Abenchara was an

Guanche Guanche may refer to: *Guanches, the indigenous people of the Canary Islands *Guanche language, an extinct language, spoken by the Guanches until the 16th or 17th century *''Conus guanche ''Conus guanche'' is a species of sea snail, a marine ga ...

queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

. She was the wife of Tenesor Semidán, the of

Gáldar Gáldar is a town and a Spanish municipality in the north of the island of Gran Canaria in the Province of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Its population is (2013),conquest of the Canary Islands The conquest of the Canary Islands by the Crown of Castile took place between 1402 and 1496 in two periods: the , carried out by Castilian nobility in exchange for a covenant of allegiance to the crown, and the , carried out by the Spanish crow ...

Name

Abenchara's native name appears late in historiography, as it is first mentioned in the genealogical work of the Franciscan friar Juan Suárez de Quintana in the 18th century. According to the philologist Ignacio Reyes, it could be translated as "great tear" or "separation". In the 17th century, the chronicler

Juan Núñez de la Peña Juan Núñez de la Peña (May 1641 – January 3, 1721) was a Spanish historian. Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, he studied Latin and the humanities in the college of San Agustín de La Laguna and was subsequently ordained priest. He worke ...

gave her the Christian name Juana, while the genealogist Suárez de Quintana called her Ana.

Biography

Abenchara was the daughter of the '' faycán'' Chambeneder. She was taken prisoner by the Castilian captain

Pedro de Vera Pedro de Vera Mendoza (Jerez de la Frontera, c. 1430 - Jerez de la Frontera, July 1505) was a Castilian nobleman and Conquistador who completed the conquest of the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands for the Crown of Castile and who bruta ...

during the

conquest of the Canary Islands The conquest of the Canary Islands by the Crown of Castile took place between 1402 and 1496 in two periods: the , carried out by Castilian nobility in exchange for a covenant of allegiance to the crown, and the , carried out by the Spanish crow ...

in the summer of 1482. Her husband, Tenesor Semidán, was captured six months later. Abenchara was taken to the

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, where the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

were overseeing the

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

of the

Emirate of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Emirate, Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western ...

. On 31 August, both received Abenchara, who was pregnant, and entrusted her care to the warden of the

Alcázar An ''alcázar'', from Arabic ''al-Qasr'', is a type of Islamic castle or palace in Spain built during Al-Andalus, Muslim rule between the 8th and 15th centuries. They functioned as homes and regional capitals for governmental figures throughout ...

, Juan de Frías. The Queen of the Canary Islands was seriously ill due to the vicissitudes of the long journey and her pregnancy, and she was on the verge of death for four weeks. However, she recovered and on 30 September gave birth to a girl named . The Catholic Monarchs left the fortress a day later, leaving instructions for the Canary Islander to have everything she needed after the birth. Abenchara remained in the fortress for almost another year, until her husband came to meet her on 15 August 1483, so they could return to the Canary Islands. They travelled from Córdoba to

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, where they observed that many Canary Islanders had been banished from the Canaries due to the actions of Pedro de Vera. Fernando. Abenchara asked for favourable treatment and managed to get more than forty of their relatives to return to the islands. It seems that Abenchara was also the mother of Guayarmina, later known as Margarita Fernández Guanarteme. According to Roberto Hernández Bautista, in his work ''Los Semidanes en Canarias'', Abenchara repudiated her husband and remarried another Christianised Canary Islander named Juan de las Casas, who refused to go to

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

for fear of being taken to Castile and fled to the mountains. Pedro de Vera retaliated and enslaved Abenchara for the second time, taking her to

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...

. After some eight years of captivity, her nephew Juan de Guzmán managed to free her, returning to

Memory

In October 2001, the sculptor Facundo Fierro, born in

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

, inaugurated a monument to the queens Abenchara and Isabel in the Mudejar courtyard of the

Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos The Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (Spanish for "Castle of the Christian Monarchs"), also known as the Alcázar of Córdoba, is a medieval ''alcázar'' () located in the Historic centre of Córdoba, historic centre of Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba ...

in Córdoba, commemorating the meeting between the two monarchs. The initiative was supported by the City Council of Córdoba, the and the Casa de Canarias in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Portal bar, Royalty, Spain Guanche people People from Gran Canaria Foreign nationals imprisoned in Spain 15th-century slaves Spanish slaves Queens (title)