Lanceloto Malocello
Lanceloto Malocello (also Lancelotto and Lanzarote; in Latin: Lanzarotus Marocelus; in French: Lancelot Maloisel) was a navigator and explorer from the Republic of Genoa of the xiv century recognized as the medieval rediscoverer of the Canary Islands, and for being the origin from the name of the island of Lanzarote.
Biography
Much of Lanceloto Malocello's biography is unknown, since in his time there were several homonymous characters.
What is known is that he was originally from the Republic of Genoa, and that he was dedicated to commerce. For Alberto Quartapelle, Malocello must have been born around 1305 since he appears acting as a witness in a notarial act from 1330, for which he must have been twenty-five years of age. Rodríguez Wittmann, for his part, says that Malocello belonged to the Genoese fleet of Manuel Pessanha who acted in the service of the Kingdom of Portugal. Licata indicates that Malocello must have been born in the city of Varazze.
As for his death, Quartapelle proposes, with doubts, that Lanceloto Malocello, murdered on October 12, 1372 when he was thrown from a balcony during the coronation of Peter II of Cyprus as king of Jerusalem, is the rediscoverer of the Canary Islands. However, in the Book of Knowledge, the first bibliographical reference about this character, it is specified that "the people of this island [Lanzarote] killed a Ginoves who called Lançarote."
Trip to the Canary Islands
Malocello's expedition to the Canary Islands is a historical fact, confirmed by the Portulano chart of 1339 mapped by the Mallorcan or Genoese Angelino Dulcert. It shows the island of Lanzarote called Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus, under the Genoese flag.
Modern research estimates that the expedition must have taken place around the 1330s, Rodríguez Wittmann proposing that the trip was part of the Portuguese ambitions to expand its borders towards the ocean. However, it has traditionally been assumed which was in 1312 on a search expedition for the Genoese brothers Ugolino and Vadino Vivaldi, who in 1291 had undertaken a journey around Africa heading to the Indies. Malocello would have remained in Lanzarote for about twenty years, having built a castle on the island that would be used at the beginning of the 15th century by the Norman conquerors Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de La Salle.
Tributes
To celebrate the seventh centenary of the discovery of Lanzarote by Lanceloto Malocello, the promoters formed two committees, one in Spain and the other in Italy. The committees sponsored several events in Rome, Varazze, Brussels, Strasbourg, Madrid and Lanzarote, among other cities.
In 2012, Lanzarote celebrated the 700th anniversary of the rediscovery of Malocello from the Canary Islands with a series of lectures. One of the speakers was Alfonso Licata, who focused on the historical context of the trip.
A delegation of the mayor and 162 residents of Varazze – Malocello's hometown – visited Lanzarote. They arrived aboard the cruise ship Costa Deliziosa, which followed a route between Italy and Lanzarote emulating the path that Malocello probably took to the Canary Islands.
To commemorate the event, a commemorative medal was minted, made official by the School of the Art of the Medal and by the Italian State Polygraphic Institute. Likewise, Alfonso Licata published a book titled Lanzarotto Malocello, from Italy to the Canary Islands, published by the CISM-Ministry of Defense. The Council of Rome Capital, in 2012, at the request of the organizing committee, on the occasion of the aforementioned centenary, dedicated a public park equipped to the illustrious navigator in the Ostiense neighborhood. In turn, the city of Savona, at the request of the Organizing Commission, dedicated a green area to Malocello in 2013 which, equipped with children's games, can be seen today in the Port area.
Historicity
Some researchers have expressed their doubts about the existence of this character, such as Serra Ráfols and more recently Octavio Hernández.