ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2822 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2822 ************************************ 07 Jun 2004 From: Marianne Perdomo Machin Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wrote about a name appropriate for a new SCA shire sited in the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee, in southern Florida. You were interested in names that could have been given by Spaniards to places in the Americas. You were particularly interested in our evaluating the name , a name inspired by the Caloosahatchee river crossing Florida from Lake Okeechobee to the west coast. , sometimes spelled , was used in our period for several meanings related to 'going through' an area. The most common 16th century meanings appear to be [1, 2]: - a distance [3] - a path or route, especially between either two paths or obstacles [4] - an unfavorable wind [5] We have found a few modern place names that might derive from this word, but we do not have evidence that any of them existed in our period. We found one period place name, a castle called in Catalonia, which derives from a related word and probably had the sense of "paths" [6]. Another related word is , a 'pass' or 'ford', which is normally used for places that lead to the other side of an obstacle, as in mountain ranges and rivers [7]. In modern Spanish names, place names referring to crossroads generally include elements like or . Names referring to a road or pathway generally include the element [8, 9]. However, we don't know if these were used in the names of inhabited places in the last centuries of our period. Generally speaking, geographical elements like , meaning 'of the south', were rarely used in naming places. Secondary elements generally help to distinguish places from others with the same name. These tend to refer to their location (region, a river, etc.) or some other peculiarity. Concepts like 'north' or 'south', being relative, are less useful for this purpose. It's also questionable whether Spaniards, who had their base in places like Mexico or Cuba, would consider a place in Florida as a southern location at all. However, we did find an example of a name that included one such reference: the modern city of , in Texas. The city grew in a place known in 16th century documents as (ford of the northern river) [10] or (ford of the north) [11], after a place where the river could be crossed. In short, we can't recommend as a good recreation of a Spanish placename in the Americas. If you particularly want the name of your group to refer to the Caloosahatchee river, we believe that such a name would not refer to the fact that the river "crosses" that part of Florida, but would rather refer directly to the river itself, or a point where the river could be crossed. Using as a model, we believe or simply is a plausible name for your area. This name would most likely indicate that all local habitation was located north of the river, such that the river was thought of as "the river to the South". There are also plenty of examples from the period that you could use as a basis for a placename. Leaving your chosen elements aside, we have taken a general look at Spanish placenames given during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. These seem to fall into a few rough categories: - Descriptive names: these focus on geographical features. Some examples are: Placename Meaning and notes Rio de Palmas River of Palm Trees (appears several times in different areas) [12] Isola de Arenas Island of Sands [12] Rio Hermoso Beautiful River, in Mexico [12] Punta de Higueras Point of Fig-trees, in Yucatan [12] Roca Partida Broken Rock [13] Rio de Arboledas River of Groves [13] - Adaptation of native names: Mucoc,o a Florida native people; also their settlement [4, 14] ( represents with a comma hanging from it) Oaxaca from Aztec 'Huaxaca' [15] Nicaragua after local chieftain 'Nicarao' [12, 15] Cafaqui south-eastern USA [13] Aymay south-eastern USA [13] - Religious names: Punta de San Anton Point of San Anton, Cuba [12] La Madalena in Colombia [12] Santiago de las Montan~as in old Peru [16] ( represents an with a tilde over it) San Miguel in old Peru [16] An alternative form of religious naming we found is that of , 'Martin-ville'; founded in 1503 in honor of St. Martin, in Cadiz, Spain [15], but this appears to be far less common. Often these names commemorated having arrived on the saint's day, or some similar practical circumstance. - 'Recycled' names: these are names of older towns in Spain, which were also given to towns in the New World. Compostella in Colombia [16] Cartagena in Colombia [16] Merida in Colombia [16] Cuenca in old 'Peru' [16] C,amora in old 'Peru' [16] Iaen (Jaen) in old 'Peru' [16] Leon near present Costa Rica [16] Granada near present Costa Rica [16] Villa Viciosa in Colombia [16] - Names referring to a specific circumstances: Florida (after seeing the land on Easter or 'Pascua Florida') [15] Estrecho de San Miguel Strait of St. Michael, crossed on the Saint's day [19] Victoria probably conmemorating a victory, in Colombia [16] - Allegorical or inspiring names: Isla de Buenaventura 'Island of Good Fortune', Panama [12] California (after a fictional land from a chivalric novel) [15] Alegranza 'Joy', a small Canary island, 15th c. [15] La Graciosa 'the Gracious one', a small Canary island, 15th c. [15] - Flattering names: Isabela, or Ysabela (after queen Isabel) [20] Fernandina, or Ferrandina (after king Fernando) [20] The following names appear on the map by Gutierrez in 1539 [12]. They correspond roughly to the south-eastern coast of the United States, from east to west: Placename Meaning Golfo de la Nueva Espana Gulf of New Spain Cabo de Crux Cape Cross Ostial Oyster bed [17] Marpequena Small Sea Matas de Saluador Bushes of the Saviour Rio de cannaveral River of Canes Rio de los angelos River of Angels Rio de nieves River of Snows [16] Bahia de Gomes Aluares Bay of Gomes Alvares (man's name) Puerto? honde Deep harbour [18] Costa de medanos Coast of sandbanks Ancon Cove Bahia de Mirguelo Bay of Mirguelo Andenbaxo low elevated passage Rio de Iuan Ponce River of Juan Ponce (man's name) Bahia de Sant Iuseph Bay of Saint Joseph Costa de Caracoles Coast of Snails Bahia de Iuan Ponce Bay of Juan Ponce Rio de Canoas River of Canoes Rio de Lapas River of Limpets Tortugas (islas) Turtles (islands) Martiles (probably Martires is.) Martyrs (islands) Roques 'Rock' (a large rock at sea, smaller than an island Mimane probably a native name Costa de fuego Coast of fire Yabaque (islands) probably a native name Cabo / Costa de cannave[ral] Cape / Coast of canes Rio de Corintes River of Corintes Cabo de Aru~z Cape of Arunz (probably a surname) Marbaxa Low-sea Rio de terra llana River of 'flat land' Cabo gruedo Cabo de Santa Elena Cape of St. Helen's Rio de Santa Elena River of St. Helen's Comos probably a native name Ignas probably a native name Coruco probably a native name Canagadi probably a native name We also found the following placenames in or near Florida in a 16thc. chronicle [19]: baia de Cavallos Bay of Horses (San Marcos / Apalachicola) estrecho de San Miguel strait of St. Michael'; so named because they passed it on St. Michael's day rio de Palmas River of Palmtrees isla de Malhado Island of Bad Omen villa de Malhado Town of Bad Omen ancon del Spiritu Sancto Cove of the Holy Spirit The same chronicle includes the name of several 'nations' of natives [21]: Acubadaos Avavares Atayos Camoles Caoques Comos Chorruco Cutalchiches Doguenes Guaycones Han Maliacones Mariames Mendica Quevenes Quitoles Susolas Yguazes Based on these examples, you could choose a name referring to the Caloosahatchee river in a number of ways: some physical feature, after the pattern of , , or ; a person or saint, such as or , something relating to its use like ; or something fanciful like . If you'd like our help developing a name based on any of these historical examples, we'll be happy to help. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Pedro de Alcazar, Arval Benicoeur, Mari neyn Brian, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, 7 Jun 2004 Leonor Martin - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References: [1] Online dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (RAE), 1992 ed. (WWW: Real Academia de la Lengua, 2001), s.n. (where represents an with an accent over it). http://www.rae.es/ [2] Online dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (RAE), 1739 ed. (WWW: Real Academia de la Lengua, 2001), s.n. . http://www.rae.es/ [3] Some examples of period texts where it's used in this sense are: - "And arriving at the valley of Atacama they took provisions in abundance to sustain themselves in the long uninhabited stretch we mentioned above, whose *travesi/a* is of a hundred and twenty leagues". Marin~o de Lobera, Pedro, "Cro/nica del Reino de Chile" Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. travesi/a. http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ - "From north to south it may have a *travesi/a* of seventy leagues inland, from the coast that runs along parallel 10 to the jurisdiction of the city of Me/rida" Lo/pez de Velasco, Juan, "Geografi/a y descripcio/n universal de las Indias", 16th c. Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. travesi/a http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ - "[The island of Santiago] is 12 leagues long along that same direction and has a *travesia* [distance across] of six leagues where the land is widest." Escalante de Mendoza, Juan de, "Itinerario de navegacio/n de los mares y tierras occidentales", 1575. Corpus Diacro/nico del Espan~ol (CORDE), Real Academia de la Lengua Espan~ola (WWW: Real Academia de la Lengua Espan~ola , accessed February-March 2004), s.n. travesi/a. http://www.rae.es/ [4] Some period examples of this type of are: - "[...]They went through a _traviesa_ far from the village of Mucoc,o [...]" This Mucoc,o seems to refer to a native chieftain - from the area around the head of Hillsboro Bay, near Tampa bay, Florida - and also to their main settlement. Garcilaso de la Vega, El Inca, "La Florida", 1578, ed. 1722. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?intldl/esbib:@field(NUMBER+@band(esprb+01658)) Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. traviesa. http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ - "Before winter set-in he left for Can~ete, on the route to the city of Angol, which is a *travesia* which allows safe walking while the province is at war, for it's uninhabited and little used by the natives; [...]". Go/ngora Marmolejo, Alonso de, "Historia de Chile desde su descubrimiento hasta el an~o 1575" (where represents an with a tilde over it) Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. travesi/a. http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ - "He then went on to put [himself?] in that snowy *traviesa* and he was there for three days [...]" Lo/pez de Go/mara, Francisco, "Historia General de las Indias" 1538. Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. traviesa. http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ [5] Some period examples with the meaning of stormy or high wind are: - "The weather was *travesi/a* from the coast so that they couldn't land without much danger or losing the ship" Anonymous, "Interrogatorio presentado por Sebastia/n Caboto en el pleito que le sigue Catalina Va/zquez. Sevilla", 1530 Corpus Diacro/nico del Espan~ol (CORDE), Real Academia de la Lengua Espan~ola (WWW: Real Academia de la Lengua Espan~ola , accessed February-March 2004), s.n. travesi/a. http://www.rae.es/ - "[That night] there was so much wind from the south (which is there *travesi/a*), that our ship nor many others [...] could be sustained" Ferna/ndez de Oviedo, Gonzalo, "Historia general y natural de las Indias", 1535-1557 Corpus Diacro/nico del Espan~ol (CORDE), Real Academia de la Lengua Espan~ola (WWW: Real Academia de la Lengua Espan~ola , accessed February-March 2004), s.n. travesi/a. http://www.rae.es/ [6] We have found three places with names related to in modern Spain, and none in the Spanish-speaking Central America and Caribbean. The places in Spain are: Placename Location As Travesas A Corun~a, Galicia Travesera Beloncio, Pilon~a, Asturias Travesseres Lleida, Catalonia Global Gazetteer Version 2 (WWW: Falling Rain Genomics, Inc., 1996-2004) http://www.calle.com/world/SP/a/Tr.html We have only found period information on the last one. once had a castle (with the same name) and some of its Romanesque art is now held at the Catalan National Museum of Art. La Cerdanya (WWW: Diputacio/ de Lleida, accessed March 2004). http://www.diputaciolleida.es/c/poblacio/cccerdanya.html There's also a sarcophagus of Fra Bernat de Travesseres, a Dominican monk killed by the invading Albigensians. Panel Painting. Sarcophagi. (WWW: Musesu Diocesa/ de la Seu d'Urgell, accessed March 2004) http://www.museudiocesaurgell.org/gotico/uk/mugopint3.htm The word (plural ) shares the Latin root and main meaning of the Castillian Spanish . Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana (WWW: Enciclope\dia Catalana, SA. 1997-2003), s.n. travessera. http://www.grec.net/home/cel/dicc.htm However, we're not sure whether Catalan naming customs are a good guide to Castilian naming or New World naming: at that point in history Catalonia was part of Aragon, a country legally separate from the crown of Castile. Catalans could travel to Castile's colonies and lands but were considered foreigners there. They thus played little role in settling the New World, so their naming customs were less likely to have an impact there. [7] We found several instances of used in a geographic context: - "Paso del Pen~on". A pen~on is a crag or rocky outcrop, like Gibraltar, though not necessarily on the sea. Hurtado de Mendoza, Diego, "Guerra de Granada", 1538. Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. . http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ - "How the governor ordered two spaniards to go watch the approach to the sierra; and how the pachacanans won the pass of Guaytara from the Chileans". The same text mentions the "road to G." (via, camino), the "high area of G." (alto), the "uninhabited area of Guaytara" (despoblado) and the "dwelling s of G., where he had established the encampment" (aposentos, real). Cieza de Leo/n, Pedro, "Guerras civiles peruanas", 1551 Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. . http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ - "Panama which is the pass from Peru to Spain". Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. . http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ - "[...] He sent people to the ford of the Great River which is between Ancerma and this town". Cieza de Leo/n, Pedro, "Guerras civiles peruanas", 1551 Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. . http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ [8] Global Gazetteer Version 2 (WWW: Falling Rain Genomics, Inc., 1996-2004) http://www.calle.com/world/SP/index.html [9] Javier Sua/rez Betancor et al, _La Toponimia de Gran Canaria_, Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 1997, vol 1, p. 315. [10] El Paso (WWW: DesertUSA.com, 1996-2004) http://www.desertusa.com/Cities/tx/tx_elpaso.html [11] Handbook of Texas Online. El Paso del Norte. (WWW: The Texas State Historical Association, 2002) http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/EE/hdelu.html [12] Americae sive qvartae orbis partis nova et exactissima descriptio / avtore Diego Gvtiero Philippi Regis Hisp. etc. Cosmographo ; Hiero. Cock excvde 1562 ; Hieronymus Cock excude cum gratia et priuilegio 1562. Gutie/rrez, Diego, fl. 1554-1569. From the Rosenwald Collection, Library of Congress, no. 1303 (WWW: Library of Congress, accessed February-April 2004). http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gutierrz.html This map uses certain abbreviations and full words: Rio -- river R -- 'Rio' (river) Costa -- coast C -- 'Costa' (coast) or 'Cabo' (cape) Ba. -- 'Bahia' (bay) Po. -- 'Puerto' (harbour) [13] Map by Hernando Cortez, 1524 (WWW: Henry Davis Consulting, Inc., accessed March 2004) http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ren/Ren1/334A.html Map of the Gulf of Mexico from Corte/s Expedition (1524) (WWW: Athena Publications, Inc., 1996-2003) http://www.athenapub.com/cortmap3.htm Note that the top of the map corresponds to the south; Florida is at bottom-left. [14] The Mucoc,o people lived around the head of Hillsboro Bay, near Tampa bay. John Reed Swanton, The Indian Tribes of North America, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 145—1953 (WWW: extract published by The Northern Plains Archive Project, accessed March 2004). http://www.hiddenhistory.com/PAGE3/ww-flord.htm [15] Josep Maria Albaiges, Enciclopedia de Topo/nimos Espan~oles, Editorial Planeta, Barcelona 1998, s.n. , , , , , . [16] Ortelius, Abraham, Peruuiae avrifer{ae} regionis typus / Didaco Mendezio auctore. La Florida / auctore Hieron. Chiaues. Guastecan reg. Ortelius, Abraham, 1527-1598. [S.l. : s.n., 1584] Call number G3290 1584 .O7 Vault, Library of Congress (WWW: Library of Congress, acessed February-March 2004). http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3290.ct001038r [17] Online dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (RAE), 1989 ed. (WWW: Real Academia de la Lengua, 2001), s.n. . http://www.rae.es/ Va/zquez de Espinosa, Antonio. (1570-1630), _Compendio y descripcio/n de las Indias Occidentales_ Dated 1600 "On the next day the canoe man went out with his squad, and boarded his frigate or canoe, and set sail for Ostial, or sandbar of pearls, which ordinarily is a league and half away from the land, or two or more, and anchors in the sandbar." Corpus del Espan~ol (WWW: Mark Davies, 2001-02), s.n. ostial. http://www.corpusdelespanol.org/ [18] is probably a misspelling for , meaning 'Deep Harbour". [19] Nun~ez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, _Naufragios_, Alianza Editorial, Madrid 1996, pp. 89-109 [20] Colombus talks about his naming the islands: "The first one I found I gave the name of San Salvador [Watling, Bahamas], in honor of His High Majesty, who marvellously has given all of this: the Indians [natives] call it Guanahani. To the second island I gave the name of isla de Santa Mari/a de Concepcio/n; to the third Fernandina; to the fourth Isabela: to the fifth isla Juana [Cuba], and thus to each one a new name." Letter by Christopher Colombus, announcing his discoveries. Cristobal Colo/n (1451-1506) (WWW: Wolf Lustig, 1996) http://www.uni-mainz.de/~lustig/texte/antologia/kolumbus.htm [21] Nun~ez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, op. cit., p.135