ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1400 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1400 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: "S Friedemann" 12 Jan 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know where the Biblical name was used in period. Here is the information we have found. was the name of one of the three archangels mentioned in the Bible, the other two being and . While was a popular name in many cultures throughout the Middle Ages, neither or ever enjoyed great popularity. Nevertheless, was used in many cultures. In England, the name was found as early as the 13th century: 1212, 1296, 1199 and on, 1480. [9,11] In 1599, the name is found in Scotland. [10] By the 16th century, or a variant spelling appears throughout Western Europe. We found the spelling in Germany in 1365 and 1422 [8] and in the latter part of the 16th century [3]. We also found in 16th century England, Normandy, and Bruges in the Low Countries [4,6,7]. The name appears as in Italy in 1427, though it was not common until later in the 15th century [5]. In Spain, was in use by the mid-15th century, in the spellings , , and [1]. In Poland, we found various spellings over a two hundred year span: 1284, 1479, 1411, 1444, 1448, 1460, 1490. The common spelling of the name in Poland was , which is pronounced \GAHV-zhee-ahl\, with the \zh\ like the in . [2] It is not unlikely that the name was used at other times and places than the ones we've listed here. These are the examples we found in our references, so these are the times and places where we know that the name definitely was used. If you are interested in a persona from any of the cultures mentioned above, and would like help creating a name authentic for that culture, please write again, and we'll be happy to help you! We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Walraven van Nijmegen, Alan Fairfax, Juliana de Luna, Evan de Collaureo, Arval Benicoeur, Margaret Makafee, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael January 12, 1999 --------------------------------------- References: [1] de la Torre, Antonio and E. A. de la Torre (ed.), _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza, Tesorero de Isabel la Cato/lica_ (Madrid, Biblioteca de los Reyes Cato/licos), 1955. [2] Witold Taszycki (ed.), _Slownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, 7 vols. (Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy Imienia Ossolin'skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987) [3] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period German Masculine Given Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). [4] Julian Goodwyn, "English Names from pre-1600 Brass Inscriptions" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) [5] Ferrante LaVolpe, "Italian Names from Florence, 1437" (WWW: Self-Published, 1996) [6] Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) [7] Luana de Grood, "Flemish Given Names from Bruges, 1400-1600", (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996) . [8] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1998) . [9] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Gabriel [10] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986). [11] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The following reply was sent directly to a client who wrote us during a vacation. The information is useful enough to be worth saving, and this report seemed as good a place as any. Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether the name was used in Europe or the Arab world in our period, and also about other angelic names like , , etc. You also asked about an Arabiic byname meaning "wanderer" or "lost". As you know from the note you already received, the Academy is not currently accepting clients. However, some of our members provided some information, and we hope this partial reply will be helpful. is an Old Testament name, appearing in 1 Chronicles 5:24 and 27:19. It was in occasional use in European Jewish communities: We found 13th century examples in England; and 13th and 16th century examples in Italy [1, 2]. However, the Old Testament is not an angel, and Jews do not associated the name with an angel. In Muslim tradition, a slightly different name, , is attributed to the figure known in the Koran simply as the Angel of Death [1, 3]. We know no example of used by medieval Muslims. We aren't sure how and are related, but we wouldn't assume that they are interchangeable without a great deal more evidence. We have researched some other angelic names for previous clients: For information on , see http://www.s-gabriel.org/1964 For information on in various European cultures, see http://www.s-gabriel.org/2610 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2491 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2192 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2025 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1946 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1726 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1400 We discussed in: http://www.s-gabriel.org/2282 We have researched forms of many times; let us know if you'd like specific references. Arval for the Academy 29 Nov 2003 References [1] JewishEncyclopedia.com [2] Davis, Myer David, Hebrew deeds of English Jews before 1290. [3] www.sarahsarchangels.com/archangels/azrael.html