A (Seven Sages)

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The prose redaction of The Seven Sages usually titled 'Version A' is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential versions of the European Seven Sages of Rome tradition. It originated in Old French, likely in the late 12th or early 13th centuries (see Speer and Foehr-Janssens, pp. 64-74), and was eventually translated into English, French, German, Latin, Dutch, Swedish, Italian, and Welsh. There is a consensus in scholarship that this version was also the source for the enormously popular Versions H and I as well as M, which may all be taken as variations on the theme demonstrated by the Version A pattern. By this note, Version A of the Seven Sages of Rome is singularly influential in its spread and impact.

The original Old French prose redaction of Version A likely shared a source with Version K, and that text presumably also shared a source with Versions C and D (Foehr-Janssens, 1994; Speer, 1981). This proximity is assessed partially based on linguistic detail, and partially on the basis of embedded stories and their order within the frame narrative. For example, Version A has the same embedded stories as Versions K and D, but their order differs. Version L, on the other hand, has exactly the same stories in the same order as Version A for the first 11 stories, but then varies dramatically, omitting Vidua and Vaticinium and instead including Filia and Noverca (see the information about the Overlap of Versions A and L for more details about the relationship between these two, and their mingling in some manuscripts). Of all of these early Old French redactions, however, it was Version A that spread most rapidly and widely.

This narrative version is identified by the story order (below). In Version A, the emperor is often named Dioclecian; his first wife is sometimes named Milicent, or Helie. The prince is named Florentine in the Middle English version, and Stefano in the Italian.

Identification & General Information

Title
The Seven Sages of Rome

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition
Seven Sages of Rome
Adapted from (version)
V (Lost metrical Old French Sept Sages)
Adapted into (version)
H (Historia Septem Sapientum), I (Versio Italica), M ('Male Marastre')
Source for composition and adaptation information
Campbell (1907), Foehr-Janssens (1994)

Recorded Secondary Versions

Connected Manuscripts

Language & Composition

Language of version
Old French
Translated into (languages)
English, Middle English, Middle Scots, French, German (High and Low German), Dutch, Italian, Old Swedish, Welsh, Swedish
Place of composition
France
Date of Composition
1175 - 1225


Source for date of composition
Campbell (1907), Speer and Foehr-Janssens (2017)

Modern Scholarship & Editions

Modern research literature
Speer and Foehr-Janssens (2017), Foehr-Janssens (1994), Campbell (1907), Runte, Wikeley, Farrell (1984), Runte, Society of the Seven Sages Portal (2014), Coco (2016)
Modern Editions
Runte, Les sept sages de Rome: An On-Line Edition of French Version A (2006), Coco, Il Roman des sept sages (2016), Brunner, The Seven Sages of Rome (Southern Version) (1933), Whitelock, The Seven Sages of Rome (Midland Version) (2005), Campbell, The Seven Sages of Rome (Northern Version) (1907)


Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version

Connected Prints

 Has LanguageHas LocationHas Sort Date Of Print
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