[Gocamino] New American Confraternities

[Robert Spenger]

Rosina,

That's been the general consensus and that is what I had always  
thought, but I looked it up recently and found that some scholars  
suggest that the name predated the 1510 Spanish novel by about  
400-500 years and was in French, i.e. in the "Song of Roland."

http://www.answers.com/topic/origin-of-the-name-california

It is rather fascinating that the story of Roland, with its mythical  
ties to the Camino, should have reference to a possible precursor to  
the name California. I, personally, am inclined to accept that it was  
independently coined by García Ordóñez de Montalvo for his 1510  
novel, but the other version is an interesting speculation.

Best regards,

Bob

On Mar 25, 2006, at 10:45 AM, Blaroli at aol.com wrote:

Hello you all,
The word California, of course, is of Spanish origin.

Warm regards,

Rosina