ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3271
http://www.s-gabriel.org/3271
************************************

23 Mar 2007
From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael 

Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked for help developing a name which would be authentic for an
late-period Italian woman originally from the south of Italy now
living in Venice, with a form of <Beatrice> as your given name and
<Lilli> as your byname.  You also wanted to know whether a heraldic
design using a bee would be appropriate.  Here is what we have found.

Italy today is a unified country with a common language.  That was not
true in our period: Pre-modern Italy was home to several languages,
each of which was used in a range of dialects, some quite similar,
some quite different.  The dialects of Italian can be divided into
three main groups: northern, central, and southern.  For a more
detailed map of the primary dialects of medieval Italy, see:

http://web.archive.org/web/20041013112006/http://www.netaxs.com/~salvucci/ITALmap.GIF

We find the surname <Lilli> recorded in 1447 in the Sangro Valley, in
the south of Italy. [1]  The surnames in this source were all recorded
in Latinized forms, but <Lilli> is also the expected Italian form, so
it is a fine choice for your surname.  This is a fine choice for
someone living in the south of Italy; however, we don't know if the
surname would take a different spelling in central or northern dialects.

The question of the given name is more difficult.  There is no doubt
that some form of <Beatrice> is appropriate for your period, but the
name was spelled differently in different parts of Italy.  In Florence
in 1427, the name is spelled <Beatrice>; we also find this spelling in 
early 17th-century Milan. [4,5]  In modern times, the standard
spelling in northern Italy is <Beatrix> [2] so it's likely that this
form was also used at the end of our period.  Finally, in 16th-century
Palermo the name is found as <Biatrichi> [3], so you can see that the
variation of forms is fairly wide.

We can confidently say that <Biatrichi Lilli> is an authentic name for
a woman living in southern Italy.  However, even if she was born in
southern Italy, if she was living in Venice, she may have been known
as <Beatrix>.

Using a bee in your armory is a fine choice.  The arms of the
Barberini were "Azure, three bees Or".  Pope Urban VIII (1623-44) was
a member of this family, and you can see a picture of his arms at:

http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy/italy3-09.jpg

In one study of armory from the region comprising Savoy, the
Dauphine/, Provence, and Italy, the tincture combinations found are as
follows: [6]

  argent & gules  23%
  Or & gules      22%
  argent & azure  14%
  Or & azure      12%
  argent & sable  10%
  Or & sable      9%
  Or & vert       1%

A design such as "Or, three bees gules" would be lovely recreation for
an Italian woman of your period. [7]

We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't
hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have
further questions.  Research and commentary on this letter was
provided by Cobhlaith Mhuimhneach, Sabine Berard, Margaret Makafee,
Talan Gwynek, Maridonna Benvenuti, Adelaide de Beaumont, and Ursula
Georges.

For the Academy,
-Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 23 March 2007

--
References:

[1] Faraglia, N.F. "1800 Surnames Recorded in 1447" (WWW:
Abruzzoheritage.com, 2002) 
http://www.abruzzoheritage.com/magazine/2002_06/d.htm

[2] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #1043
http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/1043

[3] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2492
http://www.panix.com/~gabriel/2492

[4] Arval Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of 
Florence of 1427" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1998).
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto/

[5] "Cesare Negri's Le Gratie d'Amore / Nuove Inventioni Di Balli
(1602/1604)" (WWW: Gregory Blount of Isenfir).
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/negri/
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/negri/transcription/0006.clean.html

[6] Pastoureau, Michel, _Traite/ d'He/raldique_, 2nd ed. (Paris:
grands manuels Picard, 1993), pp. 118-9.

[7] So far as we can tell, this design would be registerable with the
SCA College of Arms.  If you want to consider alternative color
combinations, you'll want to be aware of the following registered arms:

"Argent, a bee gules" (Ealdormere)
"Or, three bees and a bordure embattled sable" (Amy of Calafia)
"Gules, three bees Or" (Signe Scriffuerska)