I've just realised that I missed the fifth anniversary of the blog a couple of weeks ago. Yes, 'Edward II' has now been around for half a decade! Little did I think on 3 December 2005 that I'd still be here at the end of 2010, having written 338 posts, and that so many people would be reading the blog! Here's to the next five (and more) years of Defending Edward II Against Crapness...;-)
The next post will be about Edward's friend Sir William Montacute (died 1319), but I've decided to put it up when I'm back online in early January, as it's not quite finished. In the meantime, here's something considerably less informative, though definitely more amusing: the names of some of the valets in Edward II's household...
Tassard de Flamoseles
Erman Poilhaud
Sanx (or Sanche) Garsie
Faydit de Mountbreton
Gumbaud de la Batude
Ottelyn Ferre - probably the same man named elsewhere as 'Ottelinus' and 'Otto the German' (Oto le Alemaund)
John du Chariot
Perot Trumel
Burgeys de Til
Percok Bard
Odet de Milsentz
Lup Burgund (of Bordeaux)
Armand de Polliou
Amaneu de Pelegrue
Frisot de Montclair
Merlin de Sene
Jakinettus de Marigny
Guyllimot Poyntz
Tallifer de Tillio
Bidau de Saviniaco
Blasius Aldebrandini
Paganellus Bonmyn ('of Pistoja')
Sanctius de Aspe
Vitalis de Saurnak
Vannus Forteguerre
Hamo Quarrel
Oudinus Bruaunt
Menandus de Fonte
Gailhard Assalhiti
Women's names I've spotted in the records of Edward's reign:
Laderana, Wymarca, Orangia, Amflusia, Amflesa, Drua, Eufegia, Amicabilia, Sayena, Richera, Dyamanda, Femisia, Juetta. (But no Briannas or Topaz Plantagenets, hehe. :)
Some contemporary nicknames, as recorded in Edward's chamber accounts and various other places:
Thomas - Thomelyn
Richard - Richardyn, Hick
John - Janyn, Janekyn
Marmaduke - Duket
Edmund ('Esmond' in the spelling of the era) - Monde
Simon - Syme
Walter - Watte or Wat (as in Wat Tyler, a few decades later)
Hugh - Huchon, Hughelyn
Isabella - Sibille
Katherine - Katin or Katine
And, of course, Piers - Perot.
My favourite names among Edward's servants:
Litel Wille (Little Will), Litel Colle (Little Colin) and Grete Hobbe (Big Rob).
My favourite men's names that you seldom if ever hear as given names nowadays:
Anketin, Saer, Pentecost, Lovekyn, Sewal, Walran, Hamo, Icok.
And finally, the excellent name of a man who sent a petition to Edward II in May 1318: Dominion de France.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you, and see you in 2011!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too! Hope your holidays are excellent!
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope Dominion de France got a favorable answer to his petition.
Thanks, Susan! Have a great holiday!
ReplyDeleteI hope so too - I just found a letter from Edward ordering his chancellor to "look at it and make letters according to reason." (Sounds quite promising...)
Hope you have a fantastic holiday! I will of course miss Edward II, but can console myself with torturing my husband that I'm going to choose our next child's name from this list.
ReplyDeleteAnd did I miss something with the Topaz Plantagenet? I feel like there's a good story there...
Looking forward to your next post!
Thank you, Elizabeth! Hope you have a great holiday, too!
ReplyDeleteHehe, among those names, I have to admit to rather liking Tassard, Anketin and Faydit... :-)
Topaz Plantagenet, and her sister Amber ;) - as far as I remember, they've come up in various places as silly names for heroines of romance novels set in the Middle Ages, I think maybe on Susan's blog, and on History Police. Brianna (gag) has already been used!
Elizabeth, there is an actual historical novel (set in Tudor England) that features Topaz and Amethyst Plantagenet as heroines! It's called The Jewels of Warwick. I tried reading one of the author's novels but couldn't manage it, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteAh, it was Amethyst, not Amber as I thought. Doh! :-) And I'd forgotten there was an actual novel!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful Christmas break, Katin!
ReplyDeleteEdward had quite the cosmopolitan household. There were no Toms, Dicks, nor Harrys among them.
In southern England in the 17th century, someone will baptize their son as "Flee Fornication" and emigrate to New England. ;)
Thank you, Christy, and the same to you! I love the name 'Katin', actually, so might have to start asking people to call me that more often. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how many foreigners Edward had in his household! I sometimes wonder how they ended up there; were they recruited abroad, or were they living in England already?
Hehehe! I love those Puritan names! That's a classic one.
Some other fun things: You can hear a sample of the Gascon language at discovergascony.blogspot.com from the Nov 30 post. (sounds nothing like French!) Also, Hamilton (Piers' biographer) has a "joke theory" that Piers was really the illegitimate son of Edward I (no wonder Ed called him brother!)The text can be found at www.r3.org/wood/papers/hamilton.html
ReplyDeleteHeureux et joyeux anniversaire et Noël aussi! :D
ReplyDeleteI also like 'Katin' and find it quite lovely. I will happily use it always, ma chère Katin! <3
Merci bien, mon cher seigneur et roi! :-) Je vous souhaite Joyeux Noël!
ReplyDeleteAnon, thanks for the link! WOW, that sounds nothing at all like French; I barely understood a word! I've read the tongue-in-cheek Hamilton article, and found it quite funny and supremely irritating at the same time.
Merry Christmas to you KW and to all the wonderful readers of this blog who make excellent comments and create wonderful food for thought.
ReplyDeleteI loved all the names in the household of EdII. Wonderful to read them, but great fun to say them out loud!
Susan you made me laugh out loud that you couldn't get through that book - must have been truly awful if you couldn't even read it for the laugh factor!
Kate Plantagenet
Can't wait to see more of your wonderful blog in the future. x
Merry Christmas to you too, KP! x And thanks for the lovely compliment!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Kathryn, on producing this fantastic blog for five years!
ReplyDeleteSeason’s greetings to you and all your readers, and I raise my glass to the next five!
Thanks so much, Clement, and I love your blog, too! Have a wonderful festive season!
ReplyDeleteTopaz Tudor, ouch. ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy bloggiversary, merry Christmas, and enjoy your journey.
You'll have some reading up to do when you return. I hope to get something on the Isis temple in Mainz during the holidays. Not very Christian but interesting. ;)
Merry Christmas to you too, Gabriele! Your book sounds fascinating - looking forward to hearing about it!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on five years, Kathryn! Wow, I did not know there were so many different variations of names back then.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a very Merry Christmas!
Thanks, Gemini! You too!
ReplyDeleteI think Gumboard is my fav name! and there was another Perot, eh? and 'Big Rob' deserves a mention!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 5 years of blogging! A big thank you from me for re-kindling my interest in Piers and Edard II:>
and I'm going to check out that Gascon link - thanks Anon!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas and Happy new year from a longtime lurker!
ReplyDeleteSeveral italians in this list, I see. But at least Biagio Aldobrandini was no valet. He was a merchant in the Gallerani firm from Sienna and left an interesting book of accounts. Also a letter and some memoirs. He's on record for having business with Gaveston (an horse, on the prince's account). He also went Edward II's coronation (at his own expenses, too)
Congratulations on your five-year anniversary!
ReplyDeleteHave a very happy Christmas, and all the best for the New Year.
Thanks for all your posts, Kathryn, and congratulations on the five years.
ReplyDeleteI think the calendarer/transcriber got 'Gumbaud' confused. The name is/was 'Grimbald' - it was a forelock tug to Saint Grimbald (who turned down being archbishop of Canterbury). I always thought Grimbald de la Batude would be a great name for an ogre or giant in a children's fantasy story, like Harry Potter.
In my days as an archivist in Devon Record Office I used to collect the strangest names I could find. I still remember 'Digory Geek', 'Fairfax Fishwick', 'William Urine' and the inimitable 'Constant Sex'. (Who could forget that last one: she was born in Dartmouth in 1737.) All of these come from Devon archives dated 1715-1800.
Merry Christmas, and an even merrier New Year, and keep up the great work.
Thank you very much for your post, Kathryn! I love the Katin thing too, thinking of changing the nickname. Merry holidays to you, and maybe someday you'll write a post about Henry of Lancaster? He's such a challenge - before his brother's death it's all but impossible to track him! I grow desperate to figure out his private self and political opinions at the time.
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