ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2596 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2596 ************************************ 13 Apr 2003 From: Galiana de Baiona Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if the name and the arms "Argent, a talbot sejant sable within a bordure engrailed azure" or "Argent, a swift volant sable within a bordure engrailed Or" are appropriate for a woman living in Paris between 1150 and 1450. (The slash represents a grave accent mark on the preceding letter.) We found the name recorded in Paris in 1292. [1] It seems to have been a rare name, and we have been unable to determine its origin, so our recommended pronunciation is speculative. Assuming that the spelling accurately reflects the pronunciation, we believe that the pronunciation from the beginning of your period until the early 13th century was roughly \ZHU"-y@\, where \zh\ represents the sound of in French and in , \@\ represents the sound of the sound of in and and the \u"\ represents the sound of u-umlaut as in German 'to feel' and as in French 'on'. [4] From the later 13th century to the end of your period, we believe the pronunciation was nearer \ZHWEE-@\. We also found the byname , meaning 'the washerwoman', in 1292. [1, 2] Note, however, that the accent is a modern editorial addition; it was not used in your period and should be omitted. Our most extensive and best-indexed sources of early armory are English, so we have had to rely primarily on English evidence to evaluate the suitability of your proposed arms. Fortunately, English and French armory were generally similar in your period. We have found a few instances of a dog sejant in English armory. [3] "a dog sejant" Scotland 1292 "a greyhound sejant" England 1507 We have also found English examples of engrailed bordures: [3] "Sable, a talbot passant within a border engrailed" "Sable, a talbot sejant within a bordure engrailed argent" Nevertheless, beasts sitting were rare in all medieval armory. Dogs, in particular, were usually shown running or walking. Bordures, also, were usually of the same tincture as the charge. A more typical design using the same elements is "Argent, a talbot passant within a bordure engrailed sable". "Argent, a talbot sejant within a bordure engrailed sable" is less typical but also plausible. We have found no mention of the swift as a charge in medieval heraldry. We have found a literary example of a swallow as a charge but no example of someone actually using it. Other birds found in medieval heraldry include the eagle, various kinds of hawk, the dove, finch, lapwing, and blackbird. The last three of these were used for canting, i.e. wordplay on the similarity between the name of the charge and the surname of the armiger, like a finch for Fincham. Birds volant were generally rare, too: We found a couple instances of eagles and hawks volant, one of doves volant, and one of generic birds volant [5, 6]. A swallow volant within a bordure is not the best re-creation, but it is a plausible design for your culture. However, you'll need to change the color of the bordure: A gold bordure on a silver field violates the Rule of Tinctures. [7] We suggest you make the bordure and swallow both black. We believe you could register any of the arms we've recommended. We hope this letter has been of some assistance and that you will not hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. I was aided in writing and researching this letter by Adelaide de Beaumont, Arval Benicoeur, Modar Neznanich, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, Julie Stampnitzky, Ursula Georges, Teceangl Bach, Elsbeth Anne Roth, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Galiana de Baiona 13 April 2003 -- References: [1] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997) http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html. [2] Geraud, Hercule, _Paris sous Philippe-le-Bel: d'apre/s des documents originaux et notamment d'apre/s un manuscript contenant Le Ro^le de la taille impose/e sur les habitants de Paris en 1292_ (Paris : Crapelet, 1837). [3] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992). pp. 202, 246. [4] More precisely, it is the vowel you get by pronouncing the in with your lips positioned as if you were saying as in . This sound is not found in English. [5] Brault, Gerard J., _Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries with Special Reference to Arthurian Heraldry_, 2nd ed. (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1997). s.v. [6] Woodcock, Thomas, Janet Grant, & Ian Graham, _Dictionary of British Arms_, vol II. (The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1996). pp. 173, 175, 176 [7] The Rule of Tinctures states that a charge in a color (red, blue, green, black) may be placed only on a metal (yellow/gold, white/silver); and vice versa. Most medieval Western European heraldry follows this rule, and the SCA College of Arms requires it in most cases.