Special judicial commission of 1823

The revolution that broke out in Porto on 24 August 1820 established representative government, and the constituent Cortes (Portuguese parliament), which sat from 1821 to 1822, drew up and decreed the so-called Constitution of 1822. In the Madeira archipelago the new government was proclaimed on 28 January 1821. In June 1823 the Cortes were dissolved, the Constitution was revoked and absolute government was restored. On 26 August 1823 the frigate Amazonas reached Madeira, carrying the archipelago’s new governor, Dom Manuel de Portugal e Castro. He was accompanied by the 7th Infantry Regiment, an artillery detachment and a special judicial commission (alçada) of six magistrates, which had come to investigate the conduct of those who had shown themselves hostile to absolute government and had supported the constitutional government.

The governor and the troops landed on the day of their arrival, but the judges of the special judicial commission, fearing some hostile demonstration by the population, put off their landing until the following day. That night, however, a sudden storm blew up and forced the frigate to weigh anchor; it returned to the landing place three days later.

The special judicial commission consisted of the high court judge (desembargador) Dr José de Melo Freire, who acted as president, and the judges Dr José Fernandes da Silva Geraldes Quelhas, Dr Luís de Paula Furtado de Castro do Rio e Mendonça, Dr José Freire de Andrade, Dr Francisco António de Castro and Dr José Peixoto Sarmento de Queiroz. They were assisted by the juiz de fora (crown-appointed judge from outside the district) and the corregedor (royal district magistrate) of the judicial district (comarca). They set up their court in the town hall and remained there, conducting their rigorous inquiry, from 30 August until the first days of November 1823.

The wide-ranging judicial inquiry (devassa) that they carried out drew in a considerable number of people. Fear gripped public opinion, and many dreaded a severe sentence. Many dozens of witnesses gave evidence, and a long and voluminous case file was compiled. Sentence was pronounced on 26 October: 24 individuals were condemned, almost all of them from the highest ranks of Madeiran society. Various penalties were imposed, most notably penal exile (degredo) and banishment to our overseas possessions.

Among those sentenced by this special judicial commission (alçada) we shall mention the illustrious author of ‘The Zarco Epic’ (Zargueida), Francisco de Paula Medina e Vasconcelos, condemned to eight years of penal exile in Angola; the eminent physician Nicolau Caetano Betencourt Pita, editor of O Patriota Funchalense (‘The Funchal Patriot’), the first newspaper published in Funchal, condemned to four years of banishment to the island of Terceira, where he died in 1857; the distinguished lawyer and canon of our Funchal Cathedral (Sé), Dr Gregório Nazianzeno de Medina e Vasconcelos, condemned to ten years of penal exile in Angola; the corregedor (royal district magistrate) of the judicial district (comarca), Dr Francisco de Assis Saldanha, condemned to imprisonment in São Jorge Castle (Castelo de São Jorge) in Lisbon; the vicar of Campanário (‘bell tower’), Tomé Pestana Homem de El-Rei; and the captains Joaquim M. Gonçalves, João José de Sá Betencourt and António João Favila, condemned to various penalties; as well as other individuals.

The sentence of the special judicial commission, a lengthy document, was published as a pamphlet and is also printed in the Archivo de Marinha e Ultramar, vol. II, pp. 98 ff.