The French poet Marie de France (active late 12th century) was an accomplished writer of lais and was probably the originator of that form.

Marie de France is one of those authors whose work is well known but whose life is largely conjectural. Her status as a trouvère, her education in both Latin and French, and her vocabulary and style identify her as a member of an aristocratic circle, possibly of noble birth. Her assumption of "de France" indicates no title but merely her connection with the Île-de-France. The themes of her lais reveal her close association with the amour courtois movement and strongly suggest that if, as a number of literary historians claim, she is the illegitimate half sister of Henry II, she was one of the young women who came under the direct influence of Marie de Champagne at the Poitevin court of...