How Lonely Are Women in Van den VII Vroeden van binnen Rome? An Analysis of the Resources and Networks of the Female (and Male) Characters in a Middle Dutch Version of the Seven Sages of Rome

Abstract

Abstract:Although the Middle Dutch Van den VII Vroeden van binnen Rome is generally believed to be a faithful translation of the Old French prose version Les Sept Sages de Rome, the anonymous Middle Dutch translator made some intriguing changes to the end of the tale. At the very moment when the empress is being judged, he added a sequence of nearly 40 verses. This sequence acknowledges explicitly that the presence (or absence) of reliable social networks constitutes a determining factor when it comes to exerting power or even simply enhancing one's chances of survival. The rewritten judgment scene puts the whole tale in a diffferent light and has a strong bearing on its ultimate persuasive force. Rather than a faithful translation, VII Vroeden turns out to be an adaptation in which the harsh and essentialist misogyny of the French source is attenuated.