ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3128 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3128 ************************************ From: Clare Baldock 30 Aug 2006 Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked for our opinion on the name for an French woman in Lille, Flanders for any time from 1000 to 1400, but especially as early as 1200. Here is what we have found. In the Middle Ages, the term Flanders was applied to an area in western Europe, the County of Flanders, spread over parts of what are now Belgium, France and the Netherlands. It covered the parts of Belgium that are now approximately the Flemish provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders, and the French-speaking area at the west of the Scheldt river, called the Tournaisis (from the Flemish town Tournai). Flanders also includes a part of what is now the Nord de/partement (Nord-Pas de Calais) in north-eastern France, often called French Flanders or sometimes even South-Flanders. Finally it included a part of what is now Zeeland in south-western Netherlands, called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. (The '/' represents an acute accent over the pervious letter.) Both Flemish (a dialect of Dutch) and French are and were spoken in Flanders. Lille is in a French speaking part of Flanders, so we have looked largely to French sources for names suitable for this area. We have found the name in Picardy in the 13th century and in Normandy in the 16th century. [1,2] It was pronounced roughly \eh-LEN-@\, where the \@\ represents a sound like the 'a' in 'sofa'. While we have not found in that exact spelling, we have found and . [3] However, neither of these names are dated, so how early they came to be used is uncertain. The spellings and are also possible, but again we have no dated references to these spellings. (or ) would be pronounced roughly \shah-RAHS\. (or ) would be pronounced roughly \shah-RAHS-s@\ While the name is possible for the 13th and 14th centuries, we cannot be sure of its use then. We do not have enough data to speculate on its use earlier. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write to 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Ines Alfon, Margaret Makafee, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Eleyne de Comnocke 30 August 2006 [1] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). p. 22 [2]Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/norman16.html [3] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). s.nn. ,