ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3049 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3049 ************************************ 30 Nov 2005 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel: You asked us to investigate the use of the name in Poland during the mid to late 14th century. You also inquired about the arms "Azure, within a horseshoe argent a cross moline or". Here is the information we have found. Before we start, we'd like to apologize for the length of time it took us to complete this report. We hope the information is still useful to you. We have not found the name in any medieval Slavic culture. We have located other forms of [1,2]; however we don't know how many of these forms are ecclesiastical usage and how many are those of foreigners. Polish culture was one of those that took the position that the name of Jesus' Mother was too sacred to be used by anyone else. It has only been in the 20th century that this reluctance has subsided. [3] Because of this, we cannot recommend any of the forms of that we found. We have located some similar-sounding Polish names that begin with which may interest you: [2,9] Marocha -- 1323 (1 citation) Marscha -- ca. 1263 (1 citation) Marsca -- ca. 1265 (2 citations) Marucha -- late 13th/early 14th century (2 citations) Maruchna -- 15th century (5 citations) Marussa, Marusha, Maruscha, Maruscza -- 14th/15th century (36 citations) Maruska, Marusca, Maruschka, Marusska -- 15th century (6 citations) Any of these would be a fine choice for a Polish woman in the 14th century. In your period, we have not found any instances of the byname ; the earliest occurrence we have located is in 1800. [5,6] As such we cannot recommend this name as good recreation without evidence for its use before 1600. You expressed interest in the arms "Azure, within a horseshoe argent a cross moline or". We have found several instances of similar designs in Polish heraldry of your period: [4] Azure, a horseshoe inverted argent surrounding a cross formy or. Azure, a horseshoe inverted surrounding a cross formy argent. Azure, a horseshoe inverted surrounding a cross formy or. Azure, a horseshoe inverted surrounding a cross formy or. Gules, a horseshoe inverted surrounding a cross formy argent. Or, a horseshoe inverted surrounding a cross formy argent. [Field], a horseshoe surrounding a cross formy [Tinct]. [Field], issuant from a horseshoe inverted a Passion cross [Tinct]. However, we found no examples of a "cross moline" in the heraldry of your period. We recommend a cross formy or a Latin cross instead. Both of the following designs are appropriate for your period and culture, and so far as we can tell both are registerable with the SCA College of Arms: Azure, within a horseshoe argent a cross formy or. Azure, within a horseshoe argent a Latin cross or. You should know that in Poland, individuals did not in general have their own coats of arms. Rather, people belonged to a ro/d (clan) and used the arms of their ro/d (the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter) [7]. The best way to recreate Polish heraldic practice would be either to use actual period arms to signify an affiliation with a ro/d in period, or to design arms for your own ro/d. The closest thing in the SCA to a ro/d would be a household. [8] 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 Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmegen, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Kolozsvari Arpadne Julia, Maridonna Benvenuti, and Juliana de Luna. For the Academy, Ameline de Castel & Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 30 November 2005 ___________________________________________________________ References [1] 35 references with the earliest dated to 1037 -- recorded 4 times in the late 15th century, usually in Latin as -- recorded 4 times in the 15th century, but may be from a separate Latin name -- 1 citation dated 1497 "Mariae alias Maszya" [2] [2] Malec, Maria. _Imiona Chrzes/cijan/skie w S/redniowiecznej Polsce_(Krako/w: Polska Akademia Nauk, Prace Instytut J{e,}zyka Polskiego No. 94, 1994) (Here {e,} represents an e-ogonek, which looks like an with a reversed comma attached to the bottom of the letter.) [3] Hoffman, William F., _Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings_, 2nd ed. (Chicago: Polish Genealogical Society of America, 1997). [4] Szyman/ski, Jo/zef, _Herbarz: S/redniowiecznego Rycerstwa Polskiego_ (Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 1993). [5] "Jabczanka Catherine 1912 to 1943". SS Peter and Paul Cemetery Avoca PA Tombstone Photo Album. (WWW: Rootsweb, accessed 25 May 2005). http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~nepaphotos/sspeter/Jabczanka%20Catherine%201912%20to%201943.html [6] Silarski, Marek. "Surnames in Pisarowce, Dudyn/ce Parish (1784 - 1814)". Bukowsko Triangle Surnames. (WWW: Semanchuk.com Genealogy, October 2004). http://www.semanchuk.com/gen/data/BTSurnamesPerMarek.html [7] Alison MacDermot & Da'ud ibn Auda, _Regional Style Heraldry in the SCA_, 1993 KWHS Proceedings (Middle), Vol. I, pp. 5-25. [8] ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2666 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2666 [9] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_ (Dictionary of Old Polish Personal Names), vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli{n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987), s.nn. Marocha, Marsza, Marszka, Marucha, Maruchna, Marusza, Maruszka