First Battle of Acentejo
La Matanza de Acentejo, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
What happened
Guanche kingdoms of Tenerife, led by Bencomo and his half-brother Tinguaro, fought a Castilian army under Alonso Fernández de Lugo. Castile was trying to conquer the island of Tenerife. The Spanish army marched into a steep, bushy ravine where their horses could not move freely. Guanche fighters attacked from the slopes and defeated them, and Fernández de Lugo escaped by swapping his cloak for a common soldier's.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It is described as the greatest defeat in the history of Spanish expansion in the Atlantic. It held back the Castilian conquest of Tenerife for a time.
What came next
The survivors sailed back to Gran Canaria. Fernández de Lugo returned later that year and won the Second Battle of Acentejo, where the town of La Victoria de Acentejo was founded.
Did you know?
The town built on the battlefield is called La Matanza de Acentejo, which means 'the slaughter of Acentejo'.
Timeline
- 31 May 1494The Guanches win the First Battle of Acentejo.
- 1494The Spanish win the Second Battle of Acentejo.
- 1916'de Acentejo' is added to the town's name.