Juan Rejón (died 1481) was an

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

ese captain in the service of the Castilian navy, who was appointed by the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

to participate in the conquest of the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

. Rejón founded the city of

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auton ...

. After being named captain, he recruited a contingent of 600 men, mostly Andalusians. Their number included

Alonso Fernández de Lugo Alonso Fernández de Lugo (; died 1525) was a Spanish military man, conquistador, city founder, and administrator. He conquered the islands of La Palma (1492–1493) and Tenerife (1494–1496) for the Castilian Crown; they were the last of the C ...

, future conqueror of

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...

and

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

.lugofamilymain
/ref> From the

Puerto de Santa María Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, Or ...

, the expedition departed on three ships on 28 May 1478. On 24 June 1478 they disembarked off Las Isletas (today part of the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). Rejón set up camp at a nearby

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

grove; this became the nucleus of the city of Las Palmas. Tension and problems with his men, including one of his followers, named Bermúdez, resulted in Rejón being imprisoned and then sent back to Spain by his replacement as governor of

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that ...

, Pedro de Algaba. Rejón was taken in chains to the Castilian court. However, he obtained his liberty, returned to the Canary Islands, and ordered the

decapitation Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

of Pedro de Algaba and the exile of Bermúdez to the island of

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

. In 1480, he participated in military operations on the island of

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...

, not fully conquered by the Castilians. He disembarked with his troops at

Hermigua Hermigua is a town and a municipality in the northeastern part of La Gomera in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife of the Canary Islands, Spain. It is located 12 km northwest of the island's capital, San Sebastián de la Gomera. The Gar ...

with two goals: to complete conquest of the island and to meet with Hernán Peraza, the feudal lord of La Gomera. However, Peraza considered Rejón, a commander with many troops operating in territory not controlled by Castile, as a threat to his own power. Peraza sent his own troops to Hermigua. In 1481, Rejón was murdered by one of the

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

of Peraza. Peraza was forced to explain Rejón's death at court. He was pardoned but had to meet certain conditions. He had to participate in the conquest of Gran Canaria with troops from La Gomera and complete conquest of the island, a plan that had not been completed by Rejón. Peraza himself was later killed by the

Guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language, an extinct Berber language, spoken by the Guanches until the 16th or 17th century *''Conus guanche ''Conus guanche'' is a species of sea snail, a ma ...

Hautacuperche.

References

External links

Ayuntamiento Las Palmas de Gran Canaria / Historia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rejon, Juan 1481 deaths People from Gran Canaria Spanish explorers Spanish city founders Assassinated Spanish people History of the Canary Islands 15th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon Year of birth unknown