S (Scala Coeli)

The version of the Seven Sages narrative known as 'Version S' in scholarship was penned by Jean or Johannes Gobi the Younger, as part of the collection of exempla titled Scala Coeli composed circa 1322–30. Gobi was a Dominican friar from the south of France, who compiled and composed the Scala Coeli while living at the monstery in Saint-Maximin (a site overseen by Jean Gobi the Elder, presumably his uncle) (see Aranda García (2021a), Polo de Beaulieu (1996)). The exempla in the compilation - somewhere between 600 and 1,000 in number, depending on the manuscript/incunabula witness - are mostly, but not universally, Dominican, drawn from and found in many other popular contemporary exempla collections, including those attributed to Jacques de Vitry, Arnold of Liège, Étienne of Bourbon, and Caesarius of Heisterbach.

Identification & General Information

Title

Scala coeli

Tradition & Lineage

Branch of the tradition

West

Adapted from (version)

(Lost) Liber de Septem Sapientibus

Recorded Secondary Versions

S (Scala Coeli)
- Latin Version S
  - Latin Version S Manuscripts
- Spanish Version S: Diego de Cañizares, Scala Çeli

Connected Manuscripts

	Has Language	Has Location	Has Date Range Of Production
Avignon Bibliothèque municipale Ceccano, Ms 335	Latin	Avignon, Bibliothèque municipale Ceccano	1450 - 1500
Braunschweig Stadtbibliothek 10	Latin	Braunschweig, Stadtbibliothek	1452
Brugge Bibliotheek Ms. 494	Latin	Brugge, Bibliotheek Brugge	1401 - 1500
Burgo de Osma Biblioteca Capitular Ms. 57	Latin	Burgo de Osma, Archivo Capitular de Osma-Soria	1401 - 1500
Città del Vaticano Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana Cod. Pal. Lat. 862	Latin	Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana	1401 - 1500
Dublin Trinity College Library Ms 128	Latin	Dublin, Trinity College Library	1401 - 1500
Göttingen Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Theol. 140	Latin	Göttingen, Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek	1401 - 1500
Kraków Biblioteka Jagiellońska 1410	Latin	Kraków, Biblioteka Jagiellońska	1401 - 1500
Liège Bibliothèque Université Ms 101	Latin	Liège, Université de Liège Bibliothèque	1459
Lüneburg Ratsbücherei Theol. 4° 8	Latin	Lüneburg, Ratsbücherei Lüneburg	1377
Madrid Biblioteca Nacional de España 6052 (ant. Q.224)	Spanish	Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España	1490 - 1500

Language & Composition

Translated into (languages)

Latin, Spanish

Date of Composition

Notes & Commentary

Note

S is noteworthy because of its brevity; Campbell (1904) observes that it is 'much compressed', though 'not substantially altered'. No names given for the sages or the prince; the Emperor is named Diocletian. In this version, as in version L, the stories 'Filia' and 'Noverca' substitute for 'Roma' and 'Inclusa.'

Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version

Has Short Title	Has Sequence Number	Has Narrator
Arbor – The Tree	1	Empress
Canis – The Faithful Dog	2	First Master
Aper – The Boar and the Fruit	3	Empress
Medicus – The Doctor	4	Second Master
Gaza – The Treasure	5	Empress
Tentamina – The Test	6	Third Master
Senescalcus – The Seneschal	7	Empress
Puteus – The Well	8	Fourth Master
Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels	9	Empress
Avis – The Bird	10	Fifth Master
Sapientes – The Wise Men	11	Empress
Vidua – The Widow	12	Sixth Master
Filia	13	Empress
Noverca – The Stepmother	14	Seventh Master