Botelho (Sebastião Xavier)
Sebastião Xavier Botelho (1768–1840) was governor and captain-general of Madeira from 1819, during whose rule the Constitution was proclaimed on the island in 1821. He was also a noted writer and later governed the Azores, Mozambique and Angola.
This governor and captain-general (capitão-general, military governor of Madeira) of Madeira was appointed on 15 June 1818, arrived in Funchal on 12 May 1819 and took office on the 15th of the same month.
He travelled throughout his captaincy and informed the central government of the most urgent improvements to be made.
It was during his rule that the Porto revolution broke out, overthrowing absolute government and establishing the representative system; in Madeira the Constitution was proclaimed on 28 January 1821.
He fought bitter political battles, and in his own defence he published a pamphlet entitled Historia verdadeira dos acontecimentos da ilha da Madeira depois do memorável dia 28 de Janeiro ... (Lisbon, 1821). Sebastião Botelho was gifted with rare intelligence and wide learning, and was considered one of the most esteemed writers of his time; Alexandre Herculano wrote and delivered his historical eulogy.
Besides serving as governor and captain-general of Madeira, the Azores, Mozambique and Angola, he held other important posts.
He was born on 8 March 1768 and died on 21 May 1840. He belonged to the family of the Counts of São Miguel and was the grandfather of the 2nd Count of Carvalhal (‘oak grove’).
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 05-
Birth of Sebastião Xavier Botelho.
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Sebastião Xavier Botelho was appointed governor and captain-general of Madeira.
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Sebastião Xavier Botelho arrived in Funchal on 12 May and took office as governor of Madeira on 15 May.
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Luís José Baiardo left Madeira for Lisbon and published a pamphlet against Sebastião Xavier Botelho, who published his defence in Lisbon.
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Madeira adhered to the liberal revolution and the constitutional regime was solemnly proclaimed in Funchal, the square being renamed Praça da Constituição.
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Sebastião Xavier Botelho died.
Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Angola
Colony Botelho also governed.
Portuguese overseas colony which served as a place of exile for those condemned for the 1668 and 1834 disturbances in Madeira and by the Alçada of 1823. It was governed by Vasco Guedes, Sebastião Xavier Botelho and D. Lourenço de Almada. It was also the main source of the P.O.J. sugar-cane varieties imported from 1933 onwards.
- Azores
Portugal. Archipelago Botelho also governed.
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.
- Funchal
Where Botelho arrived to take office in 1819.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Mozambique
Colony Botelho also governed.
Moçambique (Mozambique) was a Portuguese colony governed by Sebastião Xavier Botelho and served by Mousinho de Albuquerque as royal commissioner and by Manuel de Sousa Brasão in 1916–17. It was a place of exile where Padre Pestana and Luiz Pimenta de Aguiar died, and it was the planned location of a Marconi wireless station.
- Porto
Portugal. City where the 1820 liberal revolution broke out.
A Portuguese city, where the 1820 liberal revolution began and whose district is the only one denser than Funchal's. Several Madeirans studied at its medical school or Academia Politécnica, and some lived or died there. The editor of O Funchalense Liberal was hanged there, and Marítimo beat FC Porto there in 1922.
People
People mentioned · 02- Sebastião Xavier Botelho1768–1840
Governor and captain-general of Madeira from 1819, in office when the 1821 Constitution was proclaimed on the island.
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Portuguese historian who wrote and delivered Botelho's historical eulogy.