Spain's Men of the Sea

Daily Life on the Indies Fleets in the Sixteenth Century

Dados Bibliográficos

ID16618295
AutoresRuth Mackay (0000-0002-7540-8508, autor correspondente)
Ano1999
Volume30
Fascículo2
Páginas559-560
Data de publicação1999-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSixteenth Century Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0361-0160 • E-ISSN: 2326-0726
EditoraUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/2544761
OpenAlexW2037286667
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas15

In the sixteenth century, Spain's control over its vast New World empire depended on the sailors and officers who manned the galleons and merchant vessels of its Atlantic fleets. In Spain's Men of the Sea, Pablo E. paints a stunning portrait of daily life aboard the ships of the Spanish Main. With a novelist's eye for both detail and drama, evokes the golden age of seafaring in this thoroughly researched and generously illustrated account. Spain's Men of the Sea begins in Seville, the gateway to the New World. One of Europe's most cosmopolitan cities, Seville attracted people and goods from around the world. From Seville, follows the Spanish fleets to the West Indies ports of San Juan de Ulda, Veracruz, Cartagena, Nombre de Dios, Portobelo, and Havana. He profiles the men and boys who went to sea-from the scions of seafaring dynasties and fugitives from justice to the orphans and destitute children apprenticed into service as cabin boys. Some signed on because of family tradition, more signed on because of the lure of New World treasure or simply to obtain free passage to the Americas. Most sailors were poorly paid, but the more enterprising among them supplemented their meager wages by small-scale trade or smuggling. also describes relations among the ship owners, officers, and crews, and traces the intervention of the Spanish government in disputes over pay and cases of insubordination and mistreatment. paints a bleak picture of life at sea and its physical and mental effect on seamen and passengers alike. The seafaring life was defined by cramped quarters, abominable food, seasickness, vermin infestation, and disease. More frightening still was the threat of shipwreck and assault by corsairs and pirates that accompanied all sea voyages. Not surprisingly, most sailors were highly superstitious, and closes his vivid study with an exploration of their unorthodox religious beliefs, which combined Christian and pagan elements. A significant contribution to maritime history, Spain's Men of the Sea also succeeds as a compelling tale of everyday life and death in the maritime community. Perez-Mallaina writes well and has an engaging sense of humor. The work is richly illustrated, and the illustrations, including many color plates, are well chosen...This book should appeal to all aficionados of the romance of the sea as well as to specialists in Spanish and Latin American colonial history.-Benjamin Keen, author of A History of Latin America

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Drama · Economic history · Empire · Geography · Navy · Portrait · Treasure · Visual arts · Historical Studies on Spain · History