ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1221 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1221 ************************************ 16 Sep 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the name . You wrote that you want an 11th or 12th century crusader persona, preferrably from Germany but perhaps also from England. You also asked about your design for your arms, which have a fox's head above a bonfire. Here is what we have found. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names and arms that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that it not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name and arms, then we may not be able to help you. We haven't found evidence that the name was used in Germany before the 15th century, when the cult of Saint Sebastian became common, especially in southern Germany [1]. The popularity of the name may also have gotten a boost from commerce with Spain after the unification of the Spanish throne with the Holy Roman Empire in the 16th century: was common in Iberia from the Middle Ages onward [10]. The earliest German examples we found are two writers, and , who lived in the 15th and 16th century, and the short form , recorded in Silesia in 1546 [2]. The situation is more promising in England. The name was definitely used in England as early as the 13th century, but we've only found the short form , not the full spelling . We found 1200 and 1221, 1225, 1317 [9]. The full name seems to have been a rare, learned form in most of Europe until it was re-popularized during the Renaissance, starting in Italy in the 15th century and spreading to Germany and England [10]. If you want an 11th or 12th century English Norman persona, then the name is probably a reasonable choice. If you'd like a German name that sounds similar to , you might consider , , or , all of which we found recorded in the 12th or early 13th century [3, 4]. Unfortunately, we can think of no way to justify the surname . We see two problems: First, the double is not a spelling that we've ever seen in any period word. Second, the compound doesn't seem to be an appropriate period epithet. We're not sure what you intend to mean. but we can't think of a meaning that fits any historical pattern of naming. An additional problem, of course, is that is a compound of two English words, while you said you want a German persona. But even if we translate it into German or look at English bynames from your period, we can't find anything comparable. There are bynames based on animal names, but they tend to be much more concrete: "gray lamb" c.1270, 1337, "white cow" 1327, 1331, 1297 [11]. We can't find anything as fanciful as . If you want a German byname that refers either to a fox or to fire, we can offer several possibilities. The German word for "fire" is , and we found some names based on it [2, 4]: Heinrich Vur, 1264 (pronounced \FOOR\) Wernher Fu:rstein, 1160 ("fire-stone", is a u-umlaut) The modern German word for "fox" is . In period northern Germany, the word \FOHS\ was also used. We found [2, 4]: Daniel Vos, 1198 Daniel cognomine Fuhs, 1198 ("called Fox", the same man) Fuchszagel, 1284 ("foxtail") Nikol. Vulpes de domo zem Fuchse, 1269 ("Nicholas Fox of the house 'at the Fox'") In English, we found a similar epithet in the name 1297 [9]. If you want to be German, a name like or would be a fine choice for your period; but we recognize that these names are completely different from the name you asked about. If you want to be English, would be an excellent name. The arms you sent us could be blazoned "Argent, in pale a fox's mask gules and flames of fire proper". We've described the fire as "flames of fire" because the shorter phrase "a flame" usually means a candle-flame, not a complicated nest of flames like the one you drew. We can't find any examples of flames used as independent charges in arms before the late 15th century (and even then they are rare) [12]. When flames appear in earlier heraldry, they are part of another charge: a flaming mountain, a flaming torch, a salamander surrounded by gouts of flame, etc. [5]. There is a charge called a "fireball" which appears reasonably early in English arms; it looks rather like an old-fashioned spherical bomb with a flame shooting out the top [6]. Your nest of flames is registerable with the SCA College of Arms, but we cannot recommend it for a re-creation of heraldry for your period. A more authentic way to produce the impression of a fox above a fire might be to make it a little more abstract. For example, you might consider the design "Per fess indented argent and gules, in chief a fox courant gules." The field is divided horizontally with a deeply jagged line, white above and red below, with a running fox in chief. (Don't be tempted to use a line "per fess rayonny", which looks more flame-like; it is not a period line of division.) I've switched from a fox's head to a running fox in order to avoid a very similar design that's already in use in the Society [13]. This design would be reasonably appropriate for your period, and would be an excellent choice if you use a name like . In your period, it was very common for a man to adopt arms with the central charge making a reference to his surname. A man called would very likely have a fox in his arms. This practice, a kind of visual pun, was called "canting". If you do use a bonfire of flames proper, you'll want to draw them a little differently. The Laurel King of Arms concluded from the College of Arms' research that flames were not drawn with red on the outside and gold on the inside, or vice versa. Instead, he felt that flames should be drawn with both red and gold extending throughout the entire charge, for example with alternating red and gold tongues of flame [7]. (That combination of colors is neutral for purposes of contrast, and can be placed on any background with which it has reasonably good contrast. In particular, it could be placed on a white field.) You can see Laurel's full discussion, with some illustration that will make it clearer, on the web at: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar/1995/04/cvr.html Look for the heading "What's 'Proper' for Flames". In fact, in the earliest examples where we found a nest of flames used as a charge, the flame is entirely red. Because it's a fairly unusual charge, you may want to consider dropping the fox's head and using just the flame. "Argent, three five-tongued flames gules" is so simple that it is reasonable even in your early period. It has three separate red flames on a white background. (With only a single flame, the design could not be registered because it would be too similar to existing Society arms [14].) As far as we can tell, the two designs we've suggested here are registerable. 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, Walraven van Nijmegen, Zenobia Naphtali, Brad Miller, Rouland Carre, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Pedro de Alcazar, Juliana de Luna, Aryanhwy Prytydes, and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 16 Sept 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Drosdowski, Guenther, _Duden Lexikon der Vornamen_, 2nd ed. (Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 1974). [2] Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990), s.nn. Sebastian, Feuer, Fuchs. [3] Mulch, Roland, _Arnsburger Personennamen: Untersuchungen zum Namenmaterial aus anrsburger Urkunden vom 13. - 16. Jahrhundert_ (Darmstadt & Marburg: Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt and the Historischen Kommission fu:r Hessen, 1974). [4] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.nn. Si(e)bert(h), Siebrecht, Feuer, Vo{sz}, Fuchs, Fuchszagel. [5] Parker, James, _A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry_ (Charles E. Tuttle, 1982), under "Fire". [6] Foster, Joseph, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989), arms of Walter Fursdon, p.92. [7] 4 May 1995 cover letter to the April 1995 Laurel Letter of Acceptances and Returns. http://www.sca.org/heraldry/loar/1995/04/cvr.html [8] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). [9] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.nn. Bastian, Fox. [10] and are recorded in Iberia from the Middle Ages onward. We found in Florence in 1444, and in England in 1535 and 1579 and in Spain in the 16th century, and in Portugal in 1557. Rhian Lyth, "Italian Personal Names", in Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, _Caidan Heraldic Symposium and Scribe's Conclave_, 1989, vol. I, p. 107 (SCA: Los Angelese, 1989). "Bl. Sebastian Newdigate" The Catholic Encyclopedia [Accessed 30 August 1998]. http://www.knight.org/advent/cathen/13668b.htm "Sebastian" Britannica Online [Accessed 30 August 1998]. http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF-micro/534/63.html Andreanna Innes, "An Index of Period Given Names Contained in _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ by Charles Bardsley" (Privately printed, 1987). Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Men's Names_ (WWW: Self-published, 1998). http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/mnames.html Diego Mundoz, _A Partial List of Leonese and Castillian Given Names 1050-1126_ (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). De La Torre, Antonio and E. A. de la Torre, eds., _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza Tesorero de Isabel la Cato'lica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca "Reyes Cato'licos", 1956). [11] Jo:nsjo:, Jan, _Studies on Middle English Nicknames_, v.1 Compounds (CWK Gleerup, date unknown). [12] Borgia, L., et. al., eds., _Le Biccherne : tavole dipinte delle magistrature senesi (secoli XIII-XVIII)_ (Roma : Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, 1984), arms of Severini, 1485; Maccabruni 1533; Corti 1552-1608. In each case, the charge is "a flame of five tongues gules". [13] Haakon Thorgilsson: Per fess indented argent and vert, in chief a fox's mask gules. [14] Damon of the Lake that Flames: Argent, in pale a flame of nine points to chief gules and a cartouche fesswise azure. Possibly also Aonghais Dubh MacTarbh: Argent, a flame sable voided Or. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -