Gadifer de la Salle

Gadifer de La Salle was born about 1350 into a family of minor nobility in Poitou.

He served with Hospitallers in Rhodes, and was part of a delegation sent by Louis I, Duke of Anjou to the Republic of Venice.

[4] Accompanying the expedition were Brother Pierre Bontier, a Franciscan friar of Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes who later officiated at Lanzarote, and Jean le Verrier, a priest who was later installed at Fuerteventura as vicar in the chapel of Our Lady of Bethencourt.

Gadifer then explored the archipelago, and Béthencourt left for Cádiz, where he was given reinforcements and financial support at the Castilian court.

In 1403, after a resupply ship sent by Béthencourt arrived, Gadifer was able to complete the conquest of the islands and root out the disloyal Castilians.

Miniature from the medieval manuscript Le Canarien [ fr ] , depicting Gadifer de La Salle in his ship during the expedition to the Canary Islands in 1402.