Galley slaves at work

Abstract

Slaves toiling on Maltese galleys experienced a horrible life although some of them lived up to venerable age. There is not one example of a slave dying of a heart attack or through hardships suffered at sea. They found their ration of minestra on board, water in abundance and a pint of wine from time to time. When a galley cruised under sail the slaves rested and sometimes they worked only two days a week. Their muscle power was reserved for when a galley was engaged with the enemy or when it was caught in rough seas. Slaves lived most of their life in the open air and worked and slept in the space of a bench, four or five together sharing the same fate in an encounter and had to put up with the unbearable stench of human and animal filth and insects. If a galley was lost at sea the slaves normally went down with it as there would be no time to break their chains. Some were lucky and gained their ransom money and freedom but others when not fit for the galleys were abandoned to their fate in Malta although the Order issued them with their daily bread ration. The slaves were the human motor of galleys and when it was no longer possible for the order to obtain the necessary numbers, especially by the middle of the 18th century, the galley squadron suffered considerably and lost its effectiveness against the enemy.