Joan was canonized by the Catholic church in 1920. Picture by the author.
Joan of Arc (Jeanne D’Arc in contemporary French) was a supposedly normal, low-born but not exactly poor peasant girl in 15th century France. Born in the village of Domrémy (now called Domrémy-la-Pucelle after Joan) in 1412, she left her parents against their will to wage war against the English and their Burgundian comrades in Northern France during the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). An astonishing, almost impossible story of an allegedly lowly being dwelling in Catholic Europe during aggressively pious late Middle Ages, and of her journey to a celebrated hero, martyred victim and an official patron saint of France, the tale of Joan of Arc has continued to entertain the minds of numerous artists, scriptwriters and even politicians.
What is it about this young woman that was so exceptional that she was greatly feared by the English up to the point when they made sure to engineer her unjust execution? And perhaps even more importantly, why is she still so well remembered?
From a very young age, Joan saw many apparitions and visions of saints, who told her about future happenings, consoled her, and most importantly, gave her strong advice concerning her duty. This was by no means exceptional in the 15th century, but Joan’s undisturbed belief in her visions, even compromising the will of Catholic Church and Bishops, made her a powerful, even fearsome character according to the norms of the time. Joan started to act out the words of the saints and angels that had appeared before her.
Acts and trials
In 1429, Joan managed to secure the coronation of Prince Charles as King Charles VII of France, who later turned victorious in the war. Joan herself had been accepted by the soon-to-be-king after many attempts, and she led her troops in the battle for liberating Orléans dressed as a male and carrying a sword. Orléans was successfully liberated in May 1429: the victory proved to the observers that she had been right claiming that Charles was the righteous heir to the disputed French crown. Joan’s reputation as a God’s chosen and as a holy maiden spread all over Europe. The people on the side of the French king considered her to be a hero and the ones on the side of the English king Henry VI deemed her a witch.
Fatal for Joan was King Charles’ later attempts to conciliate with the English king and the duke of Burgundy that reigned the northern parts of France. The king ignored Joan’s pleads to simply drive the English away from geographical France. Joan continued attacking the English against the king’s orders and was captured in Compiègne by the Burgundians. During lengthy trials, she was accused of heresy, later expelled from church and finally handed over to the English and burned at stake in May 1431.
Jules Eugène Lenepveu: Jeanne D’Arc at The Siege of Orléans, between 1886 and 1890. The armor does not match with the depiction of her clothes in the minutes.
This much can be said about her in the light of her historical life. Nevertheless, much remains controversial. Even if we do not question the religious aspects (for instance, whether she was right to believe the divine voices she heard instead of the established order of Catholic Church), there are also the surprising facts about her trial and the obvious miscarriage of justice that took place.
Controversial story and character
There are many aspects in Joan of Arc’s story that may be of interest to feminists and feminist historians. One of the most fascinating feature is the fact that, according to the minutes of Joan’s trial, the masculine costume she was wearing during her stay in prison played such a crucial role in her condemnation. Joan claimed that the saints had recommended she keep the attire, and refused to change into women’s clothing. When she was eventually frightened enough to reverse everything she had previously claimed and stood for, she was soon declared guilty again for the fact that she had not given up male’s clothing and was thus canceling her earlier revocation.
It is more or less a known fact that the minutes have been drafted so that Joan would seem guiltier of heresy and stubbornness than she actually was. The judges of the canonical (church) court were likely paid by the English, who needed Joan dead. The inappropriate dress was an excuse to condemn Jeanne of blasphemy. This regardless of the fact that it was acceptable for a woman to dress as a man if she was under a threat of rape – which Joan no doubt was. Being accused of witchcraft and burnt at stake were typical ways to deal with females that did not follow the role reserved to them.
Paul Delaroche: Joan of Arc Is Interrogated by The Cardinal of Winchester in Her Prison, 1824.
What sets Joan on the same page as many other renowned female figures, is the fact that she died a young martyr. It could be argued that she was more useful dead even for the French. Now forever a virgin, forever a person treated with tragic unjust, forever that girl in white in spectacular old paintings, she was a sacrifice in the altar of that which was to become the nation of France.
She was maybe a simple peasant girl with Ménière’s disease, maybe a chosen of God. Features that inarguably make her a stunning figure are her strong personal faith, her courage and the astonishing wit and knowledge with which she answers to the doctrine related questions of her interrogators.
‘God forgive us, we have burnt a saint’ – Reputation and use today
It goes without saying that Joan’s symbolic meaning is greater than the actual consequences of her action. Although a longstanding patron saint of France, she was officially canonized only in 1920. Whether or not one would consider it fitting, Joan’s name was used as a propaganda symbol by the nationalists in World War I and today by Marine Le Pen’s National Front. In movies and art she is a recurring character. Her story is handled for example in great movie landmark The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). As one of the most beloved historical personages, statues of her are sprinkled all over France. The question still remains: would she had preferred not to be brutally executed at the age of nineteen rather than become worshipped by posterity? The pure Joan of the Catholic faith would probably go with the latter.
Joan’s statue in Compiègne by Étienne Leroux (1879/1880).
This article is partly based on the book Polttoroviolta pyhimykseksi by M. Norri, J. Kekkonen and J. Knuutila (Art House 2017) and on a short extract from Eevan tyttäret by Kaari Utrio (1985). ‘God forgive us, we have burnt a saint’ said an anonymous English soldier according to Lacey Baldwin in Fools, Martyrs, Traitors: The Story of Martyrdom in the Western World (1999). The first picture and thumbnail by the author (2018). Other pictures are from Wikimedia commons and in the public domain in the United States and their country of origin.