Tristão Teixeira

Tristão Vaz Teixeira (; c. 1395–1480) was a Portuguese navigator and explorer who, together with João Gonçalves Zarco and Bartolomeu Perestrelo, was the official discoverer and one of the first settlers of the archipelago of Madeira (1419–1420).

Biography Born Tristão Vaz, he later adopted the surname Teixeira after his marriage to Dona Branca Teixeira. Tristão was a nobleman of the household of Prince Henry the Navigator and took part in the conquest of Ceuta.

Or in 1415 or in 1418/9 he was knighted and inducted in the Order of Christ by Prince Henry due to his service in Ceuta.

Around 1418, while exploring the coast of Africa, he and João Gonçalves Zarco were blown off course by bad weather and came upon an island they named Porto Santo (“Holy Harbor”), very likely because they landed there in All Saints' Day ("Dia de Todos os Santos"). Shortly afterward, Prince Henry ordered them to settle the island, together with Bartolomeu Perestrelo. Following a rabbit infestation that made agriculture difficult, they relocated to the nearby island of Madeira, in 1425

His capitaincy was temporarily confiscated by the King and he was banished from Machico due to him committed atrocities against a banished nobleman who had had illicit relations with one of his daughters. He was pardoned in February 17th 1452 by the King and regained his capitaincy.

Throughout his life, Tristão Vaz Teixeira participated in further raids and exploratory expeditions along the African coast, including the 1437 failed attempt of conquering Tangier.

He married in the 1420s with Branca Teixeira, in the continent, with whom he had several children. As she was from a more important family, he took her name.

Having some business in Algarve, he moved to Silves, where he died at the age of 85.

He and his wife are the ancestors of many important families and individuals from Madeira, like Cristiano Ronaldo or the Teixeira family.