landmarks. For the first time, naval charts incorporated symbols for buoys, anchorages, reefs, rocks and shoals. Especially along the German and Dutch North Sea coasts, with their tidal flats and numerous islands, information about water depth and safe routes for vessels was of critical importance.13

Sixteenth-century naval chart of the North Sea coast from Jutland to the mouth of the Elbe.

The “Thresoor der zeevaert”, Waghenaer’s second publication, is presented in a distinctive oblong format because he concluded that the “Spieghel” was still too unwieldy for sailors. In the “Thresoor”, the charts no longer included coastal profiles; instead, the profiles were now printed alongside the sailing instructions. The instructions were also more detailed than those found in the “Spieghel der zeevaerdt”.14

The mouth of the Elbe River in the “Spieghel der zeevaerdt” and the “Thresoor der zeevaert”

By publishing charts at a consistent scale alongside coastal profiles and sailing instructions, Waghenaer made a notable contribution to navigation and cartography in northern Europe. Soon after their release, this type of guide was called after him a ‘waggoner’.15

Naval chart of the Ems Estuary showing the coastline and islands around it, with water depths along the main shipping channels.

The Ems Estuary from Emden to the North Sea

A chart in the “Spieghel der zeevaerdt” depicts the coastline around Emden and the Ems estuary, outlining the route ships would follow from the city at the mouth of the Ems River, through Dollart Bay, past the islands of Borkum and Rottum (Rottumeroog) and into the open sea.

Kiechel’s vessel had followed this route until the wind changed. The fortress where it anchored for the night remains hard to identify. There were no major fortifications along the coast near Dokkum. The tidal flats offered natural defence. The ship likely had stopped in a bay now called the Lauwerszee, which became an inland lake in 1969. According to the chart, this bay was accessible to larger ships and connected by canals to Dokkum. It appears on the right edge (West) of the chart and is named “Dockummer diep.”

Naval chart of the coast west of the Ems Estuary with the Dockummer Diep highlighted.

The coast from the Ems Estuary to “Dockummer diep”

Illustrations & References

All images are in order of appearance with links to sources on external websites:

  1. Die Reisen des Samuel Kiechel aus drei Handschriften, K. D. Haszler (ed.), Stuttgart 1866, p. 14; Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. ↩︎
  2. Unger, Richard W., Dutch Ship Design in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, in: Viator. Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 4/1973, pp. 387-412. ↩︎
  3. Ash, Eric H., Navigation Techniques and Practice in the Renaissance, in: The History of Cartography, Vol. III, pt. 1, Cartography in the European Renaissance (ed. David Woodward), pp. 509-527, see pp. 509-510. ↩︎
  4. Ibid, pp. 510-511. ↩︎
  5. Ibid, pp. 511. ↩︎
  6. Schilder, Günter and van Egmond, Marco, Maritime Cartography in the Low Countries during the Renaissance, in: The History of Cartography, Vol. III, pt. 2, Cartography in the European Renaissance (ed. David Woodward), pp. 1384-1432, see pp. 1384-1386. ↩︎
  7. Ash, Navigation Techniques, pp. 513. ↩︎
  8. Ibid. pp. 514-519. ↩︎
  9. Lang, Arend W., Die „Caerte van oostlant“ des Cornelis Anthonisz. 1543. Die älteste gedruckte Seekarte Nordeuropas und ihre Segelanweisung, (Schriften des Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseums, 8), Hamburg 1986, pp. 289-301. ↩︎
  10. Waghenaer, Lucas Jansz., Teerste [-tweede] deel vande Spieghel der zeevaerdt, vande navigatie der Westersche Zee, innehoudende alle de custen van Vranckrijck, Spaignen ende ‘t principaelste deel van Engelandt, in diversche zee caerten begrepen, Leiden 1585; Utrecht University Repository. ↩︎
  11. Waghenaer, Lucas Jansz., Thresoor der zeevaert, inhoudende de geheele navigatie ende schip-vaert vande Oostersche, Noordtsche, Westersche ende Middellantsche Zee, met alle zee-caerten daer toe dienende …, Amsterdam 1596; Utrecht University Repository. ↩︎
  12. Schilder, van Egmond, Maritime Cartography, pp. 1384-1386. ↩︎
  13. Ibid, pp. 1392-1394. ↩︎
  14. Ibid, pp. 1394-1395. ↩︎
  15. Ibid, pp. 1393-1394. ↩︎