Marie de France

I was researching Marie de France, and I found out that she did much more than write a bunch of Lays. She was also the first to translate Aesop's Fables from Middle English to Anglo-Norman French, and she wrote many other literary works such as Legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick and The Life of Saint Audrey. Not only was she one of the first successful female writers in the western world, but her Lays also changed the literature of the time. She was one of the first people to start the romantic subject in stories, and almost all of her Lays involved some sort of love triangle or love complex. She attributed many of her poems to the minstrels, saying that she copied them down. This also shows the importance of music in courtly life. I just thought it was interesting how a somewhat unknown noblewoman could have such an impact in a male dominated world.