medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
A colleague of mine, who often gets asked about historical names and
naming practices, got an unusual name-related question from someone
who wants to know what a lay Benedictine brother in 14th century
Germany would have been called (especially as a byname). In German.
Note that this is a question about what such a person would have been
called in the 14th century; I gather the naming practices *then*
might have been quite different from, say, the 19th century, or the
20th before Vatican II.
He started out with "[Johann] the oblate" -- which evidently _can_
have this meaning in modern German, but historic sources seem to
indicate that "Oblate" in German primarily means "the host used in
communion; any wafer of this sort". A modern English->German
dictionary glosses the meaning "oblate" as "Laienbruder,
Laienschwester" which is pretty transparently "lay brother, lay
sister".
Another check in the historic dictionaries is clearly indicated, but
perhaps other list members may have some suggestions.
--
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O Chris Laning
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+ Davis, California
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