ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1083 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1083 ************************************ 15 Jul 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for help choosing a name suitable for a 15th century Burgundian woman, ideally with a given name meaning "white" or "lily" and with the surname . You also asked about , which you sister wants to use, and about arms that you and your sister want to share, containing a pair of deer rampant back-to-back. Here is what we have found. You actually wrote that you want your persona to be set in Burgundy "around the time when ladies were going crazy with conical hats". We guess you're talking about the hennin, which was fashionable in Burgundy in the early 15th century, so we're going to focus on that period. is not a French name; it is English, probably originally a nickname for . and other spellings appear in 13th century English records. From a fairly early date, the name was associated with the flower, which had important religious symbolism for Christians, and the flower-word was used to invent new names like in the 19th century [1, 11]. If you want a French name that means "white", you might want to consider , which is identical to the French word "white". It was a fairly common name in 13th century France and we believe it continued in use at least as late as the 15th century [2, 3]. An example is recorded in southern France in the 14th century, and the name remains in use today [5, 8]. Of course, the connection between the name and the word was no closer than the connection between the modern name and the word ; but it was certainly just as evident to contemporary French speakers. The standard French form of is . That name was recorded in Champagne in the 13th century and in Normandy in the 16th century [9, 10] and was certainly in continuous use in between. It would be a fine choice for your sister's period. This name doesn't mean "grey"; it really doesn't mean anything at all. It ultimately derived from a Greek word meaning "pearl", and though the name was associated with pearls in medieval literature, in day-to-day usage it was just a name. is a fairly common French surname, originally derived from a given name. It appears to have been most common in Lorraine, France-Comte/, and Savoie, all in the eastern part of France [4, 5]. (The slash represents an accent on the preceding ). We can't find an example in your period, but we do find the related names 952, 14th C Picardy, 15th C Picardy, 15th C Picardy [6, 7]. In your period, the surname might have meant that your father's given name was ; or it could have meant that his surname was . We don't have especially good information on the usage of surnames in 14th and 15th century France, so we can't say which interpretation would have been more likely in your period. To sum up: We believe that and are quite good names for 15th century Burgundian women. A pair of deer rampant back-to-back is a reasonable motif for arms from your period. We don't have very good data on armory from late-period Burgundy, but this design is one that seems to us to be consistent with French heraldic usage. Since the design is already fairly complex, we recommend that you add as little as possible to it. For example, you could place the deer on a plain field, like this: Gules, two harts rampant addorsed Or. This blazon describes two gold deer on a red field. You could also divide the field vertically, between the two deer, and reverse the colors on one side: Per pale gules and Or, two harts rampant addorsed counterchanged. Either design would make fine arms, and they appear to be sufficiently different from armory that the SCA College of Arms protects. Your letter suggested that you and your sister plan to share these arms. That's actually pretty good re-creation, though it does conflict with Society custom. In period, women rarely bore arms of their own. Before marriage, a woman in western Europe would typically display her father's arms; after marriage, she might use her husband's arms or a particular combination of the two. Whereas a man's sons would make small changes to their father's arms in order to distinguish themselves from one another, his daughters would generally bear a copy of his arms without any difference. The upshot is that it would be good re-creation for you and your sister to display the same arms. If your father (mundane or Society) has arms, then the best historical re-creation would be to use his arms. If not, then you can design arms that you think of as your father's. There is a fairly strong Society custom that each person in our game should have distinct arms. The College of Arms' rules enforce this tradition by requiring arms to be different. In practice, there is nothing to stop two people from using the same arms, but you should be aware that some people will find it surprising and that you will not both be able to register the same design as arms. 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 Alison MacDermot, Zenobia Naphtali, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, Lindorm Eriksson, Evan da Collaureo, Brad Miller, and Daniel de Lincolia. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 15 Jul 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [2] Colm Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris", Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposium 1996 (SCA: Montgomery, Alabama; WWW: SCA, Inc., 1997). http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [3] Arval Benicoeur, "French Names from Two Thirteenth Century Chronicles" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/crusades/ [4] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de Famille_ (Librairie Acade/mique Perrin, 1997). [5] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987). [6] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de Picardie, 1967). [7] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire de l'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). [8] Cateline de la Mor, "Names from Fourteenth Century Foix" (SCA: Trimarian Known World Heraldic Symposium, AS XXIX; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/foix.html [9] Cateline de la Mor, "Sixteenth Century Norman Names" (SCA: KWHS Proceedings, 1994; WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/norman16.html [10] Arval Benicoeur, "French Names from Two Thirteenth Century Chronicles" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1997). http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/crusades/ [11] Dunkling, Leslie and William Gosling, _The New American Dictionary of First Names_ (New York: Signet Books, 1983). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -