ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1448
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1448
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4 Feb 1999
From:  (Josh Mittleman)


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked whether <Lucas Blackbow> 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.

<Lucas> is a Latin name.  It is found in Latin records in England, but the
normal spoken form of the name was <Luke>, <Luk>, or <Luck> (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 <Blackbow> 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
<bow> 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
<bowe> or <bogh> meant "arch, vault" and was often used to refer to an
arched bridge or to a bend in a river.  We find the bynames <atte Bowe>
and <atte Bogh> "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 <atte Blak Bowe> "at the black bridge".  <Luke atte Blak
Bowe> or <Luke de Blakbowe> would be fine names for your period.
  
We did find some period names built from the word <bow> with the meaning
<longbow>.  <Thomas Bouman> and <Nicholas the Boweman> are recorded in 1279
and 1286; the byname means "archer".  <William le Bowiere> and <Henry le
Bowyere> 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:
<Redecoyn> 1379, possibly meaning "red coin" [3].  This is very weak
evidence for constructing the analogous <Blakbowe>, 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


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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.