When did it become common to refer to the language we moderns call
Italian by that name?
The question arises in the context of the autobiography of the
Emperor Charles IV (1316-78), where Charles speaks of his linguistic
abilities:
Ex divina autem gracia non solum Boemicum, sed Gallicum, Lombardicum,
Teutunicum et Latinum loqui, scribere et legere scivimus.
(Charles presumably picked up his knowledge of "Lombardicum" during
his campaigns in the north of Italy.)
The question is, would it be anachronistic to translate
Lombardicum as "Italian"? Or would "Lombard" have been thought of as
a separate language in the 14thC?
Frank Schaer
(Medieval Studies, CEU, Budapest)
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