ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2753 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2753 ************************************ 23 Jul 2003 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a German man living in Augsburg in the 15th century. You also asked about the arms "Per pale sable and vert, two crosses formy fitchy and an eagle Or." Here is the information we have found. The name derives from the Hebrew through Biblical Latin. [2,4] It was not uncommon among German Jews during the Middle Ages. Across Germany we find the following forms: [1,4] Lazarus [Latin] c. 1135 Cologne Lazar [German] 1333 Frankfurt Lazarus [Latin] 1351 Silesia Lazar, Laczar [German] 1372, 1390 Moravia Lazar [Latin] 1396 Silesia Lazarus [German] 1371 Hessen Lazarus [German] before 1408 Erfurt Lasary [German] 1457 Alsace Lazrus [Latin] 1470 Switzerland Lasser [German] 1474 Hessen Though we have not found any clear examples of its use by Christians, we do not doubt that they did use it, at least occasionally. [2] The byname is more often found as , where {sz} is the ess-zet ligature, which looks like the Greek letter 'beta'. In various forms, depending on the dialect, the byname was used throughout Germany. We're not exactly sure what spelling would be most appropriate for Augsburg. In Middle High German, the vowel was pronounced roughly \ee\, and this changed to \ay\, as in , and then to the diphthong \ey\ (as in ) in New High German. The only question is when this change occured in the dialect spoken around Augsburg. Augsburg is at the western edge of the Bavarian dialect region, just where it starts blending with Swabian. In the Bavarian region, the vowel had completed the shift by the end of the 13th century, but in the Swabian region it took place during the course of the 15th century. [3] We therefore think it likely that spellings reflecting both pronunciations could have been found in Augsburg in the 15th century. Though we haven't found any explicit examples of the byname, we believe both or or