A Brief History
Befitting a lush, tropical island stranded in the middle of
the ocean, Madeira’s origins are shrouded in mystery and fanciful
legend. Some claim that the archipelago is what remains of Plato’s lost
Atlantis, or part of a landmass that once fused the continents of
Europe and America.
The Portuguese Step Ashore
Recorded history of the volcanic archipelago begins in
relatively recent times: 1418, just as the golden age of Portuguese
discovery was erupting. Under the leadership of Henry the Navigator,
caravels set out from the westernmost point of the Algarve, in southern
Portugal, in search of foreign lands, fame, and wealth. João Gonçalves
Zarco, sailing in the service of Prince Henry, made the first of many
famous Portuguese discoveries, which would culminate a century later in
Magellan’s historic circumnavigation of the globe. Zarco happened upon
a small volcanic archipelago 1,000 km from Lisbon.
Perhaps Zarco knew precisely where he was heading, having
learned of the existence of Madeira from a Castilian source. After all,
the waters of the Canary Islands, only 445 km (275 miles) to the south,
had occupied busy shipping lanes for very nearly a century, and
Genovese maps from the mid-14th century depict both Madeira and Porto
Santo.
More likely, Zarco was heading for Guinea and storms forced
him onto the beach of Porto Santo. If so, then he was extremely
fortunate, for he managed to land on the only large, sandy beach for
hundreds of miles around. Little wonder he subsequently named it Porto
Santo (Holy Port).
The following year Zarco returned to claim the larger island
he had seen from Porto Santo, and with him went Tristão Vaz Teixeira
and Bartolomeu Perestrelo. They officially became the first men to set
foot on the heavily forested island, naming it Ilha da Madeira, “Island
of Timber. ” The Portuguese Crown, delighted with its first important
discovery, immediately embarked on a program of colonization. Zarco and
Teixeira were appointed co-governors of Madeira, while Perestrelo was
awarded Porto Santo.
Starting from Scratch
Whoever first stepped ashore on Madeira discovered no signs
of previous habitation — no Stone-Age natives, as the Spanish found on
the Canary Islands, and no mysterious monuments to the past, as on the
Balearics.
Occupation of Madeira began in the early 1420s as a
decidedly minimalist project: colonists arrived with only as much as
they could carry from mainland Portugal. They found plenty of water
pouring down from the mountains, and more timber than anyone knew what
to do with. So they set about clearing the land for agriculture,
setting fire to massive tracts of forest. Legend says that a great fire
burned for seven years on the island, leveling it of all its trees. The
fire provided the soil with a rich ash fertilizer, which complemented
the luxuriant growing conditions of tropical sun and plentiful
water.
The Portuguese saw valuable economic opportunity in their
new possession and ordered Malvasia grapes from Crete and sugar cane
from Italy in an effort to seed the island’s first cash crops. The
project was not a simple one. Colonists had to locate enough level
ground to grow crops on and solve the issue of irrigating them. Brute
strength, without aid of machinery, carved flat surfaces out of the
mountains, and settlers built the terraces — still seen today — on the
steep slopes.
The problem of watering crops was solved by the irrigation
system known as levadas — simply-designed water channels that wound
down from water sources on the verdant mountain tops. The levadas were
largely built by slave laborers from Africa, whose primary employment
was on sugar plantations. New Madeirans traded sugar, the era’s
dominant luxury item, with Britain and Flanders, and they proved
skillful in the art of winemaking. The island’s burgeoning economic
significance propelled population growth, and by the middle of the 15th
century Madeira was home to 800 families. A 1514 census recorded 5,000
inhabitants.
In 1478 Madeira welcomed a visitor who would greatly assist
the island’s future wine trade. Christopher Columbus, not yet a sailor
of any renown, sailed to Madeira on an assignment to buy sugar cane.
His sojourn was unsuccessful, as money failed to arrive for part of the
shipment. Yet Columbus (Columbo in Portuguese) returned six years
later, by which time evidence suggests that he had become an
experienced sugarcane merchant. His later discovery of the New World
brought prosperity to the Madeiran economy: the island’s strategic
location on the great East-West trading route meant that ships anchored
and took on food, water, and the valuable trading commodity of Madeira
wine.
Columbus had his eye on more than sugar in Madeira. He
married Dona Filipa Moniz (Perestrelo), the daughter of Porto Santo’s
first governor, and lived on the island for a period, fathering a son
there. Even today, there are those on Porto Santo who will tell you
that it was due to his time spent there that Christopher Columbus
learned navigation techniques and the ways of the ocean, and found the
inspiration to undertake his voyage of 1492.
Invaders
In 1566 Madeira suffered its worst disaster. Well aware of
the island’s burgeoning wealth and repository of supplies, the French
pirate Bertrand de Montluc sailed into Funchal harbor with his
11-galleon armada and 1,300 men. He unleashed a 16-day reign of terror
that left 300 Madeirans dead, stocks of sugar destroyed, and the island
plundered. By the time Lisbon mounted a rescue mission, the pirates had
long fled (though Montluc himself had been killed during the raid). As
a result of the attack, Porto Santo, which had also been scourged by
these villains of the seas, went on to build castles and early warning
systems, which allowed the citizens to defend themselves or flee if
necessary. On the mainland, an invasion of even greater significance
followed in 1580, when Philip II of Spain proclaimed himself king of
Portugal and marched his armies across the border. The Spanish remained
for another 60 years, and Madeira became a Spanish territory.
In the 16th century, Madeira surrendered its dominance of
the sugarcane industry to another, much larger, Portuguese colony,
Brazil. Sugar cane had taken a hefty toll on the Madeiran soil;
exhausted plantations were supplanted by less-demanding grape vines.
Although sugarcane continues to be grown today (for molasses and the
brandy-like aguardente), it has long ceased to be the island’s major
crop.
The British Are Coming!
Britain’s political and economic connections to Madeira can
be traced to the 17th century. In 1662 Charles II married Portugal’s
Catherine of Bragança. A provision written into the bride’s dowry
granted special favors to British settlers on Madeira; had Charles been
more aggressive still, perhaps the Portuguese would have agreed to hand
over the island to Britain in its entirety.
Both Madeira and Britain benefited from a new regulation
that governed the shipment of Madeira wine and made it the only wine
that could be exported directly to the British possessions in the
Western hemisphere (providing, of course, it was carried by a British
vessel). All other wines had to be shipped to the Americas via a
British harbor. Such trading rights attracted more Britons to the
island, who founded dynastic families that in some cases still
constitute the island’s economic elite. Wine profits were huge, and by
1800 exports had reached nine million bottles per year. Many of the
grand country quintas (villas) that still dot the island today have
their roots in the early Madeira wine industry.
British troops arrived on the island in 1801 to protect
against possible invasion by the French, but they were withdrawn
following the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. In 1807 the Treaty was put in
jeopardy and the troops returned, remaining until 1814. Many of the
garrison remained and settled permanently on the island.
War and Pestilence
The second half of the 19th century on Madeira was plagued
by natural disaster. In 1852 the island’s precious vines were blighted
by mildew, wiping out an estimated 90 percent of the total crop. Just
four years later, cholera claimed the lives of up to 7,000 Madeirans,
and in 1873 the dreaded disease phylloxera destroyed the remainder of
the vineyards. Potato and sugar crops were also badly affected during
this period.
Portugal took up arms during World War I, siding with the
British and French. Madeira’s strategic position for Atlantic shipping
did not escape the notice of the German High Command, and in December
of that year a German submarine bombarded the Funchal harbor and sank
three French ships.
Modern Times
As mainland Portugal lurched into a political and economic
crisis that would bring down the country’s republican government, many
miles away Madeira was busy looking after distinguished visitors and
its developing tourist trade. In fact, Madeira had been a sought-after
destination since the middle of the 19th century, attracting wealthy
British sun-lovers, minor royalty, and aristocrats from many countries.
The celebrated Reid’s Hotel had opened its doors in 1890, and seaplane
service started operating from Lisbon in 1921. Madeira was awarded
further cachet when the last of the Austro-Hungarian emperors, Charles
I of Austria (also Charles IV of Hungary), chose Madeira as his home in
exile after the war.
In 1932 Portugal gained a new ruler and dictator,
ex-Minister of Finance Dr. António Salazar. Following a bloodless coup
in 1974 called the “Carnation Revolution,” Salazar’s successor, Dr.
Marcelo Caetano, was overthrown and free elections were held. Madeira
was then granted autonomy, in addition to the right to determine its
own taxes and send a deputation to the Portuguese government.
In 1986 Portugal joined the European Economic Community
(now the European Union, or EU). Funding from the EU has been heavily
invested in the island’s infrastructure and fishing industry. The
nonstop construction of roads and tunnels and the massive expansion of
the Funchal airport seem to indicate that Madeira plans to see the tiny
island accommodate as many people as possible. For several decades
tourism has dominated the island’s economy, but Madeira’s enduring
appeal lies in preserving it as a sublime tropical retreat far removed
from the rest of the world.
