Hello Everyone

I know I don't all the time. I try to keep up by checking all of the updated ones.

Thanks for the info!

Serge L,

You are too kind, sir!  

My linguistic skills are actually predominantly limited to the martial arts, and historical military matters.  I took 3 years of Latin in high school, but I otherwise have little expertise in this field.

Hispano-Italian ancestors, actually.

The original name was "Mastrobattista" ("Master Baptist"?), which my father shortened to "Mastro" long before I was even born.  His father was from Rome, and his mother was from a town on the Adriatic, called Ortona.  As I'm sure you know, the Spanish had a pretty profound influence in Italy for many years--in Sicily, Naples, Milan, Tuscany, etc.  From what I understand, "Mastro" is more commonly seen as a Spanish spelling, as opposed to "Maestro".  In fact, I sometimes have Latino folks ask me if I'm Spanish, based solely on my name.

My middle name, "Black", was my mother's maiden name--she was a Scot-Irish Protestant, who could ultimately trace her ancestry to Catholic Highland Scots of the MacGregor clan.

Peace,

David

Hi Serge,

Thanks for the info regarding all of that--I do remember my father once saying that our ancestors had supposedly been involved in clothing manufacture, so the "artisan" part makes sense.

It truly is a small world!

Those "mutual influences" have always particularly intrigued me from the martial/military standpoint.  During the late Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, the swordfighting traditions of Spain and Italy were rather similar.  Both areas were famous for their style of sword-and-shield fighting (espada y rodela; spada e rotella), which saw much application on the battlefields.  In civilian circles, the Spanish and Italians also popularized the method of using the sword-and-dagger (espada y daga; spada e pugnale).  In terms of "mutual influences", the Spanish derived their famous battle formations--the colunela and tercio--from Italian sources.  In addition, Italian schermitores from Naples insist to this very day that their is a Spanish element to their swordplay, though they are not sure what it is!  Considering the long Spanish involvement in the South of Italy (the whole "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies" deal), this doesn't sound surprising.  It's also interesting to note that, in the late 16th century, the Spanish Army of Flanders--generally considered to be the very best army in Western Europe--actually had more Italian soldiers than Spanish ones!  Also, in terms of quality, out of the so-called "Six Nations" (Spaniards, Italians, Burgundians, Germans, Walloons, and British) who served in the Spanish Army, the Spanish considered the Italians to be second only to themselves.  In fact, the best commander that the Spanish Army of Flanders ever had (indeed, perhaps the best commander anywhere in Europe at that time) was Italian--the famous Alessandro Farnese, the Duke of Parma!

Well, it might actually be by English standards, since, as far as I know, "Black" was one of several names given to Scottish families by the English, after the Jacobite Rebellions when the Gaelic-speaking Highland culture was suppressed.  You could compare it to the African slave Kuta Kinte (sp) being named "Toby", in the old tv series Roots.

However, I repeat, I really like the sound of your full name.

Feel free to use my full name, if you wish.

Peace,

David