ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1448 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1448 ************************************ 4 Feb 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is a correct 13th or early 14th century English man's name. You also asked if the centaur or sagittary was used in English arms in your period. Here is what we have found. is a Latin name. It is found in Latin records in England, but the normal spoken form of the name was , , or (all pronounced the same). We have found examples in your period, including these [1, 2, 5]: Lucas 1196-1215, 1273, 1274 Luk 1273, 1286 Luke 1273, 1277 Lucke 1279, 1332 Lukke 1327 We can't find evidence that was used as a byname or surname in your period. However, we think it is a reasonable construction, though perhaps not with the meaning you intend. We did not find any example of used in a byname to describe a particular archer's bow, but we did find it used in quite a number of place names. The Middle English word or meant "arch, vault" and was often used to refer to an arched bridge or to a bend in a river. We find the bynames and "at the bridge" recorded in 1298 and 1304 [2]. A bridge made of black stone might well be described by color, so we see no problem with the byname "at the black bridge". or would be fine names for your period. We did find some period names built from the word with the meaning . and are recorded in 1279 and 1286; the byname means "archer". and appear in 1275 and 1296; their names mean "bowyer, bowmaker" [2]. We have found some examples of bynames that described a particular colored article of clothing [3]: Whithode "white hood" 1316 Whytebrok "white breech or trousers" 1338 Blakmantel "black cloak" 1324 Blaunchcote "white coat" 1294 Redehose "red hose" 1332 Redesleue "red sleeve" 1357 We only found one example referring to anything other than clothing: 1379, possibly meaning "red coin" [3]. This is very weak evidence for constructing the analogous , and we do not recommend that you use this byname with the meaning "black (long)bow". We have no evidence of the centaur in English heraldry. We found mention of one medieval example of a sagittary, a lion- or horse-bodied centaur with a bow. A 15th century heraldic manuscript claims that the 12th century King Stephen bore sagittaries on his arms, but these arms were invented for him long after his lifetime. However, they do indicate that the sagittary was considered a possible charge in the 15th century. We've also found some possible 16th century examples of saggitaries [4]. If you wanted to design 16th century arms, a sagittary would be a plausible charge; but for your period, we advise against it. 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 Pedro de Alcazar, Talan Gwynek, Zenobia Naphtali, Rouland Carre, and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 4 Feb 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Nicolaa de Bracton, "A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1995 (SCA Inc.; WWW: privately published). http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5145/names.html [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Luke and elsewhere. [3] Jo:nsjo:, Jan, _Studies on Middle English Nicknames_, v.1 Compounds (CWK Gleerup, date unknown). [4] Dennys, Rodney, _The Heraldic Imagination_ (New York: Clarkson and Potter Inc., 1975), p.119. [5] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Luke.