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GESTA ROMANORUM

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 910 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GESTA ROMANORUM , a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales, probably compiled about the end of the 13th See also:

century or the beginning of the 14th. It still possesses a twofold See also:literary See also:interest, first as one of the most popular books of the See also:time, and secondly as the source, directly or indirectly, of later literature, in See also:Chaucer, See also:Gower, See also:Shakespeare and others. Of its authorship nothing certain is known; and there is little but gratuitous conjecture to See also:associate it either with the name of Helinandus or with that of Petrus Berchorius (See also:Pierre Bercheure). It is even a See also:matter of debate whether it took its rise in See also:England, See also:Germany or See also:France. The See also:work was evidently intended as a See also:manual for preachers, and was probably written by one who himself be-longed to the clerical profession. The name, Deeds of the See also:Romans, is only partially appropriate to the collection in its See also:present See also:form, since, besides the titles from See also:Greek and Latin See also:history and See also:legend, it comprises fragments of very various origin, See also:oriental and See also:European. The unifying See also:element of the See also:book is its moral purpose. The See also: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 See also:romance of " See also:Guy of See also:Warwick "; the See also:story of " See also:Darius and his Three Sons," versified by See also:Occleve; See also:part of Chaucer's " See also:Man of See also:Lawes' See also:Tale "; a tale of the See also:emperor See also:Theodosius, the same in its See also:main features as that of Shakespeare's See also:Lear; the story of the " Three See also:Black Crows "; the " See also:Hermit and the See also:Angel," well known from See also:Parnell's version, and a story identical with the Fridolin of See also:Schiller. 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 See also:MSS. of the Gesta Romanorum exhibit considerable variety. Oesterley recognizes an See also:English See also:group of MSS. (written always in Latin), a See also:German group (sometimes in Latin and sometimes in German), and a group which is represented by the See also:vulgate or See also:common printed See also:text.

The earliest See also:

editions are supposed to be those of Ketelaer and de Lecompt at See also:Utrecht, of See also:Arnold Ter Hoenen at See also:Cologne, and of See also:Ulrich Zell at Cologne; but the exact date is in all three cases uncertain. An English See also:translation, probably based directly on the MS. 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 See also:John's See also:College, See also:Cambridge. In 1577 See also:Richard See also:Robin-son published a revised edition of Wynkyn de Worde, and the book proved highly popular. Between 1648 and 1703 at least eight impressions were issued. In 1703 appeared the first vol. of a translation by B. P., probably See also:Bartholomew See also:Pratt, " from the Latin edition.of 1514." A translation by the Rev. C. See also:Swan, first published in 2 vols. in 1824, forms part of See also:Bohn's antiquarian library, and was re-edited by Wynnard See also:Hooper in 1877 (see also the latter's edition in 1894). The German translation was first printed at See also:Augsburg, 1489. A See also:French version, under the See also:title of Le Violier See also:des histoires romaines moralisez, appeared in the See also:early part of the 16th century, and went through a number of editions; it has been re-printed by G.

See also:

Brunet (See also:Paris, 1858). See also:Critical editions of the Latin text have been produced by A. See also:Keller (See also:Stuttgart, 1842) and Oesterley (See also:Berlin, 1872). See also See also:Warton, " On the Gesta Romanorum," dissertation iii., prefixed to the History of English See also:Poetry; See also:Douce, Illustrations of Shakespeare, vol. ii.; See also:Frederick See also:Madden, Introduction to the See also:Roxburghe See also:Club edition of The Old English Versions of the Gesta Romanorum (1838).

End of Article: GESTA ROMANORUM

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