Native Language Of Philip I of Castile (Philip The Handsome)

[Mbruno]

That may sound like an odd question, but I was watching the miniseries Isabel this week on Spanish television (TVE) and it occurred to me to ask if anyone knows what language Philip the Handsome (husband of Joanna of Castile) spoke as his native tongue. Was it Dutch (the language at the time of the Low Countries), French (his mother's language), or German (his father's tongue) ?

[scooter]

Not Spanish? And I believe the wife was known to history as Juana/Juana La Loca due to her deranged behavior, not the least of which was dragging her husband's corpse around the countryside for a few years.

[Kit]

Very good question in my opinion. Certainly not Spanish as he only became King of Castile because of his marriage to Juana. Probably French and German. Latin as well. I will have to look it up.

[Meraude]

As he was heir to his mother's duchy of Burgundy and the languages spoken there in his time was Latin, Oil languages (old French) and Low Franconian languages (middle Dutch), so most likely Latin and a variant of what was to become French and some variant of the German language, possibly New High German.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Philippe will have spoken middle Dutch (medieaeval Dutch) which was different from today's Dutch/Flemish because there were no standardized spelling and grammar rules. It had a lot of similarities with mediaeval German. As his mother Maria of Burgundy was mainly Dutch-speaking and his father Maximilian of Austria was German-speaking, we may assume a mix of German and Dutch was the language in private.

The official language at the Courts were Latin and French. The book Het Woud Der Verwachting (In A Dark Wood Wandering) by the Dutch author Hella S. Haasse tells about the rivalry between the Houses of Burgundy and Orléans in France during the 100 Years War with England. This excellent work tells that the upper class in mediaeval times were true polyglots, all mastering multiple languages.

When we know that the French Henri II could marry the Italian Catherine de'Medici, the English Henry II could marry the Spanish Catalina de Aragón, the Dutch Willem II could marry Anna Paulovna Romanova from Russia, and all able to communicate, then this illustrates the amazing abilities inside the high circles, for centuries....

[An Ard Ri]

Given his background and position I'd imagine that Philip was fluent in several languages.

[SLV]

Would Maria of Burgundy have spoken Medieval Dutch/German? The Low Lands were just part of the Burgundian "empire", an important part, but wouldn't the center be in Burgondy. Dion was a very important city for the Burgundians.

[Duc_et_Pair]

Originally Posted by SLV

Would Maria of Burgundy have spoken Medieval Dutch/German? The Low Lands were just part of the Burgundian "empire", an important part, but wouldn't the center be in Burgondy. Dion was a very important city for the Burgundians.

The original Duchy of Burgondy was soon completely overshadowed by so much larger and richer "additions" like Flanders, Artois, Brabant, Limbourg, Holland, Zealand, Namur, Hainaut, West-Friesland, Picardie, Guelders, so that the central point moved from Dijon to Brussels, the real heart of the so-called "Burgundian Netherlands". From the earliest mediaeval times until around 1880 Brussels was a Dutch-speaking city. (Now it is predominantly French-speaking).

[SLV]

Originally Posted by Duc_et_Pair

The original Duchy of Burgondy was soon completely overshadowed by so much larger and richer "additions" like Flanders, Artois, Brabant, Limbourg, Holland, Zealand, Namur, Hainaut, West-Friesland, Picardie, Guelders, so that the central point moved from Dijon to Brussels, the real heart of the so-called "Burgundian Netherlands". From the earliest mediaeval times until around 1880 Brussels was a Dutch-speaking city. (Now it is predominantly French-speaking).

Thank you for the information.