Moreover, because ita, which means oui in French, is the strongest affirmation in Latin, they were not satisfied calling this country the 'Latin land,' but rather they wished that all the country beyond the mountains, which is quite large and contains many diverse countries and dominions, be called Italy.
Christine de Pisan, The Book of the City of Ladies, Part I, Chapter 33. [Richards, tr., Persea Books (New York: 1982) p. 72]. While Christine sometimes leaves a lot out, she doesn't generally put things in unless there's some basis for it in her sources. In context she's talking about "the Noble Nicostrata whom the Italians call Carmentis", who is the legendary inventor of the Roman alphabet. Many of the stories of the exemplary ladies in the book are derived from Boccaccio, and the description of Nicostrata is certainly one of them; I suspect the folk etymology for 'Italy' is also derived form Boccaccio, but I don't have Boccaccio's Famous Women on hand and it doesn't seem to be online anywhere, so I haven't had a chance to check it.
