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A march or mark was, in broad terms, a medieval European term for any kind of borderland, as opposed to a notional "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms, and/or a neutral/buffer zone under joint control of two states, in which different laws might apply. In both of these senses, marches served a political purpose, such as providing warning of military incursions, or regulating cross-border trade, or both. Just as counties were traditionally ruled by counts, marches gave rise to titles such as: marquess (masculine) or marchioness (feminine) in England, marquis (masc.) or marquise (fem.) in France and Scotland, margrave (''Markgraf'' i.e. "march count"; masc.) or margravine (''Markgräfin'' i.e. "march countess", fem.) in Germany, and corresponding titles in other European states. ==Etymology== The word "march" derives ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root *''mereg-'', meaning "edge, boundary". The root *''mereg-'' produced Latin ''margo'' ("margin"), Old Irish ''mruig'' ("borderland"), and Persian and Armenian ''marz'' ("borderland"). The Proto-Germanic '' *marko'' gave rise to the Old English word ''mearc'' and Frankish ''marka'', as well as Old Norse ''mörk'' meaning "borderland, forest",〔(Online Etymology Dictionary )〕 and derived form ''merki'' "boundary, sign",〔http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mark〕 denoting a borderland between two centres of power. It seems that in Old English "mark" meant "boundary" or "sign of a boundary", and the meaning only later evolved to encompass "sign" in general, "impression" and "trace". The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia took its name from West Saxon ''mearc'' "marches", which in this instance referred explicitly to the territory's position on the Anglo-Saxon frontier with the Romano-British to the west. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, usage of the word spread throughout Europe. The name Denmark preserves the Old Norse cognates ''merki'' ("boundary") ''mörk'' ("wood", "forest") up to the present. Following the Anschluss, the Nazi German government revived the old name 'Ostmark' for Austria. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「March (territorial entity)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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