Editing Richard Amerike (section)

==Theory of the naming of America==
{{main|Naming of the Americas}}

In 1908, the local Bristol [[antiquarian]] [[Alfred Hudd]] first proposed the theory that the word ''America'' had evolved from Amerike or ap Meryk. Hudd proposed his theory in a paper which was read at 21 May 1908 meeting of the Clifton Antiquarian Club, and which appeared in Volume 7 of the club's ''Proceedings''.  Hudd's speculation has found support from more than one 21st century author, who expanded Hudd's argument with speculations about the voyages of the ''Matthew'' and later trade with the Eastern seaboard, which Amerike is known to have had financial interests in.<ref name="Broome"/> It is proposed that as a main investor, Amerike's name would have been noted on ships' rutters or working charts, indicating the locations where his cargo had been traded. It is further supposed that such secret documents could have been seized by Spanish explorers when a British voyage was mysteriously lost during the same period that [[Amerigo Vespucci]] was mapping the coast of Brazil -this information later reaching Waldseemüller. However, this cannot be verifiably proved unless original documents come to light.<ref name=cohen>{{cite web|title=The Naming of America: Fragments We've Shored Against Ourselves|url=http://www.uhmc.sunysb.edu/surgery/america.html|work=uhmc.sunysb.edu|publisher=Jonathan Cohen, Stony Brook University|accessdate=10 July 2012}}</ref><ref name="Quinn">{{cite book|last1=Quinn|first1=David B.|authorlink1=David Beers Quinn|title=Explorers and Colonies: America, 1500–1625|date=1990|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9781852850241|page=398|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7OuMkzGKw0C&dq=hudd+america&pg=PA398|accessdate=12 February 2016}}</ref><ref>Evan T. Jones and Margaret M. Condon, ''[http://www.bristol.ac.uk/history/research/cabot/cabot-and-bristols-age-of-discovery/ Cabot and Bristol's Age of Discovery: The Bristol Discovery Voyages 1480–1508]'' (University of Bristol, Nov. 2016), chapter 8 'The naming of the land', pp. 71–77</ref> The consensus view continues to be that [[Naming of America|America is named]] after [[Amerigo Vespucci]], the Italian explorer.<ref>John W. Hessler, ''The naming of America'' (London, 2008)</ref>

Amerike's coat of arms is coincidentally also reminiscent of the modern [[Flag of the United States]] ([[Flag of the United States|Stars and Stripes]]).<ref name=macdonald>{{cite web|title=The Naming of America|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/tudors/americaname_01.shtml#three|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 July 2012|author=Peter MacDonald}}</ref>