ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3149 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3149 ************************************ 11 Aug 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for an Englishman living in the mid to late 14th century. You also wanted to know if "Gules, a lion rampant argent and on a chief sable three mullets argent" is an appropriate coat of arms, and said that you'd be willing to use a wyvern instead of a lion. You also wanted to know if a lion-dragon is an appropriate charge for this period. Here is the information we have found. You've picked a lovely name for your period. In Latin records from 14th-century Worcestershire, is the second most popular man's name. [1] In the 1319 taxation of London, also written in Latin, is also the second most popular man's name. [2] In Anglo-Norman contexts we find 'Rauf the son of William' in 1299, and in 1300. [3] We can therefore recommend as an excellent choice for your given name; in Latin contexts, this would have been spelled or . The city of Shoreham is recorded as in 1156 and 1275 [4]; we didn't find examples with the internal until after your period. We don't, however, recommend the combination of and . In circumstances where your byname was recorded as , we'd expect to see one of the Latinized forms of the given name. Alternatively, with the Anglo-Norman spelling , we'd expect to see the English preposition, . While most of the elements of your armorial design are appropriate for the 14th century, we cannot recommend the entire design. Placing a sable (black) chief on a gules (red) field violates the so-called Rule of Tincture, which says that dark charges cannot lie on dark fields, and light charges cannot lie on light fields. We've therefore discussed alternative designs using these elements below, after first discussing each individual element. Lions have always been extremely popular charges in English heraldry. In an early 14th century roll of arms containing 89 coats of arms, there are 9 lions. [5] We also found two 13th-century coats of arms with wyverns, and two with dragons, so these are also fine choices for your period. [6] We also found a number of examples of charged chiefs used in combination with a central primary charge, and a number of examples of mullets. [7,8] Based on this, we can recommend the following: Gules, a lion rampant and on a chief argent three mullets sable Sable, a lion rampant and on a chief argent three mullets gules Argent, a lion rampant sable and on a chief gules three mullets argent Argent, a lion rampant gules and on a chief sable three mullets argent As well as any of these designs with a wyvern or dragon instead of a lion. We did not find any examples of lion-dragons in your period, so we recommend that you don't use them. We hope that this letter has been useful to you have 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 Ursula Georges, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, Juliana de Luna, and Ari Ansson. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 11 August 2006 -- References: [1] Uckelman, Sara L., "14th Century Worcestershire Names" (WWW: Self-published, 2002, 2005) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/worc14.html [2] Uckelman, Sara L., "Index of Names in the 1319 Subsidy Roll of London" (WWW: Self-published, 2006) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/london1319.html All the names in this subsidy roll are recorded in the ablative; is the expected nominative form of ablative . [3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. William [4] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.n. Shoreham [5] Iago ab Adam, "A Caerlaverock Roll of Arms" (WWW: Self-published, 2001, 2006) http://members.shaw.ca/yagowe/caerlaverock/ [6] Brian Timms, 'European Rolls of Arms of the Thirteenth Century' (WWW: privately published, 2005). http://perso.modulonet.fr/~briantimms/era/armsrollsblazons.htm Gules three wyverns argent John de Fulbourn GA 11 Or on a bend sable three wyverns argent Edmund de Mauley ST 93 Argent a dragon rampant gules Simon de Grez Vicomte de Corbeil WN 30 Gules a dragon rampant argent Baudouin de Corbeil WN 31 [7] ibid, Argent a saltire and on a chief sable three cinquefoils or Walter de Corry Q 543 Argent an eagle displayed on a chief azure a lion passant argent Athelward FitzEdmund HE 588 Argent crusilly of crosses crosslet sable on a chief gules two mullets or Roger de St John GA 168 Argent fretty sable on a chief sable three bezants Amaury de Saint Amand B 199 Azure a saltire and on a chief argent two martlets gules James de Torthorald GA 174 Azure an eagle displayed on a chief or a lion passant azure Wichard FitzEdmund HE 589 Azure semy de lis on a chief or a lion rampant issuant gules Kind de Rudesheim WN 635 Azure semy de lis on a chief or dexter a lion passant gules Guillaume II de Rudesheim WN 737 Azure semy de lis on a chief or four martlets gules Blie de Rudesheim WN 739 [8] ibid, Azure three mullets argent William Hansard C 67 Azure three mullets argent Nicholas de Benetby B 126 Azure three mullets argent Earl of Moray Azure three mullets or William Grandin D 177 Azure three mullets or a label gules William Grandin A 114 Checky argent and azure on a bend gulles three mullets or Pierre Escabres VE 70 Checky or and azure on a fess gules three mullets argent Walter de Capel E 227 F 415 Ermine on a chief gules three mullets or Richard de Hotot E 419 F 318 Gules a chevron between three mullets argent --- F 284