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{{Short description|13th or 14th-century Latin collection of anecdotes and tales}}
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'''''Gesta Romanorum''''', a [[Latin]] collection of anecdotes and tales, was probably compiled about the end of the [[13th century]] or the beginning of the [[14th century|14th]]. It still possesses a two-fold literary interest, first as one of the most popular books of the time, and secondly as the source, directly or indirectly, of later literature, in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], [[John Gower]], [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], [[William Shakespeare]], and others.
{{italic title}}
⚫
'''''Gesta Romanorum''''', meaning ''Deeds of the Romans'', is a [[Latin]] collection of [[anecdotes]] and tales that was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th. It still possesses a two-fold literary interest, first as one of the most popular books of the time, and secondly as the source, directly or indirectly, of later literature, in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], [[John Gower]], [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], [[Thomas Hoccleve]], [[William Shakespeare]], and others.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}


Of its authorship nothing certain is known. It is conjecture to associate it either with the name of [[Helinandus]] or with that of [[Petrus Berchorius]] (Pierre Bercheure). It is debated whether it took its rise in England, Germany or France.
Of its authorship nothing certain is known. It is conjecture to associate it either with the name of [[Helinand of Froidmont|Helinandus]] or with that of [[Pierre Bersuire|Petrus Berchorius]] (Pierre Bercheure). It is debated whether it originated in England, Germany or France.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}


==Content==
==Content==
⚫
The work was evidently intended as a manual for preachers, and was probably written by one of the clerical profession. The name, ''Deeds of the Romans'', is only partially appropriate to the collection in its present form, since, besides the titles from Greek and Latin history and legend, it comprises fragments of different origins, Asian and European. The unifying element of the book is its moral purpose, but the work contains a variety of material.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} It includes, for example:


* the germ of the romance of ''[[Guy of Warwick]]'';
⚫
The work was evidently intended as a manual for preachers, and was probably written by one of the clerical profession. The name, ''Deeds of the Romans'', is only partially appropriate to the collection in its present form, since, besides the titles from Greek and Latin history and legend, it comprises fragments of very various origin, oriental and European. The unifying element of the book is its moral purpose.
* the story of the three caskets, as in ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'';

* the story of ''Darius and his Three Sons'', versified by [[Thomas Occleve]];
The style is barbarous, and the narrative ability of the compiler seems to vary with his source; but he has managed to bring together a considerable variety of excellent material. He gives us, for example, the germ of the romance of ''[[Guy of Warwick]]''; the story of ''Darius and his Three Sons'', versified by [[Thomas Occleve]]; part of Chaucer's ''[[The Man of Law's Prologue and Tale|Man of Lawes Tale]]''; a tale of the emperor Theodosius, the same in its main features as that of Shakespeare's ''[[King Lear]]''; the story of the ''Three Black Crows''; the ''Hermit and the Angel'', well known from Parnell's version, and a story identical with the ''Fridolin'' of [[Schiller]].
* part of [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Man of Law's Prologue and Tale|Man of Lawes Tale]]'';
* a version of the [[Crescentia (romance)|Crescentia]] cycle, similar to (though more piously phrased than) ''[[Le Bone Florence of Rome]]'';<ref name="Schlauch1969"/>
* a tale of the emperor Theodosius, the same in its main features as that of Shakespeare's ''[[King Lear]]'';
* the first known medieval appearance of the story of [[The Dead King and his Three Sons]]
* the story of the ''Three Black Crows''<ref>D. L. Ashliman, [https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type1381d.html Of Women, Who Not Only Betray Secrets, but Lie Fearfully]</ref>
* the ''Hermit and the Angel'', later known from [[Thomas Parnell]]'s version;
* a story identical with the ''[[Fridolin]]'' of [[Schiller]];
* the story of Jonathan and the three jewels (a predecessor to ''[[Fortunatus (book)|Fortunatus]]'');<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blamires |first=David |title=Folktales and Fairytales in the Middle Ages |journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester |volume=74 |date=1992 |pages=102-103 |url=https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/enwiki/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:1m2286&datastreamId=POST-PEER-REVIEW-PUBLISHERS-DOCUMENT.PDF}}</ref>
* a retelling of the ''Man Tried by Fate'', a story also known in the legends of [[Saint Eustace]] and [[chivalric romance]]s such as [[Sir Isumbras]];<ref name="Hibbard1963"/>
* a version of ''[[Apollonius of Tyre]]''.


==Manuscripts==
==Manuscripts==


Owing to the loose structure of the book, it was easy for a transcriber to insert any additional story into his own copy, and consequently the manuscripts of the ''Gesta Romanorum'' exhibit considerable variety. [[Hermann Oesterley]] recognizes an English group of manuscripts (written always in Latin), a German group (sometimes in Latin and sometimes in German), and a group which is represented by the vulgate or common printed text.
Owing to the loose structure of the book, it was easy for a transcriber to insert any additional story into his own copy, and consequently the manuscripts of the ''Gesta Romanorum'' exhibit considerable variety. [[Hermann Oesterley]] recognizes an English group of manuscripts (written always in Latin), a German group (sometimes in Latin and sometimes in German), and a group which is represented by the vulgate or common printed text.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}


==Editions and translations==
==Early printed editions and translations==
The earliest editions are those of [[Nicolaus Ketelaer]] and [[Gerardus de Leempt]] at Utrecht, of [[Arnold Ter Hoenen]] at Cologne, and of [[Ulrich Zell]] at Cologne; but the exact date is in all three cases uncertain.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/211/1700.html]: c.1472-5.</ref>
The earliest printed editions are those of [[Nicolaus Ketelaer]] and [[Gerardus de Leempt]] at Utrecht, of [[Arnold Hoenen]] at Cologne, and of [[Ulrich Zell]] at Cologne; but the exact date is in all three cases uncertain.<ref name="Cambridge"/> In his preface to the 1905 revised and corrected edition, Wynnard Hooper writes that "according to Herr Oesterley [...] all three editions [...] appeared between 1472 and 1475."<ref name="Swan1905" />


An English translation, probably based directly on the manuscript Harl. 5369, was published by [[Wynkyn de Worde]] about 1510-1515, the only copy of which now known to exist is preserved in the library of [[St John's College, Cambridge]]. In [[1577]] the London printer [[Richard Robinson (printer)|Richard Robinson]] published a revised edition of Wynkyn de Worde, as ''Certain Selected Histories for Christian Recreations'', and the book proved highly popular.
An English translation, probably based directly on the manuscript [[Harleian Collection|Harl.]] 5369, was published by [[Wynkyn de Worde]] about 1510–15, the only copy of which now known to exist is preserved in the library of [[St John's College, Cambridge]]. In 1577 the London printer [[Richard Robinson (printer)|Richard Robinson]] published a revised edition of Wynkyn de Worde, as ''Certain Selected Histories for Christian Recreations'', and the book proved highly popular.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}


Between 1648 and 1703 at least eight impressions were issued. In 1703 appeared the first vol. of a translation by BP, probably [[Bartholomew Pratt]], from the Latin edition of 1514. A translation by the Rev. [[Charles Swan]], first published in 2 vols in 1824, forms part of [[Bohn's antiquarian library]], and was re-edited by [[Wynnard Hooper]] in 1877 (see also the latter's edition in 1894).
Between 1648 and 1703 at least eight impressions were issued. In 1703 appeared the first vol. of a translation by BP, probably [[Bartholomew Pratt]], from the Latin edition of 1514. A translation by the [[Rev. Charles Swan]], first published in 2 vols in 1824, forms part of [[Bohn's Antiquarian Library]], and was re-edited by [[Wynnard Hooper]] in 1877 (see also the latter's edition in 1894).<ref name="Swan1905"/>{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}


A Welsh translation was completed by Llywelyn Sion in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.<ref>{{Cite web|title='Gesta Romanorum', - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts|url=https://archives.library.wales/index.php/gesta-romanorum-2|access-date=2021-09-09|website=archives.library.wales}}</ref>
⚫
The German translation was first printed at Augsburg, 1489. A French version, under the title of ''Le Violier des histoires romaines moralisez'', appeared in the early part of the 16th century, and went through a number of editions; it has been reprinted by [[Pierre-Gustave Brunet]] (Paris, 1858).


⚫
The German translation was first printed at Augsburg, 1489. A French version, under the title of ''Le Violier des histoires romaines moralisez'', appeared in the early part of the 16th century, and went through a number of editions; it has been reprinted by [[Pierre-Gustave Brunet]] (Paris, 1858).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
Critical editions of the Latin text have been produced by [[Adelbert von Keller]] (Stuttgart, 1842) and [[Hermann Oesterley]] (Berlin, 1872). See also


== Critical Latin editions ==
⚫
*[[Joseph Warton|Warton]], "On the Gesta Romanorum", dissertation iii., prefixed to the ''History of English Poetry''
Critical editions of the Latin text have been produced by [[Adelbert von Keller]] (Stuttgart, 1842)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Keller|first=H. Adelbert von|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_xcp_HacrNsgC|title=Gesta Romanorum|date=1842|publisher=Stuttgart, Tübingen, J.G. Cotta|others=Harvard University}}</ref> and [[Hermann Oesterley]] (Berlin, 1872).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Oesterley|first=Hermann|url=https://archive.org/details/gestaromanorum00oestuoft|title=Gesta Romanorum;|date=1872|publisher=Berlin, Weidmann|others=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref> See also:

⚫
*[[Joseph Warton|Warton]], "On the Gesta Romanorum", dissertation iii., prefixed to the ''[[The History of English Poetry|History of English Poetry]]''
*[[Francis Douce|Douce]], ''Illustrations of Shakespeare'', vol. ii.
*[[Francis Douce|Douce]], ''Illustrations of Shakespeare'', vol. ii.
*[[Frederic Madden]], Introduction to the Roxburghe Club edition of ''The Old English Versions of the Gesta Romanorum'' (1838).
*[[Frederic Madden]], Introduction to the Roxburghe Club edition of ''The Old English Versions of the Gesta Romanorum'' (1838).

== Modern translations==
* '''English:''' ''Gesta Romanorum: A New Translation'', trans. Christopher Stace (Manchester, 2016); also, ''[[iarchive:gestaromanorum02hoopgoog/page/n10/mode/2up|Gesta Romanorum]]'', translated by Charles Swan, with corrections by Wynnard Hooper (London, 1905).
*'''Portuguese''': ''Gesta Romanorum (Os Feitos dos Romanos)'' (selection), trans. Scott Ritter Hadley, ''[http://www.notadotradutor.com/edicoes.html (n.t.) Revista Literária em Tradução]'', nº 1 (set/2010), Fpolis/Brasil, ISSN 2177-5141
* '''Ukrainian''''': Dijannia ryms'ki'' (selection), Rostyslav Paranko (Trans.), [http://gesta-romanorum-ua.blogspot.com Діяння римські. Український переклад збірки Gesta Romanorum {{in lang|uk}}]
* '''Spanish''': '[https://books.google.com/books?id=rOSKk8DqZXkC&pg=PA3 Gesta Romanorum: exempla europeos del siglo XIV]', translation by Ventura de la Torre and Jacinto Lozano Escribano, 2004.


==See also==
==See also==
*[[Matter of Rome]]
* [[Matter of Rome]]


==References==
==References==
<references>
{{Reflist}}
*{{1911}}


<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite web |url=http://www.bartleby.com/211/1700.html |title=Gesta Romanorum |work=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes |volume=1 |quote=Printed first at Utrecht, then at Cologne, c. 1472–5. First English edition printed by [[Wynkyn de Worde]], c. 1510–15. For a full discussion of the different [[wikt:manuscripts|MSS.]] used, the sources of the groups, etc., see the indispensable edition of [[Hermann Oesterley|Oesterley, H.]], Berlin, 1872.}}</ref>
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==External links==
⚫
{{wikiquote}}
*[http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/readers/gr/gr1.html Latin text of the Gesta Romanorum]


<ref name="Hibbard1963">{{cite book |author=Laura A. Hibbard |title=Medieval Romance in England |page=3 |location=New York |publisher=Burt Franklin |date=1963}}</ref>
⚫
[[Category:13th century medieval Latin literature]]

<ref name="Schlauch1969">{{cite book |author=Margaret Schlauch |author-link=Margaret Schlauch |title=Chaucer's Constance and Accused Queens |location=New York |publisher=Gordian Press |date=1969 |page=111}}</ref>

<ref name="Swan1905">{{cite book |title=Gesta Romanorum |author=Charles Swan |editor=Wynnard Hooper |location=London |publisher=George Bell & Sons |date=1905 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Index:Gesta_Romanorum_-_Swan_-_Hooper.djvu}} (at Wikisource)</ref>

</references>

==Further reading==
*{{1911|wstitle=Gesta Romanorum|volume=11|page=910}}

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==External links==
*{{commons-inline}}
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*{{wikiquote-inline}}
*{{wikisource-inline|Gesta Romanorum}}
*{{wikisourcelang-inline|la|Gesta Romanorum (Oesterley)|Gesta Romanorum}}
*1905 edition of Gesta Romanorum with Preface by Wynnard Hooper: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Gesta_Romanorum_(1905)
*[https://archive.org/stream/gestaromanorum01hoopgoog/gestaromanorum01hoopgoog_djvu.txt Full text of the Gesta Romanorum in Modern English translation]


{{Authority control}}A study considering the structure of Gesta Romanorum is recently published by Daniela Bellantone, University of Messina:https://www.academia.edu/40661275/Gesta_Romanorum_struttura_e_ratio_compilativa
[[de:Gesta Romanorum]]
[[Category:Collections of fairy tales]]
[[es:Gesta Romanorum]]
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[[Category:13th-century books in Latin]]
[[he:גסטה רומנורום]]
[[Category:14th-century books in Latin]]
[[hu:Gesta Romanorum]]
[[pl:Gesta Romanorum]]
[[sr:Gesta Romanorum]]
[[sv:Gesta romanorum]]

Latest revision as of 02:15, 8 September 2024

Gesta Romanorum, meaning Deeds of the Romans, is a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales that was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th. It still possesses a two-fold literary interest, first as one of the most popular books of the time, and secondly as the source, directly or indirectly, of later literature, in Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, Giovanni Boccaccio, Thomas Hoccleve, William Shakespeare, and others.[1]

Of its authorship nothing certain is known. It is conjecture to associate it either with the name of Helinandus or with that of Petrus Berchorius (Pierre Bercheure). It is debated whether it originated in England, Germany or France.[1]

Content

[edit]

The work was evidently intended as a manual for preachers, and was probably written by one of the clerical profession. The name, Deeds of the Romans, is only partially appropriate to the collection in its present form, since, besides the titles from Greek and Latin history and legend, it comprises fragments of different origins, Asian and European. The unifying element of the book is its moral purpose, but the work contains a variety of material.[1] It includes, for example:

Manuscripts

[edit]

Owing to the loose structure of the book, it was easy for a transcriber to insert any additional story into his own copy, and consequently the manuscripts of the Gesta Romanorum exhibit considerable variety. Hermann Oesterley recognizes an English group of manuscripts (written always in Latin), a German group (sometimes in Latin and sometimes in German), and a group which is represented by the vulgate or common printed text.[1]

Early printed editions and translations

[edit]

The earliest printed editions are those of Nicolaus Ketelaer and Gerardus de Leempt at Utrecht, of Arnold Hoenen at Cologne, and of Ulrich Zell at Cologne; but the exact date is in all three cases uncertain.[6] In his preface to the 1905 revised and corrected edition, Wynnard Hooper writes that "according to Herr Oesterley [...] all three editions [...] appeared between 1472 and 1475."[7]

An English translation, probably based directly on the manuscript Harl. 5369, was published by Wynkyn de Worde about 1510–15, the only copy of which now known to exist is preserved in the library of St John's College, Cambridge. In 1577 the London printer Richard Robinson published a revised edition of Wynkyn de Worde, as Certain Selected Histories for Christian Recreations, and the book proved highly popular.[1]

Between 1648 and 1703 at least eight impressions were issued. In 1703 appeared the first vol. of a translation by BP, probably Bartholomew Pratt, from the Latin edition of 1514. A translation by the Rev. Charles Swan, first published in 2 vols in 1824, forms part of Bohn's Antiquarian Library, and was re-edited by Wynnard Hooper in 1877 (see also the latter's edition in 1894).[7][1]

A Welsh translation was completed by Llywelyn Sion in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.[8]

The German translation was first printed at Augsburg, 1489. A French version, under the title of Le Violier des histoires romaines moralisez, appeared in the early part of the 16th century, and went through a number of editions; it has been reprinted by Pierre-Gustave Brunet (Paris, 1858).[1]

Critical Latin editions

[edit]

Critical editions of the Latin text have been produced by Adelbert von Keller (Stuttgart, 1842)[9] and Hermann Oesterley (Berlin, 1872).[10] See also:

  • Warton, "On the Gesta Romanorum", dissertation iii., prefixed to the History of English Poetry
  • Douce, Illustrations of Shakespeare, vol. ii.
  • Frederic Madden, Introduction to the Roxburghe Club edition of The Old English Versions of the Gesta Romanorum (1838).

Modern translations

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Chisholm 1911.
  2. ^ Margaret Schlauch (1969). Chaucer's Constance and Accused Queens. New York: Gordian Press. p. 111.
  3. ^ D. L. Ashliman, Of Women, Who Not Only Betray Secrets, but Lie Fearfully
  4. ^ Blamires, David (1992). "Folktales and Fairytales in the Middle Ages" (PDF). Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester. 74: 102–103.
  5. ^ Laura A. Hibbard (1963). Medieval Romance in England. New York: Burt Franklin. p. 3.
  6. ^ "Gesta Romanorum". The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes. Printed first at Utrecht, then at Cologne, c. 1472–5. First English edition printed by Wynkyn de Worde, c. 1510–15. For a full discussion of the different MSS. used, the sources of the groups, etc., see the indispensable edition of Oesterley, H., Berlin, 1872.
  7. ^ a b Charles Swan (1905). Wynnard Hooper (ed.). Gesta Romanorum. London: George Bell & Sons. (at Wikisource)
  8. ^ "'Gesta Romanorum', - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts". archives.library.wales. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  9. ^ Keller, H. Adelbert von (1842). Gesta Romanorum. Harvard University. Stuttgart, Tübingen, J.G. Cotta.
  10. ^ Oesterley, Hermann (1872). Gesta Romanorum;. Robarts - University of Toronto. Berlin, Weidmann.

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]

A study considering the structure of Gesta Romanorum is recently published by Daniela Bellantone, University of Messina:https://www.academia.edu/40661275/Gesta_Romanorum_struttura_e_ratio_compilativa

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