MARIE D’OIGNIES
(1177–1213). Mystic and one of the founding mothers of the béguine movement.
Testimonies of her life were recorded by Jacques de Vitry (ca. 1215) and Thomas de
Cantimpré (ca. 1230/31).
Born in Nijvel (Brabant), Marie was married at the age of fourteen but did not
consummate her marriage. Together with her spouse, she practiced the vita apostolica
and cared for the sick. At the age of thirty, she retired to a cell at the Augustinian
monastery of Aiseau-sur-Sambre and gained in stature as a spiritual healer and holy
woman. According to her pupil Jacques de Vitry, Marie’s spirituality was characterized
by eucharistic devotion and christocentrism. She lived a life of strict asceticism, abstained
from sleep and food, and frequently experienced visions, ecstasies, and trances. Her death
was an example of a saintly ars moriendi, surrounded by miracles; most noteworthy
perhaps is her feat of three days of incessant chanting and scriptural exegesis performed
during ecstasy. Jacques de Vitry stressed Marie’s allegiance to the church by structuring
her vita in two parts: Part 1 records the outline of her life’s journey towards holiness and
aspects of saintliness; Part 2 describes her interior life according to the seven gifts of the
Holy Spirit. As with other texts of this genre, it is difficult to distinguish between Marie
d’Oignies as a prototype (exemplum) and her individuality and original contributions to
medieval spirituality.
Ulrike Wiethaus
[See also: BÉGUINES; JACQUES DE VITRY; WOMEN, RELIGIOUS
EXPERIENCE OF]
Jacques de Vitry. The Life of Marie d’Oignies, trans. Margot H. King. Saskatoon: Peregrina, 1986.
Thomas de Cantimpré. Supplement to the Life of Marie d’Oignies, trans. Hugh Feiss. Saskatoon:
Peregrina, 1987.
Kowalczewski, J. “Thirteenth Century Asceticism: Marie d’Oignies and Liutgard of Aywières as
Active and Passive Ascetics.” Vox benedictina 3(1986):20–50.
——. The Life of “Marie d’Oignies.” In Medieval Women’s Visionary Literature, ed. Elizabeth
Petroff. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 179–84.
MARIGNY, ENGUERRAN DE
(ca. 1275–1315). Chief minister of Philip IV from 1311 until the king’s death on
November 29, 1314, Marigny was hanged on April 30, 1315, because of the enmity of
Philip’s brother Charles of Valois, who wielded great influence over the new king, Louis
X. Accusations of financial dishonesty could not be proven, and he and other members of
his household and family were convicted on trumped-up charges of necromancy. His
power had been immense; he was considered “a second king in France.” The Livres de
Fauvel, attributed to Marigny’s chaplain Gervais du Bus, is a scarcely veiled commentary
on the overmighty minister and the miseries he was believed to have inflicted on France.
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