SOURCE: "Imitations and Influence," in The Tradition of Boethius: A Study of His Importance in Medieval Culture, Oxford University Press, Inc., 1935, pp. 87-113.

In the following excerpt, Patch examines the impact exerted by Boethius on Medieval and Renaissance writers, including Dante, King James I of Scotland, and Sir Thomas More.

The most striking testimony of all to the power of the Consolatio appears in the attempt through many centuries to interpret its meaning in various adaptations and imitations. Something like this we have already observed [earlier], in varying ways, in King Alfred's rendering and the Provençal Boece and especially in Simund de Freine's Roman de Philosophie, where invention to a greater or less degree has certainly distinguished translation. Indeed on these terms it is hard to find much difference between Simund's work and the poem written by Henry of Settimello which we shall presently examine, except that...