ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2134 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2134 ************************************ 30 Oct 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a woman who lived near Montreux, Switzerland, between 1200 and 1450, and whether she might also have used a descriptive byname like . You also asked our opinion of your design for your arms. Here is what we have found. is a fine name for your period. The name is recorded in Paris in 1292 [1]. More to the point, it was the name of Bonne of Bourbon, sister-in-law of Charles V of France, who married Amadeo VI, count of Savoy, in 1355 [2]. We don't know what form the name took in Savoyard French; we would expect or , but we're not sure which is more appropriate [3]. Either way, the name would have been pronounced \BOH~-n@\, where \OH~\ is a nasal vowel, \@\ represents the sound of the 'a' in or . The modern place name derives from the Latin [4]. might be an appropriate spelling for your period. The name would have been pronounced roughly \BOH~-n@ d@ shee-LyOH~N\. \Ly\ represents a palatalized 'l', which is the sound of in the modern French word . You asked about adding an additional descriptive byname like . (Actually, you spelled it in your letter. The two words would not have been connected this way in period French.) Such bynames were certainly used in French in your period, though by the end of your period they would have been inherited family surnames rather than individual descriptions [6]. We wouldn't be at all surprised to find a 14th century French woman named , and a woman called in one document might be named in another. Using two bynames, like , would be more surprising, though still not impossible. If you decide to add a second byname, you'll want to use Savoyard words. At the moment, we don't have a dictionary of medieval Savoyard French, but we might be able to find one if you're interested. You asked further whether you should incorporate a rose or swan into your name, since those symbols are associated with the region where you want to set your persona. We recommend against this approach. We know no example of a name constructed that way. You described the arms of the city of Montreux, divided into two parts per pale, one blue with a gold city and the other silver with three red crescents and two red mullets alternating in a column. You wondered if you could use the silver part as your own arms. The result would be arms that could be blazoned "Argent, in pale three crescents alternating with two mullets gules". We found a rendition of the arms of Montreux in which the mullet-and-crescent motif is reversed, i.e. three mullets alternating with two crescents. That motif appears in several modern Swiss arms from the region of Montreux [5]. We weren't able to discover its origin and we can't say whether it was used in period: The fact that these are the modern arms of Montreux doesn't mean they existed before 1600. It isn't implausible, but we can't recommend it as the best re-creation since we have no evidence that it existed in period. If you choose to assume that the modern Montreux coat derived from period arms, then switching the mullets with the crescents is an interesting way to claim a connection to a leading family of Montreux. Alternatively, you could use the same charges in a different arrangement, like "Argent, a mullet between three crescents gules." That would be exemplary medieval-style heraldry. As far as we can tell, you should be able to register either design with the SCA College of Arms. More often than not, mullets in Continental European armory were drawn with six points. We recommend that choice for the culture you're re-creating. 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 Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, Zenobia Naphtali, Blaise de Cormeilles, Isfael ap Briafael, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 29 Oct 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] 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 [2] "Amadeus VI" Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Accessed 16 October 2000. http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=6059&sctn=1 [3] Savoyard is classified by scholars as a Franco-Provencal dialect, "midway between the Occitan (Provencal) and French languages in its grammar and sound system. In general, vowel sounds are similar to those of Occitan, while consonants conform more nearly to those of French." "Franco-Provenc,al dialect" Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=35800&sctn=1 [Accessed 23 October 2000]. We are familiar enough with Provencal names to expect in that language, and we cited from Old French. We're not sure which way Savoyard went. It's worth noting that the famous Green Count of Savoy is usually known as rather than by the French form of that name, . That example hints that is the more likely choice. [4] _Grand Larousse Encyclope/dique en dix volumes_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1960-1964), v.3, s.v. Chillon. The present castle at Chillon was built in the latter half of the 13th century. [5] We found a photo of the arms of Montreux on the web at http://www.hag.net/products/122sbb.htm. The alternating crescents and mullets also appear in the arms of Chatelard, Montreux, pictured at http://www.iist.unu.edu/~rm/goss/arms/switzerland.html. [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), passim.