History
João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz officially
discovered the island of Porto Santo in 1418 and of nearby Madeira in
1420.
After being blown by a storm far off course Zarco found shelter on a small
island, which he named in gratitude, Porto Santo. Many believe these islands
had been visited or sighted from as far back as the beginning of the Christian
era.
The island had no indigenous population, or any signs of prior occupation.
Christopher Columbus came to Madeira in 1478, marrying Filipa Moniz
the daughter of Bartolomeu Perestrelo the first governor of Porto Santo.
She died shortly after giving birth to their son. Their house has been
made into a small museum in Porto Santo.
Madeira suffered attacks from French pirates in the 16th-century,
and Porto Santo was also constantly under threat from Algerian, Moorish,
French and English pirates.
The seventeenth century placed Madeira at the centre of significant trade
routes between Europe and Africa, the East and West Indies and North and
South America.
John
Blandy playing tennis with D.Carlos I
British presence
in Madeira was a result of the Napoleonic Wars, a friendly occupation
concluding in 1814. Many British explorers and travellers settled here,
originating a strong community of landowners and traders, which together
with other nationalities helped give Madeira a diverse cosmopolitan heritage.
German U boats shelled Funchal in 1916 and 1917 after Germany declared
war on Portugal, fortunately with few casualties.
The 1974 revolution,
on the 25th of April was greeted enthusiastically in Madeira. In 1976
a constitution was drawn up in Lisbon which designated Madeira an Autonomous
Political Region. Since 1976 the region has been governed by an overwhelming
Popular Social Democratic majority (PSD), with the charismatic figure
of Alberto João Jardim dominating the party and achieving systematic
majorities in each election.
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