If we're being honest, nobody really knows for sure who first discovered the island. Some say that it was the Phoenicians. Roman historian Pliny mentions “the Purple Island” which may have been Madeira.
For all you romantics out there, there's also a story that the first inhabitants of the island were two star crossed lovers, Robert Machim, (or McKean) and Anna d'Arfet (or Dorset) who fled from Bristol around 1370. They were blown off course by a violent storm and managed to take refuge on the island. Sadly, Anna died soon after they landed and Robert followed suit, dying, as all Great Lovers do, from a broken heart. The place they landed was forever known as Machico.
As with all good yarns, how much of this is true doesn't really matter. The island was certainly rediscovered by the Portuguese navigator João Gonçalves Zarco, who founded Funchal in 1421. The name "Zarco" may not mean much to you but it has recently been discovered that Zarco's grandson Salvador Fernandes Zarco is none other than the great explorer Cristopher Columbus! For a rather thrilling theory on Columbus/Zarco, who was supposed to be a spy, read the article here.
After Madeira's (re)discovery Portuguese king Henry quickly gave orders to populate the beautiful isle and burn down all the woods. Local legend has it the fires raged for seven years and then there wasn't much left of the Forest Isle and it became, over the years, the Garden Isle. Nowadays, most of Madeira is covered with crops and the vineyards that provide the famous Madeira wine.
