The tale of _King Florus_—the gem of the book—recalls the early part of
Shakespeare’s _Cymbeline_ and the bet about a wife’s virtue, which forms
the subject of many romances, not a few folk-tales, and at least one
folk-song. _The Romance of the Violet_, by Gerbert de Montruil, _circa_
1225, derives its name from the mother’s mark of the heroine, which
causes her husband to lose his bet. This was probably the source of
Boccaccio’s novel (ii. 9), from which Shakespeare’s more immediately
grew. The Gaelic version of this incident, collected by Campbell (_The
Chest_, No. ii.), is clearly not of folk origin, but derived directly or
indirectly from Boccaccio, in whom alone the Chest is found. Yet it is
curious that, practically, the same story as the _Romance of the Violet_
is found among folk-songs in modern Greece and in Modern Scotland. In
Passow’s collection of Romaic Folk Songs there is one entitled _Maurianos
and the King_, which is in substance our story; and it is probably the
existence of this folk-song which causes M. Gaston Paris to place our
tale among the romances derived from Byzantium. Yet Motherwell in his
_Minstrelsy_ has a ballad entitled _Reedisdale and Wise William_, which
has the bet as its motive. Here again, then, we have a connection
between our romance and the story-store of European folk, and at the same
time some slight link with Byzantium.
V
The tale of “Oversea” has immediate connection with the Crusades, since
its heroine is represented to be no other than the great grandmother of
Saladin. But her adventures resemble those of Boccaccio’s Princess of
Babylon (ii. 7), who was herself taken from one of the Greek romances by
Xenophon of Ephesus. Here again, then, we can trace back to Greek
influence reaching Western Europe in the twelfth century through the
medium of the Crusades. But the tale finds no echo among the folk, so
far as I am aware, and is thus purely and simply a romance of adventure.
This, however, is not the only story connected with the Crusades in which
the Soudan loves a lady of the Franks. Saladin is credited by the chatty
Chronicle of Rheims with having gained the love of Eleanor, wife of Louis
VII., when they were in Palestine on the Second Crusade. As Saladin did
not ascend the throne till twenty years later, chronology is enabled to
clear his memory of this piece of scandal. But its existence chimes in
with such relations between Moslem and Christian as is represented in our
story, which were clearly not regarded at the time with any particular
aversion by the folk; they agree with Cardinal Mazarin on this point.