Visigothic identity of Spain

[Rydwlf]

Dear all,
   
  Let me go back to this issue. Being a Spanish myself, I think I can share some interesting information about this so interesting topic.
   
  About "Guzmán" as a word, there is some interesting facts. In fact, it does exist in modern Spanish, as "guzmán", although it's not very used and may be regarded as an archaism. I can tell you that I didn't think it existed as a modern-use word, but I looked for it in the dictionary (just in case) and it turned out that it existed.
   
  In the Dictionary from the Real Academia de la Lengua (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Academia_Espa%C3%B1ola), that is the organization responsible of regulating the Spanish language, and compiling updated dictionaries, the word "guzmán" appears as follows:
   
  guzmán (De Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, llamado el Bueno, 1256-1309, caballero castellano a quien la tradición atribuye todas las virtudes caballerescas).
  1. m. Noble que servía en la Armada real y en el Ejército de España con plaza de soldado, pero con distinción.
   
  Translation:
   
  guzmán (from Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, called "The Good", 1256-1309, castillian knight who according to tradition is considered to have al the chivalry virtues).
  1. m. Noble serving in the royal Army and in the Spain Army as a soldier, but with special consideration.
   
  So the word really comes from a single individual, in this case Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, so the origin of the word goes back to the problem of identifying the origin of the surname. About this, I have searched in etymology pages and the most accepted theory is that of a germanic origin, be it Gothic or German. 
   
  The generalized opinion in these pages is that the name comes from Gundemar, the king of the Visigoths in Hispania from 610 to 612. In the later half of the 16th Century, the Spanish economist Fr. Bartolomé Frías de Albornoz, who also did some etymology research at his time, proposed the name "Guzmán" as derived from the name of a British prince called "Gutiman". Gonzalo Argote de Molina (1549-1596), Spanish author, stated that in the 950, the count Don Nuño Muñoz founded in Roa de Duero (in the actual province of Burgos) and in the place of Guzmán, the original site of the House of Guzmán. Unfortunately, I don't have the exact sources for this quotes. It is a fact, though, that there exists a village called Guzmán in the province of Burgos.
   
  About the statement of the Duchess of Medina-Sidonia in which she says that most probably the name was of moorish origin, that may be true, but in turn there turns out to be a theory in which the original name, still of Gothic origin, underwent some changes when under moorish rule. Thus, the families with that name who accepted to convert to Islam or live in moorish territory adapted the name and it changed from Gundemaro -> Guz de Maro -> Guz de Mar -> Guzmar -> Guzman. This assumes that in mozarabic language the "de" particle was taken as a generic mark and it disappeared.
   
  It is a fact, anyway, that under the dictatorship of General Franco in the past century in Spain, there was an interest in exalting the Visigothic past of Spain and in linking the origin of the Spanish modern nobility to the Gothic one. Most people who are now from 50 to 60 years old had to memorize the list of all the Visigothic Kings when they were children at school. The term "list of the Gothic Kings" is used often in modern Spanish to refer to a dull and boring task.
   
  Kind regards,
   
  Rydwlf
   
   
   
  faltin2001 <d.faltin at hispeed.ch> wrote:
  I saw an interesting programme recently, featuring a Duchess of Medina-
Sidonia. The programme was about her ancestor who commanded the 
Spanish armada in 1588. However, she mentioned that here family was 
long believed to be of Visigothic origin. The family name of the dukes 
of Medina Sidonia is Guzman and she explained that earlier family 
tradition and historians claimed that this name was derived from 
Gundomaris. However, being a historian herself, she revealed that this 
derivation was incorrect. She said that Guzman is actually a moorish 
name and that papers in the family archives show that the earliest 
ancestors of the Dukes of Medina-Sidonia - one of the oldest noble 
family of Spain - were originally moslems. In general, this 
illustrates that the Visigothic past was glorified in Spain, due to 
the associataion with Christianity, whereas the Ostrogothic past of 
Italy was played down as the Germanic Goths were regarded as inferior 
to classical Roman culture. 

Cheers,

Dirk 




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