Middle English Version A

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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 insular popularity, 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).

According to Campbell (and also Brunner and Whitelock), the Middle English Seven Sages may be usefully grouped into three regional categories, with dialect differences separating the 'Northern', 'Southern', and 'Midland' redactions. Both Northern and Southern groups are closely related, and are assumed to share a lost parent-text, 'Y'. The Midland redaction, which is not part of the 'Y Group', has notable stylistic distinctions from the other texts, though it follows the same essential pattern. For example, while the emperor is always called Dioclecian and his son named Florentine or Florentin, the Y Group gives the prince's mother the name 'Milicent' while the Midlands text names her 'Helie' or 'Elye'. The sage's names are relatively consistent across all versions, as is the order of the tales themselves, with the notable exception of a single text found in Cambridge University Library MS Ff. 2, 38 (often referred to in scholarship as Text F). This text contains an anomalous version of the narrative, with an atypical story order and the addition of two unique tales ('Parricida' and 'Armiger').

It is also worth noting that despite their proximity, the Middle English Seven Sages is notably distinct from the Older Scots Version A, and also the later English Prints, which are part of the H (Historia Septem Sapientum) tradition.

General Information

Language within Version

Middle English

Parent Versions

A (Seven Sages)

Child Versions

Midland Version, Y Group

Siglum of the version of the Seven Sages

A (Seven Sages)

Branch of the tradition

West

Language & Composition

Place of composition

England

Date of Composition

1275 - 1320

Source for date of composition

Campbell (1907)

Literature & Editions

Modern research literature

Brunner (1933), Whitelock (2005), Campbell (1907), Bonsall (2024), Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984), Runte, Society of the Seven Sages Portal (2014), Epstein (1967), Jaunzems (1978)

Modern Editions

Brunner, The Seven Sages of Rome (Southern Version) (1933), Campbell, The Seven Sages of Rome (Northern Version) (1907), Whitelock, The Seven Sages of Rome (Midland Version) (2005)

Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version

• A (Seven Sages)
  • Dutch Version A
  • 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
    • Latin Version A: De Septem Sapientibus
  • 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

Adaptations

Adapted from (version)

French Version A

Adapted into (version)

Group Y, Midland Version

Source for composition and adaptation information

Campbell (1907)

Notes

Note

The story order (below) reflects the tales as they appear in all manuscripts but F (Cambridge University Library MS Ff. 2, 38).

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	Hancyllas
Aper – The Boar and the Fruit	3	Empress
Medicus – The Doctor	4	Anxilles	Ancilles
Gaza – The Treasure	5	Empress
Puteus – The Well	6	Lentulus	Lentilioun
Senescalcus – The Seneschal	7	Empress
Tentamina – The Test	8	Malquidras	Maladas
Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels	9	Empress
Avis – The Bird	10	Cato	Caton, Catoun
Sapientes – The Wise Men	11	Empress
Vidua – The Widow	12	Jesse
Roma – Rome Besieged	13	Empress
Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife	14	Maxencius	Marcius

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Connected Manuscripts

	Has Language	Has Location	Has Date Range 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