Spanish Version H: Los Siete Sabios de Roma
The fifteenth- and sixteenth-century prints titled La Historia de los Siete Sabios de Roma represent one of the three distinct Spanish branches of the tradition (along with the Libro de los Engaños and the Spanish Scala Coeli, not to mention the Spanish Erasto). The Siete Sabios prints follow the Version H (Historia Septem Sapientum) pattern of embedded tales, probably drawn from a Latin Version H text, and were frequently illustrated with elaborate woodcuts (Aranda García 2021a; 2023).
The Spanish Siete Sabios prints offer a window into the movements of texts and - critically - printers in the late medieval period. For example, the earliest surviving print comes from the workshop of brothers Juan and Pablo Hurus, German printers working in Zaragoza in the late 15th/early 16th centuries; the brothers, who tailored the narrative to fit the interests of their Zaragoza audience, were reportedly converts to Christianity from Judaism. Later prints (from 1510, 1534, and 1538) were produced in Sevilla by a different German printer, Jacobo Comberger (Aranda García 2021a, Lacarra 2014). The dissemination of the Siete Sabios was part of a boom in the printing of prose fiction - including popular translated texts - in the early part of the sixteenth century; shorter chivalric and sentimental texts were particularly popular (Cañizares Ferriz 2011).
General Information
Language & Composition
Literature & Editions
Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version
- H (Historia Septem Sapientum)
- Czech Version H: Kronika sedmi mudrců
- Danish Version H
- Dutch Version H
- English Version H
- French Version H
- German Version H
- Hungarian Version H: Pontianus tsaszar historiaia
- Icelandic Version H
- Latin Version H
- Lithuanian Version H
- Polish Version H
- Scots Version H: Rolland, Seuin Seages
- Spanish Version H: Los Siete Sabios de Roma
- Swedish Version H: Sju vise mästare
- Yiddish Version H
Connected Prints
Adaptations
Notes
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 | Pancillas |
| Aper – The Boar and the Fruit | 3 | Empress | |
| Puteus – The Well | 4 | Lentulus | Léntulo |
| Gaza – The Treasure | 5 | Empress | |
| Avis – The Bird | 6 | Cato | Cratón |
| Sapientes – The Wise Men | 7 | Empress | |
| Tentamina – The Test | 8 | Malquidras | Malquidrac |
| Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels | 9 | Empress | |
| Medicus – The Doctor | 10 | Josephas | José |
| Senescalcus and Roma – The Steward, and Rome Beseiged | 11 | Empress | |
| Amatores – The Three Lovers | 12 | Cleophas | Cleophás |
| Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife | 13 | Empress | |
| Vidua – The Widow | 14 | Joachim | Joachím |