Jean de Béthencourt

Jean de Béthencourt

Jean de Béthencourt (c. 1360 - 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 and Hierro, ousting their local guanche chieftains. 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.

To finance his expedition, in December 1401 Jean de Béthencourt had sold his house in Paris, valued at 200 gold francs, and some other small pieces of property. [http://web.meganet.net/bettenco/bett0007.htm Descendants of Jean de Bethencourt ] ] 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 May 1, 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 he 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 in 1404. Jean de Béthencourt converted to Islam while away from France, and married a West African women whom he took to France upon his return. [French Armies of the Hundred Years War, By David Nicolle, Angus McBride, pg. 40]

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, former Venezuelan 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, Portuguese-born American musician Nuno Bettencourt, Colombian-French activist/politician Ingrid Betancourt, heir of the L'Oréal company Liliane Bettencourt and her father André Bettencourt, famous nazi-collaborator during the war.

References

External links

* [http://www.lanzarote-guide.com/gui-eng/history.htm History of the Canaries ]
*es icon [http://elguanche.net/Ficheros/efemeridescanarias4.htm EFEMÉRIDES DE LA NACIÓN CANARIA: UNA HISTORIA RESUMIDA DE CANARIAS]


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  • Jean de Béthencourt — (* 1362 in Grainville la Teinturière, Normandie, Frankreich; † 1425 ebenda, kinderlos) war ein normannischer Adliger, der 1402 unter Heinrich III. die Eroberung der Kanarischen Inseln für Kastilien begann. Seitdem gehören die Kanaren politisch zu …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jean De Béthencourt — Jean de Béthencourt, né en 1362 à Grainville la Teinturière où il est mort en 1425, est un explorateur et conquérant français. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean de Bethencourt — Jean de Béthencourt Jean de Béthencourt Jean de Béthencourt, né en 1362 à Grainville la Teinturière où il est mort en 1425, est un explorateur et conquérant français. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean de béthencourt — Jean de Béthencourt, né en 1362 à Grainville la Teinturière où il est mort en 1425, est un explorateur et conquérant français. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean de Béthencourt — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Béthencourt (homonymie). Jean de Béthencourt Jean de Béthencourt, né en 1362 à Grainville la Teinturière où il est mort en …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bethencourt — Jean de Béthencourt Jean de Béthencourt (* 1362 in Grainville la Teinturière, Normandie, Frankreich; † 1425 ebenda, kinderlos) war ein normannischer Adliger, der 1402 unter Heinrich III. die Eroberung der Kanarischen Inseln für Kastilien begann.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bethencourt-sur-Somme — Béthencourt sur Somme Béthencourt sur Somme Pays …   Wikipédia en Français

  • BÉTHENCOURT (J. de) — BÉTHENCOURT JEAN DE (1360 env. 1425) Seigneur normand, chambellan de Charles VI, Jean de Béthencourt organisa en 1402 une expédition pour conquérir les îles Canaries; il vendit ou hypothéqua ses biens pour la financer et en partagea la… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Béthencourt — oder Bethencourt ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Jean de Béthencourt (1362–1425), normannischer Adliger João Bethencourt (1924–2006), brasilianischer Dramatiker, Regisseur, Theaterkritiker und Übersetzer Béthencourt ist die Bezeichnung… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jean Marc de Pas — Nacimiento 19 de diciembre de 1962 (48 años) Alta Normandía Nacionalidad …   Wikipedia Español

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