Battle of Aguere

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Menceyatos at the time of the conquest

In the Battle of Aguere , also known as the Battle of La Laguna , in mid-November 1495 an army commissioned by the Catholic Kings and under the command of Alonso Fernández de Lugos defeated the fighters of the Menceyatos ( Guanche principalities ) in the northern part of the island of Tenerife , under the leadership of Bencomos , of the Menceys (guanche prince ) of Taoro. The battle took place on open, sloping terrain east of what is now downtown La Laguna.

prehistory

Assumption of the rights to the conquest by the Crown of Castile

In 1477 the Crown of Castile agreed to pay five million maravedíes to Diego García de Herrera and Doña Inés Peraza as compensation for their renunciation of the conquest and political rule over the islands of Gran Canaria , La Palma and Tenerife . In 1483 the conquest of Gran Canaria was completed. In 1493, under the leadership of Alonso Fernández de Lugos, the island of La Palma was conquered.

First attempt to conquer Tenerife by Alonso Fernández de Lugo

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 Bencomo the Mencey of Taoro and Alonso Fernández de Lugo did not lead to an agreement. The Menceyes of Taoro, Tegueste, Tacoronte, Icod y 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 narrow gorge, they 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" (span. Matanza) on the Castilians, which only 300 of the 1,500 foot soldiers and 60 of the 150 horsemen survived. The survivors left the island of Tenerife in early June 1494.

Second attempt to conquer Tenerife by Alonso Fernández de Lugo

In the period after the 1st Battle of Acentejo in 1494 and the new invasion in 1495, the population of the island fell sharply due to the outbreak of previously unknown epidemics. This is attributed to the decomposition of the corpses that remained unburied after the first battle of Acentejo. The Guanches had no defenses against these introduced diseases.

After Alonso Fernández de Lugo had found financial backers, he equipped a new army of conquest and landed back in Añaza at the beginning of November 1495 with 1,500 men and 100 horses. The troops consisted of mercenaries who had fought in the conquest of Granada. They were equipped and paid for by the Duke of Medina Sidoña. Another group were soldiers who had already settled on this island after the fighting for Gran Canaria. Forty natives of the island of Gran Canaria fought with their former prince Fernando Guanarteme at the head.

After the landing, Alonso Fernández de Lugo renewed the contracts with the "Menceyes de pace" the Guanche princes who did not fight against the invaders. 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. A second camp was built near the Gracia fortifications.

After the landing of the Castilian troops, Bencomo, the Mencey of Taoro, mobilized all capable men of his kingdom and demanded the presence of the monarchs of Tegueste, Tacoronte, Icod and Daute. Because of the previous epidemics, the number of fighting guanches in the northern Menceyatos seems to have barely exceeded 5,000.

Course of the battle

The larger than life bronze statue in memory of Mencey Bencomo stands in the area where the Battle of Aguere took place in 1495.

On November 14th, the two armies faced each other on an open area above the Garcia camp just below what is now downtown La Laguna.

Before the battle, the usual ritual for the troops fighting "infidels" for the Catholic Kings took place: Lugo, through the Castilian interpreter Guillén Castellano, asked the King of Taoro to submit to the rule of the Catholic Kings. As usual, this was rejected by the Guanches.

The Guanches were mainly armed with a fire-hardened wooden lance (banote). The most dangerous weapon of the Guanches for the Castilians were thrown stones with sharp edges which had already led to many wounded and dead on the side of the Castilians in the first battle of Acentjeo. However, they also used various weapons captured by the Castilians in the first battle of Acentejo in hand-to-hand combat.

When the troops were clearly juxtaposed, the Castilians were able to use firearms and crossbows. The grasslands of La Laguna allowed the Castilian cavalry to flourish.

The fighting lasted for several hours. Informed about the fighting, the troops remaining in the Añazo camp, including Fernando Guanarteme, set out for La Laguna. Their arrival increased the fighting morale of the Castilians who were still outnumbered.

After the defeat of the Guanches seemed inevitable, they crossed the Barranco de Gonzaliáñez. At its head Tinguaro was the brother of the Menceys of Taoro. He was killed by the Castilians and his body mutilated beyond recognition. His head was cut off, put on a skewer and shown to retreating Guanche troops. Whether it was really Tinguaro or Bencomo is disputed.

45 of Lugo's men and 1,700 Guanches were killed in the Battle of Aguere.

After Alonso Fernández de Lugo returned to the camp of Gracia after the battle, he ordered that a chapel be built in honor of the Virgin Mary in recognition of her help on the site of the historic event. The Nuestra Señora de Gracia chapel was listed on May 9, 2006.

Events in the aftermath

The victory of La Laguna restored confidence to the Spanish troops and at the same time demoralized the remnants of the natives. In the second Battle of Acentejo, which took place a little west of the first Battle of Acentejo in the area of ​​today's city of La Victoria, the Guanches were finally defeated in December 1495. They capitulated in the summer of 1496 in the Castilian field camp in the area of ​​today's city of Realejos.

literature

  • Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  • John Mercer: The Canary Islanders - their prehistory conquest and survival . Rex Collings, London 1980, ISBN 0-86036-126-8 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The date is, like all dates of the conquest of the Canary Islands, controversial. Juan Álvarez Delgado: La conquista de Tenerife: un reajuste de datos hasta 1496 (conclusión) . In: Revista de historia canaria . tape 27 , no. 133-134 , 1961, pp. 6–65 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed January 14, 2017]).
  2. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 90 ff . (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  3. ↑ 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]).
  4. ↑ 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]).
  5. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 246 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  6. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 239 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  7. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 245 (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  8. ↑ Antonio Rumeu de Armas: La conquista de Tenerife 1494-1496 . Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1975, p. 228 ff . (Spanish, ulpgc.es [accessed June 28, 2016]).
  9. ^ John Mercer: The Canary Islanders - their prehistory conquest and survival . Rex Collings, London 1980, ISBN 0-86036-126-8 , pp. 204 (English).
  10. ^ John Mercer: The Canary Islanders - their prehistory conquest and survival . Rex Collings, London 1980, ISBN 0-86036-126-8 , pp. 205 (English).
  11. ↑ Cabildo Insular de Tenerife: … DECRETO 37/2006, de 9 de mayo, por the que se declara Bien de Interés Cultural, con categoría de Monumento “La Ermita de Nuestra Señora de Gracia”… In: Boletín Oficial de Canarias . May 19, 2006, p. 9831 (Spanish, gobiernodecanarias.org [PDF; accessed January 13, 2017]).