Marie de France

American  

[ma-ree duh frahns] / maˈri də ˈfrɑ̃s /

noun

1. flourished 12th century, French poet in England.

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Marie de France British  

/ mari də frɑ̃s /

noun

1. 12th century _ad , French poet, who probably lived in England; noted for her lais (verse narratives) based on Celtic tales

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Example Sentences

Lauren Groff’s new novel, “The Vaster Wilds,” chases the heels of her previous historical fiction, “Matrix,” about another extraordinary woman, based on the medieval poet Marie de France.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 7, 2023

Last year’s most unlikely bestseller was “Matrix,” a novel by Lauren Groff about an obscure medieval poet named Marie de France and a 12th-century nunnery.

From Washington Post • Aug. 16, 2022

“Matrix” follows Marie de France, a “bastardess sibling of the crown,” as she transforms a destitute nunnery, all but forgotten and plagued by starvation, into a wealthy and powerful world of women.

From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2021

The book opens in 1158 as Marie de France, the illegitimate half-sister of Henry II of England, is sent away from the court of his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, to live in a convent.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 7, 2021

One of the earliest of these is the Anglo-Norman poetess who called herself Marie de France, and who wrote about 1150 and afterwards.

From Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race by Rolleston, T. W. (Thomas William)