Galleys in the Caribbean according to English travel accounts and images

Abstract

The Spanish monarchy deployed Mediterranean galleys to protect its interests in the Caribbean in the final quarter of the sixteenth century. This article examines English travel accounts and various eyewitnesses’ visual representations of these oared vessels to provide, for the first time, the perspective of the aggressors who were challenging the experimental Spanish defence system. English accounts of struggles with galleys show how gunpowder weapons were changing the pattern of naval fighting, and highlight the inadequacies of Mediterranean oared vessels in their efforts to defend Caribbean coasts. The circulation of information in different publications of the time is analysed, while further lines of enquiry into images depicting these galleys are also identified.