Editing Cáceres, Spain (section)

==Name==
[[File:Cáceres - Letras de la Plaza Mayor 8.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|"Cáceres" letter art in the Main Plaza.]]No consensus has been reached among historians regarding the [[etymology]] of Cáceres, some considering its origin as [[Latin|Roman]] and others as [[Arabic]]. Among [[Philology|philologists]] the consensus is that it is [[Latin]] nomenclature deformed by Arabic, until finally adapting to the definitive Christian name, as happened with at least half of all place names of ancient origin in the southern [[Iberian Peninsula]].<ref name="Para evolución fonética">{{cite book|last1=Corriente Córdoba |date=1999 |first1=Federico |location=Madrid |publisher=Grados |title=Diccionario de arabismos y voces afines en iberorromance}}<!-- auto-translated from Spanish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref name="Más para evolución fonética">{{cite book|last1=Qulis |date=2005 |first1=Antonio |location=Madrid |publisher=UNED |title=Fonética histórica y fonología diacrónica}}<!-- auto-translated from Spanish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Celdrán |date=2002 |first1=Pancracio |location=Madrid |publisher=Espasa-Calpe S.A. |title=Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios}}<!-- auto-translated from Spanish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Nieto Ballester |date=1997 |first1=Emilio |location=Madrid |publisher=Alianza Editorial |title=Breve diccionario de topónimos españoles }}</ref>

Regarding its possible Roman origin, two known Latin names could have evolved into the current "Cáceres." One would come from the colony "''Norba Caesarina''" (founded in 34 BC), "''Norba''" in honor of the hometown of [[Gaius Norbanus Flaccus (consul 38 BC)|Gaius Norbanus Flaccus]], the Roman general who founded the town, and "''Caesarina''" in memory of [[Julius Caesar]]. The other name is "''Castra Caecilia''," given by the consul Quinto Cecilio Metelo Pío to one of the military camps near the colony. With any of these [[Toponymy|toponyms]] based on "''castra''" ("camp"), its [[Ablative case|ablative]] "''castris''," which means "in the camp", could have provided the original form of the current "Cáceres."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Salas Martín |first1=José |title=«Toponimia cacereña: ¿Cáceres Castra Caecilia? |journal=Anuario de estudios filológicos |date=1995 |volume=18 |issn=0210-8178|pages=423–437 |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/58857.pdf}}</ref>

Historians have debated which of these is the true origin; until the 19th century it was mistakenly thought that Norba Caesarina was the neighboring town of [[Alcántara]], while it was believed that the walled enclosure of Cáceres was Castra Caecilia.{{sfn| Salas Martín |1995|pp=423-429}}

Due to the documentary obscurity of the [[Visigothic Kingdom|Visigoth period]], it is not clear by what name Caceres was known when the [[Muslims]] arrived here. Documents from the 3rd and 4th Centuries indicate that the name of the area had been shortened in the colloquial form "''Castris''."{{sfn| Salas Martín |1995|pp=423-429}}

The [[Ravenna Cosmography]] fixes the use of "Castris" in the 4th century, however, the following mentions of the locality reappear in Muslim texts:<br/>
•	The [[Baghdadi Arabic|Baghdadi]] geographer [[Ibn Hawqal]] located a locality called "''ḥiṣn Qāṣras''" in this place. <br/>
•	A century and a half later, [[Muhammad al-Idrisi|Al-Idrisi]] from [[Ceuta]] reiterates this name. <br/>
•	A third source from the end of the Muslim period, written in the late 12th century or early 13th century by [[Yaqut al-Hamawi|Yaqut]], suggests that it was renamed "''Qāṣr As''."

In any case, sources from the time are scarce, since the Muslims never considered Cáceres as an important town beyond its use as a military fortification.{{sfn| Salas Martín |1995|pp=429-432}}

Both the transliteration of the Arabic toponym into the Latin alphabet and the creation of a name in the [[Romance languages]] were disparate. In some ancient writings and medieval documents various names appear, such as:{{sfn| Salas Martín |1995|pp=432-434}}<br/>
• "''Caceres''" in a [[Papal bull|bull]] of 1168 by [[Pope Alexander III]], awarding the territory to the [[diocese]] of Coria in the first [[Kingdom of León|Leonese conquest]];<br/>
• "''Castes''" in a [[Kingdom of Castile|Castilian]] document from 1171 by [[Alfonso VIII of Castile|King Alfonso VIII]], through which he recognized the [[Franciscans|Fratres]] of Cáceres as owners of the land;<br/>
• "''Carceres''" in the mandate of [[Alfonso IX of León]] dated in the year 1222 (however, the same king adopts the form "''Caceres''" in another document of the same year signed during the siege);<br/>
• «''Canceres''» written the document of 1229 through which Alfonso IX gave concessions to the [[Order of Santiago]].