Encyclopaedia of Madeira · digital edition
The Elucidário Madeirense is the classic encyclopaedia of Madeira, compiled by Fernando Augusto da Silva and Carlos Azevedo de Meneses, first published in 1921 and revised in 1940: some 3,900 entries on the island’s places, people, history and nature, now translated and linked for the first time.
Nº 2057
Levadas, Madeira's irrigation channels carrying mountain water to coastal farmland: their origin with the first settlers, economic importance, flows, giro rotations and administration, and water-rights law from 1461 to the 1931 decree. Covers the state levadas, notably Rabaçal and Serra do Faial, the oldest private levadas, Paul da Serra and Porto Santo works, the 1943 irrigation and hydro-electric plan, terminology, forests, and legislation and bibliography.
Nº 1174
Descobrimento do Arquipelago
The discovery of the Madeira archipelago, regarded as the start of Portuguese maritime expansion: legends of earlier voyages, Azurara's and later chroniclers' accounts of Zarco and Tristão Vaz reaching Porto Santo and Madeira, and debate over the traditional landing at Machico on 2 July 1419. Drawing on later research, royal charters and a list of studies, it concludes the islands were known before 1418, reconnoitred about 1418–1425 and settled from about 1425.
Nº 3398
Saque dos Franceses
Account of the sack of Funchal in October 1566 by French corsairs, many of them Huguenots, under Bertrand de Montluc, instigated by the renegade Portuguese trader Gaspar Caldeira, and of its diplomatic aftermath. It closes with an article by Stephen Gaselee on a letter from Cardinal Henrique relating to the affair.
Nº 3133
Regímen Florestal
Madeira's forest regime: the dense primeval forest found by the settlers and its destruction by fire, felling and timber export, and the royal regulations of 1493, 1515 and 1562 and later laws meant to protect it. Grazing, charcoal-making, the timber trade and abused felling licences are condemned, alongside José Augusto Fragoso's 1929 report, the administrative history of forestry, the baldios and a plea for a Circunscrição Florestal.
Nº 1863
Indústria Vinícola
Madeira's wine industry from settlement to the 1930s: early exports, the trade's growth after 1660 under English and later British merchants, export and production statistics, the oidium and phylloxera crises, adulteration and alcohol abuses, and regulatory efforts. It also lists the exporters of 1921, describes malvasia, boal, sercial, verdelho and other wine types with historical prices, explains winemaking methods, and covers the 1913 regulation and later reforms.
Nº 1569
Funchal – I Origem do nome
Funchal, Madeira's capital: the origin of its name in the fennel (funcho) of its valley, its creation as town and municipality around 1451–52, and its elevation by Manuel I in 1508 as the first city of Portugal's overseas domains. Also covered are the captaincies, the district created in 1834, the concelho's parishes and limits, a description of the city, and its urban boundaries fixed in 1809, 1863, 1909 and 1927.
Nº 1645
Geologia
Geology of the Madeira archipelago: its Miocene volcanic origin around an eruptive centre at Curral das Freiras, and its rocks and volcanic products, from basalts, trachytes and essexites to dykes, tuffs, ash, clays and limestones, with local names and building uses. Erosion by rain, torrents and sea, the formation of fajãs by landslides, and the colours of the sands are also treated, with a note on a 1940 study of the Selvagens.
Nº 2474
Motins populares
Popular riots and disturbances in Madeira, surveyed chronologically from the Porto Santo prophets of 1533 to the milk-decree riots of 1936. Covered are the 1668 deposition of Governor Francisco de Mascarenhas, the 1868 Pedrada, deadly election violence at Machico and Ribeira Brava, the Parreca disturbances, the 1906 sacking of the Gonçalo Aires lazaretto, and the bread, grain monopoly and milk riots of 1921, 1931 and 1936.
Nº 0948
Clima
Madeira's climate: Funchal's long-standing reputation, praised by physicians since 1751, as a resort for consumptives, with local tuberculosis attributed to alcoholism and poverty. Meteorological data for 1901–1909 cover temperature, solar radiation, pressure, humidity, rainfall, snow, hail and cloud in Funchal, the uplands and Porto Santo, followed by the daily cycle of clouds, sea breezes and clear nights and the formation of mountain fogs.
Nº 2994
Povoamento e Colonização
The settlement and colonisation of Madeira from about 1425: the division into the captaincies of Machico and Funchal, the arrival of settlers, convicts and slaves, forest clearing by fire, levadas, sesmarias and entails, and the first parishes. The near-absolute jurisdiction of the captain-donataries is described, together with the founding documents: Prince Henry's Regimento and Foral, the royal charters of 1433 and the donation letters of 1440–1450.
Nº 1868
Ingleses
The British in Madeira: alleged British designs on the archipelago, from Catarina's marriage to the two occupations and an 1897 press campaign; the consulate from 1658 and the colony's dominance of the wine trade; its privileges, judge-conservator, Protestant churches, cemetery and naturalists; an appraisal of its influence and its decline before Portuguese merchants; and its aloofness towards Madeirans, with resident numbers from 1845 to 1920.
Nº 0548
Bombardeamento do Funchal
Account of the two bombardments of Funchal by German submarines during the First World War, on 3 December 1916 and 12 December 1917, including ships sunk, casualties, places hit and the panic among the population.
Nº 0184
Aluviões
A chronology of the floods (aluviões) that struck Madeira from the seventeenth century to 1921, above all the catastrophic flood of 9 October 1803 that destroyed much of Funchal and killed about six hundred people. It records damage, casualties and the official responses, including the channelling of Funchal's streams.
Nº 0756
Cana Sacarina
Sugar cane in Madeira: its introduction around 1425, the sixteenth-century sugar boom and its collapse under Brazilian competition, and its nineteenth-century revival after the vineyards failed, despite the cane disease of 1882–86. Also covered are cane varieties, sugar content, legal prices from 1862 to 1937, cultivation and levada irrigation, the mills and the Hinton factory's dominance, and the sugar legislation of 1934–35.
Nº 3252
Romarias
Describes the popular religious pilgrimages and feast-day gatherings (romarias and arraiais) of rural Madeira: their music, dancing, fireworks, food, drink and vows, with a calendar of the main feasts and early historical references.
Nº 3833
Zargo (João Gonçalves)
João Gonçalves Zargo (or Zarco), discoverer of Madeira and first captain-donatary of Funchal: the spelling and origin of his name, his uncertain birthplace, noble ancestry and service to Prince Henry at Ceuta and Tangier, his residences and government of the captaincy, family and arms, death (established as 1467) and burial at Santa Clara, relics including his disputed sword, Francisco Franco's statue unveiled in 1934, and the epic Zargueida.
Nº 2598
Nossa Senhora do Monte (Freguesia de)
Entry on the parish of Nossa Senhora do Monte (commonly 'Monte') above Funchal, covering its origin in Adão Gonçalves Ferreira's chapel, the legend of the Virgin's apparition, the building of the church, the island-wide cult and August pilgrimage, and its quintas, railway and toboggans.
Nº 3435
Selvagens
Describes the Selvagens, a small uninhabited island group politically part of the Madeira archipelago, covering its geography, geology, fauna, ownership history and legends of hidden treasure. It notes the annual hunting of shearwaters and rabbits and quotes press articles, including one on Shackleton's treasure plans.
Nº 3427
Sé Catedral
Funchal's Sé Catedral, a Gothic-Manueline national monument begun soon after 1493 under D. Manuel and consecrated in 1516: its construction and later additions, Frutuoso's description, the Mudéjar cedar ceiling, chapels, silver-gilt processional cross and organs. A chronology runs from the 1485 land grant through its brief archiepiscopal status, the 1566 Huguenot sack, synods, burials, works and earthquake damage to the 1940 Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art.
Nº 2502
Música
Music in Madeira: folk songs and the instruments played at pilgrimages, such as the braguinha, rajão and viola, and sacred music at Funchal Cathedral from the sixteenth century, with its organs and chapel masters. Also records Madeiran composers, performers, bands, choirs, the Funchal Concert Society (1840–48) and singing schools, drawing on Platão de Vakcel's 1869 account and Luís de Freitas Branco's 1937 radio talk.
Nº 3537
Sport in Madeira: the origins of cricket and football from 1865, the Associação de Foot-ball do Funchal and its championships, the histories of Marítimo, Internacional and other Funchal clubs, and Madeiran football's peak with Marítimo's 1926 national title before its decline. Water sports, athletics, tennis, fencing, table tennis, motoring, cycling, basketball and volleyball are also chronicled, alongside notable Madeiran sportsmen.
Abroad
