"Main God! An Aleman who worships the devil!..."
At the address "Aleman," the noble scholar Martin's face changed abruptly, and he instantly confirmed the identity of the one who had cried out. It had to be a Castilian who herded sheep!
In this late medieval era, the various languages of continental Europe differed enormously in what they called "the people of the German states"—so much so that one could tell where someone came from the moment they opened their mouth.
In Western Europe west of the German states, including France, Aragon, Castile, and Portugal, they called the "people of the German states" "Alamans," "Alemans," and "Alamanians"! The source of this name came from the Germanic Aleman tribes that occupied the German region after the collapse of Western Rome.
The states of Italy to the south, while referring to the "German region" (Germany), used the Latinized "Teuton" (Tedeschi), preserving to some extent the legacy of Roman memory. The countries of eastern Europe to the east were accustomed to the Slavic "Niemcy," meaning "mute people who cannot speak." And the German states themselves called themselves "Deutsche," "people belonging to the tribe"!
As for the later world-famous term "Germanic," it originated from the ancient age of Rome's peak, and had never referred solely to the "Germanic tribes," but also included all sorts of invading barbarian groups. And after ancient Rome's fall, this broad, derogatory term naturally disappeared from the mouths of the continental European countries founded by "barbarians." By the time it was dug up again and given a special racial meaning once more, it would have to wait five hundred years, for the appearance of a down-and-out painter...
"Lord be my witness! I am a noble of the Holy Roman Empire, a noble of the Nuremberg council! I request the noble treatment