Jean de Béthencourt
Jean de Béthencourt
Jean de Béthencourt was a French explorer who, at the beginning of the 15th century, led an expedition which conquered the Canary Islands in the name of Castille.
Biography
Early Life
Jean was born in Grainville-la-Teinturière, Normandy, as the son of Jean III Béthencourt and Marie de Bracquemont. Grainville was demolished during the war between France and Navarre and Jean's father was killed in battle. Jean went to service of Duke Louis I of Anjou and became a squire. In 1387, he received a permission from the King of France to rebuild the castle in Grainville.
In 1390, Jean joined the Duke of Touraine in the so-called Barbary Crusade, a joint Franch-Genoese expedition to stop the North African piracy. Although the expedition didn't succeed, it was an important moment in Jean's life. Probably there he heard about the Canary Islands from Genoese merchants and met Gadifier de la Salle, a French knight who later accompanied him to the Canary Islands.
Conquest of the Canary Islands
The expedition began in May 1402 in La Rochelle. It was financed from money Béthencourt got from selling his house in Paris and a loan from his uncle. The expedition sailed under the approval of the King of Castille, Henry III.
Béthencourt conquered only 3 islands of the archipelago. They were the two most eastern ones, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, as well as the smallest of the main islands, El Hiero. He first landed on Lanzarote and conquered it without any resistance. Problems began on Fuerteventura, but they weren't caused by the natives fighting back. The reasons were the internal divisions between two captains leading the invaders. For the big part of the Fuerteventura's conquest Béthencourt was away securing more forces from Castille. The island was finally conquered in 1405.
The last island conquered by Jean, El Hiero, was taken with no resistance. The population was enslaved and the island was resettled with Norman and Castillan settlers.
Death
Béthencourt remained on the islands until 1412 when he returned to his lands in Normandy. He died and was buried there in 1425.
Special Abilities
Jean was a magic-user who specialized in elemental magic. He mostly used geomancy and geomancy. During the conquest of the Canary Islands he picked up some hydromancy and aeromancy from the sailors in his fleet. One of the spells he learned and used often was Walk on Water. It is said that he was able to give the ability to walk on water to more than half of his forces while moving from the camp on Alegranza to Lanzarote.
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