Eduardo Aznar Vallejo

Lessons from the Canaries: the first contact between Europeans and Canarians c. 1312–1477

The first contacts between the prehistoric cultures of the Canary Islands and western civilization occurred in the European expansion of the late Middle Ages. Their ultimate colonization was intimately related to this expansion, driven by new economic forms, including ‘commercial capitalism’ or ‘pre-capitalism’, which affected economic and intellectual structures throughout Europe, the economic characterized from then on by innovation, risk and increasing turnover; and the intellectual by the concept of ‘profit’ in place of ‘service’. The practical transition can be seen in the technology that supported expansion: transport (new types of ships, cartography, systems of navigation, etc.); financial systems (nonmonetary payment, insurance, commercial credit, etc.); and mercantile institutions (commercial societies, consulates, postal services, etc.).

La guerra naval en Castilla durante la Baja Edad Media

The state of knowledge about the evolution of Castilian war fleets from Alfonso X to the Catholic Monarchs, based on an analysis of the traditional bibliography and new documentary sources. Types of ships and navigational regimens, the crews, their social origins, salaries and life regimens, armament and types of bellicose actions, booty and laws of the sea; literature of the period, from Las Partidas to the Mirror of Sailors by Alonso de Chaves.