The massive realm of Henry II extended from southern France through the British Isles. The administration of the so-called “Angevin Empire” required an extensive bureaucracy. In this episode, we examine some of the key government officials who administered the government of England. We also explore the first English settlements in Ireland.
Map Prepared by Louis Henwood (Click Map for Larger Image)
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Like Louisiana, Alaska does not have counties. It’s divided into boroughs.
Thanks for the note. I didn’t know that.
Boroughs in Alaska instead of counties? How did that happen? Kevin I’m sure you know that New York City is divided into five boroughs which also double as counties
Yes. New York ‘boroughs’ derive from the Old English word ‘burh’ meaning a fortified town. I discussed the etymology of that word back in Episode 47, but I didn’t note the connection to ‘boroughs’ in New York.
Also the boroughs do not have sheriffs. It’s the local police then right up to the state troopers.
Maybe you mentioned it and I didn’t catch it, but are these “march” areas and their lords the source of the title “Marquis?” Just connecting dots it seems plausible.
Yes, the word “march” also produced the word “Marquis” in France. A “Marquis” was originally the lord of a march or border region. I briefly mentioned that connection back in Episode 25. (I discussed a few other words related to “march” in that episode, but I didn’t revisit them in this episode since they were covered previously.)
Caleb, it looks like you’re correct: http://etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=Marquis
w00t after three months of binge listening I’ve finally caught up 🙂
Kevin perhaps you can investigate “woot” in Episode 1xx?
forgot to say tx and plox
I’ll add it to my list of words. 😉
Check this link. David Anthony often mentions the Pontic Caspian so I went searching for it
http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/linguistics/science-indo-european-languages-originated-pontic-caspian-steppe-02516.html
Louisana has the Parish instead of counties ; its cause of its french influence.
You spoke of “impale” being derived from “pale”
You did not speak of “paling” which is what privacy fences are called in my area.
Is the “ing” here the old english ing on a french borrowing?
Yes, the English ‘-ing’ suffix was added to the French verb ‘pale.’ By the way, according to the OED, the noun ‘paling’ meaning fence was first attested in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Barbados, thoroughly English in government organization also has parishes instead of counties and each parish is centered on an Anglican parish church.
Thanks for this episode. I wanted to point out that the UK still has parishes, boroughs and counties, but they all mean different things. A parish was originally ecclesiastical, but it also acquired a civil meaning, and it’s applied now to the most basic level of local government in a village and the surrounding areas. A borough is the equivalent for a town, and it also applies to the main divisions of a major city, such as London or Manchester. A county is the highest-level sub-national division, and has a status somewhere between a county and a state in the US.
On coroners – besides rulling on suspicious or unexplained deaths, they actually retain the role of ruling on treasure trove.
As far as Strongbow is concerned, there’s actually a theory that the nickname was a corruption of Striguil, and old name for Chepstow. On the other hand, its quite possible that it was his reputation that inspired the corruption.
Kevin, there are viscounts in the UK. According to the page below, this term “was originally a judicial honorific, long used in Anglo-Norman England to refer to a county sheriff”, but wasn’t used as a title of nobility until 1440. The page also says that most British viscounts are also dukes, marquesses or earls, and use their higher ranked titles.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_viscountcies_in_the_peerages_of_Britain_and_Ireland
Kevin, you said in this episode that Strongbow was a Marcher lord and the Earl of Pembroke. Given that Pembroke is in south west Wales, when and how did the Marcher lords come to include nobles within Wales as well as on it’s border?
Hi Helena. It has been many years since I prepared this episode, so those kinds of details have long since escaped my memory. Here is a link that may answer your question: Earl of Pembroke.
Thanks. I’ll have a look at that.