Canary Islands | Age of Exploration

The Canary Islands are a group of islands off the northwest coast of Africa that played an important role during the Age of Exploration. These islands were the first to be colonized by Europeans, and later became a stop for ships sailing to the New World.

Overview

The Canary Islands are a group of islands off the northwest coast of Africa colonized by Europeans in the 14th and 15th centuries. Claimed by Spain, the islands became a testing ground for European expansion, marked by the enslavement of native peoples, cultural destruction, and the establishment of sugar plantations supported by African slave labor. Their strategic location made them an important stop for transatlantic voyages, influencing patterns of colonization and the development of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Essential Facts

Also Known As: Fortunate Islands or Islands of the Blessed.
Key People: Pliny the Elder, Lancelotto Malocello, Niccoloso da Recco, and Bartolomé de Las Casas.
Part Of: Age of Exploration, Settlement of the Americas.
Significance: The Canary Islands are important to American History because of their role in the Age of Exploration. They were the first place to be colonized by Europeans and became an important stop for ships sailing to the New World.

Key Details

The Canary Islands are a group of islands off the northwest coast of Africa, which was referred to as the “Sea of Darkness.”
They are roughly 60 miles from Morocco.
Pliny the Elder included an account of a visit to the islands in one of his publications.
Italian navigator Lancelotto Malocello sailed to the islands in 1336.
Unlike the Azores and Madeira, the Canary Islands were inhabited when Europeans arrived.
In 1341, Niccoloso da Recco led a Portuguese expedition to the islands, capturing and enslaving some of the inhabitants.
Despite native resistance, Spain conquered the islands in the late 15th Century.
The Canary Islands were the first place to be colonized by Europeans.
Despite protests from Bartolomé de Las Casas, the islanders were enslaved, and the Canary Islands became part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

History

Legendary Islands

The Canary Islands are a group of seven islands off the northwest coast of Africa.

The islands closest to the African mainland are Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.
The other islands are Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Gomera, Palma, and Hierro.
Prior to the Age of Exploration, the region was referred to as the “Sea of Darkness.”
Some historians believe they are the legendary “Fortunate Islands” or “Islands of the Blessed” that were thought to be an earthly paradise.

Early Contact

Europeans had some knowledge of the islands since the time of Pliny the Elder. However, sustained contact with Europeans started in the late 13th or early 14th Century.

In 1336, Italian navigator Lancelotto Malocello sailed to the islands and named Lanzarote after himself.
Malocello returned to Lanzarote in 1365 and lived there for 20 years.
He was killed by the natives living on the islands, who are known as “Gaunches.”

AHC Notes

Pliny the Elder (c. 23 –79) was a Roman soldier, scientist, and author.
One of his publications included the account of an expedition to the Canary Islands that took place sometime between 29 BC and 20 AD.
The account included a description of plants that are native to the islands.
The first map of the Canary Islands, the Dulcert Map, was produced in 1339 by cartographer Angelino Dulcert.

Da Recco’s Expedition

In 1341, King Alfonso IV of Portugal sent a military expedition to the islands. It was led by Niccoloso da Recco, who recorded the journey.

De Recco described the islands as “uncultivated stony land, but full of goats and other beasts.” He described the inhabitants, who are known as “Gaunches,” as “naked men and women” who looked like “savages.”
De Recco referred to their speech, saying “their pronunciation rapid and animated like Italian.”
Four Gaunches swam to the Portuguese ships, where they were seized and enslaved.

AHC Notes

John Mercer, author of The Canary Islanders: Their Prehistory, Conquest, and Survival, described this as “the first recorded example of the trust and treachery henceforth to become commonplace in the Canaries.”
Mercer argues that the islanders were the first people to be “conquered and colonized by Europeans.”

The Gaunches

The Canary Islands were inhabited by people ethnically similar to the Berbers of North Africa.

They likely migrated from North Africa with domesticated goats, sheep, pigs, and dogs.
They also brought staple crops such as wheat and barley.

The Guanches developed hierarchical societies over centuries.

They had distinct ceramic traditions, religious beliefs, and worldviews.
On Gran Canaria, the largest island, Guanche society was highly complex.
The chiefs maintained power by distributing food stored in communal silos.

Early European Expansion

During the Age of Exploration, Mallorcans and Catalans started Christianizing and trading with the islanders.

In 1402, Enrique III of Castile authorized Jean de Bétancourt, a Norman, to conquer the islands.
Bétancourt succeeded in taking control of the smallest, least populated, and least productive islands.
By the 1430s, Spanish slave traders and gold hunters were interacting with the Guanches.

Conquest of the Canary Islands

In the 15th Century, the Spanish colonized the Canary Islands because they were a source of valuable resources, including goats and salt. The resources became more important when the Canaries served as a stop for the long transatlantic voyages to the New World during the Age of Exploration.

The Iberian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon were united in 1469 through the marriage of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
Although these kingdoms remained separate, they worked together and are collectively referred to as “Spain.”

Spain sent better-equipped and organized forces to conquer the larger Canary Islands.

The goal was to enslave the Guanches and force them to work on sugar plantations.
Spanish forces suffered heavy losses during their campaigns.

From 1478 to 1483, the Spanish carried out a campaign to conquer Gran Canaria.

The islanders resisted, and the Spanish persisted.
The Spanish believed the conquest was worth the high cost because of the value of the islands.
They also justified their actions by claiming they wanted to spread Christianity to the islands.

By 1496, Tenerife, the last of the Canary Islands, was successfully conquered by Spain.

AHC Notes

Prince Henry the Navigator, a Portuguese noble, showed a strong interest in the Canaries. He is also referred to as the “Father of the Age of Exploration.”
In 1492, Christopher Columbus made the Canary Islands his first stop on his First Voyage to the New World.

The Spanish-Guanche Conflict

Guanches and Spaniards used tactics similar to those later seen in the Americas during the Age of Exploration and the Colonial Era.

Islanders avoided direct battles and tried to exhaust Spanish forces.
The Spanish relied on superior weaponry, including swords, crossbows, and horses.
They exploited divisions among island communities to gain an advantage.
Many Guanches died due to the hostilities with the Spanish forces.

Impact of Spanish Colonization

After claiming the Canary Islands, the Spanish carried out widespread destruction, seized land, and enslaved the islanders.

Bartolomé de Las Casas spoke out against the treatment of these islanders and others in New Spain. Despite his protests, exploitation and harsh treatment continued. In 1480, captured islanders were shipped to Seville as slaves, establishing the slave trade in the Canary Islands.

Sugar cultivation and the slave trade became important to the economy of the islands.
Captive islanders were transported to Madeira and the Azores.
Captive Africans were imported to the Canary Islands and enslaved.
The population increased, but it consisted mostly of enslaved people and their masters.

Following the conquest, Genoese and Spanish merchants established sugar plantations in the Canary Islands.

Sugar production drove the colonization of tropical and semitropical Atlantic islands.
Over time, more profitable sugar plantations were established in the Caribbean.
Afterward, the Canary Islands became less important to Spanish colonization efforts.

Spain eventually shifted away from the Mercantile System and shifted to a model where colonies were intended to be more self-sufficient, rather than reliant on the “Mother Country.”

Spanish colonization involved complete conquest and the establishment of Spanish cultural and political institutions.
The Canary Islands remain a possession of Spain but have their own regional governments.

AP US History

The Canary Islands are part of the following units, topics, and chapters in the AP US History curriculum:

European Exploration in the Americas

Terms

The following terms and definitions related to the Canary Islands are relevant to the study and understanding of their role in American History.

Azores — The Azores are an archipelago of nine islands in the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Iberian Peninsula. During the Age of Exploration, they were an important stop on the westward voyage to the New World. The Azores were east of the Line of Demarcation and remained under Portugal’s control. Settled in the 1440s, their industries in wheat, dye-plants, linen, and fishing generated modest returns, while fertile soil made them self-sufficient.

Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) — A Genoese navigator and explorer who completed four transatlantic voyages between 1492 and 1504 under the sponsorship of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Seeking a westward route to Asia, he instead reached the Caribbean, initiating sustained contact between Europe (Old World) and the Americas (New World). His expeditions initiated European colonization but also led to the exploitation of native peoples. His accomplishments and actions have made him significant and controversial.

Genoa — Genoa is a coastal city in northwestern Italy that emerged as one of the leading maritime republics of the Mediterranean during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Its merchants and sailors played a central role in Mediterranean trade and early exploration. Genoa’s shipbuilding expertise and commercial networks helped finance expeditions, including those of Christopher Columbus, a native of the city, making it a significant contributor to the Age of Exploration.

Henry the Navigator — Henry was a Portuguese prince born in 1394 who played a major role in early European exploration during the 15th Century, and is referred to as the “Father of the Age of Exploration. He is often credited with founding a “school for navigators.” He sponsored numerous voyages into the “Sea of Darkness,” along the west coast of Africa, promoted advances in navigation and shipbuilding, and helped establish trading posts that linked Europe with African gold and slave markets. He helped build the foundation for Portugal’s Maritime Empire.

Bartolomé de Las Casas (c. 1487–1566) — A Spanish Dominican friar, he was an early advocate for the individual rights of native peoples who condemned the brutality of Spanish colonization in the Americas. His writings, especially The Destruction of the Indies (1542), exposed the violence of the Encomienda System and influenced the New Laws of 1542, which restricted enslavement.

Madeira — A Portuguese island colony in the Atlantic Ocean that became one of the earliest European plantation economies. Settled in the 15th Century, it developed extensive sugar production using terrace farming, irrigation canals called “levadas,” and enslaved workers. Madeira’s sugar exports dominated Europe until Brazilian competition and later vine blights led to its decline.

New Spain — A vast Spanish colonial territory established after Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521. It included Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Philippines. Formally organized as a viceroyalty in 1535, it served as the administrative, economic, and religious center of Spain’s empire in the Americas. Governed through royal officials, the Encomienda System, and the Catholic Church, New Spain became one of the wealthiest and most influential colonies in the New World.

Seville — The capital of Andalusia and a major commercial center of the Spanish Empire during the 16th and early 17th Centuries, holding a monopoly on the Indies trade through the Casa de Contratación. It attracted foreign merchants, experienced rapid population growth, and played a central role in Spain’s Golden Age before declining in the 17th Century.

Transatlantic Slave Trade — The forced transportation of millions of Africans to Europe and the Americas between the 15th and 17th Centuries. Initiated by Portuguese traders who were later joined by the English, Spanish, Dutch, and French, the trade supplied labor for colonial plantations in places like Brazil and New Spain. It expanded global commerce, devastated African societies, and laid the economic and racial foundations for slavery in the early American colonies.

Content for this article has been compiled and edited by American History Central Staff.