Paul Hoste (1652–1700) was a Jesuit priest and naval tactician who produced the first major work on naval tactics. Born at Brest in 1652, he was trained by the Jesuits and became Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Seminary at Toulon where he died in 1700, aged 48. He spent twelve years at sea with Victor Marie, duc d'Estrées, Montemart, Duc de Vienne and Anne Hilarion de Tourville during which time he analysed the practical limitations of ship handling and sought to create a system of sailing. Brian Tunstall considers him the greatest of all the French tactical theorists. L'Art des Armées Navales ou Traité des Évolutions Navales L'Art des Armées Navales ou Traité des Évolutions Navales ("Art of naval armies or treaty of naval evolutions") was published in Lyon in 1697, dedicated to King Louis XIV who rewarded Hoste generously. It enjoyed immediate success and was republished in 1727. Hoste claims to have described all major sea battles from the time when galleys were supersede by broadside ships of the line. However, the list is not necessarily complete according to Jenkins, who shows that although galleys were not strong enough to stand in the line of battle, they did form a part of battle fleets where they were used to tow damaged battleships out of the line. They remained in use in the calmer Mediterranean until at least 1700. In the preface to the first edition, Hoste declared that without evolutions, fleets were like barbarians who waged war without knowledge, without order, everything depending on caprice and chance. Evolutions provide a framework without which tactical opportunities cannot be seized. The book therefore claimed to show generals and other officers not only what was necessary, but also what was possible. Orders of sailing Hoste's system of sailing and battle formation was based on five ordres de marche which gave instructions on how to form a line of battle: 1st Order: a close-hauled line of bearing on either tack. A straight line could be drawn through their centres in a windward direction. This was the most difficult formation to understand and execute because of differences in size and capability of the vessels in the fleet. 2nd Order: perpendicular to the wind. A straight line drawn through the centre of the ships would be at right angles to the direction of the wind. 3rd Order: the fleet would form in a V-shape