Professor Mary Dominica Legge, FBA (26 March 1905 – 10 March 1986), known as Dominica Legge, was a British scholar of the

Anglo-Norman language Anglo-Norman, also known as Anglo-Norman French ( nrf, Anglo-Normaund) ( French: ), was a dialect of Old Norman French that was used in England and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland during the Anglo-Norman period. Wh ...

Life

Legge was born in

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

in 1905. Her grandfather was Professor

James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the Londo ...

, and her father James Granville Legge was the Director of Education in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. Legge received an education at Liverpool College in

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which it f ...

before attending

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Iri ...

where she specialised in Medieval French, and in particular the Anglo-Norman language, under the guidance of

Mildred Pope Mildred Katherine Pope (28 January 1872 – 16 September 1956) was an English scholar of Anglo-Norman England. She became the first woman to hold a readership at Oxford University, where she taught at Somerville College. Biography Mildred Pope wa ...

. She was awarded a BLitt in 1928 for her thesis on the ''Lumiere as lais'' and thereafter became an editor for the

Selden Society The Selden Society is a learned society and registered charity concerned with the study of English legal history. It functions primarily as a text publication society, but also undertakes other activities to promote scholarship within its sphere ...

. In 1930 Legge attended the first International Arthurian Congress in Truro, Cornwall, where she,

Henry Jenner Henry Jenner (8 August 1848 – 8 May 1934) was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival. Jenner was born at St Columb Major on 8 August 1848. He was the ...

, Eugène Vinaver,

Roger Sherman Loomis Roger Sherman Loomis (1887–1966) was an American scholar and one of the foremost authorities on medieval and Arthurian literature. Loomis is perhaps best known for showing the roots of Arthurian legend, in particular the Holy Grail, in native Ce ...

and other scholars investigated Arthurian legends. Legge was appointed Mary Somerville research fellow in 1935, and in 1937 she became a founding member of the Anglo-Norman Text Society. She was also one of the first members of the

Somerville College Boat Club Somerville College Boat Club (SCBC) is the rowing club of Somerville College, Oxford. The club was formed in 1921 as one of the first women's clubs on the Isis, however was unable to compete in bumps until 1969. The women's team has won the title ...

. In 1938, Legge became assistant lecturer in French at Royal Holloway College, University of London, she was subsequently appointed assistant lecturer in French at University College, Dundee in 1942.Bennett, Philip E. "Legge, (Mary) Dominica (1905–1986), French scholar and historian." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 28 May 2015. accessed 7 July 2019 She was then Professor of French (Anglo-Norman Studies) at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 158 ...

, 1968-1973 and Professor Emerita after her retirement. Legge's reputation as a scholar was widely acknowledged by the academic community through election to various fellowships. She was elected a fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

in 1942, a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...

in 1958, corresponding fellow of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until c. 1980) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes ...

in 1971, and

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # ...

(FBA) in 1974.‘LEGGE, Prof. (Mary) Dominica’, ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, April 201
accessed 23 April 2017
/ref> In 1971 the French government appointed her an officer of the

Ordre des Palmes académiques A suite, in Western classical music and jazz, is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces. It originated in the late 14th century as a pairing of dance tunes and grew in scope to comprise up to five dances, sometimes with ...

. Legge has been described as "extremely generous and supportive to students and young colleagues", and she would often invite them to her small flat at 204 Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh, "the walls of which were covered with pictures mostly of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century artists, including George du Maurier and J. B. Yeats; there they would be offered tea or coffee and warned to be careful with the cups because 'Oscar Wilde drank from them'." In her retirement, Legge continued to be academically active, attending conferences and continuing to undertake research.Bennett, Philip E. "Legge, (Mary) Dominica (1905–1986), French scholar and historian." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 28 May 2015. accessed 25 July 2019 Legge died in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

on 10 December 1986.

Selected works

* ''Anglo-Norman letters and petitions from All Souls''. Ms. 182, Oxford 1941 * ''Le Roman de Balain. A prose romance of the thirteenth century'' With an introduction by Eugène Vinaver, Manchester 1942 * ''Anglo-Norman in the cloisters. The influence of the orders upon Anglo-Norman literature'', Edinburgh 1950 * ''Anglo-Norman Literature and its Background'' (Oxford, 1963) * with Ruth J. Dean) The Rule of St. Benedict. A Norman prose version, Oxford 1964 * ''The significance of Anglo-Norman''. Inaugural lecture, Edinburgh 1969 * "William the Marshal and Arthur of Brittany", ''

Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hous ...

'', volume 55, 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legge, Mary Dominica 1905 births 1986 deaths Women linguists British medievalists Women medievalists English literary historians People from Westminster 20th-century women scientists Fellows of the British Academy Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford 20th-century women writers Women literary historians British women historians