| It is by the signature line in
the introduction to her twelfth-century translation of Aesop's Fables,
"Marie ai num si sui de France", that we know her as Marie de
France. She claimed to be writing in "romanz", which we classify as
Anglo-Norman. She was also proficient in Latin, English, and "breton"
or Welsh. Though Marie lived in England, she was of French origin. Her
identity cannot be tied definitively to any real person. She is best
known for her Lais, and her Fables, which were also known as Esope (a
Middle English version of the Classical model). An Espurgatoire seit
Patriz and a Vie Seinte Audree are also attributed to her. The purpose of this page is to present a number of links to medieval manuscript facsimiles containing Marie's work, some illustrated, accompanied by other relevant resources. It is part of the Andy Holt Virtual Library's "Manuscripts of Medieval France with Vernacular Texts", a collection of over 1000 links to manuscript facsimiles, which will include nearly all of the French medieval literarary canon, and much more. |