Page 352 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

352 from Italy to the Canary Islands

The epic enterprise of

Lanzarotto Malocello

The arrival in Lanzarote

here are no sources or news on Lanzarotto’s trip to the Canary Is-
lands; we may not know the exact date of his arrival, although it was
most likely the year 1312 according to Duccio Balestracci, terre
ignote strana gente: storie di viaggiatori medievali (Unknown lands strange
people: stories of medieval travellers), published by Ed. Laterza 2008.
He probably used caravels for navigation in the Atlantic, since this was
the best suited ship for ocean voyages, given their wide sails and abundant
holds, although a length of thirty meters limited displacement to two hun-
dred tons. However, life on board was certainly not easy because of the
confined space and the lack of hygiene (scurvy was common, it wasn’t until
1600 that they started taking lemons on board); on top of that, the coarseness
of the sailors of the time and the hard discipline imposed by the only two
officers (captain and pilot) would cause mutinies, with the officers being the
first to be eliminated and literally thrown overboard.
As we said earlier, we do not know the exact day or month Lanzarotto ar-
rived on the island; in the year when he landed there, the bull Vox in Excelso
by Pope Clement V suppressed the Order of the Knights Templar by sending
the knights to the stake; he may have planted the flag of Genoa as soon as he
set foot on the island (according to the best allegorical traditions).
He certainly met a population with traditional ways.

Geography, life, religion, archaeology,
Horizons of lands rediscovered
We know that the inhabitants were called “Guanches” (although this
term initially referred only to the inhabitants of Tenerife).
It is hard to say what these natives were like. The text Los Guanches, by
Josè Luis Consepción, published by ACIC - Asociación Cultural de las Is-
las Canarias, 2008, identifies two different strains: Cro-Magnoid (large and
sturdy body with a narrow and elongated skull) and Mediterranean (taller