ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2286 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2286 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 9 May 2001 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a woman in late 13th century Genoa, and whether she might have used the arms "Azure, on a bend argent three roses proper". Here is what we have found. We're not sure if the name was used in northern Italy as early as your period. It was certainly in use in the Greek-speaking world, including parts of southern Italy; we've found it in Amalfi before 1100 [1] and in the Greek population of Crete in the late 14th century [2]. The name was familiar in northern Italy by your period as the name of a saint [3], but it doesn't show up in our compilations of early medieval Italian names. The earliest we've found in this region is in 14th century Venice [2, 4, 5]. may well have been used in late 13th century Genoa -- our lack of an example may just reflect our limited data from your period -- but we can't recommend it as good re-creation before the mid-14th century. Unfortunately, we also cannot recommend your byname "of the rose" without reservation. Although it is a modern Italian surname, according to a search of the web, we have not found a medieval example of it nor any other medieval byname based on the Italian word for "rose". Names of the same general form appeared in northern and central Italy by the 15th century, sometimes identifying a person by his residence or workplace, e.g. "from the churchyard" [6], "from the castle", "from the pine" [7]. (The backslash in the first example represents a long accent mark on the preceding letter.) One example from 1427 is quite similar to your name, [7], and there is a modern Italian surname [10]. These derive from and , which mean "red". We can't rule out a surname for someone who lived near a notable spread of rose bushes, but we haven't found any evidence that such a name was used. There is also a modern Italian surname [10]. We haven't found a period example of this name, but it is not implausible that a woman might have been known as . However, we would expect a woman of your period to be identified most often as her father's daughter. Clara the daughter of Rosso, for example, could have been known simply as or . If you'd like to consider other names better suited to your period, you can find some lists on the web. Feminine Given Names from Thirteenth Century Perugia http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/perugia/ 4300 Citizens of Pisa Swear to Maintain the Alliance with Siena, Pistoia and Poggibonsi http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/italia/pisani.html Your arms are lovely and quite consistent with the style of the medieval Italian heraldry we've studied [8]. Unfortunately, they are too similar to several sets of arms already registered by the SCA College of Arms [9], so if registering your arms is an important goal, you'll need to modify your design. You might consider these two simple variants: Azure, on a bend engrailed argent three roses proper. Azure, on a bend indented argent three roses proper. As far as we can tell, you could register either of these designs. We 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 Zenobia Naphtali, Adelaide de Beaumont, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Maridonna Benvenuti, Blaise de Cormeilles, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Giles Leabrook & Arval Benicoeur 9 May 2001 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Skinner, Patricia, "'And Her Name Was. . .?' Gender and Naming in Medieval Southern Italy" in_ Medevial Prosopography, History and Collective Biography_, vol. 20, 1999. [2] McKee, Sally, _Wills from Late Medieval Venetian Crete 1312-1420_, 3 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998, ISBN 0884022455). [3] Salvatori, Enrica, ed., "4300 Citizens of Pisa Swear to Maintain the Alliance with Siena, Pistoia and Poggibonsi" (WWW: Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University). Her source records a place called in two places: the header "Of the people of Santa Cristina", and the personal name . http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/italia/pisani.html [4] Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/ [5] "Christine de Pisan", Encyclopaedia Britannica (WWW: britannica.com, 1999-2001). Although she is associated with the court of Charles V of France, the poet was born in Venice in 1364. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=84609&tocid=0 [6] Talan Gwynek, "15th Century Italian Men's Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998). http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/italian15m.html [7] Ferrante laVolpe, _Men's names from Florence, 1427_ (WWW: Self-published, 1996; J. Mittleman, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto [8] A collection of 14th century arms from Siena includes several examples with a set of three charges on a bend, e.g. "Sable, on a bend Or three roundels gules" (1350), "Gules, on a bend sinister Or three crescents sable" (1344). This collection also has examples of roses used as a charges, e.g. "Sable, a fess compony Or and sable between three roses Or" (1389), as well as similar charges, e.g. "Or, a fess between three cinquefoils azure" (1357). Borgia, L., et. al., eds., _Le Biccherne : tavole dipinte delle magistrature senesi (secoli XIII-XVIII)_ (Roma : Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali, 1984). [9] You design conflicts with the arms of Andrea de Champs de Batailles "Azure, on a bend argent a unicorn's head palewise couped sable between two cinquefoils purpure". Changes to a set of charges on a bend can never count for more than one of the two differences required by the SCA College of Arms to avoid conflict. [10] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei cognomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1978), s.nn. Rossi, Rosa. --------------------------------------- Correction by Aryanhwy, 03 December 2006 The report originally had the forms , , and ; these forms result from the capitalization and spacing conventions used in source [7].