Sons and sons-in-law of Zarco

The old Madeiran books of nobility state that the discoverer João Gonçalves Zarco had three sons and four daughters: João Gonçalves da Câmara, Rui Gonçalves da Câmara, Garcia Rodrigues da Câmara, Helena Gonçalves da Câmara, Beatriz Gonçalves da Câmara, Isabel Gonçalves da Câmara and Catarina Gonçalves da Câmara. The genealogists do not agree, however, on where some of these children were born. Several assert – and this is the most widely held opinion – that when Gonçalves Zarco settled in Madeira with his wife, Dona Constança de Sá, he brought with him his eldest son, who was heir to the house, and his daughter Dona Helena Gonçalves da Câmara. It seems that the first child born on this island was Rui Gonçalves da Câmara. We have already dealt with him and with João Gonçalves da Câmara, the second donatary of Funchal, in this Elucidário. The books of lineages give Garcia Rodrigues da Câmara as a natural son of the discoverer. He always enjoyed his father’s most particular affection and was a wealthy heir of his. He married the daughter of Nuno Cardoso, founder of the entailed estate (morgadio) of São João de Latrão, in Gaula, and succeeded to the administration of this entailed house (casa vinculada).

From the two legitimate sons, João Gonçalves da Câmara, 2nd captain-donatary (capitão-donatário) of Funchal, and Rui Gonçalves da Câmara, 3rd captain-donatary of the island of São Miguel, descend some of the most distinguished families of Portugal, such as the Counts of Vila Franca and of Atouguia, the Marquises of Ribeira Grande, the Counts of Tarouca, the Marquises of Castelo Melhor and others.

When Gonçalves Zarco asked Afonso V to send him some persons of quality to marry his daughters, the monarch replied in the following terms: ‘Herewith I send you four noblemen to marry your daughters; and if you endow them according to their qualities, I shall hold you much honoured and them well endowed.’ These noblemen, marrying the daughters of the illustrious discoverer, became the founders of numerous lines of descendants, and all of them established important entailed houses on this island.

Helena da Câmara, the eldest daughter, married Martim Mendes de Vasconcelos, who settled in São Martinho (‘St Martin’), on the left bank of the Ribeira dos Socorridos, where he held a great deal of land by sesmaria (royal land grant to settlers on condition of cultivation), and also in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos (‘the narrows of Câmara de Lobos’). He was buried in the church of the Convent of St Clare (Santa Clara), and the learned annotator of ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra) says of this: ‘in the church of the convent of Santa Clara in Funchal, at the entrance on the right-hand side, stands the sarcophagus of this Martim Mendes de Vasconcelos, with an inscription in Gothic capitals, illegible from wear; but in the adjoining pavilion there is a large marble slab bearing the following epitaph:

This is the tomb said to be that of João Gonçalves Zarco, and it is reproduced as such in engravings in many works, chiefly foreign ones. It is worth mentioning here that the discoverer was buried beside the altar steps of the chancel. An old manuscript states ‘that the work was so arranged that Zarco’s grave lay in the middle of the chancel, with a stone tomb above it so tall that it made it singularly venerable and imposing’. It is said that many years later the nuns obtained the removal of the showy mausoleum, which blocked their view of the altar, and it was perhaps on that occasion that the ashes of the discoverer of Madeira were transferred to the family vault of his son-in-law Martim Mendes de Vasconcelos. It is certain that in March 1919, when the floorboards of the chancel of the church of the Convent of St Clare were lifted, only the tombstones of the second, third and fifth captain-donataries of Funchal were found. Had the mortal remains of Gonçalves Zarco lain there, the gravestone of his tomb would probably have been discovered. But was the transfer really made? And when did it take place? We do not know.

Dona Brites or Beatriz Gonçalves da Câmara, Zarco’s second daughter, married Diogo Cabral, son of Fernão Alves Cabral, chief health officer (guarda-mor) to Prince Henry the Navigator. Diogo Cabral held vast lands by sesmaria (royal land grant to settlers on condition of cultivation) at Calheta (‘small cove’), granted to him by his father-in-law. He fulfilled Zarco’s vows and wishes by building in that parish (freguesia) the chapel of Our Lady of the Star (Nossa Senhora da Estrela) (see that entry). He died on 15 December 1486 and was buried in the chapel he had founded, which he made the seat of an entailed estate (morgadio). The discoverer’s third daughter was Isabel Gonçalves da Câmara, who married Diogo Afonso de Aguiar; Henriques de Noronha says ‘that the dowry which I saw was drawn up in the year 1439’. According to some, he was the son of José Afonso de Aguiar, first treasurer of the Lisbon mint, and according to others, of Pedro de Aguiar, who belonged to an old and noble family of the Kingdom (reino, i.e. mainland Portugal). He held many lands by sesmaria on this island. His son, Dom Martinho de Aguiar, was Bishop of Ceuta and Tangier.

Garcia Homem de Sousa was the fidalgo (nobleman of the lesser nobility) who married Catarina Gonçalves da Câmara, Zarco’s fourth daughter. Old chronicles say that he was a turbulent man and that he had waged bloody feuds with his brothers-in-law. In the locality (sítio) of Santo Amaro (‘St Maurus’), in the parish of Santo António, he had a large settled estate (fazenda povoada), and there he built a chapel with that dedication (see Santo Amaro).