Gadifer de La Salle

The coat of arms of the Gadifer de La Salle

Illustration in Le Canarien Codex Egerton 2709 depicting the ship Gadifer de La Salles during the crossing to the Canary Islands in 1402

Gadifer de La Salle (* 1355 or a little before that in the area of Thouars in the French province of Poitou ; † 1422 ) was a French nobleman who, with Jean de Béthencourt , brought the first Canary Islands under European sovereignty from 1402 .

Life as a soldier

Gadifer de La Salle came from a noble French family. His father was Ferrand de La Salle. He owned a house in Mauzé-Thouarsais . Gadifer de La Salle apparently received the military training customary for a nobleman at that time. In the years that followed, his life corresponded to that of many adventurers during this period, who constantly switched to the service of whoever signed a contract with them. He probably spent the time of his life that little is known about. In 1373 he was captain of a company of five knights and 22 squires in the troops of the Count of Poitou Jean de Valois, duc de Berry . He probably took part in the campaigns against the English in 1377 under the command of Louis von Anjou . Around 1378 he received the title of Chamberlain to the Duke of Berry. It was an honorary title that was not associated with any activity or income. In the following years Gadifer de La Salle took part in battles in Germany and Italy. Like many adventurers of the time who traveled from battlefield to battlefield, Gadifer de La Salle was keen to get a permanent position in the state administration. Therefore, in 1380 he applied for the position of Seneschal of Bigorre . However, the position was given to another applicant. In 1383 Gadifer de La Salle was in the army under Ludwig I of Anjou who wanted to enforce his claims to the Kingdom of Naples. He was captured by the Armada of the Republic of Ragusa in January 1384 on a ship that was en route to Venice . He was probably only released after the death of Ludwig I of Anjou in September 1384. In contrast to Jean de Béthencourt, Gadifer de La Salle probably did not take part in the crusade against Mahdia , in which the pirate stronghold El Mehadieh near Tunis was to be taken in 1390 under the leadership of Duke Louis II de Bourbon . The troops boarded in Genoa at the beginning of the summer of 1390 and returned to Genoa in November 1390 after a two-month siege. On August 18, 1390, during the time of the crusade against El Mehadieh, Gadifer de La Salle was appointed Seneschal of Bigorre. It is unlikely that an appointment of this importance would have been made in the absence of the person concerned.

Adventure in the Canary Islands

Around 1392 he was given the honorary title of Chamberlain to the King. At the end of the 14th century, Gadifer de La Salle, as Seneschal of Bigorre, was a respected and well-off royal official with secure, good salaries.

In the middle of 1401, Gadifer de La Salle and Jean de Béthencourt agreed, apparently without writing down the agreement, an expedition to the Canary Islands. The goal was not to have short-term income from slave trade or the plundering of the population, but to bring the islands under their rule in order to achieve long-term profits from the local economy and from the islands' trade with Europe. For this purpose, farmers and craftsmen from France should be settled on the islands, who also took their wives with them.

Due to the verbal agreement with Jean de Béthencourt, Gadifer de La Salle recruited soldiers in Bigorre, gave up his secure, well-paid position as Seneschal of Bigorre, and sold his property in order to use the proceeds in La Rochelle to transfer the ship to the islands to buy. It is very unlikely that Gadifer would have accepted such an adventure as a subordinate of Béthencourt. He apparently assumed that they participated in this undertaking on condition of equality. This equality is also supported by the fact that in the Bull Apostolatus Officium of January 22, 1403, "Iohannis de Betencourt et Gadiferi de Sala" are named as heads of the mission.

The journey began from La Rochelle on May 1, 1402. At this point in time there was apparently no express permission or even an order for the operation of the French or the Castilian king to be carried out. A stopover was made in La Coruña and Cádiz to take water and other equipment on board. During these port stays, a large number of soldiers deserted, so that when they arrived on the island of La Graciosa at the end of July 1402 only 63 (according to another source only 53) people were on the ship.

After landing on the south coast of the island of Lanzarote, Jean de Béthencourt, through negotiations and the mediation of the translators, was able to conclude a contract with the inhabitants that allowed him to build a fortified settlement on the island. In return, he was supposed to protect the majos from slave hunters. Construction of the Rubicón fortifications started immediately. In the meantime, Gadifer de La Salle explored the island of Fuerteventura without meeting residents or finding food. Since the existing food supplies were not sufficient for a long time and more people were needed for the occupation and settlement of other islands, Gadifer de La Salle and Jean de Béthencourt agreed that Jean de Béthencourt should travel to Castile to fetch supplies and personnel.

In mid-October 1402, some of the soldiers recruited by Béthencourt rebelled. They took the opportunity when Gadifer de La Salle and his people were brought to the island of Lobos to catch monk seals. The rebels, led by Bertín de Berneval, contacted the captain of the pirate ship Tajamar, which lay in front of the island of Graciosa, and agreed with him that he would oppose the delivery of slaves to Spain to be captured on the island of Lanzarote would bring. Before the insurgents went on board with the captured natives, they plundered the food supplies in Fort Rubicón. Meanwhile, Gadifer de La Salle was stuck with his people without food and water on the island of Lobos. They were rescued by sailors from a Spanish ship that happened to be in the area and brought to Lanzarote. Here, however, the French expected a hostile population who saw themselves betrayed by the French through the capture of natives by the rebels. Since the food supplies of the Europeans had been plundered and the Majos were at war with them, Gadifer de La Salle saw himself forced to procure barley and goat meat by raiding the Majos. This intensified the conflict with the indigenous people.

On July 1st, 1403, a ship with supplies reached Lanzarote. It was probably equipped by the Castilian Comendador des Calatravaordens and the shipowner Juan de Las Casas through the efforts of Jean de Béthencourt . On this ship Gadifer de La Salle went on board with four of his people to undertake a three-month information trip to the other islands.

Béthencourt came back to Lanzarote in April 1404 after an absence of more than 1½ years. Now Gadifer de La Salle learned that Jean de Béthencourt against King Henry III. of Castile had sworn a vassal oath and only Jean de Béthencourt had been declared lord of the Canary Islands.

Return to France

Gadifer de La Salle requested the assignment of one of the islands to cover the expenses he had previously brought into the company. Jean de Béthencourt refused. From that time on, open hostilities began between the two heads of the company. Gadifer de La Salle probably returned to France in 1406 or 1407. He had lost his ship with the company, in which he had invested most of his fortune. A reinstatement in the old office of Seneschal of Bigorre was only possible if the current incumbent died. In this situation Gadifer de La Salle was forced to fight as captain of an adventurous troop, as in his youth. He certainly took part in the occupation of Placencia, Pavia and Milan by the troops of Jean II Le Maingre in 1409 . In 1413 he probably returned to Paris with the young Duke of Orleans. During this time version G of Le Canarien was created for the Duke of Burgundy Johann Ohnefurcht . This manuscript describes Gadifer de La Salle's stay in the Canary Islands. From 1422 there is a document that was signed with his name and the title of Seneschal of Bigorre. It is very likely that he died at the end of 1422.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 174 (Spanish).
2. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 172 (Spanish).
3. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 176 (Spanish).
4. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 183 (Spanish).
5. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: Le Canarien: Retrato de dos mundos I. Textos . Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-58-2 , p. 45 (Spanish).
6. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 193 (Spanish).
7. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Le Canaries: crónicas francesas de la conquista de Canarias . Ed .: Elías Serra, Alejandro Cioranescu (=  Fontes rerum canarium . Volume VIII ). Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 1959, p. 413 (Spanish, [1] [accessed January 23, 2017]).
8. ↑ Miguel Ángel Ladero Quesada: Jean de Béthencourt, Sevilla y Henrique III . In: Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera (eds.): Le Canarien: retrato de dos mundos (=  Fontes Rerum Canarium ). tape XLIII . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-59-0 , p. 38 (Spanish).
9. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: Le Canarien: Retrato de dos mundos I. Textos . Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-58-2 , p. 14th f . (Spanish).
10. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: Le Canarien: Retrato de dos mundos I. Textos . Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-58-2 , p. 15 (Spanish).
11. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: Le Canarien: Retrato de dos mundos I. Textos . Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-58-2 , p. 16 (Spanish).
12. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 286 (Spanish).
13. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 197 (Spanish).
14. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: Le Canarien: Retrato de dos mundos I. Textos . Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-58-2 , p. 17 (Spanish).

literature

• Le Canaria: 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 (Spanish).
• Eduardo Aznar et al .: Le Canarien: Retrato de dos mundos II Contextos . In: Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera (eds.): Le Canarien: retrato de dos mundos (=  Fontes Rerum Canarium ). tape XLIII . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-59-0 (Spanish).
• Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 (Spanish).