ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3220 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3220 ************************************ 15 Nov 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know how a man named who was from Friesland would have been known while in the employ of Edward III's army in Normandy during the first war of the Hundred Years War. Here is what we have found. As we noted in our earlier reply, how such a man would be called would depend on the language of the people he was with. As we expect that a Frisian man serving under Edward III would have been surrounded by English-speaking people, we have therefore focused on English names meaning 'John the Frisian'. During the 14th-century, we find both and used in English; either of these is a fine choice. [1] We did not find any English bynames which specific refer to Frisians or people from Friesland, but we did find examples of bynames meaning 'the Fleming', including c1150, and 1219, 1256 and 1296. [2,3] It may be that the English did not differentiate between people from different parts of the Low Countries, but rather called all of them Flemings. Either or is a reasonable spelling for the mid 14th century. Given that your persona is stationed in Normandy, he may also have been known by a French form of the name. The standard French form of is , and in the early 15th century we find the French byname 'of Friesland'. [4] We would not be surprised at all to find in the mid 14th century [5], and so we can recommend both and as authentic names. 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 Walraven van Nijmegen, Femke de Roas, Maridonna Benvenuti, Talan Gwynek, and Eleyne de Comnocke. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 15 November 2006 -- References: [1] Talan Gwynek, "Yorkshire Given Names from 1379" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1997). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/yorkshire/ [2] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Fleming [3] Uckelman, Sara L., "Names from 13th Century Northumberland" (WWW: Self-published, 2004-2006). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/northumberland.html [4] Friedemann, Sara L., "French Names from Paris, 1421, 1423 & 1438" (WWW: privately published, 2002-2003). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/paris1423.html [5] We found an Anglo-Norman example of in 1204; this combined with the early 15th-century example make it quite reasonable that was also used in the 14th century. [6] [6] Reaney & Wilson, op. cit., s.n. Freece