ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2242 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2242 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 18 Feb 2001 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to known if is an appropriate name for a woman living in France between 1250 and 1600. Here is the information we have found. As you found yourself, is the name of a mythical half-human, half-demonic character from French literature. She is claimed as an ancestress by several great houses of France [1, 2]. Unfortunately, authors of romances commonly invented fanciful names for their characters, so the fact that we find it in literature does not mean that the name was in common use. In fact, we have not found any instances of the name used by real people in your period. The earliest example we have found of the name is , Duchess of Kendal [3]; she was born in 1667 [4]. It is not impossible that the name was used in your period, but we think it is unlikely; we cannot recommend it as a good recreation. There is a fine French feminine name for your period which is very similar-sounding: . We find it recorded in the 1292 census of Paris in the following forms [5]: Melissent Milesent Milessent Your byname, , is perfectly appropriate for your period. There are several small villages in France known as ; a person from any of them might have been known as . The modern surname may also have developed as a nickname for someone with a rosy complexion; if this is the meaning you prefer, we would expect the byname to be simply [6, 7]. or would be a fine name for your period and culture. 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 Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Juliana de Luna, Julie Stampnitzky, Mari neyn Brian, Maridonna Benvenuti, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 18 February 2001 References: [1] Hallam, Elizabeth, ed., _The Plantagenet Encyclopedia_ (George Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd., London, 1990), s.v. Melusine, states, "Mythical progenitor of the house of Anjou, according to the chronicler Gerald of Wales. Melusine was a beautiful, mysterious woman who wed an early count of Anjou and bore him two sons. Always absent from Mass at the consecration of the Host, she was one day forced by her husband to see the rite. She flew screaming out of a window and vanished; proof of her demonic origin. A similar tale was told of the house of Lusignan." [2] Flutre, Louis-Fernand, _Table des noms propres avec toutes leurs variantes, figurant dans les romans du Moyen Age e/crits en franc,ais ou en provenc,al et actuellement publie/s ou analyse/s_ (Poitiers: Centre d'e/tudes supe/rieures de civilisation me/die/vale, 1962). Flutre lists , , , , , etc.: "daughter of Elinas, king of Scotland, and Pressine, a fairy; wife of Raimondin, son of Count Henri de Leon and nephew of Count Emeri de Poitiers." He cites two 14th century romances: Jean d'Arras "Me/lusine" and Couldrette's "Mellusine ou le Livre de Lusignan". [3] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Millicent. [4] The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), s.v. Schulenburg, Ehrengard Melusina von der, duchess of Kendal, [URL:http://www.bartleby.com/65/sc/Schulenb.html], accessed 18 February 2001. [5] 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), [URL:http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html], accessed 18 February 2001. [6] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Larose. [7] Two instances of the surname were recorded in Paris in 1421 and 1423. Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423, & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2003). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/paris1423.htm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Addendum, 17 Jan 2004, Arval: Added note [7].