Whatever you read in Latin, you can’t divorce the language from the period in which it was written or the people who were using it. While the Comenius list of European countries is a good reference point for the Latin nouns themselves, you also get a little insight into the way in which Europe looked in the mid-17th century.
Many of the
countries Comenius lists were not named by the Romans, or their labelling of
regions differed from our own. The list was made in 1658 and – as we know –
things have moved on (not necessarily for the better). The words can be Late or
Mediaeval, or Neo-Latin, and, where there is perhaps a lack of clarity in what region
Comenius is referring to, I’ve added some notes and links, together with some
other countries (in bold) that he doesn’t mention.
This time, the
image is from the American edition of the book which matches the numbers
listed.
[1]
The chief Kingdoms
in our Europe are Spain, 1. France, 2. Italy,
3.
In Eurōpā nostrā
sunt Rēgna prīmāria, Hispānia, 1. Galliā, 2. Ītalia, 3.
England
(Britain), 4. Scotland, 5. Ireland, 6.
Anglia (Britannia), 4.
Scōtia, 5. Hibernia, 6.
Scōtia, -ae [1/f]:
Scotland; a synonym for Calēdonia, -ae [1/f], the latter term used by
the Romans
Cambria, -ae [1/f]: Wales
Portugallia, -ae [1/f]: Portugal
[2] Germany, 7.
Bohemia, 8. Hungary, 9.
Germānia, 7.
Bohēmia, 8. Hungaria, 9.
Austria, -ae
[1/f]: Austria
Helvētia, -ae [1/f]: Switzerland
Bohēmia, -ae [1/f]: only referred to the western part of what is now the
Czech Republic
Cechia, -ae [1/f]: Czechia
Slovācia, -ae [1/f]: Slovakia
[3] Croatia,
10. Dacia, 11. Sclavonia, 12. Greece, 13, Thrace, 14.
Croātia, 10,
Dācia, 11, Sclavonia, 12. Graecia, 13, Thrācia, 14.
Dācia, -ae [1/f]: The
Dacian kingdom was conquered by the Romans and later named Romania after them: Rōmānia, -ae
[1/f] (Late Latin): Romania
Sclavonia, -ae
[1/f]: Slavonia, region in north-eastern part of modern Croatia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonia
Thrācia, -ae
[1/f]: Thrace, geographical region in SE Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrace
Bulgaria, -ae [1/f]: Bulgaria
Macedonia, -ae [1/f]: Macedonia
Moldavia, -ae [1/f]: Moldova
Serbia, -ae
[1/f]: Serbia
Slovēnia, -ae
[1/f]: Slovenia
[4] Podolia,
15. Tartary, 16. Lituania, 17. Poland, 18. The Netherlands,
19.
Podōlia, 15. Tartaria,
16. Lītuānia, 17. Polōnia, 18. Belgium, 19.
There are
historical reasons why Comenius uses Belgium to refer to the Netherlands.
However, that is beyond the scope of this group, enough to say that Gallia
Belgica was a province of the Roman empire comprising NE France, most of
Belgium and Luxemburg, and parts of the Netherlands and Germany.
Belgium, -ī [2/n]
/ Belgica, -ae [1/f]: Belgium
Hollandia, -ae
[1/f]: Holland; Nederlandia,
-ae [1/f]: Netherlands
Podōlia, -ae
[1/f]: a historic region of Eastern Europe in parts of present-day Ukraine and
Moldova
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podolia
Tartaria, -ae
[1/f]: Tartary
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartary
Estonia, -ae
[1/f]: Estonia
Latvi(j)a, -ae
[1/f]: Latvia
Lūxemburgum, -ī [2/n]: Luxembourg
[5] Denmark,
20. Norway, 21. Swethland, 22. Lapland, 23. Finland, 24. Lisland, 25.
Dānia, 20.
Norvegia, 21. Suecia, 22. Lappia, 23. Finnia, 24. Livonia, 25.
Finnia, -ae [1/f];
Finland; synonym: Finlandia, -ae [1/f]
Livonia, -ae [1/f]: Lisland, region in the Baltic, south of the Gulf of
Finland, now divided and constituting southern Estonia and northern Latvia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livonia
Suecia, -ae [1/f]:Sweden; the archaic English word ‘Swethland’ is derived
from OE Swēoland
Groenlandia, -ae [1/f]: Greenland
Īslandia, -ae [1/f]: Iceland
[6] Prussia, 26. Muscovy,
27. and Russia, 28.
Borussia, 26. Muscovia, 27. Russia,
28.
Muscovia, -ae
[1/f]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Principality_of_Moscow
Ūcrāīna, -ae
[1/f]: Ukraine
And – as we approach 2026 – let’s hope, for all the people in the last two in the list, that the fighting stops.
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