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Felician regnyd emperour in the cyté of Rome, in the empeire of whom ther was a knyght that hadde weddid a yong damesell to wif. And withinne fewe yerys this woman lovid by wey of synne another knyght, undir hire husbond, and that so moch, that she ordeyned for hire husbonde to be ded. Happyng that this knyght wold goo on pilgrimage over the see; and therfore he seide to his wif, "Dame, y woll goo on pilgrimage, over the see; and therfore governe thee wele the while til I come home agen." And with that she was glad, and seide, "Sir, with the grace of God all shall be wele y-do." And shortly for to touche this mater he tooke his leve, and yede his wey. Nowe this false quene, his wif, ordeyned for his dethe in all that she cowde, and spake therfore to a nigromauncer in this forme: "Myn husbond," quod she, "is biyende the see; I woll wite, if thou cowde helpe that he were ded by ony crafte. Aske of me what thou wolt, and thou shalt have hit." Then spake he to hyre agen, and saide, "This, forsoth, lady, that I can. That knyght shall dye by my crafte, yn what cuntré of the wordle soever that he be ynne. And y woll have nothing of thee for my travayle but the love of thyne hert." And she it grauntid to him. So this nigromancien dyd make an ymage of erthe, and fastenyd it in the wall afore him. And the knyght, that was gon on pilgrimage, walkyd yn the same day in the stretys of Rome. So ther met with him a clerke, the which hielie beheld him. And when the knyght perceyvid it, he seide to him, "Goode Sir, tell me why and what skile, that thou so beholdest me?" Thenne seid the clerke, "Forsoth, Sir, for thy deth; for douteles thou shalt yn this same day be ded, but if thou be the better holpyn." And he told the knyght how that his wif was a strompet, and which purveith in that day that hire husbond shud be ded. And when the knyght hurde theise wordes, he had grete merveile, and saide, "A! Sir, I knowe well that my wif is an hore, and long tyme hath y-be; but that she ever pursuyd for my deth, that is unknowe to me, and therfore I pray thee tell me if ther be ony remedye agenst my deth; and if thou mowe save my lyf; sothly all my goodys shull be at thyne owne will." "Yys," quoth the clerk, "a remedye ther is, if thou wolt do aftir my conseil." "Yis, yis," seide the knyght, "I am redy to fulfill all in dede that thou wolt sey unto me." Thenne seide this clerke, "Thy wif," he seide, "hath this day spoken with a man that can of nigromancye, to sle thee by his crafte and sotilté; and so the nigromancien hath y-made an ymage, and sette it in a wall; and anoon he woll take a bowe and arowis, and shete att it. And if he wounde this ymage, thyne herte shall brest, wheresoever thou be in the wordle. And so thou sholdiste dye; nevertheles do aftir my conseil, and sone I shall save thi life. Do of alle thy clothis, and be nakid, and go into a bath that I shall make for thee." And the knyght dyd right as he bad him. And when he was in the bath, the clerk toke him a myrour in his hond, and seide, "Nowe thou shalt see in this myrour all that I spake of to thee." And thenne seide he, "Ye, sothly I see all opynly in myne hous, that thou spakist of to me. And now the myster-man takith his bowe, and woll schete att the ymage." Thenne seide the clerk, "Sir, as thou lovist this lif, what tyme that he drawith his bowe, bowe thyne hed undir the watir; for if thou do not certenly thy ymage shall be smytene, and thou both." And when the knyght sawe him begynne for to drawe his bowe, he dyd as the clerke conseilid him. And thenne seide the clerk, "What seist thou now?" "Forsoth," quoth he, "now hath he schote an arowe at the ymage; and for that he failith of his strook, he makith moch sorowe." Thenne seide the clerke, "Ye, that is goode tydyng for thee; for if he had smyten the ymage, thou sholdist have i-be ded. But loke nowe on the myrour, and tell me what thou seist." "Now he takith an other arowe, and woll shete agen." "Do thenne," quoth the clerke, as thou dyd afore, or ellis thou shalt be ded." And therfore the knyght putte all his hede undir the water. And whenne he had so y-done, he raisid hit up agen, and seyde to the clerke, "He makith sorowe nowe more than ony man woll trowe, for he smot not the ymage; and he cryed to my wif, seiyng, that if I fayle the third tyme, I am but ded my- selfe, and thyne husbond shall lyve; and my wif makith therfor moch lamentacion." "Loke agen," seide the clerke, "and tell me what he doth." "Forsothe," seide he, "he hath bend his bowe and goith ny to the ymage for to shete; and therfor I drede now gretly." "Do therfore," seide the clerke, "do as I bade doo afore, and dred thee nothyng." So the knyght, whenne he sawe the scheter drawe his bowe, he swapte his hed undir the waitr, as he dyd afore; and thenne he toke it up agen, and lokid yn the myrour, and he lowgh with a gret myrth. "I sey," quod the clerke, "whi lawghist thou soo?" "For the archer wold have y-schot at the ymage, and he hath y-schotte himselfe in the lungen, and lyeth ded; and my wif makith sorowe withoute ende, and woll hyde his body by hire beddys syde." "Ye, Sir," quod the clerke, "now thou haste thi lif savid, do yeld to me my mede, and go; farwell." Thenne the knyght gaf him mede as he woll aske. And the knyght went hom, and fond the body undir the bedde of his wif; and he yede to the meyre of the towne, and told him howe his wife hadde don in his absence. Thenne when the meyre and the statys sawe this doyng, they made this wif to be slayne, and hire herte to be departid ynto three parteis, in tokne and emsampill of veniaunce. And the goode man toke another wif, and faire endid his liffe. Moralitee     Seith nowe, goode men; this emperour I call owre lord Jhesu Criste; the empire is this wordle, in which is moch adversité; for all that is in the wordle other it is fals covetise of flesch, or fals covetise of yen, or prowde of lif. The wif that lovith not hire husbond is thi flesch, that dispisith all werkis that the spirite lovith. Now in speking gostely of this mater, while that a man goith in pilgrimage, serys, that is to sey, in werke of ony goode dede to be fullfilled, thenne the flesh spekith with the nigromancier, scil. the devill; and that he doth as ofte tyme as he grucchith agenst the spirit, and sesith fro werkis of penaunce, wherby the spirit may be slayne. For it is as the Apostill seith, Caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, et spiritus adversus carnem, this is to undirstonde, the flesch desirith thing that is agenst the spirite, and the spirit desirith thing agenst the flesch. The clerke that helpith the knyght is a discrete confessour or a prechour, which techith a man how that he shall defende him agenst the dartys of the devill. This nigromancer that is the devill, biginnith to schete an arowe att the ymage, - what is that? The reson within a man. But beware that he hit not him with his arowe, scil. envy or avarice, for if he do, withoute doute he shall dye in evermore lastyng deth. And therfore thou most putte downe thyn hed - what is that? Thyne old lif of synne, and entre ynto the bath of confession. And thou most hold in thy hond a myrour, scil. holy doctrine, that prelatis and prestis every day shewith, by the which thou shalt see all perilis that perteynith to thi soule. And also holdyng downe of the hed in the bath is to be redy to goo undir the yoke of penaunce and submitte thee to it that shall be enjoyned to thee; and that is not hard, witnessing the saviour himself, wher he seith, Iugum meum suave, et onus meum leve, Lo! My yoke, he seith, is swete, and my charge is light. And if thou do thus, no doute of thou shalt stonde agenst all the shotis that the devill can shete to thee; and his shotis shall turne to his owne sorowe, and encresing of his peyne in the bed of hell, wher he shall be buryed. Now than most a prelate honge the wif - what bymenyth that? Forsoth that consciens and discrecion late the flesh be hongyd on the jebet of penaunce, of the which maner of living the Apostill spekith this, Suspendium elegit anima mea, this is to sey, my soule hath chosen the jebet, scil. doyng of penaunce. And after the herte is departid unto thre parteys, that is, the flesh is devidid ynto thre, scil. praying, almysded, and fastyng. And thenne thou shalt take a new wif, scil. a spirit obediente to a new governaunce; and thenne per consequens thou shalt have evermore lastyng lif, Ad quam nos et vos perducat, &c.

Excerpts from The Gesta Romanorum, Select Bibliography

Manuscripts in Middle English

Balliol 354, fols. 1a-3a (c. 1450, East Midlands).

Cambridge University Ff. 1.6, fols. 216a-245b (late fifteenth century).

British Library Additional 9066, fols. 5a-87b (late fifteenth century). [Base text for The Punished of Adulterers.]

British Library Harley 7333, fols. 150a-203a (1440-96). [Base text for Emperor Felicianus and Godfridus a Wise Emperoure.]

Gloucester Cathedral MS 22, pp. 723-87 (late fifteenth century).


Early Printed Editions

de Worde, Wynkyn (1510-15) [Contains an abbreviated number of tales beginning with the story of Atalanta. See Burke Severs and Albert E. Hartung, A Manual of the Writings in Middle English, 1050-1500 (New Haven: Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1967-).]

Robinson, Richard, ed. Gesta Romanorum: A Record of Auncient Histories Newly Perused by Richard Robinson (1595). Delmar, NY: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1973. [A revision of Wynkyn de Worde's edition.]


Editions

Herrtage, Sydney, ed. The Early English Versions of the Gesta Romanorum. EETS e.s. 33. London: N. Trübner & Co., 1879.

Madden, Sir Frederic, ed. The Old English Versions of the Gesta Romanorum. London: Roxburghe Club, 1838.
Oesterley, Hermann J., ed. Gesta Romanorum. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buckhandlung, 1872. [The Latin text.]

Sandred, K. I., ed. A Middle English Version of the Gesta Romanorum, Uppsala: University of Stockholm, 1971.

Siatkowski, J., ed. Gesta Romanorum Linguae Polonicae (1543): cum fontibus latinis et bohemicis. Köln: Böhlau, 1986.

Weiske, Brigitte, ed. Gesta Romanorum: Untersuchungen qu Konzeption und Überlieferung. Tübingen: Max Neimeyer Verlag, 1992.


Selections

B. G., ed. Evenings with the Old Story Tellers: Select Tales from the Gesta Romanorum. New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1845.

Brunet, M. G., ed. LeViulier des Histoires Romaines: Ancienne Traduction François des Gesta Romanorum. Paris: Chez. P. Jannet, 1868.

Dick, Wilhelm, ed. Die Gesta Romanorum. Nach der Innsbrucker Handschrift von Jahre 1342. Amsterdam: Rodopi Editions, 1970.

Komroff, Manuel, ed. Tales of the Monks from the Gesta Romanorum. New York: The Dial Press, 1928. [A translation of some of the tales in the Latin text.]

Swan, Charles, ed. Gesta Romanorum: Entertaining Moral Stories. London: Routledge & Sons, 1905.

---, and Wynnard Hooper, eds. and trans. Gesta Romanorum: Entertaining Moral Stories. New York: Dover, 1959.


Related Studies

Archibald, Elizabeth. Apollonius of Tyre: Medieval and Renaissance Themes and Variations. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1991.

Brewer, Derek. "Observations on a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript." Anglia 72 (1954-55), 350 ff.

Loomis, Laura Hibbard. Mediaeval Romance in England: A Study of the Sources and Analogues of the Non-Cyclic Metrial Romances. New York: Burt Franklin, 1960.

Marchalonis, Shirley. "Medieval Symbols in the Gesta Romanorum." Chaucer Review 8 (1974), 311-19.

Metlitzski, Dorothea. The Matter of Araby in Medieval England. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977.

Palmer, Nigel F. "Exempla." In Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide. Ed. F. A. C. Mantella and A. G. Rigg. Washington: D. C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1996. Pp. 582-88.

Scanlon, Larry. Narrative, Authority, and Power: The Medieval Exemplum and the Chaucerian Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

Speed, Diane. "Middle English Romance and the Gesta Romanorum." In Tradition and Transformation in Medieval Romance. Ed. Rosalind Field. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1999. Pp. 45-56.