The Esperanza — A Study

Ahem... Beware. This is some serious nerd territory. You've been warned!

If you're familiar with Season 1 (which I'm sure you are, 'cause otherwise, why would you be reading this?), you surely remember the Esperanza. It's the first Spanish galleon we meet, and it's the setting for the first few episodes of the series. Truly iconic. We don't talk about it enough.

If you knew me personally, you'd know I'm a big-ass boat/ship nerd. But I don't mean the ships we have today — I'm talking caravels, galleons, barques, etc. I'm Portuguese, it's in my blood.

So here I am, writing a study on the Esperanza. I'll discuss the main features of the ship, curiosities, and the real-life historical links to the Spanish (and Portuguese) age of conquest.

The Anatomy of the Galleon

I am, by no means, an expert. My sources will be linked below in case you want to take a look for yourself.

The galleon (galeón in Castilian Spanish, galió in Catalan and galeão in Portuguese) was an essential mode of transportation during the 16th century. They were developed in the Iberian Peninsula, by the Spanish and Portuguese Empires — although us Portuguese are more well-known for our caravels, which are different — and they were mainly used for carrying cargo. They were also the warships of the Iberian Armadas, so often they were armed.

A regular Spanish galleon would normally carry about 40 guns (cannons) below deck. Although no specific guidelines were set on how to build a galleon, the Spanish often made their ships as big as possible in order to carry the most cargo.

The features that mainly distinguish a galleon from any other kind of ship at the time were its beak-like prow (the one Esteban loved to sit and balance on during his voyage), the setting back of the forecastle and the prow — so this would result in a 'balcony' kind of area below the prow — and the two large masts on the decks which carried square sails, and the other two that carried fore-and-aft sails on both opposing ends of the vessel. The hull was also thick and tapered towards the middle, generally.

The Brig

Surely you remember when Esteban and Zia were locked up under-deck during our first climactic and intense moment in the series, right? That area of the ship is commonly called the 'brig' and it derives from the noun 'brigantine', the type of ship historically used to keep prisoners.

Curiously enough, cruise ships nowadays still have brigs. For a long time, the concept was to detain any passengers who may pose a threat to others aboard the vessel. Of course, for Esteban and Zia this was unjustified. free my kids they ain't done nothin wrong

MCoG... Do your history homework

The galleon is estimated to have been first developed in the early 1530s. Do you know when Season 1 takes place? 1532. Well, the beginning of the season, at least. I'd have thought that perhaps the series could've started later on in the decade. Why not 1538 or even 1540? Because then that would allow the galleon to take its time to be integrated into the Armada. Or better yet, not have the Esperanza be a galleon at all. Have it be another kind of ship.

However, what I am happy about is that they got the time period correct for Francisco Pizarro's mission to conquest Peru, which began in 1530. And, in 1532, Pizarro massacres and ambushes the Inca court in Cajamarca, capturing Atahualpa alive. (I don't think this is ever mentioned/shown in the series but I'm glad Pizarro is already in Peru by the time our crew gets there. At least that part of the timeline is consistent.)

Curiosities and Trivia

The galleon's blueprint/design took inspiration from Portuguese caravels and from carracks.
The Esperanza is piloted using a tiller, not a helm/wheel! This makes me super happy because wheels were actually only incorporated in the 1700s.
The Esperanza's captains are Gaspard and Perez, and the commander is Gomez.
The rations on a galleon consisted of salted beef/jerky (which we see the characters eat), salted pork, cheese, fish, alcohol (such as Spanish wine in this case or ale) and some form of wheat biscuits.
The voyage between Barcelona and Lima would probably take around 2 months, with a variable of +/- a couple weeks depending on whether the weather conditions are favourable or whether you'd have to stop in, let's say, the Caribbean for supplies. Using the formula speed = distance/time we can predict that it would take about 1-2 months to reach Lima (assuming on average a galleon travels at 9km/h and that the distance is roughly 10000km so time taken = 46.3 days at sea). I don't remember if it is mentioned during the show how long they spend at sea, but... yeah.
The crosses on the sails are known as the Cross of Jerusalem, a common Catholic symbol.

I think this concludes my ramblings. For now. Photos used are from the French MCoG Fandom Wiki page. Go check it out! I linked it below.

'Till next time,

— Mari