English abandonados and afortunados: Class and Spanish justice in the Atlantic world, 1568--1576

In 1568 Spanish forces in colonial Mexico repulsed a small English fleet, capturing English ships and sailors. The encounter became known as the battle of San Juan de Ulúa and sent ripples throughout the Atlantic world. The incident left a record of monumental size with Inquisition trials, diplomatic correspondence and English records. In spite of the abundance, historians have missed the true essence of what occurred. Though the battle was important, the fight's aftermath was more influential. That influence extends to a major work of English literature. I provide strong evidence that the account of David Ingram, an ordinary English sailor, became the basis for The Tempest. William Shakespeare was taken by Ingram's tale and generations of scholars followed. The links were not hidden.; Scholars looked in the wrong place, not just on the Ingram work but in the case of the New World confrontation as well. By focusing on the military aspects of the battle, the political, religious, and social impacts went ignored. Their interpretations were either incomplete or flawed. Succeeding interpretations moved farther away from the facts and fell into the realm of historical myth-making.; My study is a major reevaluation of the historical record, not just a correction of the historiographical elements. It goes to the heart of politics, religion, and society in the early modern Atlantic world. In correcting the record, I have refocused and augmented the significance of this historic moment. Analysis of many primary sources allowed unseen patterns of class and patronage to emerge. I found that the sentences imposed and punishments handed down to the prisoners defied convention. My analysis showed that some seemingly lucky ones (the afortunados) were very well connected while other crew members without patrons endured a completely different fate. They (the abandonados) were subjected to enslavement in the Spanish galleys, public floggings, and, a few, were burnt at the stake. Collectively, the two groups opened a spectacular pathway to better understanding mid-sixteenth century class, religion, law, politics, and literature. But separated, or taken as individuals, they brought revelations, solutions, and a corrected record.