From Verse to Prose: The Barlaam and Josaphat Legend in Fifteenth-Century Germany

This monograph examines a fifteenth-century German prose redaction of the Barlaam and Josaphat legend. Through a comparison with contemporary versions of the story, the text edited here is shown to be an original contribution to the corpus of fifteenth-century hagiographic literature. A discussion of innovations in the prose Barlaam and Josaphat text further emphasizes differences from earlier poetic versions of the legend. Through an expansion of liturgical references and corresponding deletion of any secular commentary, the prose reviser has effectively adapted his material to a fifteenth-century clerical audience.