Long, dry, matter-of-fact journal style exploration of a horrible situation
3 stars
I found this book after looking for some source material after going through the maritime museum in Barcelona. They have a full recreation of the largest galley Spain ever built. It talked about the life of a galley slave and their diet. I wanted to learn more about it, especially about their diet, and found out about this book. It's actually two volumes, over 600 pages of what feels like just stream of consciousness mostly chronological account of Marteilhe's time trying to escape France while the Huguenots were being persecuted, his imprisonment, "trial", many years as a galley slave, ultimate freedom, and then a bit of time after throughout in Protestant Europe. There is also a section on specifications of galleys, how they are staffed, how well he thinks they actually work for military roles, etc. It is all written in a very matter-of-fact way which is great for research/source …
I found this book after looking for some source material after going through the maritime museum in Barcelona. They have a full recreation of the largest galley Spain ever built. It talked about the life of a galley slave and their diet. I wanted to learn more about it, especially about their diet, and found out about this book. It's actually two volumes, over 600 pages of what feels like just stream of consciousness mostly chronological account of Marteilhe's time trying to escape France while the Huguenots were being persecuted, his imprisonment, "trial", many years as a galley slave, ultimate freedom, and then a bit of time after throughout in Protestant Europe. There is also a section on specifications of galleys, how they are staffed, how well he thinks they actually work for military roles, etc. It is all written in a very matter-of-fact way which is great for research/source material. It is not going to be great for a sit down and read a riveting story about these experiences. It is very much, "this happened...then this happened...then this happened." He does write his honest opinions of the people that are subjecting him to his persecution and their motives, especially the Jesuits. But still the bulk of it is just the straight up timeline, facts, and figures.
You can find both volumes in archive.org, albeit the scans are not perfect and you'll have to get used to the soft-s character that looks like f's, and often were typeset with actual f's, in words like "Congrefs":
Volume 1: archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-memoirs-of-a-protest_marteilhe-jean_1758_1 Volume 2: archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-memoirs-of-a-protest_marteilhe-jean_1765_2/
It is a very disturbing reading. The viciousness of treatment of prisoners is what we would call "Medieval" even though it is centuries later. Their treatment was nothing compared to the treatment of the galley slaves while they were in active service operating the ships. Humans are really good at being truly monstrous towards other humans. To answer my food question, it sounds like the galley slaves' usual provisioned diet is about 22 ounces of hard tack and four ounces of black beans in a slurry with some vinegar water to go with the bread. Assuming whole wheat flour for the hard tack and a decent amount of fat going into the stew that's about 2800 calories, 104 grams of protein, 395 grams of carbs, and 69 grams of fat. That could be as low as 2470 calories if more minimal fat, and 85 grams of protein if white flour was used (but an extra 150 calories or so too if so). The micronutrient profile is pretty pathetic though, missing major vitamins and minerals.