ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2481 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2481 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 12 Apr 2002 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for a Welsh woman living between 1200 and 1350, how it would have been spelled, and what shorter forms of the name might have been used. You also asked whether foxes were used in medieval Welsh heraldry. Here is what we have found. The vast majority of evidence of 13th and early 14th century Welsh personal names comes from legal records written in Latin by English scribes. We must therefore first examine the naming patterns and spellings in the data and then consider how much they were influenced by English customs. In or near your period, we have found several spellings of the name that is spelled in modern Welsh: Meuanov, Meuanou 1292 (the 'u' represents the sound \v\) [1] Mevanoy, Mevanwy 13th-14th century [2] Mavanny 1406 [3] All of these spellings are partially Anglicized. We have found no Welsh-context spellings from your period, but we can recommend either or as likely spellings, pronounced \m@-VAHN-oo\ or \m@-VAHN-wee\, respectively [4]. \@\ represents the sound of in or and \oo\ represents the sound in or . You mentioned finding a reference to a historical , in that spelling, married to an English court officer in the mid-14th century. We can't tell you about specific historical individuals; but we are fairly certain that your source must have modernized the spelling of the name. Most historians do that. The spellings , , and all occur in 13-14th c. records (as well as a variety of abbreviations), although is the rarest (and is probably a somewhat Latinized spelling). Preference between and seems to depend on the particular document (although both may appear in the same one), but overall seems to be the most widespread in Anglo-Latin documents [1]. For a Welsh-language spelling, we recommend , which appears in contemporary Welsh literature [6]. The name was pronounced \TEHW-door\, where \oo\ represents the sound of the vowel in . We recommend as the Welsh spelling of that word most typical of your period. However, it's worth noting that names were more often written with the Latin or with abbreviated to (where the '3' here represents the letter yogh, which looks like an elongated numeral '3'). [12,13] was pronounced \VAIRKH\, where \KH\ stands for the raspy sound in the Scottish word or German . The modern Cwrt-y-cadno is in the commote (district) of Caeo in Carmarthenshire. Finding evidence that a particular place name was used in 13th-14th century Wales is pretty much a matter of luck. We don't have any sources from that region and period which are detailed enough to show minor places; and we haven't found a period example of this name. It is an entirely plausible period place name for your period. The Anglo-Norman word had been borrowed into Welsh by then as or "court, mansion, courtyard, enclosure". "fox" is also attested in this period [5]. The format "A of the B" is well-attested in 13th century documents, e.g. for modern "Bettws-y-Coed" and for "Tyddin-yr-Hengaer" [1]. Because is a borrowed term, place names based combining it with Welsh elements couldn't predate the 12th century and are perhaps more likely to have developed somewhat later; but on balance, is a plausible 13th or 14th century Welsh place name. In English-context records, it might have been spelled or [7]. It was pronounced \KOORT uh KAHD-noh\. Most Welsh names in documents from your period include only a given name and patronymic byname. Locatives (bynames based on a placename) were rare in Welsh-context documents throughout our period. In Anglo-Latin documents, the place name tended to be used without the preposition when the locative was the only byname, but with when there was another byname present. Thus, your name is most likely to have been recorded as or as . However, in a Welsh context, it is far more likely that you would have been identified just as your father's daughter, . Foxes weren't common charges in British heraldry in our period, and seem to have been particularly rare in Welsh heraldry [9]. They first appear in English arms in the 14th century. One example probably comes from either Wales or Cornwall: John Nanfan sealed on 2 January 1438 with "Three foxes passant" [10]. Another reference may reveal another Welsh example a few decades later [8]. Some of the earlier English examples are [11]: John Morgan (seal on a charter of 1316) three foxes passant in bend John de Rayngton (seal, 1375) a chevron between three foxes couchant Seal from Borham, Essex (1378-80) two foxes passant Clyse (c.1450) Azure, a fox rampant argent. French (c.1450) Per pale sable and azure, a fox rampant argent. Unattributed (c.1460) Azure, a fox salient carrying off a goose... We can't recommend a fox as a good choice for 13th century arms. It is plausible for the 14th century, but would have been unusual. Overall, it isn't the best choice for medieval Welsh arms. Among the books you mentioned using in your own research was Theresa Norman, Names Through the Ages. We've found that work to be extremely unreliable -- more misleading than informative. The general historical discussions are reasonably good, but the name lists themselves are very poor, containing modern inventions, names assigned to the wrong time or language, and other errors. Our estimate is that no more than a quarter to half of the names in any list are actual historical names from the time and place indicated. It is not a reliable source for information about medieval names and naming customs. 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 Elsbeth Anne Roth, Will Dekne, Talan Gwynek, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, and Aryanhwy merch Catmael. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 5 Apr 2002 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Williams-Jones, Keith, _The Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll 1292-3_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1976). [2] Ellis, Henry, _The Record of Caernarvon_ (Public Records Commission, 1838). [3] Roberts, Glyn, "The Anglesey Submissions of 1406" in _Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies_, vol. XV (1952) pp.39-60. [4] Academy of Saint Gabriel report 2311 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2311 [5] _Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, several dates), s.vv. cwrt, cadno. [6] Jones, Thomas ed., _Brut y Tywysogyon or The Chronicle of the Princes_ (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1952). [7] Hopkins, Anthony, "The Lay Subsidy of 1292: Monmouth and the Three Castles" in _Studia_Celtica_ 30: 189-196, 1996. This Anglo-Latin document contains an example of as a personal nickname, probably representing Welsh . [8] Siddons, v.II, p.57, appears to indicate that the earliest mention of Welsh arms bearing foxes dates to the early part of Henry VII's reign, but the mention there is of arms that were said to have been in use for some time at that date. [9] Siddons, Michael Powell, _The Development of Welsh Heraldry_, 3 vols. (Aberystwyth: The National Library of Wales, 1991-3). In his appendix H, he analyzes the use of animal charges in heraldry created by Welsh heralds (as opposed to arms originally from England or arms granted to Welshmen by English heralds). The majority of the arms he considered contained animal charges -- 69% before 1500, 77% in 1501-88. He reports examples of these beasts, in order of frequency: lions (overwhelmingly the most common beast), gryphon, boar, wolf, eagle, crow, man (including angel), stag. [10] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992), p.294. [11] Chesshure and Woodcock, pp.203, 266, 294. Woodcock, Thomas, Janet Grant, & Ian Graham, _Dictionary of British Arms_, vol II. (The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1996), p.295. [12] Unpublished research of Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn. [13] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html [14] "Filiae and Meibion: Differential Latinization of Women's and Men's Relationships in Medieval Welsh Legal Records" by Heather Rose Jones (presented at the 37th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University) ------- Correction by Aryanhwy 30 Jun 06: Added footnotes [12], [13] and [14]