ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3383 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3383 ************************************ 12 Sep 2009 From: Jason Conklin Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! We apologize for the time it has taken to complete this letter, and hope that it is still useful. You asked us to recommend given names beginning with either C or K for a Norman woman born in Sicily near the time of the First Crusade. You also asked about patterns of locative bynames in the region. Here is what we have found. The political and cultural climate of Sicily and southern Italy in the 11th century was one of change and a great variety of influences. The island had been under rule of Arab emirs for more than a century, yet frequent revolts and divisions within the regime had gradually weakened the emirate. A gradual influx of Norman settlers and mercenaries (who had the support of established Lombard princes in southern Italy), through political strategy, military prowess and clever intermarriage practices, gradually eroded the power of the Muslim rulers. After a decades-long series of "see-saw" military campaigns, the Normans finally won the entire island in 1091. By 1130 Sicily had risen to the status of Norman kingdom under Roger II of Sicily, who also controlled the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (formerly ruled by the same Lombards who had supported the Normans' rise to power) in southern Italy. [1] This complex situation gave rise to a diverse mix of cultural influences that would have profoundly affected a Norman living in the region. We thus believe that women's names during this period might have drawn from several possible origins, including Norman, Lombard, and even Byzantine, North African, Egyptian, Iberian, or others. [2][3] However, because of the political rapport between Normans and Lombards and the documentation we have available, we recommend a Lombard name as the most plausible of these options. Such names would only have begun with the letter C, as names beginning with K would have been Greek in origin. Here are names we found beginning with the letter C that occurred in southern Italy before the year 1100: [4][5]                     Any of these names would be fine for you to use. These names beginning with C appeared in the 12th century: [4][5]                                                 Any of these names would be appropriate for someone born around or after 1100. Due to the political situation sketched out above, Normans during this period were more likely to use patronymic or group-identity bynames rather than locative ones; such names were used to help establish group identity and enhance political influence during the Normans' rise to power. [3] However, at least one instance of a locative byname is documented in southern Italy, so we believe that the use of locative bynames was known in the region. The pattern would appear with the given name followed by and the person's place of origin. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write 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 Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Bronwyn ferch Gwyn ap Rhys, Maridonna Benvenuti, Ursula Georges, Walraven van Nijmegen, Rousel Monk, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Riocus de Uuenetia 12 September 2009 ========== References [1] K{oe}ppen, Adolphus Louis. The World in the Middle Ages: An Historical Geography. Vol. 1. (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1856). [2] Brown, Gordon S. The Norman conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily. (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2003). [3] Drell, Joanna H. Cultural syncretism and ethnic identity: The Norman 'conquest' of Southern Italy and Sicily. Journal of Medieval History, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp.187-202 (1999). [4] Skinner, Patricia. "And Her Name Was...?": Gender and Naming in Medieval Southern Italy. Medieval Prosopography, Vol. 20 (1999). [5] Maridonna Benvenuti, "Feminine Names in Southern Italy" (WWW: Self-published, 2001) http://www.maridonna.com/onomastics/FEMSI/FEMSIintro.htm