Tenesor Semidán

Tenesor Semidán (also Thenesor Semidán) (* around 1440 in Gáldar ( Gran Canaria ); † after 1496 Los Realejos ( Tenerife )) was named Fernando Guanarteme after his baptism . He was the last Guanarteme of Gáldar.

Life

Tenesor Semidan belonged to the family of the Guanartemes of the island of Gran Canaria , that of Telde and that of Gáldar. When the ruler of Gáldar died in 1479, tenesor Semidan took over the reign of the underage heiress.

During the conquest of the island of Gran Canaria in 1478, a few days after the landing of the Castilian troops, there was a clash with the Canarios near today's city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria . 500 Canarios stood there armed with lances and long wooden sticks in battle order. There were some scuffle in which 30 Canarios died and 15 were injured. The Canarios quickly withdrew. They had learned from it, if possible, not to get involved in an open battle. That was one of the reasons why the conquest of the island dragged on over a period of five years.

In 1481 near the Barranco de Tenoya near Arucas there was a battle in which Doramas, the military leader of the Canarios, was killed. His death undermined indigenous resistance. At this time, a peace treaty was signed, probably between the Guanarteme of Telde, who traveled to Calatayud with other indigenous people , and Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand V of Castile. However, the conclusion of this contract had no consequences for the fighting on the island of Gran Canaria.

At the end of September 1481, the tower of Agaete was completed on the west side of the island as another starting point for the Castilian conquest. From there, Alonso Fernández de Lugo and his troops carried out attacks against the Canarios. After being informed by a spy of the presence of the Guanarteme tenesor Semidan in one of the caves of Gáldar, he arrested him and fifteen other Canarios without a fight. Pedro de Vera , the governor of the island, decided to send the prisoners to the mainland to present them to the Queen and King of Castile. Tenesor Semidan was baptized in Toledo by Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza . One of the godparents was King Ferdinand, which is why he got his first name. Ferdinand Guanarteme, as he was called in the future, returned to Gran Canaria and supported the Castilians there primarily by making it clear to the Canarios in negotiations that resistance to the acceptance of the Christian faith and submission to the suzerainty of Crown of Castile is pointless. When the land was distributed after the final surrender of the Canarios in 1483, Ferdinand Guanarteme u. A. Land in the Valle de Guayedra. This made him a direct neighbor of Alonso Fernández de Lugo, who had a sugar factory built in the Agaete area.

In 1493 Fernando Guanarteme took part in the conquest of the island of La Palma with some of the natives of the island of Gran Canaria . When the island of Tenerife was conquered on November 14, 1495, the Battle of Aguere took place . There are reports that Fernando Guanarteme took part in the fighting with about thirty indigenous people of Gran Canaria. Measured against the total number of those involved in the battle, the number was not particularly high, but its psychological effect on both sides is said to have been significant. Fernando Guanarteme is said to have been taken into account in the distribution of land and water rights after the conquest of Tenerife and lived in Los Realejos.

Historical meaning

Fernando Guanarteme is seen as a person who played a significant role in the submission of the islands of Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife to the sovereignty of the Crown of Castile. His actions are sometimes viewed as betraying his people. But it is also considered a peacemaker that wanted to protect the natives from a massacre by the conquerors. On various visits to the Spanish peninsula, he met the Queen and King of Castile, during which he campaigned intensively for his compatriots who had been deported to the peninsula.

Find the remains

Plaque at the Chapel of San Cristóbal in La Laguna

In 1967 the mayor of Gáldar Antonio Rosas and the archaeologist Celso Martín de Guzmán from Gáldar started an action, the aim of which was to transfer the remains of Fernando Guanarteme from the chapel of San Cristóbal in La Laguna to Gáldar. In May 2016, the Canarian Parliament approved a proposal to search for the remains of Fernando Guanarteme and, if found, to bury them in Gáldar, his native town. Therefore, a group of well-known historians examined historical accounts and documents on behalf of the Canarian government. The experts came to the conclusion that there was no evidence of the burial place of the last Guanarteme of Gáldar, who presumably died in Tenerife in 1496. The Chapel of San Cristóbal, which in the past was regarded as the final resting place, was built in the 16th century and has been rebuilt many times. There are only small remains of the original structure. An archaeological study of the chapel, which would be associated with high costs, should, in the opinion of the scientists, only be carried out if there is solid evidence that Fernando de Guanarteme was buried in the chapel of St. Christopher.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 157 (Spanish).
2. ↑ 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. 65 (Spanish).
3. ↑ 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. 84 (Spanish).
4. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 98 f . (Spanish).
5. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 100 (Spanish).
6. ↑ Manuel Lobo Cabrera: La conquista de Gran Canaria (1478-1483) . Ediciones del Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2012, ISBN 978-84-8103-653-4 , p. 102 f . (Spanish).
7. ^ 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. 23 (Spanish).
8. ↑ 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. 293 (Spanish, [1] [accessed December 25, 2017]).
9. ↑ Flora Marimón: Los expertos descartan que los restos óseos de Fernando Guanarteme estén en la Ermita de San Cristóbal de La Laguna. In: elculturaldecanarias.es. December 25, 2017, Retrieved June 3, 2019 (Spanish). 
10. ↑ 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. 160 (Spanish).
11. ↑ Flora Marimón: Los expertos descartan que los restos óseos de Fernando Guanarteme estén en la Ermita de San Cristóbal de La Laguna. In: elculturaldecanarias.es. December 25, 2017, Retrieved June 3, 2019 (Spanish). 
12. ↑ Yazmina Rozas: Tras la huella de Fernando Guanarteme. diariodeavisos.elespanol.com, August 27, 2017, accessed June 8, 2019 (Spanish). 

Remarks

1. ↑ The year of birth is given in the literature with a range from 1427 to 1447, the date of death between 1496 and 1519. These deviations can also be found in other years, e.g. B. when visiting the Iberian Peninsula.

literature

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