The interaction between the Canary Islands and Africa as part of a common Atlantic construction during the 16th and 17th centuries

Abstract

This article examines the entangled relations between the Canary Islands and the African continent during the Iberian Union (1580–1640), situating both within the broader Iberian Atlantic framework. Drawing on a multifocal analysis of Spanish and Portuguese primary sources—particularly notarial records from the Canary Islands and Lisbon—the study reveals the archipelago’s role as a strategic intermediary in transoceanic networks. Far from being a peripheral outpost, the Canaries emerge as a dynamic node linking Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The study challenges Eurocentric historiographies by foregrounding African agency and the significance of Atlantic Africa in shaping early modern global circuits. It highlights the participation of Canarian and Portuguese elites in the slave trade, the redistribution of African commodities, and the formation of transnational mercantile alliances. Chroniclers such as Viera y Clavijo envisioned the islands as integral to a tri-continental Atlantic identity, reinforcing their centrality in the Atlantic world. Ultimately, this research contributes to a polycentric understanding of Atlantic history, emphasising the historical construction of a shared Afro-Atlantic space in which the Canary Islands and Africa were not marginal, but essential actors in the making of the early modern world.