ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2761 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2761 ************************************ 3 Nov 2003 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether "Milisandia, Bran's wife" is an appropriate name for a Welsh woman in the second half of the 13th century. You also asked whether the Welsh "wife" would have been used in place of the Latin . Here is what we have found. Before we discuss the individual elements of your name, it will be helpful to discuss some background on the languages of medieval Wales. In your period, Wales was home to Welsh-speaking and English-speaking communities. Both communities also used Latin as a written language, but not exactly the same Latin: A scribe's spelling and grammar in written Latin was influenced by his native language. Most surviving documents from your period were written in Latin by English scribes, and the names recorded in those documents show significant influence of both English spelling and English naming customs. is a Latin form of a linguistically English name, which appears, as you found, in a late 13th century Anglo-Latin document from Wales [1]. The name appears in English-language sources in various forms in the 13th century, including these [2, 3, 4, 5] Melisant Melisent Milesant Milesent Milisant Milisent In Latin documents, the name appears variously [2, 3, 4]: Melisentia Milesanta Milesenta Milicenta Millesenta is a Welsh masculine given name, found in the same 13th century document that contains . It was a rare name. This spelling was used in both English and Welsh contexts [1, 6]. In Latin documents in medieval Britain, women were commonly identified as their husband's wives. This may have reflected an English custom of identifying women this way. The same Latin documents also tended to state women's relationships in Latin. The result is that when women are identified in these documents as their husband's wives, the word used is almost always the Latin "wife" rather than Welsh "wife". We have found only two examples of the Welsh word used in a woman's name: Anable Wreyg Louarch 1292 [7] Simmonis Wrec Nicholai 1256 [8] (note that is a genitive [i.e. possessive] form) So while it is possible that a 13th century Welsh woman's name would have been recorded by an English scribe writing in Latin as , it would have been very unusual. is the overwhelmingly more likely form in this context [9]. But this is only a written form: The Latinized name was not used in everyday speech. The Welsh does not seem to have had a tradition of identifying women as their husband's wives. In Welsh, a woman was identified as her father's daughter. Milesent daughter of Owain, would almost always have been called . In English, she might have been identified either as or [10]. 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 Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont, Mari neyn Brian, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Eoin an Eich Ghil mac Cionaodha, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 3 Nov 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Names and Naming Practices in the Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll 1292-3", in Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings, 1991 (SCA: Laurel, Maryland, 1991). [2] Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in _A Dictionary of English Surnames_" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/reaney/ [3] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980), s.n. Millicent. [4] Nicolaa de Bracton, "A Statistical Survey of Given Names in Essex Co., England, 1182-1272", Known World Heraldic Symposium Proceedings 1995 (SCA Inc.; WWW: privately published, 1997). http://members.tripod.com/nicolaa5/articles/names.html [5] Fellows Jensen, Gillian, _Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire_ (Copenhagen: 1968). [6] Bartrum, P.C., _Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1966), p.39. [7] Jones, Francis "The Subsidy of 1292" [covering Abergavenny and Cilgerran] in _The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies_, 13 (1950): 210-230. This source is highly unusual in using about 90% Welsh, rather than Latin, relationship terms for women. [8] Roderick, A.J., & William Rees, "Ministers' Accounts for the Lordships of Abergavenny, Grosmont, Skenfrith and White Castle: PRO, Ministers' Accounts Bundle 1094, No. 11; Part I -- The Lordship of Abergavenny" in South Wales and Monmouth Record Society Publications: No. 2, 1950. [9] Source [1] shows that native Welsh names were commonly used in Latin as indeclinable nouns, so no case ending is needed on . [10] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts)" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). is the normal English form of . http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh16.html