ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 778
http://www.s-gabriel.org/778
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* NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports *
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11 Apr 1998
From: Diana Slivinska
Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel!
Here is the information we have found on the name "Tommaso Valeriano,"
which you would like to use as an Italian name from between 1450 and
1600. You also asked whether there is a heraldic symbol that could
accompany the name.
"Tommaso" was a relatively common name in Florence in 1427. One source
notes 138 instances in 1427.(1) Another source shows a "Tommaso
Campanella" who lived from 1568 to 1639, as well as a "Tommaso De vio
Cajetan" who lived from 1469 to 1534.(2)
"Valeriani" is a variant of "Valeriano;" (3) these are most likely
derived from the Latin given name "Valerianus." It is also possible,
although less likely, that "Valeriano" could be the ethnic version of
the toponym "from Valera." Either of these seem plausible as period
bynames.
Thus, we believe that "Tommaso Valeriano" would be a good choice for an
Italian name from your period.
You wrote that you want arms that go with your surname. We're not quite
sure what you meant by this. We do not know if there were any Italian
families named "Valeriano" who bore arms in your period. If there were,
you could bear a differenced version of one of those arms, which would
say that you are a relative of the family that used them. Alternatively,
you could choose a central charge whose name (in Italian) sounds similar
to "Valeriano." This practice, a kind of pun, is called "canting" and
was quite common in period heraldry. We suggest two possibilities:
"Valle" is a valley; you might be able to develop a device based on the
image of a valley.
There is also an herb called Valerian. Its Latin name is 'Valeriana,'
implying that the Italian might be similar for it. It is a group of
flowering herbs with 20 species known in Europe. The most common is V.
officinalis, which is widespread and common throughout Europe. At least
three others: V. montana, V. saxatilis, and V. supina occur in the Alps
in the north of Italy. (4)
It is not an unattractive plant, just a standard sprig type thing with a
straight stalk with long-ish leaves which are kind of dagged ("the
leaves upon the stalkes greater, longer and deepeley gashed on either
side, like the leaves of the greater Parsenep" says the 1636 ed. and so
illustrates it). The plant is topped by a forking flourish of small
stems ending in small flowers "of colour whitish, and sometimes withall
of a light red."(5) If you would like to see what the plants look like,
there are pictures of these four species on-line at the Texas A&M
Vascular Plant Image Gallery,
http://www.isc.tamu.edu/FLORA/imaxxval.htm
If you choose to cant using Valerian, you should use the whole plant,
and not just the flowers -- they wouldn't be recognizable, whereas the
whole plant is quite distinctive.
We hope this letter has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist
you.
Zenobia Naphtali, William Castille, Arval d'Espas Nord, Walraven van
Nijmege, Lindorm Eriksson, Daniel of Tweed, Daniel de Lincoln, Talan
Gwynek, AElfwyn aet Gywrum and Lothar von Katzenellenbogen contributed
to this letter.
In service, Giulietta da Venezia
Academy of S. Gabriel
(1) Ferrante laVolpe, _Men's names from Florence, 1427_ (WWW:
Self-published, 1996).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto
(2) Colliers Encyclopedia, Volume 5, p118.
(3) De Felice, Emidio, Dizionario dei Cognomi Italiani, Arnoldo
Mondadori Editore, 1978.
(4) Flora Europea, Volume 4, Cambridge Univ. Press, UK, 1964.
(5) Woodward, Marcus, ed., Gerard's Herbal, Studio Editions Ltd,
London, 1994. Illustrations reproduced from a 1636 edition of the book,
as is most of the text.