Figueiroa (Francisco Anacleto de)
Francisco Anacleto de Figueiroa was a militia colonel who died in Funchal in 1810. He is remembered for the horrifying manner of his death: he was buried alive in Zarco's tomb vault at the Convent of Santa Clara.
He was a colonel of the militia (milícias) and died in Funchal in 1810. We know nothing about him that would make him worthy of mention, but the horrible death he met at the bottom of a tomb deserves special record here. In an official document we came across the following information: ‘Francisco Anacleto de Figueiroa, colonel of the militia, was taken for dead in Funchal, where he lived. He was carried to the burial vault (carneiro) of João Gonçalves Zarco in the Convent of St Clare (Santa Clara). Years later, another death in the family made it necessary to open the vault, and there, beside the heavy iron grille at the entrance, at the gloomy foot of the stairway, lay the skeleton of Figueiroa, clutching the bars in a last despair of atrocious agony.’
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Convent of St Clare
Funchal. Convent housing Zarco's burial vault where Figueiroa was entombed.
A convent in Funchal founded in 1492–97 by the second captain-donatary João Gonçalves da Câmara beside the church of Conceição de Cima. It is the burial place of the Câmara family and holds a 1447 document spelling the name 'Zargo'. It was granted in 1912 for a new hospital and was later chosen to house the archaeological museum.
- Funchal
Where Figueiroa lived and died.
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.
People
People mentioned · 02-
Militia colonel resident in Funchal who was pronounced dead in 1810 and buried alive in the Zarco vault at Santa Clara.
- João Gonçalves Zarcod. 1467
Discoverer and first captain-donatary of Funchal, whose tomb vault at Santa Clara received Figueiroa's body.