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Article Nº 2192 Cross-reference · Vol. II · p. 600

Madeira (colonisation)

Original title: Madeira (Colonização da)

See Captaincies, Discovery, Early Dwellings, Donataries, Settlement and Colonisation, as well as other articles.

See · Nº 0786 · Administrative or ecclesiastical division Captaincies Explains the captaincies, the first administrative divisions of Portugal's overseas territories, and the three in the Madeira archipelago: Porto Santo, Machico and Funchal, with their donations, privileges, holders and differing fortunes.
See · Nº 1174 · Historical event Discovery of the archipelago The discovery of the Madeira archipelago, regarded as the start of Portuguese maritime expansion: legends of earlier voyages, Azurara's and later chroniclers' accounts of Zarco and Tristão Vaz reaching Porto Santo and Madeira, and debate over the traditional landing at Machico on 2 July 1419. Drawing on later research, royal charters and a list of studies, it concludes the islands were known before 1418, reconnoitred about 1418–1425 and settled from about 1425.
See · Nº 1745 · Other building Early dwellings Describes the first dwellings built on Madeira after its discovery, made of local timber such as cedar, and records traditions about the first two-storey house and the first stone house in Funchal.
See · Nº 1228 · Office or position Donataries The captains-donatary of Madeira: the division of the archipelago into the captaincies of Funchal, Machico and Porto Santo, the near-sovereign powers and revenues granted by the donation charters, notably Zarco's, and their gradual curtailment by the Crown from 1497. Coverage extends to absentee rule under Spanish dominion, Pombal's conversion into alcaidarias-mores in 1766, abolition in 1832, and lists of successive donataries.
See · Nº 2994 · Historical event Settlement and colonisation The settlement and colonisation of Madeira from about 1425: the division into the captaincies of Machico and Funchal, the arrival of settlers, convicts and slaves, forest clearing by fire, levadas, sesmarias and entails, and the first parishes. The near-absolute jurisdiction of the captain-donataries is described, together with the founding documents: Prince Henry's Regimento and Foral, the royal charters of 1433 and the donation letters of 1440–1450.

Related

Referenced here · 5: Captaincies Nº 0786
Discovery of the archipelago Nº 1174
Early dwellings Nº 1745
Donataries Nº 1228
Settlement and colonisation Nº 2994

Previous · Nº 2191 Madeira (climate) Next · Nº 2193 Madeira (chorography)

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A digital edition of the Elucidário Madeirense (first published 1921, revised 1940), the encyclopaedia of Madeira, with translations and linked indexes of its people, places and dates.

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EM · 1921 — 2026 7 languages

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