Spaniards from Castile had established Las Palmas …

Years: 1479 - 1479

Spaniards from Castile had established Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Grand Canary Island, the largest of the seven tropical volcanic islands that make up the group.

Maciot de Béthencourt, a descendant of French explorer Jean de Béthencourt, who had received the title King of the Canary Islands from his liege lord, Henry III of Castile, had sold the lordship of Lanzarote to Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator in 1448, an action that had not been accepted by the natives nor by the Castilians.

Despite Pope Nicholas V ruling that the Canary Islands were under Portuguese control, a crisis swelled to a revolt which lasted until 1459 with the final expulsion of the Portuguese.

The treaty of Alcáçovas negotiated in 1479 settles disputes between Castile and Portugal over the control of the Atlantic, in which Castilian control of the Canary Islands is recognized but which also confirms Portuguese possession of the Azores, Madeira, the Cape Verde islands and gives them rights to lands discovered and to be discovered...and any other island which might be found and conquered from the Canary islands beyond toward Guinea.

Related Events

Filter results