Conquest of the island of Gran Canaria

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Places that were important during the conquest of Gran Canaria from 1478 to 1483

The conquest of the island of Gran Canaria through the deployment of at times more than 1000 soldiers on behalf of the Crown of Castile began on June 24, 1478 with the landing of the troops at La Isleta (today a district of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ) and ended with the surrender of the Canarios at Ansite on April 29, 1483.

First attempts at subjugation of the Canarios

The Chronicle of Le Canarien reports that 22 members of the Gadifer de la Salles troop were ambushed and killed in 1405 after negotiations with the Canarios. The Canarios claimed to have more than 10,000 armed warriors.

In 1452 Inés Peraza de las Casas and her husband Diego García de Herrera y Ayala inherited the rights to rule over the Canary Islands. One of the first measures to establish their actual rule was the launch of a campaign to Gran Canaria in 1454, which as an immediate result had possession of the Bay of Gando. Between 1457 and 1459 they had the "Torre de Gando" (Tower or Fort of Gando) built. This defensive structure was taken in 1459 by Portuguese troops under the command of Diego de Silva y Meneses in an assault. After King Henry IV of Castile protested against this attack to his brother-in-law Alfonso V of Portugal, the latter instructed Diego da Silva to return the Torre de Gando to the rightful owners Inés Peraza and her husband Diego García de Herrera. They appointed Diego da Silva as the fortress commander of the Torre de Gando and their representative on Gran Canaria. On August 16, 1461, Diego García de Herrera, accompanied by the Bishop of Rubicón , Diego López de Illescas, took possession of the island of Gran Canaria in a symbolic ceremony in the area of ​​Las Isletas. Witnesses reported that the Guanartemes of Telde and Gáldar kissed their new master's hands as a sign of submission. Diego García de Herrera believed that he was well on the way to achieving the annexation of the island of Gran Canaria under his rule in a peaceful way. At that time, more buildings were built near the Torre de Gando as warehouses in which supplies and goods could be stored to supply the garrison and to store Orseille and other products that were traded with the indigenous people. At the beginning of the 1470s there were repeated attacks by the Castilians on the Canarios and their cattle. The result of this was that the natives attacked the settlements of the Europeans and destroyed them in 1477 at the latest. The rule of Inés Peraza and her husband Diego García de Herrera over the island of Gran Canaria, which until then had been practically limited to the trading post, was ended.

Conquest by troops from Castile

In the context of the Castilian War of Succession and the associated disputes between Castile and Portugal, the Canary Islands took on a new meaning. In order to secure the rights of the Crown of Castile, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Castile considered it necessary that the islands not yet subject to be conquered.

Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed in October 1477 with the then owners of the rights to the conquest of the as yet unconquered islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife, Inés Peraza de las Casas and Diego García de Herrera, to return these rights to the Crown of Castile .

On May 13, 1478, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand granted a capitulación in which the Bishop of Rubicón Juan de Frías, the Dean Juan Bermudéz and Juan Rejón were commissioned to convert the infidels on the island of Gran Canaria and the other islands and to rule the Subjugate the Crown of Castile. Juan de Frías was the financier responsible for setting up, equipping and supplying the troops. In the beginning he did not personally take part in the conquest. Juan Bermudez was not only a cleric , he was named in the letters of Queen Isabellas and King Ferdinand as captain (captain) before Juan Rejón , whom they had also appointed captain . The shipping and some of the weapons were financed from the proceeds of a papal indulgence that had been given for the conversion of the Gentiles.

First phase 1478-1480

On June 24, 1478, more than ten ships with around 600 soldiers landed in the bay of Las Isletas, on the northern tip of Gran Canaria. Among them were 20 mounted soldiers from the Santa Hermandad de Andalucía and people who had fled to Seville because of their opposition to the lordly government of the Peraza / Herrera family in Lanzarote. The force consisted for the most part of soldiers who had recruited Juan Rejón in Andalusia. To the south of the landing site, at the mouth of the Barranco Guiniguada, far from the nearest settlement of the Canarios, there was good water and the possibility of retreating on ships if necessary. On the edge of a palm forest, a fortified military camp was built on June 24, 1478, which was called "Real de Las Palmas", later the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria .

A few days after the landing, around 500 (other sources speak of 2000) Canarios appeared in front of the camp under the leadership of Doramas, the Guanartemes of Telde. They came into battle with lances and long wooden sticks. There was some scuffle. 30 Canarios died and more than 50 were injured. There were seven dead and 20 injured among the Castilians. The Canarios quickly withdrew. They had learned from it not to get involved in an open battle.

At the end of the summer the Castilian troops undertook raids in the vicinity of their camp. The actions consisted of burning the harvest and the fig trees and cutting the palm trees near the Canarios settlements. The cattle were robbed and prisoners were taken. A procedure that was common on both sides during the Reconquista on the Spanish peninsula. Juan Bermudez disagreed with this type of warfare, not only for humanitarian reasons, but also because it made it difficult to feed the troops from the country's funds. In addition, this procedure increased the resistance of the Canarios and was not suitable for achieving a peaceful agreement through surrender. This led to arguments between Juan Bermudez and Juan Rejon. The progress of the conquest was slow because of this internal dispute between the Castilians and the unexpectedly strong resistance of the Canarios. In order to bring order to the management of the company, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand appointed Pedro de Algaba as governor and thus chief judge on the island on August 27, 1478. He came to Gran Canaria at the end of 1478. In August 1479, an additional 400 soldiers, horses and new food landed on Gran Canaria. On August 24, 1479, the Castilians made an advance with 400 horsemen and 500 foot soldiers towards the Caldera de Tirajana. The Castilian army was defeated by the Canarios and pursued in retreat, with heavy casualties in the Castilian military. An attack on Gáldar had to be canceled due to supply problems.

Since Pedro de Algaba could not bridge the differences between the different groups of the Castilian troops, he sent Juan Rejon, whom he believed to be the main author of the disputes, to Castile so that the royal court should decide the case there. The court had nothing wrong with Rejon’s behavior. On April 23, 1480 Juan Rejon left Cádiz with fresh troops. He reached Las Isletas on May 2, 1480. He had the governor Pedro de Algaba arrested and, after a short trial, executed in May or June 1480, accusing him of wanting to hand over the island to the Portuguese. The Dean Juan Bermudez, who was subject to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, he expelled to Lanzarote.

Second phase 1480–1483

Since the previous Capitulantes, the Bishop Juan de Frías, the Dean Juan Bermudez and the Captain Juan Rejon, made little progress in achieving the goals of the Capitulación, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand commissioned the Contador Mayor de in a Capitulación on February 24, 1480 Cuentas (Auditor of the Royal Revenue) Alonso de Quintanilla, the Capitán de mar Fernández Cabrón and Pedro de Vera, who was appointed Governor of Gran Canaria on February 4, 1480, with the conquest of the island. In this Capitulación, economic advantages for the Capitulantes played a more important role than in the Capitulación of May 13, 1478.

It had been shown that the coexistence of the governor and military captains caused difficulties. Therefore, the royal couple combined the two tasks in a single person who had enough military and administrative experience. On February 4, 1480 Pedro de Vera was appointed commander in chief of the conquering army and governor of the island. His duties and powers were listed in the certificate of appointment. This also affected regulations that were to come into force only after the conquest had been completed. He reached Gran Canaria in August 1480. His first official act was to clarify the death of Pedro de Algaba, his predecessor as governor. Pedro de Vera had Juan Rejon arrested and brought to the royal court of Castile for a decision there. This clearly clarified the command of the Castilian troops and the conquest was no longer hindered by internal disputes.

In 1481 there were about 200 Canarios in the encampment in Las Palmas who had come there to be baptized and afterwards could not return to their compatriots. Pedro de Vera saw them as a potential threat to the security of the camp. In addition, the supply situation for the troops was not such that 200 more people could easily be fed. He suggested to these Canarios that they begin the conquest of the island of Tenerife. After leaving Gran Canaria in two caravels, one hundred people each, they were set ashore in Lanzarote and left to their fate.

During the summer of 1481 ships with additional soldiers, crossbowmen and horsemen came to Gran Canaria again and again. With these new troop replenishments, Vera organized a campaign against the Canarios in the north of the island. There was a battle near Arucas in which Doramas, one of the main Canarios military leaders, was killed. His death weakened the resistance of the indigenous people. At that time, attempts were made to conclude peace treaties between the Castilians and the Canarios. However, a large part of the Canarios refused to surrender at this point.

At the end of 1481, the construction of a second base was started on the west side of the island. At the end of September, the “Torre de Agaete” facility was completed. Alonso Fernández de Lugo became its commander . In 1482, Hernán Peraza , lord of the islands of El Hierro and La Gomera , and his 80 soldiers from La Gomera, who had been hired by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand to support the conquest of the island, were also stationed at this base .

In February 1482 the Guanarteme was captured by Gáldar Tenesor Semidán . He was sent to Castile and introduced to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. After he was baptized in the name of his godfather the king by Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza , he was given the first name Ferdinand (Fernando) and his house name was Guanarteme. After his return to Gran Canaria, he supported the Castilian conquerors by making the Canarios, who had retired on the Fortaleza de Ansite, give up. This surrender on April 28 or 29, 1483 is considered to be the conclusion of the conquest of the island of Gran Canaria. In January 1484 the army was disbanded.

Consequences of the conquest

Consequences for the Canarios

It is not known how many indigenous people were killed in fighting or starved to death as a result of the scorched earth tactics used initially . The population was also reduced by other measures taken by the conquerors from around 14,000 to 12,000 people. As a means of warfare, Canarios were captured and taken to the other islands and to Andalusia. They were distributed to different places in Andalusia, a good part settled in Seville, where the living conditions were not the best. These carry-overs did not end with the completion of the conquest. The natives were rarely sold as slaves but had to look for work on slave-like conditions. The Queen and King of Castile determined that these people had a right to return to their homeland and instructed the Bishop of Rubicón to organize the repatriation. From this a participation of the abducted Canarios developed in the conquest of the islands of La Palma and Tenerife, for which men capable of weapons were recruited on the island of Gran Canaria. A significant proportion stayed in the country as free people. When the land was distributed on the island, about 21 indigenous people received an allocation on the island. On the island of Tenerife, the proportion of Canarios who were rewarded with land grants for their services was greater.

Consequences for the conquerors

In 1484 the army was disbanded on the island of Gran Canaria. Some of the soldiers were paid the agreed remuneration and they returned to the Spanish peninsula. It was agreed with another part of the soldiers that after the conquest they should be rewarded with land and water rights on the island. The distribution of the land had been transferred in 1480 when he was appointed governor Pedro de Vera. He should act in agreement with Michel de Moxica. He was killed in the battle of Ajodar in 1483. Pedro de Vera himself traveled to the Spanish peninsula immediately after the conclusion of the conquest. As a result, a large proportion of those who believed they were entitled to land ownership declared land their property and began using it. Not until 1485 is there evidence that land and water rights were officially granted.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 111 (Spanish).
  2. ↑ Le Canarien: Retrato de dos mundos I. Textos . In: Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera (eds.): Le Canarien: retrato de dos mundos (=  Fontes Rerum Canarium ). tape XLII . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-58-2 , p. 125 (Spanish).
  3. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: El obispado de Telde . Misioneros mallorquines y catalanes en el Atlántico. Ed .: Ayuntamiento de Telde Gobierno de Canarias. 2nd Edition. Gobierno de Canarias, Madrid, Telde 1986, ISBN 84-505-3921-8 , pp. 143 (Spanish).
  4. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 40 ff . (Spanish).
  5. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 47 (Spanish).
  6. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 57 (Spanish).
  7. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 74 ff . (Spanish).
  8. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 111 (Spanish).
  9. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 88 f . (Spanish).
  10. ↑ Mariano Gambín García: Las cartas de nombramiento de los primeros gobernadores de Canarias / Expresión de la política centralizadora de los Reyes Católicos . In: Revista de historia canaria . No. 182 , 2000, pp. 44 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed June 20, 2016]).
  11. ↑ Marta Milagros de Vas Mingo: Las capitulaciones de Indias en el siglo XVI . Instituto de cooperación iberoamericana, Madrid 1986, ISBN 84-7232-397-8 , p. 25 (Spanish).
  12. ↑ Mariano Gambín García: Cinco documentos inéditos sobre Pedro de Vera, conquistador y gobernador de Gran Canaria . In: El museo canario . No. 58 , 2003, ISSN  0211-450X , p. 191 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed August 12, 2017]).
  13. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 97 (Spanish).
  14. ↑ Juan Álvarez Delgado: Instituciones políticas indígenas de la isla de Gran Canaria. Guaires y cantones. Guanartemes y reinos . In: Anuario de estudios atlánticos . No. 28 , 1982, ISSN  0570-4065 , pp. 288 (Spanish, [1] [accessed February 13, 2017]).
  15. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 103 ff . (Spanish).
  16. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 153 (Spanish).
  17. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 168 ff . (Spanish).
  18. ↑ Mariano Garcia Gambin: Precisiones cronológicas sobre los primeros Gobernadores de Gran Canaria (1478 to 1529) . In: Anuario de estudios atlánticos . No. 51 , 2005, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 217 (Spanish, [2] [accessed August 12, 2017]).

literature

Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 (Spanish).

Web links