Alonso Fernández de Lugo
Encyclopedia
Javier Alonso Luis Fernández de Lugo (died 1525) was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 military man, conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...

, city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 founder, and administrator. He conquered the islands of La Palma
La Palma
La Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...

 (1492–1493) and Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...

 (1494–1496) for the Castilian Crown
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

; they were the last of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

 to be conquered by Europeans. He was also the founder of the towns of San Cristóbal de La Laguna
San Cristóbal de la Laguna
San Cristóbal de La Laguna is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands . The city is third-most populous city of the archipelago and second-most populous city of the island. It is a suburban area of the...

 and Santa Cruz de La Palma
Santa Cruz de La Palma
Santa Cruz de la Palma is located on the eastern part of the island of La Palma in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz de la Palma is the second largest city and is the capital of the island...

. One biographer has written that his personality was a “terrible mixture of cruelty and ambition or greed, on one part, and on the other a great capacity and sense for imposing order and government on conquered lands,” a trait found in the conquistadors of the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

.

Early life

Fernández de Lugo was born in Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Sanlúcar de Barrameda is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located on the left bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River opposite the Doñana National Park, 52 km from the provincial capital Cádiz and...

, in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, though his family was of Galician origin; his relatives, as his surname indicates, originated in the city of Lugo
Lugo
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 97,635 in 2010, which makes is the fourth most populated city in Galicia.-Population:...

 and other Galician locales.

Nothing much is known of his youth. He enlisted in the navy and ended up achieving the rank of Adelantado
Adelantado
Adelantado was a military title held by some Spanish conquistadores of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.Adelantados were granted directly by the Monarch the right to become governors and justices of a specific region, which they charged with conquering, in exchange for funding and organizing the...

 and Captain General of the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

n coasts. In 1478, he participated in the conquest of Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, with a population of 838,397 which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago...

 under the command of Juan Rejón
Juan Rejón
Juan Rejón was an Aragonese captain in the service of the Castilian navy, who was appointed by the Catholic Monarchs to participate in the conquest of the Canary Islands. Rejón founded the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria....

. Later, he fought alongside Pedro de Vera, Rejón's successor as governor of Gran Canaria, who conferred on him command of the castle of Agaete
Agaete
Agaete is a municipality of Las Palmas province, on the Canary Islands, Spain. It is in the northwest of Gran Canaria island, enclosed by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Gáldar to the northeast, and Artenara to the south...

 on the island of Gran Canaria.

Conquest of La Palma

He returned to Spain to solicit financial aid from the Crown to conquer Tenerife and La Palma. He was named governor of La Palma and granted 700,000 maravedis with the condition that he conquer the island within a year.

The conquest of La Palma began on September 29, 1492, when Fernández de Lugo landed on the beaches of Tazacorte
Tazacorte
Tazacorte is a municipality situated on the western coast of the island of La Palma. La Palma forms part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which is in the Canary Islands...

. He encountered fierce resistance from some Guanches
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...

 chiefs there. However, the menceys, or Guanche kings, of La Palma surrendered in April 1493, with the exception of Tanausu
Tanausu
Tanausu was the Guanche ruler of Aceró, on the island of La Palma , whose defeat by the Castilians marked the final conquest of that island. The island of Tenerife, conquered in 1495, was the last of the Canary Islands to fall under European control...

, who ruled the area known as Acero (Caldera de Taburiente).

However, Tanausu was ambushed and captured in May 1493 after agreeing to a truce arranged by Fernández de Lugo and Juan de Palma, a Guanche who had converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 and who was a relative of Tanausu. The conquest of La Palma was completed on May 3, 1493. He left the administration of La Palma in the hands of his nephew Juan, and planned the conquest of Tenerife.

Conquest of Tenerife

During the conquest of Tenerife, he suffered a severe defeat at the First Battle of Acentejo
First Battle of Acentejo
The First Battle of Acentejo took place on the island of Tenerife between the Guanches and an alliance of Spaniards, other Europeans, and associated natives , on May 31, 1494, during the Spanish conquest of this island...

 (May 31, 1494). At the First Battle of Acentejo, Fernández de Lugo, though wounded, had been able to escape with his life only by exchanging the red cape of an Adelantado for that of a common soldier. An additional detail from that battle, however, was that a rock thrown at Fernández de Lugo's head by a Guanche resulted in his losing most of his teeth.

By October 1495, he had gathered together a second, larger army, and received assistance from the Duke of Medina Sidonia and other nobles. Humiliated and cautious after the First Battle of Acentejo, which had been disastrous for the Spaniards, Fernández de Lugo had advanced gradually across the island, building and rebuilding forts. The expedition, which Lugo had funded with the sale of all of his properties, had landed at Añazo, where he built two towers on the spot where he had constructed his first fort before his prior defeat. He had more experienced troops under his command -these included 1,000 foot soldiers, veterans of the conquest of Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

, lent to him by the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Fernández de Lugo also had the support of Ferdinand and Isabella, who had given him ten more months to complete his conquest of the Canaries. During this time of regrouping, he also captured many slaves in the area. With this better-planned military strategy, he achieved victory over the Guanches of Tenerife at the Battle of Aguere
Battle of Aguere
The Battle of Aguere, or Battle of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, was fought between forces of the Crown of Castile, led by the Adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo, and the natives of Tenerife, called Guanches. The battle took place November 14–15, 1494.Fernández de Lugo had suffered defeat by...

 (November 14–15, 1494) and the Second Battle of Acentejo
Second Battle of Acentejo
The Second Battle of Acentejo was a battle that took place on December 25, 1494, between the invading Spanish forces and the natives of the island of Tenerife, known as Guanches...

 (December 25, 1494).

After the Conquest

He was named governor and chief justice of both Tenerife and La Palma, Captain General of the coast of Africa. He was named Adelantado on January 12, 1503, a title confirmed again by Charles I of Spain, in Barcelona, on August 17, 1519. It was an inherited title. The current Rightful Successor of the title "Adelantado of the Canary Islands Tenerife and La Palma, Captain General of the coast of Africa" is Felix Alberto Lugo III. Fernández de Lugo was given extensive powers over these islands, since he had been financially responsible for their conquest. On La Palma, he had control over the distribution of land and water. Though he preferred to live on Tenerife, Fernández de Lugo reserved the rich area of Los Sauces
Los Sauces
Los Sauces is a Chilean town and commune in the Malleco Province, Araucanía Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Los Sauces spans an area of and has 7,581 inhabitants . Of these, 3,638 lived in urban areas and 3,943 in rural areas...

 on La Palma, north of the island's capital, for himself. His nephew and lieutenant received La Caldera in 1502.

His rule as adelantado was characterized by extreme despotism
Despotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy...

 and harsh rule, and he treated the defeated Guanches like spoils of war. Legally, Guanches were regarded as being at the same level of Moors –in other words, enemies of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

- and he sold many of them into slavery. His treatment of his defeated subjects was so harsh that Ferdinand and Isabella intervened, requesting that the governor of Gran Canaria, Sánchez de Valenzuela, free some of the Guanches who had been enslaved by his counterpart in Tenerife.

On both islands, he exercised civil and criminal jurisdiction and the right to appoint and dismiss judicial deputies, and also had control over the disposition of slaves and inhabitants' entry and exit from the islands. Fernández de Lugo also introduced measures to limit the sale of land to create a permanent base of settlers.

He oversaw extension immigration to Tenerife and La Palma during a short period from the late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, and immigrants included Castilians
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...

, Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Italians
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Catalans
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Basques, and Flemings
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

 and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians.

On Tenerife, he founded the town of San Cristóbal de La Laguna. La Plaza del Adelantado and Calle Adelantado, in this town, are named after him. A local legend states that upon the death of one of his sons in the town, Fernández de Lugo ordered that the street of La Carrera be made twisted rather than straight so that he would not have to see the site of his son's death from his residence.

On La Palma, he founded the town of Santa Cruz de La Palma (at first called Villa del Apurión) on May 3, 1493.

On July 21, 1509 he had transferred his titles and rights of the African coast, acquired in 1499, to his son, Pedro Fernández de Lugo
Pedro Fernández de Lugo
Pedro Fernández de Lugo was the second adelantado of the Canary Islands and governor of Tenerife and La Palma, a title confirmed again by Charles I of Spain, in Barcelona, on August 17, 1519. It was an inherited title...

, who later participated in expeditions to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...

.

He is buried in the Cathedral of La Laguna
Cathedral of La Laguna
The Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna or Catedral de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios is a Catholic cathedral in Tenerife, Spain. Begun in 1904 and completed in 1915, it is dedicated to the Virgin of Los Remedios...

.

Alonso Fernández de Lugo appeared on a 1961 postal stamp for the Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara
Spanish Sahara was the name used for the modern territory of Western Sahara when it was ruled as a territory by Spain between 1884 and 1975...

.


List of Adelantados of The Canary Islands

  1. D. Alonso Fernández de Lugo
  2. D. Pedro Fernández de Lugo
  3. D. Alonso Luís Fernández de Lugo
  4. D. Alonso Luís Fernández de Lugo (also known as the Lindo)
  5. Dña. Porcia Magdalena Fernández de Lugo y Marín
  6. D. Antonio Alonso Luís de Leiva Fernández de Lugo
  7. Dña. Francisca de Fuentes Guzmán y Lugo
  8. D. Juan Alonso Claros de Guzmán y Lugo
  9. D. José Fernández de Lugo y Fuentes
  10. D. José Francisco Alonso Luís Fernández de Córdoba Mendoza y Lugo
  11. D. Manuel Alonso Fernández de Córdoba Mendoza y Lugo
  12. Dña. Manuela Fernández de Córdoba Pimentel y Lugo
  13. Dña. María de los Ángeles del Rosario Fernández de Córdoba y Lugo
  14. Fernando Rafael de Cabrera Pérez. Marqués de Villaseca
  15. Juan Bautista de Cabrera y Bermoy Lugo y Pérez de Saavedra. Marqués de Villaseca
  16. D. Fernando de Cabrera y Fernández de Córdoba Lugo y Bermoy
  17. D. Felix Alberto Lugo III, Rightful current successor of the title "Adelantado of the Canary Islands Tenerife and La Palma, Captain General of the coast of Africa" as confirmed by Emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain) as an inherited title on August 17, 1519 in Barcelona.

Sources

Lugo Family: Javier Alonso Luis Fernández de Lugo
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