Madeira History Facts and Timeline

(Madeira, Portugal)

The history of Madeira began during the Portuguese Age of Discovery, when the legendary Portuguese ruler Henry the Navigator commissioned a voyage that stumbled upon the archipelago in the early part of the 15th century.

Settled just a year after its discovery, Madeira has evolved over the centuries to become a very popular holiday destination, wine-growing region and port of call for international cruise ships.

The Age of Discovery

Madeira is often cited as the first new land to be discovered by the Portuguese at the start of their amazing Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is widely accepted that sailors knew of this attractive archipelago before the Portuguese captains Tristao Vaz Teixeira and Joao Goncalves Zarco were diverted by a storm, ultimately reaching the island they named Porto Santo.


Madeira appears on maps dating back to 1339, although mention of it may have been written down as long ago as the 1st century AD, by famous Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder. Officially, however, the modern history of Madeira began with its founding in 1419, when a second ship returned to Porto Santo and discovered the main island of Madeira nearby.

Settling on the Island

The first settlers were the captains and their families. They began building homes and clearing land around 1420, with Captain Zarco governing the south-west side of the island and Captain Teixeira running the north-eastern end. Teixeira made his base at Machico, while Zarco set up shop at Funchal.

Wheat was the initial crop planted by the settlers. At first, it was just for their own personal consumption, but within a few years they were producing enough wheat to export the excess back to mainland Portugal. In time, however, grain production faltered and Henry the Navigator (who was the benefactor of Madeira) introduced other commercial crops.

Sugar

The most successful of these early crops was sugarcane, followed soon after by sugar beet. At the time, sugar was a truly exotic 'spice' in Europe and Britain, known as 'sweet salt', and Henry could sell as much as his island could produce. As such, sugar was essential to the early history of Madeira and its survival as a settled island. By 1455, sugarcane plantations started to reach industrial output levels, and sugar would remain the key driver of the local economy through the 17th century.

Wine on the Island

When Portugal's sugar production shifted to other larger places like Brazil in the 17th century, Madeira turned its attention to wine growing. The land proved ideal for growing grapes, and soon Madeira wine was touted as the most luxurious alcoholic beverage in English and European colonies. Wine certainly kept the local economy afloat during the 17th and 18th centuries.

One of the effects of the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century was the British occupation of the island. This was a relatively friendly occupation, and by the time the British returned control of the island to Portugal in 1814, the fame of Madeira wine was well known throughout the civilised world.

The Modern Era of History

During WWI, German U-boats torpedoed three Portuguese ships in Funchal's harbour in December of 1916 and shelled the town for more than two hours. They returned in 1917 for another brief attack on Funchal, damaging a number of buildings and killing three islanders. By the end of the war, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Charles I, had fled into exile on Madeira. He died on the island in 1922 and is buried in the town of Monte.

Portugal stuck with the Allies in WWII, allowing approximately 2,000 residents of Gibraltar to evacuate to Madeira in 1940. Many of them stayed after the war ended and married local Madeirans. Post-war Portugal proved to be a mixture of coups and chaos.

On the first day of July 1976, Madeira was granted political autonomy from Portugal. This event is marked each year as Madeira Day. Today, the island is a wealthy enclave of Portugal and one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe. More than one million visitors come each year, including those arriving on cruise ships at the capital, Funchal.