ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2680 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2680 ************************************ 2 Jul 2003 From: "Anplica dell'Isola" Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be an appropriate name for a Bohemian woman living between 1370 and 1390. Here is the information we have found. First of all, we would like to apologize for the length of time it took us to prepare this letter. We would also like to commend you on your excellent research you have done on the different aspects of your name. It was a great help to us. Medieval Czech spelling was similar to medieval Polish. The two only diverged near the end of the 16th century [1], so we have drawn on information from a larger area than just Bohemia. Transcriptions of historical Czech documents have commonly been normalized with changes in spelling to reflect modern Czech, so it is hard for us to say what form would have taken in your period. The spelling which seems to be the most likely form for this name in the 14th century is [2]. We also found other similar Slavic names based on Agnes [3]: Angieszka 1397 Agnesca 1371 Agneszka 1397 Locative bynames were used in this region during the 14th century. The most common locative byname construction added <-sky> for men and <-ska> for women to the end of the place name. The preposition (meaning of or from) followed by the appropriate grammatical form of the place-name was also used, though not as frequently. Here are some examples of the later pattern, since this is specifically what you are interested in [5, 6]: Stach z Doubka 1413 Ondr^ej z Dube/ 1320-1412 Ota z Bergova 1394 Oldr^ich z Roz^mberka 1403-1462 The slash represents an acute accent mark on the preceding vowel and the symbol <^> represents a hacek (which looks like a small 'v') over the previous letter. is a byname meaning "of the oaks/oak grove". would also have a similar meaning, although it was probably written without the accent in 14th century. As previously noted, most spellings have been normalized in modern transcriptions; for instance, might have been in the original source. literally means "oaklet or oakling" in modern Czech. means "oak tree" in modern Czech [7], but is also a reasonable period translation. Using the feminine byname rules listed above, becomes the locative byname [8]. We can therefore recommend , and as fine names for a woman living in late 14th century Bohemia. is pronounced \AH-nezh-kah ZDOPE-kah\. The capitalized syllables are stressed. 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 Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Talan Gwynek, Laurensa de Chambord, Mari neyn Brian, Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Eirik Halfdanarson and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, Anplica Dell'Isola 2 July 2003 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2458 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2458. [2] z Rozmberk, Perchta and Anezka, _The Letters of the Rozmberk Sisters: Noblewomen in Fifteenth-Century Bohemia (Library of Medieval Women)_ (Ds Brewer, May 2001). [3] Taszycki, Witold (ed.), _S{l/}ownik Staropolskich Nazw Osobowych_, vols. I-VII (Wroc{l/}aw: Zak{l/}ad Narodowy Imienia Ossoli {n'}skich, Polska Akademia Nauk, 1965-1987). s.n. . [4] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2633. http://www.s-gabriel.org/2633 [5] Abus^inov, Roman, Obce Libomys^l. (Online, 2003) http://www.volny.cz/libomysl/historie.htm. [6] Capka, Frantisek, _Dejiny zemí Koruny ceské v datech_ (Prague, Libri, 1998) http://www.libri.cz/databaze/dejiny/jmenrej/jr16.html. [7] English-Czech Dictionary. Online at http://www.slovnik.cz/bin/ecd. oak=dub doubek=oakling or oaklet [8] Svoboda, Jan, _Staroc^eska/ Osobni/ Jme/na a Nas^e Pr^i/jmeni/_ (Praha, C^eskoslovenska/ Akademie Ve/d, 1964). p. 128.