Saint Patrick's Purgatory: A Poem by Marie de France: Volume 94 (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies)

by Marie de France, Michael J. Curley

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Genres: Poetry, Medieval

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

Marie de France ("Mary of France", around 1135-1200) was a poet evidently born in France and living in England during the late 12th century. Virtually nothing is known of her early life, though she wrote a form of continental French[citation needed:] that was copied by Anglo-Norman scribes. Therefore, most of the manuscripts of her work bear Anglo-Norman traits. She also translated some Latin literature and produced an influential version of Aesop's Fables.

Reviews

[Sarah Maguire]

An austerely pious work. Marie's translation of this Latin account of a journey to purgatory into Norman French verse recalls the lais in that it is essentially a tale of knightly adventure in otherworldly realms but the tone is much less generous and understanding of human frailties as might be expected from the nature of the work.

[Kristy Frenken-Francis]

Well that was weird