Aragão

It is a noble and ancient surname in Madeira, and the genealogists do not agree on the individuals who first used it among us. It is said that it was Antonio de Aragão e Teive, who around the year 1500 settled on this island and was married to D. Helena de Atouguia, the first person to have this surname here. The distinguished Madeiran genealogist José Betencourt da Câmara states that 'there are two branches of Aragão in Madeira: one descends from Henrique Aragão, who settled in Funchal around 1480; the other comes from D. Affonso de Aragão, a Neapolitan knight, whose true name is unknown, and who, as a fugitive or pilgrim, arrived on this island around 1470. He resided in Calheta, in the place that was called Volta do Cavalleiro after him; he moved to the Azores archipelago and died there, having arranged for his epitaph to be placed on his grave: 'Here lies the troubled Neapolitan.' He came married, or married in Madeira with Thereza de Lyra: his son, Lopo Dias de Lyra Varella, knighted in Africa, was a nobleman of the royal household in 1515, and a professed knight of the Order of Christ.'