April 26, 2010

Unto the East Kingdom College of Heralds and all others who do read this letter, greetings from Lillia de Vaux, Eastern Crown Herald!

This is the Letter of Decision for the Internal Letter of Intent dated 18 March 2010, and also includes items pended on the February 2010 Letter of Decision.

Thank you to the following commenters: Rohese de Dinan, Thomas of Shrewsbury, Alys Mackyntoich, Gawain of Miskbridge, Brunissende Dragonette, Kolosvari Arpadne Julia, Ragnveig Snorradottir, Yosef Alaric, Robert Fairfax, Aceline Barrett, and Marion del Okes. Our submissions are only as good as the heralds who work on them - either as the consulting heralds or as commenters - and I encourage all heralds in the East to take an active role during the commentary period.

Yours in service,

Lillia de Vaux

1: Aislinn Cinnfhaolaidh - New Name returned & New Device returned

Per fess wavy argent and azure, three escallops inverted and a dolphin naiant counterchanged

2: Alys Mackyntoich - New Badge forwarded

(Fieldless) A bear rampant gules charged with an ermine spot argent

Her name was registered (change from Ailis Catriona Mac an Toisich), along with an alternate name, Alays de Brantôme, in 02/2005 via the East. She has a device, Ermine, three chevronels braced and in chief two bears combattant gules, registered in 11/1994 via the East. She also has a household name and badge for the Sisterhood of Saint Walburga, co-registered with Brunissende Dragonette de Brocéliande.

The badge is clear of Vladimir Igorevich (08/1998, Outlands), (Fieldless) A bear rampant gules sustaining an axe sable, with one CD for fieldlessness, one for removing the sustained axe, and a third for adding the tertiary charge. It is clear of Eric Bjornsson (04/1988, West), Argent, a bear rampant and a bordure invected gules, with one CD for fieldlessness, one for removing the bordure, and another for adding the tertiary charge.

3: Andreas der Eisfalke - New Household Name forwarded

Haus von Ulm

His name was registered in 11/1991 (East). He also has a device and a badge registered. Sound most important. Haus is German for 'house' (no documentation included), and is intended as the designator for this name. von Ulm is a locative byname based on the city in southwest Germany. Encyclopedia Britannica states that it was first mentioned in 854, and was chartered in the 12th century. The spelling von Ulme is found in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "German Names from Rottweil, Baden-Württemburg, 1441" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/german/rottweil1441.html). The submitter prefers 'von Ulm' to 'von Ulme'. Documentation for the pattern <Haus> + <locative surname> was not provided.

Bahlow, Dictionary of German Names (Gentry translation 2nd edition) p. 199 s.n. Hause gives the example of <Mathis hause> (1389). The same entry also gives <vom huse> with the meaning 'from the house' dated 1394 and <in dem hus> dated to 1364. This supports <hause> or <haus> as the right word for 'house', but not the formation <haus von placename>. A registration from 12/2009 is relevant to this submission:

[Haus zum Behrer] Die Hausnamen und Hauszeichen im mittelalterlichen Freiburg, by Karl Schmidt, published 1930 (The housenames and housesigns of medieval Freiburg), shows no example of housename using the word "Haus" that does not include an article/preposition combination (which isn't to say they might not have existed, just that in medieval Freiberg they didn't). P 32 considers names based on Bär (bear), including <ze dem Bern> 1326, <zum schwarzen Beren> 1565, <hus zum guldin Bern der schuchmacher trigstuben> 1394, <zem roten beren> 1390, <haus zum weissen Beren in der Vitschivisgasse> 1444, <zum blawen Beren> 1565.

Now, assuming Behr is a placename rather than an animal word, the aforesaid work has examples for that too (although not for the placename <Behr>, but again, always with the article/preposition:

Ortnamen (Placenames): zum Hohen Asperg 1565 zum Basler 1587 zum Bondorf 1343 zum Freiberger 1374 zum Briedenweiler 1565 zumm Opfinger 1404 zum (O:)sterreich 1554 zum R{o:]mer 1403 zum Schwarzwald 1378 zum Unger 1452

(Although, I'll admit, this looks like adjectival forms -- "of the (person from) Rome/Freiberg/Briedenweil" rather than straight up placenames. )

On the basis of these examples, either Haus zum Beren, referring to bears, or Haus zum Behrer, referring to a person from the city Behr, is a plausible German household name, and neither conflicts with the Order of the Beare, as the substantive elements Beren and Behrer look and sound significantly different from Beare. Because the latter option is closer to the originally submitted form, we have changed the household name to Haus zum Behrer in order to register it.

As such, Haus zum Ulmer (referring to person from Ulm) appears to be the correct form for such a name. The submitter was contacted to ask if this change was acceptable, but he stated that he prefers the name as submitted. Therefore, I am forwarding the name unchanged in the hopes that the College of Arms can find support for this construction.

4: Audrye Beneyt - New Name forwarded

The submitter desires a female name. Sound most important. Audrye is an early 16th century name found in Withycombe, s.n. Audrey. This name also appears in 1540, found in 'Henry VIII: April 1540, 11-20', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 15: 1540 (1896), pp. 209-251 (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=76167&strquery=audrye):

Beneyt is found in R&W, s.n. Bennet: Robert Beneyt, from Hy 2 Gilb (L). It is also found in 'Addenda to volume 12: List of officials', The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 12 (1801), pp. 603-611 (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63714&strquery=beneyt), which lists John, Robert, and William Beneyt between the years 1380 and 1416. 'East Flegg Hundred: Great Yarmouth: bailiffs and mayors', An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: volume 11 (1810), pp. 322-345 (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=78800&strquery=beneyt) lists a John Beneyt in 1271-1281, and Peter Beneyt in 1380. Thomas Beneyt is found in 1367 in 'Close Rolls, Edward III: March 1367', Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III: volume 12: 1364-1369 (1910), pp. 368-374 (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=103287&strquery=beneyt). John Beneyt is also listed in 1407 in 'Close Rolls, Henry IV: February 1407', Calendar of Close Rolls, Henry IV: volume 3: 1405-1409 (1931), pp. 191-192 (http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=102388&strquery=beneyt).

5: Beatrice de Warynton - New Name forwarded

The name was submitted as Beatrice de Warynton'. The submitter desires a female name. No major changes. Sound (Beatrice) most important. Beatrice is found in Talan Gwynek, "Feminine Given Names in A Dictionary of English Surnames" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/reaneyAG.html), dated 1202-1381. de Warynton' is found in R&W, s.n. Warrington, with the example of Richard de Warynton' dated 1316-7. Another spelling, de Werynton, is dated 1354.

The submitted byname included a scribal abbreviation, which cannot be registered. As such, it could indicate that the byname was de Waryntone. The Werynton spelling, however, supports the lack of the terminal '-e', so the submitted name seems to be a reasonable variant spelling. The submitter has stated that she prefers the name without the '-e'

6: Charis Olynthia - New Name forwarded & New Device forwarded

Gules, a lioness' head cabossed Or charged with a Leo symbol sable all within a bordure argent semy of suns gules

The submitter desires a female name. Sound and spelling ('Charis') most important. Charis Olynthia is a Roman rendering of a Greek name meaning 'Charis from Olynthos'. Charis is the standard Roman transliteration of the Greek spelling (Greek chi-alpha-rho-iota-sigma) , and was the name of 27 women during the classical period, found in the "Lexicon of Greek Personal Names" (http://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/database/lgpn.php). Olynthia is the feminine singular Latin adjective meaning 'the Olynthian' (corresponding to the Greek adjective Olynthie). Charleton Lewis and Charles Short's Latin English Lexicon, s.v. Olynthus (A Latin Dictionary; Founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin Dictionary, Trustees of Tufts University, Oxford, 1879; http://artfl.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.6:980.lewshort), says that the adjective Olynthius meaning 'from Olynthos' was used by multiple classical Latin writers.

The submitter provided a copy of a 16th century woodcut showing the astrological signs and their symbols (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zodiac_woodcut.png), including that of Leo.

The device is clear of Patricia de Lyon (01/2005, Caid), Gules, a lion's head cabossed and a bordure argent . There is one CD for the addition of charges to the bordure and another for adding the tertiary charge. It is clear of Arther Bargate of Land's End (11/1986, An Tir),Gyronny gules and azure, a lion's head cabossed Or within a bordure argent. There is one CD for the difference in the field and two more for for the tertiary charges on the bordure and lion's head. Lastly, the device is clear of Kalisa Aleksandrovna (10/2007, Atlantia), Purpure, a lion's head cabossed and on a bordure argent three cinquefoils sable, with one CD for the difference in the field, another for the differences in the tertiary charges on the bordure, and one for the addition of the symbol.

Commenters were divided on whether the Leo symbol was noticable; one thought it was a curl of hair. Others were not sure if astrological symbols were registerable. They are:

In SCA heraldry, astrological symbols have been considered a step from period practice. Astrological symbols are abstract charges, no more and no less than are musical notes. While neither is attested in period armory, both of them are seen as details on crests. If we are to be fair, both of them or neither of them should be a step from period practice. Henceforth, the use of astrological symbols in armory will not be considered a step from period practice. Mealla Caimbeul. Badge. (Fieldless) The astrological symbol for Venus within and conjoined to an annulet argent. [2009/05 Caid-A]

and

The use of astrological glyphs heraldically in period can be seen on the crest of Bull, watchmaker to Queen Elizabeth I: On a wreath argent and gules, a cloud proper, thereon a celestial sphere azure, with the circles or; on the zodiac the signs of Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer (Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, p. 547). It has long been the College's policy to allow the use of elements from crests and supporters, if period usage is documented, as charges for SCA armory although there is no documentation of their use as charges in period armory (cf. yales). (Cadell ap Hubert, September, 1993, pg. 11)

5: Gavin MacKinnon - Resub Device forwarded

Per chevron inverted sable and vert, a chevron inverted and in chief an eagle argent

This device was pended on the 02/2010 Letter of Decision (dated 04/10/2010). The submitter gave permission for the necessary redraw to fix the depiction of the per chevron inverted field and chevron inverted.

8: Ghita da Solari - New Name forwarded & New Device forwarded

Per pale gules and Or, a sun and a chief rayonny counterchanged

The name was submitted as Ghita di Solari. No major changes. Ghita is found in Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto/), as well as Rhian Lyth of Blackmoor Cale, "Italian Renaissance Women's Names" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/italian.html). di Solari 'of Solari', could refer to either the town of Solari, or from a sunny place, as noted in Academy of Saint Gabriel report no. 972 (http://www.s-gabriel.org/972).

The Academy of Saint Gabriel report supported Solari as a place name. In our period, the typical proposition to use in Italian locative bynames is da, not di. The name has been changed to Ghita da Solari to reflect this.

The sun was blazoned as a sun in splendor, which should have a face; as this one doesn't, it has been blazoned as a sun.

9: Juliana Rose Faa - New Name forwarded & New Device forwarded

Purpure, a swan naiant to sinister argent charged with a rose proper and in chief two mullets of eight points argent

The submitter desires a female name. Juliana and Rose appear in Talan Gwynek, "Late Sixteenth Century English Given Names" (http://heraldry.sca.org/laurel/names/eng16/eng16.html), which also supports the rare use of double given names in late period England. Faa is found in Josh Mittleman and the Academy of Saint Gabriel, "Romany (Gypsy) Names" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/romany/), which includes Paul Fa or Paul Faa as a Lowland Scottish name dated to 1537. The article also notes that the surname Faw or Faa was used as an ethnic term for Gypsies in the north of England. The source for this article is Angus Fraser, The Gypsies (Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1992, p. 114).

Commenters noted that double given names in England is rare, but are registerable by precedent. As Romany appear to have used similar naming patterns as their neighbors, this pattern is plausible for their use as well in late period England.

10: Lillia de Vaux - New Alternate Name forwarded & New Badge forwarded

Ermine de Vaux

(Fieldless) A crampet argent ermined vert

The submitter desires a female name. No major changes. Culture (14th century Picardy - city of Beauvais) most important. Her name was registered in 11/2006 via the East. Her device, Argent semy of crampets and a bend azure, and badge, (Fieldless) A crampet argent, were registered in 12/2007 via the East. Ermine is a feminine given name that is documented in Chrestienne la pescheresse (Mathilde Poussin), "Personal names found in the Armorial du dénombrement de la Comté de Clermont en Beauvaisis 1373-1376" (KWHSS Proceedings, 2007, Caid). Ermine appears twice: Ermine de Campremi and Ermine du Chastel. de Vaux is also found in this article. It is a locative byname that appears once: Froissart de Vaux. (The byname is also grandfathered to the submitter.). Another badge is found below.

11: Lillia de Vaux - New Badge forwarded

(Fieldless) A crampet azure

Her name was registered in 11/2006 via the East. Her device, Argent semy of crampets and a bend azure, and badge, (Fieldless) A crampet argent, were registered in 12/2007 via the East. Another badge is listed above.

12: Meriwyn MacDonald - Resub Device forwarded

Sable, on a sun Or a phoenix gules, on a chief argent three griffins sable

Her name was registered 05/2005 via the East. Her prior device submission, Per fess argent and sable, a Phoenix gules enflamed Or was returned in kingdom in the 11/2004 Letter of Decision:

The device art was pasted onto the form, with the black and white form version not matching the escutcheon on the form. In order to avoid a possible administrative return, the device was redrawn with the submitter's permission. In addition, the estoile in the original blazon was changed to 'sun' to match the emblazon.

13: Piçanina da Monte - New Name forwarded & New Device forwarded

Per fess purpure and vert, two peaches Or and a duck argent

No major changes. Piçanina appears once in Aryanhwy merch Catmael, "Italian names from Imola, 1312)" (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/italian/imola.html). This article also supports the pattern <given name + locative byname>. da Monte is a locative byname meaning 'from the hill, mountain' found in Arval Benicoeur and Talan Gwynek, "Fourteenth Century Venetian Personal Names" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/venice14/).

The peach is a period heraldic charge: A peach charged with the letter 'e' was the badge of Sir John Peché in 1522, and similar peaches in a wreath were used in his crest (Boutell, Heraldry, pp. 102, 169; also seen at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23186/23186-h/23186-h.htm#fig297).

14: Silver Rylle, Shire of - New Badge forwarded

(Fieldless) A pale wavy couped argent

The branch name was registered 08/1988, and the device, Azure, a pale wavy argent, overall a laurel wreath counterchanged and on a chief Or two roses proper, was registered 11/1990, both via the East. A petition was included, but is not required for a badge submission.

The pale was initially drawn throughout. As we do not register items that depend on the boundaries of a nonexistent field (i.e., fieldless armory), the badge was redrawn with the submitter's permission so that the badge was couped.

15: William the Frier - Resub Name Change From Holding Name forwarded

The name was submitted as William the Friar. Old Item: William of Gleann nam Feorag Dhuibhe, to be released. The submitter desires a male name. Meaning most important. His holding name and a device, Or, a crow rising sable and on a chief purpure three key crosses Or, were registered 04/2006 via the East. William is found in R&W, s.n. Williams: Fitz William (1300) and Thomas William (1327). the Friar is based on R&W, s.n. Frear: le Frier (1243), and (le) Frere (1196-7).

According to the OED, frere appears c. 1290, and this spelling seems to have been used more commonly into the 16th century. The only pre-1650 example we found of the submitted spelling is used in The Taming of the Shrew IV.i (a. 1596): "It was the Friar of Orders gray..." Dolan, English Ancestral Names lists "friar", along with Frater, Frear, Freear, Frere, Frier, Fryer, and Fryor, but provides no dated examples. The name has been changed to William the Frier to match the spelling of the 1243 citation in R&W and to retain the sound of the submitted name.

16: Zhelana Tomeslavitsa - New Name forwarded

The submitter desires a female name. Meaning ('wish') most important. Both elements were found in Wickenden, 2nd edn (http://heraldry.sca.org/paul/), s.nn. Zhelan, Voislav, and Tomeslav. Zhelana is a feminine name based on the male name Zhelan 'wish'. A variant spelling of the masculine name is Zelan, 1052. Tomeslavitsa (ibid.) is based on Tomeslav (m) 'silent glory', dated 1198. The formation of the patronym Tomeslavitsa is based on the 15th century Voislavits.

Blue Tyger noted that she wasn't sure about the support for feminizing a native given name like Zhelan:

The pattern of adding '-a' to masculine names is most readily demonstrable with Christian names (Antonin - Antonina) and two-part native names (Bratomil - Bratomila), and Zhelan doesn't fall into either of those categories.

However, I did find:
Bazhen 'beloved, craved' (1555) - Bazhena (1030)
Bel 'white' (1143) - Bela (1256)
Bozhan 'divine' (1057) - Bozhana (1052)
Darii 'strong, conquering' (1356) - Dar'ia (16c)
Ded 'grandfather' (1495) - Deda (1145)
Dim 'darkness' (1368) - Dima 'people' (1629)
Dod 'great' (1293) - Doda (1222)
Golub' 'pigeon' (1495) - Goluba (1598)

There were others that were early martyrs and such where I think the names were Greek, but I believe the examples above are Russian. All of the ones in '-a' were clearly marked as feminine, so these aren't native names that happen to end in '-a' but are actually masculine (which does happen: Bratokhna is marked as (m), for example).

Sofya la Rus, "Feminine Name Construction" (http://sofyalarus.wikispaces.com/Feminine+Name+Construction), however, makes the case that this was not an uncommon practice, and lists the male/female name pairs pulled from Wickenden at http://sofyalarus.wikispaces.com/Masculine-Feminine+Name+Pairs. As such, it was thought that this name was likely correctly formed. Note, also, that support for the feminization of the patronym by adding '-a' is found in Wickenden, "Dictionary of Russian Names - Grammar" (http://heraldry.sca.org/paul/zgrammar.html).

Bibliography:

[R&W] Reaney, P.H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames, 3rd edn.

[Withycombe] Withycombe, E.G. Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names.

[OED] Oxford English Dictionary. Concise edition.

East Kingdom OSCAR counts: 7 New Names, 1 New Alternate Name, 1 New Household Name, 4 New Devices, 4 New Badges. This gives 17 new items. Resub counts: 1 Resub Name Change, 1 Resub Device. This is a total of 2 resubmissions on this letter, for a total of 19 actions.