ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2343 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2343 ************************************ 27 May 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a man from 12th century southern France, and whether your heraldic design fits this culture. This letter is a brief answer to your question. As you noted, the language of southern France in your period was Occitan (also called "Provencal" or "Languedoc"). And as you also found, was a reasonably common name in that region in your period. It appears in a chronicle of the Albegensian crusade in the name [1], in Occitan literature as , and in Latin records from late 13th century Toulouse as [2]. It is a fine choice. It's worth explaining the difference between and . In medieval Provencal, nouns, including names, had two grammatical forms, or "cases": nominative, used when the word is the subject of a sentence; and oblique, used in all other grammatical contexts. is the nominative form of your name, the oblique form. One would use the nominative form when writing your name or in direct address -- "Hey, Azemars!" (though of course entirely in Provencal) -- or in the subject -- "Azemars owes me money". The oblique form would be used in other contexts: "I got my money from Azemar", "Have you seen Azemar?", "I'm a friend of Azemar". is the modern French name for this city. In medieval Occitan, it was known as [3]. is a fine name for 12th century Provence. You asked whether your armorial design, "Argent, a fleur-de-lys gules and a chief sable fretty or", is appropriate for your culture. You told us you'd based it on the Bigot Roll, as transcribed on the web. That document is a fine source, and it contains all the elements of your design: fleurs-de-lys, charged chiefs, and charges fretty. However, it doesn't have an example of a single fleur-de-lys as the primary charge or a chief fretty. These are fairly picky objections, but since you seem particularly interested in fitting your arms to your culture, we figured you'd be interested. Putting the fretwork on the chief is supported by number 237 "Vert, a chief paly or and gules fretty argent", and number 165 has "a fess fretty" [4]. We haven't found an example of a single fleur-de-lys used as a primary charge in the heraldry of the Provence, but there are examples of contemporary England [5] and Italy [6]. In short, we think your design is a fine choice for the culture you want to re-create [7]. We hope this brief letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, and Adelaide de Beaumont. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 27 May 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Ramons lo Montalbes, "French/Occitan Names From The XII And XIII Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ramon/occitan/ [2] Arval Benicoeur, "Languedoc Names circa 1300" (WWW: privately published, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/toulouse/ [3] Chambers, Frank M., _Proper Names in the Lyrics of the Troubadours_ (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971), s.n. Carcassona. [4] Pereyra, Kristina, ed., "Bigot Roll of Arms, 1254" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel), entries 42, 68, 71, 165, 237. http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bigot.html [5] Wagner, Anthony Richard, ed. Aspilogia II: Rolls of Arms: Henry III (London: The Society of Antiquaries, 1967), p.127. Robert Aguillon, who died 1286, bore "Gules, a fleur-de-lys argent". [6] The arms of the city of Florence, "Argent, a fleur-de-lys gules", appear on the 13th century tower of the old city hall. [7] Your design should not conflict with the arms of Florence mentioned in note [6]. "Fretty" is construed as a charge by the SCA College of Arms, so you have two differences for adding the chief and then adding the fretty to it. Tincture and line of partition on the chief clear your design from Maria da Firenze "Argent, a fleur-de-lys gules, on a chief wavy vert four quatrefoils saltirewise argent".