Arab navigators, and in
1334 they were rediscovered by a French vessel driven among them by a
gale. A Portuguese expedition, undertaken about the same time, failed to
find the archipelago, and want of means frustrated the project of
conquest entertained by a grandson of Alphonso X. of Castile, named Juan
de la Cerda, who had obtained a grant of the islands and had been
crowned king of them at Avignon, by Pope Clement VI. Two or possibly
more Spanish expeditions followed, and a monastic mission was
established, but at the close of the 14th century the Guanches remained
unconquered and unconverted. In 1402, however, Gadifer de la Salle and
Jean de Bethencourt (q.v.) sailed with two vessels from Rochelle, and
landed early in July on Lanzarote. The relations between these two
leaders, and their respective shares in the work of conquest and
exploration, have been the subject of much controversy. Between 1402 and
1404 La Salle conquered Lanzarote and part of Fuerteventura, besides
exploring other islands; Bethencourt meanwhile sailed to Cadiz for
reinforcements. He returned in 1404 with the title of king, which he had
secured from Henry III. of Castile. La Salle, thus placed in a position
of inferiority, left the islands and appealed unsuccessfully for redress
at the court of Castile. In 1405 Bethencourt visited Normandy, and
returned with fresh colonists who conquered Hierro. In December 1406 he
left the Canaries, entrusting their government to his nephew Maciot de
Bethencourt, and reserving for himself a share in any profits obtained,
and the royal title. Eight years of misrule followed before Queen
Catherine of Castile intervened. Maciot thereupon sold his office to her
envoy, Pedro Barba de Campos; sailed to Lisbon and resold it to Prince
Henry the Navigator; and a few years afterwards resold it once more to
Enrique de Guzman, count of Niebla. Jean de Bethencourt, who died in
1422, bequeathed the islands to his brother Reynaud; Guzman sold them to
another Spaniard named Paraza, who was forced to re-sell to Ferdinand
and Isabella of Castile in 1476; and Prince Henry twice endeavoured to
enforce his own claims. Meanwhile the Guanches remained unconquered
throughout the greater part of the archipelago. In 1479 the sovereignty
of Ferdinand and Isabella over the Canaries was established by the
treaty of Alcacova, between Portugal and Castile. After much bloodshed,
and with reinforcements from the mother country, the Spaniards, u