ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2081 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2081 ************************************ 17 Jul 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel, You asked whether the name "Matteo the Learned" is an appropriate for a mid to late 14th century Italian man. You also asked about arms using the color blue and an old-style reading lamp. is a fine name for your period [1, 5]. In 14th century Italy, the name was also recorded as , which was common in Venice, and [2]. We didn't find used as a personal byname in our period, but we think it's also a reasonable choice. There is a modern surname , derived from "prudent, wise, scholarly", a nickname used in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. We also found the modern surname . In Italian, masculine words that begin with 's' take the definite article rather than , so we recommend you use . This spelling is most likely to have been found in the north, particularly in Venice. The spelling was predominant in the south [3]. While or is a reasonable name for your period, it is probably one that would have been used only informally. In formal circumstances, a 14th century man of any significant social standing would be identified as his father's son. For example, if your father's name was , you would be known formally as . Family names (inherited surnames) were also used by the 14th century, especially among the upper classes. If your father were a member of the Lamberti family, you could also have been called . We're not sure what you mean by an "old-style reading lamp". Lamps are not common charges in period heraldry, and we haven't found an example in Italian arms. While we can't say it wasn't used, we don't recommend it as the best re-creation. If you do decide to use it, you might consider a design like "Azure, three lamps Or", which has the lamps arranged with two side-by-side in the upper half of the shield and one centered in base. This arrangement was very common in medieval European heraldry. As far as we can tell, you could register this with the SCA College of Arms. Unusual charges like this one were often adopted because they punned on the name of the family in whose arms they appeared. This practice is called "canting", and was quite common throughout western Europe. The 15th century family name that we suggested above would be a fine choice, since it could easily have led to a cant using a "lamp" [4]. 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. We wer assisted in researching and writing this letter by Maridonna Benvenuti, Rouland Carre, Zenobia Naphtali, Julie Stampnitzky, Juliana de Luna, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Walraven van Nijmegen, and Mari neyn Bryan. In Service Margaret Makafee & Arval Benicoeur 17 Jul 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Ferrante la Volpe. Men's Names from Florence, 1427. (WWW: Self-published, 1996. J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/.names/ferrante/catasto [2] Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (WWW:J. Mittleman 1999). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/venice14/ [3] De Felice, Emidio. _Dizionario dei cognomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978), s.n. Sa\vio. [4] Herlihy, David and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, "Census and Property Survey of Florentine Domains in the Province of Tuscany, 1427-1480", Machine readable data file. Online Catasto of 1427 Version 1.1. Online Florentine Renaissance Resources: Brown University, Providence, R.I., 1996 http://swansong.stg.brown.edu/projects/catasto/overview.html Family Names Appearing in the Catasto of 1427 http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/ferrante/catasto/family_names.html [5] Banker, James R. _Death in the Community_ (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1988), appendix III.