Conquest of La Palma and Tenerife (Canary Islands), 1492-1495



After the conquest of La Gomera in 1488, the Castilian Lordship of the Canary Islands included Lanzarote, Hierro, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and La Gomera.
In 1492 Alfonso Fernandez de Lugo was charged, by the Catholic Majesties, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, with the conquest of La Palma and Tenerife. He landed an expedition on la Palma Sept. 29th 1492. Most native princes submitted voluntarily; by May 3rd 1493 the island was pacified.
Tenerife, divided in 9 Guanche kingdoms, was conquered 1494-1495; the Spanish lost the Battle of the Gorge of Acentejo on May 31st 1494 - and about 900 men; they won the Battle of la Laguna Nov. 14th. In 1495 the plague struck the island and particularly afflicted the native Guanche population. The Spanish conquest was accomplished by Dec. 25th 1495.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Tenerife, from about Tenerife
History of la Palma, from Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on March 10th 2004, last revised on November 16th 2004

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