ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2768 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2768 ************************************ 29 Jan 2004 From: Josh Mittleman Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked our help choosing a name appropriate for a southern French woman in the late 14th or early 15th century, using a feminine form of as your given name and a patronymic surname based on . France today is a unified country with a common language. That was not true in our period: Pre-modern France was home to several languages, each of which was used in a range of dialects, some quite similar, some quite different. The most significant division was between the langue d'oil, or French, spoken in the north; and the langue d'oc, also called Occitan or Provencal, spoken in the south. These were different languages, not just dialects of the same language, and names in them were often quite different. We have found several Occitan feminine forms of used in your period: Thometa Lyon, 1388 [1] Thomaseta Marseille, 13th century [2] Thomasa Lauragais, 13th century; Tarn [3] Tomassia Foix, 14th century [4] Tomasa Toulouse, 1521 [5] Thomassia 1415 [6] Thomasse 1415 [6] We also found indirect evidence of (1397) and (1415) [6]. We have found few examples of in Occitan sources earlier than your period. Josep 12th century [7] Juseph 12th century [7] Josefus Nice, 13th century [8] We have no Occitan examples from your period; and in fact we have evidence that the name was rare in the 16th century [9]. On the other hand, a form of was moderately popular in Catalan in the 14th century and remained in occasional use in the 15th century [10]. Catalan, closely related to Occitan, was spoken in Catalonia, to the southwest of the Occitan region. We also have 16th century examples of the name in Catalonia. They were recorded in Latin, but they demonstrate that some form of was in use [11]: Jacobus Josephi Coll 1559 Onofrius Josephus Sala 1585 In the first case, Josephus Coll was probably Jacobus' father. In the second, was probably a second given name. This evidence is not sufficient to allow us to say for certain that a form of was used in 14th or 15th century Occitan, but it is entirely plausible. There is no doubt that the name was available. However, given the scarce evidence, we can't recommend a particular spelling with any great confidence. The 12th and 13th century examples suggest or as the Occitan form; and it helps that is also the modern Catalan form of the name [12]. On this basis, we can offer as a plausible 14th or 15th century Occitan name. We hope that this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of this has been unclear or if you have other questions. Contributing to the research and writing of this letter are: Adelaide de Beaumont, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Aurenca Mouly, Barak Raz, Juliana de Luna, Richenda de Jardin, Talan Gwynek, and Ursula Georges. For the Academy, Giudo di Niccolo Brunelleschi & Arval Benicoeur 20 Jan 2004 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Philipon, Edouard, Le Livre du Vaillant des Habitants de Lyon en 1388 (Lyon: Impressions de M. audin et Cie, 1927). [2] "Noms de Femmes Releve/s dan les Divers Cartulaires E/tudie/s" in Monique Bourin and Pascal Chareille, eds., _Gene/se Me/die/vale de l'Anthroponymie Moderne_ (Tours: Universite/ de Tours, 1992), t.II, pp.231-242. [3] Brenon, Anne, _Le petit livre aventureux des pre/noms occitans au temps du Catharisme_ (Tolosa: Loubatie\res, 1992), s.n. Thomasa. [4] Cateline de la Mor, "Names from Fourteenth Century Foix" (SCA: Trimarian Known World Heraldic Symposium, AS XXIX; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/cateline/foix.html. [5] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period Feminine Names from the South of France" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/latefrenchfem/. [6] Broc, J., Fabre, J., Martin, L., Montagnes, B., and Remiere de Fortanier, Arnaud. Testaments Provenc,aux du Moyen Age. (Avignon: Institut Historique de Provence, 1979)., pp. 29, 65, 69. The same woman is mentioned four times: , , , . The first and second are Latin genitive. The normal Occitan feminine ending is <-a>. is a French spelling. [7] Chambers, Frank M., _Proper Names in the Lyrics of the Troubadours_ (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971), s.n. Josep. [8] Compan, Andre/, _E/tude d'Anthroponymie Provenc,ale: Les Nome de Personne dans le Conte/ de Nice aux XIIe, XIVe, et XVe Sie\cles_, thesis at the Universite/ de Paris IV, Dec. 1975 (Paris: Librarie Honore Champion, 1976), p.126. [9] Perouas, L., B. Barrie\re, B., J. Boutier; J.-C. Peyronnet, & J. Tricard, _Le/onard, Marie, Jean et les Autres: Les Pre/noms en Limousin depuis un Mille/naire (Paris: E/ditions du Centre National de la recherche Scientifique, 1984), table 10, pp.50-51, p.71. In the Limousin, was still extremely rare in the 16th century: Between 1516 and 1530, fewer than one child in 100 was baptized [10] Enric Bague, _Noms Personals de l'Edat Mitiana: Contribucio/ a la Histo/ria Cultural dels Pai~sos Catlans_, Editorial Moll: Palma de Mallorca, 1975). [11] Joseph J. Gwara, Jr., The Sala Family Archives: A Hand List of Medieval and Early Modern Catalonian Charters, ed. Jessica-Julia C. Vitz (WWW: The Labyrinth, Georgetown University, 1996). http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/professional/pubs/sala/handlist.html [12] Enric Bague/, _Noms Personals de l'Edat Mitjana: Contibucio/a la Histo\ria Cultural dels Pai~sos Catalans. Editorial Moll, Palma de Mallorca, 1975. pp. 32-3.