ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1803 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1803 ************************************ 23 Dec 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Spanish man living in the 16th century. Additionally you asked about arms which you described as "paly of nine Or and gules and an eagle sable." Here is what we have found. does not appear to have been used in Spain in period. However, we did find the closely related (where indicates an accent on the preceding letter). was recognized as an hidalgo in 1607.[1] Moreover, we found the surname in the 1530s; it probably means 'Valentine's son'.[2} This suggests that the given name was in use earlier. is pronounced \Bahl-en-TEEN\.[3] was used in 15th century Italy.[4] If you are interested in an Italian name, feel free to contact us again. You can find more information about Italian names at: http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/#italy We could not find evidence that was used as a surname in Spain in period. However, we found several several similar-sounding names were used in period:[5] Francisco de A/greda 1532 Diego A/greda y Pe/rez de Vargas 1601 Alvaro Aguado 1544 Mendo del Agu:ero 1582 Fernando Agu:ero 1599 In the names above, the <:> indicates a dieresis over the preceding u. Any of these bynames (either with or without ) would be appropriate for a 16th century Spaniard. They are pronounced \AH-greh-dhah\, \ah-GWAH-dhoh\, and \ah-GEH-roh\ (with a hard g).[6] While our sources are not so exhaustive that we can definitively say that as not used in period, we suggest that you consider using one of these names that is attested in period. To summarize, , , or would be a fine name for a Spanish man in the 16th century. Your proposed arms would be blazoned, "Paly of 9 Or and gules, an eagle striking contourny sable." We're guessing that you're using "paly of 9, Or and gules" to say, "I'm from Aragon." While national arms are commonly used that way in the modern world, it was not done in period. What your arms actually would have said in 16th century Spain is "I'm a close relative of the king of Aragon." For this reason, we recommend against using the royal arms of Aragon as the basis for your design. Your eagle is in a position that heralds call "striking." We know of no examples of a bird striking in medieval heraldry.[7] Eagles are generally depicted as displayed, facing forward with their wings outspread. Hawks are generally depicted 'close', standing facing the side of the shield with wings at their sides. We recommend that you look at some more examples of Spanish heraldry to assist you in redesigning your arms. Unfortunately, we know of no good sources written in English that describe period Spanish arms. However, there are a few books in Spanish that have pictures of arms; you could look at those for some ideas about what Spanish arms looked like. Two books you could get through Interlibrary Loan are: Riquier, Marti/n de, _Heráldica castellana en tiempos de los reyes cato/licos_, Ediciones dels Quederns Crema, Barcelona, 1986. (Spanish Heraldry in the time of the Catholic Kings, i.e. the last quarter of the 15th century) Riquier, Marti/n de, _Heraldica Catalana des de l'any 1150 al 1550_, Ediciones dels Quederns Crema, Barcelona, 1983. (Catalan Heraldry from the year 1150 to 1550 - Catalonia is northeastern Spain, the area around Barcelona). Additionally, you will probably find some depictions of Spanish arms in books of Renaissance Spanish portraits. Portraits of that period often included the person's arms. There are several sites on the World Wide Web that depict Spanish heraldry; however, we cannot recommend them because they mix period and later heraldry with no indication of the date of individual examples. The best of them (in that at least royal arms are dated) is: http://members.xoom.com/chema/index.html 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, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, Alan Fairfax, and Salvador Paolo de Barcelona. For the Academy, Juliana de Luna 23 December 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - References [1] De Atienza, Julio, _Nobilario Espan~ol_ (Madrid: Aguilar SA de Ediciones, 1954). s.n.Anuncibay [2] Bermu/dez Plata, Don Cristo/bal, _Cata/logo de Pasajeros a Indias_ (Sevilla, Spain: Imprenta Editorial de la Gavidia, 1942), vol. II [3] \B\ here is actually not the \b\ you're used to saying, but a bilabial fricative. You pronounce it like a \v\ except that the friction is between the lips instead of between the lower lip and upper teeth. [4] Ferrante laVolpe, _Men's names from Florence, 1427_ (WWW: Self-published, 1996) [URL:http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto]. [5] De Atienza, Julio, _Nobilario Espan~ol_ (Madrid: Aguilar SA de Ediciones, 1954). s.n. Agreda, Aguado, Ague:ro [6] \dh\ is the voiced 'th' in English, as in 'this.' [7] There are a few examples in English heraldry of a "hawk trussing a rabbit (or some other prey)," in which the hawk is in a similar position (striking its prey). However, birds were not found in that position in Spanish heraldry.