Lancelotto Malocello

Who is Lancelotto Malocello?

Lancelotto Malocello was a Genoese navigator, who gave his name to the island of Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands.

Malocello perhaps voyaged in search of the brothers Vandino and Ugolino Vivaldi, who had voyaged to the Canary Islands in 1291 on their way to India, and whose fate was unknown. Malocello arrived on the island in 1312, and remained there for almost two decades until he was expelled by a Guanche revolt. Information about this revolt is scanty, but his stay on the island is supported by various sources, including the chronicles of the Norman conquest of the island under Jean de Bethencourt almost a century later, which state that the fortress constructed by Malocello could still be found on the island. Malocello's fortress was situated above Teguise.

At the time of Malocello's arrival, a king named Zonzamas ruled the island. Ico, his daughter, and Guanarame, her consort, succeeded Zonzamas. Their son Guadarfia was the ruler who would greet the expedition of Jean de Bethencourt in 1402.

Angelino Dulcert gives the first recorded name of the island as Insula de Lanzarotus Marocelus; its native name was Tyterogaka. Lancelotto is the Italian form of the proper name Lancelot.