Tejano Association for Historical Preservation
Lorenzo de Zavala Chapter
Nov. Issue 2006 |
Post Office
The Tejano Association for
Historical Preservation will hold a meeting on Fri. Dec.1, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. at
the
Able Rubio author of Stolen
Heritage has submitted an article
about the Canary Islanders who came to Nueva Espana on March 9, 1731 and founded the Villa de
The Canary Islanders
by Abel G. Rubio
I believe it is necessary to begin this family genealogical history with a
short narrative regarding a very brief history of the
The
From the place called Nivaria
which is in Canaria so called because of the great numbers of dogs at this
place.4 There were prior
expeditions to these
It remained for the Spanish Conquistadors and the priests to teach the Spanish
language and Catholic religion to the Canarians, apparently they were
successful for the people speak Spanish and the
The
In 1341, an expedition to the Islands was ordered by the King of Portugal, the
expedition was well armed and was manned by Florentines, Genoese, Castilians
and Spaniards, including of course Portuguese. The leader of this journey
was a Genoese named Nicoloso
de Recco.6 Though the distinction between a
Castilian and a Spaniard is not clear, both spoke Spanish and came from
When the large Spanish ships came close of the
At this time 1341, there were no camels, donkeys, or oxen present on these
The expedition of the Geneoese
leader to these
The conquest came in 1402, by Jean de Bethencourt,
the
Fathers Bontier and Le Verries historical works reveal
much treachery, pillaging, and fighting among the unruly troops under Bethencourt’s command. The
worst folly committed by the adventurers was the taking or making a prisoner of
the King of Lanzarote named Guadarfia.
The capture of the King was accomplished through trickery of which the French
was quite adept. The Spanish were the most notorious brigands of the
adventurers who came to the
Lanzarote,
Fathers Jean Le Verries and Pierre Bontier were the Chaplains for Bethencourt’s expedition, the father seemed to dwell much on the conquests of the conqueror but not too much else, such as describing the various islands and his knowledge of the conquered people.
Father Bontier was a
Franciscan Monk of St. Javin
Marness officiated at
Lanzarote in the church of St. Martial de Rubicon. Father Le Verries was the priest of
The
The Great Canary is some twenty leagues long and twelve wide, the distance is
twelve leagues from
The
the island
from one side to the other. The inhabitants of this island are numerous;
they are also hard to take (capture). Also they are formidable in
combat. They give the Christians no quarter in combat. These people
are of a resolute character, two kings rule
Lanzarote is about four leagues north and northeast from Fuerteventura, between
these two islands is the
Bethencourt’s adventurers had great troubles with the Canarians who fought fiercely. In one encounter they killed a huge native said to be nine feet tall. The conqueror ordered his men to take the natives alive, but they had to kill the nine foot native who fought so gallantly. The adventurers feared the big Canarian.15 The King of Spain was so pleased with Bethencourt’s conquering the islands that he made him Lord of these islands. The King also presented the Conqueror two fine mules which he rode to re-explore the islands.16
One of Bethencourt’s last
duties was when he presented himself before the Pope to request a prelate for
the
The Lord Bethencourt died in 1423. Father Jean Le Verries was by his side throughout his illness or until he died.18
Father Alonso de Espinosa was a Dominican Priest and he was also a writer of
the 1580s and 1590s. Father Espinosa came to Tenerife,
For some reason the Spaniards gave the name Guanches to the original citizens of the
The principal works of Father Espinosa was related to the image of Our Lady of Candelaria and the miracles
performed by it; this work was published at
The Canarians from
Some of the blond people had deformed features, while no mention was made of the darker element. Even in this unchristian society just emerging from the dark ages there was discrimination among the natives. The blonds lived on the northern side of the island, on the most fertile areas, while the unfortunate darker ones lived on the south side, the most arid and undesirable lands.24
The lords of
One of the high ranking officials from
Bencano, the father of
these girls was himself of darker complexion, the mother was not
described. Professor Hooton while on his expedition to these Islands in
1915 observed the people of
No explanation can be offered as to why some of the ancient ones had different complexions such as fair skinned, blonds and red haired people.
The Spaniards and French had been in the Canary Islands for hundred of years,
after the French left the
Those settlers involved in the colonization of these islands were Castilians, Portuguese and Italians.31 During the conquest of 1402, the majority of the names were those of the French, but beginning in 1478 or earlier the names of the Spaniards were in the majority, with a sprinkling of other foreigners.
It remained for the Spanish to properly colonize the
Toward the end of the sixteenth century the
The Spaniards seemed to have possessed a strong desire to capture and enslave
the Moors, these poor people
must have suffered terribly, though most come from
As a result of water shortages serious disputes arose among the settlers, the
poor Canarians who had the worse lands probably suffered much more than the
Europeans settlers, which of course always had the best of whatever the
Baptismal registers and other church records are archived in the Cathedral of La Palma, some of these records date to 1498.38
Numerous Spanish citizens in order to escape intolerable conditions in
In
The islands and the terrain mentioned in this narrative (notes 1-39) reveal
lands which appear dismal and somewhat desolate. But the islands were
inhabited, by primitives Canarians and Christian Europeans. The Canarians
could not escape from these islands. The only way they could leave was as
a prisoner of the Spaniards. They had absolutely no chances of returning
to the
The author curious by nature had expected the original natives (called
Canarians by the Spaniards) to have been all of dark complexion, resembling the
infidel Moors who ruled Spain many centuries ago, but was rudely awakened by
studying Professor Hooton’s historical volume noted earlier and the Reverend
Fathers LeVerrier and Bontier and their description of
the natives. The curious creature almost always ends up getting into
trouble by delving into the unexpected. Therefore, I will leave
anthropology to Professor Hooton and others, and I will return to the
_______________________________________________________________________
1 Felipe
Fernandez Armesto, The
the early sixteenth century. P 1.
2 Ibid, p 1.
3 The Canarian Conquest and Conversions of the Canarians in 1402, by Jean de Bethencourt, K.T.
composed by Father Pierre Bontier and Jean Le Verrier. Jean de Bethencourt was a Norman Knight Lord
of Grainville La Feinturiers in the Paiz of Causix
in
Richard Henry Major FSA etc.,
French adventurers and a Spaniard named Alvaro Becerra had made several incursions to the islands.
Based on the
information left by the adventurers, which Bethencourt received in
undertook the actual conquest the incursions likely took place in the late 1300’s.
4 Ibid, VI.
5 Ibid, XIV.
6 Ibid, XII, XIII.
7 Ibid, XVIII.
8 Ibid, XIX.
9 Ibid, XXXIII.
10 Ibid, XLI.
11 Ibid, p 128, 129.
12 Ibid, p 131.
13 Ibid, p 133-135.
14 Ibid, p 137, 138, 139.
15 Ibid, p 147, 148.
16 Ibid, p. 189.
17 Ibid, p 203, 204, 205.
18 Ibid, p. 218, 219, 220.
19 Ernest
A. Hooton Ph.D., B. Litt,
and
Islands, Harvard African Studies, Vol 7, p.3.
20 See
21 Ernest
A. Hooton Ph.D., B. Litt,
and
Islands, Harvard African Studies, Vol 7, p.3.
22 Ibid, p 13.
23 Ibid, p 20.
24 Ibid, p 20, 21.
25 Ibid, p 22.
26 Ibid, p 55.
27 Ibid, p 71.
28 Ibid, p 71.
29 Ibid, p 74.
30 Ibid, p 74 – 75.
31 Felipe Fernandez Armesto, The Canary Islands after the Conquest, the making of a colonial society in
the early sixteenth century.
32 Ibid, p 5.
33 Ibid, p 36.
34 Ibid, p 37.
35 Ibid, p 52.
36 Ibid, p 66.
37 Ibid, p 93.
38 Ibid, p 66.
39 Leslie Bethell, Colonial
The Tejano Association for Historical Preservation submitted a letter on Sept.
13, 2006 requesting that the Alvin ISD School Board name a school after the
late esteemed and highly respected educator Dr. Margaret Swett Henson. She was born Jan. 3, 1924 in
A request dated Sept. 18, 2006 to consider naming a park or county building
after the late Civil Rights Attorney and former U.S. District Judge, James de Anda was submitted to Honorable
County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia, Precinct 2. James de Anda was born Aug. 28, 1925 in
James de Anda graduated
from Texas A&M in 1948
(after having served in the Marines during WWII) and later received his law
degree from the
TAHP feels that by naming a park or a
For input regarding the T.A.H.P. newsletters please send an email to Loretta Martinez Williams latejana_at_houston.rr.com.
Replace the _at_ with the @ symbol. This is done to prevent spammers from using the email address.
The annual dues of $25.00 and donations make the projects a reality of the Tejano Association for Historical Preservation. Please contact Linda Alonzo Saenz at 713-540-5449 if you would like to purchase an ad for the Cesar E. Chavez parade brochure. Tejano Association for Historical Preservation Board members and advisors thank you for your support.
Loretta |
Richard Perez, 1st Vice President |
Margarito C. Vasquez, 2nd Vice President |
Linda Alonzo Saenz, Special Projects and Past President |
Dr. Emilio Sarabia, Advisory Board Member |
Benny C. Martinez, Advisory Board Member |
Mr. Joe Granados, Advisory Board Member |
Mr. Joel Lara, Advisory Board Member |
A recent meeting was held
on Nov. 4, 2006 of the San Jacinto Historical Advisory Board followed by a
meeting of the Friends of the San Jacinto Battleground at the Monument
Inn. The proposed location of a
The Friends of the San Jacinto Battleground stand opposed to the proposed
location of a
The following letter was sent out with the Tejano Association for Historical Preservation Board approval in regards to the proposed Visitor’s Center. 10/22/02006
Tejano Association for Historical Preservation
Mr.
Robert L. Cook, Executive Director,
Mr. Stephen Whiston
Mr. Walt Dabney
Stephen.Whiston@tpwd.state.tx.us
Dear Sirs:
The Tejano Association for Historical Preservation is a non profit organization that was formed in 1989 with the primary purpose of identifying and preserving buildings and sites that have historical and or archaeological significance to the Hispanic, early Texas, French and native/indigenous cultures.
Tejano
Association for Historical Preservation opposes the proposed site of the
Ask for input from the various groups that hold an interest in the San Jacinto Historic Site. Conducting a feasibility study will help avoid errors and save loss of time and money.
Please let us know what direction you will take and I hope that our letter will make a difference. The Tejano Association for Historical Preservation members and board opposes the proposed site and we await your response.
Sincerely,
Loretta
Tejano Association for Historical Preservation
A
special thank you is extended to Mr. Reynaldo L. Herrera, Pharmacist for providing this
It was in April of 1966 that the Houston Post ran an article about the Lorenzo de Zavala and other patriots graves buried across the ship channel from the San Jacinto Battleground. 132 students from Ms. Gwin’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel 8th grade class wrote of their convictions of saving the cemetery. Ms. Gwin chose to send in 51 eighth grade students’ letters who wrote the Houston Post asking for intervention to save the graves of Lorenzo de Zavala and Texas Patriots by moving them across the channel to the San Jacinto Battleground where the public could pay its respect. The Houston Post ran these letters on May 1, 1966 in Section 3 entitled, “An Open letter of Thanks to Junior Citizens.”
One young student, Suzanne Wagner, wrote, “If our own state can’t move the
graves of some men who helped make our country what it is today, the graveyard
is not the only thing that will be in deep water...” Carl Hubbell wrote,
“The bodies may as well have been buried in a sewer line.” Another
student, Sharon Boehm wrote: “I am not a criticizer of our citizens of
"My name stands first in the Constitution of