Bartolomeu Perestrello (), 1st
Capitão Donatário,
Lord and
Governor of the Island of
Porto Santo (c.
1395-
1457) (also called
Pedro Moniz Perestrello - his true name was Bartolomeu Perestrello, the name Moniz being later added because of his third wife Isabel Moniz) was a
Portuguese navigator and explorer that, together with
João Gonçalves Zarco and
Tristão Vaz Teixeira, discovered and populated the
Madeira Islands (1419-1420).
He was a son of
Micer Filippo Pallastrelli (called Filipe Perestrello in Portugal), a
Lombard Knight who came to Portugal some say erroneously in the train of Queen
Leonor of Aragon and here he was a Nobleman of
John I of Portugal, who recognized his
Coat of Arms and made him a Nobleman of Coat of Arms in 1433; he married Caterina Visconti, with whom he came to Portugal in 1385, and made mercy in 1437 of two houses at the Sub-Ripas Street in the City of
Coimbra. He was the son of
Micer Gabriele Pallastrelli, a
Lombard nobleman from and in
Piacenza,
Lombardy, and second wife (m. 1347)
Madama Bertolina Bracciforti (married firstly to Benigna Borgognoni, by whom he had Bartolommeo Pallastrelli), paternal grandson of Gherardo Pallastrelli and wife Franceschina Forno and great-grandson of Matteo Pallastrelli and wife Benigna Scotti.
Nobleman of
Genoese origin and
Fidalgo-
Esquire of the House of
Infante João, Lord of Reguengos, he was granted, as hereditary fief (capitania), the island of
Porto Santo and, together with his fellow fleet commanders, started the colonization of the islands.
One of his daughters,
Filipa Moniz (born c. 1455), around 1479 married
Christopher Columbus, who lived in
Madeira and
Porto Santo. As part of the
dowry, Columbus received all of Perestrello's charts of the winds and currents of the
Portuguese possessions on the Atlantic, and these charts may have assisted with Columbus' discovery of the
New World.
A legend attributes the responsibility for the poor vegetation of Porto Santo to him. On his first disembarkation in the island he brought one pregnant doe-
rabbit that escaped and its progeny overran the island in a few years. In fact, the island was poor in water, and what seemed to be a good enterprise for him became the cause of his family financial ruin.
He married three times, firstly to Margarida Martins, without issue, secondly in 1446 to Brites Furtado de Mendonça and had issue, and thirdly to Isabel Moniz, and had issue.
He was the brother of Rafael Perestrello, who married and had issue, ancestor of the Perestrellos of
Torres Vedras. He also had two sisters: Catarina Perestrello, married to Aires Anes de Beja,
Escrivão da Puridade (a
Secretary) of
John I of Portugal, and Branca Dias Perestrello,
Dame of Queen
Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, who was the
mistress of Dom Pedro de Noronha (Castle of
Gijón, 1379 - August 20, 1452), 4th
Archbishop of Lisbon (1424-1452), by whom she had issue.
See also
