ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2310 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2310 ************************************ 19 May 2001 From: Judith Phillips Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us whether <Michaela the Subtle> would be an appropriate name for a 16th century Italian woman. Here is the information we found. Feminine forms of the name <Michael> appear to have been rare in period Italy. We did find two examples of the name <Michaleta Venetando>, possibly the same woman, from the mid-14th century; she (or they) appears from context to be Venetian [1]. We also found a single example of <Michelina> from 15th century Florence [2]. As you noted, <Catalina Micaela> was the name of a daughter of Philip II of Spain, born in 1567 [3]; this is the only example of the name <Michaela> that we found in either Italy or Spain. The name <Micola> appears to be unrelated to masculine <Michael>; it is either a variant of <Nicola> [4] or an Italian form of Jewish <Micol>, from the Old Testament name <Mikal> [5]. You also asked us about the byname <the Subtle>. <Subtle> is not, of course, an Italian word, but there are several Italian surnames that suggest the meaning "sly, clever, sharp, shrewd". The names <Acuto>, <Scaltrito>, <Astuto>, <Avveduto>, <Accorti>, and <Ingegno> all carry the connotation "sharp", while <Esperto>, <Spierto>, and <Navigato> have the sense "clever". We believe that all of these names might have been used either literally, for a clever person, or ironically, for someone who wasn't very "sharp" at all! <Acuto> was definitely used in your period: we have an example of <John Hawkwood>, aka <Giovanni Acuto>, from 15th century Florence. [6] <Avveduti> appears in 15th century Florence as well [7]. Either <Michelina Acuto> or <Michelina Avveduti> would be a fine name for you. <Michaleta> could be used with either surname as well, although our sole example is a full century earlier than either surname and from Venice rather than Florence; <Michelina> is temporally and geographically more consistent. I hope that this letter has been useful to you. Please feel free to contact us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have any further questions. I was assisted in writing this letter by Maridonna Benvenuti, Juliana de Luna, Arval Benicoeur, Julie Stampnitzky, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Talan Gwynek For the Academy, Adeliza de Saviniaco 19 May 2001 -------------------------------- References: [1] McKee, Sally, _Wills from Late Medieval Venetian Crete 1312-1420_, 3 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1998, ISBN 0884022455). [2] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1998) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto [3] "Catalina Micaela" (WWW: Ediciones Dolmen, S.L, 2000). http://www.artehistoria.com/historia/personajes/5676.htm [4] Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1999) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/ [5] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei nomi italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992). s.n.Micol [6] Fucilla, Joseph G., _Our Italian Surnames_ (Evanston, IL: Chandlers' Inc., 1949). p. 28-29 [7] Ferrante laVolpe, "Family Names Appearing in the Catasto of 1427" (WWW: Self-published, 1996; J. Mittleman, 1999) http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto/family_names.html