Monday, January 15, 2007
Origin and history of the name
The name France comes from Latin Francia, which literally means "land of the Franks or Frankland". There are various theories as to the origin of the name of the Franks. One is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca. Much the same as the Saxons are named after a a variety of single-edged knives called the seax.
Another proposed etymology is that in an ancient Germanic language, Frank means free. However, rather than the ethnic name of the Franks coming from the word frank, it is more probable that the word is derived from the ethnic name of the Franks, the connection being that only the Franks, as the conquering class, had the status of freemen. The Merovingian kings claimed descent of their dynasty from the Sicambri, a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe, asserting that this tribe had changed their name to "Franks" in 11 BC, following their defeat and relocation by Drusus, under the leadership of a certain chieftain called Franko. In German, France is still called Frankreich, which literally means Reich (realm) of the Franks". In order to distinguish from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, France is called Frankreich, while the Frankish Empire is called Frankenreich.
The word "Frank" had been loosely used from the fall of Rome to the middle ages, yet from Hugh Capet's coronation as "King of the Franks" or "Rex Francorum" it became more precisely used to stricly talk of the Kingdom of Francia, which would be what France was. These Capetian kings were descending from the Robertines, who had given birth to two Frankish kings, and previously held the title of "duces francorum" or "Dukes of Franks". This Frankish duchy encompassed most of modern Northern France but because the royal power was sapped by regional princes the term was then applied to the royal demesne as a shorthand. It was finally the name adopted for all of the Kingdom as central power affirmed itself over all the kingdom.
Another proposed etymology is that in an ancient Germanic language, Frank means free. However, rather than the ethnic name of the Franks coming from the word frank, it is more probable that the word is derived from the ethnic name of the Franks, the connection being that only the Franks, as the conquering class, had the status of freemen. The Merovingian kings claimed descent of their dynasty from the Sicambri, a Scythian or Cimmerian tribe, asserting that this tribe had changed their name to "Franks" in 11 BC, following their defeat and relocation by Drusus, under the leadership of a certain chieftain called Franko. In German, France is still called Frankreich, which literally means Reich (realm) of the Franks". In order to distinguish from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, France is called Frankreich, while the Frankish Empire is called Frankenreich.
The word "Frank" had been loosely used from the fall of Rome to the middle ages, yet from Hugh Capet's coronation as "King of the Franks" or "Rex Francorum" it became more precisely used to stricly talk of the Kingdom of Francia, which would be what France was. These Capetian kings were descending from the Robertines, who had given birth to two Frankish kings, and previously held the title of "duces francorum" or "Dukes of Franks". This Frankish duchy encompassed most of modern Northern France but because the royal power was sapped by regional princes the term was then applied to the royal demesne as a shorthand. It was finally the name adopted for all of the Kingdom as central power affirmed itself over all the kingdom.
Bird flu reports spreading in Asia
JAKARTA, Indonesia (Reuters) -- An Indonesian hospital was on Monday overwhelmed with patients suffering bird flu symptoms while the virus spread further among flocks in Vietnam and flared anew in Thailand.
A recent spurt of human infections with the H5N1 bird flu virus, which re-emerged in Asia in late 2003, has alarmed health officials.
Four Indonesians have died this year after a six-week lull in cases, taking the number of people killed by bird flu in the country to 61, the highest in the world.
At Jakarta's Persahabatan hospital, where doctors were treating 9 people with bird flu symptoms, including a 5-year-old girl in intensive care, its isolation wards were overwhelmed.
"If we get more patients, we will send them to Sulianti Saroso," Muchtar Ichsan, the head of the bird flu ward, told Reuters, referring the country's main bird flu treatment centre in North Jakarta.
The patients included the son and husband of a woman who died of bird flu last week. The 18-year-old son has been confirmed to have the disease, although tests so far on the husband show he does not have the virus.
In a bid to stem the spread of the virus, Indonesia plans to prohibit people from keeping backyard fowl in three high-risk provinces.
Adding to regional worries, a senior Thai agriculture official said on Monday that 1,900 ducks had been culled in the northern province of Phitsanulok after some of the birds had tested positive for H5N1.
The case is Thailand's first in birds since last July. The last human death -- the country's 17th -- occurred in August.
Experts fear the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form that could spread easily between people, but there has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus so far in the latest cases.
The World Health Organisation says bird flu has infected 267 people and killed 161 of them since 2003.
Emergency levels
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the spike in cases in the northern hemisphere winter follows a similar pattern to that seen over the past three years and was to be expected.
But it was encouraging that outbreaks were being quickly reported and dealt with, a senior WHO official said.
"It is not surprising that we are seeing an increase (in cases) ... but we are seeing much more effective responses than we were a few years ago," Keiji Fukuda, WHO's coordinator for the global influenza programme, told journalists.
In Vietnam, where bird flu has killed 42 of the 93 people infected since 2003, the virus appeared to be spreading fast among fowl in the country's southern Mekong Delta, threatening to engulf the major rice-growing region.
The Animal Health Department said in a report seen on Monday that tests showed H5N1 had killed ducks in the province of Soc Trang, just a day after bird flu was found in the neighbouring province of Tra Vinh.
The Agriculture Ministry has ordered an additional poultry vaccination campaign in the Mekong Delta area and requested reinforcement of animal health teams to contain the spread.
Farm ministry officials in Japan said there was no evidence of the disease spreading there following confirmation at the weekend of a bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm in the southwest in which 3,800 chickens died.
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]