Michiel Marchal

Bernard: This was a French name, probably derived from the name Benoit. Transcribed in German as Bernhart or Bernhard, it returned after 1666 to Bernard. There were two branches: those called "Ie Prince" (the prince) from 1620 to 1773, remaining Bernards; and ours, called "Ie Mareschal" or "Schmit" (the blacksmith), who gradually became Marchals. Georg Bernhart, der Schmit von Walterspach, is mentioned in 1619; in 1669, Jorg et Sontag Schmit oder Bernhard. Blacksmithing was a family trade over a long period. The first identified in our line appears in many records, usually as Jehan Bernhard or Bernard, mareschal, but his son may be Jehan Mareschalle jeune of Waldersbach, and the name Marschal proliferates in the eighteenth century.

• http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cayf/Gockley.pdf , page 74