The Medieval Origins of ‘California’
For almost two centuries, the lands of North, Central and South America, discovered, explored and claimed by Spanish adventurers, were thought to be The Indies. It took time for explorers, their patrons and cartographers to realize the magnitude of their error.
This extensive period of geographical confusion coincided with a cultural phenomenon in southern Europe, a great rise in popularity of the romance novel.
This was not the bodice-ripping sort referred to today, but rather stories of
