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2011-07-11 Caribbean-Latin America

Mexican Federales Reinforce Michoacan With 1,800 Troops

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Posted by badanov 2011-07-11 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views ] Top

#1 Linguistics: While the name "Caballeros de los Templarios", is the "Knights Templar" cartel, the word "Caballero", is closer to "horseman" than "knight".

Etymology that I can find:

1877, "a Spanish gentleman," from Sp., from L. caballarius, from caballus "a pack-horse, nag, hack."

In the later Roman Empire the classical Latin word for horse, equus, was replaced in common parlance by vulgar Latin caballus, sometimes thought to derive from Gaulish caballos. From caballus arose terms in the various Romance languages cognate to the (French-derived) English cavalier: Old Italian cavaliere, Italian cavallo, French cheval, Spanish caballero, French chevalier, Portuguese cavaleiro, Romanian cavaler.

The Germanic languages prefer terms cognate to the English word rider: German Ritter, and Dutch and Scandinavian ridder.

Knight, on the other hand:

O.E. cniht "boy, youth, servant," common W.Gmc. (cf. O.Fris. kniucht, Du. knecht, M.H.G. kneht "boy, youth, lad,"

Ger. Knecht "servant, bondman, vassal"), of unknown origin. Meaning "military follower of a king or other superior" is from c.1100.

Began to be used in a specific military sense in Hundred Years War (14th-15th Century), and gradually rose in importance through M.E. period until it became a rank in the nobility.

However, this creates a problem because by the time of the conquest, a military knight was the equivalent of "regular army", but conquistadors were generally volunteer militia.

This suggests that the use of caballero as a knight is a more recent invention, from when the regular Spanish army occupied their parts of the Americas.

However, this creates its own linguistic problem, as by this time, the Spanish army was both very regimented and hierarchical, as well as administratively modern. So only lower ranking cavalry enlisted would be called caballeros, with higher ranking personnel referred to by rank.

This is half a world removed from the Knights Templar of the 12th through 14th Centuries.

Posted by Anonymoose 2011-07-11 10:29|| 2011-07-11 10:29|| Front Page Top

#2 Texas deputies seize truck with 67 semi-automatic rifles headed to Mexico.

Posted by Anonymoose 2011-07-11 12:39|| 2011-07-11 12:39|| Front Page Top

#3 I wonder if that's an approved Operation Fast and Furious shipment, Anonymoose. The article doesn't say...

Posted by trailing wife 2011-07-11 15:08|| 2011-07-11 15:08|| Front Page Top

#4 Caballero is widely used throughout Mexico in a variety of contexts from the Caballeros de los Templarios to cavalry to cowboys.

Posted by badanov 2011-07-11 16:22|| http://www.freefirezone.org 2011-07-11 16:22|| Front Page Top

#5 1,800 troops is a lot of guys, One might suspect something was up.

P.S. that link seems a little funky, what with the embedded jsessionid in it.

Posted by SteveS 2011-07-11 18:56|| 2011-07-11 18:56|| Front Page Top

#6 "I wonder if that's an approved Operation Fast and Furious shipment, Anonymoose. The article doesn't say..."

I sure hope not, tw. Texas would be in BIG trouble with the Feds then.... :-(

Posted by Barbara 2011-07-11 19:53|| 2011-07-11 19:53|| Front Page Top

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