The Canarian or Book of the conquest and conversion of the Canarians in the year 1402 by Jean de Bethencourt

              WORKS ISSUED BY
IlI'TüRY
01' TriE
CONQUE T OF THE CANARIES.
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THE CA ARIAN, A- IV-{ IO
0&, BOOK OF TUE
CONQUEST AND CONVERSION
OF
THE CANARIANS
IX THE YEAR 1402,
COMPOSED BY
BY
B,
PRIEST.
TRA~ SL. lTED AXD EDITED J
( mlit! J Kolts anll an Entrolluttion,
MOXK.
RICHARD HENRY : MAJOR] P. S. A.] ETC.]
PIERRE BO~ TIER, A. D JEAN LE VERRIER,
. ME SIRE JEAN DE BETHENCOURT, KT.,
Lord 01 thJ' JfaMr3 0.( B ' ther& Court, BivUle, Gourrtl, and Grainvilk la TeinturitT',
B" ron 01 Sto .. l. Iartin lt GaiUard. Councillor and Chnmberlain in Ordlnary
to (' fiarles r arvi CIVlrk4 VI,
LO. l: rnox:
PRL'TED FOR THE IlAKLUYT SOCIETY.
\ lDC C. I XXII.
660.. ltt G. 5
T. IttCRAnD9, 3:", GR&. AT Qt'F: LS TnE1' T.
LE CA
ou
ARIE
Livre de la conquefte et converfion faiéte des
Canariens ala foy et Religion eatholique apofto­lique
et Romaine en l'an 1402: par l\ 1efIire Jehan
de Bethencourt, Chevalier, gentilhomme Cauchois,
Seigneur du lieu de Bethencourt, Riville,
Gourrel, Chaftelain de Grainville la Tain-tu
riere, Baron de Saina Martin le
Gail1ard, Con[ ciller et Chambel1an
ordinaire des Roys
Charles S ct 6.
CO IPOS,; PAR
PIERRE BO TIER, moyne de Saine Jouyn
de l\ Iarnes,
FT
JEAN. LE VERRIER, Preftre,
SER" ITEURS DU OIT DE nETHENCOURT.
' rHE H. A. KLUYT . OCIETY.
TaK BlOaT HUN. SIR DAYIO Ot:~ OAS, Pa. bIUENT.
ÁOII'IU. L C. P~ DRINKWATER BETHUXE, C. 8. }
VICg- PSESIJ> Kl\ TB.
Muoa · OaN. SIR RENRY C. RAWLINSON, K. C. B., Pan. R. O. S.
Rav. GEOROE P. BADOER, F. n. O. S.
J. BARRO\\', ESQ., F. R. S., F. R. O. S.
Rua, ADII'lUL COLT.!.' ON, C. B., F. R. O.
O¡; NaIUL C. FOX, F. RO. S.
W. E. FRERE, E Q., F. R. O. S.
CAPrUN J. O. OOODENoeOH, RN., F. RG. S.
CHARLE GREY, ESQ., F. R. G..
cUERTO.' VER,' ON HARCOURT. ESQ., F. R. O. S.
JOll. · " IL'TER JO,' E , ESQ., F.. A.
l\. H. MAJOR, E Q., F. S. A" S¡; c. R. G. S.
da W. TIRLI,' G ll. L" t" lELL, BART., F. RG. S.
da CHABLES , .. CHOLSO.', BUT., D. C. L., F. R. G.
YICE, ADlllllAL ERA MUS OllMAN.' EY, C. B., F, R."'.
CAPTAlY HERARD O BORN, B. N., C. B., ~. n.
' faa LoaD STA,' LEY OP ALOKIlLKY.
' faa HaN. FREDERICK WALPOLF., ~ I. p.• P. R. G.".
CLE:. IENT n. :. I.\ RKH. l.~ I, C. D., F. s..!.., " c. n G.., HUNOIU" Y " cnnuY.
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INTRüDUCTIÜN.
IT is a remarkable faet that in the proud list of the
glories oí noble Franee thereis one class of achieve­ments
for which 8he has claimed more, and at the
same time reeeived 1ess, honour than she really
deserves. She has put forth a claim to having
preceded even Prince Henry of Portugal in lifting
the veil fram the Sea of Darkness, the mysterious
Atlantic, and in colonising the west coast of Africa;
but although the most ü1ustrious of her c1aimants
to this distinction, the learned M. d'Avezac, still
clings lovingly to his patriotic convictions on this
head, the present writer has ah'eady demonstrated
that that claim can by no means be maintained. 1
At the same time France is very far from having
received the amount of honour which is her due for
the boldness of her maritime explorations at a some­what
later but still very early período There can
be no doubt that in the nrst half of the síxteenth
century Franee was the nation whieh followed most
boldly in the footsteps of Portugal, and it is possible
1 See Lije o/ Prince Henry the Navigator ana its Rem7t8, London,
186 , chapter of " Tbe Sea of Dal'kneSR," pp. 11' 7- 128.
b
11 INTRODUCTION.
that we have yet much to learn from unexamined
manuscripts as to the exploits of the adventurous
Dieppese at that interesting period in the history of
navigation. The voyage treated of in the present
volume holds an isolated and highly distinguished
position midwayas to date between the pretended
and the real early achievements of the French
nation at sea; for whereas the former were said to
have taken place in the fourteenth, and the latter
unquestionably did take place in the sixteenth, this
voyage of De Bethencourt was made at the very
commencement of the fifteenth century. It is con­sequently
the earliest authenticated distant voyage
made by Frenchmen to the south. Had it been
directed to unexplored latitudes it would have
eclipsed the glory even of Prince Henry himself,
whose n. rst expedition it preceded at least by
thirteen years, if not more. But though its des­tination
was only to the Canaries, a group of islands
whose position was well known, and which had been
the subject of poetical allusion for more than two
thousand years, yet as an early attempt at colonisa­tion,
which has made the name of its ol- iginator
illustrious, it possesses a strong claim to insertion
among the series of our Society's publications. As a
mere maritime feat, the expedition was in no way
remarkable. The tmck was a beaten one. For a
century the Venetians had ah'eady been in the
habit of making the voyage to Flanders, and the
1 Our lcarned compatriot, : MI'. Rawdon Brown, who has for
so many ycars been an unwearied student of Vcnetian records,
INTRODUOTlON. lit
Spaniards and the Genoese not unfrequentIy visited
the Cananes for goat's- flesh, malcing their way by
the west coast of África down to Cape Cantin, and
so by a short travel'se to Lancerote or Fuerte­ventura.
And while it is true that in this expedi­tion
ol'iginated that colonisation of the Cananes
from which sprung their pl'esent European popu1a­tion,
yet it is not correet to suppose, as hitherto it
has been generally asserted, tbat the principal
islands of the group then received for the first time
the names which they at present beal'. But in order
that the reader may form an idea of the true position
and value of tbis expedition in the history of dis­covery,
it will be necessary to take a brief survey of
what had been previously known of these islands.
In the poems of Homer the ocean is treated as a
l'iver beyond which at the earth's confines were the
Elysian fields which Hesiod and Pindar made to be
surrounded by water, so that the habitations of the
blest were transformed into islands, and hence, pro­bably,
originated the name of the Insulce Fortunatce
01' Fortunate Islands. On tbis point Strabo says,
lib. 3 :-" The poets make mention of the Islands
of the Blest, and we know that even now they are
to be seen not fal' from the extremity of Mauritania,
opposite Gades ( Cadiz). Now 1 say that those who
pointed out these things were the Phoonicians who,
has published, in his L'Archivio di Venezia con 1' iguardo speciale
alZa 8toria Inglese, Venezia e Torino, 18li5, 1limo, pp. 274- 279,
a list of the captains in the Flandcrs voyages from 1317 down to
1533.
b2
IV I~ TRODUCTIO.'.
before the time of R omer, had possession of the best
part of Afriea and Spain." Here we see the Canaries
evidently alluded to, and the inferenee suggested
that they were known to the Phcenícían colony of
Carthaginians established at Cadiz three thousand
years ago. About eighty- two years before our era,
we find these islands afi'esh brought lmder notiee.
Some Lusitanian sea captaíns who had jUE> t returned
from them, fell in with Sertoríus, , vho, in his : fl. íght
froID the sbips of Annins, bad passed tbrough tbe
straits and landed near the mouth of the Quadal­quivir.
TheiT glowing aecount of the fertilíty of the
soil, the pmity of the air, and the ha, ppiness of the
people, inspired Sertoríus with an ardent desire to
withdraw from the busíness of life, and seek repose
there, but fate decreed otherwise. It is to Plutarch
( see Plutarch's Lije o/ Sertorills) that we are in­debted
for this aceount. Two islands only were
mentioned, probably Lancerote and Fuerteventura.
Twenty years after the death of Sertorius, we
have five islands speeified by distinet names in a
vague itinerary dra, vn up by one Statius Sebosus
from the aeeounts of navigators of his time, and
preserved to us by Pliny. H! 3 represents 1., he gronp,
to which he gives the name of Hesperides, as one
day's sail from the we8tern promontory ( Cape Non).
He names them ( 1) Junonía, at 750 miles from
Gades ( Cadiz), ( 2) Pluvii1lia, and ( 3) Capraría, 750
miles west of J unouía, and 250 mil s beyond, to the
left of Maurítania and towards the nintlI lIour of the
sun, were the great Fortunate Il: llands, one calleel ( J)
I~ TRODUCTIOX. v
Convallis and the other ( 5) Planaria" on account of
their form; but aH these indications are too indis­tinct
to suppIy us with any information beyond the
fact that in the time of SeboHus five islands of the
Canary group had l'eceived individual names.
Happily we are suppIied also by Pliny with in­formation
of a far more distinct character respecting
these ísIands. When King Juba the Second was
reinstated by Augustus on the thl'one which his
fathel' had lost, on his l'eturn to Mauritania he
turned to account the geographicaI knowledge which
1) e had acquired tl1l'ough his education in Italy, and
sent out an expedition fol' the express purpose of
exploring the Fortunate Islands. On the retUl'u of
the navigutors he wrote a nal'rative of the voyage
from their report, and sent it to the emperor. A
fragment on] y of that nanative survives, and has
been transmitted to us by Pliny in the fol1owing
shape: {( The Fortunate rslands lie to the south- west,
at 625 miles from the PurpurarüB. To reach them
from the latter they iirst sailed 250 miles westwards
n. nd then 37: 5 miles to the east. 1 The iirst is called
Ombríos, and contains no traces of b1lildings. There
is in it a pool in the midst of mountains, and trees
like fel'ules, from which wa, ter ma. v, be pressed, whích .
1 The " tbree hunured" is omitted in sorne edítions of PIíny,
but that they are neccssary is evident from tbe account of Pliny
himself. It is clear that the 625 miles al'e reckoned in makiog
the periplus of the whole group, the 250 tallying with the
distauce from FuerteventUla, one of the Purpuraríre, to Ombríos
01' Palma. Tbe 375 would be the lengtb of the eastcrn returo
track froUl Palma. round tbc group.
VI INTRODUCTION.
is bitter from the black kinds, but from the lighter
ones pleasant to drink ( sugar- cane). 1' he second is
called J unonia, and contains a small temple built
entirely of stone. Near it is another smaller island
having the same name. 1' hen comes Capraria, which
is full of large lizards. Within sight of these islands
is Nivaria, so called from the snow and fogs with
which it is constantly covered. Not faI' from NivaI'ia
is Canaria, so called on acconnt of the great number
of large dogs therein, two of which were brought to
King Juba. 1' here were traces of buildings in this
island. All the islands abound in apples and in
birds of every kind, and in palms covered with
dates, and in the pine nut. 1' here is also plenty of
honey. 1' he papyrus grows there, and the Silurus
fish is found in the rivers." ( See Pliny, Nat. Hist.,
lib. 6, cap. 37.) In Ombrios we recognise the Plu­vialia
of Sebosus, the words being synonymous. Con­vallis
becomes Nivaria, and Planaria is replaced by
Canaria, which name is still borne by the large
central island, and has now been given to the whole
Archipelago. 1' here is no difficulty in fixing the
island named Nivaria, a name which clearly indicates
the snowy peak of 1' enerif!' e, almost constantly capped
with clouds. In Ombrios 01' Pluvialia, with its pool
in the midst of mountains, we recognise the island
of Palma, with its famous Caldera 01' cauldron, the
crater of an old volcano. 1' he distance also of this
island from Fuerteventura agrees with that of the
250 miles indicated by Juba's navigators as existing
between Ombríos and the Purpuraríre. 1t has been
INTRODCCTION. Vil
already seen that the latter agree with Lancerote
and Fuerteventura in respect of their distance from
the continent and from each other, as described by
Plutarch. That the Purpurarüe are not, as M. Bory
de St. Vincent supposed, the Madeira group, is not
only shown by the want of inhabitants in the latter,
but by the orchil, which supplies the purple dye,
being derived from and sought fol' specially from the
Canaries and not the : Madeira group, although it
ís to be found there. J unonia, the nearest to Ombríos,
wiU be Gomera. It may be presumed that the
temple found thereín was, like the ísland, dedicated
to Juno. Capraría, which implies the island of goats,
agrees correctly with the ísJand of Ferro, wmch
occurs next in the order of the ítínerary, for these
animals were found there in large numbers when the
island was invaded by J ean de Bethencourt in 1402.
But a yet more striking proof' of the identity of this
island with Capraría ís the account of the great
number oflarge lizards found therein. Bethencourt's
chaplains, describing their visit to the island in 1402,
state :-" There are lizards in it as big as cats, but
they are harmless, although very hideous to look at."
It was probably the desire to bring these mysterious
islands within the grasp of history that induced
King Juba to send out this expedition; and although
the blessedness that was looked for formed no part
of the discovery, yet as these were the on1y islands
that were lighted upon in the ocean where they were
sought for, they were assumed to be the genuine
Insulre Fortunatre, and accordingly retained the
llame.
Vllt INTUODUUTlON.
For thirteen centuries from the time of which we
have been Rpeaking, the Fortunate Islands were
destíned again to be almost buried in oblivion. The
destruction of the Roman Empire re- plunged Europe
into ignorance; and, although the Fortunate Islands
were vaguely known to the Moors of Spain undel'
the designation of the Islallds of Khaledat, it has
been elaborately shown by the eminent Portuguese
scwant, Senhol' J oaquim José da Costa de Macedo,
that the Arabs had no practical knowledge of the
Canaries before the times of the POl'tuguese dis­coveries.
He maintains that the only notions they
had respecting them were such as they derived from
Greek and Latín authors, and he seems satisfactorily
to have proved his point.
It was not till the beginning of the fifteenth cen­tury,
when the Norman J ean de Bethencourt, the
subject of the present nal'rative, established himself
in the Canaries, that something like substantial
information respecting these islands was made ac­cessible
to Europeans. Much earlier expeditions, it
is true, had been attempted, but of the navigators
who visited them before the fifteenth century,
some only landed accidentaliy, and others went for
the purpose of taking slaves, 01' goats' : fiesh, 01' else
to gather orchil for dyeíng, and dragon's blood, 01'
other products that might be useful in comrnerce.
In the Bibliotheca Lanrentiana, in Florence, is a
portulano of the date of 1351, known as the Portu­lano
l\ fcdiceo, which, ulthough anon}' 1l10US, has been
satisfactol'ily proved by COUllt Bt~ ldelli Boni, in hit!
IXTRODUCTION. IX
valuable edition of the . Milíone o/ ftIclrcO Polo, pub­lished
in Florence in 1827, to be of Genoese con­struction.
On one of the maps in this Portulano,
against the island of Lancerote iu the Canaries, is
inserted the shield of Geuoa, distiuctly c1aiming the
priority of discovery in favour of that republic; and
Count Baldelli with reason l'emarks that no Venetian
01' Pisan 01' Catalan would be the first to lay down,
on a map so important, a fact iu favour of their
rivals the Gelloese. It is right, however, to observe
that on the later Venetian map by the brothers
Pizzigani of 1367, and in the Catalan map of 1375,
tIlis remarkable indiCfLtion is inserted. Perhaps a
stronger argument is derived fi'om the use of the
Genoese dialect in the names in preference to that of
Venice 01' Pisa. M. d'Avezac, with his usual un­tiring
research, has bestowed great labour upon the
inquiry into the discovery and naming of the island
of Lancerote. He has shown that the discoverer
was of the ancient, but now extinct, Genoese family
of Malocello. In the visit of the Norman knight
Jean de Bethencourt to that island in 1402, it iH
said that they stored their grain in an old castle
reputed to be bnilt by Lancelot Maloisel. In a
Genoese map of the date of 1455, made by Barto­lommeo
Pareto, are inserted against the same island
the words " Lansaroto Maroxello Januensis"; and,
flU'ther, we are led to believe that the discovery was
made as early as the thirteenth century from a
passage in Petrarch, which declares that a patrum
7tWnw1' úl" i. e., a generation back, an armed fieet of
x INTRODUCTION.
Genoese had penetrated as far as the Fortunate
Islands. Now as Petrarch was bom in 1304, if, as
is highly probable, Lancelote Malocello's voyage was
the one alluded to, it will have taken place at the
latest in the close of the thirteenth century. We
thus find a reason for the reservation by Genoese
map makers of the claim of their country to the
island of Lancerote.
That the Canaries were visited, but visited only,
by the Portuguese, even earlier than the year 1345 is
proved by a passage in a lettel' fl'om Afronso IV,
King of Portugal, to Pope Clement VI, which was
wl'itten undel' the following cÍrcumstances. When
Alfonso, the eldest son of the Infant Don Fel'dinand,
and grandson of King Alfonso the Wise, was deprived
by his uncle Don Sancho of the succession to the
Crown of Castile, he retired in indignation to France
to the Court of his uncle Philippe le Bel. He there
married Marhaut 01' Mafalda, daughter of Amery VI,
Viscount of Narbonne, by whom he had Luis of
Spain, called by almost all the Spanish historians
Luis de Ia Cerda, Count of Talmúnd, and Admiral Oí'
France. On the death of J ohn III, Duke of Brittany,
a civil war divided the country into two parties.
EngIand took the part of the Count de Montfort, the
Duke's bl'other, while the King of France maintained
that of his nephew the Count de BIois, who had been
called to the successiun by the Duke himself. In this
contest Don Luis commanded in several engagements
against England, till at length Pope Clement VI
obtained a truce, signed u, t Mu'lestroit on the 19th
INTRODUCTIO~. Xl
January, 1343, which was to last three years, so that
terms of peace might in the interval be negotiated in
the Pope's presence at Avignon. One of the pleni­potentiaries
was Luis de la Cerda, and as the negotia­tions
were greatly protracted by repeated delays on
the part of the King of England, he remained there
till the beginning of the year 1345.
During his stay at Avignon, Don Luis represented
to the Pope that there were islands in the ocean,
named the Fortunate Islands, sorne of which were
inhabited and others not, and that he wished to
obtain possession of these for the exaltatioll of the
Faith and the spread of Christianity, and for this
purpose he prayed his Holine s to grant him the
necessary authority and the title of King of these
islands. The Pope granted rus request, and by a
Bull datoo from Avignon, ovember 15th, 13 4,
be ' towed on him the 10rdship of the fortunate Is­lands
with the title of Prince of Fortune, to remain
in perpetual fief to the Apostolic See, to which it
should pay annualiy 400 florins of good and pure
gold of Florentine coinage; and Don Luis gave an
acknowledgment of the fief on the 28th oí ovember
of the same year. At the same time the Pope wrote
letters to the Kings of France, oí Sicily, oí Aragon,
of Castile, and Portugal, as wel1 as to the Dauprun,
and to the Doge oí Genoa, desiring them to help the
new king in this enterprise. The reply of the King
of Portugal contains the pa sage to which al1usion
has becn made. \ Vhile ubmitting, from habitual
reverence, to the de::; ire uf hi:-> Holiness, he reminded
Xll INTRüDeCTION.
hiro that he had already sent out expeditions to
those islands, and was only prevented from sending
out a large armada by the wars in which he became
in volved, : first with the King of Castile, and after­wards
with the Saracens. The Ietter : finished with
the King's excusing himself on account of the ex­hausted
condition of his treasnry froro supplying
Don Luis with ships and soldiers, but expressing
his willingness to furnish him to the extent of his
power with provisions, and other supplies. This letter
was dated froro Monte Mor, 12th of February, 1345.
The war with Spain, to which the King referred,
broke out at the clase of 1336, whf'nce it follows that
his assertion that he had thereby been prevented
from sending out a large armada to those islands,
either means that previously to that year the Portu­guese
had sent out expeditions to the Canaries, 01'
that expeditions which he had sent out during the
war would, but for the war, have been equipped on
a grander scale.
Bya treaty concluded in 1317, Denis tbe Labourer,
King of Portugal, secured the services of the Genoese
Emmanuele Pezagno as hereditary admiral of his
fieet, with a distinct understanding that he and his
successors should make unfailing provision of twenty
Genoese captains experienced in navigation to com­mand
the king's galleys.
In the year 1326 we : find this same Emmanuele
Pezagno sent by Affonso IV as ambassador to OUT
own King Edwanl lII, who regarded him with such
fa. vour, tlmt on July 24, 1332, he addressed a letter
l~ · TRODUCTIOX. Xlll
to Affonso, recommending both Emmanuele and his
son CarIo to hi e pecial patronage. Even o late
a 13,3, " e find the l'ank of admiral of the Portu­gue'e
Heet remaining in the hand of Lancelot,
son of Emmanuele Pezagno, " ho received it from
Peter 1 by letter patent dated 26th June, 1357.
So that in these facts we haye a remarkable light
thrown upon the declaration of Affonso IV to
Pope Clement VI, that prevjous to 1334 he had
already ent out expeditions to these islands.
Meanwhile we have evidence to show that in 1341
a voyage was made to the Canaries, under the aus­pice
of the King of Portugal, in a nal'rative for which
we are indebted to the poet Boccaccio, and whjch has
been re cued froro oblivion so recentlyas 1827 by the
learned Sebastiano Ciampi. It was derived from
letters written to Florence by certain Florentine
merchants established at eville, undel' date of the
17 kalend of December, 1341.
The narratiye records that " On the 1 t of J uly of
that ame year, two yessels, furni'hed by the King of
Portugal with all the nece ' ' ary provi", ion~, and accom­panied
by a smaller vessel, well armed and manned
by Florentine , Genoe e, Ca tilians, and other pan-¡
iard , among whom were naturally included Portu- .
guese, for the word Hispani included an inhabitants
of the Peninsula, set sail for Lisbon, and put out
into the open sea.] They took with them hOl'ses,
1 " TIJo Florentino who went with these sllips was Angelino
del ' l'c"' ghia dei Corbizzi, a cousin of the sons of Gherardíno
Giauni," llccording to what wl\ learn from a marginal Dote J) y
Boccaccio.
XIV JNTRODUCTIO~.
arms, and warlike engines for storming towns and
castles, in search of those islands commonly called
the " Rediscovered." The wind was favourable, and
on the 5th day they found land. They did not
return till the month of ovember, when they
brought back with them four of the natives, a large
quautity of goat skins, the fat and oil of fish, and
seal skins; red wood " hich dyed almost as well as
the verzi. p. o ( Brazil wood), although connoisseurs pro­nounced
it not to be the same; the barks of trees to
stain with a red colour; red earth and other such
things. Nicoloso de Recco, a Genoe e, the pilot of
this expedition, stated that this archipelago was
nearly nine hundred miles froro the city of Seville ;
but that reckoning froro what now iR called Cape St.
Vincent, the islands were much nearer to the conti­nent,
and that the fi. rst of those which they disco­vered
[ most probably Fuerteventura1was a hundred
and : fi. fty miles in circumference; it was one mass of
uncultivated stony land, but full of goats and other
beasts, and inhabited by naked men and women,
who were like savages in their appearance and de­meanour.
He added that he and his companions
obtained in this island the greater part of their cargo
of skins and fat, but they did not dare to penetrate
far lnto the country. Passing thence into another
island [ Great Canary], somewhat Ia. rger than the first,
a great number of natives of both sexes, all nearly
naked, carne down to the shore to meet them. Sorne
of them, who seemed superior to the rest, were
covered with goats' skins covered yellow and red,
INTRODUCTION. xv
and, as far as could be seen from a distance, the
skins were fine and soft, and tolerably well sewn
together with the intestines of animaIs. To judge
from thei. r gestures they seemed to have a prince, to
whom they sbowed much respect and obediellce.
The islanders showed a wish to communicate with
the people in the ship, but when the boats drew
near the shore, the sailors who did Dot understand a
word that they said did not dare to land. Their
language however was soft, and their pronuncia­tiOll
rapid and ammated like Italian. Sorne of the
islanders then swam to the boats, and four of
them were taken on board and afterwards carried
away. On the northern coasts of the island, which
were much better cultivated than the southern, there
were a great number of little houses, fig trees and
other trees, palm trees which bore no fruit, and gar­dena
with cabbages and other vegetables. Here
twenty- five of the sailors landed, and found nearly
thirty men quite naked, who took to flight when
they saw their arms. The buildings were made with
much skill of square stones, covered with large and
bandsome pieces of wood. Finding severa! of them
cIosed, the sailora broke open the doors with stones,
which enraged the fugitive , who filIed the air with
their cries. The houses were found to contain no­thing
beyond sorne excellent dried figs, preserved in
paIm baskets, like those made at Cesena, corn of a
much finer quality than the Italian, not only in the
length and thickne s of its grain but its extreme
whitene s, some barleyand other grains. The houses
XVI INTRODUCTION.
were all very handsome and co, ered with , ery fine
wood, and as clean inside as if they had been white­washed.
1' he sailors also carne upon a chapel 01'
temple, in which there were no pictures 01' ornament,
but only a stone statue representing a man with a
ball in his hand. 1' lús idol, otherwise naked, wore
an apron of palm- Ieaves. 1' hey took it away and car­ried
it to Lisbon. 1' he island seemed to be thickly
peopled and well cultivated; producing- not only corn
and other grain, but fruits, principally figs. 1' he
natives either ate the grain like birds, 01' else made
it into flour, and ate it with water without kneading.
On leaving tms island they saw seyeral others, at the
distance of n, e, ten, twenty, 01' forty miles, and
made for a third, in which they rernarked nothing
but an ÍIDmense number of beautuul trees shooting
straight up to the skies [ most probably Ferro, 1' e­markable
for its magnificent pines]. 1' hence to
another, which abounded in streams of excellent
water and wood [ Gomera]. 1' hey found also many
wild pigeons, which they killed with sticks and
stones. 1' hey were larger and of better flavour than
those in ltaly. Falcons and bircls of prey were
numerous. 1' he sailors ventured but a very little
way into tbe country. At length they discovered
another ísland, the rocky mountains of " which were of
immense height and almost ahvays covered with
clouds, but what they could see during the cIear
weather eemed very agreeable, and it appeared to
be inhabited [ Palma]. l'hey afterwards aw other
i lands, making in all thirteen, some of them inha-
IXTnODl'C'fIOX. XVll
bited and sorne not, and the further they went tha
more they saw. They remarked the smoothness of
the sea wruch separates these islands, and fOlmd
good allchorage, although there were but few har­bour
, but all the islands were well provided with
water. Of the thirteen islands five were inhabited,
but some were rnuch more populous than others. 1
The languap; es of these people were said to be so
different, that those of one island did not understand
tho e of another, and they had no means of commu­nication
except by swimming. A phenomenon wruch
they witnessed on one of these islands [ TeneriffeJ
deLerred them from landing. On the summit of a
mountain which they reckoned to be more than
thirty thousand feet rugh they observed what frorn
it whiteness looked like a fortress. It was, how­ever,
nothing but a sharp point of rock, on the top
of which was a mast, as large as a ship's mast, with
a yard and a lateen sail set upon it. The sail when
bJown out by the wind took the form of a shield,
and soon afterwards it would seem to be lowered,
together with the mast, as if on board a vessel, thell
again it was raised and again would sink, and so
alternately.
" They sailed round the island, hut on all sides
they saw the sarne phenomenon, and thinking it the
eifect of sorne enchantment, they did not dare to
land. They saw many other things also, which
1 Tbirteen is correet if toe desert islands be added to the seven
inhabited ones. Tho e inhabited are here counted five iustead
of Re, en, doubtleRs froro defective exploration.
e
XYlll
Ticcolo o refused to relate. At any rate the i ' land'
do not eem to have been very rich, for the ailOI
hardly coyered the expen - e of the voyage.
" The four men whom they carried away were
young and beardle , and had hand' ome face. They
wore nothing but a sort of apl'on made of cord, from
which they hung a number of palm 01' reed fibre of
a hair' · - breaclth and a half 01' two hairs'- breadth,
which formed an efi'ectual co\' ering. They were un­circumcised.
Their long licrht hair veiled their búdies
down to the waist, and they went barefooted. The
island whence they were taken was called Canary,
and wa more populou than the others. The e men
were spoken to in severallanguages, but they under-tood
none of them. They did not exceed their
captol'S in stature, but they "' ere robu t of limb,
courageou , and very int lligent. " llen poken to
by signs they replied in the ~ ame manner, like
mute. There were mark of deference hown from
one to another; but one of them appeared more
hOlloured than the re't. The apron of thi chief wa'
of palm leave , while the other wore reeds paillted
in yellow and red. They ang yery weetly, and
daneed almost as weH as Frenchmen. They were
gay and merl'Y, and much more civilioed than many
paniards. \ Vhen they were brought on board, they
ate ome bread and ficr, and eemed to like the
br ud, thOllgh they had neve1' tu ted it before. They
absolutely 1' efu ed wine, alld ollly drank water.
\ Vheut alld barley they ate in plellty, as well as
cheese and meat, which , Ya abunclant in the island. ,
IXTIWDUCTI04'. XIX
and of good quality, fol' although there wel'e no
oxen, carnel , 01' asses, there were plenty of goats,
sheep, and , yild hogs. They were shown sorne gold
and silver rnoney, but they were quite ignorant of
the use of it; and they knew as little of any kind of
spice. Rings of gold and vases of carved work,
swords and sabres, were shown to them; but they
seemed never to have seen such things, and did not
know how to use thero. They showed remarkable
faithfulness and honesty, for if one of them received
anything good to eat, before tasting it, he divided it
into portions which he shared with the resto 1\ 1ar­riage
was observed among thero, and the married
women wore aprons like the rnen, but the maidens
went quite naked, without consciousness of shame."
1\ 1eanwhile the Prince of Fortune made but little
progress towards the acquirement of the royal do­main
with which the P0pe had endowed him. In
short, the whole project proved a mere abortion, and
neither the treasury of the Pope, the property of
Don Luis, nor the knowledge of the geography of
the Canaries, were advanced one iota thereby.
The enterprise undertaken a century and a half
later by J ean de Bethencourt, of which this volume
treats, was of a far more persistent and eifectual
cllaracter. During the century which preceded it,
however, the Cananes were exposed to frequent
ravacres frorn corsairs and from adventurers of a11 l:>
sorts.
Gn one occasion chance led to the landing of a
party on the Great Canary, which, as it seems to be
<.: 2
xx I~ TRODUCTIO.-,
retened to in the present work, deserves particular
mention. In a M . account by a Canarian writer,
Don Pedro del Ca tillo ( quoted at p. 41 of the
lIistoire Ncttllrelle des fles Canaries, par MM. Barber
Webb and Sabin Berthelot, Pans, 1842, 4to), is
recorded an expedition, by Captain Francisco Lopez,
fram Seville to Galicia, in which h1S vessel was carried
southward by a tempe t and took refng- e, on J une
5th, 1382, at the mouth oí the Guiniguada in the
Great Canary, where the capital has since been
founded. Lopez and twelve oí his companions were
treated at first with humanity by the natives of this
part of the island, and passed seven years peacefully
occupied with the care oi' the Hocks that had been
granted them. They profited by this enforced sojourn
to give Christian instruction to many young Cana­1'
ians, sorne of whom had learned the Castilian lan­guage;
but suddenly the native changed their con­duct
towards them, and killed them all without
exception. 1t seems, however, that before their
death the unhappy Spaniards confided a written
document to one of their pupils, and there is no
doubt that it is this event that Bethencourt's chap­lains
have mentioned in their history of the first
attempt by the Chevalier Gadifer de la Salle upon the
Grand Canary ( see Cbap. XL), A young islander had
come on board Gadifer's hip to give him a parchment
that was tied 1' ound hi neck. "' Ve have found," said
the chaplains, " the testament of the Christian
brothers, thirteen in number, whom they killed
twelve years ago, which testament says also that
I~"
L ' TRODUVTIO~. XXI
none ought to tru t them for their fair outside
demeanour, for they were traitors by nature." There
can be little doubt that the party in question was
that of Lopez ( 13 2), mentioned by Castillo. It is
probable that the mistrust aroused in the Canarians
by the relation of their gue ts with the adventurers
who frequented their shore , and the fear of some
urprise on the part of the Europeans, determined
them to get rid of the e strangers, to whom they
had shown them elves at first o friend1y; but,
according to the historians of the conque t, the
Canarían pretence was that the paniards had sent
letters to the land of the Christians adverse to those
with whom they had dwelt for seven years.
M. d'A. vezac, in hi valuable work on the " TIe
d'A. frique," in the Unh'er Pittoresque, tells us that
an official document, pre erved in the E curial,
and embodying the re ults of an inquiry instituted
in 1476 by Queen Isabelle of Castile as to the
r~ ' pective right of the various pretenders to the
po " es ion of the Canarie, declare formally that
Jean de Bethencourt had received information in
ormandy respecting these islands from two French
ac1venturel , who had made incursions on them in
company with a paniard named Alvaro Becerra,
and that he wa thereby induced to undertake the
Conque t, of wmch we will now proceed to give the
summary.
Me ire Jean de Bethencourt, Lord of Grainville
la Teinturiere, in the Pais de Caux in ormandy,
having conceived the project of conquering the
XXll I~ TROD ' CTlO.',
Canaries, which were then only frequented by mer­chant
01' panish pirate~, a. embled a bod of ad­Yenturer~,
among whom w< a knight named Gaelifer
ele h, aIle, who joined him at RocheIle. i\ l. de
Bethencourt took with him hi ' two chaplain " Brother
Pierre Bontier, a monk of t. J ouin de ~ larne , and
J ean le Verrier, a prie t, who were the historian of
the expedition. They tarted from Rochelle on the
1st ofMay, 1402, putting in at orunna and at Caeliz,
where they tayed till the month of July, the party
meanwhile becoming reduced by the de'ertion of
twellty- even men to only fifty- three in llumber.
Eight day from Cadiz brought them to the i lalld
of Gracio a; thence they went to Lancerote, where
they were well received and obtained permis ' ion to
bnilel a fort, which they named Rllbicon. Lea" ing
Bertill de Berne, al in charge, Bethencourt went
with Gadifer to Fuerteyentura, but was obJicred to
retm'n to Lancerote on accollnt of mutiny amoncr hi
ailor and want of provi ion ,
It wa then re olved that Bethencourt hould go
to pain to get together whut wa nece'ary to
complete the ellterpri.' e. Gadifer remained a lieu­tenant,
and while he w< ~ ab ent at the 1 ' le of Lobo ,
Bertin excited disafi'ection arl" aill't hirn, drew together
a faction of his own, with which he pillaged the
castle of Rubicon and took a nmnber of native.
prit40n rs, including Guaclarfia, the King of Lancerote,
who had already maele friendly submi'sion to Bethen­coarto
Two pani h hip hacl arri,' ed meanwhile,
anel Bertill having gained ayer Ferdinand Ordoilez,
captain of the Tranchemar, took his spoils and
pri oner on board, abandoned his ill- fated followers
to perish miserab1y in Africa, and went himself to
pain.
The lmfortunate Gadifer was 1eft by this treachery
in the is1and of Lobo, without the supp1ies he
expected to follow him, until the captain of the
other panish hip, the jJlorelle, sent a canoe to his
re cue, and he returned to Rubicon. Here he found
aftairs in asad state, no pro\"' ÍSions, no store , and an
insufficient number of men to keep the natives in
check.
Ieanwhile Bethencourt was obtaining from Henry
IIl, King of Ca tille, the supplie he wanted, on
condition of doing homage; and having sent horne
hi~ wife in the charge of Enguerrand de la Boissiere,
he preferred tú return tú Lancerote. He had 1earned
the state of afI'airs on the arrival of the hip .11Iorelle,
which preceded by a shorl time the Trancltemar, in
which the traitor Bertin arrived with his captives,
and sent he1p to Gadifer from the king, with direc­tion
to follow up the exp1oration. During Bethen­court'
ab ence, there had been a rebellion against
the King of Lancerote, which had been quelled, and
the traitor put to death.
Gadifer had been to Fuerteventura, the Grand .
Canary, Ferro, Gomera, and Palma, and retumed to
Rubicon after a voyage of three months. He had
ent a ship to pain with the account of his expedi­tion,
but Bethencourt himself now arrived at Rubicon,
where he was received with great demonstrations of
IXTRODCCTIOX. XXlll
,' XIV L'TTIOnUCTLO••.
joyo He proceeded vigorollsly with thA conque~ t of
the native', and in a few da. y the king sllbmitted
and asked for baptism, which he received with many
of hlli people. After this, Bethenconrt and Gadifer
w re only withheld from further conque t by want
of aid from the courts of France and pain, though
applimtion was made e pecially to the former. On
their return froro an expedition to the coast of Africa,
Gadifer showed discontent that Bethencourt had
not considered his intere ts when he did homage to
the Kincr of Castile for the government of the
: ü lands. However, he took part in an expedition
acrainst the Grand Canary in 1404, but the dispute
was afterwards renewed, and they set out for pain
to ettle the question, travelling in different hip.
Finally, howeve1', Gadifer, knowing Bethencourt'
nTeat l' intere t at the court of Castile, gave up hi'
own mu e in de pair, and 1' eturned to France. Bethen­comt
proceeded to Castile and w~ olemnly inve ted
with the government of the islands. On his return
to the Canaries he had everal encounters with the
native , but maintained his authority ucce fully, and
the two kings of Fuerteventura, togethe1' with their
p ople, became Chri" tian. He then went to France, to
obtain the materials for fo1' ming a colony, was warmly
velcomed at Grainville, and obtained all he required.
He retmned to Lancerote with his nephew Maciot
de Bethencomt, and was received with great joy by bis
own people, as well a by the inhabitant of Fuerteven­tura.
In October 1405 he set out on his expedition to
tlw Granel Canary, which was unsnccci:' isful from vari-
IXTltODUCTIOX. xxv
ous causes; but in Palma and Ferro, after some opposi­tion,
he formed coloníes. Retmníng to Lancerote,
he arranged everything fol' the good government of
the islands whích he had conquered and civilised,
and Ieaving his nephew . Maciot as his Iieutenant­general,
he departed universa11y regretted. He went
thence to Spain, where the king receíved hím warmIy
and gave him Ietters of recommendatíon to the
Pope, from whom he was anxíous to obtain the
appointment of a bíshop fol' the islands. At Rome
he was well received by the Pope, who granted
u11 he required. He then returned to France, by
way of Florence, where he was féted by the govern­mento
Tbence he went to Paris and so to hís own
house. Here he remained for several years, l'e­ceíving
from the bi hop news of the islands and the
good government of his nepbew, till, as he was pl'e­paTing
to visit tbem once more, he died at bis bouse
of Grainville in 1425.
It will be observed that the text of the MS.
places the death of Bethencourt in 1422, but Bergeron,
who was not an idle illvestigatol', in fixing the
date at 1425, says, " comme iI appert par plusieurs
actes." So that we may reasonably accept his deci­sion.
With l'espect to the sepulture of Bethencourt,
every memento would have been lost in the dim
gloom of the past, had it not been fol' the laudable
enthusiasm of a Norman antiquary, the Abbé Cochet,
who seems to have been the only roan of the age
to take an interest in the local glory of the conquel'or
01' thc Ca, uuríes. Descl'ibing his visit to Grainville
XXVI L ' TRODUCTLO~.
in1 31 ( eeLesEglisesclel'Arronclissementd'YL'etot,
par M. l'Abbé Cochet, París, 1832, torno i, p. 151),
he says, " In the church I looked with eagerness for
the name of the hero whose rnemory had led my
steps to the spot. To my sorrow I found not a
single word, a single stone that spoke to me of him.
His very name had perished from the traditions of the
old gossips of the place, and there remained but a
vague memory of his greatness, whieh faded like a
distant echo. From that moment I resolved to
labour at the restitution of that great memory, and
I have had the happiness to convert the thought ioto
a reality. At my request, tmpported by the Com­mission
des Antiquités, M. E. Leroy, the honoured
and enlightened Prefect of the Seine Inférieure, was
pleased to grant a sum of two hundred franes frorn
the historica1 funds ( sur les fonds historiques) of his
Department. WiLh this small sum, maoageJ with
prudence, I have been able to have a commemorative
inscription, slU'mounted by the arms of Bethencourt,
made by Caulier, a sculptor at Dieppe. A black
marble slab, embedded in a carved stone frame, bears
the following inscriptioo in gilt letters-
A LA ME:.\ IOIRE
DE JEHAN
DE BETHENCOURT
NAVIGATEUR CÉLEBRE
ET ROl DES CANARIE
INHUMÉ DAN LE CHiliUR
DE CETTE EGLISE
EN 1425,
PGIEZ DIEU POl n Le!.
INTRODUCTIO~. xxvn
\ Vith the authorisation of the Building Committee
of Grain\' ille and the permission of the Archbishop
of Rouen and of the minister of public worship, this
inscription was placed on one of the pilasters of the
choir on the 16th of December, 1851."
There is much of picturesque beauty about the
quaint old narrative of the adventures of the Sire de
Bethencourt. ' Ve find ourselves in an atmosphere of
romance, albeit the story is most essentia11y true. The
mind's eye becomes familiar with the habergeon, the
corslet, and the pennon, and the mind's eal'- an
organ, by the way, too little recognised- with the
sound of the cIarion and trumpet as realities which
lend the charm of chivalry to an expedition of dis­covery
undertaken at a period when chivalry was
itself a reality. Of the manor- house of Grainville
la Teinturiere, in the lovely valley of the Durdent,
there remaín only a moat filIed with water, a vaulted
ce11, which was doubtless the donjon, and an old gate
covered with ivy, seen by the Abbé Cochet in 1831,
but which probably by this time has disappeared also.
Rere it wilI be interesting to note the account
given of the Canaries a few years later by Gomez
Eannes de Azurara, who, in 1448, drew up a narra­tive
of the conquest of Guinea under the direction
of Prince Remy the Navigator. It was compiled
from the rough narrative of one of Prince Renry's
sailors, Affonso de Cerreira, and consequently, though
' Ve do not know the exact year, was sorne time
earlier than the date of Azurara's chronicle.
In 1443 an expedition of six caravels, formed un-
XX\" lll I~ TnODU(; TION.
del' the auspices of the Prince, explored the Bay of
Arguin and part of the neighbouring coa ts, two of
which separated and turned northward. Gn their
way they met with the cal'avel of Alvaro Gonzalves
de Atayde, tb. e captain of which was one J oao de
Castilha, going to Guinea, whom they dissuaded from
that voyage, and induced him to join them in an ex­pedition
to the island of Palma. Gn reaching Gomera
they were well received, and two chieftains of the
island, named Bruco and Piste, after announcing
themselves as grateful servants of Prince Henry,
froro whom they had received the most generous
hospitality, declared their readiness to do anything to
serve him. The Portuguese told them they were
bound to the island of Palma for the purpose of
capturing sorne of the natives, and a few of the
cbieftain's subjects wouId be of great use as guides
and assistants, where both the country and the peo­ple's
mode of fighting were alike unknown. Piste
immediately offered to accompany them, and to take
as many Canarians as they pleased, and with this
help they set sail for Pahua, which they reached a
little before daybreak. Unsuitable as the hour
might seem, they immediately landed, and presently
saw sorne of the natives fleeing, but, a they , vere
starting in pursuit, one of the men suggested that
they would have a better chance of taking sorne
shepherds, chiefly boys and women, whom they saw
keeping their sheep and goats among the rocks.
These drove theil' flocks into a valley that was so
clcep alld clangcrolls that it wa~ a , vonder that they
INTRODUCTlO~. XXiX
could make their way at all The islanders were
naturally sure- footed to a wonderful degree, but
several of them fell from the crags and were killed.
The page Diogo Gonsalves, who had been the first
to swim to the shore in the encounter near Tider,
again distinglúshed bimself. It was bard work fol'
the Portuguese, fol' the Canarians hul'led stones and
lances wíth sharp bom points at them with great
strength and precision. The contest ended in the
capture of seventeen Canarians, men and women.
One of the latter was of extraol'dínary size for a
woman, and they said that she was the queen of a
part of the ísland. In l'etiríng to the boats wíth
theÍr capture tbey were closely followed by the
Canarians, and were obliged to leave the greater
part of the cattle that they had had so much trouble
in taking.
On their return to Gomera they thanked the
island chieftain for the good service he had rendered
them, and afterwards, when Piste, with some of the
islanders, went to Portugal, they were so well l'e­ceived
by the Pl'ince that he and sorne of his followel's
remained for the rest of their lives.
As J03.0 de Castilha, the captain of the caravel of
Gonsalvez de Atayde, had not reached Guinea as
the others had done, and consequently had less booty
than they to carry back to Portugal, he conceived
the dastardly idea of capturing some of the Gome­rallS,
in spite of the pledge of security. As it seemed
too hideous a piece of treachery to seize any of those
who had helped them so \ Vell, he removed to another
xxx INTRODUCTION.
port, where some twenty- one of the natives, trusting
to the Portuguese, came on board tl1e caravel and
were straightway carried to Portugal. "\ Vhen the
Prince heard of it he was extremely angry, and had
the Canarians brought to his house, and with rich
presents sent them back to their own country.
Alvaro Dornellas, after an unsucce:::;:::; ful attempt to
make a capture in the Canary Islands, which re­sulted
in his only taking two captives, remained at
the islands, not caring to return to Li::; bon without
more hooty. He sent Affonso Marta to M: adeira to
procure stores by the sale of the two Canarians. The
weather prevented Marta making the islalld, and he
was obliged to put in at Lisbon, where at that time
was J oao Dornellas, squire to the king, and cousin
to Alvaro. Joao had a joint intere t in the caravel,
and hearing of his cousin's difficulties, hastened to
his assistance. Together they made a descent upon
the island of Palma, havillg obtained help from the
people of Gomera in the llame of Prince Henry, and
in a night attack, after a fierce encounter, took
twenty captives. They returned to Gomera, where
Alvaro had to l'emain, and his cousin left for Portu­gal.
In the homeward passage, such a dearth of
victuals supervened that they were well- nigh COffi­pelled
to eat sorne of their captives, but happily,
before they were driven to that extremity, they
reached the port of Tavila, in the kingdom of Al­garve.
It has been already seen that Jean de Bethencourt,
retiring to France in 1406, had left hi nephew,
I~ TRODUCTIOX. XXXI
Maciot de Bethencourt, as governor- general of his
cOllquests in the Canaries, cornprising Lancerote,
Forteventura, and Ferro. Azurara gives the Christian
population of Lancerote, Fuerteventura, and Ferro, in
his time, as follows: " In Lancerote sixty men, in Fuer­teventura
eighty, and in Ferro twelve. They had
their churches and priests.
" In the Pagan islands the numbers were, in
Gomera1 about seven hundred men, in Palma five
hundred, in Teneriffe six thousand bearing arms, and
in the Great Canary five thousand fighting meno
These had never been conquered, but sorne of their
people had been taken, who gave information respect­ing
their customs.
" The Great Canary was ruled by two kings and a
duke, who were elected, but the real governors of
the island were an assembly of knights, who were
not to be less than one hundred and ninety, nor so
many as two hundred, and whose nurnbers were
filled up by election from the sons of their own class.
The people were intelligent, but little worthy of
trust; tbey were very active and powerful. Their
only weapons were a short club and the stones with
which their country abounded, and which supplied
thern also with building materials. l\ 1ost of them
went entirely naked, but some wore petticoats of
paIm leaves. They made no accolmt of the precious
metals, but set a high value on iron, which they
worked with stones and made into fishing- hooks;
1 Maciot attempted, with the assistance of sorne Castilians, to
subdue the island of Gomera, but without success.
XXXll L" TIlODe TlO_'.
they eVell u cd stone for · having. They had abunu­ance
of heep, pigs, and goat , and their infant . wel'
generally uckled by the latter. They had wheat,
but had not the kilI to make bread, and ate the
meal with meat and butter. They had plenty of
iig , dragon's- blood, and date , but not of a good
quality, und ome useful herb. They held it an
abomination to kili animals, and employed Chri - tian
C<' l. ptives a butchers when they could get them.
Theykindled fire by rubbing one tick against another.
They b lieved in a God who would reward and
punish, and some ofthem called themselves Christian .
" TIle people of Gomera were less civili ' ed. They
had no c1othing, no house. Theil' women were
regarded almost as common property, fol' it was a
breach of ho pitality for aman not to offel' his , vifc
to a vi ' itor by way of welcome. They made their
sister" ons their heirs. They had a few pig' and
goat , but lived chiefly on milk, herb , and roo ,
like the bea::; t'; they a1; 0 ate filthy thing, uch as
rat' and vermin. TIley pent their time chiefly in
inging and dancing, for they had to make no exer­tion
to gain their livelihood. They believed in a
God, but were not taught obedience' to any law.
The fiO'hting men were even hundred in number,
over whom was a captain with certain other officers.
" In Teneriffe the people were ml1ch better oft:
and more civilised. TIley had plenty of wheat und
vegetables, and abundance of pigs, sheep, and goats,
and were dres ed in skins. They had, however,
no hou e , but pas. ed their lives in hnts and cave~.
rSTRODCCTIOX. XXXIU
Their chief occupation was war, and they fought
with lances of pine- wood, made like great darts,
yery sharp, and hardened in the fue. There were
eight 01' nine tribes, each of which had two kings,
one dead and one living, for they had tbe strange
custom of keeping the dead king unburied till his
successor died and took his place: the body was
then thrown into a pito They were strong and
active men, and had their own wives, and lived more
like men than some of tbe other islanders. They
believed in the existence of a God.
" The people of Palma had neither bread nor
vegetables, but lived on mutton, milk, and herbs;
they did nut even take the trouble to catch fish like
the other islanders. They fought with spears like
the men of Tenerifi'e, but pointed them with sharp
hom instead of iron, and at the other end they also
put another piece of horn, but not so sharp as that
at the point. They had some cbiefs who were called
kings. They had no knowledge of God, nor any
faith whatever."
The foilowing is the account given half a century
after the date of Bethencourt's conquest, by the
Venetian Alvise Cadamosto, who, in 1455, visited
them while in the service of Prince Henry the
Navígator.
" Foul' of them," he saya, " Lancerote, Fuerteven­tura,
Gomera, and Ferro, were inhabited by Christians;
the other three, Grand Canary, Teneriffe, and Palma,
by pagans. The governor of the former was a knight
named Herrera, a native of Seville, and a ubject of
el
DíTRODUCTIO: N".
the King of Spain. They had barley- bread, goats' ­flesh,
and milk in plenty, for goats were very numer­ous;
they had no wine nor corn, except what was
imported, and the islands produced but little fruit.
There were great numbers of wild asses, especially
in the i land of Ferro. Great quantities of orchil
for dyeing were sent from these islands to Cadiz and
Seville, and t1ence to other parts both east and
west. The chief produets were goats'- leather, very
good and strong, tallow, and excellent cheeses. The
illhabitants of the four Christian islands spoke díffer­ent
bnguages, so that they eould with difficulty
lmderstand each otber. There were no fortified
places in them, only vil1ages; but the inlabitants
had retreats in the moullte'tins, to whieh the passes
were so diffieult that they could not be taken except
by a siege. Ofthe three íslands inhabited bypagans,
two were the largest and most populous of the
group, viz., the Grand Canary, in whieh were about
eight 01' nine thousand inhabitant , and Teneríffe,
the largest of all, which eontained from fourteen to
fifteen tlousand. Palma was not so well peopled,
being smaller, but a very beautíful i land. Tbe
Christians have never been able to subdue tlese
three islands, as there were plenty of men of arms
to defend them, and tbe mountain heights were
difficnlt ofaccess. Teneriffe, ofwho e peak Cadamosto
spea, ks as being visible, according to sorne sailors'
accounts, at a dista. nee of two lulldred and fifty
ltalian miles, and sixty miles high from the foot to
the summit, was governed by nine ehiefs, bearing
IXTROD{) CTlO~.
the title of dukes, who did not obtain the succes ion
by inheritance, but by force. 1' heir weapons were
stone , and javelins pointed with sharpened horn in­stead
of iron, and ometime the wood it elf ha1' dened
by fue till it wa as hard as iron it e1f. 1' he inhabit­ant
went naked, except ome few who wore goats'-
kin. 1' hey anointed their bodies with goats'- fat
mL'i: ed with the juice of certain he1' bs, to harden
their kin and defend them from cold, although the
c1imate i mildo 1' hey also painted their bodies with
the juice of herbs, green, red, and yellow, producing
beautiful devices, and in this manner showed their
individual character, much as civilised people do by
their style of dress. 1' hey were wonderfully strong
and active, could take enormous leaps, and throw
with great strength and skill. 1' hey dwelt in caverns
in the mountains. 1' heir food was barIey, goat8' ­fle
h, and milk, which was plentiful. 1' hey had some
fruit , chiefIy figs, and the climate was so warm that
they gathered in their han" e t in March 01' April.
1' hey had no fixed religion, but ome worshipped the
sun, ome the moon, and others the planets, with
various forro of idolatry. 1' he women were not
taken iu common among thero, but each man might
have as many wive as he liked. ... To roaiden, how­ever,
was taken till she had pa sed a night with the
chief, which was held a great hononr. 1' hese accounts
were had from Christians of the fOUT islands, who
would occa ionally go to 1' eneriffe by night and
carry off roen and woroen, whom they sent to Spain
to be old a slave. It sometimes happened that
d2
XXXYI INTRODUCTION.
the Christians were captured in these expeditions,
but the natives, instead of killing them, thought it
sufficient punishment to make them butcher their
goats, and skin them, and cut them up, an occupa­tion
which they looked upon as the most degrading
that a roan could be put to; and at this work they
kept them till they might be able to obtlÚn theír
ransom. Another of their customs was, that when
one of their chiefs came into possession of bis estate,
some one among them would offer hímself to die in
honour of the festival. On the day appointed they
assembled in a deep valley, when, after certain
ceremonies had been pedormed, the self- devoted
victim of this hideous custom threw himself from a
great height into the valley, arrd was dashed to
pieces. The chief was held bound in gratitude to do
the victim great honour, arrd to reward his family
with ample gifts." Cadamosto was told of this in­human
custom, not only by the natives, but also by
Cbristians who had been kept prisoners in the island.
Cadamosto visited the islands of Gomera and Ferro,
and also touched at Palma, but did not land, because
he was anxious to continue his voyage.
In 1414, the exactions and tyranny of Maciot de
Bethencourl had caused Queen Catherine of Castile
to send out three war caravels l. mder the command
of Pedro Barba de Campos, Lord of Castro Forte, to
control him. Maciot, although only regent, for Jean
de Bethencourt was still alive, ceded the islands to
Barba and then sailed to Madeira, where he sold to
Prince Henry of Portugal, surnamed the Navigator,
IXTRODUCTION. XXXVll
these very islands of which he had just made cession
to another, together with those which still remained tú
be conquered. Maciot subsequently sold them to the
Spanish Count de Niebla. Pedro Barba de Campos
sold them to Fernando Perez of Seville, and the latter
again to the aforesaid Count de Niebla, who disposed
of them to Guillem de las Casas, and the latter to
his son- in- law Fernam Peraza. Meanwhile, the legi­timate
proprietor, J ean de Bethencourt, left them
by will to his brother Reynaud. But as yet there
sti11 remained tillconquered the Great Canary, Palma,
Teneriffe, and the sma11 islands about Lancerote,
and, in 1424, Prillce Henry sent out a fleet under
the command of Fernando de Castro, with two
thousand five hundred infantry and a hundred and
twenty horse, to efi'ect the conquest of the whole of
the islands; but the expense entailed thereby, com­bined
with the expostubtiom3 of the King of Castile,
caused him to withdraw for a time from the under­taking.
Subsequently, in the year 1446, he resumed his
efforts at this conquest, but befare taking any step
he applied to his brother, Dom Pedro, who was then
regent, to give him a charter prohibiting all Portu­guese
subjects from going to the Canary Islands,
either fúr purposes of war 01' commerce, except by
his orders. 1' his charter was conceded, with a further
grant of a fifth of a11 importg froro those islands.
1' he concession was made in consideration of the
great expenses wLich the Prince had incurred. In
the fo11owing year, 1447, the Prince conferred the
XXXVlll 1...- TRODUCTIO~.
chief captaincy of the island of Lancerote on Antam
Gonsalves, who went out to enforce his claim; hut
unfortunately, Azurara, from whom we deriye this
date, and who, as it was very near the period of his
wl'iting, would he little likely to be in error, fails to
telI us the result of Gonsalves' expedition. If we
were to follow Barros and the Spanish historians,
the date of this expedition would be much earlier.
Be this as it may, when, in 1455, King Henry IV
of Castile was married to Joanna, the youngest
daughter of Dom Duarte, King of Portugal, Dom
l\ Iartinho de Atayde, Count d'Atouguia, who e corted
the Princess to Castile, received from King Henry
the Canary Islands as an honorary donation. De
Atayde sold them to the Marques de l\ 1enesco,
who again sold them to Dom Fernando, Prince
Henry's nephew and adopted SOllo In 1466 Dom
Fernando sent out a new expedition undel' Diogo
da Silva, hut if we are to believe Viera y Clavijo,
it was as unforilmate as its predece sors. But
meanwhile, at the death of Fernam Peraza, his
daughter Iñez, who had married Diogo Garcia de
Herrera, inherited he1' fathe1" s 1' ights in the Cana­ries,
and one of her daughters married Diogo
da Silva. Still Spain maintained its claims, and
it was not till 1479, when, on the 4th of Sep­tember,
the treaty of peace was signed at Alca<; ova,
between Affonso V of Portugal and Ferdinand and
Isabella of Castile, that the disputes of the tn'o
nations on this point were settled. The sixth article
of that treaty ( Torre do Tombo, Gav. 17, l\ 1a<;. 6, 11.
1. · TRODUCTIO~. XXXIX
16) provided that the conquests froro Cape Non to
the Indies, with the seas and islands adjacent, should
remain in possession of the Portuguese, but the
Canaries and Granada should belong to the Cas­tilians.
An ethnological examination of the inhabitants of
the Canaries at the time of Bethencourt's conquest,
as based upon the descriptions of their persons and
manners, . the peculiarities of their languages and the
characteristics of the mummies which have been
found, 1eaves little reason to doubt that the archi­pelago
was peopled by two distinct races, viz., Berbers
and Arabs, and that the tribes of the latter, which
were in the minority in the western islands, had
maintained the superioríty in numbers and gained
polítical supremacy in the eastern. The chaplains
describe the natíves of Lancerote and Fuerteventul'a
as tallo Those of Great Canary and of Palma seem
to have been of middle stature. The people of
Gomera and Ferro are described by Galindo as
small, while the mummies ofthe Guanches oí Teneriffe
show that they did not lUuch exceed the latter in
heicrht. The natives of Lancerote and Fuerteventura o
had very brown complexions, while most of the
ínhabitants of Canal- Y, Teneriffe, Gomera, Palma,
and Ferro were more 01' less fair, 01' even quite
blonde. In Lancerote, and pel'haps in Fuerteventul'a,
polyandry existed, and a woman would often have
as many as three husbands; while in the othel'
islands monogamy was strictly maintained by law.
The inhabitants of Fuel'teventura buried their dead
'"
xl INTRODUCTION.
In stone tombs. Those of Great Canary enclosed
theirs in mounds of a conical 01' pyramidal shape.
The Guanches of Teneriffe and of Palma embalmed
the bodies of their relatives 01' simpIy deposited
them in sepulchral caverns.
The archipelago presented also great variety in
the form of government. In the east, def> poti m and
hereditary right, without distinction of sex, prevailed.
In the west, women "" ere entirely excluded from
authority, and there existed a sort of aristocratic
republicanism, in which authority wa recognised
and religiously preserved in certain famílies, but yet
subjected, as each event occurred, to the sanction of a
privíleged body. The territory of the tribe was a sort
of common patrimony, of which each member culti­vated
his own part and enjoyed the proceeds, but the
administration belonged only to the chief. Venera­tion
for age and submissioll to the experience of the
head of the family was the principIe which underlay
this system of government.
Don Antonio de Viana, who published in 1604 at
Seville a work on the Antiguedades de las Islas Cana­rias,
gives the fol1owing faithful summary of the cha­racteristics
of the Guanches. He says-" They were
virtuous, honest, and brave, and the finest qualities of
humanity were found united in them: to wit, magna­nimity,
skill, courage, athletic powers, strength of
soul and of body, pride of character, noblene s of
demeanour, a smiling physiognomy, an intelligent
mind, and patriotic devotedness."
Bontier and Le Verrier, however, dwelt much
INTRODrCTIOX. xli
more upon the doings of the Norman baron and the
adventurers whom he had brought in his suite than
on the history of the conquered people themselves.
Their narrative treats of snccesses obtained in this
first invasion, of the occupation of Lancerote, Fuerte­ventura.,
and FelTo, of the different excursions of the
Normans in other parts of the archipelago, of an
expedition ofthe conqueror to the coast of Africa, 1 and
of his voyages to Europe. The two authors speak
at length of the quarrels of the adventurers, of their
corobats with the natives, and of the system of
administration established by Bethencourt in the
conquered islands. One ofthero, Father Bontier, who,
as we have said, was a Franciscan monk of Sto
Jouin de Marnes, officiated at Lancerote in the
church of Sto J\ Iartial de Rubicon, which Bethen­court
had built in the castle of that name. The
second, Le Verrier, who was a priest, was installed first
at Fuerteventura, as vicar in the chapel of Ste. Marie
de Bethencourt, and retarned afterwards to France
with his lord, whom he attended at his death- bed as
his chaplain. The J\ IS. record of their recollections,
begun in 1402 and finished in 1406, seems to have
been written by Bontier and finished by Le Verrier,
for Bontier says, on the last page, in speaking of his
companion, " J\ 1essire J ean le Verrier, his chaplain
( Bethencourt's), whom he had taken to and from the
Canary Isles, wrote bis will, and was with him all the
time of bis last illness"; so that it would seem highly
1 This excursion, described on pp. 180- 181, is, among others,
the basis of the claim referred to on p. 1 of this Introduction.
xlii INTRODUCTION.
probable that the latter would record that of which he
was the eje- witness. Tbe 1\ 1S. was brought to light by
Galien de Bethencourt, Councillor of the parliament of
Rouen, and edited in Paris, in 1630, byBergeron, whose
opinion on the merits of this work is stated in the
following terms in a Trm'cté des Narigations printed
at the end of his edition, a learned und valuable
piece of labour, but not free from inaccuracies. " With
regard to this history, written according to the ignor­ance
and simplicity ofthe time, it seem better to leave
it in its rude and na'ive, but sufficiently intelligible
language, than to turn it into a more elegant form,
as this gives one more confidence in its truth than
a11 that one could now sayo It has been taken from
an ancient M . made at the time, well painted and
illuminated, and preserved in the library of 1\ 1. de
Bethencourt, which he ha been so good as to com­municate
to the public, an act for wbich he deserves
the gratitude of all, on account of the interest that
France must take in it."
And he1' e it will be well that we make some in­quiry
into the antecedents and personal history of
tlús orman gentleman, in whose doings it was so
justly said that " France must take an interest."
Messire J ean de Bethencourt, Knight, wa of noble
birth, and held the title of Baron in right of the
Barony of Sto Martin le Gaillard in the Comté d'Eu,
where he had a strong Cc:' tstle, which ,,, as taken and
retaken several times in the wars with England.
Monstrelet speaks of its final siege and ruin in
H 19. 1t carne by inheritance tú 1\ 1essire de Bethen-
IKTRODUCTIOX. xliii
court from his grandmother Dame Isabeau de Sto
Martín. The earliest of his ancestors of whom we
find mention was Philippe, Seigneur de Bethencourt
and de Sto Vincent de Rouvray, Knight, of the time
of Louis VIII, who was buried ín the church of the
Priory of Sigy, where his tomb, aud those of others
of the family of yet older date, had been seen, as
Bergeron tells us, by persons living in his time,
that is, in the early part of tbe seventeenth centmy,
but were demolisbed ín the civil wars. Tbis Philippe
was the father of Regnault de Bethencourt, lord of
the same places, as recorded ín a Latín charter of
the year 1282. Regnault was the father of J ean 1,
mentioned in a deed of exchange of the date of
1346, which latter married the above- mentioned
Isabeau de Sto Martin, by whom he had J ean II, as
shown by other deeds of exchange of the date of
135. Jean 1 perished at Honfleur in the company
of Marshal de Clermont about the year 1357, and
bis widow mauied l\ fathieu de Bracquemont. Jean II
married, in 1358, Madame Marie, daughter of 11: es­sire
Regnault de Bracquemont, l who died ín the
affair at Cocherel, in 136- 1, in the company of Mes­sire
Bertrand du Guesclín. The offspring of this
marriage were J ean III, the conqueror of the Canaries,
and Messire Regnault de Bethencourt, surnamed
1 Marie de Braequemont's brother Robert beeame greatly
renowned in the histories of Franee and Spain, and was roade
Admiral of Franee in 1418; and it was to him that his nepbew,
the subjeet of the presellt story, mortgaged his lands of Betheu­eourt
and Grainville, apparently for the very purpose of fitting
out the expedition here treatcd of.
xliv INTRODUCTION.
Morelet 01' Moreau. The hero of the present history
was Lord of Grainvil1e la Teinturiere, and of other
lands mentioned in tbis narrative, viz., Bethencourt,
Sto Saire, Lincourt, Riville, Gmnd Quesnoy, Huqueleu,
Sto Martin, etc. His wife was of the house of Fayel,
in Champagne. They had no offspring; and an
indiscreet, though perfectly innocent, word froro
Madame de Bethencourt with reference to her bro­ther-
in- Iaw, Messire Regnault de Bethencourt, pro­duced
an estrangement between her and her husband,
whose jealous cruelty would seem to have brought
about her early death, while a feeling of revenge 1ed
him to impoverish as fal' as possible the property to
which his brother would be the successor. It is but
justice to say that before his death he saw bis error,
and on his death- bed was anxious to declare his
repentance to the brother whom he had injured.
Regnault became his successor, and froro him and
his second wife, Philipote de Troyes ( bis first wife
having been Marie de Breauté, Dame de Rouvl'ay),
are descended al1 the Bethencourts of Normandy ;
and if, as is to be supposed, Maciot de Bethencourt
was one of his sons, from him also must be descended
aH those of the Dame in Spain, the Azores, the
Madeira group, and the Canaries. Regnault's lineal
descendant in the seventh generation was Galien de
Bethencourt, Councillor of the Court ( lf Parliament
of Rouen, and to him it is that we are indebted for
the first publication of the present narrative, in
1630. The editor, Pierre BergeroD, tells us, as we have
said, that Hit is derived from an ancient manuscript,
TSTRODU() TIO~. xlv
made at the time, well painted and illuminated,
which is preserved in tbe library of Monsieur de
Bethencourt, Councillor of tbe Parliament of Rouen,"
and to bim the work is dedicated. From him, also,
Bergeron states that he received communication of
several memoirs concerning this history, the genea­logy
of the Bethencourts, as well as the originals of
the letters from the Bethencourts of the Canaries.
And now that 1 come to speak of the text of this
work, 1 have to acknowledge a debt of gratitude
which would leave me utterly bankrupt, ji 1 had
not learnt from experience that a simple statement
of facts is a thousand times more eloquent than the
most fervid expression of sentiment, however sincere.
Being aware that M. E. Charton, in his Voyageurs
anciens et modernes, Paris, 1855, 8vo, had had the
advantage of seeing an early MS. of this narrative
belonging to 1fadame de Múnt Ruifet, who appears
to have inherited the volume through the channel of
fami. ly relationship with the Bethencourts, 1 applied
to my distinguished and much honoured friend,
M. d'Avezac, . Membre de l'Institut, in the hope
that he might be able to borrow it also. Happi. ly,
Madame de Mont Ruffet proved to be a friend of
M. d'Avezae's of old standing, and the MS. was
kindly entrusted to his care; but as, on the occasion
of a previous loan, this valuuble document appears
tú have been not too gently dealt with, Madame de
Mont Ruffet very naturally limited her present most
obliging act of kindne s to M. d'Avezac's retention
of the volume in his own ensiody, and he1' permission
xlvi INTRODUCTIü: Y.
that photographs of two out of the numerous drawings
whieh illustrate the volume might be made for the
plU'poses of the present edition. This was a great
step gained, but with the aboye very reasonable
embargo laid upon the employment of the MS., the
result would have been but sma11, had it not been
for sueh an exertion of friendship and of literary
zeal on the part of M. d'Avezae ~ 1, for one, never
hope to nnd equalled in a11 my experienee. Seventy
winters had not suffieiently eooled the generous
blood of this venerable savant, the Humboldt of
Franee, to deter him from the improbus labor of
eol1ating the whole of the manuseript with the text
of Bergeron. This eo11ation, written minutely in
lines at distances of less than the ei~ hth of an ineh,
and in a hand so nrm and clear that 1 have never
had to doubt the meaning of a single stroke, is a
curiosity of C<.' tligraphy. The neatness of the writing
is snggestive of the earefulness of the eollation.
Cireumstances, which from motiyes of deJicacy 1
refrain from describing, gave to this laborious aet of
kindness to myself a eharaeter of the noblest gene­rosity.
The Hakluyt Society has only to do with
the result, and their thanks are dne to M. d'Avezae
for the opportlmity of issuing an edition of Bethen­court
freed from the modifications of the aneient
edition; but 1 may be forgiven if 1 avail myself of
the opportunity to say that the friendship talis
tantique vil'i is one of the events in my Jife of which
1 have the greatest reason to be prond.
Nor is this colIation ulI for which 1 have to thank
IXTRODGCTIOX. xlvü
M. d'Avezac. No item of informatioll has he left
unexamined 01' l. U1descríbed for my guidance, and all
the fol1owing facts are from his peno
The mauuscrípt in l\ 1adame de Mont Ruffet's pos­session
is in a volume thirty centimetres high and
twenty broad, bound in wood, with a dark tawny
gauffered cover. It has leather clasps with stamped
brass clips, and there are four protruding bands at
the back. Under the one cover are two works. l.
The Bethencourt l\ f. 2. A copy of a book ( so says
the explicit) withont date, printed for Antoine Verard,
and of which the followíng is the very instructive
title ;-" C'est le livre de la compilacion faicte par
celluy qui point ne veult que gloire ne louenge len
1l1Y donne, pour son rude entendement et insuffisance,
etc." The Bethencourt l\ fS. consists of eighty- eight
leaves, the first forty- eight of which have in the fili­grane
a unicorn passant, placed across waterlines;
the. following forty have in the filigrane the well known
mark of the ox's head surmounted with a starred
flower between the homs. The handwl'iting, which
is unequal both as to carefulness and the distances
of the lines, seems in one hand from the beginning
down to the rest of leaf 83, where the text closes
with what Bergeron reads as 1425 ( the date of 1\ 1.
de Bethencourt's death), but which to l\ f. d'Avezac
has the appearance of 1422 ( mil cccc et xxij). After
which follow the words-" Ce t livre est a Jehan de
Bethencourt Escuier seigneur De bethellcourt." The
five fol1owing leaves, which are devoted to genea­logical
notices, are in different hand and of different
xlviii 1"' TRODUCTIO)/".
dates, but the first three pages appear to be in the
same hand as the body of the 1\ 1S., except that on
the third recto of leaf 85 there are interlinear and
marginal additions made latero The latest date
written by the first hand is the 2nd September,
1482, the date of the birth of the fourth child of
J ean IV de Bethencourt; at the birth of the fifth
child, on the 12th September, 14 5, the ink is no
longer the same, and the writing, though perhaps
by the same hand, showed signs of the lapse of a
considerable time. Similar shades of difference be­tween
the fifth and the sixth, and again between
the sixth and the seventh, and still more between
the seventh and the eighth. From this ci. rcumstance,
of all the first four entries of birth being in one
hand, and that the same as the body of the 1\ 1S.,
1\ 1. d'Avezac concludes that the MS. was executed,
01' at any rate finished, as far as the recto of leaf 85,
at a date very little later than the 2nd September,
1482, when the head ofthe family was Jean IV, son
of Regnault and nephew of J ean In, the congueror
of the Canaries. Without detailing the intervening
genealogical entries, it will suffice to state that the
most recent addition is a marginal note on the recto
of Ieaf 85, but undated, which mentions Galien de
Bethencomt, Councillor of the Parliament of Rouen,
who was possesRor of the MS. when Bergeron had it
placed in his hands somewhat befare 1630. The
distribution of the chapters in the original M . does
not agree with that adopted by Bergeron, who,
moreovel', has altered the headings of many of them.
xli,'
11. d'Avezac, with the considerate purpo e of giving
me as the editor the most perfect acquaintance
with the differences between the original MS. and
Bergeron's edition, has supplied me with a most
painstaking and elaborate detail of all the specialities
of the former. 1 cannot speak too gratefully of
the con cientiousnes which, with this object in
view, inspired the execlltion of so great an amollnt
of hard work, rendered charming by that zealous
interest in minute details wbich could only come from,
01' be appreciated by, a genuine antiquary. 1 do not
however think it needful to lay before the reader
more tban a summary of that which was thus fully
written for roy own enlightenment.
In the original M . there occurred, at place~
where no headings 01' titles were supplied, " coupures"
01' divisions in the chapters, a if suggestive of new
cbapters being there intended. The rubricated titles
in the original were of the same period as the body
ofthe MS., although, like the illuminated capitals, in­serted
subsequently, and often in spaces insufficientIy
lal'ge. These titles are numbered up to Chapter L in­clusive,
but the numbering is evidently a later addi­tion,
probably by Galien de Bethencourt, whose hand­'
ivriting M. d'Avezac thinks he recognises therein.
But this brings me to speak of another manuscript
document connected with the edition prepared in
1625 by Galien de Bethencourt, but published on1y
in 1630 undel' the editorial care of Pierre Bergeron.
It is written on papel' folio size and covered with
parchment. It had pa sed in 1732 from the Coislin
e
1 INTnODUCTIO~.
Library ( olí- m, Seg- ueriana) to that of Sto Germain
des Prés, whence it migrated at the Revolution to
the ational Library, where it bears the No. 1 629
among the French MSS. 1t is a series of notes and
accessory pieces, which Bergeron appears to have
thought useless, as he says nothing of them; four­teen
pieces of verse in Latin, French, and Greek,
addressed generally " nobilissimo clarissimoque Viro
Domino de Bethencourt, Senatus Rothomagensis
Consiliario Regio," and beginning with a sextuple
acrostic on the theme « Galenus Bethencurtius," in
twenty verses, each of which repeat six times his
initialletter, « Grande Genus Graio Generate Galene
Galerio," and so on. Pro tota operis votiva dedica. ­tione
Exachrosticon ( síc). The author of most of
these pieces is D. D. Petrus Quevilly, Rector of the
church of Le BORguérard.
After the twelve leaves devoted to this poetical
garland, formerly so much in fashion, follow ave
leaves, bearing above the left border the title,
" Suitte des chapitres de l'Histoire." And here is an
important point to notice: Bergeron, altering the
original series of chapters and their titles after his
own ideas, numbered them up to 93, while Galien
de Bethencourt in this document makes them t..' l1ly
with the original l\ IS., and, continuing the numbers
( interrupted at No. 50 in the 1\ 1 .), reaches a tot..' ll
of only 87 numbered chapters. He does not fail,
however, to take scrupulous account ofthe « coupures,"
sorne of which Bergeron had entirely di regarded.
The result is, that chapters 52, 56, 63, 74, 76, O,
I~ Tl: ODU() TIO. '. li
84 of Bergeron, are in the 118. 52, 55, 61, ' 71, 72,
76, SO, each in two parts, of which the first only bears
a number, and thus chapter 93 of Bergeron is chapter
87 and last of the M8. In cOillpliance with a
suggestion of 11. d'Avezac, however, 1 have paid
regard to every " coupure" in the original M8.,
restored the titles to their original form and place,
as supplied to me by him, and, in the few places
where titles were wanting, have supplied them in
the concisest form possible, enclosing them in brackets
to prevent any mistake as to their origino The
fol1owing table will show the mutual corl'espondence
in the numel'ation of the chapters adopted respec­tively
by M. d'Avezac, Bergeron, and Galien de
Bethencourt, A standing for the first, B for ihe
second, and G fol' the third. It must be premised
that an thl'ee are in unison with respect to chapters
5 to 51 inclusive. These chapters therefore are
omitted. With Bergeron's edition in hand, it is
hoped that the bibliographel', who takes an interest
in the matter, will be enabled by the table clearly
to recognise the modifications in each case.
A. B. G. A. B., G. A. B. G. A. B. G.
1 la 61 61 59 74 74 7la 8785 80b
2 1b+ 2a 62 62 60 i5 75 ilb 8 86 81
3 2 b + 3 63 63 61 a 76 76a 72 a 89 87 82
4 4 64 64 61 77 76 b 72b 90 88 83
52 52 52a 65 65 62 78 77 73 91 89 84
53 53 52 b 66 66 63 79 78 74 92 90 85
54 54 58 67 67 64 80 79 7.' 5 93 91 86a
55 5.5 54 68 68 65 81 80a 76a 94 92 86b
56 56 55a 69 69 66 82 80b 76b 95 93a 87a
57 57 55 b 70 70 67 83 81 77 96 93b 87b
5R 58 1 56 71 71 68 84 82 78 97 93c 87e
59 59 57 72 72 69 85 83 79
no 60 58 73 73 70 86 84 80a
lii L ' TlWDVCnO.-.
The collation of the text which M. d'Avezac has
made does not profess to be literal, but only verbal;
and, although in the first instance he had not
anticipated that our Society would care to print the
foreign text concurrently with the English version,
1 was happy to find that, in spite of the ahsence of
absolute literal revision, the plan met with his strong
approval. Speaking of the orthography of the ori­ginal,
he says, " It is ve1' Y variable, and often faulty.
1' 0 meet the requirements of some hypercritical philo­logists,
it would be requisite to reproduce the MS.
scrupulously with all its varieties and orthographical
er1' 01' 8. 1 do not share that opinion, and think it
wiser to hold a uniform orthography, derived from
the most frequent and best established examples in
the M .; although for the proper names 1 would
retain exactly the different spellings employed." lu
conforming practicall'y to these suggestions, 1 have
not simply acted from deference to 1\ 1. d'Avezac, but
from entire concurrence with his judgment.
And he1' e 1 may reasonably be asked why this manu­script,
executed in 1482,01' thereabouts, should be de­scribed
as original, when the events recorded took place
nearly sixty years earlie1'. It must be granted that
the expression should be used in a modified sense.
This MS. is the earliest faiJ · tI'Ctnscript of the original
rough draft of the nar1' ative of Bethencourt's chap­lains.
It may well be conceived that that rough
draft, precious indeed as it would be if it could be
found, having been drawn up in the actual course of
the expeditioll, and consequently tlllder circumstances
rXTTIODUCTlOX. 1iii
the most unfavourable, would exhibit but little of
the symmetry, beauty, and dignity, which we should
look for in a monumental record of a great achieve­mento
\ Ve may also venture on a shrewd guess
that Regnault de Bethencourt, the successor of the
conqueror, who had been left an impoverished Ín­heritance
as the consequence of his brother's un­merited
jealousy and revenge, would have but little
heart, and perhaps le s means, for the indulgence of
the dilettante pleasure of having a costly copy made
of the record of that brother's conquest. Bnt when
his son J ean [ sans terresJ, fourth of the name, born
in 1432, after long legal processes, recovered the
domains of which his father had been deprived, it
becomes easy to understand that he recol1ected that
his unele was a. conqueror and a king, and that he
would take a pride in the execution of this artistic
monument to the family glory, which should be an
heirloom and at the same time a register of the
births of the legitimate inheritors of the he1' o's name.
Furthermore, this 1\ 18. is the one which, in due
time de cendi. ng to Galien de Bethencourt, formed
the basi of the edition which he prepared in 1625,
and which appeared in print under the editonlhip of
Bergeron in 1630. It is on these grounds that 1
have cal1ed it the original 1\ 18. It is handsomely
illuminated with elaborate initial letters, with the
arms of Bethencourt and with 85 iIlustrative draw­ings,
61 on a red, and 24 on a grey, ground. Per­mission
being granted by Madame de Mont Ruffet
to have two of these photographed for this edition,
liv l~ TRODUCTlOÁT.
1\ 1. d'Avezac judiciously selected the one exhibiting
the arms of Bethencourt, and a drawing on which
were represented the banners of Bethencourt and
Gadifer de la Salle, the latter of which bears a cross.
1\ 1. d'Avezac has taken considerable pains to dis­cover
the colours of the arms of the La Salles, but
m vam. It may be mentioned that, although it was
at La Rochelle that Gadifer de la Salle joined Bethen­court's
expedition, the name is connected with more
than one Norman locality, a fact which suggests a
facility of introduction between the two adventurers.
And now a word as to the title of the work.
Bergeron, losing sight of what is said in the original
introduction, 01', as he calls it, " The Author's Pre­face,"
in which occurs the expression " Et pour ce
est ce livre nOllimé le Canarien," made up a title
after his own fashion; but Galien de Bethencomt,
in his 1\ 1S. of 1625, drew one up more in conformity
with the primary intention. It is that which the
reader will find preceding the text, and a tran lation
of which has been adopted for the title of the presellt
edition.
1 must not close without recording the Society's
indebtedness to the Right Hon. Sir David Dundas for
his kindness in lending me his very handsome copy of
Bergeron's edition to work from; a copy which has
the rare advantage of containing the portrait of
Bethencourt, a woodcut copy of which is given as a
frontispiece to the present work. There i no warranty
for the authenticity of the portrait. The best argu­ments
in fhvom of the supposition that it may have
INTRODUOTlON. Iv
heen derived from a genuine original are the following.
1. The conqueror survived his return froro the Canaries
to Norrnandy nineteen years. 2. The distinction
which he had earned for himself, as one who was to
live in the mÍnds ofrnen, wou1d suggest the desirab1e­ness
of a portrait of sorne kind. 3. The engraved
portrait was issued with the sanction of Galien de
Bethencourt, the hereditary possessor of the farnily
documents. 4. It exhibits a rernarkable distortion
in the 1eft eye which, if unwarranted by a prototype,
would be a needless defect, very unlike1y to be
fancifulLy inserted in the portrait of an otherwise
handsome mano
\ R'I" ( H
~ IO.' SEIGl'EUR LE BARO. DE BETHI:. · co ' RT,
üF GRAL · YILI. E LA rEI. · rURIJ.. RE
E • CAt:, ' •
•
•
A TIIOR', PREFACE.
L'AS:\ IGCII fli'l, through bearing the great adventure , bold
deeJ.', and fair e. · ploit. of tbo e who in former time uniler­took
voyages to conquer the heathen in the hope of con­verting
them to the Chri, tian faith, many knights have
taken heart and sought to imitate them in their good
deed , to the end that by e chewing aH vice, and following
virtue, they might gain everlasting life; in like manner did
J ean de Betbencourt, knight, born in the kingdom of
France, undertake tbis voyage, for the honour of God and
the maintenance and advaneement of our faitb, to certain
i ' lands in the south called the Canary Jslands, which are
inhabited by unbelievers of various habit and languages.
Of the e the Great Canary is one of the best, largest,
and mo t amply supplied with men, provisions, and every­thing
el e. For thi rea on this book is called the Canarian
Pon~ CE qu'il est vray que maints cheualiers en oüant retraire
le grands auanture., le va¡ llances, et les biaux faits de ceux
qui au temps pa é ont entreprius de faire les vo, rages et les
conqueste ur mescreans, en esperance de les tourner et connerlir
ala foy Chrestienne, ont prins camr hardiment, et volenté de les
re embler en leurs bien faicts, et afin d'euiter tous vice, et e ' h'e
vertueux, et que a la fin de leurs iom's pui sent acquerir vie
pcrmanable; Jean de Bethencourt, Cheualier, lié du Royaume de
France, cut entreprins ce voyage al'honlieur de Dieu, et au sous­tenement
et accroi ;; ement de nostre foy, és parties ~ feridiennei'l,
en certaincs 1 le qui sont sur celle bende, qui se dicnt les Isles
de Canare, habitéc de gen me crean' de diuer es loix et de
diucrs langages, dont la grand' Canare e:, t vne de' meillenres, et
de.' plu principales et mieux peuplée de gens et de viureR, et de
tontes autres ello es; pour ce e. t ce linre nommé le Canarien.
IJ
ii
<.: e .
2 .\ UTITOR'S PREFACE.
book; and in it, if so it please G0( 1, wil! be found things
which in time to come wiU be thought very remarkable.
1Ve, Brother Pierre Bontier, monk of St. Jouin de Marnes,
and Jcan le Verrier, pricst, servants of tbe aforcsaid do
Bethencourt, have begun to sot down in writing most of
what happened to him at the outset, and also the form of
his government, which we had the opportunity of being
thoroughly acquainted with, from the time of his leaving
the kingdom of France until his arrival at the ü:: lands on thc
19th day of April, 1406.1
Thenccforward the description has pas ed into the hands
of others, who will carry it to the condusion of his conque t;
and may God, "\ Vho sees and knows a11 things, grant, of
Ris holy graoe, to those who sha11 loyally persist tberein,
knowledge, understanding, strength, and power to complete
the conquest and bring it to a happy end, so that it may be
a good example to aH thoso who, from devotion, have tbo
courage and the wiU to employ their bodily energies for
tLe maintenance and exaltation of the CatLolic faith.
anquel, s'il plaist a Dieu, on trouucra au tcmps atluenir de bien
estranges ehoses en escrito Et nous Frere Pierre Bontier, moine
do 8ainct Jouin de Marnes, & Jean le ,," erríer, prestre, ot serui­teurs
du dit de Bethencourt de sus nommé, auons commencé a
mettre en escrit le plus des choses gui luy sont auueuucs ason
commcncement, & aussi la maniere de son gouuernement, dont
nous pouuons auoir eu vraye connoissance des ce gui se partit uu
Royaume de France, iusques au 19 iour cl'Auril, 1406, que le dit
J3ethcncourt ast UlTiué és Isles do par rle{': 1; et la en auant est
venue l'escriture en autres mains, qui la poursuiuront iusques a
la fin de sa conqueste: & Dieu, qui tous voit & tout cognoist,
veueille par sa sainete grace donner a ceu: s: qui loyaument s'y
sout maintcnus & maintifmdront, sens, entendcment, force, &
puissance de parfaire la conqucste, & mencr a bonne fin, en
maniere que ce soit b6 exemple atous ceux, qui par c1euotion ont
courage & vonlenté c1' employer leur corps & lenr chenance au
. onstenement & a I'cxnltntion de la foy Catholillnc.
1 This appcars to be a mistake, for in chapter 4: 3 Betbencourt is 8.' tid
to first reach tbe h; lancl oI Lancerote in the month of J uly.
HISTORY
OF TIlE
('" PTER l- How l\ lonscigneur de Bcthencourt ¡; t out from Grain­villc,
ami wcnt to La Rochelle, and thence tú Spain, aud what
befel him.
Ir was the cusíom in old times to record in writing the
deeds of chivalry and marveIlou: s feats of the valiant con­querors
of former uays" as is een in our ancient histol'ies.
", ye here propose to peak of the enterpri e undertakon by
the , ienr de Bethencourt, che, alier and baron, born in the
kingdom of France in ... y ormandy, who set out from hi ..
hon e of GrainviIle la Teinturiere en Canx, and carne to
1 oeheIle, and there feH in with Gadifer de la • ale, a good
and worthy knight, who was then starting on his ad. entures,
In a eom'er " ation between them, 110n eignenr de Bethen-
[ CnAPITRE I. J- Comme MOllseiglleur de Befltellcourt se ) Jflrtit d,
, Grailluile, el ¡¡' en alla ( ¿ la Rocltelle, et de lrl el/, Espai! Jlle.
Vn temp jadis souJoit- on mettre en escrit les bonnes Cheua1eries,
ot les e tranges cho5es que les vailIans conquereurs souIoient
faire au temps pa sé, ain i qu'on trouue és anciennes histoirelS;
YouIon nous icy faire mention de I'entreprÍJ e que Bethencourt,
Cheualier et Baron, né du Royaume de France en ... T ormandic,
lequel Bethencourt se partit do son hostel de Grainuille la
Taineturiere en CauIx, et s'en . int a la RocheIle, et 111 trouua
Gadifer de la ale, vu bon et houue te Cheualier, lequel alIoit a
. on aduautures, et out parole entre le dit Bethencourt et Gadifer,
et luy demanda ~ Ion eigneur de Bethencourt quelle part il
n 2
HISTORY OF THE COXQUEST
court asked Gadifer what he thought of doingj and when the
Jattcr replicd thab he was going to seek hi fortune, : llon­seig-
ueur de Bethencourt ~ aid that he wa , ery glad to have
met with him, and, de cribing to him hi · owu intended
enterpri e, a. ked Gadifer if it would be agreeable to him
to joiu him in it. Gadifer wa rejoiced to hear of the pro­posed
expeditiou, Rud many courteous ,," ords pa~ ed bo­tween
the two which it would be tedious hero to repeat.
Accordingly, on the fir t of : llay, 11O~, Iouseigueur
do Bethencourt, with : Me ser Gaaifer and aH hi retinue, set
sail from La Rochelle for tho lands of Canary, to ce and
explore a11 the country, with the new of couquering tho
i land , and bringing the people to the Chritian faith. They
had a very good hip, well provided with men, victual, and
e, erything requi ite for thcir voyage. They had intendeu
to makc for BeUe Isle, but at the Isle de Ré ther met with
a foul wiud, and con equentIy teered a. course for pain,
and arrived at the port of '\ inere' ( Yivero in GalIicia),
" hero ~ Ion eigneur de Bethencourt and hi. company.- tared
vouloit tirer, et le dit Gudifer di oit qu'il alloit : l son aduanture,
adone l\ Ion. eigneur de Betheneourt Iuy dit qu'iI c, toit fort
ioyeux de l'auoir trouué, et luS demanda s'illuy plai oit de venir
en a eompagnie, en eOlltant au dit Gadifer on entreprin. e, et
tant que ledit Gaaifer fut tout joyeux de l'ouir parler, et de
l'cntreprin e qui cstoit faiete par ledit de Betheneourt. TI S eut
trop moult de belle paroles entre eux deux, qui. trop longues
seroient a rlleontcr. Adone e partit Mon eigneur de Bethen­court
et _ J: essire Gadifcr, et toute on armée de la. Rochelle, le
premier iour de May, mil quatre cen et deux, pour ,- enir é
partie de Canare, pour . oir et vi iter tout le pa. S · , en e ' perance
de conquerir le i les, et meltre le Q'Cns a la. foy Chre'tienne,
ayee trc bon nauire, et ufIbamment garny de "' en et de
vitaille~, et de toute le ehose qui leur c, toient n ce' aire pour
lenr vOJ age, et deuoient tenir le c1JCmin de Belle- I,. l , mili · au
pa ' ser de l'i: le de Ré, il' curent yent eontrairc, et a 1 re erent
lpur yoyo en E. p[\ O'ue, et a¡' riverellt au port de Viuie ' e', et la
demcllra Mon " eigneur do llethencourt et ~ a compagnie huit
I ~"
ClP TRE CA..' 1ARIES. 5
eight day~. There was a great deal of disagreement betwecu
. everal of the ship" compauy, so that the voyage was in
great ri k of coming to nothing, but the Sieur de Bethencourt
and : Me ser Gadifer succeeded in quieting them.
CHAPTER II.- How Bethencourt and his army arri. ed at Comnna and
there found tbe Ear1 of Crauford and the Lord de He1y.
Thence the Sieur de Bethencourt, .. llesser Gadifer de la Saje
and the other noble, carne to la CoulOgne ( Corunna), where
they found a Scotti h earl, the Lord de Hely, Messer Rasse
de Renty, and many other , with their rebuue.
Here ~ lon'eigneur de Bethencourt landed, and went to
the to,,' Il, where he had sorne bU'iness to do, and found
that they were tripping muny of the fittings from a ship
which had be~ n captured- we do not know from whom.
'\ V" hen Bethencourt saw tbis, be begged tbe earl that he
might be allowed to take from the ship anything which
míght be of ervíce to hím, and tbe earl gave him Ieave,
iours, et y eut grand discord entre plusienrs gens de la compagnie,
tant que le voyage fut en grand danger d'e tre rompu, mais
ledit eig. de Betheneourt, et Messire Gadifer le rappaisserent.
[ ClL\. PITRE rr. J- Comme Bethencollrt et son a,' mée arri¡; erent d la
Coulong¡¡ e et t,' ou¡; ercnt le Comte de Crafort et le Sire de Hely.
Adone . e partjt de la le ieur Betbencourt, auec lny Messire
Gadifer de la ale, et autres Gentil- bome , et vinclrent a la
Conlogne, et y tronnerent vn Comte d'Eseo e, le ire de Hely,
le.. - ire Rasse de Renty et pIu ieurs autres auee leur armée. Si
de - eendit Mon - eÍ! meur de Betbeneonrt aterre, et alla. ala. ville
ou il anoit a be onguer, et trouua. qu'il deCai oient vne nef de
rI~' ieurs habillemen qu ils auoient prin e, nous ne s~ auons sur
quío Quand Betbeneourt vid ceIa, il pria le Comte qu'il peu t
prcmlre de la nef aueunes eho e qui leur e · tojent neee ' suirel!, ct
mSTORY OF THE CO. · Qr; E~ T
whereupon Bethencourt went to the ship, aud cau<. ed an
anchor and a boat to be taken and brought to hi o" n. e ' « el.
' When, ho" e. er, the Lord de Rely anu hi companion'
became L" are of thi they murmured and " ere di, plea ' ed,
: md ) fe<~ el' Ra~ e de Renty went to them, and told them
that the Lord de B ely did not at aH appro. e of their taking
either the boat 01' the anchor.
Bethencourt an wered that it " a done with the .. anction
of the Earl of Crauford, ana that they " oula not re - tore
them. \ Vhen the Lora de ReIy hearll thi an " el', he
came to Monseigneur ae B thencourt, ana tola him that
he mu t brillg back, 01' cau e to be brought back, what
he hall taken from the hip, but he still replied that he
had done it by leave of tha earl, and many high " ords
ensued, "\ Vhereupon, : Mon ieur de Bethencourt aia tú the
Lord de ReIy, ({ Take your boat and anchor in God' name,
and be off." ~ ay, so plea' e you, ano " ered the Lord de
ReIy, 1 hall do nothing of the ort, buí 1 in i t on their
beiug brought back to- dar, 01' 1 - hall take other tep~.
Bothencourt and Gadifer replied, te Take thom if JOu " ill,
le Comte lUJ oetroya, et Betheneourt ' en alla en la nef, fit
prúndro , ne : mere et > D batel, e le fit ameuer a a nef. fni .
quand le ci!:" Ileur de ReIy et ~ e eompagnon. le eeurent il ·
n'en fur nt mie conten., et leur en de pleu ; et nnt e:: iro
Ra_ e de Renty . ers eux, et 1 ur di qu'i! ne plai. oi mie nu
ire de Rely qu'i!- eu_ eut le b tel. ne ranere. Betheneour
leur re. pondit que c'e~ toit par I , olonté da Comte de Craforde,
et qu'il n le rendroyent point: ouyo leur rc: pon. e, le iro do
Rely nnt vers Mon eiCJ'neur do Betheneourt, eí luy dit qu'il
ramena t ou fi. t ramener c qu'il Luoit prin do leur nef, e i!
luy re: ponuit qu'il auoit fait PL l' le conCJ'é da Comte. i y eut
de "' ro:. e' paroles . ez. nand : Mon. ieur de Bethencourt vid
celn, il dit nu ieur de Hel:-, prenez b td et nuere de par Dien,
et vou en allez. Pui' qu ' i! , ou' pI. i. t, re poudit le ire de
Helr, ce ne feray- je mie, ainehoi' le' y felL y mener aujourd huy,
OH i'y poul'uoiray autrcmellt: r pomJit ledit BethoDeourt et
J
~..
OE TRl: CA. ARIES. 7
for we have sO! Dothing eIse to do." As he said this,
Betbeneourt was on tbe point of sailing, ana was about
to llit hi anchors and Ieave the porto In fact immediately
afterwards he set ai!.
' Yhen they aw this, they manned a boat ana followed
after Bethencourt, but carne only within speakillg distance,
: md much was said whieh wouId be tedious to relate.
Howevcr, they reeeived no other an wer than what wa'
given at the first, and o they were fain to returo.
IL\ PTER III.- How .10n ieur de lletheneourt was aecused by the
Genoese. Placentian, and Englísh merchante.
~ ronsicur de Bctl1encourt and his company then proceeded
on thcir , oyage, and aftcr rounding Cape Finisterre,
followca tho coast of Portugal as far as Cape Sto Vincont,
and then ehanged their cour" e and made fol' Soville. At
Cadiz, which is neal' the trait of Marocco, they remained a
Gadifer, prenez les si vous voulez, cal' nous auons autre chose a
faire. Ledit Betbencourt estoit suron partir et vouloit leuer
les ancre et soy tirer hors du port, et incontinent se partít.
Qvant jI virent cela, ils armereut VDe galiotte et vindrent apres
ledit Bethencourt, mais ils n'approcheret point plus prés, fors
qu'on parla a eux, et y eut as ez de paroles qui trop longues
seroyent a raeonter. TIs n'eurent onc autre chose, ne autre
rc_ pon, e, que aio i la premiere estoit, et s'en retournerent a tant.
[ CHAPITRE IlI.]- Comme MOIl$ ieur de Eelhencourlfut aceusé pai' les
marchands Generoú;, Plesantill$, et AII~ wis.
Et ~ lon ieur de Bethencourt et a compagnie prindrent leul'
chemin, ot quand il' eurent doublé le Cap de Fine- terre, ils
niuirent la co tierc de Portugal, iU- 11ues au Cap de S. , incent,
pui rcployer nt e tindrcnt le ehemin de iuille, et arriuereut
n port de Cali', qni e t a z pré' du de troit de Marroe, el il.
HISTORY OF TllE CONQUE ' T
long time. Rere de Bethencourt was detained; for the
Gcnoese, Placentian, and English merchant re ídent at
~ cviHe, who had lo t their goods at sea, although by
whose hand they knew not, brought accu atíon again t
him and his before the King's Council, to the effect that
they eould recover none of their goods, for they said that
he and his crew were robbers, and had sunk three hip,
and taken and pillaged aH the content .
Bethencourt landed and went to Port t. Mary's, to
lcarn what had happened, and was there made prisoner
and taken to Seville; but when the King's Councíl had
spoken to him, and he had made his reply, they begged
him to let the matter rest, and that no more hould be aid
about it at present, and o the: i set him at liberty. Whilst he
wa at Seville, some of the ailors, actuated by evil motive, o
díscouraged a11 the company, by saying that they had too
little food, ana that they were being brought out to die,
that, out of eighty people only fifty- three remained.
Bethencourt returned to the ship, and with this smal1
y sejournerCt longuemet. Et fut ledit de Bethcncourt empcsché;
cal' les marchands demourans en euille, qu auoient perdu le
leur sur la mer, que l'on nc ~ t; auoit parqui, c'e t a . cauoÍr le'
Janevoi , Plesantins, et les Angloi, les accu erent tellement
ue. ers le Conseil du Roy, qu'ils ne peuvent rien recouurer, en
di ant qu'ils e'toient 1' OOOU1' 8, et qu'ils auoient affandré troi
nauÍre , et prin et pillé ce qui estoit dednns.
Si de cendit Bethencourt aterre, et aUa a . Marie du Port,
pour scauoÍr que c'e toit, si fut prins et mene en iuille: mai'
quaud le Con ' eil du Roy eut parlé a luy, et il leur cut fait
re ' pon. e, ils luy prierent que la chose demoura:; t ain i, et qu'il
n'en fust plus parlé quant a. pre ent, et le deliurcrent tout au
plain, et luye tant en Siuille, les mariniers men' de mauuai
couragc de couragerent tellement toute la c6paO'nie, en di ant
qu'il' auoiét peu de nures, et qu'on les menoit mourir, que de
( ltUltrC vingt per,' onnes n ' en demoura. quc cinquantc troi,. Bcthen­eoU1'
t s'cu rcvint cn la llCr, et llUce ain · i peu dc gen.. qui leur en
OF THE CA, TARJE • 9
residue continued his voyage J in which those who remained
with him and had not consented to the evil doings of Berthin
de BerneuaP suffered much poverty, trouble, and labour in
a variety of way , a you will hereafter hear.
ILI. PTER IV.- How tbey leít Spain and arrived at tbe lilland oí
Lancerote.
o they left the port of Cadíz and put out to sea. For
three days they were becalmed and made no progress.
The weather then cleared, and in five days they carne to the
i ' Iand ofGraciosa. They embarked at the island ofLancerote,
and Mon ieur de Bethencourt went inland and made
great efforts to capture sorne of the people of Canary,
but without success, for as yet he díd not know tho
country: o he returned to Port J oyeuse without doing any­thing
more.
demourerent prindrent leur voyage, auquel eeux: qui sont de­mourez
auee Betheneourt, et n'ont mie voulu consentir aux:
mauuai faiets de Berthin de Berneual, ont souifert mouIt de
llaunreté, de peine, et de trauail en pIn ieurs manieres, ainsi que
vous orrez ey apreso
[ CIJAPIIRE IV.]- Comme ils se partirent d'Espagne, el amuerenl en
lille Lancelol.
Et apres se partirent dn Port de Calix, et se mirent en haute
mer, et furent trois iours en bonasse, san auaneer leur ehemin
. e peu non, et puis s'addre>; a le temps, et furent en cinq ioura
an port de l'lf, le Gratieu e, et de cendirent en 1' 1.1e Laneelot, et
entra Ion ienr de Betheneourt par le pays, et mit grande
diliO'ence de prendre de gens de Canare, mai il ne peut, cal' il
ne tyl\ noit mie encore le pays; si retonrna an port de Ioyense
sans antre chose faire. Et lors : Mon ieur de Bethenconrt de-l
The author' · thou" hts cm so íull oí thi man's villainy that he
illln rinc him already p ' nt, e( l to the rcader who will, howcver, be­l'
lile bdter ncquaillteJ ", ith hiUl íllrther on.
10 HISTORí OF THE cO. TQn;~ T
1. de Betbeneourt tben a: kcd ) 1c.'. el' Gadifer de 1 ' ale
und tbe otber noble wbat tbey reeommended to be done;
and it was determinod thnt thoy bould form them eh- c
into companie' und pread tbcm: e1vc' 0,' 01' tbo country, and
not 1cave unti1 tbey bad found .. ome of tbe nati, e, Pre­.
ently . ome were pereei, ed coming down from tbe moun­tains.
Tbe e came forwll. rd, and m de an arrangement with
) 1. de Betbencourt tbat tbe King of tbe country hon1d
bold a conference with bim in tbe prc.' ence of Gadifer and
se, eral otber noble. The King accordingly carne and did
homage to Bcthoneourt and hi campan)', a a. friend, not a.'
a. ubjeet, and tbey promi ed to hilll and bi protection from
aH tbo o who lllight seek to harm them. But tbi prollli o
wa not kept, a. you sball more fully hear hereafter.
Tho Saracen King und 11. de Betbencourt continued on
fl'iendly torms, and the lCur de Bethencourt bad a ca tlo
bui1t tbero namod Rubicon. There Y. de Betbencourt 10ft
no part of hi · eompany, and a. i appeared to bim tbat ano
named B rthin do Borneual wa n man of energy, he en-manda
a .1 - ire Gadifer de 1 ale, eL aux autre "' étilhamme,
qn'il Ieur e. toi • duis de filire; fut adui é qu'il" prendroient de'
compagnon", et . e reme troient au pays, et n'en partiroien
in. que a t: mt qu'il eu',' ent trouné de "' ens j e tan t en fut
trouué qni dc. · cendirent des montaO'ne., et " indren par deuer
eux, et appointerent que lo Roy da pays " iendroit parler aM. de
Bctbencourt, en la pre: ence de Gadifer et plu'icur" autr .
Gcntilhomme , ct se nut ledít R<> y en robe' nce dudit B th ll­conr
ot do la compagnie, commo ami , non mie comme ' nbiet ,
et Ieur promit- on qn'on le g- ardoroit a l'encantro de tout c u
qui lenI' voudroient mal faire. Mai- on ne leur a mie bien tero
conuenant, ain,- i comme " on' arrez plu a plain cy apre declaré.
Et tiomourereut ledit Roy Sarro, in e ~ r. de Bethencourt a'aecor 1,
ot fit fa. ire le <. lit ieur de Bothcneourt " n cha. stcl, qui ' appeUe
Rubicoll. Et L i,' sa ~ L de Bethencaurt '\" De par ie de , a com­p,
g- nic ! jemblant auJit de Bcthcllconrt qn'nn nomlllé Berlhin de
BcrncHll e" toit homuw de houlle dili!! t'llce, et Iu ' hailla tout le
OF THE CL~ ARIES. 11
trusted to hiro the government of hi people and of tha
country; while he himself and Gadifer de la Salle, with tba
rest of tbe company, passod over to the island of Erbanie
clliled Forte. entura.
CIIAPTER Y.- Ilow Aonsieur de Bethencourt, by the adrice of Gadifer
de la. aBe, lcft the isla. ud of Lancerote to go to the isIaud of
Erbauie called Forteveutura.
Soon afterwards ~ Ionsieur de Bethencourt advised with
Gudifer that an expedition should go to tbe i land of Forte­ventura
by Digbt, and accordingly it was done. Gadifer
and Remouet de Le. odan, with a company, pushed on as
far as tbey could until they carne to a mountain where
was a fresh running spring. Here they mude great
ofrort to find their enemies, and were much vexed that
they could Dot fall in with tbero. These latter, bowever,
lIad witbdrawn to the further end of the country, as soon
a they had seen tbe ships arrive in the port. Gadifer and
gouuernement de es gens et du pays: puis passa ledit de
Bethencourt et Gadifer de la Sale auee le surplus de sadite
eompagnie, en n,' le d'Albainie nommée Forte- Aduantnre.
CHAPITllE V.- Commen! MOllsieur de B, dhel2coud se parlit de l'I81e
Lancelof, l'ollr aZler en l'L le d'Erbane, nommée Porte . t1ualltlLI'e,
pal' le consei1 de Gadifer de la Salle.
Et tant< lst apres Monsieur de Betheneourt print eonseil de
Gadifer qu'on iroit de nniet en ladite Isle de Forte- Adnanture,
et ain. i fut fait, le dit Gadifer et Remouet de Leuedan a t< lut
vne partie des eompagnons y atIerent tout le plus auant qu'ils
peuvent, e in~ que a vne monta! nle, la OU est vne fantaine vine
et coumnte eí mirent grande peine et grande diliO'ence d'eneon­trer
len ennemi., bien marri" qu'ils ne le penvent trouuer;
mai . ' e~ toient le. di ennemis retrait en l'autre bunt dn pay1' l,
Ul: adaue ( lu'iI vireut 1 rriner la nauires an port, et uemcnra.
12 HTSl'ORY OF THE CO. TQUEST
hi company stayed there eight days, and wero then
obliged to return for want of bread to the port of Lobos.
Tbe knights then held a council, and determined that
tbey would go by land along the shol'e to a rivel' called the
Vien de Palme, and encamp at its mouth j that the ship
should haul in as close as possible, and send them their
pl'ovisions on shore, and that they would fortify themselves
at that point, aIld Ilot leave until the country Rhould be
conquel'ed and the inhabitants brought to the Catholic faith.
(; llAPTER YL- llow the mariners refused Gadifer admission on board of
bis own ship.
Robin le Brument, ma ter marinar of a ship which Gadifer
affirmed to be his, would neither tarry nor receive either
Gadifer 01' rus companions on board, but agreed, on condi­tion
of receiving ho tages, to pass them over to the isIand
of Lancerote; otherwise they would be Ieft behind without
ledit Gadifcr, ct la compagnie huict iours, tallt qu'illeur conuint
rctourner, par faute de pain, au port de Louppes, et puis priu­drent
lcsdits Cheualiers conseil ensemble, et ordonnerent qu'ils
s'en iroient par terre au long du pays iasques a vne riuiere
nommée la Vien de Palme, et se logerent sur le bout d'icelle
riuiere; et que la nef se retrairoit tout le plus prcs qu'elle
pourroit, et leur descendroient leurs viures aterre, et la se
fortifieroient, et n'en partiroient iusques a tant que le pays
seroit conquis, et mis les habitaus ala foy Catholique.
UUAPITRE VI. - Oomlne les 7naronniers refuserent Gadifer do la
nefmesmes.
Robín le Brument maístre marinier d'vne nef que lcdit Gadífer
disoit auoir, ne vouloit plus demeurer ne rccueillír Gadifer et ses
compagnons, et conuint qu'ils eussent ostages pour les repasser
cn 1' islc Lancclot, ou autl'cmcnt ils fusscnt demourcz par dcla
HOW THE :' IARL'F: R. REFlJ ED GADIFER .- 1.0' 11. 10' n,'
BOARD Of HIS O\\' •. HIP.
OF TUE CANARlES. 13
any provisionsj and Robín Brument and Vincent Cerent sent
word by Colin Brument} a brother of the former} to say that
Gadirer and his companions sbould not cowe on board with
more men than they had in the sLip; and so tbey took
Gadifer and his bastard son Hannibal as hostages on board
the ship's boat, the former being in g- reat heavincss of
heart at finding himself in snch a state of subjection that
he \ Vas deharred from the use of his own property.
CJIAPTER VII.- How Monsieur de Bethencourt went away to pain,
and left ) Iessire Gadifer in charge of the islands.
Then 1fonsieur de Bcthencourt and Gadifcr retnrned to tllO
eastle of Rubicon} and while tbey were there many of tbe
seamen who were very evilly inclined showed impatience to
get away. Therefore the Sienr de Bcthencourt, by the advice
of Gadifer and many other nobles} resolved to go with tba
said seamen to satisfy their requirements, and to return as
Roon as might be possible with fresh men and victnals.
sans viures nuls, et firent dire Robin Brument, et Vineent
Cerent, par Colin Brument son f¡' ere a. Gadifer, que luy et ses
compagnós n'entroiét point plus forts qu'eux en la nef, et les
rapasserent an bastel de la nef en laquelle i1 entra lny et Hannibal
son bastard en grád douleur de eoour de ce qu'il estoit en telle
subieetion, qn'il ne se pouuoit aider du sien propre.
CIlAPlTRE VIL- Comme1lt MOllsieur de lJethellcourt s'en alla en
E. pagne, et lai< lsa Messire Gadifer, ti q1L' il donna le c7wrge
des Isles.
Adone Monsieur de Bethencourt, et Gadifer reuindrent an ehastel
de Rubicon, et quand il furcnt la, les maronniers pensans grand
mauuaistié se ha · terent moult d'eux en aller. Si ordonne ledit
Sieur de Betheneourt par le conseil dudit Gadifer, et de plusieurs
autres gcntibhommes, qu'il s'en iroit auee lesdit¡; maronniers,
pour les venir 5ecourir aleurs neces. ¡ tez, et que le plutost qu'il
pourroit rellícudroit, et ameneroit aUCllllS refrnichi.' sCll1C'nts de
HISTORY OF THE CO.' QL'EST
They then desired the earnen to put on shore al! the
provl IOn that wero in tbe hip excopt tbo e nece•. ary
for their homeward voyage, And tbey did o, but no
witbout doing as much damage a thay could botb to tbo
artillery and otber things which would afterwards have been
of great servico.
Mon ieur de Betbencourt now left the part of Rubicon
with tbe . carnen, and came to the other ond of the i · land
of Lancarote, and there remained. He then sent to Rubicon
for ~ lessiro Jcan le Verrier the prie t, who was his chap­lain,
to whom ho said many things in confidence, as wen a
to ono Jean lo Oourtois, to who: se chargo he committed aH
mattors which might affect bis hononr and profit, and ho
onjoined on them to look wen to evorrthing that had to be
done, and tbat tbey two should be united as brotbers, anu
always maintain peace and harmony among the rest; for
his own part ho assured tbem that he should make evory
effort to return as soon as possible. Dethoncourt thon took
gens et de viure. Puis parlerent aux maronniers, que le'
yiures qui ont au nauire fw; sent de ccndu' aten'c, excepté eeu ­<¡
ui leur auoit be: soin pour leur retour. Et ain. · i rut faít, ia<; oit
que ] esdit · maronniers en demus. erent ] e p] u qu'il-' pellvent, et
d'artillerie ot d'autres cho es qui leur eust esté dopui . bon be · oin.
Et so partit Monsiellr de Bethenoollrt du port de Rubieon,
auec les maronniers en son nanire, ct s'en vindrent en 1' autre
bont de ]' 1 · le Lanoelot, et la demourerent. Ledit ieur de
Betheneonrt enuoya querir a Rubicon le · sire Jean le Verrier
PI'estre, et chapellain dn dit eigneur a qui il dit plusieurs
choses do segret, et a VD nommé Jean lo Courtois, auquel il
bailla aueunes charges, qui po~ oient toucher son honneur et
profit, ot luy onchargea qu'il print bien garde en toutes ehoses
qu'ils verroiont qu'il seroit do faire, et qu'ils fussent enx denx
comIDo frercs, en gardant toniours paix ot vnion en la compagnie,
ct que le plutost qu'il pourroit il feroit diligenco do retourner.
Et adone lodit Botheneourt print eongé de Messire Gadifer et do
OF THE CA.' AmF. S. 15
leave of Messire Gauifer [ lnu of al! tbe company, and de­parted
anO. returned to Spain.
AnO. here we will digress, in order to speak of tbe doings
of Berthin de Berne, al, a native of Caux in Normandy and
a nobleman of name and renown in arms, in whom the said
lord had placed great confidence, and who, as 1 said before,
had been selected byhim and " Messer Gadifer as lieutenant anO.
governor of the island of Lancerote and of the company.
Tbis Berthin did al! thc harm that he could, and acted very
t1' easonably, as you sha11 hea1' more fully set fo1' th.
CHAPTER YIIL- lIow Berthín de Berneval began hís malieíous doín",.
agaínst Gadífer.
It may be judged what evil designs Be1' thin de Berneval
had conceived in his heart, from the fact tbat when he joined
l\ Ionseigneu1' de Bethencou1' t at la Rochelle, he began to
attach to himself partizans, and to make aUies of a great
toute sa compagnie, et se partit ledit Sieur et cinglerent tant
qn'ils vindrét en Espagne. Cy laissons uparler de ceste maticre,
et parlerons du fait de Berthin de Bemeual, natif de Caux en
Normandie, et gentil- homme de nom et d'armes, auque! le< 1it
Sieur se fioit fort, et auoit este eslue de luy et de Messirc
Ga< 1ifer, comme i'ay deuant dit, lieutenant et gouucrneur de
I'isle Lácelot et de la compagnie; et ledit Berthin tout le pis
qu'il peut faire, il le fit, ee des grandes trahisons, comme vous
orrez plus a plain declaré.
CHAPITRE VIII.- CuI/ I/ ILellt Bel'tltin de Bemeual commeU/; a ses
malices al'encontre de Gadifer.
Afin qu'on s<; ache que Berthin de Bemeual auoit pie<; a mauuaistié
machinée en son courage, il est vray que quand il fut venu
dcucrs ~ Ionsieur de Bethencourt a la Rochelle, il commen~ a a
soy 1' uUier des compagnon~, il fit les allianccs aucc plusiellrs
lo HISTORY OF ' rUE CONQCEST
number ofpcople; and shortly after, througL him, there arOee
in the ship a grcat dis en ion between the Ga._ eons and tbe
Torman , and truth to say, thi BertLin did not at a11like
fe ire Gadifer, and ought to do him de pite by ever)'
means in hi power. And it went o far that, while Gadifer
wa putting on his armour in his eabin, with the intention
of going to appease the disorder among the seamen, wbo
had retreated to tbe ship's foreea tIc, they hurlcd at bim
two darts, one of whieh passed between him and Hannibal,
who \ Vas helping him on with hi armour, and stuck into a
cbe t. Some of the seamen had gone up into the top unu
had darts and iron bars a11 reudy to throw at us, and it was
only with much troubla that tha tumult was appeaseu.
Prom that time eommenced plots and dissen ions amollgst
the crew, which grew to such an extent that, before
tha ship left Spain to sail to the Canary Islands, they
had 10st a good two hundred of their able t mcn, This
subsequently proved a grcat misehief in many ways, fol' if
they only had ramained loyal, Bethencourt \ Vould already
gents; et , n peu apres par luy fut commencée VIlO grande dis­sension
en la nef entre les Gascons et ...' ormand , et de nay leJit
Berthin n'aimoit point: Me ire Gadifer, et eherehoit a. luy faire
tout le plus de de plai ir qu'il pouuoit. Et tant aduint que
Gadifer s'armoit en la chambre pour vouloir appaiser le debat
d'entre eux mariniers qui s'e toyent reh'ni nu eha tc1 de deuant
en Indite nef, iI:' ietterent audit Gndifor deux dardes, dont I'vne
passa par entre luy et Hannibnl, qui lny aidoit a soy armer en a
chambre, et s'attaeha en vn eofi're, et cstoient auenns des
maronnier montez au ehastel du mnst, et auoient darde et
barres de fer toutes pre te ponr ieHer sur nou., et en mou1t
grand peino fut rapaisée eeste noise, et de la en auant eom­meneOl'ent
bendes et dissfmsion les vn contro les autres. En
telle maniere, quo deuant que la nof partist d'Espagne, pour
trauerser és Isles de Canare, ils perdirent bien deux ecnts
hommc des micux aparliez qui y fussent, dequoy 011 a eu tlepuili
grand .' ouffr'ctte par plusieurs fois. Cal' i'l'ils eu. i'lOllt c. té lo:" anlx,
OF THE CANARIES. 17
have been lord of the Canary IsIands, 01' of the greater part
of them.
CHAPTER IX.- IIow Gadifer, who bad confidence in Bertbin, sellt him
to speak to the captain oí a sbip.
Shortly after the departure of ~ ronsieur de Bethencourt
from Rubicon, although he had laid his injunctions on
Berthin de BernevaI to do his duty in aH things reasonable,
and, like the rest, to obey l. fessire Gadifer, whom Monsieur
de Bethencourt had made his associate, looking upon him
as a good knight and aman of judgment, there arose great
quarreIs and dissensions between these two, as yoa shaH
presently hear. Monsieur de Bethencourt was now gone to
Spain, and Gaairer, who put more trust in Berthin de
Berne\' al than in any other, sent him across to a ship which
had recently arrived at the port of Lobos. Berthin thought
that it was the ship Tajamar, with whose captain, Fer-ledit
Bethencourt fnst ores Seigneur des isles de Canare, ou de
la plus grande partie d'eIles.
CHAPITRE IX.- Oommellt Gadifer qni auoitfimtce aBerlín, Z'enuoya
parler avn patran d'¡; ne ne!
Et apres que Monsieur de Bethencourt fut party de Rubicou, et
qu'il eut commandé aBerthin de Berneual qu'il fist son deuoir
en tout ce qu'iI est de raison de faire, et qu'iI obeist a1YIessire
Gadifer, et tous les gents dudit Sieur de Bethencourt; cal' bIon­siear
de Bethencourt teuoit Messire Gadifer pour vo ban cheualier
et sage; et estoit du bien de Messire Gadifer qu'i! s'estoit boutté
en la compagnje de j\ fonseigneur de Bethencourl; jayoit que
dedans vn pou de temps apres jI y eust de grands disscnsions et
de grands noises entre eux deux, eomme vous orrez ey- apres;
01' est parti 1fonsieur de Bethencourt de Rubicon, et est aIlé en
Espagne, et Gadifer qui auoit plus rle fianee a Berthin de
Bernenal qu'en nul autre, le transmit vers une nef qui estoit
C
] 8 HISTORY OF THE CONQtTE T
nando d'Ordoñez, he was intimatelyacquainted. It proved not
to be that ship, but another, named MoreHa, of which Fran­cisco
Calvo had command. To him Berthin proposed,
through one of the crew, named Ximenes, and in the pre­sence
of some others, that they should take him and thirty
of the ship's company with them, and so they would capture
forty of the best of the natives of the island of Lancerote.
But they would not consent to such great wickedness;
and Francisco Calvo said that it did not beseem Berthin
to propose such a thing, and that, please God, they would
never be so disloyaI to good kníghts Iike 1fonsieur de
Bethencourt and Messire Gadifer as to deprive them of the few
men who remained to them, 01' to take by force those whom
Bethencourt und aU his people had assured of security and
placed under their protection, in good hopes of seeing them
baptized and bl'ought iuto oul' faith.
aniuée au port de l'isle de Laupes, et cuidoit que ce fut la nef
Tranchemar, de laquelle FCl'rant d'Ordongnes en estoit maistre,
auquel il cuidoit auoir grande accointance; mais ce n'cstoit elle
mie, ains estoit vne autre nef qui s'appelloit la nef Morelle, de
laquelle Francisque Calue auoit le gauvernement, et parla Berthin,
ou fit parler a vn des eompagnons de la nef, quí s'appelloit
Simene, en la presence d'aueuns autres qu'ils l'emena serent
auee eux; et trente des eompagnons de la nef, et qu'il prendroit
quaráte hommes des meilleurs qui fussent en l'isle Lancelot.
Mais ils ne se voulurent mye consentir a celJe grande mauu: ustié;
et leur dit Francisque Calue qu'il n'appartenoit mye a Berthin,
et que ja a Dieu ne pleust qu'ils fissent vne telle desloyauté a
tels et si bons cheualiers comme estoient Monsieur de Bethencourt
et Messire Gadifer, de les desgarnir ainsi d'vn pou de gens que
demeuré leur estoit; et aussi de prendre ct rauir eeux que lec1it
Bethencourt et toutes ses gens auoíent asseurez et mis en leur
sauuegarde, le quels auoient bonne esperance d'estre baptisez et
mis en nostre foy.
OF THE CANARlES.
CHAPTER X.- How Berthin deceived his own confederates.
19
Soon after this, Berthin, still cherishing treachery In
his heart, sounded aH those whom he thougbt to be
as evilly disposed as himself, by holding out vague hopes
of something that sbould be fol' their own welfare, advance­ment,
and honoul'. He then suggested to them, under an
oath of secrecy, that Bethencoul't and Gadifer ought to
send Remonnet de Leneden and himself with a certain sum
of money in the first ship that sailed for France, and that
meanwhile their companions should be portioned out amongst
the islands till their return. He thus won over certain
Gascons j to wit, Pierre de Liens, Augerot de Montignac,
Siort