ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3158 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3158 ************************************ 17 Aug 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if or is an appropriate name for a French woman living between 1300 and 1500, and if she could have borne the arms "Azure, a chaplet of lilies argent, surmounted by a fleur-de-lys Or". You specifically wondered whether a gold fleur-de-lys on a blue field would have been used by someone outside the French royal line. Here is what we have found. The earliest French examples of that we've found are from 1607 and 1612. [1] It's not impossible that the name was used earlier, though; the corresponding masculine form, , is found in Paris in 1292 and again in the early 15th century, and the practice of feminizing a masculine name by repeating the final consonant and adding <-e> was fairly common. [2,3] Locative bynames (ones based on a place name) were quite common in medieval France. We found examples of in early 15th century Paris, so that's a fine choice for your byname. [3,5] We found two examples of men named in Bordeaux between 1470 and 1520. [4] While was originally found in the south of France, it gave rise to a surname which has become widespread throughout all of the country, and so we believe that is a plausible byname for the north, at least by the end of your period. [6] A French woman during your period would have typically had just one byname. In the early part of your period, when bynames were still being used as literal descriptives, it might be possible that you were known in some circumstances as and in others . Towards the end of your period, when bynames in French had by and large become fixed, inherited surnames, you would most likely have been known as either of these, but not both. The pronunciation of these elements changed over the period of time that you are interested in. If you decide to narrow your period, please write us again and we'll be happy to research how your name would have been pronounced in that narrower period. Fleurs-de-lys were very common charges in France in your period (and in Italy, England, and most places where heraldry was used). If you are using the fleur-de-lys to say "I am French", then you may want to consider another charge: They had no such meaning in period. In modern insignia, it is routine to use a fleur-de-lys to represent the French or a thistle for the Scottish. In our period, this sort of nationalist symbology didn't really exist. In particular, the fleur-de-lys was used in all nations and carried no implication of "Frenchness". The ancient arms of France are "Azure semy-de-lys Or" and the modern arms are "Azure, three fleurs-de-lys Or". Use of three or more gold fleurs-de-lys on a blue field does very strongly suggest a connection with the French royal family. However, we don't believe that a single fleur-de-lys Or on an azure field is problematic. We haven't found any information about the use of lilies or chaplets in French heraldry, so we cannot say whether your entire design is appropriate. 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 Juliana de Luna, Talan Gwynek, and Rian mag Uidir. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 17 August 2006 -- References: [1] Uckelman, Sara L., "Late Period French Feminine Names" (WWW: Self-published, 2005) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/latefrench.html [2] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [3] Friedemann, Sara L., "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2002-2003). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/paris1423.html [4] Friedemann, Sara L., "Names Found in Commercial Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520" (WWW: privately published, 2000). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/bordeaux.html [5] You said that you'd chosen because you believed that this is an older form of . That is actually a misconception. is derived from the Old English 'wide, broad, vast' and 'island, land surrounded by water' (where the represents the long ); the arises from the use of the inflected form of in the compound. While "The name is usually derived from St Denis (Normandy)... proof is lacking. The only evidence noted is: 1212, 14th ArchC 29 and this is certainly not conclusive." [6] [6] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995) s.n. Sidney.