ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1545 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1545 ************************************ 26 May 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of as a woman's name in England between 1200 and 1500. You also asked about arms with a gold background with a blue chevron facing up with two red hearts above it and a red heart with an arrow piercing it below the chevron. We apologize for the time it has taken to answer your question. Before we start, we'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. If your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not be able to help you. We found no evidence that the name existed in period. We believe it to be a modern combination of and . It has been registered by the College of Arms, but that does not mean that it was proven to be a period name [1]. The most similar names we found in England in your period are , , and [2]. The surname was originally derived from a place of that name; is recorded between 1190 and 1207. The plain surname, without the preposition , is recorded later: 1376, 1392 [3]. would be an excellent English name for the late 14th century or later. Your arms would be described as "Or, a chevron azure between 3 hearts that in base pierced by an arrow gules." The arrow through a heart is an SCA motif; we have not seen it in any period heraldry. The arms without the arrow are good re-creation. However, they conflict with armory already registered by the College of Arms, and therefore cannot be registered [4]. Here are some variations of your design which fit your period and which we think you can register: Azure, on a chevron between three arrows Or three hearts gules. Or, an arrow azure between in fess two hearts gules. Or, an arrow azure between four hearts two and two gules. Or, a chevron cotised azure between three hearts gules. Or, a chevron engrailed azure between three hearts gules. In all the designs, the arrows are vertical, point down. 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 Talan Gwynek, Blaise de Cormeilles, Pedro de Alcazar, Rouland Carre, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Walraven van Nijmegen, For the Academy, Juliana de Luna & Arval Benicoeur 26 May 1999 - ----------------------------------------------------- References [1] You don't need permission to use a first name that someone else in the Society has registered. The College of Arms' rules only consider two names to conflict if they share both the same first name and the same surname. [2] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). The first two names are under the heading Alice, with dated to 1189-1215 and 1303; to 1219-1200; the last is under Alison, and dated to 1386 in that spelling. [3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Kilpin [4] Gottfried von Beringen has registered "Or, a chevron azure between a key fesswise, a quill bendwise sinister, and a tower gules."