ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3168 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3168 ************************************ 15 Feb 2007 From: Guaire mac Guaire Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help developing an authentic name for an Italian woman living between 1400 and 1600, and wanted to know if is a suitable choice. You said you chose this name based on its similarity to the name of the poet who served in the Medici Court in Florence in the 1400s. Here is what we have found. The poet was named at birth, and changed his name to the Latin form in adolescence, following the Humanist custom of the time. [1] refers to the location Montepulciano, whose Latin name is . is an Italian form of . We have no record that the poet was ever known by both family names ( and ) at the same time during our period; it may be that is a modern combination of convenience. Therefore, is not an appropriate base upon which to build an authentic name and so we cannot recommend . However, we have alternatives you may find acceptable. We found in use in Florence as a feminine given name in 1427. [2] We also found an example of in Venetian Crete in 1381. [3] , pronounced roughly as \EES-ah-bell-ah\, is a fine given name for an Italian woman from Florence during our period. We found the given names [2][4], [5][6] and [7] in use during the period. From these you could construct a patronymic byname (one indicating your father's name) such as , or . Consistent with period practice [7], the adjectival locative name, , could be appended to arrive at a name meaning 'daughter of Ambruogio (or Ambrogio or Angelo) of Poliziano'. Since we don't have an example of as a given name, would not be appropriate. The options we recommend combine with one of the following: , pronounced roughly \dee ahm-broh- DJEE-oh poh-lee-tsee-AH-noh\; , pronounced roughly \dee ahm-bru-DJEE-oh poh-lee-tsee-AH-noh\; or , pronounced roughly \dee AHN-djeh-loh poh-lee-tsee-AH- noh\. If you will consider a less complex name, we recommend , pronounced roughly as \EES-ah-bell-ah poh-lee- tsee-AH-nah\. Any of these would be a fine name for an Italian woman from Florence during the period 1400-1600. 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 Adelaide de Beaumont, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Mari neyn Brian, Maridonna Benvenuti, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Guaire mac Guaire X February 2007 ----------- References: [1] Mercier, Ste/phanie. "Un ange au secours du portique", Folia Electronica Classica_ t11., January-June 2006, p.2. http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/FE/11/Politien.pdf [2] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427", (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998); s.n. . http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto/ [3] McKee, Sally, "Wills from Late Medieval Venetian Crete 1312- 1420", 3 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998, ISBN 0884022455). p. 896 [4] Ferrante laVolpe, "Men's names from Florence, 1427", (WWW: Self- published, 1996; Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/ [5] Friedemann, Sara L., "Names from Arezzo, Italy, 1386-1528", (WWW: Self-published, 2003); Naming patterns. http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/italian/arezzo.html [6] Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Italian Given Names from the Online Tratte of Office Holders 1282-1532", (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 2001). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/italian/florence1282-1532.html [7] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Italian Men's Names in Rome, 1473-1484", (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 2003). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/Studium/