ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1042 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1042 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 2 Jul 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about , which you want to use as a Portuguese woman's name for a persona set between 700 and 1350. Here is what we have found. We have not found evidence that was used in Portugal or anywhere in Iberia in your period. The earliest Iberian example we found is a recorded in 1559 [1]. The masculine form of the name was used in Italy as early as the 15th century [2], but we haven't found any earlier example. We think it is unlikely that either or the masculine form was used in your period; we recommend that you avoid it. The name is recorded as and in late 14th and early 15th century Portuguese records [3, 4], and as in Leonese records as early as the 12th century [8]. Portuguese first appeared as a written language in the mid-12th century, and the earliest examples of women's names (, ) are also common in Castille-Leon, so a name recorded in Leon in the 12th century was probably also available in Portugal. is a late 15th century Castillian spelling of the name [9], and we have not seen it in Portugal in period at all. As far as we can tell, double given names (or middle names) were not used in western Iberia in your period and not in Portugal until after 1600. We've found examples in southern France and Catalonia from the 11th century or so, but they don't seem to have spread westward until much later. (The name that you saw as the second element of a woman's name appears to be a patronymic byname, i.e. a surname that identifies the woman's father ). We found the place mentioned in a 15th century source as and as [3]. Your citation of from a historical map may be reasonable documentation for that spelling, but we can't be sure. We found a similar reference [10], taken from _Muir's Historical Atlas_, and while the political boundaries are correct, the spellings of place names have been modernized and anglicized in at least some cases. Unless you know that the author of your map used period spellings, you can't be sure what you've got. We recommend you use one of the 15th century spellings we located. The correct way to incorporate the placename into your name is ; the preposition contracts to when followed by a word beginning with a vowel. We have seen examples of that construction in 14th century records [3]. Women in Portugal were virtually always identified by a single name up until the late 11th century. Thereafter and until the end of the 13th century, women are routinely named in documents with a given name plus an identifying byname; in nearly all cases, the byname was based on the woman's father's name. Even among men (for whom much more data is available and whose names are considerably more diverse), local bynames (those based on placenames) do not appear until 1100 and are quite rare at least until the end of the 13th century [5]. Noblewomen using local bynames are recorded in 12th and 13th century records in Catalonia and Pallars [6, 7], but these areas were heavily influenced by French culture and probably aren't a good model for Portuguese naming in your period. In the late 14th and 15th centuries, we find Portuguese women using more complex names, including locatives and a few examples of a patronymic plus a locative [4]. Therefore, we believe that if you set your persona before 1300, the best choice would be a patronymic byname (one that identifies your father). For example, a woman , daughter of would have been known as . You can find some other examples of Portuguese men's names and their patronymic forms in the article Portuguese Names of the Late 14th Century http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/pedro/lopes.html If you'd like some other possibilities, write us again. If you want to use a locative byname, , then we recommend you set your persona in the mid- to late-14th century. We believe that this is a fine name for that period. 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 Pedro de Alcazar, Elsbeth Anne Roth, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 26 Jun 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Romera Iruela, Luis, and Ma. del Carmen Galbis Di/ez, _Catalogo de Pasajeros a Indias, Siglos XVI, XVII, y XVIII_ (Sevilla: Archivo General de Insias, 1980), vol. II, p.323, #4259. [2] Ferrante laVolpe, _Men's names from Florence, 1427_ (WWW: Self-published, 1996) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto. [3] Lopes, Ferna~o, _The English in Portugal: 1367-87: Extracts from the Chronicles of Dom Fernando and Dom Joa~o with an introduction, translation, and notes_, trans. Derek W. Lomax & R. J. Oakley )Warminster, England: Aris and Phillips Ltd, 1988). [4] Lopes, Ferna~o, _Chronique du Roi D. Pedro I/Cro'nica do Rei D. Pedro I_, ed. Giuliano Macchi, trans. to French and notes Jaqueline Steunou (Paris: E'ditiones du Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, 1985). [5] Robert Durand, "Le systeme Anthroponymique Portugais (re/gion du Bas-douro) du Xe au XIIIe sie\cle", pp. 103-120 in Sopena, Pascual Marti/nez, ed., _Antroponimia y Sociedad_: Sistemas de identificacio/n hispano-cristianos en los siglos IX a XIII_, Historie y Sociedad no. 46 (Valladolid, Spain: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and Universidad de Valladolid, 1995). [6] Arval Benicoeur, "Catalan Names from 12th and 13th Century Charters" (WWW: privately published, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/catalan/ [7] Lydia Marti/nez i Teixido/, La antroponimia nobiliaria del condado de Pallars en los siglos XI y XII, pp.327-350 in Sopena, Pascual Marti/nez, op. cit. [8] Menedez-Pidal, Ramon, _Crestomati'a del Espan~ol Medieval_ (Madrid: 1971). [9] De la Torre, Antonio, and E.A. de la Torre, _Cuentas de Gonzalo de Baeza, Tesorero de Isabel la Cato/lica_ (Madrid: Biblioteca Reyes Catolicos, 1956). [10] "Iberian Peninsula: The Reconquest, 1037-1270", Internet Medieval Sourcebook, accessed 23 June 1998. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/maps/1270spain.jpg - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Correction by Aryanhwy, 07 Feb 2009: Amended the report to make it clear that only is found in source [8], and not as well.