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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked our opinion of "Conradin Krieghauer" as an 11th to 14th century Schwabisch name, and about your ideas for your arms. Here's what we've found.
Before I address the details of your questions, let me pass on the Academy's thanks for telling us so much about your persona and your re-creational interests. That kind of information makes our job much easier.
Your given name <Conradin> is perfectly appropriate for your persona. It is recorded in Bohemia in 1193 in the Latin form <Conradinus> [1], and was used by a 13th century German king of Jerusalem. The father of that king, by the way, was named <Konrad>, so it is probable that <Konradin> was considered a diminutive of <Konrad>. <Konrad> itself was a very common name through your period; it is recorded in various forms, including these [1, 2, 3]:
Cu:nradus (1277, 'u:' represent a u-umlaut)
Cunradus (1200-1250)
Konrad (15th century)
You needn't worry about the fact that <Konradin> was used by the Hohenstaufens. Given names were virtually never unique to a single family, and the fact that a name was used by royalty may well have increased its popularity among the rest of the population, just as it does today.
As far as we can tell, <Krieghauer> is not a correct medieval descriptive byname. In fact, it probably doesn't capture the meaning you intend. We're guessing that you want it to mean "war-axeman". The word <der Haue> does sometimes mean "axe", but it is a rare usage and more precisely means "hatchet". The more common meaning of <der Haue> is "spanking", and the phrase "haue kriegen" means "to get a good hiding or spanking". We suspect that you didn't mean to call yourself "Conradin Goodspanker".
If you want a byname which has something to do with warfare, we can suggest a few possibilities. There are many forms of <Krieg> or <Krieger> which were used in period. The following examples demonstrate the variation in spelling and usage [1, 4]:
Gerlachus dictus Krigere (later Krieger) 1312 (Mainz)
Jorge der Chrigler 1293 (Wien)
Cu:nradus dictus Chrieg 1277
Henricus dictus Krieg 1290
Johannes dir Chriegere 1254 = Johannes Chriegre 1261 = Jo. Krieger
Johannes Criec 1260
Wernherus et Johannes dicti Krieger 1289
The word <dictus> means "called", so the first name means "Gerlach called Warrior". It was quite common for bynames to be recorded this way in medieval documents in certain periods.
If you're looking for a slightly more unusual byname, you might consider <Zuckeswert>, literally "draw-sword", recorded in Strassburg in 1300; or <Howenschilt> "hew-shield", recorded in 1350 [4].
A name like <Conradin der Chrigler> would be very appropriate for your period.
You wrote that you are interested in using a crossed sword and bishop's crook on your arms. This combination is not likely to have been used in your period. Swords are reasonably common, but we found no examples of bishop's crooks in arms. We did find examples of crooks crossed behind the arms of bishops, but that would not be an appropriate model for Society arms. We found a number of examples of arms containing a pair of identical charges crossed X-wise ("in saltire"); that appears to have been a fairly common design in period German arms [5].
Your choice of colors for the sword and crook is also problematic. The heraldic palette is divided into two basic categories: metals, the light hues silver/white and gold/yellow, and colors, the dark hues red, blue, black, and less commonly green and purple. Most medieval armory can be described by a basic rule of design called "the rule of tinctures", which says that a metal charge is placed on a color field and vice versa. This rule has the effect of providing strong contrast between charge and field, and thus improving visibility. When a charge is tinctured in a mixture of metal and color, it is difficult for it to show up well against any background. So all other things being equal, we advise against mixed-color charges like "a sword argent hilted sable" or a gold and black bishop's crook.
You seem to be trying to assign a specific significance to each component of your arms: the sword because you are a warrior, the crook because you feel a connection to the church. This is not the best approach to heraldic design. The idea that each charge has specific symbolism is a development of the 18th and 19th centuries, not the Middle Ages. For the Society's purposes, it is more important that your arms fit the general style of medieval German heraldry; and the hallmarks of that style were simplicity, balance, and unity of design. For example, rather than a pair of different charges crossed in saltire, medieval arms more often used a pair of identical charges.
We could suggest some specific designs for you to consider, and if you are interested, we'd be happy to do so. But since you are so newly come to the Society, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the medieval style of armory before you focus on specifics. You can find a collection of pictures of medieval German arms on the web at
<http://people.delphi.com/ivanor/zroaen0.htm>
If you can read blazons, another list of arms can be found at
<http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/sturm.html>
Another large collection has been published [5]. This book may be difficult to find, but it's worth trying: It contains several thousand pictures of period German arms. You might also want to read Compleat Anachronist #22 "Heraldry", a general introduction to medieval heraldic design and how it can be used in the Society. It is available from the SCA stock clerk for a few dollars; an order form is on-line at
Compleat Anachronist is listed on the second page of the order form.
I hope this letter has been useful. I was assisted in preparing this letter by Zenobia Naphtali and Talan Gwynek. If you have any further questions, please write us again. We'll be happy to help.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
Reference
[1] Socin, Adolf, Mittelhochdeutsches Namenbuch. Nach oberrheinischen
Quellen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts (Basel: Helbing &Lichtenhahn, 1903; Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), p.49.
[2] Talan Gwynek, "German Given Names 1200-1250" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997).
[3] Talan Gwynek, "Late Period German Masculine Given Names" (WWW:
J. Mittleman, 1997).
[4] Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann, Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen
familiennamen (Limburg a. d. Lahn, C. A. Starke-Verlag, 1957-1960).
[5] Siebmacher, Johann, Dem Wappenbuch, 2 vol., Horst Appuhn ed. (Dortmund:
Harenberg Kommunikation, 2nd ed., 1989).