German Sea
- Modern name
- North Sea
- Coordinates
- 54.81, 3.69
The German Sea appears on only one Sfera map, where it is labeled as Mare della maga ("Sea of the Witch"). This is a good example of etymological back-formation, where a toponym that is relatively unfamilliar in medieval Italian (Mare d'Allemagna, German Sea) is heard and/or repreoduced as something more familiar to the hearer (Mare della maga). See also Germany, which shares the same etymology.
This toponym does not appear in the poem, only on the maps accompanying it.
Map of the location M065
Variant spellings of German Sea in Sfera manuscripts
| Variant | Manuscripts |
|---|---|
| ma[re] della maga | Bos |
- Suggested citation
- Beneš, Carrie. “German Sea.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, February 10, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/north-sea/.