Elena Vaquera Pereira
One of them is related to Juana de Arco. In the XVth century, some Valladolid`s gentlemen went to fight against the English on the side of Juana de Arco , called “Doncella de Orleans”. In ancient Spanish , “doncella” was named “pucela”, so when they came back, their fame made them be called “pucelanos”. This hypothesis is not really reliable, because -- there are not any documents that prove the existence of those gentlemen, so perhaps it is just a legend told from generation to generation.
The other hypothesis about it is related to Valladolid`s geography, because it lies between two rivers, so it was considered as a “poza” , a pool. That is why Valladolid started to be called “pozuela”, which led to “Pucela”. This hypothesis makes sense because there are people who think that Valladolid means “ground water”.
The last hypothesis about the other name of Valladolid is sustained by Joaquín Díaz, who thinks that the term comes from the cement trade with the Roman city of Pozzuoli, and people who handed over the cement were called “pucelanos”.
These are the possible explanations for the other name of Valladolid, “Pucela”. So, which name do you think Valladolid must use? Do you think those hypotheses may be true?
Sometimes the ancient name prevails on the actual name, not only the city name, but also the inhabitant`s name. In this case, the inhabitants are more commonly known as “pucelanos” instead of “vallisoletanos”.
As I said, this is a controversial topic, because it is difficult to decide which the official name of Valladolid may be.
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