Senescalcus and Roma – The Steward, and Rome Beseiged
Senescalcus and Roma
Note: this story is a combination of the individual stories Senescalcus and Roma.
Senescalcus:
A king falls ill due to an abberation with his sexual habits (he does not have sex with women, either because of misogyny or homosexuality), and is told that the only cure is for him to sleep with a woman. He instructs his steward, or seneschal, to find a woman to sleep with him, whom he will pay handsomely. Wishing to keep the reward for himself, the steward convinces his own wife to sleep with the king, and leads her to his chamber in darkness. After the king has slept with the wife, all is revealed and the steward is shamed; he flees and the king honours and favours the seneschal's wife.
Roma:
However, after the seneschal has fled, he raises a mighty army in order to beseige Rome (perhaps to retrieve the relics of St Peter and St Paul). Neither Rome's king nor its seven wisest advisors are able to govern the city, or repel the seneschal's forces. At last the seventh wise man, named Junius (or Genius) orders the troops to be readied, then mounts the walls to the highest point. He dons a strange cloak, and a mask with many faces, a takes up two swords. He sets up a mirror or a fire behind him, and shouts so loudly the beseiging armies all hear him. The seneschal's troops are tricked into believing he is a powerful god and flee, leaving Rome victorious.
[Added by Jane Bonsall]
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This story, originating in the Latin Version H, combines two preexisting stories from the Seven Sages tradition (and particularly from the French Version A, from which H originates). The redactor-translator of the Latin Version H reordered the tales, as well as adding new material and reassigning existing stories in 'a conscious attempt at building up narrative and didactic momentum’ (Runte, 1989, p. 96). With the addition of Amatores raising the total number of tales to 16 - one too many - the redactor chose to combine Senescalcus and Roma rather than omit either of them. In this version, the seneschal from the first story becomes a stand in for the 'heathen armies' beseiging Rome in the second story, and his foolishness and gullibility the throughline connecting the two. See the pages for Senescalcus and Roma for further notes. |
| Critical Literature |
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| Nishimura (2001), Runte (1989) |
| Senescalcus and Roma is narrated in the following occurrences | ||||
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