Who discovered the Canaries? And how were they conquered?
1300’s
The Canaries attracted little interest from mainland Europe until the turn of the 13th Century. But as naval trade grew in importance, so did the strategic relevance of the archipelago.
As a result, expeditions to the island were undertaken, most noticeably by a Genovese merchant called Lancelotto Malocello in 1339. Who was here ostensibly to capture slaves but is also widely credited as Lanzarote´s current namesake. As previously the island was known by the indigenous Guanche inhabitants as Titeroy and by mainland Europeans as the Fortunate Islands.
Courting Trouble
Around the middle of the century the noble Vice-count Martín Ruiz de Avendaño arrived on the island from mainland Spain. He was invited by the local King, Zonzamas, to stay with him, but rather over extended his welcome - enjoying extramarital relations with Zonzamas´ wife, Queen Fayna. Nine months later, Fayna gave birth to a suspiciously blonde and fair skinned daughter who was named Princessa Ico.
Towards the end of the century King Zonzamas passed away and was succeeded by his oldest son Tinguafaya. His reign was brief however as he was unfortunately taken prisoner - along with his wife and around 155 of his people - in one of the many raids on the island by pirates and mercenaries, who came in search of slaves.
Family Affairs
Tinguafaya was succeeded by his brother who in a parallel of ancient Egyptian tradition had married his sister, Princessa Ico. Together they had a son who they named Guadarfia.
With the kingdom now jointly ruled by Princessa Ico - who was from an uncertain bloodline - the people wanted proof of nobility. So a test was devised.
This consisted of locking her in a room full of smoke with three servants to see if she could still walk out with breath in her body.
Magic Sponge
Before she performed the test she came across an old lady who told her to put and keep a damp sponge in her mouth while she was in the room. After some time had passed and the test was over the people opened the door of the smokey room and Princess Ico emerged, red eyed but otherwise unharmed.
Her three servants didn’t fare so well though and lacking a magic sponge all lay lifeless on the floor.
This did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the islanders for their new Queen though as her bloodline had been proven and she was able to rule in relative peace. Also providing unhindered succession to the throne for her son Guadarfía.
1402
The official Spanish conquest of Lanzarote begins in 1402, with the arrival of
Juan de Bethencourt, a Norman baron and his sidekick Gadifer de Salle.
They landed on the isle of La Graciosa along with a few priests and some soldiers, and from there proceeded to invade Lanzarote.
Warm Welcome
They were acting on behalf of King Enrique III of Castile and must have been delighted with the ease of their mission. As all they had to do was present themselves on the southern shore of Laznarote (near what’s is now Playa Blanca) and the Guanches soon became curious and came down from the mountains to meet the Europeans.
However, in truth, the native inhabitants were so small in number that they had little choice but to welcome these latest emissaries warmly.
Guadarfía – now King - only had some two hundred men at his disposal to defend the entire island, as pirate attacks and slave raids had dwindled the islands population to desperately low levels.
First European Settlement
So Bethencourt and his band were granted permission to establish a fort at Playa del Rubicon - close to the beaches at Papagayo. The Guanches even helped them to build it.
Emboldened by this warm welcome and the smooth success of his operation to date, Juan de Bethencourt briefly returned to Castile in order to procure reinforcements for the invasion of the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura.
He would soon have cause to wish he had remained on Lanzarote.
Gadifer, Bethencourt´s second in command, decided to undertake a side trip to the small island Lobos (just off Fuerteventura) in order to study the wildlife there. But in his absence things went wild on Lanzarote – as a small group of soldiers mutinied and set sail for Spain, taking with them some of the Guanche to sell as slaves. Worse, the mutineers took all the food and ships – leaving Gadifer and the rest of the occupiers without any sustenance or transport.
State of Siege
Unsurprisingly, the Guanches viewed the abduction of their kith and kin as an aggressive act. Attacking and killing some of the remaining Europeans. Who were now forced to shelter in their new, Guanche built fort.
During this period of siege a Guanche traitor named Atchen aproached Gadifer with a proposal that he would reveal the whereabouts of the Guanche King. Which would enable Gadifer to exact revenge for the death of his men.
In return though Atchen wanted the Guanche crown for himself. Gadifer agreed to this proposal, capturing the rightful Guanche king Guadarfia with only minor casualties and installing Acthen on the throne. The new King though was duplicitous to the core – and revoked his pact with Gadifer and turned on the Europeans.
High Stakes
During the ensuing conflict though Atchen reaped his just desserts. As during the heat of battle the rightful King, Guadarfia escaped, and captured Atchen – before burning him alive.
This led to yet more fighting - leaving Gadifer toying with the idea of wiping out all of the Guanche men folk. However he was talked out of this genocidal policy by the missions’ priests. Who convinced him that they could convert the indigenous islanders to Christianity.
It was at around this point that Juan de Bethencourt returned from Castille with over three hundred fresh soldiers. From his vantage point in the mountains Guardarfia observed that his small band was now outnumbered and saw no other course but to surrender peacefully. In return he and his loyal followers were baptized, awarded land and allowed to go about their business in relative peace.
1404
With Lanzarote now subdued Bethencourt was able to progress to the next stage of his plan and invade Fuerteventura. Aided in the invasion by Guadarfia and some of his best soldiers, the neighbouring island fell to Spanish rule within a year.
Photo: © http://www.guanches.org
