ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1424 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1424 ************************************ 18 Jan 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for documentation for , which you want to use as a late 15th century Russian name, and for help choosing arms. 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 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. The name you chose is very nearly correct. is one English spelling of a name recorded in Russian from the 13th century onward. is one possible form of the feminine patronymic based on . It apparently isn't the most common form: Our best source has in 1018 and in 1138, but it also has the masculine in 1573 and the root name spelled as early as the 11th century. The patronymic suffix <-ova> is recorded in the name in 1603 [1]. Russian women's names could be constructed in many different ways in our period. One of the more common constructions was + + . The word apparently always came last. Therefore, we recommend that you arrange your name [1]. As you know, heraldry was not used by Russians in our period [2, 3]. Of course, many Societyfolk use arms even though their personas would not have done so. What you do depends on how you think about authenticity and your persona. However, since there was no heraldry in your culture, if you want arms that are authentic for your period, you'll need to follow the heraldic style of some other culture. You might want to choose arms typical of some Eastern European culture, so that they could plausibly have been imported to Russia. The descriptions you gave for your designs are difficult to interpret, and we never received the drawings that you offered, so we're not exactly sure what you have in mind. In general, all of them seem to be somewhat too complex for heraldry of your period. Each one has four different types of charge in three tinctures. Most heraldry of your period was much simpler than that, especially in Eastern Europe. We recommend that you focus on only one complex-shaped charge (unicorn or roses), perhaps one simple shape (a fess, cross, or pile), and only two tinctures (gules and either Or or argent). Here are a few possibilities that are consistent with the styles of heraldry we've seen in late-period Eastern Europe. We haven't put a roundel in any of them, as we have not found examples of roundels in period arms from this region. Gules, a unicorn rampant between in fess two roses argent. We have seen a unicorn in the arms of one Polish family [8]. Gules, a demi-unicorn argent issuant from trimount Or. A demi-unicorn is the upper half of a unicorn rampant. A trimount is a stylized drawing of three hills, each drawn like half of a capsule, with the center hill behind and taller than the other two. A charge standing atop a trimount is common in Hungarian heraldry and is found in other Eastern European countries as well [6, 7, 9]. You can find pictures of a couple different versions of the trimount on the web: http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/hungary.htm This page has a couple examples of the trimount used in the arms of Hungary. http://people.delphi.com/ivanor/zroadt2v.htm This page is part of an on-line facsimile of a 14th century roll of German arms. The arms of Ringenberg (#141, strip II, front page 13) and Spiegelberg (#104, strip II, front page 10) contain charges standing on trimounts. Per fess gules and Or, a demi-unicorn issuant from the line of division argent. The field is divided in half horizontally, and the unicorn emerges from the division into the upper half. Or, a pile inverted bendwise throughout gules charged in chief with a rose Or seeded gules. The pile starts in the lower-right and tapers to the upper-left with its point reaching the far corner. This sort of pile was found in German heraldry in your period [5]. Or, on a cross gules four roses argent. One rose is placed on each limb of the cross. Gules, a cross and in sinister base a rose Or. This design is similar to several Polish arms we've seen [8]. 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. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Walraven van Nijmegen, Zenobia Naphtali, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 18 Jan 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Paul Wickenden of Thanet, "A Dictionary of Period Russian Names" (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1996), s.nn. Vladimir, Voroshilo. http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/ [2] Da'ud ibn Auda and Alison MacDermot, "Regional Style Heraldry in the SCA", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, 1993 (SCA Inc.). [3] Michael Medvedev, officer in the Russian state heraldic office, personal communication. [4] Stefan Laskowski, _Ksiazat Polskiego Heraldika (The Chronicle of Polish Heraldry)_, Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings (SCA, Inc.: 1989). [5] There are examples of "a pile inverted bendwise throughout" in 14th to 16th century German arms. Siebmacher, p.67, shows the 2nd and 3rd quarter of Bvckhel (Buckel) "Sable, a pile inverted throughout bendwise argent", and p.69 shows Kraft "Or, a pile ploye throughout bendwise sinister sable". The Zuericher Wappenrolle has Kuirneg (Kirneck) "Gules, a pile inverted throughout bendwise argent". The roll of arms of the Order of the Golden Fleece has "Per bend sinister sable and gules, a pile inverted throughout bendwise sinister argent" in the section of German arms for a man named ".aechpeg" (the first letter is missing in the source). Siebmacher, Johann, _Johann Siebmachers Wappenbuch von 1605_, 2 vols., ed. Horst Appuhn (Dortmund: Harenberg, 1988, 1989). Popoff, Michel, _Le Ro^le d'Armes de Zurich_, Documents d'He/raldique Me/die/vale 9 (Paris: E/ditions du Le/opard d'Or, 1986). Pinches, Rosemary and Anthony Wood, _A European Armorial: An Armorial of Knights of the Golden Fleece and 15th Century Europe_ (London: Heraldry Today, 1971). [6] Von Volborth, Carl-Alexander, _Heraldry: Customs, Rules, and Styles_ (Poole, Dorset, UK: Blandford Press, 1983), p.120. [7] Woodward, John and George Burnett, _A Treatise on Heraldry British and Foreign_ (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1969), p.312. [8] Szyman/ski, Jo/zef, _Herbarz: S/redniowiecznego Rycerstwa Polskiego_ (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1993), c.f. Debno "Gules, a cross and in sinister base a {l/ekawka} argent", Tarnawa "Gules, a cross and in sinister base a crescent argent." [9] Rimsa, Edmundas, _The Heraldry of Lithuania_, Vol I (Lithuania: Baltos Lankos, Lithuanian Presidential Commission on Heraldry, 1998).