Francisca de Gazmira

Francisca de Gazmira also known as Francisca de La Palma or Francisca Palmesa (15th century – 16th century) was a Benahoaritan woman from La Palma island, in the Canary Islands who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries, is known both for her participation in the conquest of her island by the Crown of Castile, acting as a mediator between the indigenous people and the Castilians, and the subsequent christianization of the island, defending the rights of the aboriginal Canary Islanders.[1][2][3][4]

Although she does not appear in the earliest chronicles and histories of the Canary Islands, Francisca de Gazmira was rescued from anonymity by the Austrian historian Dominik Josef Wölfel, who studied Canarian documents stored in the General Archive of Simancas.[5] According to Wölfel, Francisca's role was fundamental in "accelerating the incorporation" of the Canary Islands into Castile, "achieving more rapid pacification and evangelisation of the island", and he presented her as one of the "great architects of the Christianisation of the island and of the peace agreements and treaties made with its natives".[6]

Life

Francisca was born on the island of La Palma sometime in the second half of the 15th century. She belonged to the Gazmira clan, located in the area around the El Riachuelo ravine in El Paso, but no further details about her life are known.[7][8] Scholars have postulated that she was of noble descent, considering the influence she later had on the Guanche kings.[5]

After the conquest of Gran Canaria was completed in 1483, the new colonists frequently went on raids in search of slaves on the still unconquered islands of La Palma and Tenerife. Francisca, whose indigenous name is unknown, was enslaved in some raid on La Palma, probably before 1488 or immediately after that year, by Francisco Maldonado, governor of Gran Canaria, but certainly before 1491, which does not exclude the possibility that it was by Pedro Fernández de Saavedra,[1] son-in-law of Diego de Herrera and Inés Peraza.[9] Her conversion to Christianity with the name of Francisca de Gazmira granted her freedom from captivity.[8][10] She was also known as Francisca de La Palma or Francisca Palmesa. [1][3][9] Once free, she went on to serve as head maid in the household of Diego de Zurita, conqueror of Gran Canaria and one of the island's first local governors.[10][11]

Role in the christianization of La Palma

The local Marian devotion to the Virgin of Candelaria since 1390s[12] and native converts played an important role in the evangelization of the Guanches.[13] She is credited with attracting many Guanches to the new faith with powerful preaching, suggesting to some scholars that the role of women in the old religion was used to advocate Christianity.[14][15]

Role in the conquest of La Palma

Although the conquest of La Palma ended in 1493, Gazmira played an important role in the previous processes. Her influence among the Guanche leaders facilitated mediation and dialogue with the Castilian conquerors.[16][17][18] Francisca's role as a mediator between the indigenous people and the Castilians began in 1491. At that time, she was sent along with Catalina Palmesa by the authorities of Gran Canaria on a ship to La Palma to bring back a group of twenty Benahoaritas who had been unjustly captured.[8]

Around 1491 or 1492, the Christianized Francisca arrived in La Palma, sent by the governor of Gran Canaria, Francisco Maldonado, and the provisor of the Canary Islands, Pedro de Valdés, to talk with the island's Guanches lords, in response to a previous request from some of them to become Christians. Francisca fulfilled her mission and took five of them to Gran Canaria where they signed a pact of submission with the governor and were baptized in the Cathedral of Las Palmas. They were later returned to La Palma on condition that they would maintain peace in their territories, which freed them from slave raids.[10][11] When Captain Alonso Fernández de Lugo arrived with his conquering troops at the end of 1492, most of the other lords surrendered peacefully.[19][20][21]

Her role in the conquest of the Canary Islands is already described in contemporary sources like in the 1506 Reforma del Repartimiento de Tenerife, by the lawyer Ortiz de Zárate.[22]

Indigenous rights activism

Gazmira is remembered for her opposition to the enslavement of the Guanches. After the conquest of the island, illegal sales of aborigines as slaves to the Iberian Peninsula took place. Gazmira became the defender of her people, traveling to the court of the Catholic Monarchs to denounce this situation.[23]

In 1494 appeared before the Catholic Monarchs to complain about the savagery of the conquest led by Fernández de Lugo. The monarchs intervened and reduced Fernández de Lugo's power. She also sent letters to monarchs complaining about the existence of mass slave sales and managed to get more than 3,000 slaves returned to the islands after being sold in Jerez.[6][24][25]

Death

The date of Francisca de Gazmira's death is unknown, although she does not appear in contemporary documents after the end of 1500, she may have died in 1525 from poisoning.[26][6]

Legacy

Although her figure has been relegated in some historical accounts, Francisca de Gazmira is increasingly recognized as a key indigenous leader in the history of the Canary Islands. She is considered the first Canary Islander woman to assume a leading role in the political scene of the archipelago.

The character of Francisca also appears in two works of contemporary literary fiction. She is the protagonist of the historical drama by Tomás Monterrey "Francisca de Gazmira (Un drama histórico en tres actos)"[27] and in Carolina-Dafne Alonso-Cortés's novel "El glauco mar de las tinieblas: la conquista de la Islas Canarias", finalist for the Nadal Prize.[28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Pérez, Marcos Sarmiento (1 January 2011). "The role of interpreters in the conquest and acculturation of the Canary Archipelago". Interpreting. 13 (2): 155–175. doi:10.1075/intp.13.2.01sar. ISSN 1384-6647.
  2. ^ Stevens-Arroyo, Anthony M. (1993). "The Inter-Atlantic Paradigm: The Failure of Spanish Medieval Colonization of the Canary and Caribbean Islands". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 35 (3): 515–543. doi:10.1017/S0010417500018569. ISSN 1475-2999.
  3. ^ a b Bühner, Julia (2024). "The Conquest of the Canary Islands (1402–1409). An Alternative History of International Law". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.4769272. ISSN 1556-5068.
  4. ^ Gambín García, Mariano (2014). "Los procesos judiciales de liberación de esclavos palmeses y guanches en Sevilla (1496-1512). Nuevos datos para su estudio" [The judicial processes of liberation of slaves palmeses and guanches in Seville (1496-1512). New data for their study]. Coloquios de Historia Canario Americana (in Spanish). ISSN 2386-6837.
  5. ^ a b Herrero Martín, Rosana (2022). "Mujeres-lengua de la Conquista del Caribe y las Islas Canarias: una mirada holística a su estela narrativa" [Tongue-Women in the Conquest of the Caribbean and the Canary Islands: A Holistic Approach to their Narrative Trail]. XXV Coloquio de Historia Canario-Americana, 2022. 25 (25). Casa de Colón: 71.
  6. ^ a b c Jiménez, José L. (30 June 2019). "La olvidada primera mujer líder de Canarias en 1494". ABC. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  7. ^ ""Las mujeres benahoaritas lucharon contra los conquistadores castellanos"". Canarias Ahora. 2019. Archived from the original on 23 March 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Aznar Vallejo, Eduardo (1998). "La conquista en primera persona. Las fuentes judiciales". In Insular Government of Gran Canaria (ed.). XII Coloquio de Historia Canario-Americana (1996). Vol. 1. Francisco Morales Padrón (coord.). Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria. pp. 363–394. ISBN 84-8103-186-0.
  9. ^ a b Caballero Mujica, Francisco (1997). "La Palma: Noticias históricas de interés pastoral" (PDF). Almogaren: Revista del Centro Teológico de las Palmas (21): 195–234. ISSN 1695-2669.
  10. ^ a b c Cebrián Latasa, José Antonio (2003). Government of the Canary Islands (ed.). Ensayo para un diccionario biográfico de conquistadores de Canarias. Gobierno de Canarias, Consejería de Educación, Cultura y Deportes, Viceconsejería de Cultura y Deportes, Dirección General de Cultura. hdl:20.500.12285/mdcte/3187. ISBN 84-241-5235-2.
  11. ^ a b Rumeu de Armas, Antonio (1969). Instituto Isabel la Católica de Historia Eclesiástica (ed.). La política indigenista de Isabel La Católica. Valladolid. hdl:20.500.12285/mdcte/2297.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ Wölfel, Dominik Josef (1931). "Un episodio desconocido de la conquista de la isla de La Palma". Investigación y Progreso. V: 101–103.
  13. ^ Stevens-Arroyo, Anthony M. (1993). "The Inter-Atlantic Paradigm: The Failure of Spanish Medieval Colonization of the Canary and Caribbean Islands". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 35 (3): 515–543. doi:10.1017/S0010417500018569. ISSN 1475-2999.
  14. ^ TuylaPalma (29 July 2022). "La historia de Francisca de Gazmira". TuylaPalma.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  15. ^ Tejera Gaspar, Antonio; González Antón, Rafael (1987). Las Culturas aborígenes canarias. Tenerife: Ediciones Canarias. pp. 116–118. ISBN 978-84-86733-03-2.
  16. ^ Herrero Martín, Rosana (2022). "Mujeres-lengua de la Conquista del Caribe y las Islas Canarias: una mirada holística a su estela narrativa" [Tongue-Women in the Conquest of the Caribbean and the Canary Islands: A Holistic Approach to their Narrative Trail]. XXV Coloquio de Historia Canario-Americana, 2022. 25 (25). Casa de Colón: 71.
  17. ^ Hernández Pérez, Mauro S. (1972). "Contribución a la Carta Arqueológica de la isla de la Palma (Canarias)". Anuario de Estudios Atlánticos. 1 (18). Las Palmas de Gran Canaria: Patronato de la Casa de Colón: 537–641. ISSN 0570-4065.
  18. ^ Wölfel, Dominik Josef (1931). "Un episodio desconocido de la conquista de la isla de La Palma". Investigación y Progreso. V: 101–103.
  19. ^ Wölfel, Dominik Josef (1931). "Un episodio desconocido de la conquista de la isla de La Palma". Investigación y Progreso. V: 101–103.
  20. ^ TuylaPalma (29 July 2022). "La historia de Francisca de Gazmira". TuylaPalma.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  21. ^ de Viera y Clavijo, José (1950) [1772]. Serra Rafols, Elías (ed.). Noticias de la historia general de las Islas Canarias. Santa Cruz de Tenerife: Goya Ediciones. hdl:20.500.12285/mdcte/2782.
  22. ^ Ortiz de Zárate (1953) [1506]. Reformación del repartimiento de Tenerife en 1506 y colección de documentos sobre el Adelantado y su gobierno. Fontes Rerum Canarium (in Spanish). Vol. 6. pp. 93–94 – via HDIECan.
  23. ^ Gambín García, Mariano (2003). "Un rey guanche en la corte de los Reyes Católicos: tras los pasos de don Enrique Canario, el último mencey de Icod" (PDF). Revista de Historia Canaria (185): 125–158. ISSN 0213-9472.
  24. ^ Gambín García, Mariano (2003). "Un rey guanche en la corte de los Reyes Católicos: tras los pasos de don Enrique Canario, el último mencey de Icod" (PDF). Revista de Historia Canaria (185): 125–158. ISSN 0213-9472.
  25. ^ Serra Ràfols, Elías (1959). "Los últimos canarios". Revista de Historia Canaria (125): 5–23. hdl:20.500.12285/revhiscan/56. ISSN 0213-9472.
  26. ^ Aznar Vallejo, Eduardo (1981). Instituto de Estudios Canarios (ed.). Documentos canarios en el Registro del Sello (1476-1517). San Cristóbal de La Laguna.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  27. ^ Monterrey, Tomás (1993). Francisca de Gazmira: (un drama histórico en 3 actos). Nuevas escrituras canarias (in Spanish). Vol. 23. Viceconsejería de Cultura y Deportes del Gobierno de Canarias. ISBN 978-84-7947-090-6.
  28. ^ Alonso-Cortés, Carolina-Dafne (2012). El glauco mar de las tinieblas: La conquista de las Islas Canarias (in Spanish). Knossos. ISBN 9788494004537.
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