Chapter LXXI: Section XIV: Katharine

The maiden martyr, whose name was chosen as the centre of the allegory of intellectual religion, was Καθαρινή (Kathariné), Catharina in Latin, from a virgin martyr of Alexandria, whose history being unknown, became another recipient of a half-allegorical legend. It is not found recorded earlier than the eighth century, and, indeed, the complete ignorance of the state of the Roman empire, shown by making her the daughter of a king of Egypt, argues its development at a very late period. Her exceeding wisdom, her heavenly espousals, her rejection of the suit of Maximus, the destruction of the wheels that were to have torn her in pieces, her martyrdom by the sword, and the translation of her body by angels to Mount Sinai, are all familiar through the numerous artistic works that have celebrated her. The legend is thought to have grown up to its full height among the monks of the convent that bears her name at the foot of Mount Sinai. And the many pilgrims thither had the zest of a new and miraculous legend, such as seems always to have been more popular than the awful truth beside which it grew up; but it never obtained credit enough in the East to make Katharina come into use as a name in the Greek Church, and it was only when the Crusaders brought home the story that it spread in ballad and mystery throughout the West. Indeed, the name did not prevail till it had been borne by the Italian devotee, Santa Caterina of Sienna, who tried to imagine the original Katharina’s history renewed in herself, and whose influence is one of the marvels of the middle ages. Before this, however, the fair Katharine, Countess of Salisbury, had been the heroine of the Garter, and John of Gaunt had named the daughter, who, as Queen of Castille, made Catalina a Spanish name, whence it returned to us again with Katharine of Aragon; but in the mean time Catherine de Valois, the Queen of Henry V., had brought it again from France.

The cause of the various ways of spelling this word would appear to be that the more ancient English made no use of the letter _K_, which only came in with printing and the types imported from Germany. Miss Catherine Fanshaw wrote a playful poem in defence of the commencement with _C_, avouching _K_ to be no Saxon letter, and referring to the shrewish Katharina and the Russian empress as examples of the bad repute of the _K_; but her argument breaks down, since the faithful Spanish Catalina, as English queen, wrote herself Katharine, while the ‘Shrew’ in Italy could only have been Caterina, and the Russian empress is on her coins Ekaterina. On the whole, Katherine would seem properly to be a namesake of the Alexandrian princess, Catherine, the Votaress of Sienna. No name is more universal in all countries and in all ranks, partly from its own beauty of sound, partly from association, and none has more varied contractions. Our truest old English ones are Kate and Kitty—the latter was almost universal in the last century, though now supplanted by the Scottish Katie and the graceful Irish Kathleen.

Catherine has even produced a masculine name. Perhaps Anne and Mary are the only others which have been thus honoured; but the sole instance is Caterino or Catherin Davila, the historian, who had the misfortune to have Catherine de Medici for his godmother.

┌───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┐
│ English. │ Scotch. │ Irish. │ Welsh. │
│Katharine │Catharine │Kathleen │Cathwg │
│Catherine │Katie │Katty │ │
│Catharina │ —————————— │ │ —————————— │
│Kate │ Dutch. │ │ Bret. │
│Kitty │Kaat │ │Katel │
│Katrine │Kaatje │ │Katelik │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┤
│ French. │ Portuguese. │ Spanish. │ Italian. │
│Cathérine │Catharine │Catalina │Caterina │
│Catant │ │ │ │
│Caton │ │ │ │
│Gaton │ │ │ │
│Trinette │ │ │ │
│Cataut │ │ │ │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┤
│ Swedish. │ Danish. │ German. │ Dantzic. │
│Katarina │Kathrina │Katharine │Trien │
│Kajsa │Karina │Kathchen │Kasche │
│Kolina │Karen │Kathe │ │
│ │Kasen │Thrine │ │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┤
│ Bavarian. │ Swiss. │ Russian. │ Polish. │
│Katrine │Kathri │Ekaterina │Katarnyna │
│Kadreinl │Kathrili │Katinka │Kasia │
│Treinel │Tri │Katinsha │ │
│Kadl │Trili │Katja │ │
│Kattel │Trine │ │ │
│Ketterle │Hati │ │ │
│ │Hatili │ │ │
├───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┤
│ Slovak. │ Illyrian. │ Esthonian. │ Hungarian. │
│Katrina │Katarina │Katri │Katalin │
│Katra │Katica │Kaddo │Kati │
│Katrej │ │Kats │Katicza │
└───────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┘