Ship with armed men from BL Eg 2709, f. 2

Detail of a miniature of a ship crowded with armed men; the flags at the masthead and at the prow and stern, as well as two of the shields, bear the arms of La Sale; the arms of Béthencourt do not appear, but there is a second flag at the stern, on which the arms in the first and fourth quarters have been erased. Image taken from f. 2 of Conquête et les conquérants des Iles Canaries. Written in French.

The Egerton Manuscript Collection is named after its founder, Sir Thomas Egerton (1540-1617), 1st Viscount Brackley, was a lawyer, statesman, and patron of the arts during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I of England. He served as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and later as Lord Chancellor of England, holding high positions in the legal and political realms.

Sir Thomas Egerton acquired a substantial number of historical and literary manuscripts. In 1617, shortly before his death, Sir Thomas Egerton bequeathed his collection of manuscripts to the British Museum, which was the precursor to the British Library.