ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 778 http://www.s-gabriel.org/778 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 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.