Editing English Channel (section)

=== English Channel ===
[[File:Osborne-iow-3Ja10-10876.jpg|thumb|right|[[Osborne House]], the summer retreat of [[Queen Victoria]] on the [[Isle of Wight]]. Starting from the late 18th century, settlements on and around the English Channel coastline in England grew rapidly into thriving [[seaside resort]]s, bolstered by their association with royalty and the middle and upper classes.]]
The word ''channel'' was first recorded in [[Middle English]] in the 13th century and was borrowed from the [[Old French]] word {{lang|fro|chanel}} (a variant form of {{lang|fro|chenel}} 'canal'). By the middle of the fifteenth century, an Italian map based on [[Ptolemy]]'s description named the sea as ''Britanicus Oceanus nunc Canalites Anglie'' (Ocean of the Britons but now English Channel). The map is possibly the first recorded use of the term ''English Channel'' and the description suggests the name had recently been adopted.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 March 2009 |title=Map of Great Britain, ca. 1450 |url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/m/001hrl000003686u00013000.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103183346/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/m/001hrl000003686u00013000.html |archive-date=3 November 2013 |access-date=1 November 2013 |website=The unveiling of Britain |publisher=[[British Library]] |quote=This may also be the first map to name the English Channel: "{{lang|la|britanicus oceanus nunc canalites Anglie}}" }}</ref>

In the sixteenth century, Dutch maps referred to the sea as the {{lang|nl|Engelse Kanaal}} (English Channel) and by the 1590s, [[William Shakespeare]] used the word ''Channel'' in his history plays of [[Henry VI (play)|Henry VI]], suggesting that by that time, the name was popularly understood by English people.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2012 |title=Buitenlandse Aardrijkskundige Namen |trans-title=Foreign Geographical Names |url=http://taaladvies.net/taal/aardrijkskundige_namen/land/UK |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122065318/http://taaladvies.net/taal/aardrijkskundige_namen/land/UK |archive-date=22 November 2012 |access-date=1 December 2012 |publisher=Nederlandse Taalunie |language=nl}}</ref>

By the eighteenth century, the name ''English Channel'' was in common usage in [[Kingdom of England|England]]. Following the [[Acts of Union 1707]], this was replaced in official maps and documents with ''British Channel'' or ''British Sea'' for much of the next century. However, the term English Channel remained popular and was finally in official usage by the nineteenth century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 February 1999 |title=A chart of the British Channel, Jefferys, Thomas, 1787 |url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps6489.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523132816/http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps6489.html |archive-date=23 May 2011 |access-date=27 April 2010 |publisher=Davidrumsey.com}}</ref>