Friedrich Bernard Christian Maassen
United Sees of Macerata and Tolentino
Vicariate Apostolic of Mackenzie
Marie-Edmé-Patrice-Maurice de MacMahon
Joseph-Anna-Marie de Moyria de Mailla
François-Pierre-Gonthier Maine de Biran
Françoise, Marquise de Maintenon
Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre
Marcellinus of Civezza, O.F.M.
Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament
Prefecture Apostolic of Mariana Islands
Congregation of the Missionaries of Mariannhill
Sts. Maris, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum
Lucius Perpetuus Aurelianus Marius Maximus
Vicariate Apostolic of Marquesas Islands
Moral and Canonical Aspect of Marriage
Diocese of Marseilles (Massilia)
Vicariate Apostolic of the Marshall Islands
Diocese of Marsico Nuovo and Potenza
Luigi Ferdinando, Count de Marsigli
Missionaries of the Company of Mary
Servants of Mary (Order of Servites)
Society of Mary (Marist Fathers)
St. Mary Frances of the Five Wounds of Jesus
Richard Angelus a S. Francisco Mason
Devises and Bequests for Masses (United States)
Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus
Caius Julius Verus Maximinus Thrax
Prefecture Apostolic of Mayotte, Nossi-Bé, and Comoro
Charles Joseph Eugene de Mazenod
Abbey and Congregation of Melk
Vicariate Apostolic of Méndez and Gualaquiza
Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza
Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy of St. Borromeo
Frédéric-François-Xavier Ghislain de Mérode
Delegation Apostolic of Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, and Armenia
Metal-Work in the Service of the Church
Prince Klemens Lothar Wenzel von Metternich
Francis, Joseph, and Paul Mezger
Military Orders of St. Michael
Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola
Congregation of the Sisters of Misericorde
Prefecture Apostolic of Misocco and Calanca
Congregation of Priests of the Mission
Congregation of Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo
Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales of Annecy
Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle
Mission Indians (of California)
Catholic Indian Missions of Canada
Catholic Indian Missions of the United States
François-Napoléon-Marie Moigno
Diocese of Molfetta, Terlizzi, and Giovinazzo
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière
Principality and Diocese of Monaco
Canonical Erection of a Monastery
Monophysites and Monophysitism
Monothelitism and Monothelites
Montagnais Indians (Chippewayans)
Charles-Forbes-René, Comte de Montalembert
Marquis de Louis-Joseph Montcalm-Gozon
Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles
Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu
Anne, First Duke of Montmorency
Alexis-François Artaud de Montor
Antoine-Jean-Baptiste-Robert Auget, Baron de Montyon
Dioceses of Mostar and Markana-Trebinje
Feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary
Toribio de Benavente Motolinia
Congregations of Mount Calvary
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Karl Ernst, Freiherr von Moy de Sons
Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
St. Clair Augustine Mulholland
Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen
Archdiocese of Munich-Freising
The greatest Flemish poet of the Middle Ages, b. about 1235; d. after 1291. Of his life little is known. His name he seems to have derived front Maerlant on the island of Voorne, where he lived for some time employed as a sexton, whence his surname "de Coster". Later he resided at Damme, near Bruges, where, according to tradition, he held the position of town-clerk. Maerlant's earliest works were chivalrous romances, such as were in vogue at that time in courtly circles, and were adapted from French or Latin sources. Such are "Alexanders Geesten" (written c. 1257), from the Latin of Gauthier de Chastillon; "Historie van den Grale" and "Merlijns Boeck" from the French of Robert de Borron: the "Roman van Torec", from a lost French original; and the "Historie van Troyen" (ab. 1264), from the French of Benoit de Sainte More. But this kind of literature was little to his taste, which inclined to the didactic and useful. So he turned his back on the lying romances, as he called these works in his "Rijmbijbel", and devoted his talent to poems of a didactic and moralizing character. Among the most note-worthy of these poems are "Heimlicheit der Heimlicheden", a treatise on politics, adapted from the pseudo-Aristotelean "Secreta Secretorum"; "Der Naturen Bloeme" a versified natural history based on the "De natura rerum" of Thomas of Cantimpre, and the famous "Rijmbijbel", a rhymed Biblical history, translated from the "Scholastica" of Petrus Comestor, with a continuation "Die Wrake van Jherusalem", adapted from the history of Josephus. He also translated a "Life of St. Francis" (Leven van St. Franciscus) from the Latin of Bonaventure. Maerlant's most extensive work is the "Spiegel Historiael", a rhymed chronicle of the world, translated from the "Speculum historiale" of Vincent of Beauvais. It is dedicated to Count Floris V and was begun in 1283, but was left unfinished at the poet's death. Continuations were given by Philip Utenbroeke and Lodewijc van Velthem, a Brabant priest.
Maerlant is also the author of a number of strophic poems, which date from different periods of his life. Of these the best known is the "Wapene Martijn" (Alas! Martin) so called from the opening words. It is a dialogue on the course of events held between the poet himself and a character named Martin. Altogether there are three parts, of which the above-mentioned is the first. The other two parts are known as "Dander Martijn" (the second Martin) and "Derden Martijin" (third Martin).
Other poems of this kind are "Van ons Heren wonden", a traslation of the hymn "Salve mea! o patrona"; "Die Clausule van der Bible", an allegorical poem in praise of the Blessed Virgin; the "Disputacie van onser Vrouwen ende van den helighen Cruce", which bewails the sad situation of the Holy Land. Maerlant's last poem "Van den Lande van Oversee" was written after the fall of Acre (1291) and is a stirring summons to a crusade against the infidels, with bitter complaints about abuses in the Church. The "Geesten" were edited by Franck (Gröningen, 1882); the "Heimlicheit, etc.", by Clarisse (Dordrecht, 1838) and by Kausler (1844); "Der Naturen Bloeme" by Verwijs (Gröningen, 1878); the "Rijmbijbel" by David (Brussels, 1858-69), the life of St. Francis by J. Tideman (Leyden, 1848); the "Spiegel Historiael" by de Vries and Verwijs (Leyden, 1857-63). Complete editions of the strophic poems were given by E. Verwijs (Gröningen, 1880) and by J. Franck and J. Verdam (Gröningen, 1898).
SERRURE, Jacob van Maelant en zijne werken (2nd ed., Ghent, 1867); TE WINKEL, Maerlants werken beschouwd als Spievel van de 13. eeuw (2nd ed. Ghent, 1892): JONCKBLOT, Geschichte der Niederlandischen Literatur, German tr. by BERG, I (Leipsig, 1870), 215-253; TE WINKEL, Geschichte der niederlandischen Literatur in PAUL, Grundriss der germanischen Philologie II (2nd ed., Strasburg, 1902), pp. 437-40.
ARTHUR F.J. REMY