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Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!
You asked for suggestions for a surname appropriate for a wealthy merchant in late 15th or 16th century southern France, and for our opinion of your design for your arms. Here is what we have found.
In your period, most people in France were using hereditary surnames, especially in the south [1]. As a consequence, there would not neessarily have been any relationship between your surname and your occupation. You could choose any surname from your period and it would be appropriate to your persona.
If you want a surname which particularly indictes your occupation, we can suggest two approaches. You could research the history of trade in late-period southern France, pick one merchant family that interests you, and using their surname. This approach would give you a good anchor for your persona.
Alternatively, you could pick one of the many French surnames which derived from words for "merchant". All of these names had lost most of their literal meaning by your period, but some traditional merchant families no doubt still had names chosen for the literal meaning several generations earlier. There were two general words for "merchant" in late medieval Some are found throughout France: <Marchand>, <Lemarchand>, <Marchant>, <Marchandeau>, <Marchandot>; <Mercier>, <Lemercier>, <Mercereau>, <Mercerot>, <Merceron>. Some forms are peculiar to the south of France: <Marchandou>; <Merzereau>, <Mercader>, <Mercadier>, <Mercadié>. <Marcantel> is found in southeastern France, <Mercié> in soutwestern France. (The slash represents a sharp accent on the preceding vowel). If you want your persona's family to be Corsican in origin, you could use <Mercantelli> or <Mercantone> [1, 2].
The standard Society blazon for your armorial design is "Per fess azure and argent, two horses combatant and a fleur-de-lys counterchanged". Overall, this design is not typical of armory of your period, though it is not inappropriate. In heraldic design, the set of three charges placed two and one, like your horses and fleur-de-lus, is considered a single set of charges. In your period, it was rare to find a single set of charges containing two different types of charge. "Three horses rampant" would be more typical than "Two horses and a fleur-de-lys".
We do have one caution on your design: It is a mistake to use a fleur-de-lys as a way to say "I am French". The fleur-de-lys is found in arms throughout Europe; it is not particularly a French charge. Except for arms of the French royal family and its relatives, the fleur-de-lys is not particularly more common in French heraldry than in English, German, or Italian. The notion that this charge means "I am French" is a very modern idea. In our period, arms were not designed to proclaim national origin. You may therefore want to consider simplifying your arms, perhaps removing the lower part altogether and using "Azure, two horses combatant argent."
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 Naitan de Yerdeburc and Zenobia Naphtali.
For the Academy,
Arval Benicoeur
References
[1] Dauzat, Albert, _Les Noms de Famille de France_ (Paris: Librairie
Guenegaud, 1988).
[2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Dictionnaire E/tymologique des Noms de
Famille_ (Librairie Académique Perrin, 1997).