Ship names in the sources do not map neatly onto later standardised types. The large Venetian sailing ships are described as caravel-built carracks, while vessels sometimes called galleasses are better understood here as heavy galleys. The familiar galleasses of the 1540s and 1550s developed from large merchant galleys, reinforced for war, with tall, wide hulls and numerous cannon. Some heavy galleys at Zonchio approached that form, while others were smaller, so the broader term avoids giving them all the same later design. Light galleys, galliots, fustas, and grippos also covered a range of smaller craft. Classification requires attention to hull form and function, with room for variation within each name.
Chapter · 20:25-23:25
Reading Zonchio's galleys, carracks, and disputed ship names
Period terminology makes exact fleet classification difficult, so heavy galley and caravel-built carrack are safer descriptions than later labels such as galleass.