This September, the “Entail of the Month” initiative presents the Abelheira entail, established in 1504 in Vila Franca do Campo (Ilha de São Miguel, Azores). Its founder, Nuno Gonçalves Botelho, was the first born man on the Island of São Miguel. His father, Gonçalo Vaz Botelho, the Great, was one of the men from the Casa do Infante D. Henrique who was part of the group led by Gonçalo Velho Cabral, initiator of the settlement of the eastern group of the Archipelago. He was also the first ombudsman of the grantee’s captain on the island of São Miguel, having led the creation of the municipality of Vila Franca do Campo. Nuno Gonçalves Botelho’s date of birth is unknown, and almost nothing is known about his life. It is known that he was a squire and married Catarina Rodrigues, to which some genealogists add Coutinho, and lived in Rosto de Cão. He made a land entail, near Vila Franca do Campo, next to Ribeira da Abelheira, by his will, dated October 13, 1504. On these lands, the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Vida will be built by his descendant, the captain-general of Vila Franca, a nobleman of the Royal House, Francisco de Arruda Botelho. Over the centuries, this bond, the oldest of the Botelhos and its direct line, will accompany 13 generations of family morgados. The last administrator, who died in 1879, saw the binding reform decreed and the subsequent extinction of the links. However, these lands will remain in the possession of direct descendants for another three generations, being finally sold by Dona Maria Isabel Botelho de Gusmão. The house was sold empty and the old and original coat of arms on the front, from the 18th century, was removed and is in the possession of the descendants of the last owner and the archive and other family assets.

To find out more about this entail, visit the page with all the information about this month’s entail. You can also find out about the other links made available at: https://www.vinculum.fcsh.unl.pt/entail-of-the-month

You can also participate in this initiative by leaving your suggestions for future links for the month and other information about links you have. To do this, you can contact the project at the email address: vinculum@fcsh.unl.pt.

The VINCULUM project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and is led by Maria de Lurdes Rosa, Professor at NOVA FCSH and researcher at the Institute of Medieval Studies, distinguished with the first Consolidator Grant in the area of ​​History, awarded by the ERC to a Portuguese researcher.