''La Vie Seinte Audree'' ( en, The Life of Saint Audrey) is a 4625-line hagiography detailing the life, death, and miracles of Saint Audrey, an Anglo-Saxon saint from Ely, Cambridgeshire in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. The only existing copy of ''La Vie Seinte Audree'' is contained in a manuscript in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

, Add MS 70513 ('The Campsey Manuscript'), recorded in the early 14th century. Earlier scholars proposed a date of composition for the poem itself in the late

12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...

or early 13th centuries, but since the early 2000s scholars have begun to credit

Marie de France Marie de France (fl. 1160 to 1215) was a poet, possibly born in what is now France, who lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an unknown court, but she and her work were almost certainly known at the royal court o ...

( fl. 1160 to 1215) as the author.

Authorship

''La Vie Seinte Audree'' was recently attributed to the French

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

poet

. The lines in which the author declares her identity are strikingly similar to what one finds elsewhere in the works of Marie de France: :''Ici escris mon non Marie'' :''Pur ce ke sois remembree'' ::''La Vie Seinte Audree'', verses 4624-4625 :''Me numeral pur remembrance'' :''Marie ai nun, si sui de France'' ::''Les Fables'' by Marie de France, epilogue, verses 3-4 In addition, the source materials for the ''Seinte Audree'' would have been found in Ely, which is near

Sawtry Sawtry () is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Sawtry lies approximately north of Huntingdon. Sawtry is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being a historic ...

, the location of Marie's Latin sources for her Espurgatoire Seint Patriz.

Sources

While ''La Vie Seinte Audree'' is allegedly a translation of a Latin text, the original source material is unknown. Rupert T. Pickens suggests that, in actuality, Marie de France combined three Latin texts to create her ''Seinte Audree'': the life of Saint Etheldreda, ''De secunda translatione'', and ''Miracula Sancte Etheldrede''.Cited in McCash xiv.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Life of Saint Audrey Works by Marie de France French poems Medieval French literature Anglo-Norman literature