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A documentary series · Four episodes · 41 minutes

The Canary IslandsConquest and Survival

Before an empire crossed these islands, people had built worlds of their own. War changed the map. The records that followed kept their names.

Start Part One See all four episodes ↓
Joan Blaeu’s historical map of the Canary Islands
Joan Blaeu’s map, 1667 · a later view of the archipelago. KB, National Library of the Netherlands · source & full map ↗

Watch in order

One archipelago. Four chapters.

Each episode continues the story. Read the onscreen text, follow its sources, or choose full HD inside the player.

  1. Part 1 · 8:40

    Islands Before Empire

    A family’s seized belongings lead back to the world before conquest: island communities, food, tools and the expedition that reached Lanzarote in 1402.

  2. Part 2 · 10:00

    Gran Canaria: The War Comes Home

    Five years of resistance on Gran Canaria, followed by Luisa de Betancor’s family fight in the courts.

  3. Part 3 · 10:00

    Tenerife Fights Back

    A failed invasion in 1494, a renewed campaign and the end of independent rule in 1496. Tenerife’s terrain, rulers and resistance lead into Juan Dara’s later appearance in the record.

  4. Part 4 · 12:30

    Water Is Power

    Across the islands, conquest reshapes land, water and work. Grants, council records, sugar mills, ships and sixty-five goats bring the new order down to the scale of a household.