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The Madeira archipelago was discovered in 1419 and its settlement came about during the age of discoveries in the 15th century, as the first experiment in the settlement and exploit of uninhabited lands. The initially tested agricultural production such as wheat and sugar cane were immensely profitable and served as a model to be instituted in the new Atlantic territories, the Canaries, Azores and Cape Verde and, later, in Brazil.

At the end of the 15th century, based on sugar production, Madeira became an international business centre, which witnessed the appearance of foreigners from various countries, as brokers, traders and adventurers. The production and distribution of Madeira sugar, financed with German funds, traded by Italian and Flemish businessmen, under the supervision of the Portuguese Crown, constituted the basis of the international capitalist trading of the modern era.

Within this background, Funchal very early immediately witnessed an enormous expansion of its sea port, visited by the interests and economic agents of the new trading society, such as the adventurer Christopher Columbus, at the time a sugar trader. The future Admiral of the Indies took up residence in Funchal for a time, and meanwhile married Filipa Moniz, daughter of the deceased Captain of Porto Santo, Bartolomeu Perestrelo.

The importance of the Funchal sea port as an insular centre brought upon the small mediaeval city a very special regard from the Portuguese Crown, even before D. Manuel thought he would ever become King of Portugal. At that time, in 1486, as Duke of Beja, D. Manuel ordered the building of a central administrative office, between the mediaeval burgh of Santa Maria Maior and the aristocratic area of Santa Catarina and São Pedro, where the residences of João Gonçalves Zarco and his sons and daughters were located. For this purpose he donated his “Campo do Duque” (Duke’s Field), ordering that it be used to build a Hall, with housing for the Clerks and Notaries and an “Igreja Grande” (Large Church), which he later assigned as a cathedral and became the headquarters of the future Diocese.

His mother, Princess Beatrice, had instituted the insular customs houses in 1477, one in Funchal and the other in Machico, on the sea coast and, after the consecration of the Funchal Cathedral, ordered the construction of a major building to house the Customs.

With the increase of seafaring in the North Atlantic, Madeira became an important reference point since, due to the prevailing winds, all the fleets that departed from Europe to the South Atlantic and to the Indian Ocean, had to sail the Madeira seas. This was equally true of the Dutch and English fleets sailing to Central America.

Funchal received its first charter between 1452 and 1454, which gave it the status of Town and County Seat. In 1508, a Royal Charter signed by King Manuel I gave Funchal the status of a City.

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, Madeira Island, with Funchal as its sea port, continued to ensure its strategic and trading position within the North Atlantic, at the time thanks to a new product: Madeira wine. The culture of grapevines had been introduced by the first settlers and, already in 1455, the Venetian seafarer Luis de Cadamosto, when visiting Madeira, referred the excellence of the local grapes and the export of its wines.

In the middle of the following century, William Shakespeare made reference to the island’s wines in several of his plays. Its fame, specially that of malvasia, was so great that the playwright describes that the Duke of Clarence, brother to King Edward IV, chose death by drowning in a “barrel of malvesey”.

During the following centuries, Madeira wines were attributed with therapeutic qualities and it was discovered that their excellence improved with long maritime passages, such that the great fleets on the way to the West and East Indies almost obligatorily fetched Madeira for provisioning.

Madeira Island then became an important trading post and, at the same time, a leisure resort. The so called Madeira estates were founded at that time, their gardens full of indigenous and imported plants which, through numerous descriptions, become obligatory scientific references. We thus record that, throughout the 18th century, Admiral James Cook visited the island, sailing in the Endeavour, in 1768, or in the Resolution, in 1772, accompanied by several experts, who later fully described the flora and fauna found in Madeira.

The strategic importance of the port of Funchal was recognized by the British Admiralty in the mid 18th century, giving rise to constant geo-hydrographical surveys, some of which were printed. In the face of the political instability in Europe, derived from the Napoleonic campaigns, a fleet of more than 100 ships occupied Madeira at the end of 1801. The fleet was sailing to the British West Indies, but anchored its one hundred and nine ships in the great bay of Funchal, and landed a military contingent under the command of General Henry Clinton that remained here whilst negotiations were held on the Continent.

A further occupation took place when the French invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the end of 1807. The Portuguese Court were able to leave for Brazil, thus not remaining at the mercy of the Napoleonic forces, as was the case with the Spanish Court, and Madeira witnessed a lengthier occupation which extended even after the peace treaties.

Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte also passed through Madeira, on his way to exile in Santa Helena. There he was presented with fresh fruit, several books and a cask of Madeira wine, which was not really appropriate for his state of health. Later, after his death, the cask was demanded by the Funchal traders, and was returned to Madeira where its contents were shared. Several families still exist in Madeira proud to own some of that wine.

The climate of Madeira also became famous in Europe during the 19th century and was especially recommended as a therapy for chest diseases. The Island thus became an important holiday resort, visited by several of the more renowned crowned heads, such as the Empresses of Brazil, the Archduchesses Leopoldina of Austria, in 1817, and Amelia of Lichtenberg, in 1852. Queen Adelaide of England, in 1847, Prince Maximilian Napoleon, Duke of Lichtenberg, in 1850, stayed in Madeira for long sojourns, as well as the future Emperor Maximilian of Mexico and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium, who spent the winter of 1859-1860.

Maybe the most outstanding figure will have been that of Empress Elizabeth of Austria, who stayed in Madeira for many months between 1860 and 1861. Empress Sissy, as she became known in the romantic bibliography of the 19th century, never forgot the moments spent on the Island, where she was photographed for the first time, always warmly referring to them, and was able to return, in 1893-94, a few years before her death in 1898.

The Habsburgs would become for ever linked to Madeira, where Charles of Austria, the last emperor, died in exile, in 1922. His body lies in the main church of Our Lady of the Mount, facing the estate where he spent his last days, and recognized for beatification in 2004.

We should also mention Count Alexander Charles de Lambert, aide-de-camp of the Tsar of Russia, who took up residence in the Island in the beginning of 1863. He married during the following year, and died there before the birth of his heir. Count Charles Alexander de Lambert, born in Madeira on December 30 of 1865, later Marquis of Lambert, was one of the pioneers of French aviation, and is said to have invented the hydroplane.

This is an intriguing feature since, with the advent of aviation, the first international flight over the Atlantic had the port of Funchal as destination. This took place on March 22, 1921 and the trip from Lisbon to Funchal was piloted by Sacadura Cabral, Gago Coutinho and Ortins Bettencourt, accompanied by the engineer Roger Soubiran, in an F 3, powered by Rolls-Royce engines, and served as a test for the air crossing the two first pilots would make in the following year between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro.

With the end of World War II, the first regular tourist flights had the bay of Funchal as their destination. The inaugural flight of Aquila Airways took place on March 15, 1949, and the regular commercial flights commenced from May 15, with hydroplanes departing from Southampton and touching down in the bay of Funchal.