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JEAN DE BETHENCOURT (c. 136o–1422)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 828 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JEAN DE BETHENCOURT (c. 136o–1422)  , French explorer, belonged to a noble
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family of
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Normandy, and held important offices at the court of Charles VI., king of France . His spirit was fired by hearing of the deeds of explorers and adventurers, and having formed a plan to conquer the Canary Islands he raised some
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money by pledging his Norman estates, and sailed from La Rochelle on the 1st of May 1402 with two
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ships, commanded by himself and Gadifer de la Salle . He was delayed by a mutiny off the coast of Spain, but reached the island of
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Lanzarote in
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July . Unable to carry out his project of
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con-quest, he
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left his men at the Canaries and went to seek help at the court of Castile . He obtained men and provisions from Henry III. king of Castile, through the good offices of his
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uncle, Robert de Braquemont, who had considerable influence with Henry; he also received the title of king, and did homage to Henry for his future conquests . Returning to the Canaries in 1404 he found that Gadifer de la Salle had conquered Lanzarote and
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Fuerteventura, and explored other islands . La Salle, unwilling to accept a position of inferiority, left the Canaries and appealed unsuccessfully for redress at the court of Castile . Bethencourt was unable to
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complete his
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work of
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conquest and exploration . In 1405 he visited Normandy, and returned with fresh colonists who occupied Hierro . In December 1406 he left the islands to the government of his
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nephew, Maciot de Bethencourt, reserving for himself the royal title and a share in any profits obtained . He returned to Normandy, where he appears to have spent the remainder of his days . He died in 1422, and was buried in the church of Grainville-la-Teinturiere .

Bethencourt wrote a very untrustworthy

account of his " conquest of the Canary Islands," Le Canarien, livre de la conquete et conversion ses Canaries . This has been published with introduction and notes by G . Gravier (
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Rouen, 1874), and an
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English
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translation was edited by R . H . Major for the Hakluyt Society (
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London, 1872) . See also CANARY ISLANDS, for the controversy as to the relations between Bethencourt and La Salle .

End of Article: JEAN DE BETHENCOURT (c. 136o–1422)
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