[Sca-cooks] Re: Names,

[A. F. Murphy]

Probably English, just because I know it the best (and there are Annes all
over England... though a variation might be an idea!) And I am faintly
considering Low Country, just for variety.

Probably 14th or 15th century. Definitely someone in a town. Probably the
wife/widow of a craftsman/guild member, something like that. Quite possibly
a weaver, since I am one! Anyhow, what we would call middle class. Not
landed, not gentle, let alone noble, but a pretty ordinary woman who
manages her home, family, servants (by the time you owned a business and
took apprentices and hired journeymen, your wife had a maidservant - how
else could she feed all those men?)

Equally, a definite interest is what we know about the food people like
that ate. Which I realize isn't all that much, because I would have learned
to cook from my mother, who would not have written about the Wonderful
Feast I Served Lord Whoever. And I wouldn't really be eating up at the
castle on a regular basis! I'd more interested in what was fresh at the
market, and which baker was most reliable, and when the butcher
slaughtered, and how I was going to feed the 14 year old apprentice without
going broke because he always seems hungry...

I do seem to be downloading much of the Florilegium, bit by bit, for future
reference. Other resources are appreciated!

Anne

(My spell check just wanted to turn Florilegium into Lorelei. Is it trying
to tell me something? *G*)




> [Original Message]
> From: Mark.S Harris <mark.s.harris at motorola.com>
> To: SCA-Cooks maillist <SCA-Cooks at ansteorra.org>
 > Date: 12/6/01 2:57:40 PM
> Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Names, was misconceptions about places
>
> Anne replied to me with:
> > In your previous post, you suggested that people get personal names
> > quickly. Well, Anne is my mundane name, but it is perfectly period, and
I
> > rather like it, and so I may stick with it.
>
> I believe this is correct, although might also want to check the
> different variations of it that were used. For instance, my middle
> name mundanely is Stephen so that was one reason I picked Stefan for
> a persona name. My lady wife picked Alina since that was a predecessor
> for Alice, her regular name.
>
> Is there a particular time period or culture you are interested in?
> This might point you to a particular name or type of name. If you
> aren't sure of a particular time or culture, you might enjoy looking
> through some of the files in the CULTURES section of the Florilegium.
> While certainly not a comprehensive set of all (or even most)
> medieval cultures, it might give you an idea of which ones to check
> further. Or perhaps even more important, which cultures you are
> interested in or don't want to be associated with.
>
> There are also various name resources given in the PERSONA section
> including a very good heraldic name site, called Saint Gabriel
> (I think) put together by some of the SCA heralds.
>
> Stefan
>