ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2664
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2664
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1 Jul 2003
From: Sara 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You wanted to know if the name <Johann Friederich> and the arms
"Quarterly gules and sable, a rapier Or" are appropriate for an
Austrian man living in the 16th century.  Here is the information
we have found.

Before we start, we'd like to apologize for how long it has taken
us to respond to your question.  We hope that this information
is still useful to you.

We'd also like to warn you that our sources for 16th century
Austria are not very comprehensive.  We have therefore had to
look at data from earlier times and other places in order to
determine whether we believe your name is appropriate or not.

Your name is fine.  <Johann> and its diminutives are one of the
most popular given names in Germany throughout the Middle Ages.
[1] In Brandenburg between 1486 and 1499 we find a man recorded
as <Johann Cicero> [3], and near Austria in 1393 we find a man
named <Nyckel Johan>; Nyckel's father was likely named <Johan>. [1]

<Friederich> in various spellings was also a common given name
throughout Germany.  Near Austria, in a dialect that is similar
to the one spoken in Austria at the same time, we find <Fridrich>
recorded in 1362, <Friedrich> in 1386, and <Frederich> in 1416. [1]
These are all recorded as bynames.  Because we don't have any
examples from the 16th century, we cannot say for sure whether
the spelling <Friederich> is plausible or not, but we would not
be surprised to find it.

Unfortunately, we cannot endorse your choice of arms, for a number
of reasons.  We have not found a rapier used in period armory.
Generic swords are common in both French and Italian armory, however,
and we found examples of axes and halberds (including one device
that has two halberds crossed in saltire) in Germany, so you could
possibly use a sword in your arms. [5]  It's not the best recreation,
but it's not implausible.  If you're interested in using a
different type of weapon, we find crossed polearms, crossed spears,
crossed maces, crossed axes, crossed tridents/forks, and assorted
arrows in German armory. [5]

We also do not think that a field "Quarterly sable and gules" is a
good choice for Germany.  The examples that we found of quarterly
fields were generally between a color (sable, gules, azure, vert)
and a metal (Or, argent), and without any charge on top.  Fields
divided per fess (e.g., horizontally) were quite a bit more common;
but even, then, most of the examples we found were per fess of a
color and a metal, and not two colors. [2,5]

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 Iago ab Adam, Arval Benicoeur, Adelaide de Beaumont, and
Maridonna Benvenuti, Anplica dell'Isola, and Pedro de Alcazar.

For the Academy,
-Aryanwy verch Cadvael, 01Jul03

--
References:

[1] Schwarz, Ernst, _Deutsche Namenforschung. I: Ruf- und 
Familiennamen_ (Goettingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1949). s.nn. 
Friedrich, Johann

[2] 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).

[3] Bach, Adolf, _Deutsche Namenkunde I: Die deutschen Personennamen_
(Heidelberg: Carl Winter, Universitaetsverlag, 1953). p. 309

[4] Socin, Adolf, _Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach 
oberrheinischen Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts_ (Basel: Helbing 
& Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 
1966), pp. 311, 293

[5] Siebmacher, Johann, _Johann Siebmachers Wappenbuch von 1605_, 2
vols., ed. Horst Appuhn (Dortmund: Harenberg, 1988, 1989). p.68