Lançarote de Freitas, better known as Lançarote de Lagos or Lançarote da Ilha, was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer and slave raider from Lagos, Portugal. He was the leader of two large Portuguese slaving raids on the West African coast in 1444–1446.
Background
Lançarote de Freitas, better known as Lançarote da Ilha or simply Lançarote de Lagos, was trained as a squire and chamberlain in the household of the Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator. Lançarote was appointed as almoxarife (customs-collector) of Lagos, Portugal in April 1443, succeeding his father-in-law Soeiro da Costa, who resigned the position in his favor.The letter from regent Peter of Coimbra appointing "Lançarote da Ilha" as almoxarife (dated April 6, 1443) is found in A.J. Dias Dinis, editor, (1967), Monumenta Henricina, vol. 8, April 6, 1443 p.45. After resigning the almoxarife position, Soeiro da Costa was appointed alcaide of the castle of Lagos (by October 1443, see MH, p. 339)
Prince Henry the Navigator had been sending maritime expeditions down the West African coast since at least the early 1430s (see Portuguese discoveries). But they had yielded very little profit. The expeditions had sailed mostly along the stark Sahara desert coast, with no human settlements in sight nor encounters worth reporting. But in 1443, one of Henry's captains, Nuno Tristão, returned from an expedition with some 14 captive African natives, Sanhaja Berbers seized from small native fishing village he found in the Bay of Arguin (in modern Mauritania). The elevated banks of Arguin bay were replete with fish, attracting poor desert-dwelling Sanhaja Berbers to set up numerous little fishing settlements on islands and promontories all around the bay. It was the first human habitations that Henry's captains had come across after a decade of exploring, and they seemed weak and vulnerable. The prospect of easy and profitable slave-raiding grounds around the Arguin banks aroused the interest of many Portuguese merchants and fortune-seeking adventurers.Zurara (1453, p.61)
To immediately secure his title, in October 1443, Henry the Navigator received from his brother, the regent prince Peter of Coimbra, letters patent granting him an exclusive monopoly over all navigation south of Cape Bojador, whether for the purpose of war or trade. Any ship sailing south of it without Henry's license could be confiscated. Peter's letters also granted Henry the royal fifth and customs duties (tenth on imports) normally due to the Portuguese crown, on any African goods or slaves brought back to metropolitan Portugal.Barros (1552: p.60); Quintella (1839: p. 104). A copy of the letter patent of Peter of Coimbra (dated October 22, 1443) is found in A.J. Dias Dinis, editor, (1967), Monumenta Henricina, vol. 8, p. 107
A consortium of merchants of Lagos, sometimes referred to as the Companhia de Lagos ('Lagos Company', although it was probably little more than a temporary association of merchants, rather than an incorporated company in the proper sense),Rau and Diffie (1953) applied to Henry for a license. Probably on account of his intimate relationship with Henry, the Lagos merchants elected Lançarote as their head.
First slave raid (1444)
Having acquired their license, the Lagos company equipped a fleet of six slave ships and about thirty men that set out for the Arguin banks in the spring of 1444. The six captains are usually recorded as:Zurara (1453: p.60-86), Barros (1552: p.65), Quintella (1889: p. 106), Diffie and Winius (1977: p.80-81). See also Russell (2000: 239-40) 1. Lançarote de Freitas 2. Gil Eanes 3. Estêvão Afonso 4. Rodrigo Álvares 5. João Dias 6. Uncertain (variously given as Martim Vicente, Gil Vasques, João Bernaldez or even Gonçalo de Sintra).
In his own later memoir, Diogo Gomes identifies himself as having participating in this expedition.Gomes (1499: p.274)
Lançarote's fleet headed straight to the southern end of the Arguin Bay, where they had been told by Nuno Tristão's captives that populous fishing settlements could be found. They arrived in Arguin in June, 1444. A pre-dawn raid on Nar (Nair island) yielded the first set of victims. This was followed up by raids on the larger neighboring island of Tider (Tidra island) and Cerina (Serenni peninsula). In just a few days, the Lagos fleet had kidnapped some 235 hapless Berber people.Zurara (p.80) reports Lançarote's first fleet brought back 235 captives. Magalhães Godinho (1983, v.4, p. 157) considers that an underestimate, and prefers the higher estimate of almost 650 captives, as reported by Diogo Gomes (see Gomes, p.274). Gomes claimed to have captured 22 people himself. The remaining population having fled the coastal settlements and hidden in the hinterlands, there was little point remaining in the area. By early August, 1444, the fleet had arrived back in Lagos with their human cargo.
The spectacle of the disembarkation, partition and sale of the Arguin slaves in Lagos, in the presence of Prince Henry, mounted on his horse, is described in heart-breaking detail in Zurara's Crónica.Zurara, p.79-86 For this lucrative enterprise, Lançarote was knighted by Henry on the spot (August 8, 1444) (even though, according to Zurara, Henry gave away his own allotment - some 46 enslaved people, to which he was entitled as licenser of the expedition - among his captains and household servants).
Alvise Cadamosto, interviewing Arguin slaves in 1455 who recollected the first raids of 1440s, relates the initial impressions of the victims. Cadamosto Navigationi, 1507, 1550 Ramusio ed. p.108b; English translation in R. Kerr (1811: p.214) The Sanhaja fishing folk of Arguin bay had never seen ships or boats before, and thought the Portuguese sails were great seabirds, or perhaps great fish. As Portuguese slave raids were usually undertaken under cover of darkness, the locals believed them to be ghosts who roamed at night and were very frightened of them. The initial belief that they were non-human spirits was reinforced when raids were conducted at very distant parts of the coast overnight, which usually took a normal person three days to travel on foot.
Second slave raid (1445/1446)
Lançarote organized a second Lagos fleet for another large slave raid in 1445 (or 1446).Cortesão (p.18) and Diffie and Winius (p. 84, p. 467), following Zurara, place this in 1445. Quintella (p.139), following Barros, places it in 1446. Faria e Sousa (527-28) places it in 1447. The Lagos fleet was composed of 14 ships, the captains normally given as:This list is drawn mainly from Faria e Sousa (p.527) Both Zurara (p. 152) and Barros (p.85-86) explicitly mention only 1-6 in their lists, referring to the rest merely as 'other honorable persons of Lagos'. However, some names, e.g. Lourenço Dias and Vicente Dias, are mentioned later in their narratives.
1. Lançarote de Freitas 2. Soeiro da Costa (alcaide of Lagos and Lançarote's father-in-law) 3. Álvaro de Freitas (probably a relative of Lançarote) 4. Gomes Pires (captain of the king's caravel) 5. Rodrigo Eanes Travassos (of the household of the regent Peter of Coimbra), 6. a knight known as Palançano (aboard a fusta)Possibly the same person as "Alvaro Fernandes Palenco", who had been earlier nominated by the regent Peter of Coimbra in January 23, 1444 as a master of royal galleys. See MH, v.8 p. 121 7. Vicente Dias of Lagos 8. Martim Vicente 9. a captain nicknamed Picanço (speculated to be Diogo Gomes)Although he doesn't mention this expedition in his own account, Diogo Gomes (1499: p.278) claims he later captained a Lagos ship called Piconso on an expedition to Guinea. So it is possible he may have captained it on this expedition too. See Oliveira (2002) However, Barros (1552: p.88) identifies 'Picanço" as the nickname of Gomes Pires. 10. Lourenço Dias
and, more speculatively:
11. Diogo Gonçalves, 12. Pedro Alemão, 13. Gil Gonçalves, 14. Leonel Gil (son of Gil Eanes).
This fleet is said to have carried Gil Eanes and Estêvão Afonso as passengers.Zurara (p.152).
Setting out in August, 1445 (or 1446), Lançarote's Lagos fleet was just one of several fleets that set out from Portugal for the Arguin banks that year. Caught by bad weather, Lançarote arrived at Cape Blanc with only nine ships still together, the remaining having strayed off. He proceeded to the northern end of the Arguin banks, anchoring in at ilha das Graças (uncertain, possibly Madeleine island or Pelicans island). There, Lançarote was met by one of his missing ships, Vicente Dias, that had gone on ahead to Arguin island and stumbled across a small fleet of three Lisbon ships, headed by Dinis Eanes de Grã, who had preceded them and devastated the remaining settlements on the northern end of the bay, kidnapping some 100 people. At Grã's suggestion, Lançarote's fleet, now thirteen strong (only Palançano's fusta remained unaccounted for) attacked Arguin island again, taking four captives. They then headed to the southern end of Arguin Bay, kidnapping 57 Tider people and an additional five people somewhere further down (possibly around Cape Timris). The element of surprise being gone and the bulk of the population having already evacuated the coast, Lançarote's captives were principally Sanhaja Berber tribesmen who had decided to stay and put up a fight.Zurara (p.161-71), Barros (p.88-91), Quintella (p.140-41)
Dissatisfied with the "meager" number of human beings they had taken, and realizing that Arguin Bay was too thoroughly deserted to yield up any more, Lançarote decided to take his fleet south to raid the Wolof lands of Senegal, which had been discovered (but not yet raided) by Nuno Tristão and Dinis Dias the previous year. However, not all his ships were up for the journey, several of them running short on supplies. As a result, Lançarote partitioned his fleet, taking only six or seven caravels with him, sending the remaining ships back to Lagos under the command of Soeiro da Costa (a few of which would conduct an unauthorized slave raid on the Canary Islands of La Palma and Gomera on their way home).Zurara (p. 173) lists the returning names as 1. Soeiro da Costa, 2. Vicente Dias, 3. Gil Eanes, 4. Martim Vicente pilot and 5. João de Dias owner. Barros (p.92) lists them as 1. Soeiro da Costa, 2. Vicente Dias, 3. Rodrigo Eanes (!), 4. Martim Vicente and 5. Picanço. For the ships going with Lançarote to Senegal, Zurara (p.174) lists 1. Lançarote, 2. Gomes Pires, captain of the king's caravel, 3. Álvaro de Freitas, 4. Rodrigo Eanes de Travassos, 5. Lourenço Dias and 6. Vicente Dias 'the trader', plus 7. the ship of Tavilla (Tavira?) and 8. Picanço, although the latter two turned back before reaching Senegal. For the Senegal squadron, Barros (p.92) mentions 1. Lançarote, 2. Gomes Pires, 3. Álvaro de Freitas, 4. Rodrigo Eanes Travassos, 5. Lourenço Dias, and mentions later 6. Vicente Dias 'the trader' and 7. 'Dinis Dias' (sic, 'who turned back'). Zurara (p.175) mentions six arrived at Senegal, five at Gorée, which seems consistent with Barros's numbers.
Lançarote's squadron soon arrived at Barbary Point, the mouth of the Senegal River, which had not yet been explored by Europeans.Zurara (p.176, p. 183ff.); Barros (p. 108) Lançarote dispatched Estêvão Afonso and Vicente Dias on a launch to search upriver for settlements. The exploration didn't get very far. Venturing ashore at one point along the river bank, Afonso abducted two Wolof children from a local woodsman's hut, only to be chased down and furiously beaten by their father. Having barely escaped with their lives, the launch immediately returned (with the two kidnapped children) to the waiting caravels.Zurara (p.178-83), Barros (p.110-12), Quintella (p.144-45)