Middle English Version A

1. Home
2. Secondary Version
3. Middle English Version A

The Middle English versions of the Seven Sages of Rome are all part of the Version A tradition. Adapted from one of the Old French A texts sometime in the late 13th or early 14th century, the Middle English Seven Sages texts clearly became a popular insular text, developing three distinct redactions that survive in eight manuscripts. These iterations of the narrative bear striking similarity to other popular Middle English romances, both in their narrative concerns and in their form (the near-ubiquitous tail-rhymed octosyllabic couplets). In this version, the emperor is called Dioclecian, his son named Florentine or Florentin, and the empress - as usual - unnamed.

General Information
Language within Version	Middle English
Narrative / Scholarly Group
Parent Versions	A (Seven Sages)
Child Versions	Midland Version, Y Group
Author
Title
Siglum of the version of the Seven Sages
Version Number
Branch of the tradition

Language & Composition
Original language of version
Translated into (languages)
Place of composition
Date of composition
Source for date of composition

Literature & Editions
Modern research literature
Modern Editions

Recorded branch of this secondary version

A (Seven Sages) Dutch Version A Dutch Verse Version: Van den seven vroeden van binnen Rome French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages Group U Group V Group W Group X Group Y Group Z Gaelic Version A German Version A: Allegatio/Libellus Italian Version A Italian Prose (V) Libro dei Sette Savj (A) Storia favolosa di Stefano (S) Latin Version A Latin Version A: Allegatio / Libellus Middle English Version A Midland Version Y Group Northern English Southern English Old Swedish Version A: Sju vise mästare Old Swedish Redaction A Old Swedish Redaction B Older Scots Version A: Buke of the Sevyne Sagis Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein Early Modern and Modern Welsh Version A Middle Welsh Version A

Connected prints
No connected prints

Adaptations
Adapted from (version)
Adapted into (version)
Source for composition and adaptation information

Languages in Use
Language of text
Regional or specific language of version

Notes
Note
Notes on motifs
Notes on the frame

Pattern of embedded stories in this version

Has Short Title Has Sequence Number Has Narrator Has Name Variation Arbor 1 Empress   Canis 2 Bancillas Hancyllas Aper 3 Empress   Medicus 4 Ancilles   Gaza 5 Empress   Puteus 6 Lentulus Lentilioun Senescalcus 7 Empress   Tentamina 8 Malquidras Maladas Virgilius 9 Empress   Avis 10 Cato Caton, Catoun Sapientes 11 Empress   Vidua 12 Jesse   Roma 13 Empress   Inclusa 14 Maxencius Marcius Copy Embedded Stories Copy Embedded Stories × Select Target Page: Close Process

Connected manuscripts

Manuscript Language Location Date of Production Cambridge University Library MS Dd.1.17 English Cambridge University Library 1350/1400 Cambridge University Library MS Ff. 2, 38 English Cambridge University Library 1400/1500 Edinburgh National Library of Scotland Advocates MS 19.2.1, Auchinleck Manuscript English Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland 1331/1340 London British Library Arundel 140 English London, British Library 1400/1425 London British Library Cotton Galba E IX English London, British Library 1400/1425 London British Library Egerton 1995 English London, British Library 1475/1500 Oxford Balliol College Library MS 354 (Richard Hill's Commonplace Book) English Oxford, Bodleian Library 1501 - 1533 Oxford Bodleian Library Rawlinson poet. 175 English Oxford, Bodleian Library 1350/1400