Why is America named after Amerigo Vespucci?

The continent we call America today was named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci. He traveled there twice in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Unlike Columbus, who mistakenly thought he was in Asia, Vespucci was the first to suggest that America was an entirely new continent. That's why he was chosen as the name for this new world. But why then is it America, and not... Ameriga?

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Europeans commonly "Romanized" their names. Latin, once the language of ancient Rome, has become the continent's lingua franca. His Latinized name was Americus Vesputius. But that is not all. Vespucci wrote highly dramatic accounts of his travels to the New World, which were published with illustrations and read throughout Europe, bringing him enormous fame and recognition. Essentially, he was a PR master. And so in 1507, when the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller compiled a map of the world, he named this new continent America in honor of Americus Vesputius. This was the first time it was officially called America, and the name subsequently stuck.

Amerigo Vespucci was a controversial figure who, according to Spanish historian Bartolomé de las Casas, stole recognition from Columbus. However, the name Vespucci has an interesting history dating back centuries before his birth, and this is where our second story begins. Amerigo may have been an Italian version of Emeric, an 6th-century Hungarian saint - people were often named after saints in those days. Where did the name Emerick come from? He was given a name based on the name of his uncle, Holy Roman Emperor Henry II. Henry in German is Heinrich, and this name may have come from Amalric, the Visigoth king who reigned in the XNUMXth century. Or perhaps from Germanaric, another Gothic king who ruled what is now Ukraine in the XNUMXth century AD. And after this moment we enter those parts of history that are shrouded in mystery and can only be reconstructed by guesswork. Where did these names even come from? What did they mean? How ancient are the names Amerigo, Emeric, Amalric and Germanarik? There is an assumption that these names were simply invented by an unknown person thousands of years ago. But this little-known man, now lost to time, determined the course of history and the name of an entire continent.

Author: Elina Linderman
https://t.me/taxes_usa