ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2010 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2010 ************************************ 6 Apr 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing an appropriate name for a late 14th or early 15th century Welsh student, using a Welsh form of as your given name, or as your father's name, and a byname that means "the Student" or "the Scholar". You also asked our opinion of your design for your arms, "Per pale argent and gules (or sable), a chalice flaming counterchanged". Here is what we have found. wasn't particularly popular in Wales in your period, but it was used and we've been able to place it in exactly the context you want: a Welsh student at Oxford who was a partisan of Owain Glyndwr. He is identified in Latin variously as , , and [1]. The next step is to figure out how the name was spelled in the various languages used in England and Wales in your period. Welsh literature of the late 14th century includes the spellings , , and [4]. An English-language document of the late 15th century identifies a student at a Cistercian school as [2]. A list of Welshmen serving in late 14th century French mercenary companies includes men named , , , , , , and [3]. The Welsh equivalent of in your period was or . It was moderately popular in the 13th to early 14th centuries, but fell out of fashion thereafter [5, 6]. was mildly popular throughout your period, appearing in that spelling in an English-language document from Wales in 1406 [7]. In late 14th century Welsh literature, these names appear as and [4]. The Welsh word "student, scholar" was used as a byname in your period. It appears in Anglicized records in several spellings [10]: Scolhaic 1405 Scolaik 15th c. Scoleye (15th c. roughly) In summary, a name like or is quite appropriate for your period, though it might not have been a particularly common name. The first of these names could have been recorded in English documents as . In Latin, the same man might have been identified as "Galfridus of Wales" or "Galfridus son of Thomas". Very little heraldry is recorded in Wales before the end of the 15th century. Using arms would be more consistent with a persona at the end of your period or somewhat later; but of course, many people choose to follow Society custom in this regard and use arms regardless of whether their personas would have done so [8]. Looking at period Welsh heraldry as a whole, your heraldic design fits in reasonably well, with one exception: Charges enflamed are notably absent from medieval British armory. We strongly suggest you drop the flames. Among Welsh heraldry in general, the tinctures argent and sable are unusually common, and the combination of the two is particularly common. Cups or chalices were used at least occasionally; they appear in the arms of the Butler family. Examples of Welshmen bearing charges counterchanged appear in a roll of arms from 1616, so it is plausible that such designs were used earlier [8]. On that basis, we recommend you consider "Per pale argent and sable, a chalice counterchanged." With the red-and-white field, with or without the flames, you could not register your design with the SCA College of Arms: It would be too similar to existing armory. The black-and-white version appears to be registerable. You could also consider "Argent, three chalices sable", a classic early heraldic design which also appears to be registerable [9]. 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 Giles Leabrook, Tangywstyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Zenobia Naphtali, David of Moffat, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Talan Gwynek, and Amant le Marinier. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 6 Apr 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Griffiths, Ralph, "Some Partisans of Owain Glyndwr at Oxford", in _Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 1964, 20:282-292. [2] Tomson, David, "Cistercians and Schools in Late Medieval Wales" in Cambridge Medieval Celtic Studies, 1982, 3:76-80. [3] Siddons, Michael, "Welshmen in the Service of France" in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 36:161-184, 1989. [4] Jones, Thomas ed., _Brut y Tyysogyon or The Chronicle of the Princes_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1952). The Peniarth ms. 20 version of this text dates roughly to the late 14th century, although some of the spellings are more archaic. [5] Ellis, T.P., _The First Extent of Bromfield and Yale A.D. 1315_, Cymmrodorion Record Series No. 11 (London: The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 1924). [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. [8] Siddons, Michael Powell, _The Development of Welsh Heraldry_, (Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales, 1991-3), vol. 1., pp.215, 217, and vol.2 & 3 s.v. cup. [9] Leofwynn Wulfinga and Eric Alard have registered a badge "Per pale argent and gules, a goblet counterchanged." The addition of the flames is not enough to avoid conflict if you use the red-and-white design. The black-and-white counterchanged design is easily clear of Michael O'Beare "Per pale sable and argent, in pale a sword fracted chevronwise inverted and a chalice counterchanged." Swapping the field tinctures and removing the sword is sufficient difference. [10] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1985), p.205.