Josse van Huerter

Early life

Van Huerter, a name of Flemish origin, appears frequently in Portuguese writings, frequently with many variations. What is known, is that the family name Huerter evolved through Portuguese transliteration to Utra and later Dutra (a contraction of De Utra, "Of Utra"). Similarly, the city of Horta (settled by Huerter and his Flemish compatriots) would owe its name to an adulterated variation on the Huerter name. Josse, has also appeared with some variations; Josse van Huerter himself used the shorter Joss in communications, although Joz, Job, Jobst and Jost have also been identified.

His was the second son of Léonard van Huerter, of a governing family with feudal holdings in Wijnendale, West Flanders. Marcelino Lima stated that the Huerter holdings were specifically in Hagenbruck, refuting the claims of the German navigator and geographer Martin Behaim, in his Globo de Nuremberga (who believed that the noble family lived in Moerkirchen). The Huerter family was of good lineage, and established heraldry, whom dedicated themselves in the homeland, which was confirmed by a 1527 document, by Jacques de Hurtere, of Flanders, the cousin of Joss de Utra (second Donatary Captain of Faial), and chronicled by Manuel Luís Maldonado.

Little is known of his life prior to his participation in the great exploration and colonization of the 15th Century. What is known is that he frequented the circles of Flemish nobility, and made friendships in the court of Isabella of Portugal, the Duchess of Burgundy and Countess of Flanders (who established a parallel court to her husband). Although his family belonged to lower nobility, he was always under threat of a life in financial misery. Yet, he had pretensions to life as a courtesan and regularly overspent, but had the sensibility to accept the protection of the Duchess. It was at this time that the new donatário of the Azores, the Infante D. Fernando, established contacts with his aunt Isabella, wife of Duke Philip the Good and mother of Charles the Bold.

Donatário

About 1460, Josse made an acquaintance of Friar Pedro, the Queen's confessor, who traveled with the Infanta Isabella. He developed a friendship with the young nobleman, and quickly promoted the advantages of exploration in the "new" islands of the Azores. D. Pedro talked to van Huerter of the islands and what he believed were large deposits of silver and tin (referring to the islands as the fabled Ilhas Cassitérides or Islands of Tin). Van Huerter later convinced 15 impoverished Flemings of the profitability of a venture in the archipelago. Around 1465, Huerter first disembarked along the eastern coast in the channel between Pico and Faial, in an area that would later be known as Praia de Almofariz (now Praia do Almoxarife). The expedition remained in the area around Lomba dos Frades for about a year, until about the time their supplies ran out. It was at this time that many of his compatriots became disenchanted with van Huerter and angered by the lack of return on their investments: finding none of the promised precious metals. Things escalated and van Huerter nearly escaped to Flanders, abandoning some on the island, and returning hastily to the court of the Duchess of Burgundy.

He returned, in 1466-67, with the aid of the Duchess of Burgundy, who assisted her vassal in his protection under the Crown of Portugal. The Duchess would send a two-year supply of the equipment, foodstuffs, animals and materials to support the fledgling colony made up of Flemish nationals looking for a new life following the Hundred Years War. But, quickly, He discovered the limitations of the area owing to the lack of sufficient potable water. He abandoned the main settlement in Almofariz, in favor of the adjacent valley (later known as the Valley of Flamengos). Huerter would later extend his community farther south along the shore of Horta Bay, where he would construct a small chapel to Santa Cruz, that would become the nucleus of the small village.

The Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, had bestowed on Huerter the first captaincy of the island on 2 February 1468, which would later extend to the neighboring island of Pico (29 December 1482) by Infanta Beatrice.

Huerter cultivated new relationships in Flanders, hoping to construct a "New Flanders" by attracting a second wave of settlers to Faial. One of them, Willem van der Haegen (later transliterated to Guilherme da Silveira), brought administrators, tradesmen, settlers and other compatriots to settle on the island. This was a short-term colony, owing to a falling out between Van Huerter and van der Haegen, the latter abandoned the island, eventually settling on Flores. On 15 October 1484, Van Huerter was honored with a knighthood in the House of the Duke of Viseu.

Later life

He was married to D. Beatriz de Macedo, daughter of Jerónimo Fernandes, the governess of the Infanta Beatrice, who bore him two children. Huerter's son, Joss de Utra (who would become the second Captain-General of Faial), and daughter, Dona Joana de Macedo were born on Faial. Joss de Utra would later marry Dona Isabel Corte Real, and Dona Joana would marry Martin Behaim, a German navigator/cartographer at the Chapel of Santa Cruz.

Van Huerter died in 1495 in Horta, and along with his wife (in 1531) would be buried in the Chapel of Santa Cruz, where today the Church of Nossa Senhora das Angústias is located.