ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1677 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1677 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 20 May 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a 15th century Burgundian woman. You also asked our opinion of your heraldic design. Here is what we have found. We did not find an example of in France in your period, but we think it is a reasonable possibility. (with a grave accent on the first 'e') is the modern French form of the name; was used in medieval France [1]. was recorded in Paris in the late 13th century [2]. and are recorded in 13th and 14th century Picardy, along with the diminutive forms and [6]. The suffix <-ele> was also used to form diminutives in late medieval northern France, so is a perfectly reasonable construction. We should note that the final in all these names was pronounced in your period. should be pronounced \ah-DELL-@\, where the \@\ is the sound of the final in . We also recommend you spell the name without the grave accent, which was not used in period. There are several places in France and Belgium names , and . We found an early 15th century example spelled , and statement that is a conservative spelling [3, 5]. While we didn't find in your period, we think it is an entirely likely spelling. Based on this evidence, we think is a reasonable name for your period. would be slightly better re-creation, since it uses spellings that we know were used rather than ones we think might have been used. The arms you described could be blazoned "Sable estencely argent, a duck's head couped contourny argent billed Or and gorged of a ribbon gules between three roses argent barbed and seeded proper." This design is more complex than French arms of your period, and it contains some unlikely elements. Particularly with the complicated field estencely, we recommend you simplify your design. In the example of a field estencely that we've found in 16th century Flemish heraldry, the field has no other charges [4]. We have never seen a duck's head in period arms, so we can't recommend it as good re-creation. If you drop the duck's head, the remaining design would be very nice: "Sable estencely and three roses argent." (The color of the details of the rose probably would not have been blazoned in heraldry of your period; it would have been left to the artist's choice.) As far as we can tell, you could register this simplified design. 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, Zenobia Naphtali, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 20 May 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Adela. [2] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [3] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Me/zie\re(s). [4] Walraven van Nijmegen, "Analysis, Armorial, and Ordinary of Armory Recorded in Paul Bergmans' Armorial De Flandre du XVIme Siecle" (WWW: Brian R. Speer, Privately published, 1997). The arms of Juede are "Azure estencely and a chief Or." http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/bergmans.html [5] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963), p.456. [6] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction, 25 Jan 2006, Arval: Added note [6].