Jean de Béthencourt
Encyclopedia
Jean de Béthencourt (1362–1425) was a French
explorer who, in 1402, led an expedition to the Canary Islands
, landing first on the north side of Lanzarote
. From there, he conquered for Castile
the islands of Fuerteventura
( 1405 ) and Hierro, ousting their local chieftains (majos and bimbaches ancient peoples).
Béthencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands but he recognized King Henry III of Castile
, who had provided aid during the conquest, as his overlord.
Jean de Béthencourt was born in Grainville-la-Teinturière
. To finance his expedition, in December 1401 he sold his house in Paris
, valued at 200 gold francs, and some other small pieces of property. His uncle, Robert de Braquemont, loaned him 5,000 pounds (to which he later added another 2,000).
Béthencourt set sail from La Rochelle
on 1 May 1402, with 280 men, mostly Gascon
and Norman
adventurers, including two Franciscan
priests (Pierre Bontier and Jean le Verrier, who narrated the expedition in Le Canarien) and two Guanches
who had been captured in an earlier Castilian expedition and were already baptised.
In 1402 Jean de Béthencourt conquered Lanzarote
, the northernmost inhabited island. While Gadifer de la Salle
explored the archipelago, Béthencourt left for Cádiz
, where he acquired reinforcements at the Castilian
court. At this time a power struggle had broken out on the island between Gadifer and Berthin, another officer. Local leaders were drawn into the conflict and scores of Spaniards and islanders died in what was to become a bloodbath of the first months of Béthencourt's absence. During this crisis, Gadifer managed to conquer Fuerteventura
, and to explore other islands. It was only with the return of Béthencourt in 1404 that peace was restored to the troubled island. De la Salle and Béthencourt founded the city of Betancuria
(as capital of the island of Fuerteventura) in 1404.
Years later, Bethencourt was defeated by the aboriginals of the island of Gran Canaria (canarios), in the battle of Arguineguin, at south of the island, getting the title of Great.
Examples include former Colombian president Belisario Betancur
, former Venezuela
n president Rómulo Betancourt
, and Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancurt
, a saint
of the Roman Catholic Church
. Other modern notables in recent news are Venezuelan baseball player Rafael Betancourt
, Azorean
(Portuguese
) born American
musician Nuno Bettencourt
, Colombian
-French
activist/politician Ingrid Betancourt
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
explorer who, in 1402, led an expedition to 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...
, landing first on the north side of Lanzarote
Lanzarote
Lanzarote , a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands...
. From there, he conquered for Castile
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...
the islands of Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura , a Spanish island, is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is situated at 28°20' north, 14°00' west. At 1,660 km² it is the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife...
( 1405 ) and Hierro, ousting their local chieftains (majos and bimbaches ancient peoples).
Béthencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands but he recognized King Henry III of Castile
Henry III of Castile
Henry III KG , sometimes known as Henry the Sufferer or Henry the Infirm , was the son of John I and Eleanor of Aragon, and succeeded him as King of the Castilian Crown in 1390....
, who had provided aid during the conquest, as his overlord.
Jean de Béthencourt was born in Grainville-la-Teinturière
Grainville-la-Teinturière
Grainville-la-Teinturière is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A farming and forestry village situated by the banks of the Durdent river in the Pays de Caux, some southwest of Dieppe, at the junction of the D71, the D75 and the...
. To finance his expedition, in December 1401 he sold his house in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, valued at 200 gold francs, and some other small pieces of property. His uncle, Robert de Braquemont, loaned him 5,000 pounds (to which he later added another 2,000).
Béthencourt set sail from La Rochelle
La Rochelle
La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...
on 1 May 1402, with 280 men, mostly Gascon
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
and Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
adventurers, including two Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
priests (Pierre Bontier and Jean le Verrier, who narrated the expedition in Le Canarien) and two 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...
who had been captured in an earlier Castilian expedition and were already baptised.
In 1402 Jean de Béthencourt conquered Lanzarote
Lanzarote
Lanzarote , a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands...
, the northernmost inhabited island. While Gadifer de la Salle
Gadifer de la Salle
Gadifer de La Salle was a French knight and crusader of Poitevine origin who, with Jean de Béthencourt, conquered and explored the Canary Islands for the Kingdom of Castile....
explored the archipelago, Béthencourt left for Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, where he acquired reinforcements at the Castilian
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...
court. At this time a power struggle had broken out on the island between Gadifer and Berthin, another officer. Local leaders were drawn into the conflict and scores of Spaniards and islanders died in what was to become a bloodbath of the first months of Béthencourt's absence. During this crisis, Gadifer managed to conquer Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura , a Spanish island, is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is situated at 28°20' north, 14°00' west. At 1,660 km² it is the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife...
, and to explore other islands. It was only with the return of Béthencourt in 1404 that peace was restored to the troubled island. De la Salle and Béthencourt founded the city of Betancuria
Betancuria
Betancuria is a Canarian municipality in the northern portion of the island of Fuerteventura in the Spanish province of Las Palmas, Canary Islands....
(as capital of the island of Fuerteventura) in 1404.
Years later, Bethencourt was defeated by the aboriginals of the island of Gran Canaria (canarios), in the battle of Arguineguin, at south of the island, getting the title of Great.
Béthencourt surname
To this day, Betancourt and other forms of his surname are quite frequent among Canary Islanders and people of Canary Islander descent, in spite of his death without issue, thanks to the practice of baptising the natives with his surname and to the offspring of his nephew Maciot de Béthencourt who succeeded him as lord of the islands.Examples include former Colombian president Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur
Belisario Betancur Cuartas is a Colombian statesman, who as a member of the Colombian Conservative Party was President of Colombia from 1982 to 1986.- Biographic data :...
, former Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n president Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello , known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was President of Venezuela from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Accion Democratica, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century...
, and Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancurt
Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancurt
Brother Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur Brother Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur Brother Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur (March 21, 1626 (Tenerife)—April 25, 1667 (Antigua Guatemala), called Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt or more simply Hermano Pedro, Santo Hermano Pedro, or San Pedro de Vilaflor,...
, a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. Other modern notables in recent news are Venezuelan baseball player Rafael Betancourt
Rafael Betancourt
Rafael Jose Betancourt is a Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. He was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox in September 1999. The Red Sox released him following the 1999 season and then re-signed him as a free agent in December...
, Azorean
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
(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...
) born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician Nuno Bettencourt
Nuno Bettencourt
Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted"...
, Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
-French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
activist/politician Ingrid Betancourt
Íngrid Betancourt
Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio is a Colombian politician, former senator and anti-corruption activist.Betancourt was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on 23 February 2002 and was rescued by Colombian security forces six and a half years later on 2 July 2008...
.