Pillory 1The Funchal pillory and its demolition
Pillory
Original title: Pelourinho
Account of the pillory of Funchal, ordered by D. Manuel in 1486, built of jasper and demolished by council decision in 1835, with notes on punishments carried out there and on pillories in other Madeiran towns.
1The Funchal pillory and its demolition
In 1486, while still Duke of Viseu, Manuel I ordered the building of ‘praça, camara, paço dos taballiães & picota no seu campo’ (a square, a council house, a notaries’ hall and a pillory (picota) in his field). This field, then called the Duke’s Field (Campo do Duque), was the ground now occupied by the square and the church of the Sé, Funchal Cathedral (Sé), the former Praça da Constituição, the former Rua do Aljube and the Largo do Comércio, or Largo do Chafariz. We do not know whether the pillory was ever actually set up in that field, as the council house was. If it did stand there, it was only for a short time, until the jasper pillory (pelourinho, stone column symbolising municipal jurisdiction) was built ‘na fermosa praça cercada de boas casas sobradadas’ (in the handsome square surrounded by fine houses of several storeys), to which Frutuoso refers on p. 85 of ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra).
The pillory stood in Funchal for three and a half centuries. Its demolition was ordered at a council session on 3 November 1835, because it was ‘an emblem of feudal times and not in harmony with present-day customs, the stones removed to be kept.’
The pillory was indeed demolished, but its stone column disappeared, and its base ended up, we do not know how, at a property in the locality of Pena (‘crag’), which belonged to the holder of the entail (morgado) Pedro José de Ornelas, a former president of the Council.
2Punishments and other pillories
Prisoners who were flogged or exposed at the pillory were tied to it by the waist, and it was on the same pillory that the written orders and public notices of both the Government and the Municipal Council were posted. In the early 17th century one Francisco Rodrigues Jardim, a man of humble birth, was hanged in effigy at the Funchal pillory for having abducted Dona Maria de Ornelas, a lady belonging to one of the noblest Madeiran families. We have also read in an old manuscript that on 28 March 1808 a Black man received six lashes on his bare back at the same spot, and was then led through the streets of the city, accompanied by the officers of justice and an escort of soldiers.
Calheta, Ponta do Sol, São Vicente and Porto Santo also had pillories, as the names still borne by the places where they stood reveal. In Santa Cruz (‘Holy Cross’) the pillory seems to have stood beside the mother church (igreja matriz), and in Machico it stood in the square near the parish church, where there is a fountain and where vegetables are now sold.
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Time
Years mentioned · 03Place
Places mentioned · 14- Pelourinho · Subject
Funchal
The Pelourinho was the pillory of Funchal, ordered by D. Manuel in 1486, built of jasper and demolished by council decision in 1835. The fort of São Filipe lay south of it, and it served as a landmark bounding several seaward city gates.
- Calheta
Town that also had a pillory.
Calheta is a town, parish and municipality on Madeira's south-west coast and one of the island's oldest settlements. The Elucidário covers its name, early settlers such as Pedro Berenguer, its church and many chapels, including one of a former Franciscan convent, and the 1834 riot.
- Campo do Duque
Funchal. Ground where D. Manuel ordered the square and pillory, now the area of the Sé.
The Campo do Duque was a large open ground at the centre of early Funchal belonging to the grand masters of the Order of Christ. It was granted for the building of the Sé (from 1485), the town hall and the square with its pillory, and the Terreiro da Sé was part of it. It is recorded as the site where sugar cane was first planted and where the first two-storey cedar house in Funchal was built.
- Funchal
City whose pillory stood for three and a half centuries.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Funchal Cathedral (the Sé)
Funchal. Cathedral standing on the former Duke's Field.
The Sé do Funchal is the cathedral of Funchal, in the parish of Sé. It was begun in 1493, became a parish seat in 1508 and a cathedral in 1514. It was the starting point of processions and the place of the vow to São Tiago, and bishops are buried there.
- Largo do Chafariz
Funchal. Square within the Duke's Field.
Largo do Chafariz is a square in Funchal, Madeira, within the Duke's Field. It marks the end of the original section of Rua dos Ferreiros, and boot sellers met there on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
- Machico
Pillory stood in the square near the parish church.
The parish of Machico was the landing place of the discoverers Zargo and Tristão Vaz and the seat of the captaincy of Machico; the parish was founded c. 1450. The Elucidário covers its clergy and stipends, chapels, historical events, mineral springs, localities, population and notable natives.
- Pena
Funchal. Locality where the pillory's base ended up.
Pena is a locality in Funchal. The Caminho da Pena, named after an old chapel of Nossa Senhora da Pena, was the former name of Avenida Pedro José de Ornelas. The Ribeirinho brook comes from Pena, the base of the old pillory ended up there, and D. Sebastião's ordinance named it as a closing point of the city walls.
- Ponta do Sol
Town that also had a pillory.
South-coast parish and municipality, settled from about 1440 by Rodrigo Enes 'o Coxo'. Its parish church of Nossa Senhora da Luz holds a triptych. The Elucidário also records its quay of 1848, paid for by the council, and the royal visit of 1858.
- Porto Santo
Had a pillory.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
- Praça da Constituição
Funchal. Former square within the Duke's Field.
The Praça da Constituição was a former square in Funchal, earlier called Passeio Público, named after the liberal constitution proclaimed there on 28 January 1821. It was called Praça Real under D. Miguel, became Praça da República in 1911, and disappeared in 1914 when the Avenida Oeste was built. It adjoined the Municipal Garden and was a terminus of the tramway.
- Rua do Aljube
Funchal. Former street within the Duke's Field.
Rua do Aljube is a Funchal street named after the old Aljube, which it bounded. It was formerly called Rua Carvalho de Araújo and was part of the former Campo do Duque. It had a passo where the Procissão dos Passos paused, and it was the site of the town hall that held the curfew bell.
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People
People mentioned · 05-
Noblewoman whose abduction led to the effigy hanging of Francisco Rodrigues Jardim.
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Commoner hanged in effigy at the Funchal pillory in the early 17th century for abducting D. Maria de Ornelas.
- Gaspar Frutuoso1522–1591
Author of Saudades da Terra, which describes the jasper pillory in Funchal's square.
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As Duke of Viseu and lord of Madeira, ordered in 1486 the building of a square, council house, notaries' office and pillory in Funchal.
- Pedro José de Ornelas1818–1878
Morgado and former council president whose property at Pena received the base of the demolished pillory.