Foreigners Control on Pedro Menéndez de Aviles Expeditión to La Florida. The Case of the San Pelayo Galleon (1565-1567)

Abstract

At the end of the year 1565, in the course of an expedition to La Florida, the overwhelming foreign crew of the San Pelayo galleon mutinied and after a turbulent journey got shipwrecked in the coast of Denmark. The trial that took place against a young greek cabin boy for his involvement in this upheaval will allow us to explore the reasons that explain the inability of the spanish crown to man with natives the ships that crossed the Atlantic bound to Indias, both commercial and militar vessels. At the same time we will be able to verify that the same authorities that had to implement the rules against foreigners, were the first to forget their duty and resort to alien sailors to solve the scarcity of spaniards willing to go aboard. Finally, the study of the cabin boy defence during the trial will enable us to have a glimpse of the greek colony in the city of Cadiz.
In this sense, this paper defends that, against a negative view of the role of the foreigners in the spanish colonies, their presence shaped the running and development of the spanish colonial trade up to the point that, without them, it would have not been posible. Even though in times as this they were the cause of serious losses for the crown.