Princess Dácil was a

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 ...

princess of the kingdom of

Taoro {{Short description, Native kingdom of the Canary Islands Taoro was one of nine Guanche menceyatos (native kingdoms) in which the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands) was divided at the time of the arrival of the conquering Spaniards. Taoro was co ...

on the island of

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 ...

(in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

), best known for her marriage to a conqueror of the island.

Early life

Dácil or Dácila was born in the ancient ''Menceyato'' (kingdom) of

(

Canary Island The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the continent being 100 kilometres (62 mi ...

), during the early second half of the fifteenth century. She was daughter to ''Mencey'' (king)

Adjona Adjona, also written Adxoña or Atxoña was the Guanches, Guanche mencey (king) of the Menceyato de Abona at the time of the conquest of Tenerife in the fifteenth century. Adjona normally lived in Vilaflor, in the territory of Abona, although the ...

and Caseloria and granddaughter of

Bencomo Bencomo (; 1438 – 1495) was the penultimate ''mencey'' or king of Taoro, a Guanche ''menceyato'' on the island of Tenerife. He fought in the First Battle of Acentejo, a victory for the Guanches against the invading Castilians, after having refu ...

. She had five brothers:

Bentor Bentor ( 1463 – February 1495), sometimes also called Ventor, Bentore, Benytomo, or Bentorey, was the last mencey or king of Taoro from November 1494 until his suicide in February 1495. A native Guanche prince in the Canary Islands during t ...

, Ruiman, Rosalva, Chachiñama, and Tiñate. Dácil was admired throughout the island for her beauty. She was described as

blonde Blond () or blonde (), also referred to as fair hair, is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin, the dark pigment. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be ...

and

freckle Freckles are clusters of concentrated melaninized cells which are most easily visible on people with a fair complexion. Freckles do not have an increased number of the melanin-producing cells, or melanocytes, but instead have melanocytes that ov ...

d, with green eyes.

Personal life

Dácil was initially intended to marry Duriman el Montañes (Duriman of the Mountains). However, with the arrival of the Spanish

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Fernando García del Castillo Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

, a Castilian

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

of a Spanish

Cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

unit, Dácil gained another suitor. Captain Fernando García del Castillo was taken prisoner and placed under the care of Princess Dácil so that she could see to the wounds he had suffered in the

Battle of Aguere The Battle of Aguere, or Battle of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, was fought between forces of the Crown of Castile, led by the Adelantado (military governor) Alonso Fernández de Lugo, and the natives of Tenerife, called Guanches. The battle took pl ...

. According to several historians, Captain Fernando García del Castillo acted as a diplomat, providing services between the Guanches and invading Spanish people, and was honored with some estimates by the King of Taoro. Rumors began to surface that Captain Fernando García del Castillo and Princess Dácil were lovers. They were believed to have spoken alone—a practice strictly forbidden by

law. The Guanche, Duriman El Montanez, who was promised Dácil in marriage felt spurned and further fed accusations of her being alone with a man, who was, in addition, a Castilian, and, therefore, the enemy of the Guanche homeland. Duriman el Montañes asked Bencomo to arrest Princess Dácil (Bencomo's granddaughter). Bencomo complied with the law and imprisoned Dácil for many months. When she was released, Dácil was able to convince Bencomo that she had never met Captain Fernando García del Castillo alone; that, in fact, she had many witnesses to attest that she was always accompanied when meeting with the Castillian captain.http://www.tenerifemagazine.com/tag/magic?lang=es. Magia , Tenerife Magazine - Revista de Tenerife sólo en línea (magic , Magazine Tenerife - Tenerife Magazine Online Only) (In Spanish). She later married the captain in the Iglesia de la Concepción (Church of the Conception) of

Los Realejos Los Realejos is a town and a municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife, which is the biggest town in the Canary Islands. It is part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (province), Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. The town i ...

. She was baptized as Mencías del Castillo. The date of Dácil's death and her place of burial are unknown.

Influence on the Canary Islands

* The marriage of Dácil and Castilian was considered as the bond of brotherhood between the Guanches people and the

Spanish people Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

, though the Spanish conquerors and settlers enslaved the Guanches and subjected them to their culture and language in the early sixteenth century. * The poet

Antonio de Viana Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

(1578 - 1650?) turned the story of Dácil into one of his best-known poems in the Canary Island, in his book La Conquista de Tenerife (1604) (The Conquest of Tenerife (1604)). Many people met the princess through the poem and considered him a unique poet. However, as a historian, Bethencourt Alfonso, once said: "this princess plays an important role in Viana's poem; a figure that was not imaginary; she was of flesh and blood." * Her name is one of the many Guanche names that, fortunately for the Canary Island, have not been lost, since there are still people named Dácil throughout the archipelago. * She is also one of the better known historical figures in the archipelago.

References

External links

La batalla de Acentejo: la derrota de un imperio colonial (The Battle of Acentejo: the defeat of a colonial empire)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dacil Guanche Guanche people People from Tenerife Converts to Roman Catholicism from pagan religions