474 Margaret of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
Further reading:Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco
Polo,trans. Ronald Latham (New York: Penguin Books,
1958); John Larner, Marco Polo and the Discovery of the
World(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1999);
J. R. S. Phillips, The Medieval Expansion of Europe,2d ed.
(1988; reprint, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998);
Frances Wood, Did Marco Polo Go to China?(Boulder,
Colo.: Westview Press, 1996).
Margaret of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
(Margrethe)(1353–1412)Scandinavian ruler
Daughter of King Waldemar IV (r. 1340–75) of DENMARK,
Margaret inherited the kingdoms of Denmark, NORWAY,
and SWEDENin 1387 and ruled them as regent for her
nephew, Eric of Pomerania (d. 1442). Her husband,
Haakon VI (r. 1350–80) of Norway, died in 1380, and her
son, Olaf (r. 1380–87) died in 1387. Accepted as ruler,
she defeated and captured in battle in 1389 her rival,
Albert of Mecklenburg (r. 1364–89), the king of Sweden.
She added GOTLANDand Schleswig to her Crown. Her
belief in Scandinavian unity was furthered by the Union
of Kalmar in 1397, which joined the three Crowns but
left each country under its own government. Margaret
was esteemed for her statesmanship, though opposition
and problems were developing when she died on October
27, 1412.
Further reading: Brigit Sawyer and Peter Sawyer,
Medieval Scandinavia: From Conversion to Reformation,
circa 800–1500(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 1993).
Margery Kempe, The Book of The Book of Margery
Kempewas preserved in a single manuscript not found
until 1934. An autobiography, it provided remarkable
documentation of a Christian woman in 15th-century
English society. She was born to an upper-middle-class
family in King’s Lynn in Norfolk, that of John Burnham
(d. 1413); married John Kempe (d. ca. 1431), a burgess
of Lynn; and became the mother of 14 children. She
and her husband took vows of CHASTITYin 1413. She
experienced a spiritual conversion in 1413 and modeled
herself on BIRGITTAOFSWEDEN, loudly denouncing all
pleasure. In her book she described speaking with
Christ. She made PILGRIMAGESand harangued crowds, a
dangerous practice during a period when LOLLARD
heretics were persecuted for such activities. Her public
devotions and actions prompted accusations of exhibi-
tionism. Her public and mystical experience did not
resemble that of the contemporary English mystics, but
her biography has been viewed as a source of great
psychological and sociological importance. She died
about 1439.
See alsoMYSTICISM, CHRISTIAN.
Further reading: Margery Kempe, The Book of
Margery Kempe,trans. B. A. Windeatt (New York: Pen-
guin, 1985); Clarissa W. Atkinson, Mystic and Pilgrim:
The Book and the World of Margery Kempe(Ithaca, N.Y.:
Cornell University Press, 1983); Anthony Goodman,
Margery Kempe and Her World(London: Longman, 2002);
Karma Lochrie, Margery Kempe and Translations of the
Flesh (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,
1991); Margery Kempe: A Book of Essays,ed. Sandra J.
McEntire (New York: Garland, 1992); Lynn Staley,
Margery Kempe’s Dissenting Fictions(University Park: The
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994).Marie de Champagne(1145–1198) patron of poets
Marie de Champagne was born in 1145, the eldest daugh-
ter of King Louis VII (ca. 1120–80) and ELEANOR OF
AQUITAINE. Betrothed very young to Henry I the
Liberal of Champagne (r. 1152–81), son of Thibaut II
of Blois (r. 1125–52), she married him in 1159. His
brother, Thibaut IV (r. 1197–1201), married Marie’s
sister. Marie went on to host a brilliant court and center
of patronage that had great influence on the development
of literature in the last part of the 12th century.
Marie was widowed when her husband died on
return from a PILGRIMAGEto JERUSALEMin 1181. Marie
served as regent of Champagne three times: until the
majority of her son, Henry II (r. 1181–97), in 1187; when
Henry left on the Third CRUSADE, where he died at ACRE
in 1197; and during the minority of her second son,
Thibaut IV (r. 1201–53). Contemporary chroniclers
extolled her political acumen.
As was her mother, Eleanor, Marie patronized
and was interested in literature. She could read and
write. Her name was linked especially to those of CHRÉ-
TIEN DE TROYES, Gautier d’Arras (d. 1185), Andreas
Capellanus, Gace Brulé, and Conon of Béthune. She
and her circle explored the romantic themes of the
TROUBADOURSand the traditions of ROMANCE. Opinions
attributed to her were part of literary convention allow-
ing the expression of thoughts on MARRIAGEand sex.
She died in 1198.
Further reading:John C. Moore, Love in Twelfth Cen-
tury France (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1972); Lynette R. Muir, Literature and Society in
Medieval France: The Mirror and the Image, 1100–1500
(London: Macmillan, 1985).Marie de France (fl. late 12th century)earliest known
French woman poet
Marie lived in the middle of the 12th century, but almost
nothing is known about her life. She lived for some years,
and probably wrote, at the court in ENGLANDof King
HENRYII, where she composed a poem that began, “My
name is Marie, and I am of France.” Marie wrote verse
narrative and lyrical poems in French in praise of LOVE
and composed lays inspired by the Breton tradition. She
also wrote FABLES.