History of the Canary Islands

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 27. Chapters: Guanches, Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Battle of Aguere, Canary Islands in pre-colonial times, Alonso Fernández de Lugo, Pyramids of Güímar, Sicut Dudum, 1976 Canary Island UFO sighting, Treaty of Alcáçovas, Jean de Béthencourt, Eric Ragnor Sventenius, Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, Canary Islands Independence Movement, Juan Rejón, Gadifer de la Salle, Lancelotto Malocello, Alonso de Espinosa, Creator Omnium, Georg Hartung, Maninidra, Nicoloso da Recco, Achinet, Nivaria. Excerpt: Guanches (also: Guanchis or Guanchetos) is the name given to the aboriginal inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BC and 100 BC or perhaps earlier. While it is generally considered that the Guanches no longer exist as a distinct ethnicity, traces of their culture can still be found, such as Silbo, the "whistled language" of La Gomera Island. The native term Guanchinet or Achinet literally translated means "man of Tenerife" (from Guan = person and Chinet = Tenerife). It was modified, according to Juan Núñez de la Peña, by the Castilians into "Guanchos". Reconstruction of a Guanche village (Tenerife). Guanche rock carvings in La PalmaThe Roman author and military officer, Pliny the Elder, drawing upon the accounts of Juba II, king of Mauretania, stated that a Mauretanian expedition to the islands around 50 BC found the ruins of great buildings, but otherwise no population to speak of. If this account is accurate, it may suggest that the Guanches were not the only inhabitants, or the first ones; or that the expedition simply did not explore the islands thoroughly. Strictly speaking, the Guanches were the indigenous peoples of Tenerife, where the population seems to have lived in relative isolation up to the time of the Castilian conquest, around the 14th century (though Genoese, Portuguese, and Castilians may have visited there from the second half of the 8th century onwards). The name came to be applied to the original populations of Tenerife island. Many Guanches died resisting the new colonizers, while others died from infectious diseases that accompanied the invaders, diseases to which the Guanches, because of their long isolation, had little immunity. What remains of their language, Guanche-a few expressions, vocabulary words and the proper names of ancient chieftains still borne by certain families-exhibits positive similarities with the Berber languages. The first reliable account of Guanche