ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3129 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3129 ************************************ 16 Aug 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic given name for a woman living in Gascony or Aquitaine sometime between 1470 and 1510. You also asked if we could recommend a surname, and whether hares or rabbits can be found in armory from the same place and period. Here is the information we have found. 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'oi"l, or French, spoken in the north, and the langue d'oc, also called Occitan or Provencal, spoken in the south. [6] These were different languages, not just dialects of the same language, and names in them were often quite different. You can see a map of the different dialects of France below: http://lrrc3.sas.upenn.edu/popcult/MAPS/france/dialecte.gif The green and yellow area is langue d'oi"l, and the red and pink are langue d'oc. The dialect spoken in Gascony during your period is Gascon. Gascon is also langue d'oc, but it's sufficiently divergent from the other oc dialects that many consider it a distinct language, on a par with Catalan. Unfortunately, we don't have any sources which specifically cover Gascon-language names. However, we do have various sources from surrounding areas. In Bordeaux, we find a woman named (we're using the slash to represent an acute accent over the previous letter) sometime between 1470 and 1520. [1] is a form of . In Be/arn and Bigorre, we found in the 13th C, as well as and the diminutives and in 1385. [10] In both Catalan and Provencal, in the 16th century we find only the spelling . [4,5] Based on this, the spelling is probably the closest to that is suitable for your place. was pronounced roughly \ee-z@-BAY\, where \@\ is the sound of in or . In France, the proportion of arms having an animal (including birds) as principal charge is on average about 30%, a bit more in the Auvergne, in Burgundy, and in Champagne, and a bit less in Brittany, Artois, Picardy, and the southern regions. [2] We have no reason to think that Gascony was significantly different from the rest of southern France. Rabbits, however, appear to be moderately rare charges [12], though we did find examples of rabbits in 14th and 15th century seals, as well as a 15th century coat of arms from Languedoc with a rabbit. [7,11] Based on this, we can recommend a rabbit as a possible, though moderately rare, charge. In English armory, when there is just one rabbit, it is usually rampant or salient, but if there is three, they are usually courant, passant, or sejant. [13] In southern France, the most common tincture combination Or and gules, making up 30% of the armory between the 13th and 15th centuries. Argent and gules combinations are the next most popular, comprising 26% of the examples. [14] Based on this, we can recommend the following as plausible designs for your place and period, all of which we believe you can register with the SCA College of Arms: Or/Argent, a rabbit rampant gules Or/Argent, three rabbits passant gules Or/Argent, three rabbits sejant gules Gules, three rabbits passant argent/Or Gules, three rabbits sejant argent/Or Gules, a rabbit rampant argent In most medieval cultures, arms which used a relatively rare charge were often canting arms, i.e., arms which have a pun or a play on words on the bearer's surname. [3] We therefore believe that your arms would be more likely to feature a rabbit or hare if your surname meant 'rabbit' or 'hare' or sounded like a word with one of these meanings. The French for 'rabbit' is and for 'hare' is (where the \ represents a grave accent over the previous letter). We found one example of the surname recorded in Paris in 1421, which provides evidence for these words being used as surnames. [8] There is a modern surname , which derives from the Occitan counterpart of . [9] We believe that is a possible surname for a Gascon woman of your period. However, because we haven't found clear examples of in Gascony in your period, we can't recommend it as the best historical re-creation. If you'd like to consider a different surname, the following source is the best we can recommend: "Names Found in Commercial Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520" http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/bordeaux.html Because Bordeaux is a port city with a lot of merchants and travelers, not all of the people recorded here are from Bordeaux, or even from France. We therefore recommend that you pick a surname only from the lists marked 'French'. As some of these names may also not be native French names, if you choose a surname from this list and write us again we'll be happy to confirm whether it's an appropriate choice. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and are sorry that we didn't find more information. Please don'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, Juliana de Luna, Arval Benicoeur, Ursula Georges, and Ari Ansson. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 16 August 2006 -- References: [1] Friedemann, Sara L., "Names Found in Commercial Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520" (WWW: Self-published, 1999-2003) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/bordeaux.html [2] Pastoureau, Michel, _Traite/ d'He/raldique_, 2nd ed. (Paris: grands manuels Picard, 1993), p. 135. [3] Woodward, John and George Burnett, _A Treatise on Heraldry British and Foreign_ (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1969), pp. 237-38, which has Dutch, German, and Portuguese examples of arms with rabbits. [4] Uckelman, Sara L. "Catalan Names from the 1510 census of Valencia" (WWW: Self-published, 2005-2006) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/spanish/valencia1510.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] The represents an with a diaresis. [7] Pastoureau, op. cit., p. 134, n. 42. [8] Friedemann, Sara L. (aka Aryanhwy merch Catmael), "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2002-2003). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/paris1423.html [9] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987), s.n. Le\bre [10] Berganton, Marcel-Franc,ois, _Le de/rive/ du nom individuel au Moyen A^ge en Be/arn et en Bigorre: usage officiel, suffixes et formations_ (Paris: E/ditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, 1977), p. 235. There is also a , which is not dated explicitly but is probably from roughly the same period. [11] de Boos, Emmanuel, _Armorial de Gilles le Bouvier He/raut Berry_ (Le Le/opard d'Or, 1995) fo. 118 no. 921 has Benac, "Gules, a coney argent." [12] Pastoureau, op. cit., p. 134, n. 42 gives a list, in order of frequency, the 38 types of animals found in the Armorial Gelre, compiled between roughly 1370 and 1414; there is no type of rabbit listed here. [13] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992), BEASTS. [14] Zenobia Naphtali, "Regional Style" in Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium, 1996, Montgomery, Alabama (SCA, Inc., 1996).