Historical Documents as Sources for the Study of Shipbuilding in Spain

Abstract

Studies on shipbuilding in Modern Spain have been increased with new research that has complemented historical analyses and archaeological evidence. This interdisciplinary line of work is also enriched by studies carried out by a prolific school of specialists in naval engineering. Throughout a fascinating and irregular historiographical production, there have even been interesting reconstruction projects for replicas of naos, galleons, and frigates inspired by the classic architectural tradition of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. There is valuable evidence of material culture that gives us iconographic information about the proto-ships of the first oceanic voyages, such as the mysterious ex-votive figure of the Galleon of Utrera, which existed in the hermitage of Consolacion de Utrera in Seville until the beginning of the twentieth century. The reproduction in the Naval Museum of Madrid made by J. Guillén Tato around 1930 is seen by historians and archaeologists as a faithful portrayal of a galleon from 1540. Other experiments have led to conjectural reconstructions on several occasions, such as during the celebration of the Fifth Centennial of Discovery; the construction of the so-called Andalusian Galleon (currently a 500-ton, four-masted ship) or replicas of the naos Victoria (also at Expo92) and Santa María, which are still sailing, both built by the Nao Victoria Foundation. In the following pages I will expose the main historical sources for the study of shipubuilding.