In 1534, when Hernán Cortés’ men first saw what would later be named Baja California, they thought they’d found an island. They, or later Cortés himself in 1535, imagined it could be the fabled land of Black Queen Calafia and her Amazon warriors. These were well-known characters from the popular romance novel, The Adventures of Esplandián (Las sergas de Esplandián, c.1500) by Garcia Rodríguez de Montalvo. The book boasts battles, romance, adventure and strong women. The name Calafia, sometimes written as Califia, is thought to originate from the Arabic word khalifa (califa in Spanish), meaning ruler or religious leader. In honor of Queen Calafia, the explorers named the land California, as her island realm was called.
Many early maps show California as an island! Cartographers tended to refer to previous maps to develop their drawings, and continued the error shown below for centuries. The mistake was so widespread that 200 years later in 1747, King Ferdinand VI formally decreed that California was not an island. A royal stamp of the foot was not enough to correct the misperceptions. Collector Glen McLaughlin found stacks of evidence it continued and he’s donated maps to Stanford chronicling this folly well into the 1800s.
I think it is great to discover California was named for the strong, beautiful, regal Calafia.
Did you know about the origins of the name California? Would you say it’s a figurative island?
Gracias for reading Fake Flamenco. ¡Olé! –Rebecca
Fake Flamenco 
Wow! Rebecca, great post! I never knew that historical fact. I often wondered where the name California had come from but it is interesting to know and to know it comes from such a queen! Loved it! Thank you for the knowledge.
All the best and my greetings,
Francisco
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Gracias, Francisco! I was fascinated to know that the story of the Black Amazon Queen was written by the same author as Amadis de Gaula. Saludos nevados, R
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Saludos muy soleados de Valencia
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Awesome!!! I think the legend of Calafia should be celebrated!
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Thanks CDL, I think so too! Every year California could name a Califia as an African Queen dignitary for special events.
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I live in California but didn’t know that fascinating bit about the origin of our name. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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I guess sailors had a lot of time on board to read books, I hadn’t thought about that before. 🙂
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Didn’t know. Very interesting…thanks!
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Thanks, Henry. It was fun to research. 🙂
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Wow, didn’t know that. After a queen…..real or not…..
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The 16th century Spanish novelist wrote her into reality. 🙂
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That is very interesting information. Thanks! I didn’t realize the early explorers thought California was an island. I guess I can see why. It’s not like they could fly over it and see that part of it is attached.
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Good point, Darlene. They didn’t have the aerial or satellite option.
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Muy interesante, amiga mía
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Gracias, amigo. Bienvenido.
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De nada
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I learned loads from reading this! ❤
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Thanks for reading and commenting, Carol Anne. Turns out some of the first Spanish speaking settlers in California were of African descent! I hope to get a post out this week about the new information I’ve read.
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