Explotación y comercio de la orchilla en Canarias

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the importance of the orchilla lichen in the Macaronesian islands, from the last quarter of the fifteenth century until the end of the sixteenth. Within this time frame, we have analysed the differences and concomitances found between the different Macaronesian islands depending on their dependence from the Lusitanian or Castillian Crown, as well as the valuation and control of this product by European mer-chants. There is a specific section devoted to the Canary Islands, without leaving aside the rest of islands as all of them were places of convergence of European interests. Furthermore, the orchilla became the first non-cultivated plant exploited under monopoly regime after the discovery of the islands.