Musée Jean-de-Béthencourt

About

The Jean-de-Bethencourt Museum is a museum located in Grainville-la-Teinturière in Seine-Maritime. The museum evokes the history of this seigneur of Grainville-la-Teintrière, who in 1402, for his own account, had begun the conquest of the Canary Islands. At that time, the archipelago was known, but had no lord.

With the agreement and support of the king of Castile and the Pope, John of Bethencourt became master of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and El Hierro. He organized, in an exemplary manner, relations between Normans and natives to make these islands "the exaltation and ostentation of all Christendom." This conquest had considerable consequences for the history of humanity, for 90 years later, the Canary Islands were, in 1492, an indispensable stopover for Christopher Columbus before his great crossing from the Atlantic to the New World. The museum also gives visitors a better understanding of today's Canary Islands, with which Grainville-la-Teinturière maintains privileged relations.