Italian Prose (V)
From The Seven Sages of Rome
The Italian Prose (V), the redaction of 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.
Identification & General Information
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
Language of version
Place of composition
Date of Composition
1300 - 1350
Source for date of composition
Modern Scholarship & Editions
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 |
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