BETHENCOURT, JEAN DE (c. French ex plorer, sailed from La Rochelle on May 1, 1402, with two ships commanded by himself and Gadifer de la Salle to conquer the Canary Islands. Failing in a first attempt he secured help from Henry III., king of Castile, and the title of "king." There was some disagreement with Gadifer de la Salle, who had seized Lan zarote, but Bethencourt had Henry III.'s support against his rival. He visited France in 1405 to secure new colonists, and in 1406 re turned once more, to spend the rest of his life in Normandy. His Le Canarien, livre de la conquese et conversion des Canaries, an untrustworthy narrative of his "conquest," was published with introduction and notes by G. Gravier (Rouen, 1874), and an English translation was edited by R. H. Major for the Hakluyt Society (1872).