ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1188 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1188 ************************************ 29 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel, You asked for help choosing a name appropriate for a woman living in 13th to 15th century Italy, and for information about your mother's name and about names from Foggia. Here's what we've found. There was a 5th century Saint Filomena, and Boccaccio gave the name to one of his characters in The Decameron [1, 2]. A grave discovered in San Severino in 1527 was proclaimed to contain the relics of another Saint Filomena, but this attribution was based on an incorrect interpretation of the inscription "Peace be with you, beloved" [3]. Without further evidence, we cannot recommend this name as good re-creation. If you'd like to consider some other possibilities, you can find several lists of period Italiam women's names on the web at: http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/romance.html Unfortunately we could find no information about the surname . It might be a period surname that was rare enough not to make it into our dictionaries. It might also be an American variant of some Italian name. We can't say whether or not it is appropriate for your period. A woman of your period would probably not have used a surname in the modern style. She would probably have been known as her father's daughter. the daughter of would have been known as . If were known by his occupation or some other epithet, it could be included, too. For example, if he were a goldsmith, called , his daughter could have been known as . A woman of the noble class might have been known by the lands she or her family held. If their estate was called , she might be called . Foggia is a city in southeastern Italy, capitol of the modern province of the same name. The city was the seat of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor in the early 13th century. After his death and that of his successor, it became part of the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies [4]. Italians often created surnames from place names, so or (literally "man of Foggia") would be a fine choice for your period. We didn't actually find examples of these names, but they follows very common patterns of surname formation. Foggia is part of the region known in Classical times as and today as . Many surnames derive from this regional name: , , , , [1, 5]. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. We were assisted in preparing this letter by Talan Gwynek and Alan Fairfax. For the Academy, Barak Raz and Arval Benicoeur 29 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani_ (Milan: Arnoldo Mondadori, 1992). [2] Boccaccio, Giovanni, _The Decameron_, G.H. McWilliams, translator, (New York: Penguin Books, 1984). [3] Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges, _A Dictionary of First Names_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) [4] "Foggia". Britannica Online. [Accessed 22 October 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/213/64.html [5] Fucilla, Joseph G., _Our Italian Surnames_ (Evanston, IL: Chandlers' Inc., 1949).