Machico (captaincy)

Acting on instructions received from Prince Henry the Navigator, as Dr Gaspar Frutuoso reports, the discoverers João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira divided up the lands that were to form the area of their jurisdictions at the very beginning of colonisation, as the starting point for the orderly administration of the domains entrusted to them. In the articles Captaincies (vol. 1, p. 244 ff.) and Donataries (vol., p. 373 ff.) we have already referred to the division of the island of Madeira into two captaincies, with their seats at Funchal and Machico, and to the way in which their boundaries were drawn, the first falling to Gonçalves Zarco and the second to Tristão Vaz Teixeira. On pp. 456 and 457 of the Saudades is transcribed the charter of the grant of the captaincy of Machico made by Prince Henry to Tristão Vaz Teixeira, dated 8 May 1440. It is the oldest of the grants of the three captaincies into which the archipelago was divided, and all these grants must be understood as merely the solemn and authentic confirmation of concessions made earlier.

The captaincy of Machico extended from Ponta da Oliveira (‘olive-tree point’) to Ponta de São Lourenço (‘St Lawrence Point’) and from there to Ponta do Tristão (‘Tristão’s point’), taking in a considerable part of the south coast and the whole of the north coast of the island. Its area corresponded to the present municipalities of Porto Moniz, São Vicente, Santana, Machico and almost all of Santa Cruz, except for part of the parish (freguesia) of Caniço (‘reed’).

The captaincy of Machico was much larger in area and extent than that of Funchal, but the whole north coast, which formed part of it, was plainly inferior in its situation, climate, nature of the soil, lack of beaches and landing places, difficulty of communications, etc. As will be seen in the article Town and Municipality of Machico, the seat of this captaincy grew and developed rapidly, and it has even been claimed that it rivalled that of Funchal and even surpassed it in importance and prosperity. On this subject it is worth reading the first pages of the book A Filha de Tristão das Damas and the notes on pp. 254 and 255 of the same novel. This remarkable early growth, however, did not last long. The special conditions of the seat of the captaincy of Funchal – its admirable situation, the ample room for the growth of a populous settlement, the spaciousness of its harbour, the fertility of the soil, the picturesqueness of the lugar (settlement ranking between a town and a parish), the mildness of the climate, etc. – were bound to assert themselves forcefully and would soon overshadow the other places that were being established, even under the best auspices of rapid progress and development. The captaincy of Machico stagnated and later declined in prosperity, owing also to the importance soon gained by the settlement of Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz was made a town (vila) at the beginning of the 16th century and became a great industrial and commercial centre for the making and export of sugar, its customs house coming to handle far more trade than that of its neighbour and rival.

This is the moment to say that the administration of the donataries (donatário) of this captaincy, including the first, always left much to be desired. Let us hear Dr Álvaro de Azevedo in the following passages which, though somewhat long, give us a reliable idea of what that administration was: ‘The donatary captaincy (donataria) of Machico passed by succession from Tristão Vaz to his eldest son Tristão Vaz das Damas, so nicknamed “because (says Frutuoso) he was a great courtier, a fine talker, and composed many verses for the ladies”; his are the three songs collected in the ‘General Songbook’ (Cancioneiro Geral) of Resende, there attributed to “Tristão Teixeira, Captain of Machico”. He was succeeded by his son, also called Tristão Teixeira, and on his death the donatary captaincy was inherited by his son Diogo Teixeira, the fourth and last donatary descended from Tristão Vaz. The governments of these four captains were deplorable and in constant conflict with the royal power, which was severe with them. Tristão Vaz, for his despotism, especially towards Tristão Barradas, “whom he kept locked up with a shackle, grinding flour in a mill” (Saudades, p. 116), was summoned by the king to Lisbon and, by sentence, banished to the island of Príncipe, where he remained for some years, until, certainly in the reign of Afonso V and through the intercession of Prince Henry the Navigator, he was restored to the captaincy; he died around 1470. Tristão Teixeira das Damas, “because of charges brought against him”, was likewise summoned by the king to Lisbon, where he spent some years, with much toil and expense, seeking his acquittal and “finally clearing his honour”; but after him the king sent Dr Álvaro Fernandes and, later, Fernão de Perada as corregedores (royal district magistrate), with a special judicial commission (alçada) over the whole island of Madeira. Tristão Teixeira, succeeding Tristão das Damas, apparently did not take the title of captain-donatary (capitão-donatário) but simply that of governor, the capacity in which he had superintended the captaincy in his father’s absence; this reduced him, nominally at least, from holder of a right of his own to a mere royal delegate. Moreover, while he lived, the bachelor (bacharel, university graduate) Rui Pires was on the island as juiz de fora (crown-appointed judge from outside the district) and ouvidor (judicial officer of the donatary or the Crown) in the captaincy of Funchal, and after him Dr Diogo Taveira as corregedor in both captaincies; so watched, Tristão Teixeira behaved prudently. His son and successor Diogo Teixeira, however, “was a man of defective judgement… and almost feeble-minded;…. he governed so badly” that “King Manuel I and King John III… sought to take the captaincy from him, and over this he brought a lawsuit… until the year 1536”. During the suit Dr Francisco Diniz served as corregedor in the captaincy for nine years and, after him, the licentiate Antão Gonçalves for almost three years. Diogo Teixeira won the case, and so held the captaincy until 1538; but in the end John III took it and its revenues from him, ordering him to be placed in the custody of João Simão de Sousa, who “held him in his power until the year 1540”, in which year the captive died without a male heir or any other heir, so that “the house and inheritance passed to the Crown” (Saudades, pp. 117–119). Thus ended the line of Tristão Vaz. “Still in the year 1541 John III made a royal grant of this captaincy to António da Silveira, who had been captain of Diu, for services he had rendered him”; with royal licence he sold it to the Count of Vimioso, Dom Afonso de Portugal; on the latter’s death his son Dom Francisco succeeded to it, and on the death of the last it reverted to the Crown. None of these, however, governed it in person, but only through ouvidores, and there were always superintending corregedores, with whom these ouvidores had more or less serious conflicts.’

In the article Donataries (vol. 16, p. 373 ff.) we have already given the complete list of the captains-donatary of Machico up to the year 1775; for most of them the donatary captaincy was a merely honorary title.

The creation of the town (vila) of Santa Cruz in 1515 and that of São Vicente in 1744, with their charters and exemptions, did not strictly reduce the area of the captaincy of Machico, but they considerably restricted the jurisdiction of its donataries or their ouvidores.

This captaincy had ouvidores, who were appointed by the captain-donatary. The first to hold the office was Manuel Homem da Câmara, appointed on 4 June 1641. The captaincy had two ordinary judges, whose sentences could be appealed to the ouvidor. There was also a judge of orphans (juiz dos órfãos); the office was created on 25 September 1625 and Cristóvão Moniz Barreto was appointed to it.

According to Frutuoso, in 1590 – that is, almost three and a half centuries ago – the captaincy of Machico yielded its donatary about nine hundred thousand réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis) a year.