Saboarias

Frutuoso stated in Saudades da Terra that D. Afonso V confirmed in the year 1469 the donation that the Infante D. Fernando made to Rui Gonçalves da Câmara of the black soap factories throughout the island of Madeira. It is stated in the charter of the city of Funchal and the towns of Ponta do Sol and Calheta, dated 1515, that black soap was to be sold for 10 reis per arrátel and white soap for 12 réis. In Madeira, as in Portugal, there was a soap contract, but the last one, which ceased to be in force on July 1, 1858, freed everyone from the manufacture and trade of this product. It was the law of April 25, 1857 that abolished the soap monopoly, which brought so much hardship to the people of this island.