The saintly austerities of Mary of Egypt so impressed early monks that they recorded her life to edify their brethren. Many versions circulated and the tale traveled from Palestine to Europe, from Greek to Latin to French to Spanish, from prose to poetry, from hagiography to literature, and from the monastery into the world outside. Here we see Mary through the eyes of three medieval poets: Flodoard, a canon of Reims ( 966), Hildebert of Lavardin, a bishop, (1134), and an Anonymous Spaniard.

Ronald E. Pepin received his Ph.D. in Classics from Fordham University. After serving as a professor of Humanities for over thirty years, Pepin retired to the small orchard in Connecticut where he now resides. He occasionally teaches Elderhostel courses at Ascension Priory in Idaho. A member of the Medieval Academy of America, Dr. Pepin is the author of numerous articles in scholarly journals, and he has published five books, among them other translations from Latin.