SOURCE: Miller, Eleanor Beatrice. “The Gesta Romanorum.” In “Romance Elements in the Gesta Romanorum. Master's thesis, pp. 1-24, University of Vermont, 1949.

In the following essay, Miller surveys the characteristics, sources, and influences of the Gesta Romanorum.

1. Manuscripts and Early Printed Editions

The Gesta Romanorum was one of the most popular collections of moralized stories in the Middle Ages. The stories do not concern Roman history, as the title might indicate, although many of them come from classical sources. The framework, if the tenuous connection which unites the stories may be called that, is simply the fact that each tale takes place in the reign of some Roman emperor, often a fictitious one, who seldom has any connection with the story related. Examples of the introductory words are: Leo regnavit, Quidam imperator regnavit, or Rex quidam erat in civitate romana. In fact, the stories in the English version are...