ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2405 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2405 ************************************ 27 Dec 2001 From: Marianne Perdomo Machin Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help in finding a name appropriate to both 5th century Britain and a late-period culture in which rapier fighting was common. For the latter, you stated a preference for 15th century Ireland and Spain. One possibility is to choose a Roman given name that was used in 5th century Britain and also in 15th century Spain or Ireland. Unfortunately, far fewer inscriptions exist from 5th century Britain than from earlier centuries; and these include few women's names. We're going to suggest names from earlier inscriptions; it is likely that they were still used in the 5th century. We found the following pairs of Roman names [1, 2] and identical, related, or similar-sounding late-period Spanish names. Latin form [1] Spanish form Maria Maria [3, 4, 5] Antonia, Antona Antonia [3, 4, 5] Luca, Lucilla [6] Lucia [4, 5, 6] Constantia [7] Constanc,a [4] Victoria Victoria [4] Iulia, Iuliona Juliana [5] Florentina Florinda [4], Floriana [5] Casta Castellana [3, 11] Grata Grac,ia [3] Ursa, Ursula [8] Ursula [5] (The represents the with cedilla, like an inverted comma hanging from it.) We also found a few choices for 15th century Ireland, matching the same criteria: Latin form [1] Anglo-Irish form Agatha Agatha [9] Iulia, Iuliona Juliana [9], Iuliana [10] Maria Ma/ire [10] Honorata Ono/ra [10] (The mark represents an acute accent over the preceding letter) In addition we found the names and [9] used in Ireland. They seem like plausible late Roman names, but don't appear in the British data consulted. We think that any of these names would be good choices for a 5th century Roman-British persona and a late 15th or 16th century Irish or Spanish persona. Please note that the spoken Latin of 5th c. Britain was rather different in its pronunciation from Classical textbook Latin and that 15th c. Spanish was a bit different in pronunciation from the modern dialects. Feel free to write back and ask for any pronunciations that might interest you. I 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 Mari neyn Brian, Arval Benicoeur, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Adelaide de Beaumont, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Julie Stampnitzky, Ursula Georges, Dietmar von Straubing and Will Dekne. For the Academy, Leonor Martin 27 Dec 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Collingwood, R.G. & R.P. Wright. 1983. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain I: Inscriptions on Stone -- Epigraphic Indexes. Alan Sutton, Gloucester. [2] The sources used include both Roman nomina (names) and cognomina (bynames). As the single-name system evolved out of the late Roman naming system, it was the cognomen, as a rule, that evolved into the sole identifier. However by this period many nomina had also shifted over into use as cognomina. Hence, we have used both categories in building this list of names. [3] Juliana de Luna, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999-2000). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/ [4] Leonor Martin, "Cordobese names of the 15th century" (WWW: Marianne Perdomo 2001). http://www.historiaviva.org/nombres/nombres_cordob15-ing.shtml [5] Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Women's Names_ (WWW: SCA, Inc., 1998). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/spanish.html. [6] The attested use of the masculine name improves the reliability of the match with . [7] We found this name in the abbreviated form . [8] is the Latin diminutive of . [9] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Names and Naming Practices in the Red Book of Ormond" (SCA, Inc: Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, Tir Ysgithir, 1998; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/lateirish/ [10] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Feminine Names" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Feminine/ [11] These are probably not related.