ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2552 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2552 ************************************ 20 Jun 2002 From: Sara Friedemann Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a Hungarian warrior living between 1000 and 1550. You also asked about arms using a purple background with a black mount and a white unicorn rampant. Here is the information we have found. is an adaptation of the Latin . The earliest we find the name recorded is in 1461; it became common in Hungary in the 16th century. [2,3] It was pronounced \EH-lek\, where \EH\ and \e\ sound somewhere between the vowels of and . It is a fine choice for your name, but only for the latter half of your period; without evidence that it was used earlier, we hesitate to recommend it for before the 15th century. The surname means 'blacksmith' and is found in 1444. [1] It was pronounced \KOH-vahtch\. It is a fine choice for a surname, but we're not sure how appropriate it would be for a warrior. We believe that a soldier would more likely have a patronymic byname (one based on his father's name) or a locative byname (one based on from where he came). We also have evidence for a few descriptive and occupational bynames used in the 14th - 16th centuries that would be appropriate: [3] Darabos 'rough, uncouth' Erews, Ereos 'strong' Gylkos 'killer, bloody' (noted as being rare) Iwes 'archer' (this is a Latin form) Keresztes 'crusader, standar-bearer' Kermes 'brave, valiant' (this is a Latin form) Lewew 'huntsman, marksman' Nyakas 'brawny (or stubborn)' Reytar, Rayther 'cavalryman' (noted as being rare) Vas, Was '(made of) iron' The practice of using + is Hungarian; in documents not written in Hungarian, your name probably would have been recorded + . [1] Heraldry was very rare in Hungary until late in the 16th century; if you wish to use arms, we recommend you consider placing your persona at the end of your desired period. We don't have many sources for period Hungarian armory, but, based on what we do know, we believe your arms are not very probable. We have found only one instance of purpure being used in any heraldry in Eastern Europe. Also, the only evidence we have for unicorns in Eastern European heraldry is in one coat of arms from Poland with a statant unicorn; [4] here the unicorn was used for canting (punning on the name) purposes. Eastern European heraldic style often differed greatly from typical Western European style, utilizing peculiar national motifs and designs. Mounts were quite common in Hungarian armory, for example, and they often broke the rule of tincture (the most common color combination being, for example, a vert mount on an azure field); however, we have not seen mounts in either brown or black. For more information on Hungarian heraldic style, we recommend you read the article available at the following URL: http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/hungary.htm We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Walraven van Nijmegen, Maridonna Benvenuti, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Julie Stampnitzky. For the Academy, ~Argantgui filia Catmaili, 20Jun02 -- References [1] Walraven van Nijmegen, "Hungarian Names 101" (WWW: Brian R. Speer, Privately published, 1998) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/magyarnames101.html. [2] Walraven van Nijmegen, "Hungarian Personal Names of the 16th Century" (WWW: privately published, 1997) http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/magyar16.html. [3] Ka/zme/r Miklo/s, "Re/gi Magyar Csala/dnevek Szo/ta/ra: XIV-XVII Sza/zad" (Budapest, 1993). s.nn. Elek, Ero"s, Gyilkos, I/jas, Kermes, Lo:vo", Rajta/r, Vas [4] Szyman/ski, Jo/zef, _Herbarz: S/redniowiecznego Rycerstwa Polskiego_ (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1993).