Inspirational Orate pro aia Willmi Schower marcatoris de London qui obiit ultimo die Februari anno dni Mcccclxxxxi

[TShore]

I have the following:

Pray for ala William Shore, merchant of London, who died on the last day of February in the year of our Lord God 1484, Amen

Thank you,

 

[Pacifica]

Aia must be an abbreviation of anima. You've also got the number of the year wrong. And, unless you haven't written the whole thing in the thread title, there is no "amen".

"Pray for the soul of William Schower, merchant from London, who died on the last day of February in the year of the Lord 1491."

 

[TShore]

Aia must be an abbreviation of anima. You've also got the number of the year wrong. And, unless you haven't written the whole thing in the thread title, there is no "amen".

"Pray for the soul of William Schower, merchant from London, who died on the last day of February in the year of the Lord 1491."

Thank you. The thread title was cut off:


"Willmi Schower marcatoris de London qui obiit ultimo die Februari anno dni Mcccclxxxxiiii cujus aie ppicietur deus amen.",

 

[Pacifica]

Ah, ok.

The complete translation then is:

"Pray for the soul of William Schower, merchant from London, who died on the last day of February in the year of the Lord 1494; may God be propitious to his soul. Amen."

 

[TShore]

Thanks, again. One last question. In a book referring to this inscribed slab, it transcribes the name "Schower" as "Shore". I believe that this is indeed the effigy of William Shore, independently tied to this church and date of death. Is there any justification, from a Latin orthographical point of view, that "Schower" would be reasonably translated into "Shore"? I have attached a picture of the effigy for reference.

Thanks so much for your help in this.

 

[Pacifica]

There is no reason from a Latin point of view (the letter "w" didn't even originally exist in Latin), but Shower and Shore may just have been variant spellings of the name in English itself.

 

[cinefactus]

Looks like Schoure to me, which seems a reasonable mediaeval spelling for the modern Shore.