Conquest of the Canary Islands

Connections between the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean world have existed since antiquity. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, these ties weakened, and in the Middle Ages the first information about certain islands in the Atlantic, which can be correlated with the Canaries, is found in Arabic sources.

At the end of the XIII century, European countries began to look for ways to the east, bypassing Muslim possessions. In addition, the monarchs of the Iberian Peninsula, inspired by the Reconquista , intended to spread Christian doctrine to lands where it was unknown. All this led to the resumption of European contacts with the Canaries.

Portolan Dulcerta, on which there is the island of Lanzarote

The first European visit to the Canaries after Antiquity is usually dated to 1312 , when the Genoese captain Lancerotto Malochello got there. The information received from him was deposited in 1339 on the portulo Angelino Dulsert from the kingdom of Mallorca , where on the site of the Canary Islands were depicted the islands of Lancerotto Malocello , the island of the strong wind and the island of Vega Marie , marked with the Genoese shield. If on earlier maps there were only fantastic assumptions about the whereabouts of the “islands of Fortune”, based only on their references to Pliny , then the portulan of Dulsert was the first European map with their exact location.

In 1341, the Portuguese king Afonso IV sponsored an expedition that went to the Canaries in three ships under the command of the Florentine Anjolino del Teggia de Corbizzi and the Genoese Nicoloso da Recco. This expedition explored the archipelago for five months, mapped 13 islands (7 large and 6 small), and observed the Guanches inhabiting the islands, bringing with them four natives to Lisbon . This expedition subsequently became the basis for the Portuguese claims to the Canaries.

The 1341 expedition spurred European interest in the Canaries: European merchants saw in their primitive population an easy source of slaves. In 1342, two expeditions set out from Mallorca to the Canary Islands with the financial support of local merchants - one led by Francesc Duwalers, and the other under the command of Domenech Gual. There is no clear information on the results of these expeditions.

Information about the new lands attracted the attention of the Catholic Church. In 1344, Luis de la Cerda (Count of Clermont, Admiral of France ), who served as the French envoy at the papal court in Avignon, invited Pope Clement VI to seize the islands and convert the natives to Christianity. In November 1344, the pope issued the bull Tu devonitis sinceritas, granting the Canary Islands to Luis de la Cerda and giving him the title "Prince of Fortune". In January 1345, the pope issued a new bull, giving the alleged conquest of the islands under the leadership of Cerda the character of a crusade, providing indulgence to its participants; Papal messages were sent to the Iberian monarchs urging them to provide everything necessary for this expedition. The Portuguese king Afonce IV immediately protested, stating the Portuguese priority in the discovery of the islands, but he submitted to the authority of the Pope. King of Castile Alfonso XI Just also protested, stating that in accordance with the ancient Visigothic dioceses and treaties before the Reconquista, the islands fell under the jurisdiction of Castile, but recognized the title of Cerda. Despite formal agreement, opposition from the Iberian monarchs led to the fact that until the death of Serda in 1348, no expedition took place.

After Cerda left the stage, other parties resumed their campaigns. There are records of expeditions to this area undertaken from Mallorca (now annexed by Aragon) - Jaume Ferrera in 1346 (sent to Senegal but unable to pass the Canaries), Arnau Rocher in 1352 , sponsored by the king of the expedition of Joan Mora in 1366 . These expeditions (and, undoubtedly, many others, records of which have not been preserved) were mostly commercial, their main purpose was to capture the islanders for sale as slaves in European markets. Nevertheless, there was normal trade with the islanders, as the local products used to make dyes (especially dragon blood ) were valuable raw materials for the European textile industry.

The papal curia did not leave hope for the baptism of the islanders. In 1351, Pope Clement VI organized an expedition to deliver the Franciscan missionaries and 12 baptized Aborigines (probably captured by previous expeditions) to the Canary Islands on the ships of the Majorcan captains Joan Doria and Jaume Segarra; whether this expedition took place is unclear. In July 1369, the Avignon Pope Urban V created the Diocese of the Islands of Fortune , and appointed Bonnat Tari bishop there, and in the bull from September 1369 instructed the bishops of Barcelona and Tortosa to send priests to send services in the Canaries in local languages; whether these people were actually sent there, or whether these projects remained only on paper, is also unclear. More specific information is available about the 1386 expedition from Mallorca, funded by Pedro IV of Aragon and Pope Urban VI ; although its exact fate is unknown, there is a later report of 13 “Christian priests” who preached in the Canaries “for seven years” and were tortured during the uprising of 1391. In total, from 1352 to 1386 at least five missionary expeditions took place (or at least were planned).

In the 1370s, Portugal and Castile became embroiled in dynastic wars following the assassination of Pedro I of Castile , as a result of which Portuguese and Castilian privateers hunting one after another began to march to the Canary Islands, using them as shelter, or hunting slaves there . Ignoring the bull of 1344, in 1370 Fernando I gave the islands of Lanzarote and Homer to a certain “Lancarote da Francia”. This Lancarote tried to capture the islands, and fought there "with Guanche and Castilians."

All these expeditions led to the refinement of geographical information about the Canary Islands. In 1367, the islands of Homer and Hierro were marked on the map of the brothers Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano. The Catalan Atlas of 1375 depicts the Canary Islands is almost completely and accurately (only the island of Palma is missing).

Lanzarote and Fuerteventura

The Norman nobleman Jean de Betancourt owned textile and paint-making manufactories, and the Canary Islands could become a source of raw materials for them. Through his uncle Robert da Bracemon, he managed to obtain permission from the Castilian King Enrique III to conquer the Canary Islands in exchange for taking a vassal oath.

The expedition set off from La Rochelle and, after stopping in Galicia and Cadiz , arrived in Lanzarote in the summer of 1402 . The natives and their leader Gadarfiy were not able to resist the invaders and surrendered. The Normans settled in the southern part of the island, where they built a fortification and established the Canary Bishopric.

From 1402 to 1405 , using a stronghold on Lanzarote, the Normans led the conquest of Fuerteventura. They were hindered not so much by the resistance of the islanders as by discord between the two commanders. Hunger and lack of resources forced the expedition to retreat to Lanzarote, and Betancourt went to Castile for new help. Enrique allocated the necessary supplies and confirmed the exclusive rights of Betancourt to conquer the islands.

Meanwhile, Betancourt, left as the commander of La Salle, faced a double problem: the rebellion of Bertin de Berneval, who had begun the slave hunt, and the rebellion of the Lancerot guanches who opposed this. The pacification of Lanzarote lasted until the end of 1404 , and only after that the conquest of Fuerteventura resumed. However, the two commanders acted separately, creating each their own domain. The conquest was completed in 1405, when the leader of the islanders surrendered. Somewhere in this period, La Salle sailed to France and never returned to the Canaries.

At the end of the conquest of Fuerteventura, Betancourt returned to Normandy to find immigrants and resources to conquer the rest of the islands.

Hierro

In 1405, the island of Hierro was captured. The inhabitants of Bimbache did not show resistance, and were mainly sold as slaves; and the island was inhabited by settlers from Castile and Normandy.

In 1412, Jean de Betancourt returned to Normandy forever, leaving instead his main relative, Masio de Betancourt, instead.

The board of the feudal lords

In 1418, Masio de Betancourt sold his possessions and the right to conquer the remaining islands to Enrique Peres de Guzmán. In the period from 1418 to 1445, the domain changed its owners several more times, and ended up in the hands of Hernan Peras Sr. and his children - Guillen and Inesa. Guillen died during the attack on the island of Palma, after which Inesa Peras and her husband Diego García de Herrera became the only rulers of the islands. In 1477, they transferred the island of Homer to their son Enrnan Peras Jr., and the rights to conquer Palma, Gran Canaria and Tenerife to the king of Castile.

The island of Homer was not conquered, but passed into the possession of the Peras-Herrera family thanks to agreements between Hernan Peras-Sr. and the natives who took over the Castilians. However, oppression by the new rulers provoked an uprising of the natives, and during the last of them, in 1488, the ruler of the island, Hernan Perasa Jr., was killed. His widow, Beatrice de Bobadilla and Ossorio, was forced to resort to the help of the conqueror of Gran Canaria Pedro de Vera to suppress the uprising. Subsequent repression led to the deaths of two hundred rebels, many islanders were sold as slaves in the Spanish markets.

The Conquest of Gran Canaria (1478-1483)

June 24, 1478 the first expedition landed on the island under the command of Juan Rehon and Dean Bermudez; The expedition was co-financed by Juan de Frias, Bishop of San Martial del Rubicon. The expedition founded the Real de Las Palmas. A few days later, the first battle with the islanders took place, in which the Castilians won. This victory gave the Castilians control of the northeastern part of the island.

In subsequent years, the natives resisted the invaders in the mountainous interior of the island, while among the Castilians there was strife, they lacked people and resources. By royal decree, Juan Rehon was removed from his post, and Pedro Fernandez da Algaba was appointed in his place, who was subsequently executed by order of the displaced Rehon. The internal unrest among the Castilians ceased only in 1481 , when Pedro de Vera, who arrested Juan Rehon, was appointed the new governor of the island.

Ending contention and receiving a large contingent from Diego Garcia de Herrera from the island of Homer, Pedro de Vera resumed the conquest of the island. In the battle of Arucas, the leader of the Guanche Doramas was killed. The ruler of Galdar, Tenesor Semidan, was captured by Alonso Fernandez de Lugo , which was the decisive factor in the conquest of the island: he was sent to Castile, where he was baptized under the name of Fernando Guanartem, after which, after signing an agreement with the king, he became a faithful and valuable ally of the Castilians. On April 29, 1483, in the fortress of Ansitte, Gayaarmina Semidan surrendered, who ruled Gran Canaria; the same day, the leader Bentekhui and his adviser shaman Faykan committed suicide.

The conquest of the island of Palma (1492-1493)

Alonso Fernandez de Lugo, who played an important role in the conquest of Gran Canaria, received from the Catholic kings the right to conquer the islands of Palma and Tenerife. In the event that he copes with the island of Palma in a year, he received 700 thousand marravedi and the right to a fifth of the captured. To carry out the enterprise, Lugo entered into a stake with Juanoto Berardi and Francisco de Riberol; each partner incurred a third of the costs, and should have received a similar share of the profit.

The campaign began on September 29, 1492 , when the Castilians landed in Tasacorta . Alonso Fernandez de Lugo, in order to facilitate his work, concluded agreements with local leaders, according to which they were given the same rights as the Castilians, so the conquest process took place with a minimum of resistance. Problems arose only in Acero, where the leader Tanausu used the natural advantages of the area: in his possession there were only two passages that were easy to defend. Fearing that he would not meet the deadline and lose the prize of 700 thousand marravedi, De Lugo invited Tanausa to negotiations, where he was captured by deception. He was sent as a prisoner to Castile, but on the way he died of starvation. The official end date for the conquest was May 3, 1493 . After that, many islanders (even in those areas where the leaders signed agreements with De Lugo) were sold as slaves, although most of the population integrated into the new society.

The Conquest of Tenerife (1494–1496)

Attempts to annex the island of Tenerife to the Crown of Castile date back to at least 1464 ^[1] . In the same year, there is a symbolic possession of the island of the Lord of the Canary Islands Diego García de Herrera. This is the signing of a peace treaty with the Mensate, which allows shortly afterwards to build a tower on their own land, where the Europeans lived until they were expelled around 1472 by the same Guanches.

In 1492, the governor of Gran Canaria, Francisco Maldonado, organized a raid that ended in disaster for the Europeans, since they were defeated by the Anaga Guanches.

In December 1493, Alonso Fernandez de Lugo received confirmation from the Catholic kings of his right to conquer Tenerife and the promise that if he refused the prize for conquering Palma, he would be appointed governor of the island. He made money for the campaign by selling a sugar plantation in the Agaete Valley, obtained after the conquest of Gran Canaria, and entering into an agreement with Italian merchants settled in Seville .

By the time of the Castilian invasion, the Menseites in Tenerife were split into two camps: those who were loyal to the Castilians (in the south and east of the island), and those who opposed them (in the north of the island).

In April 1494, an invasion force of 2,000 foot soldiers and 200 horsemen landed on the site of modern Santa Cruz de Tenerife . Having built a fortress there, they began to move inland. Bencomo, who led the War Party, was offered peace if he accepted Christianity and recognized the primacy of the Catholic kings, but the Guanche leader rejected such a proposal.

In the first battle of Asentejo, the Guanches destroyed up to 80% of the invading enemies, after which they destroyed the fortress erected by them. Alonso Fernandez de Lugo managed to escape to Gran Canaria and, having recruited better trained troops, returned to Tenerife. Having rebuilt the fortress again, he again moved inside the island, and this time defeated Bencomo in the battle of Agere ; Bencomo himself and his brother died in battle.

In December 1495, the Spaniards invaded the north of the island, where the second battle of Asentejo led to the collapse of the resistance of the natives. Thus was completed the conquest of the island of Tenerife, and with it all the Canary Islands.

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