Madeira and Goa: That's incorrect TRS!

Alfredo de Mello

Teotonio R. de Souza wrote:
[I spent a week in Madeira archipelago. It is a province of Portugal in the Atlantic. The islands were first occupied by the Portuguese (especially of Italian origin ,such as Zarco and Prestrello)- The population does not exceed 500,000 inhabitants. It is only in the last 25 years, that is, after the fall of Salazar regime that the island has developed tremendously into a tourist paradise "]


I am sorry to contradict Teotonio de Souza.

 Zarco was a Portuguese Jew, his forebears originally from Matozinhos, a suburb of Oporto. Jews have settled in Iberia (what is now Spain and Portugal) for close to 4000 years, about three milleniums before Portugal became a nation. And Perestrelo (not Prestrelo) was also a Portuguese, though his ancestors, many generations before came from Piacenza, Italy.

As Zarco was the grandfather of Cristobal Colon, allow me to quote from my book:

"...The Jews in Tomar ( seat of the Knights Templars) had built a synagogue called the Sinagoga do Arco in the 12th century, and some Jews who didn't have a surname, adopted the name do Arco, which name when preceded by a name ending with an s or a z, like Gonçalvez, the surname degenerated into Zarco. This name also meant a person with greenish blue eyes.

Gonçalo Zarco, a Jew converted to Christianity was born in 1366, and lived in Matozinhos, nowadays a suburb of Oporto. He was an astrologer and a member of the Order of Crhist. He was in the service of the first Count of Marialva, Marshall of the Kingdom, whose father-in-law Dom Lopo Dias de Sousa was grand master and immediate predecessor of Prince Henry the Navigator.

"His son Joao Gonçalves Zarco was born in 1392, had green-blue almond shaped eyes like his father, and was brought up also in the Order of Christ. As an adolescent he went south to Sagres to join the school started by Prince Henry........In 1418 Joâo Gonçalves Zarco was named Admiral , and together with Tristao Vaz Teixeira, led a fleet to discover Madeira, under the orders of Prince Henry"...

..."In Lisbon there was another astrologer born in 1343, called Gabriel Pallestreli. His original family had come from Piacenza, Italy, and the family name had been originally Pallastrellii. He married Bertolina Banfortes in 1370, and their son Filipe Palestrelo born in 1371, eventually married Catarina Vicente in 1394.

By this time this family changed their name once more - (Middle Age social climbers), and their son born in 1396 was called Barolomeu Perestrelo, belonging to a family of high standing in society.

Bartolomeu also went to the School of Sagres, and when Prince Henry organized the expedition and capture of Ceuta in 1415, both Joao Gonçalves Zarco and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, participated in the campaign, as comrades- in- arms within the Order of Christ.

...In 1419 Joao Gonçalves Zarco went again to Madeira, this time the other caravel was commanded by Bartolomeu Perestrelo, who discovered the island of Porto Santo in the same archipelago.

The King of Portugal wanted these islands peopled and settlements made. He gave Madeira as a prize to Zarco, who was at the same time given the title of nobility with the name Camara.....

..."Approximately at the same time Bartolomeu Perestrelo became Captain grantee of the island of Porto Santo..."


For obvious reasons, Perestrelo, whose ancestors had come to Portugal more than a century before, and whose family name was changed repeatedly to erase the Italian origin, can rightfully be considered as Portuguese.

I have visited Madeira three times in my life, the last being in 1986, when I stayed 26 days, and traveled all over the island.

The second statement about tourism in Madeira being developed only in the last 25 years is also not true.

Madeira, and its capital Funchal, have been tourist haunts of northern Europeans, especially the British for more than 200 years.

It is the British, two centuries ago, who were instrumental in developing and marketing worldwide, the famous Madeira wines (Sercial & Malvasia), and also in teaching in the 19th century to the women in Madeira to do needle-work, and embroideries, which are also one of the most outstanding tourist attractions, and excellent buys.

Finally, I would mention that Funchal was a favourite holiday spot for Winston Churchill who did many of his oil paintings there, and this was five decades ago.

Of course, tourism worldwide has been boosted during the last 25 years in many places which have adequate climates, for instance the Canary Islands, or in the Caribbean, the isles of St. Martens, Martinique, Virgin Islands, etc.

Madeira's weather is an eternal springtime, and the temperature never rises above 25ºC, and never below 19ºC.

Alfredo de Mello
Aug 15 1999

 

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