Luis de la Cerda
| Luis de la Cerda | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Fortuna Count of Clermont |
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| Prince of Fortuna | |
| Reign | November 1344 – 5 July 1348 |
| Successor | Luis de la Cerda y Guzmán |
| Born | Luis de la Cerda France |
| Died | July 5, 1348 Lamotte-du-Rhône |
| Spouse | Leonor de Guzmán |
| Issue |
Luis de la Cerda y Guzmán Juan de la Cerda y Guzmán Isabel de la Cerda |
| House | House de la Cerda |
| Father | Alfonso de la Cerda |
| Mother | Matilde of Brienne-Eu |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Luis de La Cerda, also called Louis of Spain (France, 1291 - Lamotte-du-Rhône, July 5, 1348) was an expatriate royal prince of the Crown of Castile, who lived and served in the Kingdom of France. Among his titles, Luis de la Cerda was the count of Talmont, count of Clermont and an admiral of France. He was also made the first 'Prince of Fortuna' (sovereign ruler of the Canary Islands) by Pope Clement VI in 1344, although he never actually set foot on the islands.
Luis de la Cerda was the second son of Alfonso de la Cerda, the disinherited and Matilde of Brienne-Eu (daughter of John II of Brienne). Alfonso had been chosen to inherit the Kingdom of León from his grandfather King Alfonso X of Castile-León, but was deposed and driven into exile in 1284 by his uncle, Sancho IV. As a result, most of Alfonso's children, including Luis de la Cerda, were born and raised abroad.
Luis de la Cerda spent almost all of his life in the Kingdom of France, in the service of the French crown, and fought in the Hundred Years' War on behalf of his adopted country. King Philip VI of France invested Luis de la Cerda as Count of Clermont and the first Count of Talmont in 1338/39. He was appointed Admiral of France in 1340.
Although known since classical antiquity, there had been practically no European contact with the Canary islands (known then as the Fortunate Islands) until the early 14th century, when Genoese captain Lanceloto Malocello stumbled on the island of Lanzarote. European interest in the islands accelerated quickly following a 1341 mapping expedition sponsored by Afonso IV of Portugal, which supplied detailed descriptions of the 'Guanches', the primeval aboriginal inhabitants of the islands. The prospect of new and easy slave-raiding grounds whet the appetites of European merchants. Majorcan expeditions, organized by private commercial consortiums, set out immediately for the Canary islands, with the objective of capturing natives to sell them as slaves in European markets.
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