Quinto
The quinto was a tax once levied in Madeira, abolished in 1861; the entry also traces the older 'fifth of sugars' and its predecessors, the quarter and the third.
A tax formerly levied in Madeira, which we have already discussed on page 304 of volume I of this work, in the article Taxes.
Besides the fifth (quinto, levy of one fifth on sugar), abolished by the law of 11 September 1861, there was in remote times the so-called fifth of sugars, to which we referred on pages 14 ff. of the same volume. It came to an end with the royal decree (alvará) of 15 October 1688, and from then on an eighth (oitavo, a tax of one eighth of the produce) of the sugar produced on the island was levied instead.
The fifth of sugars was established by the charter (foral) of 6 August 1515, transcribed on page 494 of ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra). Before that, as the same charter shows, sugar had been subject to payment of a quarter.
Under a contract concluded in 1452 and transcribed on page 665 of the same work, the Infante, Henry the Navigator, claimed for himself a third of all the sugar made in the only sugar mill (engenho) then existing on the island!
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 04-
Diogo de Teive contracted with Prince Henry to build Madeira's first water-powered sugar mill, giving the Infante a third of its sugar.
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King Manuel granted a common foral to Funchal, Ponta do Sol and Calheta, fixing tithes, the fifth of sugars, alcaidaria revenues, soap prices and other dues.
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A decree abolished the fifth levied on sugars, replacing it with an eighth.
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A law abolished the tithes, décima, quinto, subsídio literário and finto in Madeira.
People
People mentioned · 01- Henry the Navigator1394–1460
Prince Henry, lord of Madeira, who under a 1452 contract claimed a third of all sugar from the island's only mill.