Professor Mary Dominica Legge, FBA (26 March 1905 – 10 March 1986), known as Dominica Legge, was a British scholar of the

Anglo-Norman language Anglo-Norman (; ), also known as Anglo-Norman French, was a dialect of Old Norman that was used in Kingdom of England, England and, to a lesser extent, other places in Great Britain and Ireland during the Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman period. Ori ...

Life

Legge was born in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

in 1905. Her grandfather was Professor

James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the Lond ...

, and her father James Granville Legge was the Director of Education in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Legge received an education at Liverpool College in

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, Liverpool Built-up Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Merseyside, Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Netherley, Liverpool, ...

before attending

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

where she specialised in Medieval French, and in particular the Anglo-Norman language, under the guidance of

Mildred Pope Mildred Katherine Pope (28 January 1872 – 16 September 1956) was an English scholar of Anglo-Norman England. She became the first woman to hold a readership at Oxford University, where she taught at Somerville College. Biography Mildred Pope w ...

. She was awarded a BLitt in 1928 for her thesis on the ''Lumiere as lais'' and thereafter became an editor for the

Selden Society The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...

. In 1930 Legge attended the first International Arthurian Congress in Truro, Cornwall, where she,

Henry Jenner Henry Jenner (8 August 1848 – 8 May 1934) was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornwall, Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival. Jenner was born at St Columb Major on 8 August 1848. H ...

, Eugène Vinaver,

Roger Sherman Loomis Roger Sherman Loomis (1887–1966) was an American scholar and one of the foremost authorities on medieval and Arthurian literature. Loomis is perhaps best known for showing the roots of Arthurian legend, in particular the Holy Grail, in native C ...

and other scholars investigated Arthurian legends. Legge was appointed Mary Somerville research fellow in 1935, and in 1937 she became a founding member of the Anglo-Norman Text Society. She was also one of the first members of the

Somerville College Boat Club Somerville College Boat Club (SCBC) is the rowing club of Somerville College, Oxford. The club was formed in 1921 as one of the first women's clubs on the Isis, however was unable to compete in bumps until 1969. The women's team has won the titl ...

. In 1938, Legge became assistant lecturer in French at Royal Holloway College, University of London, she was subsequently appointed assistant lecturer in French at University College, Dundee in 1942.Bennett, Philip E. "Legge, (Mary) Dominica (1905–1986), French scholar and historian." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 28 May 2015. accessed 7 July 2019 She was then Professor of French (Anglo-Norman Studies) at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, 1968-1973 and Professor Emerita after her retirement. Legge's reputation as a scholar was widely acknowledged by the academic community through election to various fellowships. She was elected a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

in 1942, a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usu ...

in 1958, corresponding fellow of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until ) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the q ...

in 1971, and

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA) in 1974.‘LEGGE, Prof. (Mary) Dominica’, ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 201
accessed 23 April 2017
/ref> In 1971 the French government appointed her an officer of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes; and grew in scope so that by the early 17th century it comprised up to ...

. Legge has been described as "extremely generous and supportive to students and young colleagues", and she would often invite them to her small flat at 204 Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh, "the walls of which were covered with pictures mostly of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artists, including George du Maurier and J. B. Yeats; there they would be offered tea or coffee and warned to be careful with the cups because 'Oscar Wilde drank from them'." In her retirement, Legge continued to be academically active, attending conferences and continuing to undertake research.Bennett, Philip E. "Legge, (Mary) Dominica (1905–1986), French scholar and historian." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 28 May 2015. accessed 25 July 2019 Legge died in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

on 10 December 1986.

Selected works

* ''Anglo-Norman letters and petitions from All Souls''. Ms. 182, Oxford 1941 * ''Le Roman de Balain. A prose romance of the thirteenth century'' With an introduction by Eugène Vinaver, Manchester 1942 * ''Anglo-Norman in the cloisters. The influence of the orders upon Anglo-Norman literature'', Edinburgh 1950 * ''Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background'' (Oxford, 1963) * with Ruth J. Dean) The Rule of St. Benedict. A Norman prose version, Oxford 1964 * ''The significance of Anglo-Norman''. Inaugural lecture, Edinburgh 1969 * "William the Marshal and Arthur of Brittany", ''

Historical Research Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be draw ...

'', volume 55, 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legge, Mary Dominica 1905 births 1986 deaths British women linguists British medievalists British women medievalists English literary historians People from Bayswater 20th-century British women scientists Fellows of the British Academy Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford 20th-century women writers British women literary historians