English in general: and . Cornish terms the English , from the same derivation. In the 16th century Cornish-speakers used the phrase to feign ignorance of the English language. The Cornish words for the English people and England are and ('Land [Pays] of Saxons'). Similarly Breton, spoken in north-western France, has ('English'), ('the English language'), and for 'England'. Romance languages The label "Saxons" (in ) also became attached to German settlers who settled during the 12th century in southeastern Transylvania. From Transylvania, some of these Saxons migrated to neighbouring Moldavia, as the name of the town shows. Sascut lies in the part of Moldavia that forms part of present-day Romania. During George Frideric Handel's visit to the Republic of Venice (1706–09), much was made of his origins in Saxony; in particular, the Venetians greeted the 1709 performance of his opera Agrippina with the cry , "Cheers for the beloved Saxon!" Non-Indo-European languages The Finns and Estonians have changed their usage of the root Saxon over the centuries to apply now to the whole country of Germany ( and respectively) and the Germans ( and , respectively). The Finnish word (scissors) reflects the name of the old Saxon single-edged sword — seax — from which the name "Saxon" supposedly derives. In Estonian, means "a nobleman" or, colloquially, "a wealthy or powerful person". As a result of the 13th-century Northern Crusades, Estonia's upper class comprised mostly persons of German origin until well into the 20th century. Related personal names The word survives as the surnames of / (in Low German or Low Saxon), and . The Dutch female given name, , originally meant 'a Saxon woman' (metathesis of Saxia). Saxony as a toponym Following the downfall of Henry the Lion (11291195, Duke of Saxony 11421180), and the subsequent splitting of the Saxon tribal duchy into several territories, the name of the Saxon duchy was transferred to the lands of the Ascanian family. This led to the differentiation between Lower Saxony (lands settled by the Saxon tribe) and Upper Saxony (the lands belonging to the House of Wettin). Gradually, the latter region became known as "Saxony", ultimately usurping the name's original geographical meaning. The area formerly known as Upper Saxony now lies in Central Germany - in the eastern part of the present-day Federal Republic of Germany: note the names of the federal states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. History Early history Ptolemy's Geographia,