The weird but true story of how California got its name:
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo wrote the definitive Spanish language fantasy novel, a swashbuckling adventure called 'Las Sergas de Esplandián' ("The Adventures of Esplandián") around 1510.
This was a sequel to his popular...
Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo wrote the definitive Spanish language fantasy novel, a swashbuckling adventure called 'Las Sergas de Esplandián' ("The Adventures of Esplandián") around 1510.
This was a sequel to his popular...
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These were sword & sorcery, dragons & wizards books, enormously popular.
In Esplandián, there's a Queen Calafia, who rules an island called California populated entirely by Black women, likely inspired by the legendary Amazons.
The Virgin Queen Calafia serves as a stand-in for Islam being conquered & converted by the Christian protagonist's superior moral purpose; reflecting Reconquista struggles with Muslim Arabs.
The name obviously stuck, a reference to a mythical land in a popular novel.
So there you go: 'California' shares an Arabic root with 'Caliph' via a fantasy novel about an island filled with wild Black women popularized by Spanish nerds.