Edinburgh

Edinburgh (pronounced {{IPA|/??d?n?br?/}}), Dùn Èideann ({{IPA|/tu?n ?e?t??n/}}) in Scottish Gaelic, is the second-largest city in Scotland and is the country's capital city.

Origins of "Edinburgh"

The origin of the city's name is understood to come from the Brythonic Din Eidyn (Fort of Eidyn) from the time when it was a Gododdin hillfort, perhaps, as David Nash Ford suggests, when it was the home of the mid-6th century King Clinog Eitin, whose epithet records the place name.

Related Topics:
Brythonic - Gododdin - 6th century

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After it was besieged by the Bernician Angles the name changed to Edin-burh, which some have argued derives from the Anglo-Saxon for "Edwin's fort", possibly derived from the 7th century Northumbrian king Edwin. However, since the name apparently predates King Edwin, this is highly unlikely. The burgh element means "fortress" or "group of buildings", i.e. a town or city and is akin to the German burg, Latin parcus, Greek pyrgos etc. This word can be traced back to the Chaldean perach meaning "growth", in the sense that a group of buildings is a growth from the earth, and may be a borrowing.

Related Topics:
Bernicia - Angles - 7th century - Northumbria - Edwin - German - Latin - Greek - Chaldean

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The first evidence of the existence of the town as a separate entity from the fort lies in an early 12th century charter, generally thought to date from 1124, by King David I granting land to the Church of the Holy Rood of Edinburgh. This suggests that the town came into official existence between 1018 (when King Malcolm II secured the Lothians from the Northumbrians) and 1124.

Related Topics:
King David I - King Malcolm II

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The charter refers to the recipients (in Latin) as "Ecclisie Sancte Crucis Edwinesburgensi". This could mean that those who drafted the charter believed Edwin to be the original source of the name and decided to derive the Latinisation from what they believed to be the ancient name. It could also mean that at some point in the preceding 600 years the name had altered to include a w. If the latter scenario was the case then it was soon to change; by the 1170s King William the Lion was using the name "Edenesburch" in a charter (again in Latin) confirming the 1124 grant of David I.

Related Topics:
In Latin - King William the Lion

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Documents from the 14th century show the name to have settled into its current form; although other spellings ("Edynburgh" and "Edynburghe") appear, these are simply spelling variants of the current name.

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