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ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Mutiny aboard the Leona galley 1583

Synopsis
The Spanish navy maintained at La Hispaniola a small flotilla of two coastguard galleys. Their rowers, numbering approximately 200, consisted largely of Spanish and French convicts sentenced to forced labour, alongside a smaller number of enslaved Moors and Turks. After one of these galleys, the Santiago, ran aground on a shoal along the island’s northern coast, most of its crew was transferred to the other vessel, the Leona, which then began the return voyage to the city of Santo Domingo. While the Leona lay at anchor off Cape Engaño on 20 July 1583, the galley rowers mutinied, protesting the lack of food and water and crying out for freedom. They killed the captain and other members of the free crew, seized control of the vessel, and for more than a month roamed along the island’s northern coast, engaging in acts of piracy and carrying out several raids ashore. Only in early September was a Spanish military force able to retake the galley, at Gonaïves, capturing a small number of the mutineers. The remainder, including some of the leaders, managed to escape to unknown destinations in the Caribbean. The rebels appear to have been primarily among the convicts, while the precise number and involvement of the enslaved Mediterranean rowers remain uncertain.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1,5 months. Name in sources: Alzamiento de la galera Leona. Location: Cabo Engaño (La Hispaniola) Country (current): Dominican Rep.. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Enslaved, Others. Number of participants: 100-250. Main reasons & motivations: Freedom. Leadership: Pedro de Vargas, Alonso de Reyna, Sebastian Pagero. Relevance: low.

Further reading
BOULIND, Richard (1972). “Shipwreck and Mutiny in Spain’s Galleys on the Santo Domingo Station, 1583”. Mariner’s Mirror, 58: 297-330. FONSECA, Luís (2012). Guerra e navegação a remos no mar oceano: as galés na política naval hispânica, 1550-1604. Lisboa: U. Lisboa (PhD Dissertation), pp. 290-295. WHEAT, David (2010). “Mediterranean Slavery, New World Transformations: Galley Slaves in the Spanish Caribbean, 1578-1635”. Slavery & Abolition, 31(3): 327-344.
Cite this entry

Meneses Muñoz, Mariana (2026). "Mutiny aboard the Leona galley 1583", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Encyclopaedia of Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. https://mappingrebellions.com/revolt/mutiny-aboard-the-leona-galley-1583/ (accessed on 25 April 2026).