ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1775 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1775 ************************************ 28 Jul 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or is an appropriate name for a 13th century Welsh woman. Here is what we have found. was not used outside the Iberian peninsula until the 15th century, when it was popularized by the writings of Teresa of Avila, and did not become common until her canonization in 1622. It was not used in Britain until after our period [2, 3]. The other name is a much better choice: All its elements are approximately correct for your period [1], but they are not all the most likely spellings for 13th century Welsh and the overall construction is unlikely. could have been used in the 13th century, but it is generally a later spelling. , , and appear in an early 14th century Welsh text [4]. , the standard modern spelling of the name, can be interpolated from these examples, but we believe that would be more typical of the 13th century. It is also more appropriate in combination with , which is a fairly conservative spelling for your period. is an anglicized spelling, taken from Anglo-Latin documents. Welsh and English followed different spelling patterns. A name might be written in either language, but in particular document it would have been written one way or the other. Both and are Welsh spellings, so we recommed combining them with a more typical Welsh spelling like . , on the other hand, is fine [5]. Overall, the name is not constructed like names we've seen in 13th century Welsh. In a collection of more than 2600 names from that period, not one has the same format verch [6]. Names like this do appear in 15th century records, so we won't say this name is impossible for your period, but it is extremely atypical. We suggest you drop one of the two bynames. 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 28 Jul 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Academy of Saint Gabriel report 1748 http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/public-bin/showfinal.cgi?1748 [2] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Teresa. [3] "Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Avila)", _Catholic Encyclopedia" (Encyclopedia Press, Inc. 1913; WWW: New Advent, Inc. 1996, accessed 13 July 1998). http://www.csn.net/advent/cathen/14515b.htm [4] Bromwich, Rachel, _The Welsh Triads_ (University of Wales Press, 1978). These spellings appear in the White Book text of the Mabinogi. [5] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985), s.nn. Dedwydd, Pen. [6] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Names and Naming Practices in the Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll 1292-3", in Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, 1991 (SCA: Laurel, Maryland, 1991). [7] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Names and Naming Practices in the Anglesey Submissions of 1406", in "Y Camamseriad" issue 4, Summer, 1996.