Page 22 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

22 from Italy to the Canary Islands

multi-ethnic colours and flavours, thanks to the influences from the ever-
so-close Africa, but also from the Caribbean and from South America, of
which the Canary Islands have always been a favourable “flyover”, ever
since the discoveries of Christopher Columbus.
With 2012 upon us, anniversary of the important feat to which this pub-
lication gives historical and geographical recognition on a par with the epic
journeys of Marco Polo, Vasco de Gama and Christopher Columbus, let us
welcome with pleasure the research presented by Mr Licata, who, with a
passionate literary tone and great accuracy, pays homage to the triumphant
project of a compatriot, often unknown to most, the eagerness of one of
the pioneers of new civilisations and the echo of a journey over lands so
extraordinary to have created fine appeal and to have inspired the great
Giovanni Boccaccio to create a small literary work in Latin dedicated to
the newly rediscovered islands, the Insulae Fortunatae of the classical era.
Boccaccio’s De Canaria et insulis reliquis ultra hispaniam noviter rep-
ertis introduces us to the Guanches, a peaceful people speaking different
languages – mutually incomprehensible - according to the island to which
they belonged. They were unaware of navigation techniques, and were
nude, apart from a palm leaf garment, with the exception of the leaders,
who covered themselves with goat skin dyed yellow and red and sewn
together with guts. They had long blonde hair. They knew how to breed
goats, sheep and boar and they knew about farming and how to grow fruit,
figs, vegetables and legumes, corn, barley and fodder, which they used to
obtain flour that they drank, however, dissolved in water, as they did not
know about bread.
The Phoenicians and the Carthaginians did in fact already know of the
Canary Islands archipelago before Lanzarotto Malocello took there the
bedrocks of his city’s trade policy but also the values and principles of
humanitas of his sailor soul, his eagerness as a sailor and the strong sense
of adventure which set him apart, rather than the mere power of oppressor
and the cruelty of conquistor. However, the classical world had only a
vague awareness of the islands. The classical auctores Pliny the Elder and
Claudius Ptolemy provided us with snippets of information on the Islands
in question, such as the Latin origin of their unclear name, derived from
canis as connected with the presence there of a large number of dogs, as
well as information on the identification of the Canaries with the land of
origin of the Greek legend of the Garden of the three Hesperides, daugh-
ters of the titan Atlas and custodians of the famous tree of golden apples.