Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 6.djvu/332

 272

NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. vi. OCT. 5, 1912.

syllable the corresponding Gothic word should have 6, and so should the corre- sponding Old Norse word : A.-S. jot, Gothic iotus, Old Norse jotr. But when the Anglo- Saxon word has o the corresponding Gothic word should have u and the corresponding Old Norse 6 : A.-S. hord, Goth, huzd, O.N. Jiodd.

Now, corresponding to A.-S. Ootan, we have a Gothic *Gtttans, as recorded in the " Gut- thiuda " of the Gothic Calendar and the " Gutanio " of the Runic inscription of Pe- trossa; and we have an Old Norse Qatar. This points to the A.-S. Ootan having had the short o, and MR. ANSCOMBE'S contention accordingly falls to the ground.

But let it be granted for the sake of argu- ment that MB. ANSCOMBE'S contention is correct. What is the use of contending that the Anglo-Saxon word could not have meant "Goths" when, in point of fact, we have conclusive evidence that it did ?

The word occurs nearly a dozen times in the works of Alfred the Great in the sense which MB. ANSCOMBE denies to it. In the translation of the ' History of Orosius ' the word Ootan occurs constantly, being used to render the Latin Oothi throughout the whole story of that struggle between the Roman Empire and the Goths which cul- minated in the capture of Rome by Alaric. In the translation of the ' De consolatione philosophise ' of Boethius the word Ootan is used constantly as an equivalent to the Latin Oothi, chiefly in connexion with the Gothic rule in Italy under Theodoric.

Exactly how far these translations repre- sent the personal work of Alfred might, perhaps, be disputed. But they were, at any rate, produced under his supervision, and have his authority behind them. And as to the meaning of an Anglo-Saxon word, surely the authority of Alfred ^Ethelwulfing must count.

What is the use of recondite and com- plicated arguments to prove that a certain word cannot have meant something in Anglo-Saxon when we have documentary evidence that, in point of fact, it did mean just that ? R. W. CHAMBEBS.

INFANTA ISABELLA CLABA EUGENIA (US. vi. 190). This princess (1566-1633) was the daughter of Philip II. of Spain. In 1598, on her marriage to Archduke Albert of Austria, her father handed over to her the Netherlands and Franche-Comte on the condition that they were to revert to Spain if she died without issue. She and her

husband, who acted as Statthalter, were dis- tinguished amongst other things for their patronage of Rubens. Two portraits of them by him hang in the Musee Royal at Brussels., which are said to have belonged at one time to Sir Thomas Emerson. John Barclay in the first book of his ' Satyricon ' indulges in an unsparing satire of the display at their Court. The Archduke figures under the anagram of Labetrus. There is a curious and grotesque account of the relations between him and his proud wife. From, the time of the Archduke's death (1621) to her own Isabella acted as sole regent.

EDWARD BENSLY.

Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II. of Spain by his third wife, Elizabeth or Isabella, daughter of Henry II. of France, was born 1566. In 1584 she was offered in marriage to the King of Navarre, after- wards Henry IV. of France, who refused her hand. On the death of Henry III., 1589, Philip issued a manifesto, by which he declared that, the Bourbons being ex- cluded as heretics from the throne of France, the Salic law was annulled, and that the throne of France belonged of right to his daughter Isabella, as niece and nearest relative of Henry III. The " Seize " in a letter to the King of Spain, 20 Sept., 1591, conjured the princess to reign over France ; but the Parliament of Paris declared the Salic law fundamental, and decided against any foreign house taking possession of the throne.

Isabella was offered by her father, with the approbation of the Leaguers, to a prince of the house of Lorraine, viz., Charles de Lorraine, Due de Guise, son of Henri de Lorraine, Due de Guise, who had been assassinated at Blois, 1588, with the inten- tion that Guise and Isabella should be declared King and Queen of France jointly. The Parliament of Paris decided that this was impossible, July, 1593. In 1598 Isa- bella married the Archduke Albert of Austria, receiving as her dowry the sove- reignty of the Netherlands and the Franche- Comte.

On the death of Albert, 1621, Philip IV. deprived her of the sovereignty, leaving her only the government. She died, with- out issue, 1633.

See ' Dictionnaire des Dates,' Paris, 1842- 1843 ; William Betham's ' Genealogical Tables,' 1795, Table 237 ; and Hereford B. George's 'Genealogical Tables,' 1874, Table 38. ROBEBT PIEBPOINT. _j

[L. L. K. also thanked for reply.]