View of the Admiral Jurisdiction, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Admiral: the Etymon or true Original of the word; with the various Appellations thereof.
THE Gloſſographiſts and others have digg'd very deep to come at the Root of this word; Some are of opinion that the word Admiralius is derived from the Greek foreign Salſus, or from foreign Salſugo, or foreign Salſigo, or from foreign quaſi Salmacidus & Salſus, à Salſugine Elementi cui imperat: aLupus de Magiſtr. Paul. Emil. Hiſt. de Fran. Guaguin. & Moriſor. lib. 2. c. 3. de Orbe Maritimo.from the Saltneſs of that Element where properly his Authority and Juriſdiction doth reſide; bMoriſot. ib. lib. 2. cap. 7.vel quod in ſalſo mari ſuum exercet imperium. But this not ſeaſoned with ſufficient reaſon, is held but as an unſavoury derivation, from the great improbability that any in impoſing of Names ſhould quit the thing it ſelf, wherein the Denominated is moſt inherent, and flie only to the more remote qualities thereof; As if you ſhould ſay that the Admiral in rebus Maritin…s were rather Salinarius then Marinarius, as is truly obſerved by the Learned Sir Henry Spelman. cSpelm. Gloſs. verb. Admiral.So that if you offer this Derivation, though cum grano vel mica Salis, it will not paſs.
Therefore others are of opinion that it is derived from the French [Ameral] ſignifying an high Officer or Magiſtrate in Sea-affairs; But this is as if you ſhould ſay, (to keep to the Metaphor of a Liquid Element) That Ice diſſolved is the Mother of Water, rather then Water frozen the Mother of Ice; No doubt but [Ameral] in French now ſignifies ſuch an high Officer or Magiſtrate; but where was that French word [Ameral] when the Office of Admiral, by other Appellations almoſt homophonous to that, was in being, but not in France? That Office by other Names Appellative not much diſſonant to this of Admiral was anciently known in the world, when no ſuch thing in France; for the Romans themſelves anciently had not theſe Admirales (for ſo then called) till Conſtantine, in whoſe time iſti Admirales Magiſtratus creati ſunt; dPetr. Cothereau. in ſuo Schedul. Magiſtr. Civil. tit. de Praeſibus Provin. & Purpur. in l. 1. col. 30. 9. Exemp. Dig. de Offic. ejus cui mandata, &c. Caſſanae in Catalog. Glor. Mund. part. 9. Conſid. 16.that is, among the Romans; for they were known to other parts of the world long before Conſtantine the Great, Anno 330. So that it may be truly ſaid that this high Officer or Magiſtrate in Sea-affairs is in the French now rendred by the word [Ameral;] But not that the word Admiral is thence derived.
Therefore others conceive it is derived from the Saxon Aen Mere eal, that is, over all the Sea. This paſſes for a currant derivation and expoſition of the word Admiral with us; poſſibly becauſe it ſounds both ſo prettily and pithily; for we are now as apt as our Neighbours t'other ſide the water to be alamoded as well with fine words as other vanities. Yet this being a derivation of our own Generation, it may not be much controverted, ſpecially for that others as well as thoſe of our own Nation, have acknowledged the word Admiral to be derived from the Saxons, with whom the word [Hadmiral] doth ſignifie Praefectum maris.
Others there are who will have it derived from neither of theſe, but from the Sarazens, [Admirantes] for that in the Infancy of that Empire there were Quatuor Admirantes, hoc eſt, Militum Praefecti, qui terra marique pugnarent. eMoriſot. Orb. Marit. lib. 2. cap. 3.But ſome think that this opinion hath no farther truth then in appearance only; for that the Sarazens had no farther uſe of that office then in the Holy Wars. Therefore thoſe Ancients that derive the word much higher then the time of the Holy Wars, will have it dr…wn rather from the Greek then Arabick; So that they ſeem to come nigheſt of any to the truth, that derive the Pedegree of this word Admiral both from the Greek and Arabick.
For that Amir in the Arabick ſignifies Princeps, Praefectus; And foreign in the Greek Marinus, both which amount to Admiralius, or rather to Amiralius, quaſi Princeps vel Praefectus Anno 1216. in H. 3. Matth. Paris, viz. In the Wars between the Chriſtians and the Sarazens in the Land of Promiſe, That John K. of Hieruſalem with Chriſts Militia Caſtellanum ab equo ſtravit, & Admiraldum unum.Marinus. And this carries the greater probability with it, for that, as the ſaid Sir Henry Spelman obſerves, ſuch bilingue Compounds were much in requeſt at the Court of the Eaſtern Empire; And it ſeems Admiraldum capio pro Centurione ſive Capitanio, ſays the Gloſſar. on that word, in that place. And the ſaid Matth. Par. Anno 1244. in H. 3. viz. Poteſtas Januae, quem Admiratum vocant. The Gloſſ. there, viz. Ille Poteſtas, Podeſta, ſive Praetor urbanus, Nunc dierum Admirallii ſive Thalaſſia…chae munere fungebatur.yet the more probable, for that in Homer we find the word foreign pro Rectore maris, or Governour of the Sea; yea, and for Neptune himſelfe. Wherefore Amir, otherwiſe Emir, alſo Amira, Amirae, Amiras, and Amiradis, do ſignifie Regem, Principem, Eparchum, and Praefectum; alſo with the Turks and Sarazens, it ſometimes ſignifies their Great Emperours, and ſometimes their Proto-ſymbol or Preſident of the Senate. And ſo the Arabick [Amira] or the Hebrew [Amar] that is, dixit, edixit: illud praecepit, imperavit; from whence [Mamurem] that is, praeceptum, edictum; And [Amirom] that is, Dux, Capitaneus, Imperator, Praefectus. And ſo foreign or foreign in the Compound; from whence [Alamiro] (with the Article al) foreign, the chief Captain. And from hence the Spaniſh [Almirante] or according to their ideom, el Amirante, and thence by turning l into d the word Admirans by ſome hath been uſed for Admiral; whence others alſo, though very corruptly, yet by reaſon of their being ſo Conſonant, have given it other ſuch like names, as Admirabilis and Admirandus; which words, if compared with the former, will, in the ſenſe of ſuch as have ſo expreſs'd themſelves, be found to be rather Syncatagorematical in their Signification, then Homophonous in their Accent or Pronunciation: And therefore the ſaid Archiologiſt conceives that the word [Amiratus] (which in Malmsb. is ſo often uſed for Admiral) is not thence derived, but rather from [Amiradis] the Genitive ſingular of the foreſaid Amiras, by an exchange of d for t, as was uſual; and adds, that the word [Admiraldus] is very Legible in the Antiquities of Turpin and Rupert or Robert the Monk fThis Rob. the Monk was one of K. Johns three Emiſſaries to Miramulalim K. of Morocco, to ſignifie his pleaſure to him, how ready he was to reſign his Kingdome.quaſi Al Amiradus, that is, foreign, and by an Apocope of the letter d Admiral' gFragm. Hiſt. Aquit.which others will have to be expreſs'd by the word Admirarius.hLeon. Marſic. in caſinenſ. Hiſt. lib. 3. cap. 44.
This high Officer or chief Magiſtrate in Marine affairs with us is ſtyled the Lord high Admiral of England; with the Greeks foreign; with the Latines, Amira, About Anno 1213. when K. John ſent Thomas Her…inton, Ralph Nicholſon, and Robert the Monk to the K. of Morocco, we read Miſir Nuncios ad Admirallium Murmelium, Regem Magnum Aphricae, Marrochiae, & Hiſpaniae, quem Vulgus Miramumelinum vocat.Amiras, Amireus, Ammiratus, Admirallus, Admiralis, Admirans, Admirandus, Admirabilis, Admiraviſi, Almiramiſi, Admiralius, Amiralius. In the Eaſtern Empire, Amerii, Admirantes; alſo Drungarius, Drungarius Magnus, Drungarius Claſſis, Matth. Par. in Johannem Reg.Drungarius Navigiorum, Drungarius mari Praefectus. Ita, ſed ſatis Corrupte, Regem Moroccae indigitarunt Noſtrates. Sed Corruptius adhuc Roger. Hovedin. Almiramiſi ſive Almiramimoli.With the Athenians and others, Thalaſſiarchus, Archithalaſſus, Magiſtratus rei Nauticae Juriſdictionem habens. With the Romans there were Duum Hovedin. pars poſter. in R. 1. pag. 381.viri Navales, afterwards Praefectus maris, Praefectus Claſſis, Drungarius Magn. Fragm. Aſcripr. Polybio.Magnus Dux Claſſis, Archigubernius. With the Spaniard Almirante, el Amirante, Adelantado. With the French, L' Ameral, Praefectus maris & Litoris, Cuſtos Limitis Maritimi, Comes Litoris. Beſides theſe there are ſeveral other Appellations of this one and ſelf-ſame high Officer, conſonant unto the Ideom of ſuch Nations and Countries reſpectively, where this great Office hath been conſtituted.
This word Admirallius, how it ſhould ſignifie Bellicoſus or Victorioſus, as Mat. Paris hints, iMatth. Paris in R. 1. Circa dies iſtos Rex de Maroch. potentiſſimus, quem Mirabilem mundi Vulgus, vel quod melius, Admiralium Murmulin, id eſt, Admiralium Bellicoſum & Victorioſum nominavit.ſeems not eaſily to be reſolved without a far ſtrained Notion; for, without doubt, of all the preſuppoſed Etymons of that word, that which Junius gives, ſeems to be the moſt Legitimate, that from the Arabick [Amira] Princeps, and the Greek foreign Marinus; it Et An. 988. Otho. 3. Imp. German. cognomin. Otho Rufus, iſte cognominabatur Mirabilia Mundi.being generally agreed that this word is a Compound of an Exotick Extraction from two Sif…rid. Epit. lib. 1. p. 689.diſtinct Languages or Tongues; And therefore although Gretſerus kGloſſar. in Matth. Paris in verb. Admiral.be pleas'd to be diſpleas'd with this derivation thereof, yet it is ſuppoſed that others without the leaſt hazard of Naufragating their Art of Gloſſographie, may ſecurely caſt Anchor and ſafely acquieſce therein.