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Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
 Plate II.
Published by T. Tegg. Cheapside, Sept.r
1839.
 Plate III.
Published by T. Tegg, Cheapside,
Sept.r 1839.
 Plate IV.
Published by T. Tegg, Cheapside, Sept.r
1839.
Figs. 1 and 3 below are from A booke of Christian prayers, &c., 1590, 4to,
being figures belonging to a dance of Death. Fig. 2 is from the frontispiece to
Heywood's comedy of The fair maid of the exchange. Similar figures of the
costume of fools in the time of James I., or Charles I., may be seen in The life
of Will Summers, compiled long after his time. Figs. 4 and 5 are from La grant
danse Macabre, printed at Troyes without date, but about the year 1500, in
folio, a book of uncommon rarity and curiosity. Fig. 6 is from the Stultarum
virginum scaphæ, seu naviculæ of Badius Ascensius, another work of much
rarity, and far exceeding that of the ship of fools by Sebastian Brandt. In all
the editions of the latter, a great variety of the fools of the fifteenth century
will be found. Fig. 7 is from a French translation of St. Augustine on the city of
God, printed at Abbeville 1486. It exemplifies the use of the tabor and pipe by
fools; a practice that seems to have been revived by Tarlton in the time of
Elizabeth. Figures 3, 4, and 6, have been introduced to show the costume of
female fools. Among others of this kind that might deserve notice is a very
interesting one in the picture, by Holbein, of Henry the Eighth's family already
mentioned.
 FOOTNOTES:
[45] See a note by Mr. Ritson in Twelfth night, Act II. Scene 3, edit.
Steevens, vol. iv. p. 53.
[46] Defence of poesie, near the end.
[47] Mirrour of monsters, 1587, 4to, fo. 7.
[48] Arte of English poesie, 1589, 4to, fo. 243.
[49] The devil is an ass, Sc. 1.
[50] The fox, Act II. Sc. 1.
[51] Marston's Malcontent, Sc. 7.
[52] See p. 94.
[53] The devil is an ass, Sc. 1.
[54] Roman des ducs de Normandie, MS. Reg. 4, C. xi.
[55] Holy state, p. 182.
[56] This person was probably the subject of the following lines in
Bancroft's Epigrams, 1639, 4to:

"How plumpe's the libertine! how rich and trimme!

He jests with others, fortune jests with him."

Mr. Garrard, in a letter to lord Strafford, says, "There is a new fool in his
[Archee's] place, Muckle John, but he will ne'er be so rich, for he cannot
abide money."—Strafford papers, ii. 154.
[57] Biogr. hist. of England, i. 116.
[58] The woman captain, 1680, Sc. i.
[59] Bigland's Collect. for Gloucest.
[60] Perroniana, inter Scaligerana, &c. i. 115.
[61] Vigneul de Marville, Mêlanges, ii. 50.
[62] Table talk, Art. Evil-speaking.
[63] This appears from many of our old plays. Lear threatens his fool with
the whip, Act I. Scene 4; and see As you like it, Act I. Scene 2. In Dr.
Turner's New booke of spirituall physik, 1555, 12mo, fo. 8, there is a very
curious story of John of Low, the king of Scotland's fool, which throws light
on the subject in question. Yet the chastising of the poor fools seems to
have been a very unfair practice, when it is considered that they were a
privileged class with respect to their wit and satire. Olivia, in Twelfth night,
says, that "there is no slander in an allowed fool though he do nothing but
rail;" and Jaques, in As you like it, alludes to the above privilege. See
likewise other instances in Reed's Old plays, iii. 253, and xi. 417. Yet in
cases where the free discourse of fools gave just offence to the ears of
modest females they seem to have been treated without mercy, and to
have forfeited their usual privilege. This we learn from Brantôme, who, at
the end of his Dames galantes, relates a story of a fool belonging to
Elizabeth of France, who got a whipping in the kitchen for a licentious
speech to his mistress. A representation of the manner in which the
flagellation of fools was performed may be seen in a German edition of
Petrarch De remediis utriusque fortunæ, published more than once at
Frankfort, in the sixteenth century, part ii. chap. 100.
[64] See his note in All's well that ends well, Act I. Scene 3.
[65] Plate II. fig. 1; also figs. 2 and 3, p. 516; and fig. 4, p. 517.
[66] Plate II. fig. 3.
[67] Plate III. figs. 7, 8, 9; also the centre fig. in Plate II. Hence the
French call a bauble marotte, from Marionnette, or little Mary; but if the
learned reader should prefer to derive the word from the Greek μορος, or
the Latin morio, he is at full liberty to do so; and indeed such preference
would be supported by the comparatively modern figure of the child's
head, which the term marotte might have suggested. The bauble originally
used in King Lear is said to have been extant so late as the time of
Garrick, and the figure of it would certainly have been worth preserving.
To supply its place a representation is given of the head of a real bauble
very finely carved in ivory. See Plate IV. figs. 3, 4. A bauble is very often
improperly put into the hands of Momus.
[68] Plate III. figs. 2, 6, 7, 9; also figs. 1 and 3, p. 516.
[69] Plate III. fig. 4; and see Strutt's Dress and habits of the people of
England, Plate LXXI.
[70] Blomefield's History of Norfolk, ii. 737.
[71] Plate III. fig. 1. In the Imperial library at Vienna, there is a
manuscript calendar, said to have been written in the time of Constantius
the son of Constantine the great, with drawings of the twelve months.
April is represented as a man dancing with a crotalum in each hand. This
instrument was probably constructed of brass, in order to make a rattling
noise. See it represented in Plate III. fig. 3, which is copied from a print in
Lambecii Bill. Cæsar. Vindobon. tom. iv. p. 291. These months are also
given in Montfaucon's antiquities.
[72] See Ben Jonson's Devil is an ass, Scene 1.
[73] Penry's O read over John Bridges, fo. 48.
[74] Plate III. fig. 5. copied from Schopperi ΠΑΝΟΠΛΙΑ, omnium
illiberalium artium genera continens, &c. Francof. 1568, 12mo, sign. O. 8.
[75] Figs. 1 and 2, p. 516.
[76] Prologue to King Henry the Eighth. Marston's Malcontent, Act I. Scene
7, and Act III. Scene 1.
[77] Malone's Shakspeare, vol. i. part ii. p. 301.
[78] Plate II. fig. 4. Plate IV. fig. 1.
[79] Plate IV. fig. 1.
[80] Plate II. fig. 2.
[81] Coryat's Crudities, p. 9. edit. 1611, 4to. Brand's Observ. on popular
antiquities, p. 176.
[82] See the notes on a passage in King John. Steevens's Shakspeare, viii.
p. 79, edit. 1793. "The scribe claims the manor of Noverinte, by providing
sheep-skins and calves skins to wrappe his highness wards and idiotts
in."—Gesta Grayorum, 1688, 4to.
[83] See the quotation from Tarlton's Newes out of purgatory given in a
preceding page (509). The portrait of Tarlton in Hardinge's Biographical
mirror, and a print in the title of Greene's Tu quoque, or the cittie gallant,
show the costume of the purse and feather. See likewise Plate IV. fig. 2;
and the centre fig. in Plate II.
[84] Rabelais, book iii. ch 45.
[85] This picture is very well engraven in Caulfield's Portraits of remarkable
persons, vol. ii. There is a beautifully illuminated psalter preserved among
the royal manuscripts in the British Museum, 2 A xvi, written by John
Mallard the chaplain and secretary of Henry the Eighth, with several
marginal notes in the king's own hand-writing, some of which are in pencil.
Prefixed to psalm 52, "Dixit insipiens," according to a very ancient custom,
are the figures of king David and a fool, in this instance evidently the
portraits of Henry and his favourite Will Somers. That of the latter person
is here copied in Plate IV. fig. 2, but rather enlarged. The countenance
bears a strong resemblance to that of the figure in Holbein's picture of
Henry the Eighth and his family, already noticed in p. 336.
[86] Archæologia, ix. p. 249.
[87] In Tatham's play of The Scot's figgaries, 1652, 4to, the king's fool is
described as habited in a long coat with a gold rope or chain about his
neck.
[88] See the print of Archy engraved by Cecill and prefixed to his Jests, in
which, unless Mr. Granger could have been certain with respect to what he
has called "a parti-coloured tunic," there is nothing discriminative of the
fool's dress. This portrait has been copied in Caulfield's above-cited work.
[89] The woman captain, Scene I.
[90] See Mr. Malone's Historical account of the English Stage.
[91] Parfait, Histoire du theatre François, II. pp. 27, 46, 62.
[92] See Mr. Steevens's note at the end of the second act of The taming of
the shrew.
[93] Arte of English poesie, 69.
[94] See Mr. Steevens's note in King Lear, Act III. Scene 6.
[95] See Mr. Malone's note in All's well that ends well, Act I. Scene 3.
 DISSERTATION II.
ON THE GESTA ROMANORUM.
Enquiries like the present, however unimportant to the generality of
readers, will not fail of being duly appreciated by those who take an
interest in tracing the origin and progress of literary genius, which
has perhaps been never more successfully, and even laudably,
employed, than in the composition of such works as combine
amusement with instruction. Of these the simple and engaging
apologues of many ancient writers form a considerable portion, and
have always been justly and generally esteemed. This mode of
conveying instruction became so attractive in the middle ages, that
the ecclesiastics themselves were under the necessity of introducing
narrations both historical and imaginary into their discourses, in
order to acquire that degree of popularity and attention which might
otherwise have been wanting, and also for the purpose of enforcing
their morality by such examples as should touch the feelings of the
hearers, and operate, with respect at least to ruder minds, more
efficaciously than precept. The work before us was designed to
answer these purposes; and it not only proceeded on this ground in
common with others of a similar nature, but has even furnished the
materials to some of the best writers, and more especially poets, of
ancient and modern times.
It will perhaps be expected that some reason should be assigned
why the present essay has been attempted, after the labours of Mr.
Warton on the same subject, which some may think has been amply
and satisfactorily treated, if not exhausted; and if the judgment and
accuracy of that pleasing and elegant writer had been
commensurate with his taste and industry, the expectation had been
exceedingly well founded. This however is, unfortunately, not the
case. He has, in this and many other instances, left much to be done
and undone; but we ought to feel very grateful to him for having
founded a school that has already produced some accomplished
pupils, and will, no doubt, contribute to form many a future one.
Thus much seems due to an amiable man and excellent character,
who has been most undeservedly insulted for errors of small
moment, and censured for opinions of the most innocuous kind.
Even his antiquarian dullness and perseverance have been
arraigned, as if in a work like the history of English poetry, genius
should have occupied the place of industry, and have created those
facts which honest men are content to discover; a method not
uncommon with some writers who have derived too much of their
importance from the indolence and superficiality of their readers,
and who are unwilling to submit to those laws of providence which
justly impose on man the duty of penetrating to the mine before he
be permitted to enjoy the precious metal. Such was not Warton. His
taste and research will remain the admiration of future ages, when
the flimsy compositions of some of his opponents shall be totally
forgotten. He has effected, however imperfectly, more for the
illustration of English poetry than any or all of his predecessors, or
than has hitherto been, accomplished for the poetry of other
nations, by any writer whatever.
Mr. Warton's dissertation would, no doubt, have been rendered more
perfect, had he been aware of a fact which had not only escaped his
own attention, but even that of Mr. Tyrwhitt. Neither of these
gentlemen, in consulting the manuscripts of the Gesta Romanorum,
had perceived that there were two works so entitled, totally distinct
from each other, except as to imitation, and certainly compiled by
different persons. Of that treated of by Mr. Warton, it is presumed no
manuscript has been yet described; of the other several manuscripts
remain, but it has never been printed, except in some translated
extracts. It will be better to postpone for the present any further
mention of the latter, and to proceed to submit some additional
remarks on the other. And first of its use and design.
A particular mode of instruction from the pulpit has been already
hinted at, and will admit of some enlargement. Mr. Warton has
mentioned one of the earliest instances of introducing Æsop's fables,
as recorded by Vincent of Beauvais in the thirteenth century.[96]
Supplies of another kind were furnished to those who might be more
scrupulous as to the use of profane examples, not only in that great
repertory of pious fictions, The golden legend, but in multitudes of
similar stories, denominated in France contes devots, and composed
for the purpose of counteracting the great influence which the witty
and licentious stories of the minstrels had obtained, of which they
were palpable imitations both in construction and versification. Most
of these were founded on miracles supposed to have been operated
by the Virgin Mary. The earliest known specimens of them were
composed in the twelfth century by Hugues Farsi, a monk of St.
John de Vignes at Soissons, who was soon followed by many
imitators both in prose and verse.[97] His own work was turned into
French verse by Gautier de Coinsi, another monk of Soissons, about
1230. A similar collection is the Lives of the holy fathers, chiefly from
Saint Jerome, and anonymously composed in French verse by some
person whose name deserved to have been recorded on account of
the great merit of the work, which would be deemed an ornament to
any period, for the excellence of the poetry.
The promptuary of examples for the use of preachers, at the end of
Herolt's Sermones discipuli, composed in 1418, has been already
mentioned by Mr. Warton, who has given a curious and correct
account of that work; but he has omitted to notice, that, among a
multitude of pious authors cited in it, the name of Ovid appears. This
practice of indiscriminate quotation became afterwards very
common. It was, indeed, sanctioned by a preceding custom, among
religious writers, of moralizing works of all denominations. Thus, to
mention only a few, Thomas Walleys, a Welsh Dominican friar, had
published his moralizations of Ovid's metamorphoses, in the
fourteenth century.[98] The Bestiarium, a treatise on animals, is, as
well as the Gesta Romanorum, perhaps an earlier instance.
Afterwards the celebrated, but licentious, Romance of the rose was
moralized by Jean Molinet. Even the game of chess was moralized;
for the reader who may take up Caxton's translation of Jacobus de
Cæsolis, will be grievously disappointed should he expect to find any
didactic or even historical information. We are not to wonder,
therefore, if on the restoration of letters, a system of morality was
extracted from Æsop and other fabulists; and, accordingly, some of
the early printed editions of Æsop were published under the title of
Æsopus moralizatus, and this, no doubt, led the way to the moral
applications to his fables which afterwards appeared in other
languages.
Among the preachers who interspersed their sermons with
narrations of various kinds, a Carthusian monk of the fifteenth
century deserves particular mention. With as much quaintness as
humility, he styles himself Guillelmus Hilacensis quondam simplex
cordatus pauperculus discalciatus ac contemptibilis denudatus,
sapientissimorum rudissimus, electorum infimus, et minorum
minimus. He has left a volume of sermons on the Lord's prayer, with
stories in every page.[99] In the British Museum there is a very
curious collection of Latin sermons, compiled about the reign of
Henry the Sixth, by a person who calls himself a vicar of Magdalen
college, Oxford. They abound with stories from Æsop, Cicero,
Seneca, Valerius Maximus, Saint Austin, venerable Bede, &c.[100]
Stephen Baron, an English Minorite in the reign of Henry the Eighth,
has left a similar volume of sermons preached before the university
of Cambridge.[101]
Among the most remarkable persons of this description who soon
followed, were fathers Menot, Maillard, Barelete, Raulin, Vincent
Ferrier, Pierre de Boves, &c., whose discourses are filled with
quotations from Virgil, Valerius Maximus, Apuleius, Dante, Petrarch,
and the Gesta Romanorum. Erasmus, ridiculing the absurdities of
some of the theologians, mentions their practice of quoting the
Speculum historiale and Gesta Romanorum.[102] Schelhorn speaks of
a copy of the latter in his possession, dated 1499, in which some
former possessor had marked against many of the stories the year in
which he had used them in his sermons.[103] Even in the eighteenth
century the Italians had not left off this custom. Grosley states, that
he heard a buffoon preacher at Rome, who stuffed his discourse
with a thousand tales, among which was that of father Philip's
geese, from Boccaccio.[104]
There is a remarkable work to which the preachers of the middle
ages appear to have been indebted, and which deserves mention
here not only on that account, but also from its having hitherto
remained in unmerited obscurity. This may be partly owing to its
having never been printed. It is a collection of tales and fables that
has been ascribed to Odo de Ceriton, Shirton, or Cirington, for all
these names are mentioned, a Cistercian monk of the twelfth
century. In one manuscript they are called proverbs, and given to
Hugo de Sancto Victore, of the monastery of Saint Victoire at Paris,
and who lived much about the last-named period.[105] There is
perhaps no task more difficult than that of ascertaining the real
authors of many works of the middle ages, especially where, as in
the present instance, there occurs any thing satirical against
religious abuses. The evidence with respect to authorship is in
favour of the Englishman, because in some of the stories English
sentences are found. Nor do the sarcasms against the clergy militate
in the least against ecclesiastical manufacture. Numerous instances
could be brought to show the satirical spirit of the clergy, frequently
towards each other, and generally against the church of Rome.
The work in question is an extraordinary mixture of Æsopian fables
with pious and profane histories in great variety. One or two
specimens have been already given,[106] but the reader may not
regret the trouble of perusing the following in addition. "There is a
kind of wren, named after Saint Martin, with very long and slender
legs. This bird sitting one day in a tree, in the fullness of his pride
suddenly exclaimed; 'It matters not to me though the heavens fall;
for with the aid of my strong legs I shall be able to support them.'
Presently a leaf fell upon the foolish boaster, who immediately flew
away in great terror, exclaiming, 'O Saint Martin, Saint Martin, help
your poor bird!'" The moral compares Saint Peter denying Christ to
this wren, which it also assimilates to certain pot-valiant soldiers,
who boast, in their cups, that each of them can beat three of the
stoutest Frenchmen. Again: "Isengrin the wolf, to expiate his sins,
became a monk. His brethren endeavoured to teach him his letters,
that he might say Pater noster; but all that they were able to get
from him was, 'lamb, lamb.' They told him to look up to the cross,
but could never make him turn his eyes from the sheep. In like
manner do the monks cry out for good wine, and fix their eyes on
dainty viands and full trenchers; whence the English proverb, Yf alle
that the wolf unto the prest worthe and be sette on to boke salmes
to ler, ȝit is ever hys onne eye to the wodeward."[107] To conclude
with one more, "The wolf being dead, the lion assembled the rest of
the beasts to celebrate his obsequies. The hare carried the holy
water, and the hedge-hogs the wax tapers. The goats tolled the
bells; the badger dug the grave; the fox carried the coffin;
Berengarius the bear celebrated mass; the ox read the gospels, and
the ass the epistles. Mass being finished, and Isengrin duly buried,
the beasts partook of a splendid feast, the expense of which was
defrayed out of the deceased's property. The parties wished for
nothing better than a similar ceremony. So, says the moral, on the
death of any rich usurer, the abbots assemble all the beasts of the
monastery; for in general, the black and white monks are really
brutes, that is, lions in pride; foxes in cunning; hogs in gluttony;
goats in luxury; asses in sloth; and hares in cowardice."
Besides the storehouses of this sort of knowledge that have been
already described, there were doubtless many others that are now
lost; but there is one that ought not to be passed over without some
notice. It is the Summa prædicantium of John Bromyard, an English
preacher, and a violent opponent of Wicliffe. It is an immense
repertory of matter for the use of the clergy, every page containing
stories and examples in all possible variety.[108] It is divided into
classes of such subjects as were adapted to the pulpit, and must
have been a work of immense labour, and the result of much
reading. In the article rapina he has a story resembling chap. viii. of
the Gesta Romanorum, which he probably cites under the title of
Antiqua gesta.
Although most of these works were undoubtedly composed for the
immediate purpose of assisting the preachers, it by no means
follows that they were exclusively so, or that other uses might not
be made of some of them. Not that they could be accessible to the
laity in any great degree, inasmuch as they were wrapped up in a
learned language. But the private readings of the monks would not
be always of a serious and ascetic nature. They might be disposed
occasionally to recreate their minds with subjects of a lighter and
more amusing nature; and what could be more innocent or delightful
than the stories of the Gesta Romanorum? They might even have
indulged in this kind of recreation during their continuance in the
refectory after meals. For this purpose one of the fraternity, more
eminently qualified than the rest, might entertain them with the
recital of matters that would admit of some moral application to be
made by the reader, or which was already attached to the subject.
The word carissimi, so frequently to be found in the moralizations,
seems as much adapted to this purpose, as to the addressing of an
auditory from the pulpit. Perhaps the same idea had occurred to him
who chose to apply the term liber monasticus to the Gesta
Romanorum.[109]
The excellent analytical account that has been given of this work
would admit of no other improvement than some augmentation of
the sources of the stories, and of their several imitations; but with
respect to the author of it, some further inquiry may be necessary.
Mr. Warton has attempted to show, with considerable ingenuity as
well as plausibility, that the Gesta Romanorum was composed by
Peter Bercheur, a native of Poitou, and prior of the convent of Saint
Eloy at Paris, where he died in 1362.[110] He has founded this
opinion on a passage in the Philologia sacra of Salomon Glassius,
who, in his chapter de allegoriis fabularum, after censuring those
writers who not only employed themselves in allegorizing the
scriptures, but affected to discover in profane stories and poetical
fictions certain matters that seemed to illustrate the mysteries of the
Christian faith, makes the following observation: "Hoc in studio
excelluit quidam Petrus Berchorius Pictaviensis, ordinis Divi
Benedicti: qui peculiari libro, Gesta Romanorum, necnon legendas
patrum, aliasque aniles fabulas, allegoricè ac mysticè exposuit." On
this single testimony, or rather assertion, which is unaccompanied by
any proof or reference to authority, Mr. Warton proceeds to assign
his reasons for concluding that Bercheur was the author of the
Gesta, and they are principally these: 1. A general coincidence
between the manner and execution of the works of Bercheur and
the Gesta. 2. A resemblance in their titles. 3. The introduction of
some of the stories of the Gesta into the Repertorium morale of
Bercheur.[111] 4. His having allegorized the Metamorphoses of Ovid.
And 5. His writings being full of allusions to the Roman history. To
these might have been added the quotations common to both the
Gesta and the Repertorium from Pliny, Seneca, Solinus, and Gervase
of Tilbury, and the time in which Berchorius lived, which certainly
corresponds with that of the composition of the Gesta Romanorum,
as far as can be collected from internal evidence. It may be
remarked in this place, that Mr. Tyrwhitt, in supposing it to have
been written at the end of the 12th or the beginning of the 13th
century, has fixed on too early a date.[112] It could not have been
written before 1256, because the chronicle of Albertus, which is cited
in one of the chapters, terminates with that year.
It might be supposed that very little could be urged in opposition to
the foregoing reasons, nor is it here intended to deny absolutely that
Bercheur was the author of the Gesta: but certain doubts having
arisen on the subject, they shall be submitted to the reader, that he
may then be enabled to use his own judgment and discretion in
deciding the question. With respect to the similitude between the
works of Berchorius and the Gesta Romanorum, no one would think
of maintaining, on this ground alone, that any two compositions, the
one anonymous, were written by the same author. It shows,
generally speaking, nothing more than coincidence, or, what is more
likely, simple imitation; and it is as probable that the author of one
of the works should have imitated the other, as that one person
should have written both. Perhaps the other reasons might be
disposed of in the same way, but it will be better to state specific
objections to them; and here Mr. Warton's own evidence might be
turned against himself. He had stated on a former occasion,[113] his
having seen a manuscript of the Gesta in almost Saxon characters;
but it is certain that this manuscript had doubly deceived him, and
that his eye had caught one or two of the Saxon letters which
continued to be used in writing long after Saxon times.
In the preface to the Repertorium morale Bercheur tells us that he
was by birth a Frenchman, a Benedictine monk, and the familiar
servant of Cardinal de Pratis, or Des Prez, to whom he was indebted
for books and other necessaries towards the completion of his
works. Now throughout the ponderous tomes that have been
consulted for this purpose, there are no Gallicisms to be traced, nor
any other symptom of French authorship. On the other hand, there
are strong marks that the Gesta Romanorum was composed by a
German. In the moralization to chapter 144, there is, in most of the
early editions, a German proverb; and, in chapter 142, several
German names of Dogs. Many of the stories are extracted from
German authors, as Cesarius, Albert of Stade, and Gervase of
Tilbury, who wrote his book De otiis imperialibus, in Germany. In this
country likewise the earliest editions of the Gesta were printed.
Mr. Warton, anticipating an objection that might be taken from the
omission of any mention of the Gesta by the biographers of
Bercheur, has remarked, that it might have been among his smaller
pieces, or proscribed by graver writers, or even discarded by its
author as a juvenile performance, unsuitable to his character and
abounding in fantastic and unedifying narration. But this description
does not accord with the general use that we know to have been
made of it in the pulpit; nor can it come under the denomination of
a work that is not altogether grave, serious, and moral, nor likely to
have been the effusion of a glowing or youthful mind. Besides, the
biographers of Bercheur are not alone silent as to the Gesta; the
editors of his printed works were entirely unacquainted with it as his
composition, and they were more likely to have been better
informed on the subject than Glassius, whose opinion, like Mr.
Warton's, seems to have been mere inference, and unsupported by
any evidence. But what is more to the point, Bercheur has himself, in
the prologue to his Repertorium, and in the preface to a French
translation of Livy, given a very particular account of his works,
among which his moralizations of the Fabulæ poetarum, never
printed, are mentioned; yet this is certainly not the Gesta
Romanorum, any more than the Chronicon mentioned by Mr.
Warton.[114] Again; most of the known works of Bercheur are still
existing in manuscript, but not a single manuscript that can be
pronounced to be the Gesta Romanorum in question has occurred
after the most diligent research. Such indeed might be supplied from
the libraries in Germany, and possibly throw new light on this
difficult and mysterious inquiry. Some stress has been laid on the
circumstance of four of the stories in the Gesta being related in the
Repertorium morale,[115] but they are not told in the same words,
and the moralizations are entirely different. This has very much the
appearance of different authorship. The title of Reductorium to some
of the editions of the Gesta, together with many other matters,
might have been borrowed from the writings of Bercheur by some
German Monk, whose name has been irretrievably consigned to
oblivion. It is scarcely worth while to mention the blunder that
Foppens has committed in ascribing the composition instead of the
printing of the Gesta, to Gerard De Leeu, of Gouda in Holland.[116]
It remains to offer some account of the various forms in which this
once popular and celebrated work has appeared; and the rather,
because what has been said on this subject is widely scattered,
unconnected, and frequently erroneous.
Manuscripts.—It is a fact as remarkable as the obscurity which exists
concerning the author of the Gesta, that no manuscript of this work,
that can with certainty be pronounced as such, has been hitherto
described. If the vast stores of manuscripts that are contained in the
monastic and other libraries of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and
Spain, were examined, there is scarcely a doubt that some original
of a work so often printed would be discovered. Father Montfaucon
has indeed mentioned a manuscript Gesta Romanorum in the
Vatican;[117] but it may be either a transcript from the printed copy,
or a different work under the same title, that will presently be
noticed.
Printed Editions.—The titles of these are different, and are as follows:
No. 1. "Incipiunt hystorie collecte ex gestis romanorum et
quibusdam aliis libris cum applicationibus eorundem."
The colophon. "Et sic est finis."
No. 2. "Incipiunt historie notabiles atque magis principales
collecte ex gestis romanorum et quibusdam aliis
notabilibus gestis cum moralizationibus eorundem."
The colophon. "Et sic est finis."
No. 3. "Ex gestis romanorum hystorie notabiles de viciis
virtutibusque tractantes cum applicacionibus
moralisatis et misticis incipiunt feliciter."
The colophon. "Gesta romanorum cum quibus aliis
historiis eisdem annexis ad moralitates dilucide reducta
hic finem habent. Que diligenter correctis aliorum viciis
impressit Johannes de Westphalia &c."
No. 4. "Recollectorium ex gestis romanorum cum pluribus
applicatis historiis."
No. 5. "Ex gestis romanorum hystorie notabiles collecte de
viciis virtutibusque tractantes cum applicacionibus
moralisatis et mysticis incipiunt fideliter." (sometimes
feliciter.)
The colophon. "Ex gestis Romanorum cum pluribus
applicatis hystoriis de virtutibus et viciis mystice ad
 intellectum transumptis recollectorii finis."
It is impossible to speak with certainty as to the first edition, on
account of the omission of dates, places, and printers' names in
some of the early copies. There are two editions so circumstanced,
with the titles No. 1 and 2, in folio, and containing 152 chapters only.
There is a third printed without date by Nicolas Ketelaer and Gerard
de Leempt at Utrecht, in folio, with 152 chapters, to which Lambinet
has inaccurately assigned the date of 1473.[118] One of these three
is probably the first edition. They are all excessively rare, and a copy
containing 152 chapters only would not easily be found in this
country.
Of the editions without date, place, or printer, that contain 181
chapters, there are three, and perhaps more. One of these, in folio,
is in the British Museum, but imperfect. It was certainly printed with
the types used by Ulric Zell, about 1475. Two others, the one in
folio, the other in quarto, were printed without date at Louvain, by
John of Westphalia. He is said to have printed one edition with the
date 1473; but this is probably a mistake copied from one book into
another, as Lambinet assures us that the copy in the royal library at
Paris has the above date, but in manuscript only.[119] The following
editions with dates can be spoken of with more confidence.

1. 1480, no place, nor printer. In folio.

2. 1480, at Gouda, by Gerard Leeu. In folio.
3. 1481, at Hasselt, no printer. In folio.
4. 1482, no place, nor printer. In quarto. This is doubtful, being
taken from a bookseller's catalogue.
5. 1488, no place, nor printer. In folio.
6. 1489, no place, nor printer. In folio.
7. 1489, at Strasburg, no printer. In folio.
8. 1490, at Gouda, by Gerard Leeu. In folio.
9. 1493, no place, nor printer. In folio.
10. 1494, no place, nor printer. In quarto.
11. 1494, at Louvain, no printer....
12. 1497, no place, nor printer. In quarto.
13. 1497, at Strasburg, by John Knoblouch. In quarto.
14. 1498, no place, nor printer. In folio.
15. 1499, no place, nor printer. In folio.
16. 1499, at Paris, no printer. In quarto.
17. 1506, at Paris, by Jean Petit. In 12mo.
18. 1508, at Hagenau, by Henry Gran. In folio.
19. 1509, at Paris, by Francois Regnault. In 12mo.
20. 1512, at Venice, no printer. In 12mo.
21. 1515, at Paris, by Jean Petit. In 12mo.
22. 1516, at Venice, by George de Rusconibus. In 8vo.
23. 1517, at Paris, no printer. In 12mo.
24. 1517, at Hagenau, by Henry Gran. In folio.
25. 1520, at Venice, by A. de Bindonis. In 8vo.
26. 1521, at Paris, by Jean Petit. In 12mo.
27. 1521, at Rouen....
28. 1555, at Lyons, no printer. In 12mo.

German Translation.—Of this only one edition has occurred, printed at

Augsburg, by John Schopser, 1489, in folio.
Dutch Translation.—Two editions are mentioned, the one printed at
Gouda, by Gerard Leeu, 1481, and the other at Zwollis, by Peter Van
Os, 1484; both in folio.
French Translation.—It does not appear who was the author of the
translation into this language, which is entitled Le violier[120] des
hystoires Rommaines: moralisez sur les nobles gestes faitz vertueulx
et anciennes chroniques de toutes nations de gens, fort recreatif et
moral. It contains only one hundred and forty-nine stories. About the
year 1516, Pierre Gringore, herald to the duke of Lorraine, and the
author of several moralities and other works, published a book called
Les fantasies de mere sote, which is only a translation in prose,
intermixed with verse, of some twenty or thirty stories in the Gesta
Romanorum, with their moralizations. He has suppressed all mention
of his original, and insinuated in the privilege that he was himself the
inventor. This work seems to have preceded the anonymous
translation above mentioned, of which it is possible that Gringore
might have likewise been the author. There is another French Gestes
Romaines by Gaguin the historian, which has been mistaken for a
translation of the Gesta; but it is nothing more than an extract from
the history of the Roman republic. The editions of the Violier are, 1.
without date, printed at Paris, by Philip Le Noir, in quarto; 2. 1521,
printed at Paris, by Jean de la Garde, in folio; and 3. 1529, printed
also at Paris, for Denis Janot, in quarto.
English Translation.—In 1703 was published a little volume entitled
Gesta Romanorum: or Forty-five histories originally (as 't is said)
collected from the Roman records, with applications or morals for
the suppressing vice, and encouraging virtue and the love of God.
Vol. I. newly and with care translated from the Latin edition, printed,
A.D. M.D.XIV. This seems to be the first English translation, and the
translator B. P. has remarked in his preface that most of the matters
contained in his book had, as he understood, appeared already in
the English tongue; and therefore he desires the reader, if he should
discover a great difference in names, sense, and expression, to
compare each work with the Latin copy, by which comparison he
conceives it will be found that his translation is faithful. He was not
aware that the preceding translation to which he alludes had been
made from a different work. The stories are here extracted without
attention to the original arrangement, but with a reference in each
to the Latin copy. The editor, whoever he was, designed an
extension of his labours to other volumes. Next followed an edition
of the same work, without date, 18mo, but printed about 1720. It
wants the references to the Latin copy, and the former preface is
abridged. It contains fourteen additional stories that do not belong
to the original Gesta. Of this another edition, with the language
much altered, was printed in 1722, 18mo, with the same number of
stories. The editor signs himself A. B., perhaps Bettesworth the
printer.
It is now time to proceed to the description of another Gesta
Romanorum, and which has indeed been the principal cause of the
present dissertation. This work was undoubtedly composed in
England in imitation of the other; and therefore it will be necessary
for the future to distinguish the two works by the respective
appellations of the original and the English Gesta.
It is remarkable that neither Mr. Tyrwhitt nor Mr. Warton, both of
whom had frequent occasion to inspect the work in question, and to
notice certain variations between what they have too loosely termed
the printed copies and the manuscripts, should not have perceived
that the latter were in reality a different performance. Mr. Tyrwhitt
indeed, for want of this perception, has made use of certain English
features in the manuscripts as an argument to prove that the
original Gesta was composed in England.[121]
From the great celebrity of the original Gesta, it could not fail of
being known to the English clergy, and accordingly we find that it
was used by them in the pulpit as in other countries. If the
numerous volumes of the sermons of the middle ages that still
remain in our college and cathedral libraries were examined, a task
by no means here recommended, it would, no doubt, be found, that
they had been indebted to it among other similar authorities for
many of their examples; and to show that this is not a mere
conjecture, there is a collection of ancient sermons in the British
Museum that affords a solitary instance of the introduction of a story
from the original Gesta.[122] It is the thirty-ninth story, of two
brothers at enmity with each other. Though anonymous, there is no
doubt that these sermons were composed by some Englishman, who
has cited a multitude of authors, and among other matters the well-
known story of the Jew who refused to be delivered from a jakes
into which he had fallen on the sabbath day.
It is natural to suppose that a work like the original Gesta would
stimulate some person to the compilation of one that should emulate
if not altogether supersede it; and accordingly this design was
accomplished at a very early period by some Englishman, in all
probability a monk. There is a considerable difficulty even in forming
a conjecture as to the precise time in which this was done. One of
the earliest manuscripts appears to have been written about the
reign of Richard the Second, nor is there any internal evidence in
this work that places its composition below that period. That its
purpose was similar to that of the other is manifest from its being
quoted no less than five times in a collection of sermons by a
preacher at Magdalen college already mentioned, who has likewise
introduced the moralizations generally in the very words of his
original. If additional proofs were wanting of the English origin of the
work before us, it might be stated, 1. That no manuscript of it
appears to exist in any of the catalogues of continental libraries;
whereas there are many in those of this country.[123] 2. That in one
of the chapters there are some English verses,[124] and in another
some English proper names.[125] 3. That it has a few English terms
and modes of speech, as parliament, livery of seizin, &c.
The construction resembles that of the original Gesta, from which a
great many stories have been retained; but these are always newly
written, and sometimes materially altered. The moralizations are
uniformly different, and the proper names generally changed. The
best manuscripts contain one hundred and two stories, out of which
there are upwards of forty that are not in the original work, none of
which have been ever printed in the Latin of this Gesta, and but few
of them in an English translation. The sources from which many of
them were taken cannot easily be traced, whilst others are extracted
from works that will hereafter be mentioned.
In the following analysis of the additional stories to this Gesta, the
plan of Mr. Warton has been adopted. Though it should fail in
exciting much pleasurable sensation in the reader, it may at least
serve to throw a ray or two of light on the manners of the middle
ages. The arrangement of the chapters is from MS. Harl. 2270, but
the copy used is one of equal value in the author's possession. The
variety in these is very inconsiderable.
Chap. i.—The emperor Anselmus bore a silver shield with five red
roses. He had three sons equally beloved by him His continual wars
with the king of Egypt had reduced him so low, that of all his
temporal goods only a single tree remained. Being mortally wounded
in one of his battles, he called his sons before him, and bequeathed
to the eldest all that was under the earth and above the earth
belonging to the tree; to the second, all that was great and small in
it; and to the youngest, all that was wet and dry in it. On the king's
death a dispute arose between his sons concerning the possession
of the tree, which by mutual consent was referred for decision to the
king of Reason. He caused all the young men to be bled, and
ordered that a bone, taken from the breast of their dead father,
should be dipped in the blood and afterwards washed. The blood of
the two elder sons was easily discharged, but that of the youngest
remained. The king declared that he was of the true blood and
nature of the bone, and the others bastards; to him therefore the
tree was adjudged.
Chap. ii.—The emperor Diocletian, desirous to know what bird had
the greatest affection for its young, goes into a wood and returns to
his palace with an ostrich's nest, which he places under a glass
vessel. The dam follows him, and finding it impossible to get at her
offspring, proceeds to a desert, where she remains thirty-four days,
and then comes home with a worm called Thurnar; this she kills on
the vessel, which being broken by the blood of the animal, her
young ones are set at liberty. At this conduct of the bird Diocletian
expresses much pleasure.
Chap. iv.—The emperor Gauterus, reflecting on the vanities of the
world, resolves to find a situation where there is nothing but
happiness. He leaves his kingdom, and meets a beautiful woman
who had lost her husband. She offers him marriage, and abundance
of wealth; but on inspecting the nuptial chamber, the emperor is
startled and disgusted at the appearance of several serpents and a
lion that threaten him with destruction. The lady informs him that he
may possibly survive a night or two, but that the animals will
afterwards devour him, as they had her husband. The emperor
declines the honour of this marriage, and proceeds to another
country, where the nobles are desirous to elect him king in the room
of their deceased monarch; but finding a bedchamber like the
former, he instantly departs, and arrives at a third place, where he is
offered the kingdom on similar terms. At length he meets an old
man, sitting near a ladder with three steps raised against a wall. He
is interrogated as to his wishes, and answers that he sought three
things, viz. joy without sorrow, abundance without want, and light
without darkness. He is desired to ascend the ladder, when he finds
what he had wished for, and continues on the spot during the rest of
his life. This is, in substance, the 101st story in the other Gesta, but
here related with much variety.
Chap. xviii.—A knight falls in love with Aglae, the daughter of the
emperor Polentius, and being obliged to be absent in the Holy Land
for seven years, the lady agrees not to marry till his return. In the
mean time the emperor promises his daughter to the king of
Hungary, who being deeply in love with her, consents, at her
request, to postpone the marriage. On the day before the appointed
time, the king of Hungary, riding to the emperor's court in great
pomp to celebrate his nuptials, is met by the knight, with whom he
enters into conversation, and a violent rain coming on, the king's
fine clothes are presently spoiled. The knight remarks that he should
have brought his house with him. The king is struck with the
singularity of the admonition. They arrive at a deep water, and the
king plunging in with his horse, is nearly drowned. The knight tells
him that he should have brought his bridge with him. Shortly after
the king inquires what time of day it is; his companion replies that it
is time to eat, and offers a cake, which is accepted. He then
observes to the king that he had acted unwisely in omitting to bring
his father and mother with him. As they approach the emperor's
palace, the knight requests leave of the king to take another road,
meaning to get to the court by a nearer way that was known to him,
and carry off the lady before the king should arrive. On being asked
what road he intended to take, he declares he will speak the truth.
He says, that on that day seven years he had spread a net in a
certain place to which he was then going; that if he should find it
broken he shall leave it, but if whole, that he shall take it with him.
The king arrives at the palace, and is kindly entertained. The
emperor interrogates him concerning the particulars of his journey,
and on hearing the strange observations that the knight had made,
commends him as a wise man, and informs the king that by the
house he had meant nothing more than a cloak; that the bridge he
talked of, signified the attendants who should have been sent before
to ascertain the depth of the water; and that by the king's father
and mother, he intimated the bread and wine that he should have
brought with him. But when the emperor came to reflect on the
meaning of the net which had been spread seven years since, he
perceived that his daughter was in danger, and on commanding her
chamber to be examined, found his suspicions verified. The king
being deceived by the knight and the damsel, returned in disgrace to
his own country.
Chap. xxi.—This is the story of king Lear under the name of
Theodosius, emperor of Rome. It has been already given from the
old English translation in manuscript. See page 420.
Chap. xxiv.—Antonius made a law at Rome, that whenever a fire
happened in the city a sentinel should cry out to the people to ring
all the bells, and secure the gates. A certain warrior was desirous of
becoming master of the city, and, apprised of this law, consulted
with his companions how it should be evaded. One advised that they
should enter the city peaceably, and proclaim a general feast, at
which a certain liquor should be used that would set all the guests
asleep. The stratagem is adopted, the city fired, the inhabitants
carried off, and not one person left to comply with the emperor's
edict.
Chap. xxv.—A certain knight is unjustly accused before an emperor,
who, when he finds that the accusation cannot be maintained,
endeavours to perplex him with intricate questions, which he is
obliged to answer on pain of death. Among these are, the distance
of a sigh from the heart? the number of flaggons of salt water in the
sea? the depth of it? which are the most honourable and poorest
professions? &c. These are all answered satisfactorily, and the knight
dismissed with commendation.
Chap. xxvi.—A sick emperor sends into a foreign country for the
physician Averrhoes, who cures him of his disease. This excites the
envy of three other physicians, and they resolve to effect his ruin.
For this purpose they deceive him into a belief that he is become
leprous, and he returns with great sorrow to the emperor, to
acquaint him with his misfortune. Being offered all the consolation
that the emperor can afford him, he requests that he may have the
use of a bath made of goat's blood. By this remedy he is restored to
health; and the emperor, wondering at the suddenness with which
he had been attacked, is informed by Averrhoes that three leprous
persons of his own profession had terrified him, and thereby
communicated their disease. They are immediately punished with
death.
Chap. xxvii.—Antony, emperor of Rome, is fond of chess. Playing once
at this game, he observed that when the men were replaced as
usual in the bag, the king was indiscriminately confounded with the
rest of the pieces. This suggests to him his mortal state, and that he
himself shall be eventually blended with others in the grave. He
divides his kingdom into three parts; one he gives to the king of
Jerusalem, another to his nobles, and the third to the poor. He then
retires to the Holy Land to end his days in peace.
Chap. xxx.—The emperor Averrhoes proclaims a tournament, and that
the conquerer shall marry his daughter after his decease. Decius, a
knight who excelled in arms, had two infant sons. Hearing of the
proclamation, he goes one morning into a forest where a nightingale
was singing very sweetly. He expresses a wish to know the meaning
of the song, and an old man, suddenly appearing to him, explains it.
The bird had directed him to go to the tournament, but in his way
thither he is to meet with some heavy misfortune, which he is
recommended to support with constancy and patience, because,
eventually, his sorrow is to be turned to joy. The old man then
disappears, and the nightingale flies away. Decius returns home and
acquaints his wife with the adventure. She advises him to go to the
tournament with herself and children; and he had no sooner finished
the preparations for his journey, than his house and all his goods are
consumed by fire. Not discouraged, he embarks on board a vessel,
and on his arrival in the country to which he was going, the captain
of the ship demands the price of his passage. The knight confesses
his present inability to comply with the requisition, but promises on
his return from the tournament to satisfy him fully. The captain, who
had in the meantime conceived an improper passion for the lady,
demands her as an hostage, refusing an offer of the children. The
poor knight, finding no remedy, affectionately takes leave of his wife,
and departs in great sorrow with his children. The mariner in vain
attempts the accomplishment of his purpose with the lady, and after
having accompanied her to some strange country, dies. She is
reduced to great misery, and obliged to beg her bread from door to
door. The story then returns to the knight, who, proceeding in his
journey to the emperor's palace, meets with a deep piece of water,
which it was necessary to cross. Not being able to carry over both
the children together, he leaves one of them on the ground. On his
return for his child, a lion springs from a wood, seizes the infant
before he could arrive at the spot, and carries it away. He
endeavours in vain to pursue the ravisher, and at length goes back
to his other child. But here again his ill fortune attends him; a bear
had seized it, and was in the act of carrying it to a neighbouring
forest. He now gives way to his grief, and exclaims bitterly against
the nightingale and her song, but resolves to proceed to the
tournament. Here he has better luck, and repeatedly carries away
the prize. The emperor takes him into great favour, and places him
at the head of his armies. Walking one day through a certain city, he
finds a precious stone of three colours. On carrying it to a lapidary,
he is informed that he possesses a great treasure; that the stone
has the power of making the owner completely happy, of enabling
him to find what he might have lost, and of converting his poverty
into wealth, and his sorrows into joy. Soon afterwards he has
occasion to raise troops for the emperor's service, and in the course
of the war two young soldiers eminently distinguish themselves by
their valour. As they are sitting one night at supper, they make
inquiries of each other respecting their parents; and from certain
matters that are detailed, they are recognized by their mother, who
happens to be present. This discovery soon leads to that of their
father, who is known by his wife, from a particular mark in his
forehead. All the parties return to their own country, and end their
days happily.
The burning of the knight's house, and the manner in which he was
deprived of his children, have been borrowed from the romance of
Sir Isumbras.[126]
Chap. xxxi.—A law was made at Rome that the sentinels of the city
should each night examine what was passing in all the houses, so
that no private murders might be committed, nor any thing done
whereby the city should be endangered. It happened that an old
knight named Josias had married a young and beautiful woman,
who, by the sweetness of her singing, attracted many persons to his
house, several of whom came for the purpose of making love to her.
Among these were three young men who were high in the emperor's
favour. They respectively agreed with the woman for a private
assignation for which she was to receive twenty marks. She discloses
the matter to her husband, but not choosing to give up the money,
prevails on him to consent to the murder of the gallants, and the
robbing of their persons. This is accomplished, and the bodies
deposited in a cellar. The woman, mindful of the new law that had
been made, sends for one of the sentinels, who was her brother,
pretends that her husband had killed a man in a quarrel, and
prevails on him, for a reward, to dispose of the dead body. She then
delivers to him the first of the young men, whom he puts into a sack
and throws into the sea. On his return to the sister, she pretends to
go into the cellar to draw wine, and cries out for help. When the
sentinel comes to her, she tells him that the dead man is returned.
At this he of course expresses much surprise, but putting the second
body into his sack ties a stone round its neck and plunges it into the
sea. Returning once more, the woman, with additional arts, plays
the same part again. Again he is deceived, and taking away the third
body, carries it into a forest, makes a fire, and consumes it. During
this operation he has occasion to retire, and in the meantime a
knight on horseback, who was going to a tournament, passes by,
and alights to warm himself at the fire. On the other's return the
knight is mistaken for the dead man, and with many bitter words
thrown into the fire, horse and all. The sentinel goes back to his
sister, and receives the stipulated reward. A hue and cry had now
been made after the young men who were missing. The husband
and wife engage in a quarrel, and the murder is of course
discovered.
This story has been immediately taken from The seven wise
masters, where it forms the example of the sixth master. The
ground-work is, no doubt, oriental, and may be found, perhaps in its
most ancient form, in The little hunchbacked taylor of The Arabian
nights. It was imported into Europe very early, and fell into the
hands of the lively and entertaining French minstrels, who have
treated it in various ways, as may be seen in Le Grand, Fabliaux et
contes, tom. iv., where it is related five times. The several imitations
of it from The seven wise masters may be found in all the editions of
Prince Erastus, an Italian modification of the Wise masters. It forms
the substance of a well constructed and entertaining story of two
friars, John and Richard, who are said to have resided at Norwich in
the reign of Henry the Fifth. This is related in Heywood's History of
women under the title of The faire ladie of Norwich,[127] and has
crept into Blomefield's History of Norfolk in a very extraordinary
manner, unaccompanied with any comment, but with the addition of
the murderer's name, who is unaccountably stated to be Sir Thomas
Erpingham, a well-known character.[128] In the Bodleian library there
is an old English poem entitled A merry jest of Dane Hew munk of
Leicestre, and how he was foure times slain and once hanged.
Printed at London by J. Allde, in 4to, without date. This is probably
the same story, which has certainly been borrowed from one of
those related by the Norman minstrels.[129]
Chap. xxxii.—Folliculus, a knight, was fond of hunting and
tournaments. He had an only son, for whom three nurses were
provided. Next to this child he loved his falcon and his greyhound. It
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