ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2408 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2408 ************************************ 7 Dec 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether <Gaspar> is an appropriate name for a man from Leon in 12th century Spain, the child of a mixed Christian/Moorish marriage. Here is what we have found. <Gaspar> is a Spanish form of the name of one of the Magi of medieval legend, the same name that became <Jasper> in English and <Kaspar> or <Caspar> in German. Unfortunately, it didn't come into use until after your period. The earliest examples we find in Spain are 15th century [1]. By comparison, it appears in Italy and England in the 14th century, and in Germany at the end of the 14th [2, 3, 4]. We recommend that you either shift your persona to the 15th century or choose a different given name. In one study of 12th century Leonese names, the most common men's given names among non-clergy were [5, 6, 7]: Pedro, Petro, Pero Juan, Joan, Johan Domingo, Dominico, Domengo Martin, Martino Other common names included [5, 6, 7]: Pelagio, Pelayo, Pelay, Pelai Miguel, Micael, Michael Rodrigo, Roderico, Roy Didaco, Diego, Diago, Didago Fernan, Ferrando, Ferrant, Ferran Gonzalvo, Gonzalo, Gonsalvo (last quarter of the century) Esidro, Isidro, Isidoro (last quarter of the century) Other names in use in 12th century Leon included [5, 6, 7]: Abdallah (Arabic origin) Alfonso Andres Arnal Bartolome Benaitu (a form of <Benedictus>) Cibrian, Ciprian, Cipriano Citi, Cidi, Cid (first quarter of the century; Arabic origin) Durant Estevan, Esteban Froila, Frola, Froyla Garcia, Garsia, Garci, Garsias (second half of the century) Gil Helias Merlin Micholas Monio, Munio, Munnio, Muno Pela Pelegrin Ponz Robert Salvator, Salvador Sanzio Vermudo, Vermud, Bermudo Vidales Vincent Xab (Arabic origin, pronounced \SHAHB\) If any of these names appeals to you, we'll be happy to give you the pronunciation and any other variant spellings that we've found. In 12th century Leon, most laymen were identified in writing by a given name plus a patronymic byname, i.e. a surname that identified the man as his father's son. Other common usages were a given name alone; a given name plus a descriptive nickname; and a given name plus a locative byname, i.e. a surname that identified the man's place of origin or residence. In the last quarter of the century, there were also a significant number of men identified by a given name plus a patronymic and a locative [5]. We also find examples of Arabic bynames transliterated into Spanish; if you're interested in that possibility, please write again. Many Society folk have a misconception that the children of mixed-culture marriages would be given mixed-language names to symbolize their parent's origins. Our research suggests that this was not the case, and we therefore recommend choosing a name from elements used in one culture. Marriages between Christians and Muslims were probably rare in medieval Spain; but it was an area where the two cultures overlapped and it is not unusual to find names borrowed from one to the other. The names <Xab>, <Citi>, and <Abdallah>, listed above, are examples of Muslim names that were used in Christian Leon. We do find some cases where a man was known by one name in Spanish and another in Arabic. If that possibility interests you, we can tell you more about it. 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 Maridonna Benevenuti, Talan Gwynek, Catriona inghean ui Bhraonain, Juliana de Luna, Ursula Georges, Pedro de Alcazar, Dietmar von Straubing, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Julie Stampnitzky. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 7 Dec 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Juliana de Luna, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999-2000). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/ [2] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Jasper. [3] Herlihy, David, R. Burr Litchfield, and Anthony Molho, "Florentine Renaissance Resources: Online Tratte of Office Holders 1282-1532" (WWW: Brown University, Providence, RI, 2000). http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/tratte/ [4] Talan Gwynek, "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia", revised edition (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999), on the web at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/. Other German examples are cited in Hans Bahlow, _Deutsches Namenlexikon : Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklaert_ (Frankfurt am Main : Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Verlag, 1985, 1990), s.n. Kaspar: <Kaspar von der Rho"n> 1430 and <Kaspar Melissander> 1540. Josef Karlmann Brechenmacher, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Kaspar: <Joh. Caspar> 1441. We found a single earlier-period example, a <Caspar> 1147 in Adolf Socin, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), p.47. The supposed relics of the Magi were installed in the cathedral of Ko"ln in the 12th century; this may have resulted in a brief fashion for their names in parts of Germany. [5] Sopena, Pascual Marti/nez, "La antroponimia leonesa: Un estudio del Archivo de la Catedral de Leo/n (876-1200)" in _Antroponimia y Sociedad_: Sistemas de identificacio/n hispano-cristianos en los siglos IX a XIII_ (Valladolid, Spain: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and Universidad de Valladolid, 1995), pp.155-180. We have relied on this source for the list of common given names and for the discussion of name construction. [6] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957). <Pedro> et. al. sections 348, 168, 79. <Juan> et. al. sections 181, 127, 12. <Domingo> et. al. sections 199, 99, && p.115. <Martin> et. al. ss. 217, 52. <Pelagio> et. al. ss. 90, 15, 12, 10. <Michael> et. al. ss. 31, 24, 10. <Rodrigo> et. al. ss. 35, 34, 26. <Didaco> et. al. ss. 62, 42, 12, 10. <Fernando> et. al. ss. 42, 15, 2. <Gonzalvo> et. al. ss. 33, 15, 7. <Isidoro> et. al. ss. 5, 3. <Citi> et. al. 36, 11, 5. <Munio> et. al. ss. 45, 39, 26, 12, 2. <Froila> et. al. ss. 41, 4, & p.186. <Cipriano> et. al. s. 3, & p.174. <Garcia> et. al. ss. 99, 28, 10, 3. <Salvador> s. 10. <Vermudo> et. al. ss. 15, 9, && p.100. <Esteban> et. al. ss. 11, 5. We used this source for period spellings of given names. [7] Menedez-Pidal, Ramon, _Crestomati'a del Espan~ol Medieval_ (Madrid: 1971). We used this source for period spellings of given names.