ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1964 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1964 ************************************ ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* From: "Braddon Giles" 1 Jun 2000 Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel! You asked us for information about a French masculine name for the period 1300 to 1500. You hoped to use , which you said was from the name of a Biblical angel and the town in Canada where you grew up. In addition you suggested arms that you blazoned, 'Azure, an angel winged hand holding sword to dexter proper, in chief three compass roses argent', which you hoped would represent the angel and travel. You offered alternate arms, which we think are best described as 'Azure, on a bend sinister cotised sable a boar statant fesswise argent atop a torse wreathed azure and argent and in canton a compass-star argent'. You stated that you were interested in the north of France, specifically Normandy, and the countries of Belgium and the Netherlands. There were several languages and cultures in that region; we will concentrate on the French language and location as it is the most applicable to your question. If you have queries on Dutch naming practices of your specified era we would be happy to receive them. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that is not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name, then we may not be able to help you. We have not found used as a name for humans in your period. Uriel is a named angel; however, we cannot confirm that he was one of the guardian cherubim at the gate of Eden. He is noted as a messenger to Noah and one of Enoch's guides through Tartarus [1]. A very limited group of Biblical names (e.g. Michael, Peter, John, Adam, et al.) were widely used by Christians, but most were not used at all for most of our period. During the last few decades of the 16th century, many previously unused Biblical names - especially from the Old Testament - were introduced first of all to England by Protestants, and then elsewhere. However, we have no evidence that was one of those names. might have been used as a name after that; unfortunately it is well out of your location and period, and the Society era generally. We understand that the name is very important to you, however we cannot recommend it as a good historical recreation. You noted the feminine name in the Paris Census of 1292. It isn't the same name as ; it is a feminine form of the name that also appears on that list in the masculine form and in other sources as . This name is an Old French descendent of the Germanic name , related to the contemporary [2,3]. We can tentatively suggest an alternative that may appeal to you: . This name is simply a diminutive of . In Old French, <-el> was one of several common diminutive endings. For example, the Paris Census of 1292 also contains from , from , and the equivalent feminine end in [3]. While we have no example of a diminutive , it is constructed according to a very common medieval French pattern. We think that it is a plausible construction for the 13th and 14th centuries, though an attested name is better historical re-creation. We found first mentioned on September 29, 1673, in Canada. The Seigneury of Cha^teauguay [4], which included Saint-Bernard Island, was granted to Charles Le Moyne at that time [5]. Unfortunately, it is a name coined in the New World outside your required period. is also unlikely for your period because of the spelling of : that spelling was not used until later in the history of French. The earlier form was or . We didn't find a medieval French place name that sounds like , but we can suggest an invented name, "castle by the ford", based on the Old French , which is the precursor of Modern French "ford". would be a reasonable 14th century name, pronounced \oo-ree-EL d@ shah-toh-GAY\, where the \@\ represents the first vowel sound in . The spelling of both parts of this name mean that we cannot recommend it much past 1400. If you'd like to look for another late period French name, we recommend some articles from our library, and hope that they are of assistance: Flemish Names from Bruges http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/ Names Found in Commercial Documents from Bordeaux, 1470-1520 http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/bordeaux.html Sixteenth Century Norman Names http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/cateline/norman16.html We would blazon your first armorial design 'Azure, a winged cubit arm vested argent sustaining a sword palewise proper, and in chief three compass stars argent' [7]. We have seen similar designs to your central motif, the winged arm, so we think that it is possible for your period. There was a similar charge used in late-period German heraldry, the 'Adlerflu"gel mit Schwerthand', or "eagle's wing with swordhand". We found an example from 1483 [8]. It's a very stylized eagle's wing whose shoulder end is deformed into a hand grasping a sword. The secondary charge in this design is a compass-star. (A compass rose is a different charge.) The compass star is a modern invention, not used in medieval heraldry. We strongly recommend you avoid it. Stars were usually depicted in period French heraldry as six-pointed mullets or estoiles. The mullet is a star with equal-length, straight rays. The estoile is a star with equal-length, wavy rays [9]. However, we do not believe that the star was particularly associated with travel in the medieval mind. If you want to evoke the idea of travel, we recommend you consider a sextant, a ship, a palmer's staff, or an escallop. The last two of these charges were common symbols of pilgrimage. Your second design, 'Azure, on a bend sinister cotised sable a boar statant fesswise argent upon a barrulet couped wreathed azure and argent in chief a compass star argent' is not proper heraldry. One of the basic rules of heraldic design is that every charge should have good contrast with the background on which it lies. Blue and black are both "colors" in heraldic terminology, i.e. dark tinctures, and do not have sufficient contrast [10]. The boar on a wreath combination appears to be a crest (a display on top of a helm rather than on a shield). We wouldn't normally expect to see that sort of arrangement on a shield. The boar is a fine charge, and if you'd like to use it as the central element of your arms, we'd be happy to suggest some designs appropriate to medieval France. Here are some designs you can consider, all of which we believe can be registered with the SCA College of Arms: Azure, a winged cubit arm vested argent sustaining a sword palewise proper, and in chief three mullets argent. Azure, an eagle's wing with sword-hand and in chief three mullets argent [11]. Azure, an eagle's wing with sword-hand and in chief three escallops argent. We hope this letter has been useful; please write to 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 AElfwyn aet Gywrum, Amant le Marinier, Rouland Carre, Julie Stampnitzky, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Adelaide de Beaumont, Pedro de Alcazar, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Raquel Benaventura, Juliana de Luna, and Arval d'Espas Nord. For the Academy, Giles Leabrook. 31 / May / 2000 __________________________________________________ Bibliography. [1] (1 Enoch 10:1-4) (1 Enoch 20:1-8) (1 Enoch 21:5-10) (1 Adam and Eve 54:8) [2] Dauzat, Albert, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France_ (Paris: Libraire Larousse, 1987); s.n. Oury. [3] An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris. http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html [4] We use the carat <^> to represent the circumflex, and the slash to represent the acute accent on the preceding letter. [5] Helen D'All, _Chateauguay County_ (WWW, Que/becGenWeb, 1999) http://www.rootsweb.com/~qcchatea/ [6] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963); s.nn. Cha^teau, Gua. [7] There are very few distinctions drawn in heraldic art between types of wings; an angel's wing is indistinguishable from an eagle's wing. Also, the direction 'to dexter' is not usually specified as it was the default. [8] Fox-Davies, A.C., _A Complete Guide to Heraldry_ (New York: Bonanza Books, 1978), Fig. 443. [9] Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme and Akagawa Yoshio, _A Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry as Used in the Society for Creative Anachronism_, (privately published, 1988), s.v. mullet. [10] While there are a few examples of this rule not being followed in history, this particular pairing is particularly unlikely. In addition, "Rules for Submissions of the SCA College of Arms" requires no color on color. [11] We have used the English translation 'an eagle's wing with sword-hand' instead of the German 'Adlerflu"gel mit Schwerthand'. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Addendum, Jan 2004, Arval We sent the following reply to a different client in Nov 2003; since it covers similar material, we decided to appended it to this report. Subject: Academy of Saint Gabriel Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether the name was used in Europe or the Arab world in our period, and also about other angelic names like , , etc. You also asked about an Arabiic byname meaning "wanderer" or "lost". As you know from the note you already received, the Academy is not currently accepting clients. However, some of our members provided some information, and we hope this partial reply will be helpful. is an Old Testament name, appearing in 1 Chronicles 5:24 and 27:19. It was in occasional use in European Jewish communities: We found 13th century examples in England; and 13th and 16th century examples in Italy [1, 2]. However, the Old Testament is not an angel, and Jews do not associated the name with an angel. In Muslim tradition, a slightly different name, , is attributed to the figure known in the Koran simply as the Angel of Death [1, 3]. We know no example of used by medieval Muslims. We aren't sure how and are related, but we wouldn't assume that they are interchangeable without a great deal more evidence. We have researched some other angelic names for previous clients: For information on , see http://www.s-gabriel.org/1964 For information on in various European cultures, see http://www.s-gabriel.org/2610 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2491 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2192 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2025 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1946 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1726 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1400 We discussed in: http://www.s-gabriel.org/2282 We have researched forms of many times; let us know if you'd like specific references. Arval for the Academy 29 Nov 2003 References [1] JewishEncyclopedia.com [2] Davis, Myer David, Hebrew deeds of English Jews before 1290. [3] www.sarahsarchangels.com/archangels/azrael.html