D (Sept Sages de Rome): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 13:21, 18 February 2026

The siglum for the Old French Version D comes from its designation as the Version Dérimée - a prose text that shows evidence of having been redacted from a verse original. It survives in one 15th-century manuscript, but may have originated much earlier. Some of the rhyming passages in the text appear to align with the rhymes employed in Version K (Sept Sages de Rome), the sole surviving complete Old French verse text, but not all of them (Campbell, Foehr-Janssens 1994). Also, the story order in D differs from that found in Version K, suggesting that while the two may have shared a (now lost) verse text source, K is likely not the source for D. D also bears marked similarity to Version C (Sept Sages de Rome), the other surviving verse version of the narrative.

In Version D the emperor is named Marcomeris, son of Priam, and his first wife is the daughter of the duke of Carthage. The story is set primarily in Constantinople. At the end of the narrative, the empress attempts twice to avert her death - once by insisting on a single combat duel between her nephew and the prince, and then by demanding a toise (something which, according to Campbell, may be 'encircled by the arms') to be burned with her. Once granted, she claims the emperor himself as her toise. The prince foils both of these ploys.

Identification & General Information

Title

Roman des Sept Sages

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition

Seven Sages of Rome

Recorded Secondary Versions

D (Sept Sages de Rome)

Connected Manuscripts

	Has Language	Has Location	Has Date Range Of Production

Language & Composition

Language of version

Old French

Place of composition

France

Date of Composition

1275 - 1500

Source for date of composition

Paris (1876), Foehr-Janssens (1994)

Modern Scholarship & Editions

Modern research literature

Paris (1876), Campbell (1907), Foehr-Janssens (1994), Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984)

Modern Editions

Paris, Deux rédactions du Roman des Sept Sages de Rome (1876)

Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version

Has Short Title	Has Sequence Number	Has Narrator	Has Name Variation
Arbor – The Tree	1	Empress
Canis – The Faithful Dog	2	Bancillas	Bencillas
Senescalcus – The Seneschal	3	Empress
Medicus – The Doctor	4	Anxilles	Ancille
Aper – The Boar and the Fruit	5	Empress
Puteus – The Well	6	Malquidras	Mauquidas
Sapientes – The Wise Men	7	Empress
Tentamina – The Test	8	Lentulus
Roma – Rome Besieged	9	Empress
Avis – The Bird	10	Cato	Cathon
Gaza – The Treasure	11	Empress
Vidua – The Widow	12	Jesse
Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels	13	Empress
Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife	14	Meron	Meros

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Version
-|Has Title=Sept Sages de Rome
+|Has Description=The siglum for the Old French Version D comes from its designation as the ''Version Dérimée'' - a prose text that shows evidence of having been redacted from a verse original. It survives in one 15th-century manuscript, but may have originated much earlier. Some of the rhyming passages in the text appear to align with the rhymes employed in Version [[K (Sept Sages de Rome)]], the sole surviving complete Old French verse text, but not all of them (Campbell, Foehr-Janssens 1994). Also, the story order in D differs from that found in Version K, suggesting that while the two may have shared a (now lost) verse text source, K is likely not the source for D. D also bears marked similarity to Version [[C (Sept Sages de Rome)]], the other surviving verse version of the narrative.
-|Has Branch Of Tradition=West
-|Has Text Language=Old French
+In Version D the emperor is named Marcomeris, son of Priam, and his first wife is the daughter of the duke of Carthage. The story is set primarily in Constantinople. At the end of the narrative, the empress attempts twice to avert her death - once by insisting on a single combat duel between her nephew and the prince, and then by demanding a ''toise'' (something which, according to Campbell, may be 'encircled by the arms') to be burned with her. Once granted, she claims the emperor himself as her ''toise''. The prince foils both of these ploys.
+|Has Title=Roman des Sept Sages
+|Has Branch Of Tradition=Seven Sages of Rome
+|Has Language Of Version=Old French
+|Has Place Of Text Composition=France
+|Has Start Date Of Composition=1275
+|Has End Date Of Composition=1500
+|Has Source For Date Of Text Composition=Paris (1876); Foehr-Janssens (1994)
 |Has Modern Research Literature=Paris (1876); Campbell (1907); Foehr-Janssens (1994); Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984)
+|Has Modern Edition=Paris, Deux rédactions du Roman des Sept Sages de Rome (1876)
 }}
 {{EmbeddedStory
@@ Line 13: / Line 21: @@
 |Has Short Title=Canis
 |Has Sequence Number=2
-|Has Narrator=Bencillas
+|Has Narrator=Bancillas
+|Has Name Variation=Bencillas
 }}
 {{EmbeddedStory
@@ Line 23: / Line 32: @@
 |Has Short Title=Medicus
 |Has Sequence Number=4
-|Has Narrator=Ancille
+|Has Narrator=Anxilles
+|Has Name Variation=Ancille
 }}
 {{EmbeddedStory
@@ Line 33: / Line 43: @@
 |Has Short Title=Puteus
 |Has Sequence Number=6
-|Has Narrator=Mauquidas
+|Has Narrator=Malquidras
+|Has Name Variation=Mauquidas
 }}
 {{EmbeddedStory
@@ Line 53: / Line 64: @@
 |Has Short Title=Avis
 |Has Sequence Number=10
-|Has Narrator=Cathon
+|Has Narrator=Cato
+|Has Name Variation=Cathon
 }}
 {{EmbeddedStory
@@ Line 73: / Line 85: @@
 |Has Short Title=Inclusa
 |Has Sequence Number=14
-|Has Narrator=Meros
+|Has Narrator=Meron
+|Has Name Variation=Meros
 }}
 {{EmbeddedStory
@@ Line 80: / Line 93: @@
 |Has Narrator=Prince
 }}
-In this version, the emperor is named Marcomeris, son of Priam, and his first wife is the daughter of the duke of Carthage. At the end of the narrative, the empress attempts twice to avert her death - once by insisting on a single combat duel between her nephew and the and the prince, and then by demanding a 'toise' (something which, according to Campbell, may be 'encircled by the arms') to be burned with her. Once granted, she claims the emperor himself as her 'toise'. The prince averts both of these ploys.