Battle of Aguere

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict= Battle of Aguere


caption=
partof=the Spanish Conquest of the Canary Islands
date=November 14, 1495 [Exact date disputed by historians]
place=La Matanza de Acentejo, Tenerife
result=Spanish victory
combatant1=Castile and Guanche and European allies
combatant2=Guanches of Tenerife
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2= |

The Battle of Aguere or the Battle of La Laguna is the name given to the battle that brought about the conquest of Tenerife by the Castilians sent by Alonso Fernández de Lugo, on November 14, 1495. Even though the exact date seems disputed by some historians, it is likely that it happened in the middle of November.

The battle occurred one year after the failure of Fernández de Lugo, the First Battle of Acentejo, also known as the Massacre of Acentejo, which was the greatest Spanish disaster during the conquest of the Canarian archipelago. The Battle of Aguere (an aborigine name that means "lake") can be considered as the first dispute of a battle that was settled later in a definitive form in Acentejo, known as the Second Battle of Acentejo (also known as the Victory of Acentejo), where many Guanche soliders and their captains perished. This was the last major point of the Guanche resistance against the Conquest of the Canary Islands on behalf of the Kingdom of Castile (although according to some historians it was Spain, after the taking of Granada by the Catholic monarchs).

Origins

The Battle of Aguere cannot be considered, according to some historians, as an isolated event, but that it must be studied within the historical context immediately before and after (the failed Castilian takeover of Acentjo and the Guanche surrender in Los Realejos) and inscribed in the period that extends from about the middle of the 14th century until the end of the 15th. Abreu y Galindo, J. de, Historia de la conquista de las siete islas de Canarias, en A. Cioranescu (ed) Goya ediciones, Tenerife, 1977 ]

To correctly analyse the battle's records, it is necessary to relate them with the historical epoch in which they fall:
*14th century: in June 1341, two boats sent by the King of Portugal reach the isles under the command of Niccoloso da Recco and Angiolino del Teggihia de Corbizzi. On their return, Boccaccio described the Guanche people, based on the data supplied by da Recco. Herbert Wendt, "Empezó en Babel", 1960]
*14th century: on the 7th November 1351, Pope Clemente VI creates the See of Telde in the Canarias as a territory to evangelise, with the following influx of religious Catholics.
*15th century: the Pope commissions the Normans to evangelise the Canarias, under the command of Jean de Betencourt. In 1400 organised military expeditions begin to conquest the archipelago. Peace treaties are signed in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, given by the conquered La Gomera and El Hierro without armed confrontations. Jean de Betencourt tries to conquer Gran Canaria and begins activities in La Palma and Tenerife, but, without agreement and military possibilities, he stops. Later, the Betencourts sell their rights of conquest to the islands to the Castilian crown. Castilian military expeditions start immediately. The first commnder, Guillén Peraza, dies in a battle in La Palma.
*1464: Diego de Herrera tries to penetrate Tenerife. He arrives at an agreement with the "tagoror" of Tenerife which allows him to establish himself in the island, Fernando de Párraga, "fechos de las ilhas de la grand canria y de tenerife" ] although some historians believe that until the death of Diego and the initiative of his son Sancho, there did not exist a stable Spanish settlement in Tenerife. Espinosa, A. Historia de Nuestra Señora de Candelaria, Goya ediciones, Tenerife ]
*1470: the Spanish are exiled from Tenerife. There are skirmishes in the three islands, above all in Gran Canaria.
*1481: Carta de Calatayud: a pact "between the monarchs of Spain and those of the Canaries", signed on the 30th May in Calatayud, by Tenesor Semidán, in the name of the monarchs of the Canaries, and Fernando II of Aragon, in the name of the monarchs of Spain. The pact consists of the incorporation of the Canaries into the Crown of Spain, in exchange for respect for political and social structures, cultural customs and the freedom of the Guanches. Mónica Acosta Betancor y Felipe Ros Brandon, "29 de abril-3 de mayo, Dos fechas y un mismo símbolo". 1999] *
*1482: rebel groups led by Guayarmina Semidán and Bentejuí take refuge in the peaks of Gran Canaria.
*1484: on the 29th April Guayarmina Semidán surrenders, while Bentejuí and the Faycan of Telde commit suicide by throwing themselves off a precipice. Small rebel groups spread amongst the peaks, in country houses that were hard to access by the Spaniards. In La Gomera, rebels led by Hautacuperche execute Hernán Peraza. Pedro de Vera travels to the island to suppress the rebellion and oppresses and enslaves the rebels. Abreu y Galindo, J. de, Historia de la conquista de las siete islas de Canarias, en A. Cioranescu (ed) Goya ediciones, Tenerife, 1977 ]
*1493: on the 29th September Alonso Fernández de Lugo arrives for the first time in the Canaries, disembarking in La Palma. He signs an peace agreement with the "benhaoritas" of Mayantigo, under the same conditions negotiated by Tenesor Semidán. Tigalate and Mazo also sign the agreement while those opposed to the pact, led by Tanausú, take refuge in the hills of Aceró.

Battle records

Alonso is named Adelantado

In 1493, Alonso Fernández de Lugo had asked for and obtained from the Catholic monarchs the title of "Adelantado" and a licence to explore and conquer Tenerife:

References