Originally found on sailing ships, the lateen sail is used today in a slightly different form on small boats such as the highly popular Sunfish.

A lateen (from French latine, meaning "Latin"^[1]) or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction.

Dating back to Roman navigation, the lateen became the favorite sail of the Age of Discovery. It is common in the Mediterranean, the upper Nile, and the northwestern parts of the Indian Ocean, where it is the standard rig for feluccas and dhows. The lateen is used today in a slightly different form on small recreational boats like the highly popular Sailfish and Sunfish, but is still used as a working rig by coastal fishermen in the Mediterranean.

History[link]

Introduction into Mediterranean Sea[link]

The earliest fore-and-aft rig was the spritsail, appearing in the 2nd century BC in the Aegean Sea on small craft.^[2] The lateen sail originated during the early Roman empire in the Mediterranean Sea.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]} It evolved out of the dominant square rig by setting the sails more fore-and-aft - along the line of the keel - rather than athwartship, while tailoring the luff and leech.^[13]

Both types of lateen were known from an early date on: a 2nd century AD gravestone depicts a quadrilateral lateen sail (also known as settee), while a 4th century mosaic shows a triangular one which was to become the standard rig throughout the Middle Ages.^[2] According to the Belgian maritime historian Basch, the earliest true lateen rig even appears as early as the 1st century BC, in a Hellenistic wall painting found in a Hypogeum in Alexandria.^[14] The earliest archaeologically excavated lateen-rigged ship, the Yassi Ada II, dates to ca. 400 AD, with a further four being attested prior to the Arab advance to the Mediterranean.^[15] The Kelenderis ship mosaic (late 5th to early 6th century)^[16][17] and the Kellia ship graffito from the early 7th century complement the picture.^[17]

By the 6th century the lateen sails had largely replaced the square sail throughout the Mediterranean, the latter almost disappearing from Mediterranean iconography until the mid-13th century.^[18] It became the standard rig of the Byzantine dromon war galley and was probably also employed by Belisarius' flagship in the 532 AD invasion of the Vandal kingdom.^[14][19] After the Muslim conquests, the Arabs adopted the lateen sail by way of the Coptic populace, which shared the existing Mediterranean maritime tradition and continued to provide the bulk of galley crews for Muslim-led fleets for centuries to come.^[20] This is also indicated by the fact that the terminology of the lateen among Mediterranean Arabs is derived from Greco-Roman nomenclature.^[21]

Diffusion to Indian Ocean[link]

Dhow with lateen sail in "bad tack" with the sail pressing against the mast, in Mozambique.

The emergence of new evidence for the development and spread of the lateen sail in the ancient Mediterranean in recent decades has led to a reevaluation of the role of Arab seafaring in the Indian Ocean in that process. Neither the attribution of the lateen to the Arabs nor its origin in the Indian Ocean can longer be upheld:

The origin of the lateen sail has often been attributed by scholars to the Indian Ocean and its introduction into the Mediterranean traditionally ascribed to the Arab expansion of the early-7th century. This was due mainly to the earliest (at that time) iconographic depictions of lateen rigged ships from the Mediterranean post-dating the Islamic expansion into the Mediterranean basin...It was assumed that the Arab people who invaded the Mediterranean basin in the 7th century carried with them the sailing rig familiar to them. Such theories have been superseded by unequivocal depictions of lateen-rigged Mediterranean sailing vessels which pre-date the Arab invasion.^[22][23]

A large Dhow with two lateen sail rigs and a headsail.

Further inquiries into the appearance of the lateen rig in the Indian Ocean and its gulfs show a complete reversal of earlier scholarly opinion on the direction of diffusion, now pointing to an introduction by Portuguese sailors in the wake of Vasco da Gama's arrival in India in 1500.^[24] Searches for lateen sails in India were inconclusive.^[25] Since lateen sails were absent from Indian inland waters, that is in regions remote from foreign influences, as late as the mid-20th century, the hypothesis of an Indian origin appears a priori implausible.^[26] The earliest evidence for the lateen in Islamic art occurs in a 13th century Egyptian artifact which, however, is assumed to show a Mediterranean vessel.^[27] Excavated depictions of Muslim vessels along the Eastern African coast uniformly show square sails before 1500.^[28]

After 1500, the situation in the Indian Ocean dramatically changes, with nearly all vessels now being lateen rigged.^[27] As Portuguese hull design and construction methods are known to have been subsequently adopted by Eastern Muslim shipbuilders, it is assumed that this process also included the lateen rigging of the novel caravel.^[29] Within fourteen years of da Gama's arrival, lateens were spotted by the Portuguese on local vessels.^[29]

Independent invention in South Seas[link]

The "V"-shaped and mastless lateen rig, known as crab claw sail, of the seafaring people of the Oceania which was in use as far east as Tonga and Samoa at the time of European contact, is generally assumed to be an independent invention on the grounds of its very different construction.^[30]

Later development[link]

Lateen-rigged caravel, the main vessel of the Portuguese long-distance explorations

A 17th Century woodcut of a triangular-sailed Bermudian vessel. Its raked masts were a development of the lateen.

Until the 14th century, the lateen sail was employed primarily on the Mediterranean Sea, while the Atlantic and Baltic (and Indian Ocean) vessels relied on square sails. The Northern European adoption of the lateen in the Late Middle Ages was a specialized sail that was one of the technological developments in shipbuilding that made ships more maneuverable, thus, in the historian's traditional progression, permitting merchants to sail out of the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic Ocean; caravels typically mounted three or more lateens. However, the great size of the lateen yardarm makes it difficult and dangerous to handle on larger ships in stormy weather, and with the development of the carrack the lateen was restricted to the mizzen mast. In the early nineteenth century the lateen was replaced in European ships by the driver or spanker.

However, the lateen survived as a rigging choice for mainsails of small craft where local conditions were favorable. For instance, barge-like vessels in the American maritimes north of Boston, called gundalows, carried lateen rigs throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Likewise, lateen sail survived in the Baltic until the late 19th century. Because the yard pivots on its point of attachment to the mast, the entire sail and yard can be swiftly dropped. This was an advantage when navigating the tidal riverways of the region, which often required passage under bridges. The balancelle, a Mediterranean coasting and fishing boat of the 19th century, also used a single lateen sail.

One of the disadvantages of the lateen in the modern form described below is the fact that it has a "bad tack". Since the sail is to the side of the mast, on one tack that puts the mast directly against the sail on the leeward side, where it can significantly interfere with the airflow over the sail. On the other tack the sail is pushed away from the mast, greatly reducing the interference. On modern lateens, with their typically shallower angles, this tends to disrupt the airflow over a larger area of the sail.

However, there are forms of the lateen rig, as in vela latina canaria, where the spar is changed from one side to the other when tacking. This way the rig doesn't suffer these airflow disruptions that come from the sail pushed against the mast.

The lateen sail can also be tacked by loosening the yard upper brace, tightening the lower brace until the yard is in vertical position, and twisting the yard on the other side of the mast by a tack. Another way of tacking with a lateen sail is to loosen the braces, lift the yard vertical, detach the sheet and tack, and turn the sail on the other side of the mast in ftont of the mast, and reattach the sheet and tack. This method is described in Björn Landström's The Ship.

The lateen rig was also the ancestor of the Bermuda rig, by way of the Dutch bezaan rig. In the 16th Century, when Spain ruled the Netherlands, the lateen rigs were introduced to Dutch boat builders who soon modified the design by omitting the mast and fastening the lower end of the yard directly to the deck, the yard becoming a raked mast with a full-length, triangular (leg-of-mutton) mainsail aft. Introduced to Bermuda early in the 17th Century, this developed into the Bermuda rig, which, in the 20th Century, was adopted almost universally for small sailing vessels.

Addressing the bad tack[link]

Proa sailboats addressed the fact that a lateen style sail becomes pressed up against the mast upon tacking in a rather unique way. A proa can sail in either direction, this enables it to always keep the sail off the mast pointing the boat itself in the opposite direction when tacking. Instead of using a single mast to support the upper spar, the flying lateen sailboat suspends the spar between two or more mast sections.^[31] In a aft-mast rig, such as the one on the yacht Hot Buoys, the mast is located in the stern and bolt-rope within the sail serves as the spar.

Advantages and disadvantages[link]

The advantage of the lateen rig compared to a square rig is that it rises better towards the wind. A lateen-rigged vessel is far more maneuverable than a square-rigged vessel. The lateen rig also enables tacking and beating to the wind. While a lateen rig is more difficult to tack with than a Marconi- or gaff rig, it has a better aspect ratio than square rig.

The disadvantage of the lateen rig is that it is a poorer runner than a square rig. Therefore the Spaniards often re-rigged their vessels when they ventured out of Mediterranean to the Atlantic, where the winds are constant and a square sail has the advantage.

Modern small-boat lateen sails[link]

The modern lateen differs from traditional lateens by the addition of a spar along the foot of the sail, similar to the crab claw sail traditionally used on the proa. The lower spar is horizontal, and is attached to the mast where it crosses. The front ends of both spars are joined together. Both joints are designed to allow free rotation in all directions. The sheet is attached to the lower spar, and the halyard to the upper spar. The geometry of the sail is such that the upper and lower spars are confined to a plane parallel to the mast. This results in the sail forming a conic section, identical to half of the Rogallo wing commonly found in kites and hang gliders.

The modern lateen is often used as a simple rig for catboats and other small recreational sailing craft. In its most basic form, it requires only two lines, a halyard and a sheet, making it very simple to operate. Often, additional lines are used to pull down the lower spar and provide tension along the upper and lower spars, providing greater control over the sail shape.

Since the upper and lower spars provide a frame for the sail, the camber of the sail is simply a function of how tightly the spars stretch the sail. This means that lateen sails are often cut flat, without the complex cutting and stitching required to provide camber in Bermuda rig sails. Curved edges, when mated with the straight spars, provide all or nearly all of the sail curvature needed.

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Basch, Lucien (2001), "La voile latine, son origine, son évolution et ses parentés arabes", in Tzalas, H., Tropis VI, 6th International Symposium on Ship Construction in Antiquity, Lamia 1996 proceedings, Athens: Hellenic Institute for the Preservation of Nautical Tradition, pp. 55–85 
• Campbell, I.C. (1995), "The Lateen Sail in World History", Journal of World History 6 (1): 1–23, http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/jwh/jwh061p001.pdf 
• Casson, Lionel (1954), "The Sails of the Ancient Mariner", Archaeology 7 (4): 214–219 
• Casson, Lionel (1995), Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-5130-8 
• Castro, F.; Fonseca, N.; Vacas, T.; Ciciliot, F. (2008), "A Quantitative Look at Mediterranean Lateen- and Square-Rigged Ships (Part 1)", The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 37 (2): 347–359, DOI:10.1111/j.1095-9270.2008.00183.x 
• Friedman, Zaraza; Zoroglu, Levent (2006), "Kelenderis Ship. Square or Lateen Sail?", The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 35 (1): 108–116, DOI:10.1111/j.1095-9270.2006.00091.x 
• Makris, George (2002), "Ships", in Laiou, Angeliki E, The Economic History of Byzantium. From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century, 1, Dumbarton Oaks, pp. 89–99, ISBN 978-0-88402-288-6 
• Pomey, Patrice (2006), "The Kelenderis Ship: A Lateen Sail", The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 35 (2): 326–335, DOI:10.1111/j.1095-9270.2006.00111.x 
• Pryor, John H.; Jeffreys, Elizabeth M. (2006), The Age of the ΔΡΟΜΩΝ: The Byzantine Navy ca. 500–1204, Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-90-04-15197-0 
• White, Lynn (1978), "The Diffusion of the Lateen Sail", Medieval Religion and Technology. Collected Essays, University of California Press, pp. 255–260, ISBN 978-0-520-03566-9 
• Whitewright, Julian (2009), "The Mediterranean Lateen Sail in Late Antiquity", The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 38 (1): 97–104, DOI:10.1111/j.1095-9270.2008.00213.x 

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lateen

• The ship's development during the Middle Ages, see bottom of page for English translation
• PolySail International instructions for building a Sunfish-like lateen sail
• I. C. Campbell, "The Lateen Sail in World History", Journal of World History (University of Hawaii), 6.1 (Spring 1995), p. 1–23

Humani generis unitas (Latin for On the Unity of the Human Race) was a planned encyclical of Pope Pius XI before his death on February 10, 1939, which condemned antisemitism, racism and the persecution of Jews. Because it was never promulgated, it is sometimes referred to as "The Hidden Encyclical" or "The Lost Encyclical."

History[link]

In June 1938, Pius XI summoned American Jesuit John LaFarge, who began to prepare a draft of Humani Generis Unitas, which LaFarge and two other Jesuits—Gustav Gundlach and Gustave Desbuquois^[1]—worked on in Paris;^[2] the draft was approximately 100 pages long.^[3] Another Jesuit translated the draft encyclical into Latin, presenting it to Vladimir Ledochowski, then the General of the Society of Jesus^[4]—who had chosen Gundlach and Desbuquois for the project.^[1] The draft encyclical was delivered to the Vatican in September 1938.^[1]

Some secondary sources—as well as Cardinal Tisserant the Dean of the College of Cardinals^[5]—claim that Humani Generis Unitas was literally on Pius XI's desk when he died of a heart attack on February 10, 1939.^[3]

Pope Pius XII, who succeeded Pius XI, did not promulgate the encyclical in the exact form of the draft left by Pius XI. Critics of Pius XII—notably John Cornwell in his controversial work Hitler's Pope—have cited his failure to promulgate the encyclical as evidence of his alleged silence toward anti-Semitism and The Holocaust, though a revised form of the encyclical was actually issued by Pius XII in October 1939^[1][2][6] and analysis of the encyclical figures prominently in most comparisons of the policies of Pius XII and his predecessor.^[4]

Pope Benedict XVI decreed in June, 2006 that all documents from the reign of Pius XI in the Vatican Secret Archives should be opened,^[7] and on September 18, 2006 over 30,000 documents were made available to researchers.^[8]

Content[link]

The first 70 paragraphs, probably authored by Gundlach, are a critique of theological modernism, unorthodox re-interpretation of Sacred Scripture, nationalism, and racism; the remaining 108, likely authored by all three Jesuits, contextualized the first part of the encyclical with the social role of Catholic educational institutions and anti-Semitism.^[1]

Although the draft encyclical clearly condemned racism and anti-Semitism, the document is deeply grounded in anti-Judaism^[2]. The draft encyclical criticizes the majority of post-Messianic Jews for not acknowledging Jesus Christ as the true Jewish Messiah.^[9]

Racism[link]

The “encyclical” clearly condemns American racial segregation and Racism and Nazi German anti-Semitism ^[10] Racism is a denial of the unity of human society. ^[11], a denial of the human personality ^[12] and a denial of the true values of religion ^[13] There is no relation between race and religion ^[14] last not least because racism is destructive to any society ^[15] The text points out that racism is destructive not only for social relations within a society but also for international relations and relations between different races. ^[16]

Antisemitic accusations[link]

The encyclical condemns the persecution of Jews as well. “These persecutions have been censured by the Holy See on more than one occasion, but especially when they have worn the mantle of Christianity". ^[17] “This unjust and pitiless campaign against the Jews has at least this advantage”, according to the “encyclical”, because the true nature, the authentic basis of the social separation of the Jews from the rest of humanity … is religious in character. …Essentially, the so-called Jewish question … is a question of religion and, since the coming of Christ, a question of Christianity. ^[18] The encyclical blames the Jews of the time of Christ for having brought their own Messiah Jesus Christ to death: "The very act by which the Jewish people put to death their Savior and King was, in the strong language of Saint Paul, the salvation of the world". ^[19] The draft encyclical continues by accusing Jews of blind materialism.

• Blinded by a vision of material domination and gain, the Israelites lost what they themselves had sought. A few chosen souls, among whom were the disciples and followers of Our Lord, the early Jewish Christians, and, through the centuries, a few members of the Jewish people, were an exception to this general rule. By their acceptance of Christ's teaching and their incorporation into His Church, they shared in the inheritance of His glory, but they remained and still remain an exception. "What Israel was seeking after, that it has not obtained; but the chosen have obtained it, and the rest have been blinded" (Romans 11:7). ^[20] The planned encyclical argues, that

• By a mysterious Providence of God, this unhappy people, destroyers of their own nation, whose misguided leaders had called down upon their own heads a Divine malediction, doomed, as it were, to perpetually wander over the face of the earth, were nonetheless never allowed to perish, but have been preserved through the ages into our own time. No natural reason appears to be forthcoming to explain this age-long persistence, this indestructible coherence of the Jewish people.^[21]

Reaction of Pope Pius XII[link]

Pope Pius XII, who according to the authors, was not aware of the text before the death of his predecessor, ^[22] chose not to publish this encyclical. However, his first encyclical Summi Pontificatus (October 12, 1939), published after the beginning of WWII, has the identical title On the Unity of Human Society and uses many of the arguments of the text, avoiding most of the negative characterisation of the Jewish people and rabbinic religion still contained in the text of the original encyclical, planned and written before the invasion of Poland and the start of the Second World War.^[23]

Summi Pontificatus sees Christianity being universalized and opposed to every form of racial hostility and against racial superiority. There are no real racial differences, because the human race forms a unity, because "one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth".

• What a wonderful vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God. . . in the unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for attaining this end;. . . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.^[24]

This divine law of solidarity and charity assures that all men are truly brethren, without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and societies.^[25]

References[link]

• Georges Passelecq and Bernard Suchecky, L’Encyclique Cachee de Pie XI, Une occasion manqué de l’Eglise face a l’antisemitisme , Editions La Decouverte, Paris 1995, (engl)The Hidden Encyclical of Pius XI (Harcourt, Brace, and Co., 1997).
• Encyclical Summi Pontificatus on the Vatican website

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Humani Generis Unitas draft of a section as of 1938
• Pius XI and the mystery of the disapperead encyclical (YouTube video, original Italian, with English subtitles, duration 04:38)