ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2144 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2144 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 16 Nov 2000 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a man living near Augsburg, Germany around 1450. You mentioned that your wife's name is and your son's is . Here is what we have found. You've chosen a fine name, though the particular spelling you chose isn't the most consistent with the data we have available. We have a couple comments on your family's names, too. We didn't find the exact spelling recorded in period Germany, but some of the spellings we did find suggest that is quite plausible. The name appears as and in 14th and 15th century Silesia and in the same period in Basel [1, 2]. would be an excellent choice; is slightly speculative, but probably appropriate. The famous artist was born in 1471 in Nu:rnberg [3]. The colon represents an umlaut of the 'u'. This spelling of his surname is authentic: He signed his name on at least one occasion [4]. However, the name could probably also have been spelled without the umlaut in your period; we found it in the name , recorded in Stuttgart in 1334, and in the feminine name in 14th century Wu:rtemberg [5]. Your wife's name, , may be problematic. We haven't found evidence that it was used in German before the 17th century [6]. Saint Cordula was a companion of the 3rd century Saint Ursula, and was venerated in Germany by the 13th century [7], so it is not implausible that her name could have been used occasionally. Your son's name is a fine choice for your period, though it would have taken the German form , which we found recorded c. 1400, 1411, and 1495 [1]. By your period, surnames were generally hereditary in Germany, so your son would probably have been known as . To give just one example, Albrecht Du:rer's father was also named [3]. 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 Talan Gwynek, Dietmar von Straubing, Gotfrid von Schwaben, Hartmann Rogge, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Pedro de Alcazar, Juliana de Luna, and Julie Stampnitzky. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 9 Nov 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/ [2] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), p.74. [3] "Du:rer, Albrecht" Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. [Accessed Nov 9 2000]. http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=32101&sctn=1 [4] Berger, John, _Albrecht Du:rer - Watercolours and Drawings_ (Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag, GmbH, 1994), frontispiece. [5] Bahlow, Hans, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990), p.110 (s.n. Du:rer). [6] Friedemann, Sara, "Concerning the Name Cordelia" (WWW: Sharon L. Krossa, privately published, 1999). http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/cordelia.shtml [7] Sauser, Ekkart, "Cordula" in _Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon_ (WWW: Verlag Traugott Bautz, 17 May 2000). The oldest pictorial representation of St. Cordula is a painting on glass from 1220/1230 in the church of St. Kunibert in Ko:ln. The cathedral of Osnabru:ck has a 15th century shrine with her relics. http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/c/cordula.shtml - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction 27 Nov 2000: As we reported to client 1468, the name was used in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries. Hans Bahlow, Unsere Vornamen im Wandel der Jahrhunderte, vol. 4. in the series Grundriss der Genealogie, published in Limburg an der Lahn in C. A. Starke Verlag, 1965, in his entry for Cordula, says: 'As a saint's name not unpopular in the 16th and 17th c. (together with Ursula), in Liegnitz, Bamberg, etc.'.