Spanish Conquest Of The Canary Islands

The conquest of the Canary Islands by the Crown of Castille took place between 1402 and 1496 and described as the first instance of European settler colonialism in Africa. It can be divided into two periods: the Conquista señorial, carried out by Castilian nobility in exchange for a covenant of allegiance to the crown, and the Conquista realenga, carried out by the Spanish crown itself, during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs.

Introduction

The ties between the Canaries and the Mediterranean world which had existed since antiquity were interrupted by the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire. Although these linkages were weakened, they were not totally severed, and the Canaries' isolation was not total. During the Middle Ages, the first reports on the Canaries come from Arabic sources, which refer to some Atlantic islands which may have been the Canaries. What does seem clear is that this knowledge of the islands did not signify the end of the cultural isolation of the native inhabitants.

Visits to the archipelago began to increase after the end of the 13th century for reasons including:

*The economic expansion of some European states, such as the Republic of Genoa, the Kingdom of Aragon, the Kingdom of Castille, and the Kingdom of Portugal. These states were already engaging in maritime trade along the Moroccan coast.
*Development of new navigation techniques (compass, astrolabe, stern rudder, cog-caravel) and the development of cartography: a portulan map by Angelino Dulcert of Majorca, from 1339, is the first to show some of the Canary Islands, and this date might in fact coincide with the effective rediscovery of the islands by the Genoese seaman Lanzarotto Malocello. The first expedition to visit all the islands of the archipelago took place two years later, in 1341, under the command of fellow Genoese seaman and explorer Niccoloso da Recco, at the service and on behalf of Portuguese king Afonso IV.
*Ideological and political motives: the monarchies of Southern Europe entered an expansive phase. In the case of the Iberian monarchies, their territorial expansion was spurred by the ''reconquista'' ("reconquest") of Moorish southern Spain (al-Andalus). For this reason, territorial expansion represented a reinforcement of royal power, imbued with crusader and missionary spirit.

Pre-Conquest

In the 14th century, a variety of forces competed for control of the Canaries: Genoese, Majorcan, Portuguese and Castilian. In the following century, Castile and Portugal were the primary contenders.

Genoese phase

The first visit by a European to the Canary Islands since antiquity was by Genoese captain Lanceloto Malocello traditionally dated 1312 (but probably a little later, between 1318–1325). Malocello's motives were unclear - it is believed he might have been searching for traces of the Vivaldi brothers who had disappeared off Morocco, around Cape Non back in 1291. Malocello made landfall (possibly shipwrecked) on Lanzarote island, and remained there for nearly twenty years. Malocello may have attempted to erect himself as a ruler among the aboriginal peoples and been eventually expelled by them.

According to some sources, shortly after his return to Europe, in 1336, Malocello led a return expedition to the Canaries, sponsored by the Portuguese crown. However, the existence of this expedition has been dismissed by most modern historians, as being based on later forged documents.

Evidently drawing from the information provided by Malocello, in 1339 appeared the portolan map by Angelino Dulcert of Majorca showing the Canary island of Lanzarote (named ''Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus'' and marked by a Genoese shield), as well as the island of ''Forte Vetura'' (Fuerteventura) and ''Vegi Mari'' (Lobos). Although earlier maps had shown fantastical depictions of the "Fortunate Islands" (on the basis of their mention in Pliny), this is the first European map where the actual Canary islands make a solid appearance (although Dulcert also includes some fantastic islands himself, notably Saint Brendan's Island, and three islands he names ''Primaria'', ''Capraria'' and ''Canaria'').

In 1341, a three-ship expedition sponsored by King Afonso IV of Portugal, set out from Lisbon, commanded by Florentine captain Angiolino del Tegghia de Corbizzi and Genoese captain Nicoloso da Recco, and employing a mixed crew of Italians, Portuguese and Castilians. Cruising the archipelago for five months, the expedition mapped thirteen islands (seven major, six minor) and surveyed the primeval aboriginal inhabitants, the ' Guanches', bringing back four natives to Lisbon. (This expedition would become the basis of later Portuguese claims of priority on the islands.)

Cerda lordship

European interest in the Canaries picked up quickly after the 1341 mapping expedition. The descriptions of the primeval Guanches, in particular, drew the attention of European merchants, who immediately saw the prospect of new and easy slave-raiding grounds. In 1342, at least two Majorcan expeditions, one under Francesc Duvalers, another under Domenech Gual, assembled by private merchant consortia with a commission from Roger de Robenach (representative of James III of Majorca) set out for the Canary islands. Some speculate as many as four or five expeditions were commissioned in Majorca in 1342. The results of these expeditions are uncertain.

The Catholic Church was also drawn by the news. In 1344, the Castilian-French noble Luis de la Cerda (Count of Clermont and Admiral of France), then serving as a French ambassador to the papal court in Avignon, submitted a proposal to Pope Clement VI, offering the Church the more palatable vision of conquering the islands and converting the native Canarians to Christianity. In November 1344, Pope Clement VI issued the bull ''Tuae devotionis sinceritas'' granting the Canary islands in perpetuity to Luis de la Cerda and bestowing upon him the title of sovereign "Prince of Fortuna". The pope followed this up with another bull, in January 1345, giving the projected Cerda-led conquest and conversion of the islands the character of a crusade, granting indulgences to its participants, and papal letters were dispatched to the Iberian monarchs urging them to provide material assistance to Cerda's expedition. The Portuguese king Afonso IV immediately lodged a protest, claiming priority of discovery, but conceded to the authority of the pope. Alfonso XI of Castile also protested, claiming that, by the ancient Visigothic dioceses and prior reconquista treaties, the islands fell within the Castilian jurisdiction and 'sphere of conquest', but nonetheless recognized Cerda's title.

Preparations for the Cerda expedition were stalled by the opposition of the Iberian monarchs - despite their formal concessions to Cerda's title, they did not facilitate the organization of his expedition. As a result, no expedition to the Canary islands was mounted before Luis de la Cerda's death on July 5, 1348. By the terms of the 1344 contract, the lordship of Fortuna was set to expire after five years without an expedition (although Cerda's heirs, the Counts of Medinacelli would later revive their claim).

Majorcan-Aragonese phase

With Cerda out of the picture, former parties resumed their adventures. However, records over the next generation are few and far-between. There are notices of three further expeditions by Majorcans (now annexed by Aragon since 1344) to the area - the famed expedition of Jaume Ferrer in 1346 (aiming to reach the "River of Gold", i.e. Senegal, on the African coast, but may have touched the Canaries on the way), the expedition of Arnau Roger to Gran Canaria in 1352, and a royal-sponsored patrol expedition by Joan Mora in 1366. There were doubtless many unrecorded expeditions, not only by Majorcans, but also likely by merchants of Seville and Lisbon. These would have been almost wholly of commercial character, many with the purpose of capturing native islanders to sell as slaves in European markets. But there was also some peaceful trade with the locals, particularly for orchil and dragon's blood, which grew wildly on the islands and were much valued as dyes by the European cloth industry.

Despite the failure of the Cerda project, the pope did not give up on his hope of converting the natives. In 1351, Pope Clement VI endorsed an expedition by Majorcan captains Joan Doria and Jaume Segarra, with the object of bringing Franciscan missionaries, including twelve converted Canarian natives (apparently seized by previous Majorcan expeditions), to the islands. Whether this expedition ever set out is uncertain, although it was most probably enveloped in Arnau Roger's expedition of 1352. Apocryphal legend relates the Majorcan missionaries succeeded established an evangelizing center at Telde (on Gran Canaria), until they were massacred by the natives in 1354.

To encourage the missionaries at Telde the pope had erected the 'Diocese of Fortuna' in 1351, but this seems to have remained a paper appointment. Papal interest in the Canaries waned following the death of Pope Clement VI in late 1352. For the next generation, there is practically no information about the Canary islands. It is probable Majorcan-Aragonese kept up their commercial interest, focused on Gran Canaria, but records are scant.

The next we hear of the Canary islands in 1366, when King Peter IV of Aragon commissioned the captain Joan Mora to patrol the Canary islands to assert Aragonese sovereignty and patrol for interlopers. Although there was still no project of conquest, interest in missionary establishments seemed to pick up again. The Avignon Pope Urban V issued a bull in July 1369 erecting the Diocese of Fortuna and appointing Fr. Bonnant Tari as bishop, and followed it up with bull of September 1369 instructing the bishops of Barcelona and Tortosa to dispatch 10 secular and 20 regular clergy to preach to the Canarians in their native languages. But whether this actually set out or just remained a paper project is also uncertain. We have a more reliable record of a Majorcan expedition in 1386 carried out by 'Pauperes Heremite', sponsored by Peter IV Aragon and Pope Urban VI. Although their exact fate is unknown, there is a later report that thirteen "Christian friars" who had been preaching in the Canaries "for seven years" were massacred in an uprising during 1391. At least five missionary expeditions would be sent (or at least planned) between 1352 and 1386.

Geographic knowledge of the Canary islands coalesced with these expeditions. Eight of the Canary islands, including La Gomera and El Hierro, are depicted in the 1367 portolan chart of the brothers Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano. A few years later, the Catalan Atlas of 1375 shows the Canaries almost completely and accurately mapped (only La Palma is missing). The eleven islands are named in the Catalan Atlas (from east to west) as ''Graciosa'' ( La Graciosa), ''laregranza'' ( Alegranza), ''rocho'' ( Roque), ''Insula de lanzaroto maloxelo'' (Lanzarote), ''insula de li vegi marin'' (Lobos), ''forteventura'' (Fuerteventura), ''Insula de Canaria'' ( Gran Canaria), ''Insula del infernio'' (Tenerife), ''insula de gomera'' ( La Gomera), ''insula de lo fero'' ( El Hierro). The name 'tenerefiz' is first given alongside 'Infierno' in the 1385 ''Libro del Conoscimiento''.

Portuguese phase

During the 1370s, when Portugal and Castile were engaged in the dynastic Fernandine Wars that followed the assassination of Peter I of Castile, Portuguese and Castilian privateers were dispatched against each other, several of which made detours to the Canary islands for shelter or slave-raiding jaunts.

In the first indication of a conquest project since 1344, King Ferdinand I of Portugal granted in 1370 the islands of Lanzarote and La Gomera to the adventurer 'Lançarote da Franquia' (believed by some to be none other than the impossibly-aged Lanceloto Malocello). Lançarote da Franquia made an attempt to seize the islands and is reported to have engaged in fighting with "Guanches and Castilians" there by 1376, but it seems the effort at establishing a Portuguese foothold faltered after Lançarote's death in 1385.

Castilian phase

Interest in the Canary islands seem to have been principally the province of the Majorcan-Aragonese in the 1340s–60s (focused on Gran Canaria), and the Portuguese in 1370s–80s (focused on Lanzarote). There are faint references to Castilian adventurers before, but it is only really after 1390 that interest picked up and Castile finally brought its weight to bear.

In 1390, Gonzalo Peraza Martel, Lord of Almonaster, a notable of Seville, requested permission from King Henry III of Castile to conquer the Canary Islands. The Castilian grandee Juan Alonso de Guzmán, Count of Niebla, joined his name to the effort.

Five ships were prepared, crewed by Andalusians from Seville and Basque adventurers from Vizcaya and Guipuzcoa, and set off from Cadiz in 1393. The Almonaster expedition sailed through the Canary islands, examining the coasts of Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hierro, Gomera and Tenerife, before finally deciding to land and raid Lanzarote. The Almonaster raid on Lanzarote took some 170 native inhabitants captive, including the local Guanche king and his queen, along with plenty of skins, wax and dyewood, which they sold in Seville for a small fortune. Upon their return to Castile, Almonaster and Niebla presented their captives and goods before Henry III, and reported that the Canary islands were easy to conquer and very profitable. This whet the appetites of other adventurers.

Apocryphal expeditions

There were several other reputed expeditions to the Canary Islands during the 14th Century, first reported by Fr. Juan de Abreu Galindo (1632), some of them in Viera y Clavigo (1772), drawing primarily from local Canarian legends, that have since been determined to be apocryphal or confounded with other expeditions. Among those deemed purely legendary are:
* (1) A 1360 Majorcan expedition of two ships, captain unknown (alleged in legend to be the same Aragonese galleys prepared for Cerda back in 1344). Upon making landfall at La Gomera or Gran Canaria, the Europeans were defeated and taken prisoner by the native Canarians. After a certain period of time living among the Canarians (possibly a few years), the native chieftains secretly decided to kill all the prisoners. The entire crew, including the clerics (two Franciscan friars according to Abreu de Galindo, five says Viera y Clavijo), were swiftly rounded up and massacred by the Canarians (probably confused with 1351 Majorcan expedition).
* (2) A 1372 expedition by 'Fernando de Castro' (Galician, not his Portuguese namesake), who also made landing at La Gomera. After engaging in hostilities, Castro was defeated by the natives, but (unlike the 1360 expedition), the surviving Europeans were magnanimously spared and allowed to embark back to Iberia. Tradition claims that at the behest of the local king Amalahuige, Castro (or Ormel later) left behind his chaplain to convert his people to Christianity.
* (3) The famous tale of the Biscayan privateer Martín Ruiz de Avendaño, who took shelter on Lanzarote in 1377, and, during his stay, slept with the queen Fayna, wife of native king Zonzamas. This liaison produced a daughter Ico, who went on to marry the next king Guanarame and produce a son, Guadarfia. After Guanarame's death, Guadarfia's ascension to the throne was blocked by suspicions that his mother Ico (Avendaño's daughter) was not of noble lineage, until she was put through a trial by ordeal (being smoked in hut, and survived).
* (4) A 1382 ship from Seville, commanded by Francisco Lopez, wrecked off Guinigada ( Gran Canaria), with 13 survivors; they went on to live among the Canarian natives, until their deaths c.1394.
* (5) An expedition in 1385 by Hernan Peraza, a Sevillan with a permit from Henry III of Castile, that raided Lanzarote (probable confusion with Almonaster raid of 1393).
* (6) A 1386 expedition of two ships, under the command of Fernando de Ormel, of Galician origin, but noble in Castile and naval officer of John I of Castile. While patrolling the Andalusian coast, was caught up in a storm and ended up emerging at La Gomera (possibly the same as the 1372 expedition of Castro).
* (7) A 1399 expedition of Gonzalo Peraza Martel, Lord of Almonastor that raided Lanzarote (probable confusion with Almonaster raid of 1393).

Other legendary traditions include the apparition of the Virgin of Candelaria in 1392–93, encountered by two Guanche goatherds on the beaches of Tenerife.

The conquest

The conquest took place between 1402 and 1496. It was not an easy task, militarily, given the resistance of the Guanche aboriginals in some islands. Nor was it easy politically, given the conflicting interests of the nobility (bent on fortifying their economic and political power) and the state, particularly Castile, with an interest in reinforcing its own power in competition with the nobles.

Historians identify two distinguishable periods in the conquest of the Canaries:

* Conquista señorial, so called because the conquest was carried out by the nobility for their own ends and without the direct participation of the Crown. Under a pact of vassalage the Crown granted the rights to the conquest and in exchange the noblemen swore allegiance to the Crown. We can distinguish within this period two phases. The first is known as the Conquista Betancuriana o Normanda (the Bethencourt or Norman Conquest) was carried out by Jean de Bethencourt and Gadifer de la Salle between 1402 and 1405 and involved the subjugation of Lanzarote, El Hierro and Fuerteventura. The second phase is known as the ''Conquista Señorial castellana'' and was carried out by Castilian nobles whose appropriation of the land was mediated through purchase, cession and marriage. This phase included the land conquered in the first phase and also the island of La Gomera and lasted until 1450. A prominent force in this phase was the Peraza family, which had managed to consolidate the Canary Islands under a single unified lordship and seigneury for the reigns of Hernán Peraza the Elder and his daughter Inés Peraza, though this did not hold.
* Conquista realenga. This term defines the conquest carried out directly by the Kingdom of Castile during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs who armed and part financed the conquest of the islands not yet subjugated: Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife. This conquest ended in 1496 with the defeat of Tenerife and the integration of the Canaries Archipelago into the Kingdom of Castile. The ''Conquista realenga'' took place between 1478 and 1496.

The ''Conquista Betancuriana''

The first period of the conquest of the Canaries was carried out by the Norman nobles Jean de Bethencourt and Gadifer de la Salle. Their motives were basically economic: Bethencourt possessed textile factories and dye works and the Canaries offered a source of dyes such as the orchil lichen.

Bethencourt received important political support in the court of King Henry III of Castile. His uncle, Robert de Bracquemont, gained the king's permission for the conquest of the Canary Islands on behalf of the Norman noble. In exchange for these rights Bethencourt became a vassal of the Castilian King. Robert de Bracquemont invested a significant amount in the venture. The story of the Bethencourt Conquest was recorded in the chronicle known as the Canarien, compiled by two clerics Pierre Bontier and Jean Le Verrier. The original was adapted in two later versions, one by Gadifer de La Salle (which appears the more reliable of the two) and the other by the nephew of Bethencourt, Maciot de Bethencourt.

The conquest of Lanzarote

The Norman expedition set off from La Rochelle and stopped off in Galicia and Cádiz before arriving in Lanzarote in the summer of 1402. The island's aborigines and their chief Guadarfia were unable to resist the invading forces and surrendered. The Normans established themselves on the south of the island where they constructed a fortress and founded the Bishopric of Rubicon. From this location they attempted an assault on Fuerteventura.

The conquest of Fuerteventura

This campaign lasted between 1402 and 1405. The extended duration was not due so much to the resistance of the islanders as to the difficulties and internal divisions between the two captains leading the invaders. Hunger and a lack of resources forced the expedition to retreat to Lanzarote. Jean de Bethencourt then travelled to Castila to drum up further support. There King Enrique III supplied the necessary measures and the confirmation of Bethencourt's exclusive rights to conquer the island, thereby marginalising Gadifer.

During Bethencourt's absence Gadifer had to confront a double rebellion, one by a section of his men led by Bertín de Berneval, who had restarted the capture of slaves, and the other by the Lanzarote Guanches who resisted this practice. Pacifying the island took until 1404 and the conquest of Fuerteventura recommenced at the end of that year. However, the two commanders acted separately, each one fortifying his own domain (the castles of Rico Roque and Valtarajal). The conquest of the island was completed in 1405 with the surrender of the native kings of the island. On an unknown date Gadifer abandoned the island and returned to France to defend his rights, but he would never return to the islands.

After the victory Bethencourt, absolute owner of the islands, returned to Normandy in search of settlers and new resources in order to continue the conquest of the rest of the islands.

Conquest of El Hierro

The conquest of El Hierro took place in 1405. There was no resistance offered by the scattered Guanche population who were largely sold as slaves. The island was then repopulated with Norman and Castilian settlers.

Bethencourt remained on the islands until 1412 when he returned permanently to his lands in Normandy, leaving Maciot de Bethencourt in charge of his possessions.

The ''Conquista Señorial Castellana''

The Bethencourt era ended in 1418 when Maciot sold his holdings and the rights to subjugate the remaining islands to Enrique Pérez de Guzmán. From this point on the intervention of the King of Castile increased. Between 1418 and 1445 dominion over the islands changed hands on a number of occasions. Finally, control over the conquered islands and the right to further conquests fell to Hernán Peraza The Elder and his children Guillén Peraza and Inés Peraza. The death of Guillén Peraza in the attack on La Palma has been immortalized in a moving lament. After the death of her brother Inés and her husband Diego García de Herrera became the sole rulers of the islands until 1477 when they ceded La Gomera to their son Hernán Peraza The Younger and the rights to the conquest of La Palma, Gran Canaria and Tenerife to the King of Castile.

The island of La Gomera was not taken in battle but was incorporated into the Peraza-Herrera fiefdom through an agreement between Hernán Peraza The Elder and some of the insular aboriginal groups who accepted the rule of the Castilian. However, there were a number of uprisings by the Guanches due to outrages committed by the rulers on the native Gomeros. The last one, in 1488 caused the death of the islands ruler, Hernán Peraza The Younger, whose widow, Beatriz de Bobadilla y Ossorio, succeeded him in rule and sought the assistance of Pedro de Vera, conqueror of Gran Canaria, in order to snuff out the rebellion. The subsequent repression caused the death of two hundred rebels and many others were sold into slavery in the Spanish markets.

The ''Conquista Realenga''

The second period of the Spanish conquest of the Canaries was different from the first in a number of ways:

* The Catholic Monarchs commanded and armed the invading forces.
* The funding for the enterprise was the responsibility of the Crown and individuals interested in the economic exploitation of the island's resources.
* The islands involved, Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife, had larger populations and offered the best economic rewards.
* The Guanches of the three islands, but particularly those of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, offered a clear and prolonged resistance to the conquest.

Conquest of Gran Canaria (1478–1483)

There were three stages in the conquest of Gran Canaria:

a) Initial stage, June – December 1478. The first expeditionary force disembarked on La Isleta on 24 June 1478. The force was commanded by Juan Rejón and Dean Bermúdez, as representative of the Bishop of San Marcial del Rubicón, Juan de Frías, who was a co-financier of the expedition. They founded Real de La Palmas near to Barranco de Guiniguada on the site of the present day Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. A few days later the first battle of the campaign took place near to Real when the islanders were defeated. This initial victory gave the Castilians control of the north east corner of the island.

b) Guanche resistance and Castilian divisions from the close of 1478 until 1481. This period is defined by aboriginal resistance in the mountainous interior, the lack of men and materials and internal disputes between the invaders. During this stage Juan Rejón was dismissed on the orders of the Catholic Monarchs. His place was taken by Pedro Fernández de Algaba who was subsequently executed by order of the deposed Rejón. The naming of Pedro de Vera as the new governor of the island and the arrest of Juan Rejón put an end to the in-fighting that had continued until 1481.

c) Suppression of the Guanche resistance and conquest of the island, 1481–83. Pedro de Vera, now undisputed commander of the Castilian forces, resumed the conquest of the island's interior and the Guanche fiefdom of Gáldar. He was able to do this because a large contingent of reinforcements had been sent from Gomero by Diego García de Herrera. The Guanche leader Doramas was subsequently killed in the Battle of Arucas

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