Talk:João da Nova

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Galician vs. Spanish?[edit]

I partially reversed a revision of 80.31.7.195 which substituted the term "Spanish" for where "Galician" was before. In his revision note, the editor noted that "Galician is not a nationality". As he does not have a user page, let me try to explain my motives for reversing the edit here.

Spain did not exist in 1460, the year of João da Nova's birth. Indeed it did not exist through much of his life. The earliest it can be said to exist is 1479, with the recognition of Isabella's ascension to the throne of Castile - although even that is being generous, as the kingdoms of Castile & Aragon remained formally distinct, and the term 'Spain' only came into usage later in the 16th C. Through much of Nova's life, certainly through his youth (before he moved to Portugal), the country now known as Spain was then divided between the completely independent kingdoms of Castile-Leon, Aragon, Navarre and Granada. It is customary, when denoting nationalities of this time to refer to "Castilian", "Aragonese", etc.
It is true that the Kingdom of Galicia did not exist as an independent entity anymore. It was a subject kingdom of the Crown of Castile. Thus, in the narrowly legal sense, João da Nova was 'Castilian'. However, 'Castilian' as a nationality also implies the person originates from the central territories of Castile-Leon proper - which, of course, Nova didn't. e.g. article on Castile (historical region).
While the Kingdom of Galicia was not independent, it continued to vestigally exist as a legal entity, e.g. in the titles of the monarchs and legally distinct institutions (although many of those were erased after 1486, and brought more tightly under central control). So one can certainly argue (albeit at a stretch) that technically, João da Nova was a subject of the Kingdom of Galicia - the King of Galicia happened to be also the King of Castile-Leon.
Even if 'Galician' did not exist as a legal nationality, it was doubtlessly a strong identity and historical nationality (much like, say, Scottish or Welsh). Wiki has an entry on Galician people. I don't believe it does great violence to the article to refer to Juan da Nova as 'Galician'.

In sum, he was certainly not "Spanish". Legally, he was 'Castilian'. But as Castilian invokes origins in the lands of Castile-Leon, it would be more useful to refer to him as 'Galician'.

If it is acceptable to refer to folks like, say, Adam Smith or David Hume, as 'Scottish', then it is certainly acceptable to refer to Juan da Nova as 'Galician'. Nonetheless, for the sake of clarity, I have decided to retain the term 'Spain' appended to referenses to Galicia. I believe that is a reasonable compromise. -- Walrasiad (talk) 08:33, 4 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]