ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2160 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2160 ************************************ From: "Sara L Friedemann" 30 Oct 2000 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a Frenchman living just outside Paris in the 16th century. You also asked about our opinion on your heraldic design. Here is a brief letter with the information we've found. Your name is an excellent choice. We find both elements recorded in Normandy in the 16th century, with the surname recorded as , instead of with a capitalized preposition. [1] By the 16th century, was most likely an inherited surname, and would have been borne by someone in the Ile de France whose ancestors had originally lived in Normandy. would have been pronounced \MARK d@ MOH~-FOE\, with the \oh~\ being a nasal vowel and the \@\ representing the sound of in or . [2] You also asked about your design for your arms, which you described as "On a Heater Shield, Gules Semy-de-Lys, on a Chief Sable, 3 Dragons Rampant, Langured Gules." You haven't specified a tincture for the fleurs-de-lys or the dragons. We aren't sure if you left it out by accident or if you really intend the fleurs-de-lys to be black and the dragons to be red. If you didn't omit a tincture, the standard blazon for your design is "Gules semy-de-lys, on a chief sable three dragons rampant gules". The shape of the shield is a matter of artistic choice, not considered part of the arms. The color of the dragons tongues is also an artistic detail that usually wasn't included in medieval blazons. If you intended the fleurs-de-lys and the dragons to be gold, then the blazon would be "Gules semy-de-lys Or, on a chief sable three dragons rampant Or." Unfortunately, neither design is a good re-creation of medieval heraldry. You've placed a black chief on a red field (and in one version black fleurs-de-lys on a red field and red dragons on the black chief). In medieval heraldry, charges almost always had strong contrast with the background on which they lay. A dark-colored charge (red, black, blue, green) was placed on a light-colored background (silver/white or gold/yellow) and vice versa. The dark colors are known in heraldry as "colors" while the light colors are called "metals"; placing a dark charge on a dark background is "color-on-color." Color-on-color was rare in almost all European heraldic styles and vanishingly rare in French heraldry. The SCA College of Arms will generally not register arms that have charges color-on-color. Contrary to popular belief, the dragon was a rare charge in medieval heraldry. The four-legged winged dragon used in modern heraldry was a very late innovation, and may not be appropriate for your persona at all. [3] It certainly would have been a very unusual charge for the heraldry of your culture, and we can't recommend it as good re-creation. We wonder if you are using the semy-de-lys as a way to say "I am French." If so, you may want to reconsider. In the modern world, it's standard to use a fleur-de-lys to say "I am French" or a shamrock to say "I am Irish." This sort of nationalist symbolism is not found in medieval heraldry. The fleur-de-lys is a fine charge, and it was more common in France than in most places [4]; but it didn't carry any meaning or any connotation of French-ness. If anything, the use of the semy-de-lys in the French royal arms would have made it _less_ likely that a Frenchman would have used it without permission. The best way to design authentic-style arms is to start by looking at examples of arms from your period. There is a 16th century French roll of arms on the web: L'armorial de Nicolas de Lutzelbourg http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/RECHERCHE/MOYENAGE/lutzprst.htm This site contains images of several pages of the armorial. We particularly recommend the following pages, which contain images and descriptions of arms of French barons and knights. http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/RECHERCHE/MOYENAGE/fol_53.htm http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/RECHERCHE/MOYENAGE/fol_58.htm http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/RECHERCHE/MOYENAGE/fol_86.htm http://www.univ-nancy2.fr/RECHERCHE/MOYENAGE/fol_100.htm Offline, the best source we can suggest is Joseph Foster, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). It is a collection of arms that appear in medieval English rolls of arms, but the general style is a good basis for designing arms for late-period France, too. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter were provided by Julie Stampnitzky and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, ~Aryanhwy merch Catmael & Arval Benicoeur, 30Oct00 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) [URL:http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/norman16.html]. [2] In the 15th century, was still generally pronounced \ow\, and it appears that this pronunciation persisted into the 16th century. During the 16th century, though, we begin to see a period ov vacillation between \ow\ and \oe\, and by the end of the century, the modern pronunciation was prevelant. [3] Dennys, Rodney, _The Heraldic Imagination_ (New York: Clarkson and Potter Inc., 1975), p.119. [4] Pastoureau, Michel, _Traite/ d'He/raldique_, 2nd ed. (Paris: grands manuels Picard, 1993), tableau I.