Misericórdia of Machico

– The Misericórdia (Holy House of Mercy, a lay charitable brotherhood) of Machico is of quite ancient foundation, but the exact date of its creation is unknown; it is conjectured to date from the first quarter of the 16th century. Tradition holds that a lady left a substantial property to the poor of the town (vila) of Machico, and that this bequest gave rise to the idea of founding the Misericórdia, serving as the nucleus of the assets it later came to own.

In 1803 the flash flood (aluvião) swept the chantry (capela) of the Misericórdia and the adjoining house into the sea, and with them its archive, so that we lack the essential material for writing a historical account of this institution. We can nevertheless say, from some data provided by the ‘Annals of the Municipality’ (Anais do Município), that its functioning was governed by the statutes (compromisso) of the Misericórdia of Lisbon. Its administration seems always to have left much to be desired, and the benefits it gave the poor were not great. It is certain, however, that besides the president (provedor) and board member it came to have two clerks, two collectors, a keeper of the strongbox, two procurators of the poor and two informants. This bureaucratic apparatus, though perhaps unpaid, did not prevent many quit-rents and properties from being lost, especially after their title deeds were destroyed by the flood at the beginning of the 19th century.

Originally it had no hospital, only a chantry that served as the seat of the brotherhood, which we have already discussed at some length (vol. 1, p. 332) and to which we shall return in the article chapel of Christ (Cristo). The beneficed cleric (beneficiado) of the collegiate church of Machico, Father Inácio Barbosa da Silva, by public deed of 20 May 1748, bequeathed to the confraternity some houses he owned in the locality of Banda de Além (‘the far side’), so that a hospital could be set up in them and they could serve as the Misericórdia’s building, since the confraternity had no building intended for that purpose. We can give no information on the running of the hospital; the said ‘Annals of the Municipality’ state that those houses passed into the possession of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (Santíssimo Sacramento) of the parish (freguesia) of Caniço (‘reed’), for reasons unknown. In 1856 the Misericórdia leased a property to house a hospital, which played an important role during the cholera epidemic and was closed around 1862.

One of the most zealous presidents of the Holy House of Mercy (Misericórdia) of Machico was Captain Cristóvão Esmeraldo, elected to that office in 1810. Besides his good service in running the brotherhood, he did much to rebuild the chapel, which the flash flood of 9 October 1803 had destroyed. Another president who rendered no less notable service to this institution was the vicar of that town, Father Manuel José da Paixão. He obtained several certificates for properties and quit-rents and returned to the Misericórdia’s possession some assets already considered lost by then.

The brotherhood was abolished in 1835. By a royal decree (alvará) of the civil governor dated 13 June of the same year, an Administrative Committee (Comissão Administrativa) was appointed and took over the management of this Misericórdia.

It still owns a property in the locality of Ribeira Seca (‘dry stream’), and it used to hold many quit-rents charged on various properties in the enclosed fields (serrados) of Isidoro and Travesso and in other localities as well.

In the Boletim do Trabalho Industrial cited above, we read that the revenue of this Misericórdia in 1909–1910 was 151.40 escudos, which was added to a balance of 79.51 escudos. Expenditure that year amounted to 37.75 escudos for the doctor and medicines and 71.21 escudos for invalid diets. In 1913 the revenue was 842.76 escudos, of which 81.19 escudos was the balance, 181.20 escudos rents and 508.37 escudos the rent of a pine wood. Expenditure was 271.26 escudos, leaving a balance of 571.50 escudos for 1914. The sick are helped in their own homes, because the Misericórdia has at present no premises for a hospital and, even if it had, it would not have the means to maintain one.