ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2861 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2861 ************************************ 23 May 2004 From: Sara L Uckelman Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to known if is an appropriate name for a Venetian man living in the latter part of the Hundred Years War (c. 1400). You also wanted to know if the arms "Gules, three sickles argent" are appropriate recreation for this time and place. Here is the information we have found. Your given name is fine; is recorded in Venice in the 14th century, and it is a fairly common masculine name in Tuscany. [1] is a pet form of which we find recorded in the late 15th and early 16th century in the names 1497, 1510, and 1515 [2,3]; these men were all from Venice, and it is likely that in these cases represents the father's name. In the 14th century the diminutive is recorded in Venice. [1] We believe that is also appropriate for your period, and is a fine byname meaning 'son of Zanni'. We found examples of sickles used in English and German armory. These examples include "Gules, in fess a sickle reversed and a sickle argent the handles or" (German) [4], "Gules, three sickles argent the handles or, that in sinister chief reversed" (German) [5], "Gules, a sickle argent the handle or quartering or, a lion rampant azure" (German), "Gules, a sickle reversed argent the handle or" (German) [6], and "Gules, three pruning hooks argent the handles or" or "Gules, three reaping hooks argent" (English) [7,8]. Because we have not found sickles used in Italian armory, we don't recommend that you use this charge in your arms. 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 Talan Gwynek, Juetta Copin, Maridonna Benvenuti, Lann de Wylde, Walraven van Nijmegen, Arval Benicoeur, Mari neyn Brian, Juliana de Luna, Iago ab Adam, and Giudo di Niccolo. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 23May04 -- References: [1] Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/ [2] "An Iconography of the Lute" (WWW: 1998?) http://www.unh.edu/music/Icon/iltfits.htm [3] Richardson, Brian, _Print Culture in Renaissance Italy. The Editor and the Vernacular Text, 1470–1600_. ISBN: 0521420326. [4] Pinches, Rosemary and Anthony Wood, _A European Armorial: An Armorial of Knights of the Golden Fleece and 15th Century Europe_ (London: Heraldry Today, 1971). The entry is for the surname . [5] Bigalski, Gerrit, ed., "The Zurich Roll of Arms" (WWW: C. Boselli, 1996). Nr. 323, ZV[i]RNLER http://ladyivanor.knownworldweb.com/zroaen0.htm [6] Siebmacher, Johann, _Johann Siebmachers Wappenbuch von 1605_, 2 vols., ed. Horst Appuhn (Dortmund: Harenberg, 1988, 1989). p. 123 Streitberg, p. 159 Lu"der [7] Papworth, John W., _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint (Five Barrows Ltd., 1977). p. 948. That the charges here are indeed sickles is confirmed by [8]. [8] Parker, James, _A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry_ (Charles E. Tuttle, 1982). s.v. sickle