374 CRANE— MEDIEVAL SERMON-BOOKS AND STORIES. 



plorum,' the ' Summa Predecantium ' of John of Bromyard, the 

 ' Repertorium Morale ' of Peter Berchorius, and some others." 



The subject received no further attention until 1861, when an 

 important article by Karl Goedeke (1814-1887), the famous his- 

 torian of German literature, was pubHshed in Benfey's periodical, 

 Orient und Occident, Vol. I. (Gottingen, 1861), pp. 531-560. The 

 article in question, "Asinus vulgi," is a study of the origin and 

 diffusion of the well-known fable of the father and son who ride 

 their ass alternately without satisfying the critical pubHc (La Fon- 

 taine, III. I, "Le meunier, son fils et I'ane"). This fable is found 

 in the " Scala Celi " of Johannes Junior (Gobius), Ulm, 1480, fol. 

 135, where it is introduced by the words: " Refert Jacobus de 

 Vitriaco." It is a curious fact that this particular fable, which led 

 Goedeke to speak of Jacques de Vitry, is not found in the two col- 

 lections of sermons belonging to that prelate, but is one of the many 

 stories in circulation attributed to him on what authority we do not 

 know. In the article in question Goedeke emphasizes the impor- 

 tance of Bromyard's work : " Kaum irgend ein andres Werk des 

 Mittelalters ist so reich an Fabeln und Geschichten als das seinige, 

 und kaum ein .anderes von dieser Bedeutung so wenig gekannt." A 

 little later he says : " Die Exempla, auf die sich Bromyard beruft, 

 sind kein aufs geratewohl gebrauchter Ausdruck, sondern ein wirk- 

 lich vorhandenes fiir die Verbreitung der orientalischen Fabeln und 

 Geschichten ins Abendland sehr wichtiges Werk, das Speculum 

 Exemplorum des Jacobus de Vitriaco." He calls Jacques de Vitry : 

 " einen der Hauptcanale, durch welche orientalische Sagen nach 

 Europa kamen." Goedeke then gives some twenty-five exempla 

 from the Harley MS. 463. used by Wright in his "Latin Stories," 

 which by comparison with the stories in the " Scala Celi " is shown 

 to contain many exempla by Jacques de Vitry. He thus shows the 

 importance of the mysterious " Speculum Exemplorum " of Jacques 

 de Vitry, a veritable " Verlorene Handschrift," for which he had 

 sought in vain. It is strange that it did not occur to Goedeke to 

 examine the sermons of Jacques de Vitry, the existence of which at 

 Paris and elsewhere he knew. 



In his later book, " Every-Man, Homulus und Hekastus," Hann- 

 over, 1865, he returns to the subject and says: "Einen der Haupt- 



