philip

[Oleg Smirnov]

papa dumdum, <news:7dc3c410-96e8-41e8...@googlegroups.com>

> Monarchy is a relic of the feudal past. It should not be around in the 21st
> Century.
>
> European Monarchies were closely associated with Imperialism carried out by
> their Kingdoms. England, Spain, Holland, Belgium are some examples.
> Conquests of faraway lands were made in their names. They last till today.
> The Philippines was named after King Phillip of Spain.

The below remark isn't about imperialism as such, but merely historical.

...

When it comes to names of kings and other high aristocracy in the European
(and other) monarchies, there were some contemporary customs and rules (as
explicit as "unwritten") about how such names should be chosen. The topic
is a specific (although, marginal) field of historical knowledge. The name
"Philip" (Phillip, Fillip) had reached peak of "popularity" among the top
western Europe's aristocracy in the High Medieval period. However, it never
was in the regional aristocratic use until the 11th century. The story
about how it was introduced into the western-European nobles is linked with
Russia.

Philip is originally a Greek name, literally meaning "fan of horses". At
the first millennium BC, several rulers of the ancient Macedonia state (the
place where Alexander the Great emerged from) bore this name. In western
part of Europe, the name became known after the spread of Christianity (as
there are two Philips in the New Testament), but it was not seen as a name
worthy of nobles. Nowadays, the Westerners seek to link The West with those
ancient Romans/Greeks, but at the time the Greek things were not "theirs".

In the mid-11th century, Russian ruler Yaroslav Moodry (Sun-Glory the Wise)
gave his daughter Anna in marriage to Henry I, ruler of then Franks. Their
the first child (i.e. the crown prince) was named Philip. The reason for
the choice of such an unusual royal name was the fact that Anna belonged to
the Eastern Christian tradition, where the name Philip was well recognized
as regal not only from the Macedonian legacy, but also from the East Roman
Empire, that in the 11th century was alive and well <https://is.gd/O0hy8f>
(and more prominent vs. the Franks' state). This Philip I then turned out
quite a successful ruler, and thus the name had taken root as a regal name.

The very first Spanish Philip emerged in the late 15th century (he was
linked with the French Burgundy), then the second Spanish Philip ruled in
the mid-16th century, - and the Philippines were named after him.

I wrote above "western part of Europe", not "West Europe", because in the
11th century, there was no concept of The West somehow close to its modern
notion and connotion.