Italian Version A
The Seven Sages narrative in Italian is often titled Il Libro dei Sette Savi di Roma. There are two different, mostly unrelated branches of the Italian Sette Savi narrative: one, discussed below, is an Italian adaptation of the pattern known as Version A; the other, the Versio Italico or Version I pattern, developed separately, and consists of a handful of different redactions based on a distinct story-order. While the Version I pattern is assumed to have evolved out of a Version A narrative, it is critically understood to be distinct from that family, and to constitute its own branch of the Seven Sages tradition.
The Italian branch of the Version A pattern, on the other hand, is understood to be closely related to other Version A texts. It is sometimes referred to in scholarship as the versione francese-italica (by e.g. Cesari), and it exists in a few different redactions. All of these follow, or nearly follow, the story-order set by the Old French Version A, and are presumed to be (direct or indirect) translations of French iterations of the narrative. The three disctinct redactions are:
- Libro dei Sette Savj (A), edited by d'Ancona (1864)
- Italian Prose (V), edited by Varnhagen (1881)
- Storia favolosa di Stefano (S), edited by Bozzoli (1999); first discussed in Cesari (1896).
All of these redactions have complex inheritances. Of the three versions, the Libro dei Sette Savj (A) is most closely related to its French Version A source-text, and the only one to maintain all fifteen stories. The Italian Prose (V) betrays the influence of Version L (Sept Sages de Rome), perhaps suggesting that a French A/L Overlap text was its source. The Storia favolosa di Stefano has historically been designated part of Version A, but also evidences influences of I (Versio Italico). Some scholarship (D'Agostino, 2022) therefore groups it with other anomalous Version I texts instead of with the A branch.
Both the Prose (V) and the Storia favolosa replace the story Puteus with Mercator, a story that clearly mirrors the frame-tale's structure and concerns. Mercator is found only in these two Italian redactions, and in the anomalous Latin (and later German) translations of Version A known as the Allegatio septem sapientum or Libellus muliebri nequitia plenus. The Latin Allegatio also replaces Puteus with Mercator, and was composed sometime in the 14th century, in Northern Italy - making it roughly contemporary with these Italian Version A redactions.
General Information
Language & Composition
Literature & Editions
Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version
- A (Seven Sages)
- Dutch Version A
- French Version A: Roman des Sept Sages
- Gaelic Version A
- German Version A: Allegatio/Libellus
- Italian Version A
- Latin Version A
- Middle English Version A
- Old Swedish Version A: Sju vise mästare
- Older Scots Version A: Buke of the Sevyne Sagis
- Welsh Version A: Chwedleu Seith Doethon Rufein
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Adaptations
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 |
| Aper – The Boar and the Fruit | 3 | Empress | |
| Medicus – The Doctor | 4 | Anxilles | Auxlex |
| Gaza – The Treasure | 5 | Empress | |
| Mercator | 6 | Lentulus | Litalus |
| Senescalcus – The Seneschal | 7 | Empress | |
| Tentamina – The Test | 8 | Malquidras | Malchidras |
| Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels | 9 | Empress | |
| Avis – The Bird | 10 | Caton | Cato |
| Sapientes – The Wise Men | 11 | Empress | |
| Vidua – The Widow | 12 | Jesse | Fifth Master |
| Roma – Rome Besieged | 13 | Empress | |
| Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife | 14 | Arcius |
Connected Manuscripts
| Has Language | Has Location | Has Date Range Of Production | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florence Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Gaddiano 166 | Italian | Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana | 1274 - 1500 |
| Florence Biblioteca nazionale centrale, Palatino 680 | Italian | Florence, Biblioteca nazionale centrale | 1401 - 1500 |
| London British Library Add. MS. 27429 | Italian | London, British Library | 1301 - 1325 |