Bartolomeu Perestrello

Perestrelo ( circa 1395 - before 1458 ), a Portuguese nobleman, was together with João Gonçalves Zarco and Vaz Teixeira Tristão one of the discoverers of Madeira in 1419 or 1420.

Biography

Presumably, he is the son of Filippo Pallastrelli, a businessman from Italy who arrived towards the end of the fourteenth century in Lisbon.

He was a knight of the house of Prince Johann I and later of Prince Henry.

It is precisely the latter, a master of the Order of Christ, the owner of the islands, which allocated him the management of the Captaincy of Porto Santo, during the administration of Funchal and Machico to Zarco and Vaz Teixeira Tristão was transferred.

The settlement of the Kapitinat began in 1428 and was constantly plagued from the start to the least wealthy of the three, and was by famine and piracy.

An old legend is Perestrelo some responsibility for the sparse vegetation of the island of Porto Santo; these stating that he had at his first landing on the island, a pregnant rabbit among the belongings that could run away and with their descendants populated the island. This had on the island no natural enemies, and were responsible for the destruction of vegetation.

He was the father of the first wife of Christopher Columbus, Filipa Moniz.

Early administration of the province of Porto Santo

Perestrelo was soon disappointed with the transmitted captaincy, and wanted to return to Portugal, where he was, however, forced Henry to return to Porto Santo.

Perestrelo died before 1458, and the Kapitinat went into the hands of Isabel Moniz widow to manage this for her minor son Bartolomeu. Already in 1458 sold for 300,000 reais this the captaincy for a payment of more than 30,000 annual interest to Pedro Correia da Cunha, who later became his stepdaughter Isoa Perestrelo married .. Pedro Correia da Cunha was thus second captain - general on the island of Porto Santo, then moved on to the Azores, where they settled on the island of Graciosa.

1473 was the younger Perestrelo King Alfonso V to the Captaincy him move to transfer back, which brought him back to the 3rd captain - general and the Kapitinat for several generations to the lineage of Perestrelo. However, their administration was so painful and arrogant, and also mixed with various blood crimes that they were soon hated by the island's population.