Without being derived from Hispania, like España/Spain is, what names could the area we know as modern-day Spain have (whether it be for a Hispano-Roman state that was never conquered by Muslims, a surviving Al-Andalus, or post-Reconquista)?
Names for Spain without Hispania as the root
- Thread starter Damian0358
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Hesperia? (Applied to Italy IOTL, but maybe ITTL the name could be transferred to Spain, as the most westerly of the European countries.) Or the Latinised variant Vesperia.
Napoleonrules
Banned
Terraconensis as the root for a potential name is a possibility. Lusitania is more Portugal. Something based off the word Basque, or a Basque word, perhaps? Euskal? Or the Euskara word for nation- Herri.
The Habsburg High Countries
Out of those already mentioned, the most likely are IMO Iberia or United Crown of Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Granada. Also Galicia, Asturias or Andalucía could have stuck as a general name for the entire country.
It's difficult because the name Hispania and derivations had been in use for a milenia and a half in the 15th century, and it's the easiest option to grab, though the portuguese didn't like it.
With more different TL's we could have also Celtiberia, Vardulia, Gothia, Vandalia, Turdetania. Also if instead of the Vandals are the Suevi who move to north Africa the arabs would have given a different name to the Iberian Peninsula. Another option,though it sounds a bit stupid, could be going the danish way, and derivating the name for the country from the carolingian march (Marca Hispanica) thus getting something like "Hispamarca", though in this hispania is still on the root. Hesperia is a beautiful name for a country, and it makes sense for a country in the westmost part of the Mediterranean bassin. Though if it's due to a revival, let's go to the end and call it Tartessos.
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If the kingdom of Asturias is never divided I think that Leon or Asturias are.
Probably because it was too castilian after the 1492
Probably because it was too castilian after the 1492
What I meant is that Portugal didn't like Castile-Aragón choosing the name Spain, for obvious reasons. It's as if one of the countries in the American Continent had decided to call itself America...oh wait. For example, Camões in Os Lusiadas writes a long description of the different "nations of Spain" from a portuguese PoW, where the nations are basically the different peoples inhabiting the peninsula.
IFwanderer
Banned
Tarragoña or Betiga, from the names of the provinces of roman Hispania (Tarraconensis and Baetica) with a rough attempt at hispanifying the latin name.
"That lump of land in the west of Europe"?
Andalusia is the most likely sensible name.
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Andalusia is the most likely sensible name.
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Well, the reason it's called Spain is because Spain is the most sensible choice. It's not Iberia because it doesn't take up all of the Iberian Peninsula (note Portugal). I guess you could call it the United Kingdom of Aragon and Castille, assuming it remained under a union of crowns rather than merging into a single country. You COULD call it Andalusia or Al-Andalus, but given that both of these are derivative of the Muslims, and the Spanish were notably not fond of the Muslims, it doesn't really make much sense for a European Catholic kingdom to call themselves that.
LOL! My mistake!
Not really, I used to think the same thing, but then someone told me that Iberia and Hispania are just the same thing. We say Iberia today because the Portuguese people don't like to be called as spaniards anymore, but speaking only of geography or from the point of view of someone that lived before 1500, Hispania=Iberia.
I wasn't aware of that. I always assumed there was a distinction, given that, when they united with Portugal in the 16th (17th?) century, it was referred to as the Iberian Union.
If I am right, at the time it was only called Spain. Iberian Union seems to be the name that historians gave to the period.