Bettencourt 1Spelling and origins of the name
Bettencourt
Entry on the Bettencourt family surname in Madeira, descended from the French lords of the Canary Islands, covering its first bearers on the island, its entailed estates (morgadios) and coat of arms.
1Spelling and origins of the name
This is the most usual way of writing this well-known family surname, which over the years has appeared among its bearers in various spellings, according to the whim or fancy of the individuals who used it.
Some even went so far as to harbour the ridiculous notion that writing it with an h after the t denoted a genealogical branch of purer and more authentic nobility. In Madeira there was a titled nobleman who refused to sign a public deed in which his name appeared, because the notary, little versed in these heraldic subtleties, had left out the h, a consonant indispensable to the ancestral lineage of this illustrious and ridiculous fidalgo (nobleman of the lesser nobility).
Jean de Béthencourt, who was king and lord of the Canary Islands, belonged to an ancient and noble family of France, where the rights and privileges of the highest nobility were upheld and recognised for him. A nephew of his, named Meciot de Bettencourt, who succeeded his uncle, came to this island in the early days of colonisation, having exchanged the island of Lanzarote with Prince Henry the Navigator for substantial revenues here on Madeira.
A daughter of Meciot de Bettencourt, Dona Maria de Bettencourt, who accompanied her father from the Canaries, founded the entailed estate (morgadio) of Água de Mel (‘honey water’), in the parishes of Santo António and São Roque, in favour of Gaspar de Bettencourt, son of her brother Henrique de Bettencourt. Henrique and his brother João de Bettencourt were the first individuals in this archipelago to use this family surname.
2Descendants, arms and notable members
Dona Maria de Bettencourt married Luís Gonçalves da Câmara, second son of João Gonçalves Zarco, who was captain-donatary of the island of São Miguel. Gaspar Bettencourt accompanied his aunt, Dona Maria Bettencourt, to the Azores. There he married and became the founder of a large line of descendants. A detailed account of the entailed estate of Água de Mel, of which he was the first administrator, and of all his successors in the administration of this important entailed estate down to the last Count of Carvalhal (‘oak grove’) appears in the review Paróquia de Santo Antonio do Funchal, in issue no. 9 and the following issues of 1915.
Henrique Bettencourt settled in the parish (freguesia) of Ribeira Brava (‘wild river’), where he held a great deal of land by sesmaria (royal land grant to settlers on condition of cultivation), and there he founded an entailed estate.
Coat of arms of this family: on a field argent a lion rampant sable, armed gules, with the same lion as in the arms for a crest.
Many members of this family distinguished themselves notably in Africa, India and Brazil. Special mention is due to Henrique de Bettencourt, who gave great proof of his valour in the East as general of the Malabar sea. He died in a shipwreck while serving as captain-major of a fleet of ships, on his way to the Kingdom (reino, i.e. mainland Portugal) to join the expedition that King Sebastian led to Africa.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 09
Abroad
- Água de Mel
Funchal. Site of the entail founded by Maria de Bettencourt.
An area in Funchal shared by two parishes, seat of an entail founded by Maria de Bettencourt and later held by the Counts of Carvalhal. The governor was ambushed there in 1668, near the Bettencourt manor.
- Azores
Portugal. Where Gaspar de Bettencourt settled and founded a large line.
The Azores, an Atlantic archipelago that shares plant species with Madeira. The Elucidário records settlement there by Madeiran families such as the Bettencourts, the 1801 ban on Azorean wines in Madeira, and imports of Azorean tobacco. It also notes that Azorean farmers were brought to Madeira to teach maize-growing methods.
- Canary Islands
Spain. Archipelago of which João de Bettencourt was king and lord.
The Canary Islands are the archipelago neighbouring Madeira, with disputed accounts of their discovery. Tradition holds that their Béthencourt king sold them to Prince Henry in exchange for lands in Madeira. The Elucidário notes many contacts between the two archipelagos, including scientific visits, the Orfeão Madeirense's tour in May 1922 and the massacre of forty Jesuits in their waters.
- Lanzarote
Spain. Canary island exchanged by Meciot de Bettencourt with Prince Henry.
A Canary island which Meciot de Bettencourt exchanged with Prince Henry. D. Agostinho Herrera was its count, and there the name alfarroba applies to a related plant.
- Malabar
India. Indian coast where Henrique de Bettencourt was general of the sea.
Indian coast where Henrique de Bettencourt was general of the sea.
- Ribeira Brava
Parish where Henrique de Bettencourt held sesmaria lands and founded an entail.
Ribeira Brava is one of Madeira's oldest parishes, named after its violent stream, with a town, port and quay. The Elucidário covers its collegiate church and its paintings, its Franciscan convent and chapels, and its São Pedro festival with a boat and sword dance. It also records riots against the metric system and deaths when troops fired on the people during the 1884 election.
- Santo António
Funchal. Parish containing part of the Água de Mel entail.
Santo António is a parish in the municipality of Funchal, Madeira, where the São João stream rises and the Jesuits had their Pico do Cardo residence. Its church bears a 1783 Latin inscription, and the parish contains the Madalena, São João e Santana and Pópulo chapels; it also gives its name to a hill of about 400 metres near its church.
- São Miguel
Portugal. Azorean island of which Rui Gonçalves da Câmara was captain-donatary.
An Azorean island discovered by Gonçalo Velho Cabral. Its captaincy was bought and governed by Rui Gonçalves da Câmara, son of Zargo. It was the birthplace of Brito Rebelo, and Frutuoso wrote his work there in 1590; its oranges are said to surpass Madeira's.
- São Roque
Funchal. Parish containing part of the Água de Mel entail.
São Roque is a suburban parish of Funchal, separated from São Pedro and created under a royal charter of 1579; it is named after its original chapel of São Roque. The Elucidário traces the history of its parish church and lists its chapels, principal localities and population.
People
People mentioned · 10-
Nephew of Maria de Bettencourt and first administrator of the Água de Mel entail, who settled in the Azores and founded a large line there.
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Son of Meciot and one of the first bearers of the name in Madeira; settled at Ribeira Brava with sesmaria lands and founded an entail there.
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Prince Henry the Navigator, who received Lanzarote from Meciot de Bettencourt in exchange for revenues in Madeira.
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French nobleman who was king and lord of the Canary Islands and head of the family from which the Madeiran Bettencourts descend.
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Brother of Henrique and one of the first two people to bear the surname in the archipelago.
- João Gonçalves Zarcod. 1467
Discoverer and first captain-donatary of Funchal, father-in-law of Maria de Bettencourt.
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King of Portugal whose African expedition Henrique de Bettencourt was sailing to join when he died.
- Luís Gonçalves da Câmara1518–1575
Second son of João Gonçalves Zarco and captain-donatary of São Miguel, husband of Maria de Bettencourt.
- Maria de Bettencourt1809–1884
Daughter of Meciot de Bettencourt who founded the Água de Mel entail and married Rui Gonçalves da Câmara.
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Nephew and successor of João de Bettencourt who came to Madeira early in its colonisation after exchanging Lanzarote with Prince Henry for revenues on the island.