Gesta Romanorum

Gesta Romanorum (jĕs`tə rō'mənôr`əm), medieval collection of Latin stories. Although the title means "Deeds of the Romans," the tales have very little to do with actual Roman history. Each tale is characterized by a moral. The earliest manuscript dates from the 14th cent., but it had probably been first collected several centuries earlier. Many of the stories were used later by such authors as Chaucer and Shakespeare.

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Gesta Romanorum

(Latin; “Deeds of the Romans”)

Latin collection of anecdotes and tales, probably compiled in early 14th-century England. Very popular in its time, it became a source for much later literature, including works by Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare. It contains stories from Classical history and legend and from various Asian and European sources, many about magicians and monsters, ladies in distress, and escapes from perilous situations, all unified by their moral purpose and realistic detail. Its author is unknown. Its didactic nature and the allegorical explanations attached to the stories in the early versions suggest that it was intended as a manual for preachers. It is likely that it was compiled in England.