Mary of Oignies: Mother of Salvation (review)

This is the first sustained study in English of the holy woman from the diocese of Liège, Mary of Oignies (d. 1213). Her name is normally linked and discussed in association with the preacher Jacques de Vitry. However, in this study Mary is center stage, not as a footnote to the life of the great preacher, but as the most important icon of the early beguine movement.

The book is a group effort that brings together a number of primary sources and short articles that illuminate the riveting contours of Mary's life and contribution to the early beguine movement. Mulder-Bakker provides a helpful introduction outlining the life and times of Mary of Oignies. The introduction is fleshed out by the inclusion of various translations of key primary sources. Some of these sources were originally published in the unfortunately defunct series Peregrina Publications, but now they are conveniently brought together in this one volume. These sources are The Life of Mary of Oignies by James of Vitry (translated by Margot H. King), The Supplement to James of Vitry's Life of Mary Oignies, History of the Foundation of the Venerable Church of Blessed Nicholas of Oignies and the Handmaid of Christ Mary of Oignies,and The Liturgical Office of Mary of Oignies by Goswin of Bossut (translated by Hugh Feiss). The liturgical office of Mary of Oignies contains a special Mass and eight offices of the liturgy of the hours. It was produced at the Cistercian monastery of Villers in the early thirteenth century and indicates the intensity of the local devotion to Mary.

The Liturgical Office of Mary of Oignies is followed by two articles that delve into the cult of Mary of Oignies and its dissemination. Brenda Bolton's essay "Mary of Oignies:A Friend to the Saints" assesses the attempts to establish Mary's cult in the years shortly after her death. Bolton argues that the efforts of her ardent supporters, such as Jacques de Vitry, to establish a collection of impressive relics and religious literature failed to ignite an official cult because of the growing papal bureaucracy related to canonization. While the official canonization failed, Suzan Folkerts in her essay "The Manuscript Transmission of theVita Mariae Oigniacensis in the Later Middle Ages" shows that Mary was nonetheless a popular holy woman. Here Folkerts demonstrates that although there was no official cult for Mary, there certainly was a widespread devotion to her as indicated in the healthy manuscript dissemination of her life found throughout Europe (including England). This is witnessed in the several vernaculars into which her vita was translated—these include French, Dutch, Italian, Norse, and Swedish. Furthermore, from among all the holy women who came from the Low Countries, there are more extant manuscripts of Mary's life, thirty-nine in total, than any other beguine.

If there are any shortcomings to the book it is that it lacks articles that focus primarily on the luxurious religious artifacts surrounding the cult of Mary of Oignies and the sermons written in her memory. But these matters are at least alluded to in the study and no doubt can be picked up in later articles and books on this most influential holy woman from the diocese of Liège. Mary of Oignies: Mother of Salvation is a welcomed addition to the growing research area of female involvement in the Church in the later Middle Ages. It will benefit students and scholars working in the field of medieval religion.