The LEGEND OF MACHIM - Portugal

According to the legendthere was a young man called Roberto Machim in England, a legendary knight of the court of king Edward III of England. He was in love with an English lady, Ana d'Arfert but she was to marry a nobleman by the will of her family.

Machim and his friends came up with a plan to rescue the bride before the wedding and take her by boat to France that at the time was fighting against the English in the Hundred Years' War. They agreed to escape on the eve of the wedding day.

As they fled away from the English coast, the lovers were caught in a storm that made them lose their way. Suffering setbacks due to the storm, and not having an experienced sailor on board, they drifted for days until they saw land in the distance. They were in front of the island which would later be called Madeira.

Despite their fear of the unknown, desperation led them to approach and because the lady was ill from spending so much time at sea, they disembarked on what is today known as Machico's bay. Their anxiety to step ashore was so great, that they left without taking appropriate action as to anchoring their rowing boat. They soon realized that a new storm was approaching and sought refuge among the roots of a large tree that stood nearby.

When the storm calmed, they noticed that the sea had taken away their rowing boat. The anguished lady, whose health was already debilitated, died a few days later. Machimput up an enormous wooden cross next to the grave of his beloved which was near the tree that had sheltered them. Machim was deeply depressed and in less than a week joined his beloved in death.

It is said that the remaining members of the expedition engraved a brief story of the two on the cross. Sometime later, a boat of Moors passed by and rescued them taking them to North Africa, to be sold as slaves.

The legend also tells us that when the Portuguese discoverers came a few years later, they were able to discover the wooden cross and the inscription. They built the island's first chapel on this site, thus naming it Machico, in honor of Machim and Ana d'Arfet.