Gaula (parish)

Anyone moderately versed in the history of Portuguese literature knows the celebrated romance of chivalry Amadis de Gaula, attributed to Vasco de Lobeira. Its origin, the language in which it was written, the period of its composition, etc., have been the subject of various works of literary criticism and historical research, especially the books of Teófilo Braga: Introdução e Theoria da Historia da Literatura Portugueza, Poetas Palacianos and Amadis de Gaula. Is there any connection between the name given to this parish and that of the famous romance? Dr Álvaro de Azevedo neither denies nor affirms it, making a vague and ambiguous reference to the parish (freguesia) of Gaula when he deals with the narrative romance and its devotees in this archipelago. He seems to have deliberately avoided giving an opinion that might perhaps have been called risky or rash. Meanwhile, let us transcribe the words of the annotator of the Saudades: ‘Tristan of Léonois, Lancelot of the Lake and Yseult are among these characters; Gaula is the homeland of the protagonist of one of them; Amadis de Gaula is the title of the celebrated romance attributed to our Vasco de Lobeira, a contemporary of John I. And in these islands, at the beginning of this period, Tristãos abounded, from Tristão Vaz Teixeira, or simply Tristão, Tristão da Ilha, first captain-donatary of Machico, so called, not because of any inferiority with respect to Zargo, but on the contrary, through a kind of poetic celebrity of the name, in honour of his singular chivalry and nobility,” as Frutuoso writes, copied by António Cordeiro in the ‘Island History’ (Historia Insulana), book III, ch. IX, § 54: there was also in these islands more than one fidalgo (nobleman of the lesser nobility) named Lançarote, a manifest corruption of Lancelot; Bartolomeu Perestrelo, first donatary of the island of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’), gave his second daughter the name Yseu, or Hiseua, also a clear corruption of Yseult; and, finally, Gaula was the name then given to the vast lands west of the town of Santa Cruz (‘Holy Cross’) which, since 1558, have formed the parish of Gaula.’

Dr Teófilo Braga refers to the subject in almost the same terms as Dr Álvaro de Azevedo in his book Amadis de Gaula, from which we transcribe the following passages: ‘It is worth noting that the only place where Portuguese tradition preserves the romance of Lancelot is where there are the most traces of a knowledge of the Amadis in aristocratic society: the name of Grimanesa, lover of Apolidão, lord of the Firm Island, was also that of the wife of Tristão Teixeira, third captain of Machico. “The fourth and last son of Captain Tristão was called Lançarote Teixeira: he was one of the best horsemen of the island; for besides being by inclination a very good rider, he had a great hand at taming horses and was much given to it, so much so that in his time sixty well-appointed knights with golden spurs gathered in the town of Machico, mounted through the efforts of this Lançarote Teixeira; and when a feast of St John the Baptist or of Corpus Christi came round, there were so many knights for the cane games (jogos de canas, equestrian tournament with thrown canes) and skirmishes that it looked more like an army at war than a festive pastime; and though all were very skilled in this art, he nevertheless stood out so much among them that it may rightly be said he was the light and ornament of Machico.” Of this Lançarote Teixeira were born, besides other children, a son called Lançarote Teixeira de Gaula and a daughter who married Fernão Nunes de Gaula. Gaspar Frutuoso describes this village (lugar, settlement rank below a town) at some distance from Machico: “Going on from this stream (the Boaventura) almost a légua, there is a settlement of thirty households of the same termo (municipal jurisdictional district, a subdivision of the comarca) of Santa Cruz, called Gaula, and it has many vineyards of Malmsey and many vineyards of other varieties.” The influence of the romance of Amadis de Gaula in this very place is easily proved, knowing that this Lançarote Teixeira de Gaula was the grandson of Tristão Teixeira das Damas, a love poet of the Songbook of Resende (Cancioneiro de Resende): “He was called ‘das Damas’ [of the Ladies] because he was a great courtier, a fine speaker, composed many verses for the ladies and was very eloquent in speech. This poet, married to Dona Guiomar de Lordelo, lady-in-waiting to the Excellent Lady, was a contemporary of Zurara, and his character and taste would necessarily have made him acquainted with the adventures of Amadis de Gaula.”’

From what has been transcribed, it cannot logically be inferred that there is any connection between the name given to this parish and the existence of the celebrated romance of chivalry. Although Teófilo Braga asserts that the influence of the Amadis de Gaula in this very place is easily proved, the truth is that the presence in Gaula of a Lançarote and of the granddaughter of a Tristão, characters of the chivalric romances of the Amadis cycle, is not an argument that leads us to identify the name of the parish with that of the romance. It should be noted here that in the oldest entries of the parish register, beginning in the mid-16th century, the name of this parish is always spelt Guaula. This seems to be the original name, which a popular corruption turned into Gaula. This removes still further the idea of any close affinity between the two names.

This parish (freguesia) was formed from land that belonged to the parish and town (vila) of Santa Cruz, from which it was separated around 1558. We have found no record of a chapel existing there that might have served as the seat of the new parish. Its parish priest originally received an annual stipend (côngrua) of 12,300 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis), which the royal decree (alvará) of King Sebastian of 9 June 1572 raised to 20,000 réis; the vicar at the time was Friar Diogo Moreno. The subsequent royal decrees of 9 June 1581, 20 January 1589 and 4 July 1592 successively increased the parish priest’s pay, which the last of them fixed at 16,000 réis in cash, one pipa (wine cask and measure, c. 400–500 litres) of wine and one and a half moios (dry measure of grain, 60 alqueires) of wheat. Jorge Rodrigues, Diogo Fernandes and Friar Diogo Moreno were among the earliest priests to serve in this parish.

The seat of the parish was established in a chapel that either already existed there or was built when the parish was created; it stood to the east of the present parish church, not far from it. Although it was a building of cramped dimensions, it served as the parish seat for roughly two centuries. An order of the Council of the Treasury (Conselho da Fazenda) of 17 October 1753 authorised the building of a new church, the works for which were contracted to the stonemason Manuel Rodrigues for the sum of 3,400,000 réis. We do not know when the building works were completed or in what year the new church was blessed. The bell tower was built in 1915 at a cost of 1,800.00 escudos.

This parish church possesses a finely wrought silver cross, which in 1882 was shown at the Retrospective Exhibition of Ornamental Art (Exposição Retrospectiva de Arte Ornamental) held in Lisbon, and which is described in its catalogue as follows: ‘Processional cross of silver gilt with a figure in white silver, its arms ending in the shape of a fleur-de-lis. It rests on a hexagonal base representing a castle, defended by six giants with Gothic-style pinnacles. Height, 0.70 m. 15th century’.

This parish had the chantries (capela) of São João de Latrão (‘St John Lateran’), in the locality (sítio) that still bears that name today, and of São Marcos (St Mark), in the locality of Porto Novo (‘new harbour’), which we shall discuss elsewhere.

The main localities (sítios) are Porto Novo, Fazenda, Levadas, Achada de Baixo, Achada de Cima, Achada da Rocha, Salgados, Pico, Cova do Moinho, Faia, Lombo, Fonte, Povo, Lobos, Furtados, Salão, Torre, Fonte do Lopo, Fazendinha São João, Castelejo, Aldonça, Beatas, Lombadinha, Lajeas, Farrobo and Contenda.

Among the localities, special mention is due to that of Achada, known as the Achada de Gaula (‘plateau of Gaula’), where there is a large cluster of dwellings. Many of them are surrounded by tall box hedges, which shelter them from the winds and give the place a rather interesting and picturesque appearance. The spot bears a strong resemblance to the charming parish of Sant'Ana, even in the make-up of the soil itself. From the Pico dos Eirós, which overlooks the parishes of Camacha, Santo da Serra and Caniço, a vast and astonishing panorama opens out, stretching eastwards as far as the Ponta de São Lourenço. The locality of Lombadinha deserves particular mention because it was once almost entirely held by quit-rent (foreiro) from the Captives’ Fund (Cofre de Cativos). The Fund had its seat in Lisbon and was intended for ransoming Portuguese taken prisoner by the Moors in Morocco, where they suffered the greatest outrages and the harshest cruelties.

This parish is irrigated by the Levada do Pico dos Eirós, the most important, which rises within the parish boundaries; by the Levada da Ribeira da Metade, which has its source in the brook of Junça in the parish of Camacha; and by the Levada da Roda, whose water comes from the parish of Santa Cruz.

The parish is separated from the parishes of Caniço and Camacha by the Ribeira do Porto Novo. At its mouth lies a small landing place of the same name, the most important in the parish, where the District General Council (Junta Geral) had a small quay or landing place built some fifteen years ago. In September 1873 the American corvette Supply arrived at Funchal and was refused pratique because she came from a port where cholera morbus was raging. Two boats from this warship attempted to land people at Porto Novo, but the local inhabitants vigorously opposed them, and this stand by the people of Gaula forced the American sailors to abandon their attempt. The parish also has the insignificant landing place of Aldonça; on a spot overlooking it, the captain-general (capitão-general, military governor of Madeira) Sebastião Botelho had a small fort built in 1820.

It is said that in former times, when an inhabitant of this parish was asked where he came from, he invariably replied ‘I am from Gaula, what is it to you?’ if the question was put in the season of the blackberries, which grew there in abundance, or else ‘I am from Gaula for my sins’ if the answer was given after that fruit had been gathered. The question is still frequently and pointedly repeated today, but it generally gets no answer, because the man from Gaula sees in it an insult, or a cause for ridicule or scorn of his native parish.

Nuno Fernandes Cardoso, son of Fernão Nunes Cardoso, ‘a man of lineage’ in the words of the genealogies, came to this island towards the end of the 15th century and held extensive lands by sesmaria (royal land grant to settlers on condition of cultivation) in the parish of Gaula, where in 1511 he founded the entailed estate (morgadio) of São João de Latrão. His eldest son, Pedro Nunes Cardoso, was, according to H. H. de Noronha, criminal corregedor (royal district magistrate) of the court and high court judge (desembargador) of the Casa do Porto. He inherited his parents’ entail (morgado) on this island, died at Gaula on 17 May 1552 and was buried in the chapel of São João de Latrão. His brother, Diogo Nunes Cardoso, studied at Coimbra and in Italy, where he took his doctorate, and became a judge of the Desembargo do Paço (the royal supreme court; desembargador do paço). This Diogo Cardoso was the father of Tomaz Nunes de Afonseca, who, says an old genealogy, ‘studied at Coimbra and was criminal corregedor at court, and after serving the King in matters of great importance came to this island, where he had inherited the entail of Gaula from his grandfather, for want of issue from his uncle Pedro Nunes Cardoso’. The last representative of this entailed house (casa vinculada) was Nuno Fernandes Cardoso e Vasconcelos, grandfather of Luís Cardoso de Castro e Abreu, the present schoolteacher of this parish of Gaula. (See São João de Latrão.)

The patron saint of this parish is Nossa Senhora da Luz (Our Lady of Light), and the parish has 3,120 inhabitants. On 28 March 1932 Father João Jorge Bettencourt died in this parish, where he had been born and served as parish priest. A priest of the most refined virtues, he distinguished himself as a journalist, having for some years been the chief editor of a daily newspaper published in this city.

Recently the idea has arisen of attributing the origin of the parish’s name to a family with the surname Gaula, which might have settled there in the early days of colonisation. The truth, however, is that this name left no trace among the population, nor was it recorded in the books of the parish archive.

See Diário de Notícias of 19 May 1929. Gavião. ‘João Gavião, says a distinguished genealogist, belonged to the King’s household; coming to the island of Madeira, he was shipwrecked on that of Porto Santo, and went to live at Caniço, where he died, leaving a will, in 1555.’ He was one of the first on this island to bear the surname Gavião.