Ĉmeric
03-24-2009, 11:05 PM
A personal theory of mine that I posted nearly a 1 1/2 years ago at the Althing:
The Naming of America
The first Waldseemuller map, published in 1507 was the first map to use the name "America" to refer to the New World discovered by Christopher Columbus just 15 years earlier. It is generally assumed that America was named for Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian mariner who charted the coast of northeast Brazil in the early 16th century.
In 1908 Alfred Hudd, a resident of Bristol, England, first purposed that America was named for Richard Amerike, a merchant of Welsh descent who lived in Bristol in the late 15th & early 16th centuries. Amerike is believed to have been a sponsor of John Cabot who explored the coast of North America between Maine & Newfoundland for King Henry VII of England in 1497. Furthermore it is suspected that Bristol merchants - including Richard Amerike - were sending fishing fleets to the area of Newfoundland at least a decade before Columbus set sail for the New World in 1492. The theory is that the name America was used in honor of Amerike, and that Waldseemuller in collecting information for his atlas, simply assumed that "America" was in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.
There was some controversy about the use of the name "America" during the lifetime of Waldseemuller, & in later editions of his atlas, he use the phrase "Terra Incognita" to refer to the New World, but America still became the accepted name for the landmasses in the Western Hemisphere.
I think one of the biggest arguments against America being named for Amerigo Vespucci is that it is was very uncommon to name new lands after the forename of a commoner. Ther are several places named after royalty - Georgia for King George II, the state of Victoria in Australia for the queen by the same name, the Phillippines for King Philip of Spain etc... or places named for titled noblemen, after their titles, such as New York, named for the duke of York (later King James II) or Albuquerque, New Mexico, named for the Spanish duke. But places named after commoners are named with the surname. There are many places named Washington, Jefferson, Jackson etc.. not George, Thomas or Andrew. Places named in honor of Christopher Columbus are called Columbus or Columbia not Christopher. The former nation called after Cecil Rhodes was Rhodesia not Cecilia. Ditto for Bolivia. If Waldseemuller wanted to call the New World after Amerigo Vespucci, it would have been customery to call it "Vespuccia". So it would seem that America was not his (Wladseemuller's) idea, but he was using a term already in use by someone & assumed it was in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.
I have my own theory, which I have not found mentioned anywhere on the worldwideweb. I think America may have been named for King Henry VII of England.
The name America is simply the feminine of Americus ( of which Amerigo is the Italian form). Americus or Emericus as it was written in the early middle ages, is the Latin form of "Emerich".( Btw, the English form of the name is Emery, from which the patronym Emerson is derived.) Emerich & Heinrich are both derived from the old proto-Germanic name " Haimirich" which means "ruler of the home." Emerich & Heinrich are variants of each other. Henry is the English form of Heinrich. So America is a feminine variant of Henry.
Knowing this I think it is highly probable that the name "America" was in honor of King Henry VII. It would be the normal course of action for John Cabot or his sponsors in Bristol to name Cabot's discoveries after their reigning king. They would have used a feminine form as this is common for territorial naming. America is more pleasing phonetically then lets say "Henrica". Besides why would they call Cabots discoveries after Richard Amerike, when he was just one of several prominent members of the Bristol merchant community. And I have already stated my reasons for believing that America would not have been called after the forename of Amerigo Vespucci.
There is a theory that the name Emerich & all names that derive from it are from the old Germanic name "Amalirich" which means "work" & "power". However this would not change my theory about America being named for King Henry, because there has been a longstanding belief since the early Midlle Ages that Emerich & Heinrich/Henry were variants of the same name - for example the Hungarian prince St. Imre (Imre being the Hungarian form of Emerich) who was named in honor of his uncle, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry II.
My theory cannot be proven, but it cannot be disproven either. Regardless if America was named for Amerigo Vespucci or King Henry VII, the name America is undoubtedly of Germanic origin.
I submitted this as a story idea at both British Heritage & American Heritage magazines but was told it was not an original idea. However I have not found any reference to the King Henry VII = America theory anywhere unless I was the one to suggest it.:shrug:
As for Richard Ameryke & the source of his surname: It has been theorized that it is an Anglicization of the Welsh name Meurig, however that name is normally Anglicized as Merrick or Morris/Maurice. I think it most likely that Ameryke is an Anglicization of the Welsh Emyr, which is the equivalent of the Germanic Amalrich & is in fact Latinized as Americus or Emericus the Latin version of Amalrich. Emyr would probably in most cases be Anglicized as Emerson, Emery or Emerick.
The Naming of America
The first Waldseemuller map, published in 1507 was the first map to use the name "America" to refer to the New World discovered by Christopher Columbus just 15 years earlier. It is generally assumed that America was named for Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian mariner who charted the coast of northeast Brazil in the early 16th century.
In 1908 Alfred Hudd, a resident of Bristol, England, first purposed that America was named for Richard Amerike, a merchant of Welsh descent who lived in Bristol in the late 15th & early 16th centuries. Amerike is believed to have been a sponsor of John Cabot who explored the coast of North America between Maine & Newfoundland for King Henry VII of England in 1497. Furthermore it is suspected that Bristol merchants - including Richard Amerike - were sending fishing fleets to the area of Newfoundland at least a decade before Columbus set sail for the New World in 1492. The theory is that the name America was used in honor of Amerike, and that Waldseemuller in collecting information for his atlas, simply assumed that "America" was in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.
There was some controversy about the use of the name "America" during the lifetime of Waldseemuller, & in later editions of his atlas, he use the phrase "Terra Incognita" to refer to the New World, but America still became the accepted name for the landmasses in the Western Hemisphere.
I think one of the biggest arguments against America being named for Amerigo Vespucci is that it is was very uncommon to name new lands after the forename of a commoner. Ther are several places named after royalty - Georgia for King George II, the state of Victoria in Australia for the queen by the same name, the Phillippines for King Philip of Spain etc... or places named for titled noblemen, after their titles, such as New York, named for the duke of York (later King James II) or Albuquerque, New Mexico, named for the Spanish duke. But places named after commoners are named with the surname. There are many places named Washington, Jefferson, Jackson etc.. not George, Thomas or Andrew. Places named in honor of Christopher Columbus are called Columbus or Columbia not Christopher. The former nation called after Cecil Rhodes was Rhodesia not Cecilia. Ditto for Bolivia. If Waldseemuller wanted to call the New World after Amerigo Vespucci, it would have been customery to call it "Vespuccia". So it would seem that America was not his (Wladseemuller's) idea, but he was using a term already in use by someone & assumed it was in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.
I have my own theory, which I have not found mentioned anywhere on the worldwideweb. I think America may have been named for King Henry VII of England.
The name America is simply the feminine of Americus ( of which Amerigo is the Italian form). Americus or Emericus as it was written in the early middle ages, is the Latin form of "Emerich".( Btw, the English form of the name is Emery, from which the patronym Emerson is derived.) Emerich & Heinrich are both derived from the old proto-Germanic name " Haimirich" which means "ruler of the home." Emerich & Heinrich are variants of each other. Henry is the English form of Heinrich. So America is a feminine variant of Henry.
Knowing this I think it is highly probable that the name "America" was in honor of King Henry VII. It would be the normal course of action for John Cabot or his sponsors in Bristol to name Cabot's discoveries after their reigning king. They would have used a feminine form as this is common for territorial naming. America is more pleasing phonetically then lets say "Henrica". Besides why would they call Cabots discoveries after Richard Amerike, when he was just one of several prominent members of the Bristol merchant community. And I have already stated my reasons for believing that America would not have been called after the forename of Amerigo Vespucci.
There is a theory that the name Emerich & all names that derive from it are from the old Germanic name "Amalirich" which means "work" & "power". However this would not change my theory about America being named for King Henry, because there has been a longstanding belief since the early Midlle Ages that Emerich & Heinrich/Henry were variants of the same name - for example the Hungarian prince St. Imre (Imre being the Hungarian form of Emerich) who was named in honor of his uncle, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry II.
My theory cannot be proven, but it cannot be disproven either. Regardless if America was named for Amerigo Vespucci or King Henry VII, the name America is undoubtedly of Germanic origin.
I submitted this as a story idea at both British Heritage & American Heritage magazines but was told it was not an original idea. However I have not found any reference to the King Henry VII = America theory anywhere unless I was the one to suggest it.:shrug:
As for Richard Ameryke & the source of his surname: It has been theorized that it is an Anglicization of the Welsh name Meurig, however that name is normally Anglicized as Merrick or Morris/Maurice. I think it most likely that Ameryke is an Anglicization of the Welsh Emyr, which is the equivalent of the Germanic Amalrich & is in fact Latinized as Americus or Emericus the Latin version of Amalrich. Emyr would probably in most cases be Anglicized as Emerson, Emery or Emerick.