Mary Magdalene in Marseilles

The Feminist Medievalist
4 min readJan 17, 2021

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Master of Palazzo Venezia Altarpiece Panels, Mary Magdalene, National Gallery London

The biblical story of Mary Magdalene is well known, as well as the various conspiracy theories surrounding her relationship with Jesus (thank you Da Vinci Code). What is less well known is the legend of her life after Jesus’ crucifixion which received great attention and veneration in the Middle Ages.

There were two aspects to the Magdalene’s post-biblical existence, the vita apostolica and the vita eremitica. The vita apostolica derived from her role as apostola apostolorum (apostle to the apostles) as she brought the news of Christ’s resurrection to the disciples. It develops her life as a preacher with her siblings. The vita eremitica instead focuses on the Magdalene as a contemplative in the desert. As the medieval period wore on, these two distinct lives became intertwined into a vita mixta (mixed life) displaying features from both narratives. This was popularised especially by the version by Jacobus de Voragine in his Golden Legend, a vast and hugely influential collection of saint’s lives.

Mary Magdalene from the Orvieto Polyptych

Fourteen years after Christ’s resurrection, Jacobus tells us, Mary and her siblings Lazurus and Martha were tasked with converting the pagan peoples of Gaul, beginning in Marseilles. Mary began preaching immediately, condemning the idols worshipped by the locals. Soon, the local prince arrived to perform a sacrifice but was prevented by Mary’s words. After appearing fearsomely in the dreams of the prince and his wife, the prince offered to devote himself to the Christian God if He would grant them a son. Mary prayed and promised this would happen, and soon the wife of the prince fell pregnant.

Stunned by this miracle, the prince vowed to make the holy journey to the apostle Peter in Rome. Despite initial reluctance, his wife persuades him to let her also make the journey despite her now heavy pregnancy. Only one day into the treacherous sea voyage, the waves triggered the prince’s wife into early labour and she died giving birth to a son. The son was alive, but unable to feed so the prince, distraught, took them ashore to a nearby island. The ground was so hard he could not bury them, at which point he fell to his knees and prayed to Mary Magdalene to protect the body of his wife and to let his son live. Hopeless, he boarded the ship and continued to Rome.

For two years the prince stayed under the instruction of St Peter, travelling around Rome and to Jerusalem. On his return journey to Marseilles, he passed the island where he had left his wife and child. In a bizarre twist, the prince spotted a child on the shoreline and followed him, puzzled. The boy returned to the body of the prince’s wife, miraculously untouched and producing milk that was sustaining their son. The prince gave thanks to Mary Magdalene, knowing it was her who facilitated this miracle, and prayed that his wife could also be saved. At that moment, the woman began to breathe again. Reunited and overjoyed, the family returned to Marseilles filled with Christian zeal.

But to return to Mary herself, in this time she chose to withdraw from the apostolic life and live as a contemplative in the desert. She did not eat or drink but was lifted seven times a day by angels and was sustained by these celestial visions. She lived in this way for thirty years and died attended by St Maximinus, who had discovered her whereabouts.

British Library Add MS 34294, Sforza Hours

The second half of Mary’s legendary life in the desert was particularly popular in the Middle Ages, appearing often in art. Sometimes she appears totally covered by her long hair, referring to her contemplative life. The preaching side of Mary’s life features much less often in art, sometimes only hinted at by pairing her with a more well-known preacher saint, like Katherine of Alexandria.

There is so much more to the story of Mary Magdalene than her biblical life, especially regarding her reception in the Middle Ages and beyond. If you want to know more, I’d highly recommend K. L. Jansen’s The Making of the Magdalen (2000) and Susan Haskins’ Mary Magdalen: myth and metaphor (1993).

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The Feminist Medievalist
The Feminist Medievalist

Written by The Feminist Medievalist

A Medieval Studies graduate writing about saints and other holy people because I think they’re cool. With a feminist stance of course.

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