ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 896 http://www.s-gabriel.org/896 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 26 Apr 1998 From: Jaymi Bouziden Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel. You asked for information on the Flemish feminine name , as used in 1350-1450. You also asked if your proposed arms "Per chevron rayonne, pean and Or, in base a lion (or panther) rampant sable", were appropriate for your persona. While we were unable to find examples of in this exact spelling, we did find a number of Flemish versions of the name in your period, including Christina Cristina Stina Styenken [1,2] However, we also found examples of interchangability of the initial K/C or K/Ch in Flemish names: /, /, and /, all found in Bruges in 1400-1550. [1] So is a plausible variant spelling of , at least for the second half of your period. We found no evidence of a town called in period; therefore we doubt that is a likely period byname. [3] In fact, we could find very few instances of <-burg> towns at all, and nothing that followed the pattern [bird]+[town ending]. There are far too many Flemish cities for us to provide you with a full list of alternatives, but we do have two suggestions. If you have access to a large public or university library or to interlibrary loan, you might try to locate a copy of Josef Bossu's _Vlaanderen in Oude Kaarten: Drie Eeuwen Cartografie_ (Tielt : Lannoo, 1983), which contains numerous late-period and just-post-period maps of Flanders. Or, if you would write us with a specific set of parameters for a town (coastal, wooded, hilly, on a major canal, large, small, initial letter of the name, main industry, etc.), we would be happy to provide you with a short list of period locations. Unfortunately, if your goal is to register arms with the SCA College of Heralds, we must note that your proposed design, "Per chevron, pean and Or, in base a lion (or panther) rampant sable", conflicts with the arms of Flanders, "Or, a lion rampant sable". Your proposed design also has a number of elements that are unusual in Flemish armory. We found no examples of pean in Flemish armory. [4] Ermine, however, is rather common; in the 13-16th centuries ermine was found in 6% of armory in the Flemish countries (i.e., Flanders, Hainaut, Hesbaye, etc.). [5] So using ermine rather than pean would be more consistant with period practice. Divided fields are very rare in Flemish armory, at least the two-part kinds. Most divided fields are bendy, barry, chequy, paly, etc. Chevrons are quite common, as are fesses and chiefs. [6] We have found no instances of rayonny at all in Flemish arms. As we mentioned before, divided fields are uncommon; in those we did find, plain lines, engrailed, or indented lines of division are used. [4] Lions, on the other hand, are a popular element in Flemish armory. We found examples of lions rampant and passant (with one, three, or, in one case, six), and even a few queue-forchy. We also found a few lion's heads and demi-lions. Sable was one of the more popular colours for lions. Or and gules are also popular; argent, azure, and vert were much less common. As a stylistic note, lions sable are often armed and langed (clawed and tongued) gules. In fact, a large number of the lions we found are armed and langued in a different color than the lion itself. [6] In light of all this, we can suggest a few possible alternatives. Sable, issuant from a fess ermine, a demi-lion rampant Or. (A black background with the upper half of a gold lion arising from an ermine broad horizontal band in the middle of the field; ermine is white with black ermine-tail spots.) Ermine, issuant from a fess sable, a demi-lion rampant gules. (An ermine background with the upper half of a red lion arising from a black broad horizontal band in the middle of the field.) Ermine, a lion rampant (azure, sable, gules or vert), debruised by a bendlet (colour of choice, except argent). (An ermine background with a blue, black, red or green lion, with a thin diagonal band running from upper left to lower right over everything.) [7] We could find no SCA conflict with any of these, as of the date of this letter. If you would like more information on Flemish armory, you might want to look at these publications. Walraven van Nijmegen. "Analysis, Armorial, and Ordinary of Armory Recorded in Paul Bergman's _Armorial de Flandre du XVIme Siecle_". WWW : B. Speer, 1997. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/bergmans.html Gelre. _Wapenboek Gelre = Gelre: B.R. Ms. 15652-56_. Leuven : J. van Helmont, 1992. Fourez, Lucien. _Armorial de Huldenberg_. Leuven : J. van Helmont, 1994. Raneke, Jan. _Bergshammarvapenboken: en Medeltidsheraldisk Studie_, 2 vols. Lomma : fo:rf., Vallg. 3, 1975. We hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if you have any more questions or if any of this letter has been unclear. Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, Lindorm Eriksson, Arval Benicoeur, Zenobia Naphtali, Margaret Makafee, and AElfwyn aet Gyrwum contributed research and commentary for this letter. For the Academy, Livia Montgomery _____________________________ [1] Toddekyn, Loveday. "Flemish Names from Bruges, 1400-1600". WWW : The Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996. http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/bruges [2] Van der Velden, G.M. _Het Oudste Cijnsregister van de Abdij van Berne uit 1376_. 's-Hertogenbosch : Rijksarchief in Noord-Brabant, 1982. [3] You mentioned that Napoleon forced last names on the people in the Netherlands. Apparently this was not taken very seriously by Dutchmen, who made up names for the registration officials and then forgot them later. For more information, see Loren Lemmen's _Names from the Netherlands_ (Lansing, Mich. : L. Lemmen, 1986). [4] This information comes from an inspection of Gelre. _Wapenboken Gelre = Gelre: B.R. Ms. 15652-56_ (Leuven : J. van Helmont, 1992). [5] Pastoureau, Michel. _Traite\ d'Heraldique_, 2nd ed. Paris : Grands Manuels Picard, 1993. [6] Walraven van Nijmegen. "Analysis, Armorial, and Ordinary of Armory Recorded in Paul Bergman's _Armorial de Flandre du XVIme Siecle_". WWW : B. Speer, 1997. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1336/bergmans.html [7] A "bendlet" is drawn noticably thinner than the standard ordinary "bend" and is not used in SCA blazon; "bend" is used. However, photo- copies from Gelre (see above) can be used for documentation to justify the artwork with the skinny bend if necessary. ______________________________