Gesta Romanorum

From a beautifully illustrated codex unrelated to the Gesta Romanorum, which can be found here. Used for educational, non-commercial purposes only.

I must confess, I’ve yet to read Gesta Romanorum all the way through. Then again, perhaps nobody, save the original compilers of this massive tome of tales, has in fact read every single one. Nor do they really need to. In fact, I enjoy Gesta Romanorum largely because it is a collection of stories, rather like the illustrated books of myths I cherished as a child. They’re all fairly short, too. Many draw heavily on existing myths or fables from classical times. Some ideas or details from the tales appear in subsequent works, such as the plays of William Shakespeare. Unsurprisingly, they were apparently quite popular in the middle ages. 

This collection of stories originated around 1300, compiled by persons unknown. The earliest dated extant manuscript, the Innsbruck, Universitätsbibliothek, cod. lat. 310, is from 1342. During the Middle Ages and Early Modern period multiple translations into venacular languages such as German, English, French, and Polish were written. For more background and a decent bibliography of further reading, see the introduction to the 2016 translation by Christopher Stace (University of Manchester Press).

Officially speaking, the Gesta Romanorum are moral tales. Most, if not all, editions contain explanations of their explicitly Christian allegories addressed directly to the audience. Some of these come across as more contrived than others. Like some of my quirkier friends, the unknown author calls their readers “fratres carissimi.” But that’s not to say that the tales are particularly wholesome. Like much of the classical corpus and, indeed, the bible, they contain sexism, violence, incest, and various other unpleasant themes. Still, they are nothing if not entertaining.  

As for style, the Gesta Romanorum is far from difficult. Students who can read the Vulgate should be able to tackle it alone. The vocabulary is not particularly extensive, either, though you might need to consult a medieval Latin dictionary (the DMLBS, which is available on Logeion, should be enough). Once you get used to the admittedly medieval style you can probably read one or even two stories in a single sitting. As someone who likes to read stories from start to finish, I find this very appealing. 

Selections can be found on the ever-useful Bibliotheca Augustana. The Hermann Österley edition from 1872 can be read on Archive.org. The latter contains a lengthy introduction and discussion of the manuscript tradition - albeit in German.

Works Cited: 

Harris, Nigel & Stace, Christopher. Gesta Romanorum: a New Translation. Manchester University Press. 2016.

Lewalski, Barbara K. “Biblical Allusion and Allegory in ‘The Merchant of Venice.’” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, 1962, pp. 336