Italian Prose (V)
From The Seven Sages of Rome
The Italian Prose version A, found in British Library Add. MS. 27429, represents one of the three Italian redactions of the Version A pattern. Like the version titled Storia favolosa di Stefano, the Prose version edited by Varnhagen (and therefore often designated redaction V) also replaces 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 also 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 the Italian Version A redactions.
According to Varnhagen's edition (1881), some elements of this text, including mistranslations, help confirm that a French Version A/L text was the source or this manuscript. One of the more entertaining of those mistranslations changes the boar (sanglier) in Aper to a lord (sengniore) (Ward p. 211).
Other elements that signal the relationship to L as well as A is the fact that the prince does not tell a story in this text; instead, the tale concludes with the trial by combat, in which the Empress's champion is defeated.
Tradition & Lineage
Recorded Secondary Versions
- 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
Connected Manuscripts
Language & Composition
Modern Scholarship & Editions
Modern research literature
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 | Cato | |
| Sapientes – The Wise Men | 11 | Empress | |
| Vidua – The Widow | 12 | Jesse | Fifth Master |
| Roma – Rome Besieged | 13 | Empress |