Mary of Oignies (1177-1213) was one of the first holy women to transform religious life in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Living as a beguine and a free anchoress she guided those who came to speak with her, both high clerics and common people alike. In the oral world of medieval Christianity one disregarded her word at considerable risk. This volume contains all of the relevant medieval sources on Mary of Oignies, translated by Margot King and Hugh Feiss OSB. They include: the Life written by her confessor, James of Vitry, and the Supplement thereof by Thomas of Cantimpre; the liturgical office of her feast-day; and the 'History of the Priory of Oignies'. Also included are an introductory essay about her life and significance, written by Anneke Mulder-Bakker; a study about Mary as a 'friend to the saints' by Brenda Bolton; and the manuscript transmission of her Life, by Suzan Folkerts. The volume therefore provides a comprehensive 'companion' to Mary of Oignies and her wider significance in medieval and modern scholarship.

The Dominican Thomas of Cantimpre (c. 1200-c. 1270) was a key figure in the 'evangelical awakening' of the thirteenth century. A prolific hagiographer, he lauded such diverse subjects as the abbot and apostolic preacher John of Cantimpre; the teenage saint Margaret of Ypres, an urban recluse who died at 21; Lutgard of Aywieres, a Cistercian nun and mystic; and the theatrical, mentally troubled Christina 'the Astonishing' of St-Trond. Thomas had few peers in portraying the ritual theatre of penance. He gives us such memorable scenes as a naked moneylender led out of a pit by a rope, a formerly rapacious prince kissing his peasants' feet as he restores their stolen goods, St Christina leaping into fires and boiling cauldrons to save souls in purgatory, and the deceased Pope Innocent III in agony, begging St Lutgard for her prayers. In this volume readers will find all four lively and eventful lives between the same covers for the first time. The Life of Abbot John of Cantimpre has been newly translated by Barbara Newman, who has also supplied a new introduction. The other three Lives are reprinted from Margot H. King's Peregrina Translations Series.