Porto Santo
Porto Santo
island, parish and municipality of Porto Santo
Approximate location, from a feature named after it
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.
1Mentioned in
- Parishes — Island and municipality with a single parish.
- Madeiran wall lizard (Lacerta Dugesii) — Frutuoso also recorded lizards there.
- Limpets — Island where three limpet species are common.
- Whales — Island where whale strandings and a capture are recorded.
- Sarmento (Alberto Artur) — Subject of one of Sarmento's historical-military studies.
- Donataries — Seat of one of the three captaincies.
- Donataries — Third captaincy of the archipelago.
- Geology — Island where eroded rocks and ariusco sandstone are found.
- Settlement and colonisation — Island settled alongside Madeira and a captaincy.
- Castilian rule — Island sacked by Moorish pirates in 1617; a fort was built there.
- Misericórdias — Island with its own Misericórdia.
- Levadas — Drought-prone island where a rainwater channel was built.
- Vineyards — Island where many minor grape varieties survive.
- Vineyards — The only island where the Tinta do Porto Santo grape variety is still found.
- Orelha de boi (Silene venosa) — Island where the plant occurs.
- Baião — Island where the Baião family was chiefly established and held an entailed estate.
- Customs houses — Its customs revenue is included in the figures for 1581–1587.
- Saramago — On Porto Santo saramago denotes a wild mustard, Brassica sinapistrum.
- Roberts (Lieutenant-Colonel) — Island mapped in Roberts's plan.
- Agriculture — Wine-producing municipality.
- Tamarisk (Tamarix gallica) — Island where the tamarisk is widely grown.
- Tams (Dr George) — Island where the expedition ships called in 1841.
- Loggerhead turtle (Caouana Oaretta) — No turtle eggs have been found there.
- Annual mercury (Mercurialis annua) — The plant is common there.
- Municipalities — Seat of a captaincy and one of the first municipalities (c.1451).
- Noronha (Adolfo César de) — Where he made meteorological observations (1900–02) and collected fossils and marine fauna.
- Aragonite — Where aragonite also occurs on basalts.
- Municipalities — Early municipality, electing three councillors in 1835.
- Sheep — Island with limestone pastures and about 600 sheep kept in flocks; recommended for wool production.
- Psilomelane — Island where the mineral occurs.
- Giant reed (Arundo donax) — The giant reed is also widely cultivated on this island.
- Shipwrecks — Island whose crossing and coasts saw frequent wrecks.
- Panasco — Island where the name panasco is used and the grass is frequent.
- Simões Soares (Daniel Telo) — His birthplace.
- Order of Christ — Source of tithes and grain for the Order's commanderies.
- Caracol da Vinha (Helix pisana) — Formerly abundant in its lowlands and fed to domestic ducks.
- Caramelo — Site of the limestone deposits yielding caramelo.
- Caramujo de Dona (Littorina striata) — Where the name caramujo de dona is used.
- St Sebastian (chapels) — Island where a very old chapel of São Sebastião once stood.
- Soundings — Depths over 2000 m recorded between it and Madeira.
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2Chronology
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Porto Santo and Madeira were discovered in the first quarter of the fifteenth century.
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Porto Santo was discovered, traditionally in 1418 (or 1419); Bartolomeu Perestrelo was falsely said to have taken part.
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King Duarte granted the archipelago to Prince Henry, requiring the kingdom's coin to circulate, and its spiritual jurisdiction to the Order of Christ.
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Charters of 1440, 1446 and 1450 granted the captaincies of Machico, Porto Santo and Funchal to their first captains.
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Cadamosto anchored at Porto Santo, according to his narrative.
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Prince Henry granted the captaincy of Porto Santo to Bartolomeu Perestrelo by charter.
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Bartolomeu Nunes lived in Porto Santo.
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Porto Santo had some 820 inhabitants, the earliest recorded population figure for the island.
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Fernão Nunes and Filipa Nunes posed as prophets on Porto Santo, gaining wide credence and inciting disorders; the corregedor's inquiry ended on 10 March 1533.
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A royal charter appointed Gaspar Calaça almoxarife of the Porto Santo customs post.
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The combined customs revenue of Madeira and Porto Santo was recorded for the seven years 1581 to 1587.
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Gaspar Frutuoso wrote that the parish of Porto Santo was dedicated to the Salvador.
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According to Frutuoso, Porto Santo had about 400 households, some 1,600 inhabitants.
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English ships under Captain Amias Preston attacked and burned Porto Santo.
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Period covered by the loose manuscripts on Madeira and Porto Santo in the Arquivo da Marinha e Ultramar.
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North African corsairs sacked Porto Santo, killing or carrying off most of the population, burning the parish church and destroying the council and parish archives; the raid prompted fortification of Pico do Castelo.
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Guilherme Acre was living on Porto Santo around 1640.
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Porto Santo received news of the Restoration and celebrated with salvoes, causing an Ottoman squadron of twelve sail that nearly blockaded the island to withdraw.
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The office of sea alcaide on Porto Santo already existed well before 1642.