ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3257 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3257 ************************************ 16 Feb 2007 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if the surname is an authentic choice for an Italian woman living between 1100 and 1400, noting that you'd found a Roman named who had a monument built to him in the 2nd century. Here is what we have found. We'd first like to clear up a misconception you have - the reference to or that you found is not to a man named , but rather to the name of a Romanian village. The name is a Romanian adaption of a Turkish name meaning 'the church of man'. [1,2] So this shouldn't be taken as an example of the surname . The Italian village that you found, , is the 'New Villa on the Clisi'. appears to be an older form of , which is the name of a river in Lombardy. [3,4,5] In a 13th century copy of a 4th century map, the river is recorded as . Other early spellings include and , as well as 838, 9th century, and , 1085. [6] However, we haven't found any examples of Italian family names based on river names, so we cannot recommend or as authentic surnames. If you'd like to consider a choice which is related to by meaning, we can offer , which we find in late-period Viterbo. [7] This is 'of the church', where , like Turkish is from the Greek word . This byname would be suitable for the last part of your period. 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 Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, and Coblaith Mhuimhneach. For the Academy -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 16 February 2007 -- References: [1] "The Museum Complex of Adamclisi" (WWW: Cjc.ro, no date) http://www.cjc.ro/engleza/adamen~1.htm [2] "Adamclisi" (WWW: Wikipedia.org, 13 December 2006) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adamclisi [3] Medaglia, Diamante, _Versi_ [1740?-1760?] (Salo\: B. Righetti, 1774) http://colet.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/asp/bldr/getobject_? c.42:1:9./projects/artflb/databases/efts/IWW/fulltext/IMAGE/ [4] "Villanuova sul Clisi" (WWW: Lago di Garda, no date) http://www.lagodigarda.it/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=136&Itemid=74〈=en [5] "Villanuova sul Clisi" (WWW: Il Garda, no date) http://eng.ilgarda.net/content/view/full/499? PHPSESSID=b32ca938735ff80e6d5972f21d7300bb [6] _Dizionario di toponomastica. Storia e significato dei nomi geografici italiani._ (Torino: UTET LIbreria, 2006), s.n. Chiese [7] _Testi viterbesi dei secoli XIV, XV e XVI_, a cura di Paola Sgrilli; postfazione di Alfredo Stussi. (Viterbo: Sette citta\, 2003.)