Alonso Fernández de Lugo
Alonso Fernández de Lugo y de las Casas (* around 1456 in Sanlúcar de Barrameda , Spain ; † May 20, 1525 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna ) was a Castilian conqueror and colonizer. His official title was Adelantado de las Islas Canarias, Capitán General de la costa de África desde cabo de Guer hasta el de Bajador .
origin
Alonso Fernández de Lugo was the son of the married couple Pedro Fernandez de Lugo Señorino and Inés de las Casas. He had an older brother, Pedro, and two younger sisters, Inés and Isabel. Descendants of the siblings were later appointed to important administrative positions in the Canary Islands . The family had close personal and economic ties with important figures in Seville and Genoa . Little is known of his life up to 1478.
Gran Canaria
On June 24, 1478, troops from the Kingdom of Castile landed on the island of Gran Canaria under the leadership of Juan Rejón and Juan Bermudez . The Castilians soon ruled a large part of the island when a dispute developed between the conqueror and governor Juan Rejon and Juan Bermudez. The Catholic Kings sent on August 27, 1478 Pedro de Algaba as new governor of the island. He had Juan Rejon arrested and brought to the court of Queen Isabella in Castile. Alonso Fernández de Lugo came to Gran Canaria in the wake of the new governor. The wives of Pedro de Algaba and Alonso Fernández de Lugo were sisters. After the royal court acquitted Juan Rejon, he returned to Gran Canaria and had Pedro de Algaba killed. The return of Juan Rejon to the island had no negative consequences for Alonso Fernández de Lugo. He continued to take part in campaigns to conquer the rest of the island. In June 1481 Juan Rejon was murdered on the island of Gomera .
When the new governor Pedro de Vera had a fortress built in Agaete in 1481 , he appointed Alonso Fernández de Lugo as the fortress commander. The fortress was equipped with a crew of 50 men and ten horses. For his excellent achievements in conquering the island, Alonso Fernández de Lugo received an area of land that was around three times the size of the Principality of Monaco today . He had irrigation systems built and sugar cane grown, for the processing of which he had a sugar factory built. With these settlement measures, far from the island's capital, he is considered the first Spanish colonizer . In 1483 the conquest of Gran Canaria was declared complete.
In 1490 his first wife, Catalina Suárez Gallinato, died with whom he had three children: Pedro, Fernando and Beatriz.
La Palma
A royal decree of February 2nd, 1492 granted Alonso Fernández de Lugo the right to conquer the island of La Palma (then: San Miguel de La Palma). This right had previously been granted to Juan Rejon without being able to make use of this right. In a further document (Cedula) the Catholic Kings Alonso Fernández de Lugo guaranteed the right to exercise the government over La Palma as governor for life if he could take the island. Alonso Fernández de Lugo put together a troop with financial help from donors from Seville, which landed on the island in August 1492. As early as September 1492 he was able to reach an agreement with some of the twelve tribal princes in Tazacorte , without fighting , in which they recognized Queen Isabella I as their overlord. They also showed themselves ready to convert to Christianity. After some fighting, the remaining tribal princes surrendered in April 1493 with the exception of Tanausú, the prince of Aceró, who continued to resist. Alonso Fernández de Lugo offered Tanausú an armistice in May 1493, which Tanausú accepted. When Tanausú left his territory to negotiate, he was captured by the Castilians. He died while being transported to Spain by refusing to eat.
After the submission of the island of La Palma, Alonso Fernández de Lugo took over the rule as governor in accordance with the treaties with the Crown of Castile. He appointed his nephew Juan Fernández de Lugo as a deputy. In the following years he officially remained as a deputy, but de facto governor of the island. He also distributed the island's land among campaigners and donors. This was granted to Alonso Fernández de Lugo in the treaties with the crown, but only later legalized by a royal decree on February 28, 1486. Alonso Fernández de Lugo used the right to a share in the prisoners and cattle stipulated in the contracts to satisfy his creditors with the income from the sale of the prisoners as slaves . The city of Apurón he founded (today Santa Cruz de La Palma ) was declared the seat of the island's new administration.
Tenerife
After the successful subjugation of La Palma, the Catholic Monarchs concluded a treaty with Alonso Fernández de Lugo on February 2, 1494 for the conquest of the island of Tenerife . This conquest should be completed within ten months. On April 30, 1494 the troops left Gran Canaria. Like the troops for the company from La Palma, they were equipped by Sevillian businessmen. However, merchants who were based in Gran Canaria were also involved in the equipment for the company in Tenerife. The information about the strength of the troops vary between 1000 and 2000 men and 120 and 200 horses. The ships used to transport troops and deliver supplies were not warships, but normal merchant ships. As in earlier attempts at conquest, the landing site was Añasa beach in the bay of Santa Cruz de Tenerife . A fortified camp was built not far from the landing site. The Guanche prince (Mencey) of Güímar had previously had various contacts with Spanish missionaries. In its area there was a chapel with the figure of the Virgin of Candelaria in a cave . He gave Alonso Fernández de Lugo some of his people who should support the conquerors with their local knowledge. In June, a large part of the conquering army first moved in the direction of today's city of La Laguna , then further towards today's city of La Orotava . In the Barranco de Acentejo, the Castilians were surprised by the Guanches. A bitter battle ensued, the first battle of Acentejo , known as the Acentejo Slaughter (Spanish: La Matanza de Acentejo).
The remnants of the Castilian invasion force, around 200 men, mostly injured, fled to the beach of Añasa. Among them Alonso Fernández de Lugo, who was injured by a stone in his face. The invasion troops left Tenerife on June 8, 1494. With them were some of the Guanches from Güímar, whom Alonso Fernández de Lugo later sold as slaves in Spain.
The failure of the first attempt to conquer the island of Tenerife did not deter Alonso Fernández de Lugo from his goal of bringing the island under the rule of the Crown of Castile and turning the inhabitants into good Christians. In order to undertake a new campaign of conquest, he needed considerable resources. He contacted the Duke of Medina-Sidonia , who put up a force of 700 men under the command of Bartolomé de Estopiñan, who left Andalusia in October 1495 . Alonso Fernández de Lugo sold his entire estate, the estate with the sugar factory and a mill in Agaete, even the jewelry of his late wife, and founded a trading company with the Genoese merchants Mateo Viña and Francisco Palomar, the cleric Nicolás Angelate and the merchant Guillermo de Blanco (compañia comercial) to conquer the island of Tenerife. In addition, he received loans from relatives in Seville. At the request of Queen Isabella I, Inés Peraza , mistress of the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, and Beatriz de Bobadilla (La Cazadora) , mistress of the islands of Gomera and El Hierro, also sent soldiers. Some of the participants in the campaigns to La Palma said they would participate with a number of soldiers who were paid for them, after the assurance that they would be compensated with land on the island after the conquest.
The thirty or so ships that left for Añazo in mid-November had more than a thousand soldiers and around 100 horses on board. The first step after the landing was to restore the fortifications in Añaza (Santa Cruz). Presumably on November 13, 1495, the troops of Alonso Fernández de Lugo reached an area in front of today's city of La Laguna and spent the night there. The next morning there was a bitter battle in which the leader of the Guanche fighters, the Mencey of Taoro Benitomo, was killed. The Guanche troops withdrew. This battle is known today as the Battle of Aguere . After this, the Castilians initially returned to their camp in Añazo. They expected supplies of food and troops there. Presumably on Christmas Day 1495, near the place where the first Battle of Acentejo had taken place in 1494, the Second Battle of Acentejo , in which about 2000 Guanches and 65 Spaniards were killed.
After this battle, Alonso Fernández de Lugo had an army camp (Spanish: real) set up near the present-day town of Los Realejos on the western edge of the Orotava Valley . Weakened by diseases brought in by the Spaniards, the loss of their most important leaders and the obvious superiority of the Castilians, the Guanches gave up the fight and submitted to the Crown of Castile in Los Realejos.
Immediately after the conquest, Alonso Fernández de Lugo went to Spain with some of his fellow combatants / business partners and the defeated Guanche princes at the court of the Catholic Monarchs, who was at that time in Almazán . Alonso Fernández de Lugo made his claims there, which he was entitled to on the basis of various contracts with the crown. On November 5, 1496, a series of documents were issued by the Catholic Monarchs, appointing Alonso Fernández de Lugo as governor to exercise the rule of the island of Tenerife for life and hereditary. The office also included civil and criminal justice and the right to appoint local judges and public officials. His rights to the office of governor of La Palma were confirmed. He was authorized to distribute lands on the islands of Tenerife and La Palma on behalf of the Crown.
His eldest son Pedro Fernandez de Lugo Xuárez Gallinato received a special honor : he was named Queen Isabella's page by a document dated February 20, 1497 . Such an appointment was actually reserved for sons from the Castilian high nobility .
After his return to the island of Tenerife, Alonso Fernández de Lugo devoted himself to the economic development of the island and the development of the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
In 1498 he married Beatriz de Bobadilla (La Cazadora) , widow of Hernán Peraza (the younger), heiress of the rule of La Gomera and El Hierro . She exercised rule for her underage son Guillen Peraza de Ayala .
Africa
Alonso Fernández de Lugo's participation in actions in Africa is poorly documented and is portrayed and assessed differently by different historians.
After the conclusion of the Treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479, the Catholic Monarchs appointed the then governor of Gran Canaria Antonio de Torres to a commission in which, with Portugal, the inland borders of the countries near the border of the spheres of influence, Cape Bojador, were to be determined. In Santa Cruz del Mar Pequeña (in what is now the state of Morocco) a fortification was built to protect a Castilian trading post. The governors of Gran Canaria were usually in command of this complex. On July 22nd, 1501, the Catholic Kings commissioned Alonso Fernández de Lugo to build three fortifications on the African coast between Cabo Aguer and Cabo Bojador, or to repair or strengthen them. Alonso Fernández de Lugo sailed to today's coast of Morocco in the summer of 1501. About five leguas (about 30 km) from Tagaos was San Miguel de Saca. Here Alonso Fernández de Lugo went ashore. There was a battle with local Berber troops in which many of the conquerors, apparently also some close relatives of Alonso Fernández de Lugo, were killed. He himself was injured and was able to escape to Tagaos, where he returned to Tenerife with the other survivors of the Battle of Saca.
End of life
On January 12, 1503 he was given the title Adelantado de las Canarias. On August 17, 1519 he was confirmed by Charles I in this office, which should be transferable to his son. It was only an honorary title. This did not change anything about the previous distribution of governmental power, jurisdiction and the military command in the Canary Islands. The title was associated with an annual salary of 100,000 maravedí .
After his second wife Beatriz de Bobadilla (La Cazadora) died on November 3, 1504, he married Juana Mesieres in 1514. She was a relative and lady-in-waiting of Queen Germaine de Foix , the second wife of Ferdinand II (Aragón) . The marriage had two children, Constanza and Luisa.
Alonso Fernández de Lugo died on May 20, 1525 in his home in San Cristóbal de La Laguna . He was buried in the church of the monastery of San Miguel de las Victorias, which he founded. The monastery burned down in 1810. The bones were exhumed in 1860 and transferred to the Santuario del Cristo. In 1881 a new grave monument was created and the bones were reburied in the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna .
Individual evidence
- ↑ His signatures do not always contain this part of the family name. Elías Serra Rafols: Alonso Fernández de Lugo, primer colonizador español . Ediciones Idea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2005, ISBN 84-96505-96-0 , p. 109 (Spanish).
- ^ Genealogía del Capitán D. Alonso Fernández de Lugo y de la Casas Conquistador de Sta. Cruz de Tenerife y Adelantado Mayor de las Islas Canarias. Galicia digital, April 12, 2006, accessed August 26, 2014 (Spanish).
- ↑ Elías Serra Rafols; Leopoldo de la Rosa Olivera: Acuerdos del Cabildo de tenerife: 1518–1525: Con dos apéndices de documentos sobre el gobierno de las Islas . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1970, pp. XXXIII (Spanish).
- ^ Don Alonso Fernández de Lugo; el Adelantado. Eldía.es, June 29, 2003, accessed August 26, 2014 (Spanish).
- ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Una amiga de Cristóbal Colón, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla . Confederación de Cajas de Ahorros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1989, ISBN 84-505-8354-3 , p. 140 (Spanish).
- ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Una amiga de Cristóbal Colón, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla . Confederación de Cajas de Ahorros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1989, ISBN 84-505-8354-3 , p. 68 (Spanish).
- ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Una amiga de Cristóbal Colón, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla . Confederación de Cajas de Ahorros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1989, ISBN 84-505-8354-3 , p. 140 (Spanish). 90 fanegan * 64.596 m² = 5 813 640 m² around 6 km² around 600 ha http://buscon.rae.es/drae/?type=3&val=fanega&val_aux=&origen=REDRAE
- ↑ Elías Serra Rafols: Alonso Fernández de Lugo, primer colonizador español . Ediciones Idea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2005, ISBN 84-96505-96-0 , p. 35 (Spanish).
- ↑ Elías Serra Rafols: Alonso Fernández de Lugo, primer colonizador español . Ediciones Idea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2005, ISBN 84-96505-96-0 , p. 46 .
- ^ Genealogía del Capitán D. Alonso Fernández de Lugo y de la Casas Conquistador de Sta. Cruz de Tenerife y Adelantado Mayor de las Islas Canarias. Galicia digital, April 12, 2006, accessed August 26, 2014 (Spanish).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 98 ( ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 100 ( ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 16 (Spanish, ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 17 (Spanish, ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Elías Serra Rafols: Alonso Fernández de Lugo, primer colonizador español . Ediciones Idea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2005, ISBN 84-96505-96-0 , p. 48 (Spanish).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 19 ( ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Elías Serra Rafols: Alonso Fernández de Lugo, primer colonizador español . Ediciones Idea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2005, ISBN 84-96505-96-0 , p. 50 (Spanish).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 22 ( ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Una amiga de Cristóbal Colón, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla . Confederación de Cajas de Ahorros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1989, ISBN 84-505-8354-3 , p. 143 (Spanish).
- ↑ Elías Serra Rafols: Alonso Fernández de Lugo, primer colonizador español . Ediciones Idea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2005, ISBN 84-96505-96-0 , p. 51 (Spanish).
- ↑ Rumeo de Armas gives the same troop strength but only about 20 ships. Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo en la Corte de los Reyes Católicos: (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 22 (Spanish, ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 24 ( ulpgc.es ).
- ^ Julio Pérez Ortega: La conquista de Canarias . Yurena, Santa Cruz; de Tenerife 1986, p. 190 (Spanish).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 129 ff . ( ulpgc.es ).
- ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo de la Corte de los Reyes Católicos (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952, p. 135 ff . ( ulpgc.es ).
- ^ Don Alonso Fernández de Lugo, el Adelantado. Eldía.es, June 29, 2003, accessed August 26, 2014 (Spanish).
- ↑ Mariano Garcia Gambin: Precisiones cronológicas sobre los primeros Gobernadores de Gran Canaria (1478-1529). (PDF) Cabildo de Gran Canaria, 2005, p. 233 , accessed on September 8, 2014 (Spanish).
- ↑ Buenaventura Bonnet y Reverón: Alonso Fernández de Lugo y sus conquistas en África . In: Revista de historia . No. 37 . La Laguna 1933, p. 138-149 (Spanish, ulpgc.es ).
- ^ Genealogía del Capitán D. Alonso Fernández de Lugo y de la Casas Conquistador de Sta. Cruz de Tenerife y Adelantado Mayor de las Islas Canarias. Galicia digital, April 12, 2006, accessed August 26, 2014 (Spanish).
- ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Una amiga de Cristóbal Colón, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla . Confederación de Cajas de Ahorros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1989, ISBN 84-505-8354-3 , p. 142 (Spanish).
- ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Una amiga de Cristóbal Colón, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla . Confederación de Cajas de Ahorros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1989, ISBN 84-505-8354-3 , p. 195 (Spanish).
- ^ Genealogía del Capitán D. Alonso Fernández de Lugo y de la Casas Conquistador de Sta. Cruz de Tenerife y Adelantado Mayor de las Islas Canarias. Galicia digital, April 12, 2006, accessed August 26, 2014 (Spanish).
literature
- Elías Serra Rafols: Alonso Fernández de Lugo, primer colonizador español . Ediciones Idea, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2005, ISBN 84-96505-96-0 .
- Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Alonso de Lugo en la Corte de los Reyes Católicos: (1496-1497) . Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid 1952 (Spanish, ulpgc.es ).
- Buenaventura Bonnet y Reverón: Alonso Fernández de Lugo y sus conquistas en África . In: Revista de historia . No. 37 . La Laguna 1933, p. 138-149 (Spanish, ulpgc.es ).
- Alejandro Cioranescu: Una amiga de Cristóbal Colón, Doña Beatriz de Bobadilla . Confederación de Cajas de Ahorros, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1989, ISBN 84-505-8354-3 (Spanish).
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Lugo, Alonso Fernández de |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lugo y de las Casas, Alonso Fernández de (full name); Lugo, Alonso de |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish conqueror |
DATE OF BIRTH | around 1456 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Sanlúcar de Barrameda , Spain |
DATE OF DEATH | May 20, 1525 |
Place of death | San Cristóbal de La Laguna |