History of the Canary Islands

Location of the Canary Islands ; about 1,200 km from the Spanish mainland and between 100 and 500 kilometers west of Morocco away

The history of the Canary Islands encompasses the pre-colonial and colonial history as well as the era up to the present of the archipelago in the Atlantic, which today is politically part of the Kingdom of Spain but geographically part of Africa .

Pre-Hispanic time

The pre-Hispanic period can be traced back to the 10th century BC through archaeological finds. Trace back to BC. Today it is divided into the time of discovery and first colonization by the Phoenicians and Romans from around 1000 BC. BC to AD 400, the period of isolation from AD 400 to the end of the 13th century and the time of the rediscovery of the islands by European seafarers. This is followed by the time of the destruction of the island cultures from the beginning of the 14th century to the end of the 15th century and the integration into the Castilian / Spanish state from the beginning of the 16th century to today.

Mythical places in ancient times

The Strait of Gibraltar , feared for its strong currents, formed the frontier of the well-known world in ancient times. Behind it, in the far west, the area where the sun set, according to Greek mythology , lay the world of darkness, the afterlife, the area in which Hades was. Heracles had to go beyond the pillars of Heracles in the course of his work . He procured the immortality-bringing apples of the Hesperides for the goddess Athena through the giant Atlas , from whom Heracles took away the vault of heaven for as long as the heavens. The home of the gorgon Medusa was also located in the Atlantic, cutting off Perseus ' head, arming himself with a cloak of invisibility against her petrifying gaze. There lay the Elysian realms to which those heroes were raptured who were loved by the gods or to whom they gave immortality. These "happy islands" (Insulae Fortunatae) were the islands of the happy or blissful, i.e. H. the dead. A large part of the terms of Greek mythology were later related to the Canary Islands, because they are also in the west outside the pillars of Heracles.

Historical reports

The first historically credible reports of journeys through the Strait of Gibraltar into the "Outer Sea", meaning the Atlantic, date from the 5th century BC. From the Carthaginian sailors Hanno and Himilkon , from the description of the coast ( Periplus ) of the Pseudo-Skylax and from Herodotus about the Greek Pytheas . However, Herodotus reports in his histories that the Phoenicians as early as 600 BC. BC sailed from east to west around Africa on behalf of the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II .

Roman sources explicitly mentioned the Canary Islands for the first time in Pomponius Mela and Pliny Major ; they called them islands of the blissful (Fortunatae insulae). Pliny Major refers to descriptions of the Mauritanian king Juba II , who after 25 BC. The Fortunatae insulae was researched. The term Canaria appears for the first time in the same text , probably as a proper name for the island of Gran Canaria . According to Pliny, the island was given its name because there were many large dogs ( Latin : Canis ) there, two of which were taken by Juba’s emissaries to present-day Morocco .

Pliny Major clearly distinguishes the relatively well known Fortunatae insula of the Gorgonen Islands (Gorgaden, d. H. Kapverden , as compared to the Hesperu Ceras designated Cap Vert in Senegal) and of the Hesperiden . The Hesperides lie opposite the volcano Theon Ochema ( chariot of the gods), which Hanno the navigator had visited. The volcano is mostly identified with the Cameroon Mountain and is located almost exactly south of Carthage. North of the Canaries, according to Pliny Major, are the islands of Atlantis ( Madeira ) and the Purple Islands. According to the geographer Statius Sebosus , the journey to the Hesperides is said to have taken 40 days by ship and the island of Junonia ( Lanzarote ) to be 750 miles from Cádiz .

The location and the names of the individual Canary Islands can be clearly deduced from the completely preserved work of Claudius Ptolemy - insofar as this is still ambiguous in Pliny Major's case - despite the sometimes strong distortions and verifiable errors. Pomponius Mela was the first to show the exact position of the Canary Islands on a map. Plutarch was informed of the existence of the islands by Sertorius ; Sertorius wanted to retire there because of political problems. After that, the Canaries barely appeared in history for a thousand years from the 4th century AD. After all, Brendan the Traveler drove to the so-called Brendan Island in the west in the 6th century; he called it terra repromissionis . Some suspicions go that one of the Canaries could be meant here, but nothing can be proven about it.

First colonization of the Canary Islands

In the course of history there have been repeated assumptions and hypotheses as to how, when and by whom the Canary Islands were first settled. On the one hand, these theories were based on scientific investigations that were mainly developed using the methods of antiquity , archeology , anthropology , ethnology and linguistics ; on the other hand, there are many contributions by pseudo-historians who establish connections between the ancient prehistoric populations of the Canary Islands and the alleged civilizations that have disappeared, such as the mythical Atlantis of Plato , with the incursions of the Vikings and the ancient Teutons or with the American high cultures .

Who were the first prehistoric settlers in the Canary Islands is not only a scientific, but at times also a theological problem. Early modern historians such as B. Fray Juan de Abréu Galindo (around 1632) felt obliged to name the migrations mentioned in the Old Testament as a possible background for the settlement of the islands before they went into the theories they considered realistic .

At the time of the rule of Franquism in Spain there were clear guidelines by the general commissioner for the archaeological excavations ("Comisaría General de Excavaciones Arqueológicas") on which areas the research had to concentrate. These guidelines clearly had racist and anti-Semitic components. Consideration should be given to Spain's claims to power in North Africa, Spanish Morocco and Spanish West Africa . The origins of the first settlers also played a role in the discussion about whether the archipelago should be granted independence as part of the decolonization of Africa or be recognized as part of Morocco .

At the end of the 20th century and in the 21st century, material was found during archaeological research that allows the issue of settlement to be viewed from a solid perspective with reliable data. The analysis and radiometric dating of the finds from the excavations of Buenavista (Teguise, Lanzarote) carried out from 2006 onwards revealed the oldest evidence of the presence of people on Lanzarote. The dates show that the buildings were built in the second half of the 10th century BC. Were erected. The Phoenician-Punic presence is attested not only by the special structure of the buildings, but also by found objects, amphorae and other vessels made with a potter's wheel, metal objects and glass. A settlement apparently existed until the second half of the 4th century BC. At this time the place was probably abandoned and again from the first half of the 2nd century BC. Visited and inhabited until the middle of the 3rd century AD. The presence of Romans and / or people from the Roman cultural area on the islands is for the period between the 1st century BC. And the 3rd century AD. The dating of the archaeological finds suggests that settlement on each of the islands developed differently.

The exact origin of the population who settled in the beginning is not clear. It certainly came from the area around the Strait of Gibraltar, which was under the rule of Carthage . The settlement was not a one-off action, but a continuous process that ultimately extended to all islands. The origin of the settlers was probably not uniform either. This is one reason for the differences in the composition of the population of the islands found in ethnological and genetic comparisons of archaeological finds. On La Gomera, in the north of Tenerife and in the interior of Gran Canaria there are more finds of cromagnoid human types , otherwise finds of Mediterranean types dominate.

If one assumes that the contacts to the Canary Islands at the turn of the century did not come from Rome, but from King Juba II of Mauritania , who ruled under Roman rule , it can be assumed that the population settled on the islands at that time was part of his government came from.

For the period after the 3rd century AD there is no evidence of any economic or cultural exchange between the populations of the individual islands.

Time of isolation

→ Main article : Old Canarians

After the fall of Rome in the 3rd / 4th century AD, the connections between the Canary Islands and Europe were interrupted until the 14th century AD. Since the indigenous people had no nautical knowledge and no sea-going ships, separate cultures developed on the individual islands independently of Europe, but also separately from the other islands, which had special characteristics due to the different climates, the different topography and the different population developments . What all old Canaries had in common was that they lived primarily from keeping animals, especially goats, growing barley and fishing in the beach area. The lack of usable ore deposits meant that the ancient Canarian technology fell back to a Stone Age level.

Written sources

There are no written records of the old Canaries themselves. Most of the knowledge of the living conditions of the ancient Canarians is based on reports from Europeans who visited the islands before the conquest or who gathered information during the course of the submission.

Niccoloso da Recco (1327–1364) is considered to be a credible report on the situation on the Canary Islands in the 14th century. He was one of the leaders of the expedition equipped by the Portuguese King Alfonso IV , which explored the Canary Islands for four months in 1341. The focus was on the question of what economic benefits trade contacts or the conquest of islands could have for European powers. The report was sent to Italy. The version of this report, edited in Latin, is attributed to Giovanni Boccaccio .

The clerics Jean Le Verrier and Pierre Boutier accompanied Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de La Salle from 1402 in their attempt to subjugate the Canary Islands. They wrote the original version of the chronicle " Le Canarien " , which no longer exists, in French. Today there are two different versions, edited by Gadifer de La Salle and Jean de Béthencourt's nephew. The chronicle devoted itself, besides the representation of the diplomatic and missionary efforts of the Europeans, very extensively to the description of the way of life of the indigenous people, the landscape, the soil conditions, the water supply and the fertility of the Canary Islands.

Some time after the conclusion of the submission of all islands to the rule of the Crown of Castile, various people tried to get information about the living conditions of the old Canarians before the conquest by interviewing the descendants of the indigenous population and analyzing documents. The fortress builder Leonardo Torriani (1560–1628) became particularly well known here with his report for King Philip II and Antonio de Viana (1578–1650), which was written in Italian about 1590 (around 100 years after the conquest) literary, but also with a number of fictional elements. In 1632 a "History of the Conquest of the Seven Canary Islands" (Historia de la conquista de las siete islas de Canaria) was published. The Franciscan Fray Juan de Abreu Galindo is named as the author , who apparently had access to documents from the time of the conquest. At the end of the 18th century, the cleric José Viera y Clavijo (1731–1813) tried to summarize all the information known at the time.

The problem with all of these written records is that they were drawn up from a Europe-centered point of view, often from the point of view of faith-based clerics. The conditions presented in the reports also served as a justification for conquering the islands or for enslaving the infidels. The reports from the 14th to 16th centuries only describe the situation at that time; they do not provide any information about the more than thousand year history of the ancient Canarians.

Archaeological sources

The other source of information is archaeological research. Many buildings, caves and places of worship of the old Canarians fell victim to cultural vandalism after the islands were conquered. All legacies of pagan culture should be destroyed. In the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, archaeological finds were often preserved in collections, but the exact location of their discovery was often unknown. Therefore, the surroundings of the sites can no longer be included in the interpretation of the objects.

The lack of scientifically proven knowledge led to a large number of speculative, pseudo-historical z. T. esoteric assumptions about life on the islands up to the destruction of the ancient Canarian culture. There were also falsifications of allegedly prehistoric finds. Some unproven accounts can still be found today in travel guides and popular science books. They are also distributed on various private websites . Archaeological finds that were secured and investigated at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century brought new knowledge about the origin of the first inhabitants of the Canary Islands. The life of the old Canarians, their social relationships and their religious ideas can still only be reconstructed in parts.

The rediscovery of the Canary Islands in the late Middle Ages

The era of the European rediscovery of the Canary Islands was marked by the importance of the Italian trading centers, the search for a new route to India and the advancement of shipping through the use of the compass , astrolabe and portolans.

In May 1291 two galleys left the port of Genoa under the direction of the brothers Vadino and Ugolino Vivaldi. Their goal was to establish trade relations with India. For this purpose Africa should be circumnavigated. The ships passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed south along the African coast. It is believed that the Genoese knew the Canary Islands and headed for them to get food and water. There is no reliable information about the whereabouts of the ships. In 1312 an expedition headed by Lancelotto Malocello wanted to search for the galleys. It is believed that he settled on the island. In version G of the Canary it is stated that "Lancelot Maloisel" conquered the island and had a castle built. On a Mallorcan world map from 1339, the islands of Lanzarote, Lobos and Fuerteventura are drawn in the correct position. Lanzarote is known as the "Insula de lanzarotus marocelus" and the area is filled with the coat of arms of Genoa.

On July 1, 1341, two caravels and a smaller ship left the port of Lisbon. The Florentine Angiolino del Tegghia dei Corbizzi was commissioned by the Portuguese King Alfonso IV to manage the fleet. The navigator of the expedition was the Genoese Niccoloso da Recco. From the equipment of the ships it can be concluded that the aim was to conquer the Canary Islands. The crews of the ships explored the Canary Islands for four months, but then found that their military strength was too weak to conquer the islands and returned to Portugal. The records of the course of this trip apparently reached Italy via Florentine traders who had settled in Seville. There Giovanni Boccaccio probably wrote a report in Latin about it, which contains many details about the Canary Islands and the population.

An expedition that left the port of Palma de Mallorca with two cogs in April 1332 was tasked with "taking one of the islands or any other town or fortified settlement ... and transferring it to their liege lord". All that is known about the course of the voyage is that the ships apparently returned after about five and a half months.

In the bull "Tuae devotionis sinceritas" of November 15, 1344 Pope Clement VI. Luis de España to the "Príncipe de la Fortuna" (Prince of the Happy Islands). On November 28, 1344, Luis de España received a crown and a scepter from the hand of the Pope as symbols of his state and sovereignty over the islands. The subsequent efforts of the Pope and the new prince to set up a force to conquer the Canary Islands together with other European rulers were unsuccessful. It is certain that the Prince of the Happy Isles never reached his principality. After the death of the “Príncipe de la Fortuna”, his heirs had no interest in asserting any rights.

At the same time that the "Principality of the Happy Islands" failed, some Mallorcan priests and monks began to prepare a project, the aim of which was to convert the inhabitants of the Canary Islands exclusively through peaceful missionary work. The basis for this was the teachings of Ramon Llull . Important collaborators in the evangelism were twelve indigenous people from the island of Gran Canaria who had come to Mallorca as slaves. They were released, taught the faith, and baptized. Two shipowners were found to finance the peaceful expedition, which was also supposed to have an economic aspect. For export from the Canary Islands to the Mediterranean countries, national products such as Orseille for the production of a red dye, but also goats and goat skins, were suitable . The Pope advocated peaceful action by the Mallorcans. He granted all participants a general indulgence . On November 7th, 1351 Pope Clemens created the diocese of the Happy Islands with the bull "Coelestis rex regum" and appointed Bernardo Font as the first bishop. The Mallorcans probably came to the island of Gran Canaria in the middle of 1352. A peaceful coexistence developed between the Mallorcan missionaries with their Canarian helpers and the indigenous people. The evangelism, however, probably had little success. After all, a first Christian church could be built. Mallorcan settlers also came to the island with the missionaries and it is reported that they had a good relationship with the indigenous people. For the purpose of trading with the islanders and reporting on the progress of the mission, further journeys between Mallorca and Gran Canaria probably took place. The preparations for such a trip are documented from 1386.

In the last quarter of the 14th century, especially from Castilian ports, enterprises started that were carried out solely for the purpose of robbery and slave capture on the Moroccan coast and on the Canary Islands. The course of one of these slave fishing companies from 1393 is recorded in the "Crónica del rey don Enrique III." Under the leadership of Gonzalo Perez Martel, Señor de Almonaster, a number of Andalusian and Basque adventurers came together to equip a fleet of five or six ships with the aim of pillaging the Canary Islands. In late May or early June 1393, the fleet left the port of Seville. The first target was Gran Canaria where the attackers stole men, women and cattle. The second destination was Lanzarote. There they captured 170 indigenous people. Among them the king of the island (Tinguafaya) and his wife. These attacks unsettled the indigenous people of the islands, who found it difficult to convey the difference between peaceful missionaries and slave traders. After various attacks on the island of Gran Canaria by slave traders, the Canarios killed the peaceful missionaries because they believed they were connected to the attackers.

Submission of the Canary Islands to the rule of the Crown of Castile

Stages of conquest

Islands of royal rule (Islas de realengo) and
islands of feudal rule (Islas de señorío)

The submission of the Canary Islands to the rule of the Crown of Castile took place between 1403 and 1496. One can distinguish between two periods of time in this process: the lordly conquest of the "Islas de Señorío" (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro and La Gomera), which was carried out as part of a feudal lordship and the conquest of the "Islas de Realengo" (Gran Canaria, La Plama and Tenerife) which took place directly on behalf of the Crown at the time of the Catholic Kings .

Between 1403 and 1477, the procedure for the subjugation of the Canary Islands followed a medieval pattern: the potential conqueror was appointed as a vassal of the King of Castile to lord the islands, which he then tried to control in practice. Usually, this was not a military conquest. When it came to military clashes, it is better known as a series of skirmishes. In no case can the actions be described as acts of war on a large scale, because the balance of power between the conquerors and the conquered were very balanced on these islands. The submission of the indigenous people to the rule of the Crown of Castile happened on the Islas de Señorío, but also in most of the island of La Palma and on the south side of the island of Tenerife, through partly extorted contracts and not through a war of conquest. The actual exercise of the rulership rights such as tax revenue and jurisdiction could often only be enforced after some time. This also applied to the Christianization associated with submission. Even when the inhabitants of an island were baptized, they were often far removed from a Christian way of life, especially due to a lack of information. In the first few years the rule of the señores or their governors was limited in many cases to the group of European settlers and to areas in the vicinity of the fortifications. The gentlemen were responsible for improving the infrastructure, they were patrons of all parish churches, they collected the duties and taxes for the king, they occupied the positions in the newly created administrations and in the courts and were supposed to defend the islands against attacks from outside.

In contrast, the conquest of the "Islas de Realengo" took place with much more military effort under the command of troop leaders who had a considerable military career. They were entrusted with the conquest by Capitulaciones and were responsible for the entire military and economic organization. Their goal was not the acquisition of a domain as personal property, but direct material gain from the action. They did not become rulers of the conquered territories, but served as functionaries of the crown with various z. T. entrusted to hereditary offices. Lords of these islands were the kings of Castile.

Rights to the Islas de Señorio

Illustration from version B (fol.1r) of Le Canarien

The expedition of Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de La Salle began in 1402 as a private company of the two initiators with equal rights. This equality is supported by the fact that in the bull Apostolatus officium of January 22nd, 1403, "Iohannis de Betencourt et Gadiferi de Sala" are named as heads of the mission. At the beginning there was neither approval nor commission or support from the king of France or of Castile. Only after Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de La Salle realized after a short stay on the islands that their own means were insufficient to achieve even part of the goals they had set themselves, Jean de Béthencourt returned to the end of October 1402 Castile around from the king there, Heinrich III. to get the support you need. Jean de Béthencourt received help from his relative Robert de Bracquemont ( Spanish : Robín de Bracamonte ). At that time he was the ambassador of the French king at the Castilian court. The result of these negotiations was a decree from King Henry III. of Castile on November 28, 1403 in which he instructed Diego Hurtado de Mendoza to take the feudal oath from Juan de Béthencourt . Through this feudal oath, Jean de Béthencourt recognized the Castilian king as the overlord of the Canary Islands and was also appointed as a vassal . In this position, Jean de Béthencourt enjoyed the protection of his company from other companies with the same goals. In addition, exports and imports to and from the Canary Islands were treated as trade within the countries of the Crown of Castile. He also received a number of economic and legal privileges in his fief, such as: B. Tax collection and trade monopolies. In addition, Heinrich III supported. the company with a grant of 20,000 maravedís .

Another support, which Jean de Béthencourt also received through the mediation of Robert de Bracquemont, was the recognition of the company as a crusade by Benedict XIII. in January 1403. An indulgence was granted for donations made to convert the indigenous people of the Canary Islands . On July 7, 1404, the Pope established a diocese for the Canary Islands with its seat in Rubicón .

Jean de Béthencourt left the Canary Islands in December 1405 and commissioned his nephew Maciot de Béthencourt to rule the islands. In 1412 Jean de Béthencourt came to Castile to swear his feudal oath again before the new King John II.

On November 15, 1419 Maciot de Béthencourt, after being brought to Seville in a military operation, transferred the sovereign rights to the Canary Islands in the name of Jean de Béthencourt to the Count of Niebla, Enrique de Guzmán. Maciot de Béthencourt was confirmed by the count in his position as governor of the islands. In the following years the rights to the conquered islands and those still to be conquered were transferred to different people through donations, purchases, exchanges and inheritance. The island always remained a fiefdom of the Crown of Castile. In 1448 Portuguese troops occupied the island of Lanzarote. After revolts by all parts of the population, the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator withdrew his troops from the island in 1450. In 1452 Inés Peraza de las Casas inherited the rulership rights on the islands, which she, according to the tradition of the time, exercised together with her husband Diego García de Herrera y Ayala until his death.

Submission of the island of Lanzarote

When the French landed under the leadership of Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de La Salle in 1402, there was no fighting, neither on the part of the natives nor on the part of the Europeans. Immediately upon arrival, Jean de Béthencourt started negotiations with the ruler of the Majos , Guardafía , the indigenous people of Lanzarote . He was assisted by the two interpreters who were born on the island and who went on board as freed slaves in Europe. An agreement was agreed in which both sides regarded each other as friends and the Europeans undertook to protect the majos from attacks by slave hunters. With the approval of Luis de Guardafía, the construction of the Rubicón defense system began. This consisted of a two-story tower open at the top with a base area of ​​6.8 m × 6.8 m, a church with a base area of ​​7 m × 13 m, a fountain and a few simple houses.

The ruler of the Majos begs to be baptized, illustration at the beginning of the 46th chapter of Le Canarien Version B

While Jean de Béthencourt was negotiating with the leaders of the Majos, Gadifer de La Salle explored the island of Fuerteventura for eight days without meeting residents or finding food. Gadifer de La Salle and Jean de Béthencourt found that they were inadequately equipped to set up effective trading posts, to settle Europeans and to take control of other islands. That is why Jean de Béthencourt returned to Castile in September 1402 after just under two months. He promised to be back by Christmas 1402, but actually came back to the island after more than 18 months in April 1404.

Right at the beginning of Jean de Béthencourt's absence, some of the soldiers who had actually come only to take prey in battle undertook a mutiny. After seeing that the islands had nothing that could be stolen except humans, they decided to capture large numbers of them, breaking the promise their boss had made to the majos. They plundered the remaining French supplies on the island, captured 22 majos in order to sell them as slaves to a Castilian pirate ship lying in front of the island of Graciosa and set off with this ship to Europe in October 1402. This led to clashes between the Majos, who felt they had been betrayed, and the remaining French. The clashes lasted until the beginning of 1404. On July 1st, 1403, a Castilian ship with supplies reached the island of Lanzarote. Gadifer de La Salle used this ship to go on a three-month information trip to the other islands with a few of his people. After his return to the island, Luis de Guardafía managed to arrest the ruler of the Majos and to get him to ask to be baptized.

Submission of the island of Fuerteventura

Baptism of one of the rulers of the Majoreros, illustration in front of chapter LXXX of version B of Le Canarien

From the fact that Gadifer de La Salle's contribution is completely ignored in Version B of Le Canarien, it follows that the representation of the submission of the island of Fuerteventura occasionally has gaps and contradictions. Historians have questioned the truthfulness of the presentation, especially when it comes to the times.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the indigenous people of the island of Fuerteventura, the Majoreros , lived in two domains that were separated by a wall that ran across the island. Immediately after the French arrived on the Canary Islands, Gadifer de La Salle stayed on the island of Fuerteventura for eight days without meeting any residents. They had fled into the interior of the island out of fear of slave hunters.

In April 1404 Jean der Béthencourt returned from Castile after an absence of more than 1½ years. After Gadifer de La Salle learned that Jean der Béthencourt had let the King of Castile set himself as the sole lord over the islands, Gadifer de La Salle demanded to be recognized at least as lord of the island of Fuerteventura. After Jean de Béthencourt's refusal, Gadifer de La Salle withdrew to the Rico Roque fortified complex on Fuerteventura. After showing Version B of Le Canarien, he soon left the Canary Islands. Violent confrontations broke out between the remaining supporters of Gadifer de La Salles and the troops of Jean de Béthencourt, who had established themselves on the fortified complex of Valtarajes, and the indigenous people. The prisoners made were brought to Lanzarote.

It was clear to the two rulers of the majoreros that they could not offer any sustained resistance to the Europeans in armed conflicts because of their inferior weapon technology. So they offered Jean the Béthencourt an armistice. They also indicated that they wanted to become Christians. They recognized the King of Castile as their overlord. On January 18, 1404, Guize, king of the northern half of the island, was baptized Luis and on January 25, 1404 Ayoze, king of the southern half of the island, was baptized Alfonso. After the subjugation of the Majoreros, the land on the island was redistributed by Jean der Béthencourt. The former rulers also received land. The already existing fortified structures and the places where they were to be built were given to aristocrats from France.

Submission of the island of El Hierro

The indigenous population of the island of El Hierro, the Bimbaches , were repeatedly victims of Europeans in the 14th and early 15th centuries. In 1402 alone, 400 people are said to have been abducted as slaves in a single operation.

In 1405 Jean de Béthencourt spent at least three months on the island, according to Le Canarien . Through an interpreter he had brought with him, who was said to be the brother of the ruler of the Bimbaches, he invited him to negotiate with his people. When they arrived at the agreed venue, 112 Bimbaches, among them the "King" Amiche, were captured and z. Some of them were sold as slaves or taken to other islands. This action is justified in Le Canarien with the fact that Béthencourt was able to break the resistance on the island without fighting and that space was available for 120 French settlers.

After the fiefdom passed to Hernán Peraza (El Viejo) in 1445, the latter undertook a reconquest of the island. His army consisted of 200 crossbowmen and 300 infantrymen from the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. After a five-hour battle, the leaders of the Bimbaches capitulated and were baptized.

Submission of the island of La Gomera

Tribal areas of the Gomeros

The island of La Gomera offers only a few places to reach the interior. The indigenous people, the Gomeros , were better protected against attacks from outside than the indigenous people of other islands. Traditionally, the island was divided into four tribal areas. The tribal area of ​​the Mulagua was roughly in the area of Hermigua , that of the Hipalán roughly in the area of San Sebastián de La Gomera , that of the Orone roughly in the area of Valle Gran Rey and that of the Agana roughly in the area of Vallehermoso .

The submission of the Gomeros to the sovereignty of Castile was not a clearly definable process. The various statements that the inhabitants of the island were Christians and subjects of the Crown of Castile, often arose from the endeavor to portray the island as conquered and thus in the possession of the feudal lords, so that it was no longer possible to grant the rights of conquest to other people.

It is certain that neither Jean de Béthencourt nor Gadifer de La Salle ever set foot on the island with the specific intention of submitting. In 1420, Maciot de Béthencourt seems to have made an attempt to conquer the island as the representative of the Count of Niebla. Further details are not known. In 1420, Alfonso de las Casas received from King John II the rights to the islands that had not yet been conquered. In addition to Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife, this also included La Gomera.

In the course of the 15th century the Portuguese and Castilians vied for the island until it finally came under the rule of the Castilian Hernán Peraza el Viejo and as the fourth island belonged to the Castilian fiefdom. The invasion of the Portuguese took place mostly on friendly terms with the indigenous people, and cooperation was sought. The Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator had contracts with three of the four tribes of La Gomera, which included that they recognized his sovereignty and accepted the spread of Christian doctrine by Portuguese missionaries. In 1454, the Portuguese officially renounced control of the islands for the time being. They maintained good relations with the indigenous people in the north of the island.

Hernán Peraza el Viejo made a new attempt between 1445 and 1447 to bring the island under the rule of the Crown of Castile. He only had a secure base on the island in San Sebastián, where he had the fortification built, of which the Torre del Conde still exists today. A representative of the Queen of Castile later confirmed that Hernán Peraza el Viejo "brought the citizens the holy Catholic faith and gave them judges and justice." After his death in 1452, his daughter Inés Peraza de las Casas and her husband Diego García de inherited Herrera ruled the island. The aim of the Gomeros uprisings in the following years was not the abolition of the rule of Castile, they were directed against the behavior of the representatives of Castile, the members of the Peraza family.

Rights to the Islas de Realengo

The kings of Portugal had shown interest in the Canary Islands time and again in the past. Therefore, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand , who had been at war with Portugal as part of the War of the Castilian Succession since 1475, wanted to secure their claim by submitting all islands to the rule of the Crown of Castile. In 1476 they had a legal opinion prepared in which the ownership and conquest rights to the islands were checked. It emerged that Inés Peraza de las Casas and her husband Diego García der Herrera owned the rights to the conquered islands and the rights to the other islands could only be taken over by the Crown in return for compensation. That is why a treaty was signed in October 1477 by which the Crown of Castile received full rights to the islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife.

Almost all overseas conquests of the Crown of Castile from the end of the 15th century were usually organized and carried out by a responsible conqueror. His duties and rights were laid down in a capitulación . If this conqueror had no goods or income of his own to finance the action, he looked for partners or lenders to raise the necessary funds for the company. This was done in exchange for the promise to get the money back later with lucrative returns or to be taken into account in the distribution of the spoils of war and the land allocation in the conquered areas. The Capitulaciones of the Crown of Castile usually did not contain a promise of a title of nobility or claim to power, but only the promise of an office such as B. that of the governor.

Conquest of the island of Gran Canaria

→ Main article : Conquering the island of Gran Canaria

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

In May 1478, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand reached an agreement with the Bishop of Rubicón Juan de Frías in Seville to conquer the island of Gran Canaria. On June 24, 1478 an army of over 600 men landed in the north of the island. Despite further troop reinforcements, the company made slow progress. Reasons for this seem to have been an internal dispute in the army leadership and the unexpectedly strong resistance of the Canarios. Therefore Pedro de Vera y Mendoza was appointed sole commander in chief of the troops and governor of the island. From July 1481 he performed his duties on the island. The capture of the Guanarteme by Gáldar Tenesor Semidán , one of the two Guanartemes on the island, in February 1482 led to a great loss of fighting strength among the indigenous people. The Castilians established various bases on the island from where they repeatedly attacked the Canarios. In April 1483 the last native inhabitants surrendered. Pedro de Vera remained governor of Gran Canaria until 1491.

Conquest of the island of La Palma

→ Main article : Conquering the island of La Palma

Dominions on the island of La Palma in 1492, red the area of ​​the Aceró

The Alcáçovas treaty concluded between Portugal and Castile in 1479 settled the dispute over the rights of the Canary Islands. The importance of conquering the Islas de Realengo diminished. After 1492, the location of the islands on the way to the "West Indies" meant that the Crown of Castile wanted to clearly establish the rulership on the remaining unconquered islands of La Palma and Tenerife.

In 1492 Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed with Alonso Fernández de Lugo to conquer the island of La Palma. On June 8, 1492, a capitulación was issued in which, in addition to regulating financial matters, Alonso Fernández de Lugos was appointed governor of the island for life. Alonso Fernández de Lugo himself did not have the necessary funds. He founded a trading company with two Italian merchants. They shared in the costs and profits as was common among traders.

On September 29, 1492 Alonso Fernández de Lugo landed with an army of about 900 men on the west coast of the island of La Palma. The troop consisted partly of indigenous people from the island of Gran Canaria. She was able to advance to the south of the island without fighting. In Tigalate there was an armed clash with the Benahoaritas, who withdrew defeated. The conquest of the island continued without any major military incidents. In the spring of 1493 only the Aceró district remained, in the caldera de Taburiente , which was not in the military, under the rule of the indigenous people. Since the residents were self-sufficient within their area , a siege seemed pointless. Therefore, Lugo had to rely on negotiations. To this end, a relative of Tanausus, the ruler of the Acerós, should arrange a meeting between the two leaders. Tanausú accepted the offer on condition that the Castilian troops retreat to Los Llanos. The negotiations were broken off without result. On the way back from this meeting, Tanausu and his people were attacked and captured, contrary to the promise of the Castilians. The resistance of the natives of the island of La Palma collapsed. The island was considered subjugated from May 1493.

Conquest of the island of Tenerife

Peaceful Menceyatos (green) Martial Menceyatos (red)

→ Main article : Conquering the island of Tenerife

After Alonso Fernández de Lugo had subjugated the population of the island of La Palma in 1492 and 1493, he agreed with the Crown of Castile on the terms of the conquest of the island of Tenerife. The details were set out in the Capitulaciones de Zaragoza , which Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand issued in December 1493. Alonso Fernández de Lugo founded a company with a number of donors from Seville and military personnel who were to be compensated by the expected profit from the action.

In May 1494, 1,500 infantrymen and 150 horsemen landed under the command of Alonso Fernández de Lugos on the beach of Añaza just south of what is now downtown Santa Cruz de Tenerife . Peace treaties were signed with the Menceyes of Anaga, Güímar , Abona and Adeje . A conversation between the Mencey of Taoro Bencomo and Alonso Fernández de Lugo did not lead to an agreement. The Menceyes of Tegueste , Tacoronte , Taoro, Icod and Daute were not ready to submit to the Castilian kings. The Castilian troops then marched towards the area of ​​Taoro ( Orotava Valley ).

In the Barranco de Acentejo, a ravine near today's city of La Matanza de Acentejo , the Castilian troops were attacked by the Guanche fighters. Due to the narrowness of the Barranco, the Castilians were not able to adopt a battle order and thus use their superior weapon technology. The First Battle of Acentejo ended in a "slaughter" ( Spanish matanza ), which of the attackers survived only 300 foot soldiers and 60 horsemen. At the beginning of June 1494 they left the island of Tenerife for Gran Canaria.

Alonso Fernández de Lugo sold all of his property in Gran Canaria and again signed contracts with various donors. He equipped a new army of conquest, which consisted largely of mercenaries who had fought in the conquest of the kingdom of Granada . They were equipped and paid for by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia . Another group were Castilian soldiers who had settled on the island after the conquest of Gran Canaria . In addition, 40 natives of the island of Gran Canaria with their former prince Fernando Guanarteme at the head were integrated into the conquering force.

At the beginning of November 1495, 1,500 men and 100 horses landed again in Añaza. After the landing, Alonso Fernández de Lugo renewed the contracts with the Menceyes on the south-east side of the island. He had the still existing fortification of Añaza reinforced with stone walls and a new one built near Gracia (today between La Laguna and Santa Cruz) in the area of ​​the enemy Menceyatos Tegueste. This facility represented an outpost for future military operations against the Menceyatos of the northern part of the island.

On November 14, 1495, during the Battle of Aguere, the indigenous people and the invaders faced each other on the plain of Aguere, today's La Laguna , on an open area. This setup enabled the Castilians to use their superior war technique, firearms, crossbows and cavalry. The Guanches had only wooden spears and stones and five times the number of fighters to oppose them. They had to retreat defeated after a fight that lasted several hours. Forty-five of Lugo's men and 1,700 Guanches were killed in the Battle of Aguere.

After the Battle of Aguere, the Castilians advanced further west into the Taoro dominion. On the western edge of the Orotava valley an army camp ( Spanish real ) was built, from which the place Realejos developed.

On Christmas Day 1495, the Castilian troops marched north-east from their camp. They met the Guanches near the site of the first battle of Acentejo and a battle ensued. There are hardly any credible reports on the course of this Second Battle of Acentejo. After fighting for most of the day, it was found that the Guanches had been defeated.

On February 15, 1496, the troops commanded by Alonso Fernández de Lugo were dismissed from service. The war veterans of the Duke of Medina-Sidonia reached Andalusia in the first days of March. Only the soldiers remained on the island who wanted to settle here and were waiting for their land assignments. In May 1496 (the official date is July 25th, the holiday of the Spanish national saint Santiago ), the Meceyes of the territories on the north side of the island surrendered in a solemn ceremony staged by the Castilians in the army camp of Realejos. Then Alonso Fernandez de Lugo went to Almazán at the age of seven, according to other sources with nine , to introduce them to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand.

Christoph Columbus

Christoph Columbus

Christopher Columbus made his last stopover on the island of La Gomera before he set off on his journey to India on September 6, 1492, with which he, as is well known, reached America. Columbus' small fleet had previously stayed between the islands of Gran Canaria and La Gomera for almost four weeks, receiving technical and logistical support from the islands. The caravel La Pinta had a serious oar damage and was leaking. Columbus also had the rigging of this ship and possibly that of the La Niña caravel changed. These repairs were carried out in Gran Canaria , probably in Gando Bay, where Gran Canaria Airport is now . Strangely enough, the stay of Columbus' small fleet is largely ignored in the relevant older and more recent literature, although it is obvious that without the bases on the Canary Islands America was beyond the reach of ship technology at the time. The ships were still too small and too slow to be able to take the appropriate amounts of provisions and water for very long voyages, especially since an oversized crew was on board because they sailed day and night. The trip from Palos de la Frontera to the Canary Islands was probably more of a test drive to test the ships and to train the crew. The actual journey to the Indias only started from La Gomera, as Fernando Columbus , son of Christopher Columbus and his father's first biographer, noted.

On his second voyage, Christopher Columbus headed for El Hierro. After he had fresh provisions and a favorable wind, his fleet of 17 ships started after 19 days on the island, on October 3, 1493, from the Bahía de Naos for the New World.

16th to 19th century

Population with emigration and immigration

At the time of the Spanish conquest, which lasted almost a century (1402 to 1496), immigration was relatively large in relation to the native population, although it is believed that few settlers remained in the end. It is believed that there are only about 300 families in Gran Canaria and Tenerife who mixed with the indigenous people. Around 1600, 500 slaves were sold to the islands, although these were descendants of slaves sold to Seville . Basically the Canaries can be described as under-populated at this time, as America seemed more attractive.

In the middle of the 16th century, the population of the Canary Islands did not exceed 35,000. Around three quarters of the population was concentrated on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Tenerife was the most heavily populated island with 9,000 to 10,000 inhabitants. About 2,500 of them came from the indigenous population and came from Tenerife, Gran Canaria or La Gomera.

In Gran Canaria there were two phases in the second half of the 16th century, each characterized by a strong population increase at the beginning and a standstill at the end. At the beginning of the century, fewer than 3,000 people lived on the island. The immigration from the Iberian Peninsula, driven mainly by the sugar cane industry, and the importation of African slaves let the number of inhabitants grow to 8,000 by 1550. At the end of the century, however, this number hardly held up and at the beginning of the 17th century even fell to around 6,000 inhabitants. The reasons for this were pirate attacks in the 1590s, epidemics , bad harvests and the emigration that brought about the economic collapse after the end of the sugar cane industry.

The remaining islands had the following population figures at the end of the 16th century: La Palma 5,580 inhabitants, La Gomera 1,265 inhabitants, El Hierro 1,250 inhabitants, Lanzarote less than 1,000 inhabitants and Fuerteventura about 1,900 inhabitants.

In contrast to what happened on the Iberian Peninsula, the 17th century was a period of demographic growth. The population of the Canaries rose from 41,000 in 1605 to 105,075 in 1688, with a share of about 70 percent in the western islands. Tenerife and Gran Canaria continued to be the most populated islands with 50,000 and 22,000 inhabitants respectively. Of the smaller islands, La Palma was the only one that exceeded the population of 14,000. The rest of the islands experienced important increases that allowed the population to grow to around 4,000 per island.

The cause of this uneven growth was the economic upswing in Tenerife and La Palma due to the conversion to the highly exportable wine industry. At the same time, the eastern Canary Islands still suffered from the economic collapse of the sugar cane, pirate attacks, epidemics and emigration to Tenerife and La Palma. All of this explains the stagnation in population numbers, which only ended in the last third of the century.

The demographic growth continued during the 18th century. The cross-island population rose from 105,075 at the end of the 17th century to 194,516 in 1802. The distribution of the population was again uneven: More than two thirds were concentrated on the large islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria, while El Hierro's population figures rose throughout the century not changed. In contrast to the previous centuries, however, the population of the eastern islands increased sharply this time, as the western islands suffered from a wine crisis that led to emigration to America.

In the course of the long history of the Spanish colonies in America, emigration from the Canary Islands to America was forbidden or encouraged, sometimes illegal, sometimes legal. But for over 500 years, until the 1950s, emigration continued. For certain areas of Latin America, Canarian emigration was crucial for their settlement. The most important destinations in Latin America were in the first place Venezuela , Cuba and Hispaniola , less Uruguay and northern Mexico . The reasons were the attacks by corsairs and pirates on the islands, the collapse of the respective monocultures (sugar cane, wine, cochineal ), hunger due to long periods of drought and momentous volcanic eruptions, such as the destruction of the most important port of Garachico on Tenerife in 1706 and extensive eruptions from 1730 to 1736 in Lanzarote. But in particular the increasing concentration on a few families with internal Canarian ownership drove the growing population of the Canary Islands to emigrate . In the 18th century, part of the Canarian population emigrated to Louisiana . In America (and still in Cuba today) they were called Isleños . One last large wave of illegal emigration, mainly towards Venezuela, took place between 1936 and 1945, during and especially after the Spanish Civil War . After the end of the Second World War , emigration was legalized, so that in a few years the enormous number of around 100,000 people (from around 700,000) left the islands for Venezuela. Venezuela is therefore often referred to as the eighth island in the Canaries . Many of these emigrants, or their children or grandchildren, have meanwhile returned or are trying to return. Through the centuries-long exchange between the Canaries on both sides of the Atlantic, many elements of South American culture and linguistic usage have become native to the islands, and Canarian Spanish has left its mark on Latin America. Today, numerous elements, especially Caribbean Spanish, have been mixed with the Spanish of the islands.

society

Canarian society had the usual characteristics of European societies: the population consisted mainly of farmers, usually without their own land, the social system showed privileges for the noble and ecclesiastical elites, there was a numerically large clergy and slave economy.

The nobility consisted of descendants of the leaders of the conquest of the Canary Islands. Their economic power was exhausted with the ownership of vast estates and the export of products such as sugar in the 16th century and wine in the 17th century. The income thus generated flowed into the administration of church goods, lands and works. They controlled the political and military forces and focused on the large population centers on the islands such as Las Palmas , La Laguna and La Orotava . Although they formed alliances with the middle class, especially with immigrant families, they formed a self-contained, endogamous social grouping.

The clergy was very strong. Numerous religious orders were formed during the 16th and 17th centuries thanks to the patronage of the nobility and the commercial middle class. The abundance of convents in the capitals of the islands, such as La Laguna, Las Palmas, La Orotava, Telde , Garachico , Santa Cruz de La Palma and Teguise , testifies to the numerical strength . The clergy were exempt from taxes and received tithes from the peasants . However, only the high-ranking clergy ( bishops , canons , deans ) benefited from tithing , while the lower clergy lived in the same predicament as most of the rest of the population. The inactive population group was borne by the rest of society, making it an economic burden, especially during economic crises.

The third estate was a loose collection of different population groups who differed in their employment and income, but had to pay all taxes and, with a few exceptions, were excluded from lucrative offices. The individual sub-groups were middle class, farmers, craftsmen, marginalized groups and slaves.

The middle class consisted mainly of European immigrants who had settled in the Canaries. They took their superior economic and social position from the production and sale of sugar and wine and were in close contact with the ruling class. The farmers made up more than 80 percent of the population and differed in whether they owned their own land or worked as day laborers on other people's property. For better or for worse, they were at the mercy of the harvest and were accordingly often confronted with famine and epidemics. The number of craftsmen on the islands was small, because the population was low and the majority of the population did the work themselves. Cooper , blacksmiths, carpenters and similar specialists were only required for a few tasks . The craftsmen were limited to large settlements. Within the group of craftsmen there were fringe groups who devoted themselves to unrecognized tasks: executioners , butchers and midwives . There were also vagabonds and beggars, the number of whom went along with the rise and fall of the economy. Slaves played an important role in the social order. The serfs, some of whom came from the Guanches or imported from Africa, carried out agricultural or domestic work. Berber slaves were to be found in large numbers on Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, where they made up for the lack of indigenous population. They came from raids on the neighboring African coast to catch slave labor. The black slaves were used in the sugar cane plantations on Tenerife, Gran Canaria and La Palma. The number of slaves did not play a large part in the composition of the population; when the cultivation of sugar cane was abolished, their numbers were reduced considerably by their release. Freed slaves were at the lowest level of society, but their offspring mingled with the rest of the population.

piracy

The fleet of Pieter van der Does 1599 in front of Las Palmas

Horatio Lord Nelson wounded in Tenerife on July 24, 1797

The Canary Archipelago, with some large seaports , was the most important link on the important trade routes for sailing ships between Europe and America for about 300 years. This made the archipelago interesting for pirates from the start. As early as 1553, the French corsair François LeClerc managed to plunder Santa Cruz de La Palma . A year later, Frenchman Durand de Villegaingnong tried the same, but had to admit defeat. Jacques Sores , also French, also attacked La Palma in 1570. A Dutch fleet of over 70 ships turned up off Gran Canaria in 1599. Under the command of Admiral Pieter van der Does the Dutch managed to come ashore and take Las Palmas , but failed with many losses in an attempt to penetrate the interior of the island due to the cunning defense strategy of the Canarian defenders. A previous attack on San Sebastián de La Gomera also ended in defeat for Pieter van der Does . As early as 1571, San Sebastián was razed to the ground by Jean Capdeville . Over the centuries, forts were built on some islands to protect against pirates, such as the Castillo de San Gabriel near Arrecife on Lanzarote. The last heavy attack by Algerian pirates took place here in 1618 , during which many locals were abducted from the Cueva de los Verdes and sold as slaves.

England also tried several times to take the islands, as it had almost achieved dominion over the oceans. William Harper attacked Lanzarote and Fuerteventura in 1593. Sir Francis Drake was successfully repulsed off Las Palmas in 1585 and again in 1595. Walter Raleigh attacked Fuerteventura and Tenerife in 1595 and the city of Arrecife in 1616 . An attack by Admiral Blake on Tenerife failed in 1657. John Jennings was defeated in an attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1706, as did Woodes Rogers two years later. In 1744 Charles Windon attacked San Sebastián de la Gomera and La Palma. Admiral Horatio Nelson threatened Santa Cruz de Tenerife with seven large warships in 1797 and initially wanted to storm the central fort of the city with about 700 men by hand blow. The plan was based on the improbability of attacking the strongest central position in the port, but the defenders had suspected it anyway. The then relocated port artillery sank one of its larger landing craft and many of the landing craft. The completely soaked and almost ammunition-free troop, which nevertheless made it ashore, was trapped by the Canarian militias in the middle of Santa Cruz. Seriously wounded Nelson had to give up because he had not only lost 226 of his men who drowned or were shot in the crash, but also his right arm when he was leading his soldiers to board the small pier at Santa Cruz. The splinters of a bursting cannonball almost severed his right forearm. It was only with a lot of luck that his boat made it back to the ships, where the injured arm had to be amputated up to the shoulder by a French doctor with a simple saw on a cabin table. The captured English survivors sent back General Antonio Gutierrez , who had guessed Nelson's plan of attack, with a noble gesture. Today the mighty old bronze cannon El Tigre in the military museum of Santa Cruz, which is believed to have fired the decisive shot that cost Nelson the arm, commemorates his only surrender.

economy

For three centuries agriculture was the economic mainspring of the Canary Islands. Ordinary cultivation was used to feed the population, but sugar cane and wine were intended for export.

Map of the Canaries by William Dampier 1699

The main product of cultivation for home use was grain. The grain production increased strongly in the 16th century, because the field crops represented the main food of the Canary Islands; accordingly, many farmers were busy with their cultivation. Wheat, barley and, on a small scale, rye were grown. Some islands, for example Lanzarote, Tenerife, Fuerteventura and La Palma, generated surpluses that were imported from islands with deficient grain cultivation. The situation changed during the 17th century. Although the cultivation of grain retained its status, some islands, especially Tenerife, fell on the deficit side because of the increased wine cultivation, so that they had to buy more grain from Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and even Morocco. In the 18th century, the viticulture crisis allowed the cereal markets of Tenerife and La Palma to recover, but the losses caused by viticulture could not be compensated for despite an intensive search for sales markets in Holland and later the United States. At the same time, new crops imported from America, potatoes, corn and tomatoes, spread out, which quickly gained in importance and brought variety to the previously one-sided diet of the Canaries. The great success of these new cultivation products allowed the Canarian economy to regain strength, while volcanic activity on Lanzarote gave wine-growing a boost.

The cultivation intended for export developed parallel to that for personal consumption. Immediately after the conquest and in the first half of the 16th century, Madeira introduced sugar cane cultivation. It was particularly important on Gran Canaria and occupied large parts of the northern and eastern lands, up to a height of 500 meters above sea ​​level , but it was also important on Tenerife, La Palma and La Gomera. Sugar cane was grown with the help of irrigation systems and consumed large amounts of water. Because it was leaching out the soil, new acreage had to be cleared all the time. Large quantities of wood were required to boil the sugar out of the sugar cane pulp. All three resources - water, soil and wood - were scarce in the Canary Islands and made the end product sugar more expensive. Sugar and sugar cane were exported to Flanders , France and Genoa in addition to the Iberian Peninsula . The control of this branch of the economy was with foreign merchants, especially Genoese and Flemings . Sugar cane cultivation was worthwhile for the Canaries until it was also introduced in America and exported to Europe from there. The lower cost of American manufacturing caused the sugar market to collapse in the mid-16th century, which had a serious impact on Canarian society.

Because of the sugar crisis, wine was introduced as the main product of the Canarian export agriculture at the end of the 16th century. The introduction and peak of the wine industry coincided with a high price for wine, so this branch of production was worthwhile. Viticulture was mainly carried out on Tenerife and La Palma, where the cultivation area was increased at the expense of agriculture for self-sufficiency. Wine production in Tenerife amounted to 30,000 barrels a year at the end of the 17th century, with one barrel equivalent to 480 liters. The wine was exported to Flanders, France and mainland Spain, but above all to England, where Canarian wine enjoyed a great reputation. Canarian wine was also sold in the English colonies in America. The wine industry was initially in the hands of converted Jews and a few merchants from Seville , later English, Dutch and French merchants were added. The decline of viticulture followed from 1680, when Portuguese wines drove Canarian wines from the British market. The ensuing economic crisis was particularly noticeable in Tenerife, as large parts of the population emigrated to the other Canary Islands or to American colonies and the population stagnated as a result.

The islands with export relations abroad - Tenerife, La Palma and Gran Canaria - acted as intermediaries for the other islands. Most of the economic exchanges with foreign countries concerned Europe. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Canaries imported fabrics, tools, luxury goods and various finished goods and exported sugar and wine, orseille , grain and leather. During this time there was also trade with America, which was largely illegal because of the Casa de Contratación . The Canaries exported wine, vinegar , canned pears, quinces , dried fruits and the like to America . In return, they imported cocoa , tobacco , Brazilian wood and furniture. The free trade laws of the 18th century increased trade with America. The royal decree of 1718, which legalized trade relations between the Canary Islands and America in a special way, is of particular importance: For every 100 tons of exported goods, five Canarian families with five members each had to emigrate to America. The decree thus laid down a commercial practice in writing that had been practiced since 1678 under the name blood tribute , tributo de sangre .

19th century until today

In 1812, the Spanish parliament in Cádiz had constitutionally set up a new administrative level, as a result of which the first city and municipal administrations ( Ayuntamientos ) also emerged in the Canary Islands.

Economic problems caused by the return of the absolutist King Ferdinand VII in 1814, who overturned the previously progressive liberalization of the economy and the new constitutional order of 1812 in Spain, caused Queen Isabella II to declare the Canary Islands a free trade area in 1852. The granted tariff advantages led to a revival of the Canarian economy.

In 1821 the Canary Islands were declared a Spanish province with the capital Santa Cruz de Tenerife , which, however, fought with Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for this title. From 1840 to 1873 this resulted in a division of the archipelago into a western and an eastern zone. The politician and leader of the "Canary Liberal Party" ( Partido Liberal Canario ) based in Gran Canaria, Fernando Léon y Castillo , campaigned more and more for the supremacy of his area. This is seen today as the trigger for the final division of the archipelago. On July 11, 1912, the "Law of the Island Councils" ( Ley de Cabildos ) was passed, in which the islands should be constitutionally administered by their own island governments ( Cabildos ). Nevertheless, the dispute continued, so that on September 21, 1927, the two provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife were proclaimed.

In 1931 the Second Republic was established in Spain according to democratic principles, but it was unable to resolve the conflicts in the country. The republic was forcibly dissolved by the Franco regime . After Francisco Franco was removed from his post as Commander-in-Chief of the Army in 1936 , he was appointed military commander (captain general) in the Canary Islands and in Spanish Morocco . When, after the assassination of the conservative politician José Calvo Sotelo, large parts of the right-wing and fascist Spanish army revolted against the government, and Franco took over command of the troops in Spanish Morocco on July 19, 1936 after moving from Gran Canaria, the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

In 1964 , an independence movement called "Movimiento por la Autodeterminación e Independencia del Archipiélago Canario (MPAIAC)" (Movement for the Self-Determination and Independence of the Canary Islands), whose General Secretary Antonio de León Cubillo Ferreira, a republic of Guanches , was formed in Algiers , Algeria previous population, aspired to. The main goal was to break away from the Franco regime. After the end of the military rule of General Francisco Franco, under which the independent culture of the Canary Islands was suppressed and neglected, Spain quickly developed into a pluralistic democracy from 1975 onwards . In this context, some Canarian regional parties were formed. These pleaded, for example, for independence or a political turn to the states of North Africa. However, this meant that these parties could hardly have a majority.

The islands together form one of the seventeen autonomous communities ( Spanish comunidades autónomas ) of Spain since August 16, 1982 . The cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria are joint capitals of the autonomous community. The seat of the Prime Minister (Presidente del Gobierno) changes with each legislative period. The Parliament of the Canary Islands has its permanent seat in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. For the first time in the history of the islands, on May 30, 1983 people could freely choose their own political institution. Since then, May 30th has been a public holiday here.

When Spain joined the European Union in 1986 , the Canaries refused to do so for fear of economic collapse. Only after the Canary Islands had agreed to full membership in 1991 did they finally join the EU in 1992. Since then, the law of the European Community has been in force on the islands, with special regulations in some areas that take into account the great distance to the rest of the EU territory and are intended to compensate for the disadvantages of the island location. The archipelago is also part of the European customs area , benefiting from special conditions in some areas and receiving a number of aid programs and subsidies . On January 1, 2002 , the euro replaced the peseta as the currency .

literature

• John Mercer: Canary Islanders: Their Prehistory, Conquest and Survival. R. Collings, London 1980, ISBN 0-86036-126-8 .
• Hans Biedermann: The trace of the old Canarians . Burgfried-Verlag, Hallein 1983. (A still up-to-date summary of the numerous assumptions about the settlement of the islands)
• Eduardo Aznar et al. a .: 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 (Spanish).
• Antonio M. Macías Hernández et al. a .: Historia de Canarias . Ed .: Antonio de Béthencourt Massieu. Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1995, ISBN 84-8103-056-2 (Spanish).
• John Mercer: The Canary Islanders - their prehistory conquest and survival . Rex Collings, London 1980, ISBN 0-86036-126-8 (English).
• Juan Francisco Navarro Mederos: The original inhabitants (=  everything about the Canary Islands ). Centro de la Cultura Popular Canaria, o.O. (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife) 2006, ISBN 84-7926-541-8 .
• Antonio Tejera Gaspar; José Juan Jiménez González; Jonathan Allen: Las manifestaciones artísticas prehispánicas y su huella . Ed .: Gobierno de Canarias, Consejería de Educación, Universidades, Cultura y Deportes (=  Historia cultural del arte en Canarias ). Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2008, ISBN 978-84-7947-469-0 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).

Web links

Commons : History of the Canary Islands  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• The late medieval Schedel'sche Weltchronik from 1493 maps the Canary Islands in the far west and describes them in the Latin singular as "Insule fortunate" (digitized version )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pablo Atoche Peña: Estratigrafías, Cronologías absolutas y Periodización cultural de la Protohistoria de Lanzarote . In: Zephyrus . No. 63 , 2009, ISSN  0514-7336 , p. 127 (Spanish, dialnet.unirioja.es [accessed February 27, 2019]).
2. ↑ On this and in general on ancient ideas of the Canary Islands: Curt Theodor Fischer: Fortunatae insulae. In: Pauly-Wissowa : Real-Encyclopadie der classischen antiquity. Volume 7.1, 1910, Col. 42. and Col. 43.
3. ^ Pliny the Elder: The Natural History . Ed .: John Bostock, HT Riley. tape 2 . George Bell & Sons, London 1890, p. 600 (English, perseus.tufts.edu [accessed March 5, 2019]).
4. ↑ Pedro Nolasco Leal Cruz: Las Afortunadas de Juba. Identificación de las distintas Islas Canarias en la antigüedad . In: El museo canario . No. 62 , 2007, ISSN  0211-450X , p. 150 ff . (Spanish, dialnet.unirioja.es [accessed March 23, 2019]).
5. ^ Antonio M. Macías Hernández: La “Economía” de los primeros isleños . In: Antonio de Béthencourt Massieu (ed.): Historia de Canarias . Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1995, ISBN 84-8103-056-2 , p. 24 (Spanish).
6. ↑ Juan de Abreu Galindo: Historia de la conquista de las siete islas de Gran Canaria . Valentín Sanz, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1632, p. 11 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed March 22, 2017] reprinted 1940).
7. ↑ María del Carmen del Arco Aguilar, A. José Farrujia de la Rosa: La arqueología en Canarias durante el Régimen franquista el tema del primitivo poblamiento de las islas como paradigma (1939-1969) . In: Trabajos de prehistoria . tape 61 , no. 1 , 2004, ISSN  0082-5638 , p. 14 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed April 8, 2018]).
8. ↑ Enrique Gozalbes Cravioto: Don Juan Álvarez Delgado y el problema del poblamiento antiguo de las Islas Canarias . In: Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos . No. 64 , 2018, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 7 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed March 18, 2018]).
9. ↑ Pablo Atoche Peña: Consideraciones en relación con la colonización protohistórica de las Islas Canarias . In: Anuario de estudios atlánticos . No. 59 , 2013, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 522 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed May 17, 2017]).
10. ↑ Pablo Peña Atoche: Excavaciones Arqueológicas en el sitio de Buenavista (Lanzarote) - Nuevos datos para el estudio de la Colonización protohistórica del archipiélago . In: Gerión . tape 29 , no. 1 , 2011, ISSN  0213-0181 , p. 78 ff . (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed May 25, 2017]).
11. ↑ María del Carmen Arco Aguilar u. a .: Un taller romano de púrpura en los límites de la Ecúmene: Lobos 1 (Fuerteventura, Islas Canaria): primeros resultados . Ed .: María del Carmen del Arco Aguilar, María Mercedes del Arco Aguilar, Carmen Benito Mateo, Mª Candelaria Rosario Adrián. Museo Arqueológico de Tenerife, Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros, Cabildo de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2016, ISBN 978-84-88594-83-9 , p. 51 (Spanish).
12. ↑ Pablo Atoche Peña: Consideraciones en relación con la colonización protohistórica de las Islas Canarias . In: Anuario de estudios atlánticos . No. 59 , 2013, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 527 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed May 17, 2017]).
13. ^ Ilse Schwidetzky: Population biology of the Canary Islands . In: El museo canario . No. 41 , 1981, ISSN  0211-450X , p. 49 (English, unirioja.es [accessed February 13, 2017]).
14. ^ José M. Castellano Gil, Francisco J. Marcías Martín: The history of the Canary Islands. 5th edition. Madrid 2001, p. 22 f.
15. ↑ María del Carmen del Arco Aguilar u. a .: Un taller romano de púrpura en los límites de la Ecúmene: Lobos 1 (Fuerteventura, Islas Canaria): primeros resultados . Ed .: Mª del Carmen del Arco Aguilar, Mª Mercedes del Arco Aguilar, Carmen Benito Mateo, Mª Candelaria Rosario Adrián. Museo Arqueológico de Tenerife, Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros, Cabildo de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 2016, ISBN 978-84-88594-83-9 , p. 338 (Spanish).
16. ^ Antonio M. Macías Hernández: La “Economía” de los primeros isleños . In: Antonio de Béthencourt Massieu (ed.): Historia de Canarias . Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1995, ISBN 84-8103-056-2 , p. 32 (Spanish).
17. ↑ Marian Montesdeoca: La Religón de arena una revisión de la idolatría guanche a la luz de las fuentes históricas . In: Tabona: Revista de prehistoria y de arqueología . No. 13 , 2004, ISSN  0213-2818 , p. 257 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed September 9, 2016]).
18. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ulbrich: The discovery of the Canaries from the 9th to the 14th century: Arabs, Genoese, Portuguese, Spaniards . In: Almogaren . No. 20 , 2006, ISSN  1695-2669 , pp. 82 ff . ( dialnet.unirioja.es [accessed February 25, 2017]).
19. ^ Giovanni Boccaccio: De Canaria y de las otras islas nuevamente halladas en el océano allende España (1341) . Ed .: Manuel Hernández Gonzalez (=  A través del Tiempo . Volume 12 ). JADL, La Orotava 1998, ISBN 84-87171-06-0 , pp. 31-66 (Spanish).
20. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: 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. 39 (Spanish).
21. ↑ Leonardo Torriani: Descripción e historia del reino de las Islas Canarias: antes Afortunadas, con el parecer de su fortificaciones . Traducción del Italiano, con Introducción y Notas, por Alejandro Cioranescu. Ed .: Alejandro Cioranescu (=  Clásicos canarios . No. 2 ). Goya Ediciones, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1959 (Spanish, mdc.ulpgc.es [accessed February 12, 2019]).
22. ↑ Antonio de Viana: The battle for Tenerife, poetry and history by Antonio de Viana . Ed .: Franz von Löhr. Literary association in Stuttgart, Tübingen 1883, p. 446 (Spanish, archive.org [accessed December 22, 2017] first edition: 1604).
23. ↑ Juan de Abreu Galindo: Historia de la conquista de las siete islas de Gran Canaria . Valentín Sanz, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1632 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed March 22, 2017] reprinted 1940).
24. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: Fray Juan de Abreu Galindo, historiador de Canarias . In: Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos . No. 50 , 2004, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 837–851 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed April 25, 2018]).
25. ↑ José de Viera y Clavijo: Noticias de la historia general de las islas de Canaria . tape 1 . Blas Román, Madrid 1783 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed November 15, 2016]).
26. ↑ Marian Montesdeoca: La Religón de arena una revisión de la idolatría guanche a la luz de las fuentes históricas . In: Tabona: Revista de prehistoria y de arqueología . No. 13 , 2004, ISSN  0213-2818 , p. 256 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed September 9, 2016]).
27. ↑ Sergio Baucell's Mesa, Juan Francisco Navarro Mederos: El Guanche contemporáneo: ¿Socialización del conocimiento o mercantilización? In: Francisco Morales Padrón (ed.): XVIII Coloquio de Historia Canario-americana (2008) . Departamento de Ediciones de la Consejería de Cultura y Patrimonio Histórico y Cultural del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2010, ISBN 978-84-8103-615-2 , p. 243 ff . (Spanish, casadecolon.com [accessed March 28, 2016]).
28. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ulbrich: Esoteric and archeology - an ominous link using the example of Lanzarote . In: IC News . No. 95 , 2013, p. 62–78 (ICDigital ICN95-4 (2013) .pdf [accessed December 17, 2016]).
29. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: 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. 11 (Spanish).
30. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ulbrich: The discovery of the Canaries from the 9th to the 14th century: Arabs, Genoese, Portuguese, Spaniards . In: Almogaren . No. 20 , 2006, ISSN  1695-2669 , pp. 72 ff . ( unirioja.es [accessed February 25, 2017]).
31. ↑ Pierre Bontier, Jean Le Verrier: 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. 99 (Spanish).
32. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ulbrich: The discovery of the Canaries from the 9th to the 14th century: Arabs, Genoese, Portuguese, Spaniards . In: Almogaren . No. 20 , 2006, ISSN  1695-2669 , pp. 129 ( unirioja.es [accessed February 25, 2017]).
33. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ulbrich: The discovery of the Canaries from the 9th to the 14th century: Arabs, Genoese, Portuguese, Spaniards . In: Almogaren . No. 20 , 2006, ISSN  1695-2669 , pp. 82 ff . ( unirioja.es [accessed February 25, 2017]).
34. ↑ Marcos Martínez Hernández: Boccaccio y su entorno en relación con las islas Canarias . In: Cuadernos de filología italiana . E 8, 2001, ISSN  1133-9527 , p. 95–118 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed July 13, 2017]).
35. ↑ 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. 48 ff . (Spanish).
36. ↑ 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. 46 (Spanish).
37. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ulbrich: The discovery of the Canaries from the 9th to the 14th century: Arabs, Genoese, Portuguese, Spaniards . In: Almogaren . No. 20 , 2006, ISSN  1695-2669 , pp. 103 ff . ( unirioja.es [accessed February 25, 2017]).
38. ↑ Hans-Joachim Ulbrich: The discovery of the Canaries from the 9th to the 14th century: Arabs, Genoese, Portuguese, Spaniards . In: Almogaren . No. 20 , 2006, ISSN  1695-2669 , pp. 114 ( unirioja.es [accessed February 25, 2017]).
39. ↑ 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. 38 (Spanish).
40. ↑ 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. 106 (Spanish).
41. ↑ 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. 24 (Spanish).
42. ↑ 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. 49 (Spanish).
43. ↑ 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. 26 (Spanish).
44. ↑ Elías Serra, Alejandro Cioranescu: Le Canarien: crónicas francesas de la conquista de Canarias . Ed .: Elías Serra, Alejandro Cioranescu (=  Fontes rerum canarium VIII . Volume I ). Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 1959, p. 413 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed January 23, 2017]).
45. ↑ Buenaventura Bonnet y Reverón: Las Canarias y la conquista franco-normanda . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 1954, p. 37 (Spanish, google.es [accessed December 24, 2017]).
46. ↑ It is not clear in the literature whether Robín de Bracamonte is an uncle or a cousin of Jean de Béthencourt 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. 252 (Spanish). and Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Bethencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 210 (Spanish).
47. ↑ Miguel Ángel Ladero Quesada: Jean de Béthencourt, Sevilla y Enrique III . In: Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera (eds.): Le Canarien: retrato de dos mundos II. (=  Fontes Rerum Canarium ). tape XLIII . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-59-0 , p. 42 (Spanish).
48. ↑ Miguel Ángel Ladero Quesada: Jean de Béthencourt, Sevilla y Enrique III . In: Eduardo Aznar, Dolores Corbella, Berta Pico, Antonio Tejera (eds.): Le Canarien: retrato de dos mundos II. (=  Fontes Rerum Canarium ). tape XLIII . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-59-0 , p. 43 (Spanish).
49. ↑ 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 II. (=  Fontes Rerum Canarium ). tape XLIII . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-59-0 , p. 30 (Spanish).
50. ↑ Alejandro Cioranescu: Juan de Béthencourt . Aula de Cultura de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1982, ISBN 84-500-5034-0 , p. 232 (Spanish).
51. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: El señorío de Fuerteventura en el siglo XVI . In: Anuario de estudios atlánticos . No. 32 , 1986, pp. 18 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed June 20, 2016]).
52. ^ Antonio Tejera Gaspar, Eduardo Aznar Vallejo: San Marcial de Rubicón: la primera ciudad europea de Canarias . Artemisa, La Laguna 2004, ISBN 84-96374-02-5 , pp. 71 (Spanish).
53. ↑ Elías Serra Ráfols: Proceso de integración de las Islas Canarias en la Corona de Castilla . In: Anuario de estudios atlánticos . No. 36 , 1990, pp. 23 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed May 2, 2017]).
54. ↑ 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. 49 (Spanish).
55. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: 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. 15 (Spanish).
56. ↑ 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. 273 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed January 23, 2017]).
57. ↑ Buenaventura Bonnet y Reverón: Las Canarias y la conquista franco-normanda . Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 1954, p. 36 (Spanish, google.es [accessed December 24, 2017]).
58. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: 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. 219 (Spanish).
59. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: 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. 220 (Spanish).
60. ↑ Eduardo Aznar: 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. 250 (Spanish).
61. ↑ 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. 328 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed January 23, 2017]).
62. ↑ Roberto Hernández Bautista: Los naturales canarios en las islas de señorío: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro y La Gomera . Mercurio Editorial, Madrid 2014, ISBN 978-84-943366-3-8 , p. 127 (Spanish).
63. ↑ Roberto Hernández Bautista: Los naturales canarios en las islas de señorío: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro y La Gomera . Mercurio Editorial, Madrid 2014, ISBN 978-84-943366-3-8 , p. 127 (Spanish).
64. ↑ 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. 261 (Spanish).
65. ↑ Roberto Hernández Bautista: Los naturales canarios en las islas de señorío: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro y La Gomera . Mercurio Editorial, Madrid 2014, ISBN 978-84-943366-3-8 , p. 128 (Spanish).
66. ↑ 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. 65 (Spanish).
67. ↑ Maximiano Trapero: La toponimia de Canarias en Le Canarien . 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. 298 (Spanish).
68. ↑ Juan Álvarez Delgado: Primera conquista y cristianización de La Gomera . In: Anuario de estudios . No. 6 , 1960, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 457 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed August 25, 2017]).
69. ↑ Miguel Ángel Ladero Quesada: Jean de Béthencourt, Sevilla y Enrique 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. 34 (Spanish).
70. ↑ Roberto Hernández Bautista: Los naturales canarios en las islas de señorío: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro y La Gomera . Mercurio Editorial, Madrid 2014, ISBN 978-84-943366-3-8 , p. 145 (Spanish).
71. ↑ Roberto Hernández Bautista: Los naturales canarios en las islas de señorío: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro y La Gomera . Mercurio Editorial, Madrid 2014, ISBN 978-84-943366-3-8 , p. 153 (Spanish).
72. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La política indigenista de Isabel La Catolica . Instituto Isabel la Católica de Historia Eclesiástica, Valladolid 1969, p. 51 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed March 28, 2016]).
73. ↑ Roberto Hernández Bautista: Los naturales canarios en las islas de señorío: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, El Hierro y La Gomera . Mercurio Editorial, Madrid 2014, ISBN 978-84-943366-3-8 , p. 154 (Spanish).
74. ↑ 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. 64 (Spanish).
75. ↑ 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. 65 (Spanish).
76. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Inular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 77 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
77. ↑ Francisco Morales Padrón: Canarias: crónicas de su conquista . Ed .: El Museo Canario (=  Viera y Clavijo . Volume 6 ). Ayuntamiento de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 1978, p. 22 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed January 18, 2017]).
78. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 128 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
79. ↑ 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. 77 (Spanish).
80. ↑ 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).
81. ↑ Mariano Garcia Gambin: Las cartas de los primeros nombramiento de Gobernadores de la política CanariasExpresión de los Reyes Católicos centralizadora de . In: Revista de historia canaria . No. 182 , 2000, pp. 44 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed June 20, 2016]).
82. ^ Mauro S. Hernández Pérez: Contribución a la Carta Arqueológica de la isla de la Palma (Canarias) . In: Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos . No. 18 , 1972, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 554 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed January 16, 2018]).
83. ^ Ana del Carmen Viña Brito: Conquista y repartimiento de la isla de La Palma . Búho, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1997, ISBN 84-88807-02-3 , p. 19 (Spanish).
84. ^ Mauro S. Hernández Pérez: Contribución a la Carta Arqueológica de la isla de la Palma (Canarias) . In: Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos . No. 18 , 1972, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 553 ff . (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed January 16, 2018]).
85. ^ Mauro S. Hernández Pérez: Contribución a la Carta Arqueológica de la isla de la Palma (Canarias) . In: Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos . No. 18 , 1972, ISSN  0570-4065 , p. 556 (Spanish, unirioja.es [accessed January 16, 2018]).
86. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La Conquista de Tenerife . Ed .: Instituto de Estudios Canarios. 2nd Edition. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-57-4 , p. 162 (Spanish, hdiecan.org [accessed December 25, 2017]).
87. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 179 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
88. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 198 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
89. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Inular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 245 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
90. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Inular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 239 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
91. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Inular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 228 ff . (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
92. ^ John Mercer: The Canary Islanders - their prehistory conquest and survival . Rex Collings, London 1980, ISBN 0-86036-126-8 , pp. 205 (English).
93. ↑ real. Dictionary entry. In: recursosdidacticos.es. Retrieved on October 6, 2019 (Spanish, see entry real³ , quoted from the Diccionario de la lengua española ): "Campamento de un ejército, y especialmente el lugar donde está la tienda del rey o general." 
94. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La Conquista de Tenerife . Ed .: Instituto de Estudios Canarios. 2nd Edition. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-57-4 , p. 318 (Spanish, hdiecan.org [accessed December 25, 2017]).
95. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La Conquista de Tenerife . Ed .: Instituto de Estudios Canarios. 2nd Edition. Instituto de Estudios Canarios, La Laguna 2006, ISBN 84-88366-57-4 , p. 338 (Spanish, hdiecan.org [accessed December 25, 2017]).
96. ↑ Antonio Tejera Gaspar: Los cuatro viajes de Colón y las Islas Canarias, 1492-1502, Ed. Francisco Lemus, 2000.
97. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas. Canarias y el Atlántico. Gobierno de Canarias u. a., 1991. 5 volumes