ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2412 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2412 ************************************ 21 Feb 2002 From: Marianne Perdomo Machin Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether the following names might have been used by a Christian Spanish woman living sometime between 1000 and 1600, but preferably around the early 13th century. Jimena Montoya Jimena de Montoya Jimena, la Vidua de Montoya, meaning "Jimena, the widow from Montoya" You also asked us about the incidence of human figures in Spanish heraldry and in particular about the suitability of using a demi-maiden in your arms. Spelling was not standardized in our period, but there were generally accepted correspondences between sounds and letters that we can deduce from surviving documents. We occasionally find odd departures from these standard patterns, but we don't recommend using them as models for historical re-creation, simply because they are exceptional. Lack of standardization of spelling means that more spellings are possible, but it also means that it doesn't make sense to select one particular spelling - and especially an unusual one - to use exclusively. Spelling varied precisely because people didn't designate any particular spelling as the correct one. The name that became late in our period was usually spelled or in your period [1]. We've found a couple dozen examples of this name, its masculine form, and patronymics based on it; we think they give a pretty clear picture of how the spelling of the name evolved in the Middle Ages [2]. A patronymic is a surname that identifies a person as his or her father's child; we also use that term for late-period inherited family names that were originally patronymic. For example, in the table below was the son of a man named ; this Latin name literally means "Scemeno's Fortunato". Examples of the spelling of name elements related to from the High Middle Ages include [2]: Example Dated to Given names: Xemeno Xemeniz 984 Scemeno Scemeniz 998 Gimena 1063 Gimen 1276 Latinized patronymics: Fortunato Scemenonis 925 Fortun Exemenonis 927 Fortunio Eximenonis 1047 Fortun Ximenonis 1065 Furtun Scemenonis 1066 Didacus Semenonis 1167 Ennego Semenonis 1234 Other patronymics: Sarracine Scemenoz 919 Lup Scemenez 931 Didaco Scemenoz 944 Munnio Semenoz 952 Eximino Scimeno 963 Xemeno Xemeniz 984 Froila Scemeiz 996 Scemeno Scemeniz 998 Froila Xemeniz 1030 Fortun Scemenoz 1035 Bellida Ximena 1042 Pinnolo Gemeniz 1043 Pinnolo Scemeniz 1048 Suario Exemeniz 1050 Domengo Scemeno 1073 Ecce Scemeniz 1075 Eicta Scemenizi 1070 Domingo Scemenuz 1078 Fortunio Exemenez 1131 Martino Xemeniz 1131 Maria Gimenez 1139 Mayor Semenez 1141 Michael Schemenez 1176 Diego Chemenez 1186 Pin~olo Ximenes 1207 Roi Xemenez 1219 Roy Scemenet 1225 Graci Semeno 1226 Pedro Ximenez 1237 Johan Semeno 1250 Diag Semenez 1258 The represents an with a tilde over it, as in the Spanish . Later examples show similar spellings but also begin to use for the initial sound [3, 4, 5]: Given names: Jimeno late 13th century Aragon [3] Jimen late 13th century Aragon [3] Ximeno late 14th century [5] Patronymics: Gimenez late 15th century [4] Jimenez late 15th century [4] Ximenez late 15th century [4] As you see above, we found a few early examples of this name or its masculine form spelled with or . These are surprising spellings, not at all typical, so we do not recommend them as good re-creation of 13th century Spain [1]. If you particularly want the spelling , then we recommend you focus on re-creating the 15th or 16th century [6]. All of these spellings represent the pronunciation \shih-MAY-nah\ throughout your period. We found examples of the surname in documents of the 14th [5, 7] and 15th [8] centuries and it could have been in use by the 13th century. This surname is a locative, i.e. it meant "from Montoya". Locative surnames were used literally in Spanish throughout your period, i.e., someone could have been called because she came from Montoya. We have not found any example of the Latin as a byname or descriptive term in Castilian records, though we have seen it in records from Catalan-speaking areas. The Castilian equivalent appears frequently in late-period censuses, and we've found a variant in a Castilian source from 1219 [10]. We have frequently seen the word 'woman, hence wife' and the Latin used to identify a woman in the same ways, even when her husband is deceased. Here are some 13th c. spellings of from Castile and Leon: Spelling Date muyllier, muiller, muger c. 1209 (from Navarra) [11] mugjer 1213 [10] muler 1245 [10] muyer 1246 [10] And here are some examples of the use of 'wife' as part of a woman's name [10]: dona Maria, muyer de don Pelegrin, 1166 dona Maior et Maria, uxores de Sango Alinz et de Ato Alinz, 1149 Names like or, more likely in our experience, are thus plausible for Castile. In Catalonia or, more often, would be used. Most likely they would have been understood as 'Ximena, widow of Pero de Montoya'. Heraldic arms first appeared in northern France in the mid-11th century. Their use didn't become common in Spain until the mid- or late-12th century. Hence, if you wish to use arms we recommend that you choose a suitably late period. We have found a number of examples of human figures in late-period Navarese heraldry [12] and one late 15th century Castilian example of a charge described as the bust of a woman [9]. We do not have any information on the use of these charges in earlier Spanish heraldry. 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 Adelaide de Beaumont, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, Mari neyn Brian, Julie Stampnitzky, Raquel Buenaventura, Barak Raz, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Dietmar von Straubing, Ursula Georges, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Juliana la Caminante de Navarra, Catriona inghean ui Bhraonain and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, Leonor Martin 20 Feb 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Notes: [1] Old Spanish had six sibilants: \ts\ and \dz\, \s\ and \z\, and \sh\ and \zh\. Only the last two are relevant to the spelling of . In Old Spanish the first, \sh\, was spelled in several ways, but the most common spellings were and . The second, \zh\, was typically spelled or . By the 16th c., later in Andalusia, they had merged as \sh\, and all of these spellings then represented that sound. The name clearly had \sh\ originally and so it must have been spelled as during the SCA period. Penny, Ralph, _A History of the Spanish Language_ (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991). [2] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses: Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957), pp. 78, 92, 114, 137, 165, 192, 199, 200; s.nn. Ximenus, Ximena [3] The spelling is likely to be a peculiarity of a particular scribe or scriptorium. It is also possible that the spellings were modernized. Jean Re/gne/, History of the Jews in Aragon: Regesta and Documents 1213-1327 (Jerusalem, Hebrew University, 1978) [4] Juliana de Luna, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999-2000) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/. [5] Pero Lo/pez de Ayala, Coronica del rey don Pedro (edited by Constance L. Wilkins y Heanon M. Wilkins), Madison : Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, 1985. ( stands for an with an acute accent over it.) [6] The name is also attested to the late 15th century [4], but was no longer as popular as in earlier times. is thus a plausible spelling, if not common, for in this period. [7] Lamant-Duhart, Hubert, _Armorial du Pays Basque_ (Bairritz, 1997). The author cites A. and A. Garcia Caraffa, _El Solar Vasco-Navarro_, 1966-67. This information was posted on the Usenet newsgroup rec.heraldry on 2 Oct 1999 by Franc,ois Velde. [8] De La Torre, Antonio and E. A. de la Torre, eds., _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza Tesorero de Isabel la Cato/lica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca "Reyes Cato/licos", 1956). [9] The charge was described in the early 16th c. as "cynco cabec,as de damas de los pechos arriba" (five heads of ladies from the breasts up). An alternate description of the arms of the same lineage is "cynco donc,ellas blancas e cuellos hasta baxo de las tetas" (five white maidens and necks until below the breasts). Riquer, Marti/n de, _Hera/ldica castellana en tiempos de los reyes cato/licos_ (Barcelona: Ediciones dels Quederns Crema, 1986). #134, p. 160 ( represents with a cedilla, like a reversed comma hanging from the lower edge of the .) [10] Menedez-Pidal, Ramon, _Crestomati'a del Espan~ol medieval_ (Madrid: 1971). [11] Sampson, Rodney, _Early Romance Texts: An Anthology_, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1980. [12] The mermaid appears in arms dated by one source to around 1421, but the author believes they are likely to be older. The arms of the valley of Roncal include a "king's head", also described as the head of a Moorish chieftain in. Other personal arms include an arm holding a sword slaying an armed warrior. In another version of the same arms the arm wields a spear and the warrior is naked. Kerexeta, Jaime. _Diccionario onoma/stico y hera/ldico vasco; ma/s de 25.000 apellidos vascos, con su significacio/n, casa solar, pruebas de hidalgui/a y escudos de armas, con un vocabulario de te/rminos hera/ldicos y multitud ded la/minas a todo color, oro y plata. (Bilbao, Editorial La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1970-). v. 5 plates 43, 392, M384; 322, M321, A432; 320, M320, A431.