People of Medieval Scotland
1093 - 1371

Editorial notes

Please note that the 'headline' versions of many personal names have now been standardised, updated, or corrected. All of the changes made to the forms used in PoMS 2010 are listed below. Here are a few of the guidelines used in making these changes:

• Where there is a modern recognisable form of a name, this version has been preferred
• If a name does not appear in a recognisable modern form, but was common in the middle ages, we have adopted standardised spellings based on the orthography of the period, avoiding archaic ‘classical’ forms of names. Our standard forms attempt a balance between vernacular linguistic consistency and the orthography which is suggestive of contemporary pronunciation. For Gaelic names, medieval standard forms have been developed by Prof Ó Maolalaigh. (See also 'Headline forms of Gaelic names')
• If a name is completely obscure, we have tended to use the spelling found in the source itself
• In general, vernacular forms have been preferred over Latinate ones. Thus, we have changed Avicia to Avice, Joanna to Joan, and Amabilia to Amabel. Note, however, that in most cases we have retained Matilda rather than Maud, based on the orthography in the sources. Also, we have preferred Cecilia to Cecily, based on modern preference.
• Note that accent marks do not appear in the headers of pages. However, we have attempted to ensure that accent marks do appear where appropriate in the 'personal name' field and in the translated form of the name on the transaction pages.
• Note that the final 'r' in Old Norse names has been dropped to reflect contemporary spelling and presumably pronunciation. Note also that in Old English names, ‘Æðel’ has usually been changed to 'Ae', except in cases where orthography suggests it has been retained; note Athelwulf.
• Latinizations of Gaelic names. Example: Eugenius
• Gaelic or Scottish form, if orthography suggests, e.g. Ewen
• Latin form, but context suggests Gaelic name: Eugenius (Ewen)
• Latin form, and insular name is possibility: Eugene or Ewen in headline form, but forename box is just Eugene. This category likely includes people who deliberately straddle the cultural line
• Latin form, and definitely not or very unlikely to be latinization of insular name, e.g., Pope Eugenius

Abbreviations used in this section:

Changes made to headline forms between PoMS 2010 and PoMs 2012