ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1043 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1043 ************************************ 6 Jul 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about used as a late-15th century Milanese name, and about the arms "Per bend sinister argent and azure, two slippers counterchanged". Here is what we have found. and the short form were reasonably common in 14th and 15th century Florence [1, 2]. We don't have any data from Milan itself, but we feel fairly confident that the name was used there, too. However, we do not think is a likely Italian spelling: We can find no names with a similar double , and the final <-e> is not normal for Italian feminine names. Some women's names do end in <-e> -- , , -- but these seem to be either pet-names (e.g. is short for ) or attributive words used as given names. doesn't fit either category and we think it is very unlikely that the Italians would have spelled it with a final <-e>. was also used in Renaissance Florence [1, 2], but in northern Italy (e.g. Milan), it appears that the normal spelling was [3]. The use of two given names was not uncommon in Italy in your period, but it was still the exception rather than the rule. Most people had only one given name. is a masculine given name [3]. Used as a surname in your period, it would have been understood to mean "daughter of Desiderio". We've found similar constructions in 15th century Ferrara [4], which isn't far from Milan. Putting it all together, we believe that would be an excellent name for your persona, and that is a less likely choice, but not inappropriate. Your arms, unfortunately, are less appropriate for your period. The basic design, "Per bend, two charges counterchanged" is extremely common in Society heraldry and quite rare in period heraldry. We have not seen an example of a slipper used as a charge in period heraldry either, so the combination is a very improbable 15th century design. We have seen hose, shoes, and pattens in period arms [5, 6, 7, 8], so a slipper is not an impossible charge; we would expect to find it in the arms of a shoemaker or perhaps in the arms of someone whose family name sounds like the local word for "slipper". If that doesn't describe your persona, then you may want to consider some other charge. We can't recommend a comprehensive source for examples of Italian arms, but we can suggest some useful books. One good source is any collection of the arms of historical popes. One such book is Donald Lindsay Galbreath, _Papal Heraldry_ (London: Heraldry Today, 1972). It has many illustrations of period Italian arms. Another source, probably harder to find but worth the trouble, is _Le Biccherne : tavole dipinte delle magistrature senesi (secoli XIII-XVIII)_ editors L. Borgia et. al. (Rome: Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, 1984). It is a catalogue of Sienese paintings, containing a few hundred examples of period Sienese arms. Books of art from your period, especially portraiture, are generally good sources for finding heraldry: The subject's arms were often included in her portrait. There are three books on Milanese heraldry listed in the on-line catalogue of the Harvard University library. Instructions on how to get the catalogue entries are in note [9]. We haven't seen any of the books, so we can't say how useful they might be; but the second one seems to focus on 15th century heraldry. You may be able to find a copy in a library near you, or to get a copy by inter-library loan. If you have any specific thoughts about what charge or colors you'd like to use a new set of arms, write us again and we'll be happy to offer some suggestions. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Zenobia Naphtali, Charles O'Connor, and Rouland Carre. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 30 Jun 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Herlihy, David and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, "Census and Property Survey of Florentine Domains in the Province of Tuscany, 1427-1480", Machine readable data file. Online Catasto of 1427 Version 1.1. Online Florentine Renaissance Resources: Brown University, Providence, R.I., 1996. http://swansong.stg.brown.edu/projects/catasto/overview.html [2] Rhian Lyth, "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/italian.html. [3] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992). [4] Talan Gwynek, "15th Century Italian Men's Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, accessed 18 June 1998) http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/italian15m.html [5] Pastoureau, Michel, _Traite/ d'He/raldique_, 2nd ed. (Paris: grands manuels Picard, 1993), p.155, arms of Heusse from the Zuricher Wappenrolle (1335-1345), WZ 526. Also Van Helmont, Jan, "Gelre" (Leuven 1992, ISBN 90-74318-03-7), f.51, fourth coat, arms of "Die Here v.d. Hoesen". Note that in both examples, the hose is a canting charge (i.e. the family name sounds like the word for "hose"). [6] Parker, James, _A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry_ (Charles E. Tuttle, 1982), undated examples under "boot". [7] Papworth, John W., _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint (Five Barrows Ltd., 1977), undated examples under "leg". [8] Zimmermann, Eduard, Bayerische kloster-heraldik; die wappen der A:bte und pro:pste der bis zur allgemeinen sa:kularisation in Ober- und Niederbayern, der Oberpfalz und bayerisch Schwaben bestandenen herrenklo:ster. Ein hilfsbuch fu:r den kunsthistoriker und sammler, fu:r den freund derheimat-und familien-kunde_ (Mu:nchen: Selbst-verlag des verfassers, 1930). Arms of the abbot of Osterhofen, 1560-78, which has a boot or shoe atop a trimount. [9] Go to: telnet://hollis.harvard.edu Enter HOLLIS, then HU, and then f su heraldry --italy --milan - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -