H (Historia Septem Sapientum)

Empress has a loverEmpress's lover disguised as a womanLover's sex is revealed

The Historia Septem Sapientum (or, the Story of the Seven Sages) is usually referred to by its Latin title because of the early and broad proliferation of Latin textual transmission of this version. The Latin Historia was translated into many languages, including Armenian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Hungarian, Icelandic, Polish, Russian, Swedish, and Czech, and with particular popularity into German, and Latin texts continued to circulate well into the late Middle Ages.

The Historia, known in scholarship as Version H, likely developed out of the narrative tradition of the Version A redaction of the Seven Sages, and shares most of its stories with the Version A texts. However, the Historia introduces a new story, Amatores, and often combines two otherwise separate narratives (Senescalcus and Roma) which makes space for the new addition. Another variation is found in the prince's story; after relating the narrative Vaticinium with its focus on interpreting animal speech and prophecy, the prince then segues into a continuation of the story that follows the popular medieval narrative of the faithful friend, often called Amicus and Amelius, Ami et Amile, or Amis and Amiloun in Middle English. The resulting story, Vaticinium and Amici, is a long and wide ranging conclusion to the Historia's embedded narrative tradition.

The Historia tradition is set apart from other Seven Sages narratives by its 'unique fullness of detail' (Campbell 1907), and by the extensive, elaborate moralisations apended to the tales in many Version H texts. These moralisations are, in some versions, developed into religious allegories, referred to as reductiones. These reductiones are found primarily in the versions of the Historia that are included within the frame text of the Gesta Romanorum (notably the Latin and German Version H texts); according to Gerdes, as many as four fifths of all manuscript versions of the Historia narrative may be embedded within the Gesta (Gerdes 1992). Gaston Paris suggests that the inclusion of the Historia within the larger Gesta tale collection might account for the emperor's name in Version H: the emperor is called 'Poncianus' rather than 'Diocletianus', perhaps because the Gesta Romanorum already includes the story of an Emperor Diocletian.

It is also worth noting that unlike many of the Version A texts, the Historia usually concludes with further relevations that are intended to prove the empress's villainy. One of the empress's maidens is called forward by the prince, and publicly stripped, revealing male (not female) genitalia. The outing of the lover-character's biological sex is universally read as proof of the empress's adultery, with the assumption being that this 'maid' is really a man cross-dressing in order to conduct an affair with the empress. The supposed-lover is then executed alongside the empress.

Identification & General Information

Title

Historia Septem Sapientum

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition

Seven Sages of Rome

Adapted from (version)

A (Seven Sages)

Adapted into (version)

Historia Calumniae Novercalis, Pontianus, Latin Version H, English Version H, German Version H, Czech Version H, Old Swedish Version H

Recorded Secondary Versions

H (Historia Septem Sapientum)

Connected Manuscripts

	Has Language	Has Location	Has Date Range Of Production
Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 101a	Latin	Admont, Stiftsbibliothek	before 1380
Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 163	Latin	Admont, Stiftsbibliothek	1410 - 1414
Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 362	Latin	Admont, Stiftsbibliothek	1375
Admont Stiftsbibliothek Cod. 652	Latin	Admont, Stiftsbibliothek	1441
Alba Iulia Biblioteca Batthyaneum R II 75	Latin	Alba Iulia, Biblioteca Batthyaneum	1425 - 1450
Ansbach Staatliche Bibliothek (Schlossbibliothek) Ms. lat. 65	Latin	Ansbach, Staatliche Bibliothek (Schlossbibliothek)	1387
Augsburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. I. 2. 2° 22	Latin	Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek	1459
Augsburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. II. i. 2° 30	Latin	Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek	1427 - 1430
Augsburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. II. i. 4º 70	Latin	Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek	1400 - 1425
Augsburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. II. i. 4º 70 (excerpts within Gesta Romanorum)	Latin	Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek	1400 - 1425
Augsburg Universitätsbibliothek Cod. II. i. 4º i	Latin	Augsburg, Universitätsbibliothek	1455

Language & Composition

Language of version

Latin

Translated into (languages)

Armenian, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German (High and Low German), Hungarian, Icelandic, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Czech

Date of Composition

1300 - 1342

Source for date of composition

Campbell (1907), Roth (2004)

Modern Scholarship & Editions

Modern research literature

Gerdes (1992), Gerdes (2004), Roth (2003), Roth (2008), Schmitz (1904), Campbell (1907), Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984), Runte, Society of the Seven Sages Portal (2014), Roth (2004), Paris (1876)

Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version

Has Short Title	Has Sequence Number	Has Narrator
Arbor – The Tree	1	Empress
Canis – The Faithful Dog	2	Bancillas
Aper – The Boar and the Fruit	3	Empress
Puteus – The Well	4	Lentulus
Gaza – The Treasure	5	Empress
Avis – The Bird	6	Cato
Sapientes – The Wise Men	7	Empress
Tentamina – The Test	8	Malquidras
Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels	9	Empress
Medicus – The Doctor	10	Josephas
Senescalcus and Roma – The Steward, and Rome Beseiged	11	Empress
Amatores – The Three Lovers	12	Cleophas
Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife	13	Empress
Vidua – The Widow	14	Joachim