It is widely known that the continent of America was named after Amerigo Vespucci by the Cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in 1507. Less well known seems to be the origin of the name Amerigo itself. Vespucci was a Florentine and Amerigo is an Italian form of Emericus which is the Latin version of the Hungarian name Emeric. This name was created when St Stephen and Bl. Gisele of Hungary named their second son after Bl. Gisele’s brother St. Henry II. This son grew up to be Saint Emeric of Hungary (Feast: 4th or 5th November). Thus America means the land of Henry. Henry is the German name Heinrich originally Haimirich or ‘Home Ruler’. Suitable enough for a continent made up of former colonies now autonomous and sovereign.

I wonder if this might open interesting possibilities for the future of the Americas in an ideal scenario. It was prophesied (Ps 72:8) that the Messiah would rule ‘a mari usque ad mare, et a flumine usque ad terminos orbis terrarum’ from sea to sea and from the great river (Euphrates) to the earth’s bounds’. It would rather seem as if the second half of this describes the frontiers of the Roman Empire and the first half the Americas. These are the territories in which the Christian faith has historically been professed by almost the entire population. In fact, the other region (sub-saharan Africa) in which this is the case is mentioned in the next verse ‘coram illo procident Æthiopes’. But the Americas as a whole have never been united under the Kingship of Christ. Before the Braganzas re-created an independent Portugal much of the Americas was united under the Habsburgs and much of the rest was at one point ruled by the Bourbons.  Both the Bourbons and the Braganzas are branches of the House of Capet so in the end it is this dynasty which has ruled the largest part of the Americas. Were a hereditary monarchy to ever be established in the Americas the Duke of Anjou would therefore seem the most obvious candidate. Nevertheless, soon after the time the Bourbons acquired Spain they lost much of New France to Britain and there are regions of the North that have only ever been ruled by Protestants (twelve of the thirteen colonies) and Pagans.

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Of course, the Masonic origins of the United States of America and much of its symbolism must be distressing for any patriotic American of the true faith and it must seem desirable that the Hispanicisation of the USA might one day lead to the Catholicisation of this country. It has always seemed rather anomalous that the USA should usurp the title of two whole continents for itself. Perhaps this problem could be solved by uniting all the other former colonies of the Americas into the USA and moving the capital to Mexico City (upon which Our Lady bestowed such a favour by the miraculous image of Guadalupe). And then a new flag could be created out of the arms of St Emeric and the Lilly (badge of St Emeric and symbol of Florence and Anjou)…

On the other hand, that flag belongs by right to the Duke of Lorraine who inherited the Angevin claim to the throne of Hungary (by what means I forget) and then acquired this right twice over, as well as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, (and so Amerigo’s Florence) by marrying the last Habsburg (the original Christian rulers of the Americas). In this way the Dukes of Lorraine also acquired St Henry II’s Romano-Germanic throne. So perhaps the Habsburgs (briefly rulers of Mexico in the nineteenth century too) should get it. Tricky business….