A Providential Reading of theConquest of the Canary Islands: «La Candelaria entre guanchez, y Edipo atlántico»

Abstract

Among the few theatrical texts from the Canary Islands prior to the 19th century, La Candelaria entre guanchez and Edipo atlántico has not received critical attention despite representing an extraordinary example of the interest in the islands’ past among the early Enlightenment thinkers. Lacking a specific place and date of printing, the anonymous author crafts an elaborate celebration of the birth of Louis I in 1707. Drawing upon the limited local historiography available at that time and relying on classical and literary sources, the author proposes a providential and novel interpretation of the conquest, which would culminate with the ascension of the new Bourbon dynasty to the throne. This paper describes and analyses the two devices the author employs in his theatrical recreation for an elite insular audience: the mythical roots of the archipelago (Canary Islands as a remnant of the devastated Atlantis) and its incorporation into Christendom (the appearance of the Virgin of Candelaria). This intertwining of the pagan and the Christian must be understood in the context of the ecclesiastical regalism that characterised the initial phase of the pre-Enlightenment period in the Canary Islands.