Historically, non-oared vessels dependent on sail power were clumsier and more difficult to use than galleys. It was not until towards the beginning of the 1600s that wind-propelled vessels began to replace galleys as the backbone of many navies, and even then, galleys still had their uses throughout Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. The brigantine represented one such cross-over between oared vessels and fully sail-powered vessels in Europe. Being able to strike hard and fast, it was named as such by the Italians (in Italian, "brigantino") because it was the favourite vessel of pirates in the Mediterranean.