Hystorij von Diocleciano
The German text titled the Hystorij von Diocleciano survives in only one manuscript, written c. 1470. Like the other anomalous late medieval German version, the Aventewr von Diocleciano, the source for the Hystorij was a text from the (German) Historia tradition, demonstrated by some of the surviving embedded tales (stories 7-14). Specifically, the Hystorij's final stories bear marked resemblance to German prose version H redaction G. (Gerdes 1992). However, the Hystorij also contains five inset tales that are not found anywhere else in the Seven Sages tradition, and one fewer than usual. The new stories told by the sages (Aristoteles, Samson, and Holofernes) draw on classical narratives, and are designed to illustrate the timelessness of women's perfidy. The Empress's new stories (Regina and Vadium) draw on folk- and fairy-tale structures, and are focused on women who are falsely accused of infidelity - though in his introduction to his 1999 edition, Steinmetz notes that they inadvertently relate a (gender-swapped) version of the frame, with an innocent victim (analoguous to the prince) falsely implicated (Steinmetz 1999). It is also worth noting that in the process of adaptating the Historia text, the author of the Hystorij not only added and changed the stories, but also abbreviated the existing tales, and dramatically reduced the moralisations following each tale.
Identification & General Information
Tradition & Lineage
Recorded Secondary Versions
- H (Historia Septem Sapientum)
- Czech Version H: Kronika sedmi mudrců
- Danish Version H
- Dutch Version H
- English Version H
- French Version H
- German Version H
- Hungarian Version H: Pontianus tsaszar historiaia
- Icelandic Version H
- Latin Version H
- Polish Version H
- Scots Version H: Rolland, Seuin Seages
- Spanish Version H: Los Siete Sabios de Roma
- Swedish Version H: Sju vise mästare
- Yiddish Version H
Connected Manuscripts
Language & Composition
Modern Scholarship & Editions
Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version
| Has Short Title | Has Sequence Number | Has Narrator | Has Name Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aristoteles | 1 | Bancillas | Cancillus |
| Regina | 2 | Empress | |
| Samson | 3 | Gallus | |
| Sapientes – The Wise Men | 4 | Empress | |
| Holofernes | 5 | Terenus | |
| Vadium | 6 | Empress | |
| Tentamina – The Test | 7 | Waldach | |
| Gaza – The Treasure | 8 | Empress | |
| Medicus – The Doctor | 9 | Josephas | |
| Senescalcus and Roma – The Steward, and Rome Beseiged | 10 | Empress | |
| Amatores – The Three Lovers | 11 | Cleophas | |
| Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife | 12 | Empress | |
| Vidua – The Widow | 13 | Joachim |
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