Sevilla y las flotas de Indias: La gran armada de Castilla del Oro (1513-1514) (review)

Sevilla y las flotas de Indias: La gran armada de Castilla de Oro (1513-1514). By MARÍA DEL CARMEN MENA GARCÍA. Seville: Universidad de Sevilla; Fundación El Monte, 1998. Plates. Tables. Graphs. Notes. Bibliography. Index. 458 pp. Cloth.

This ambitious, beautifully illustrated volume informs the reader about everything she/he will want to know, and perhaps more, about the assembly, organization, and character of the fleet that Governor Pedrarias Dávila commanded in Spain's attempt to establish a permanent colony at Castilla de Oro, which eventually came to be known as Darién. This massive undertaking involved a fleet of 17 ships and 2,000 men and women and preparations based in Seville that stretched out over 7 months at a cost of 10,300,383.5 maravedis to the Royal Treasury. Given the complexities that they embodied, the preparations of this expedition afford a fascinating insight into the capacity of the monarchy to project its power to the New World during the latter years of Ferdinand the Catholic.

Carmen Mena argues that the Pedrarias venture was essentially a colonization attempt that built upon the experiences gained earlier in mounting the Ovando expedition and elaborately planned to serve as a pilot project for future undertakings. Pedrarias's instructions embodied the latest royal thinking regarding Indian policy. The lavish material support afforded through the newly established Casa de la Contratación was truly impressive. Mena leaves few details unattended. She treats the number and occupations of the passengers, the number and regional origins of the crews, the sizes and characteristics of the ships, the types of artisans and laborers who serviced them, their salary scale, and the provisioning of the fleet. Tables and graphs abound, ranging in subject from the geographic origins of the officers and crews to the prices of basic commodities and services.

The wealth of information amassed in this volume derived from the Archivo General de Indias and an impressive bibliography. Especially useful to the author were the materials contained in the Libros de armada in Contratación. Finally, the numerous plates illustrating the several themes treated in the volume are simply extravagant. Carmen Mena is to be congratulated for her exhaustive achievement in bringing into view the ambitious royal attempt to colonize Castilla de Oro.

Allan J. Kuethe, Texas Tech University

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