ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2626 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2626 ************************************ 3 Mar 2003 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a man from northeastern Switerland or southern Germany in the second half of the 14th century, and you asked us to suggest a surname that would allow you to cant by using an eagle in your arms. You also asked about several heraldic designs. Here is what we have found. is a fine choice. It appears in your region as 1267, 1291, 1297, 1350 [1, 2]. The in the first two represents the same sound as the in the last, so is certainly a plausible spelling, too. A variant form or was recorded in Breisgau, Switzerland, in 1299 [1]. We can suggest a number of surnames that refer to eagles in one way or another. There were two distinct words in medieval German that meant "eagle". The earlier one appears in various dialects at various times as , , or ; in addition to "eagle" it could mean "any large bird". The later and modern word was originally a compound of "noble" + [3]. The simplest surname we can suggest is just a nickname meaning "eagle". The nickname was recorded in Konstanz in 1258 [4]. stands alone as a surname in examples from 1392 and 1395 [5]. is a fine name for the time and place you want to re-create. The second possibility is a byname that identifies you as living in a house known as "the Eagle". In many parts of Germany and Switzerland, it was common for houses in towns to be decorated with a prominent statue or a painted figure, which gave the house a name. People who lived or worked in that house could be identified by the house name. We find "at the Eagle" 1301 in Rottweil and "at the Eagle" 1316 in Freiburg, and in Worms 1322, and "the Eagle-man" 1258 in Zurich [4]. or are also fine choices for your culture. Finally, you might choose a place name that includes an element meaning "eagle" and use it to build your surname. You asked specifically about in Baden-Wurttemberg, in Switzerland, and in Bavaria. We haven't found a medieval example of , but we found 1369 and mention of a place called 1262 that might perhaps be . We also found some other possibilities that might appeal to you: 1350, from a place near Mainz; and 1336 from St. Gallen, Switzerland [6, 7]. Note that none of these examples uses to form a surname: One uses the adjective form of the place name, the others use the place name unaltered. These forms are typical of dialect of the region you want to re-create. You originally asked about the arms "Per pale gules and argent, three eagles sable", but later amended your question to focus on "Argent billety gules, an eagle azure" and "Azure billety argent, an eagle or". You told us that you were most interested in a simple design in blue and white using the eagle as the primary charge. The design with three eagles probably isn't registerable: The upper left black eagle lies entirely on a red field, which would be considered color-on-color under SCA heraldic rules. "Billety" isn't a good choice for your culture: We saw few examples of strewn charges in arms from that part of Europe and no examples of "billety" [8, 9, 10]. Your color combination, on the other hand, is quite reasonable: 12% of arms from southern Germany and Switzerland in your period used this combination [11]. The Zurich roll of arms that is our reference [8] is a good guide to the heraldry of your culture: It's from the right region in about the right period. It contains lots of eagles and some eagle's heads. There are plenty of blue/white and blue/gold combinations. Arranging three charges two-and-one was common, and there are a couple examples of eagles in that arrangement. There are also examples of fields divided "per pale" and of an eagle counterchanged across such a field. Here are some designs typical of your culture that might appeal to you: Per pale azure and argent, an eagle counterchanged. Per pale azure and argent, three eagles counterchanged. Argent, two eagles in pale azure. Per fess Or and azure, three eagle's heads counterchanged. We believe you could register any of these with the SCA College of Arms. 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 Galiana de Baiona, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Iago ab Adam, Julie Stampnitzky, and Alan Fairfax. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 3 Mar 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), pp. 1-2. [2] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, _Etymologisches Woerterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen_ (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960), s.n. Albrecht. The 1350 example of was recorded in Stuttgart. [3] Priebsch, R., and W.E. Collinson. The German Language. 3rd edn. (London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1948); p. 193. [4] Brechenmacher s.nn. Aar, Adler, A"rne. [5] Schwarz, Ernst, _Deutsche Namenforschung. I: Ruf- und Familiennamen_ (Goettingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1949). s.n. Adler [6] Brechenmacher s.nn. Arnheimer, Arnsberg(er), Arnach. [7] Socin, p.601. [8] Popoff, Michel, _Le Ro^le d'Armes de Zurich_, Documents d'He/raldique Me/die/vale 9 (Paris: E/ditions du Le/opard d'Or, 1986). The same roll is available online: Bigalski, Gerrit, ed., "The Zurich Roll of Arms" (WWW: C. Boselli, 1996). http://ladyivanor.knownworldweb.com/zroaen0.htm [9] Bibliothe\que royale Albert Ier, _Gelre_ (Leuven: Jan van Helmont, 1992, ISBN 90-74318-03-7). [10] Pinches, Rosemary and Anthony Wood, _A European Armorial: An Armorial of Knights of the Golden Fleece and 15th Century Europe_ (London: Heraldry Today, 1971). [11] Pastoureau, Michel, _Traite/ d'He/raldique_, 2nd ed. (Paris: grands manuels Picard, 1993), tableau III, p.117.