It was created in 1402 by King Henry III of Castile in favor of the French knight Jean de Béthencourt, who had begun the Conquest of the Canary Islands and had paid homage to the Castilian monarch.

The King recognised his seigniorial right to conquer the Canary Islands, as well as granting him exemption from paying the fifths owed to the Admiral of Castile for the goods exported from the archipelago.

[2][3] The fiefdom created on the islands was characterised in these early days by its relative independence from the Castilian Crown, establishing the uses and customs of Normandy and France.

The new Lord, with the title of "King", obtained authorization from the monarch John II of Castile to mint his own currency and was in charge of administering justice.

[13] However, the fragmentation of the Lordship had already begun in 1474 when Inés Peraza ceded the island of El Hierro to her first-born son Pedro García de Herrera.