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Joan of Arc 1412-1431
When a
Peasant With Balls of Steel Changes the Tides of World Events
... and all that in less than
twenty years of living.
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Image
Above
St. Joan of Arc
supporting the flag at Charles VII's coronation in
Rheims Cathedral
Detail from Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres' painting, oil on canvas, created in
1854. See entire painting at the end of this
page.
Louvre, Paris. |
Who Was
Joan of Arc?
Joan was also called
The Maid of Orléans, or, if you are French,
Sainte Jeanne d'Arc or
La Pucelle (pucelle =
maid).
Joan was a very courageous young woman.
She was a simple peasant girl and a strong believer. More to the
point, she claimed
that she was in tune with some of the
Saints because they spoke to her. Good for her.
Joan of Arc — Residue
Trivia
Although they burned her
at the stake, we got some smart dudes
here discussing whether or not they found
some bones that once were
on good ol' Joan.
April 4, 2007 - Update...
National Geographic reports that the relics are not Joan's but
rather that of an Egyptian mummy. Close call.
Joan of Arc and the
Hundred Years' War
The
Hundred Years' War
was fought from 1337 until 1453.
This war had started 75 years before Joan's
birth, and it ended 22 years after Joan's death.
If you know about Joan of Arc, you
already know quite a bit about the Hundred Years' War
because Joan was soldier of the month
in this war, several months in a row, thanks to her performance at the
Siege
of Orleans, which ended in May 1429.
Joan's Background and
Early Life
Joan's father was the pious peasant
Jacques d'Arc who lived
in the village of Domremy, or Domrémy. Joan was born in Domremy as
well.
Here is Domremy on a map. Look for
the B/VI square:
France
1382 - 1453
Click map to enlarge
Domrémy, Joan's home town, was located
in the Duchy of Bar. The Duchy of Bar became part of Lorraine in
1480. By then, of course, Joan was long gone.
You are welcome to visit Joan
of Arc's birthplace at Domremy, which is now a humble little museum.
Today, the
tiny village of Domremy is home to about 200 residents. And
here is a recent photo:
Domrémy-la-Pucelle,
Vosges département, Lorraine région, France
Google
Growing up during the Hundred Years'
War, Joan's family had to flee their home several times to escape
either Burgundian or English raiders. Thus, Joan developed a strong
patriotic sense.
Check the map above to see how France
was sandwiched by the English on the mainland and Burgundy.
And here is more on the
Burgundians.
This painting shows Joan in her early
days. We see her standing in the garden of her parents at that exact
moment when The Voices made contact.
Joan of Arc
Painting by Jules
Bastien-Lepage, who created it in 1879. Oil on canvas.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Painter Jules Bastien-Lepage, himself hailing from Damvillers, Lorraine,
received some unappreciative comments from the
critics, who were weirded out by his mixture of naturalism with
mysticism.
Back to Joan.
Joan of Arc's Impossible Mission
According to herself, and well ahead of her age group, Joan started
hearing voices when she was only thirteen years old. The voices, who
revealed themselves as St. Michael
(main man),
St. Catherine (who might or
might not have been secretly married to Christ), and
St. Margaret (whom even the
Devil himself could not digest), told Joan that she
was to save France.
So far, so good.
As Joan grew older, the voices became
more specific. They informed her that she was the instrument chosen by Heaven
to drive away the
English. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, was to leave her home
for good and to set things into motion that would bring the Dauphin to Rheims
(or Reims) in order for him to become anointed king. After
ten seconds the tape destroyed itself.
Joan of Arc immediately notified her parents, packed her bundle, and was on her
way.
A dauphin, by the way, is the
title of the eldest son of the King of France. This title was in use from 1349 to 1830.
Back to Joan.
Operation Rheims
First on Joan's list was
to make contact with the Sire de Baudricourt in Vaucouleurs.
The people of Vaucouleurs were
intrigued by young Joan, partly because of
her piety and devoutness, partly because of her spunk and
enthusiasm, but mostly because of her ability to blend all of the above with
some solid patriotism.
Joan explained to the good citizens of
Vaucouleurs that the voices had asked her to dress up as a knight. The townspeople loved the idea
and fell into competition with each other to equip the girl with the
best horse, armor, and sword. Shortly thereafter, Joan was looking
sharp and ready for the next level of her mission.
Mr. Baudricourt himself arranged for an escort and
Joan was accompanied to the French town of Chinon where she was to meet the
Dauphin
Charles.
French King Charles VII, formerly the
Dauphin Charles, around 1447
Painting by Jean Fouquet,
Louvre, Paris
Photo PHGCOM, Wiki
It was February 1429. Having arrived
at Chinon, Joan was invited
into a room full of people in fancy outfits. Among these people
mingled Charles, who was carefully selected to wear an attire
that would blend in perfectly. The idea was
to see if Joan could pick the right guy, which would prove that
Heaven was in fact speaking French in general and through
Joan of Arc in particular.
Joan spotted and addressed
Charles right away. While Charles was still trying to figure out how
she done it, and briefly contemplated frisking her sleeves for
potential flower bouquets, Joan kept on track and prompted
Charles on his new agenda: He was to be crowned
king in the city of Rheims. Chop chop.
"Is it your Voices that command you to say that
to the King?"
"Yes, and urgently."
Mark Twain in
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, 1895
Joan of Arc —
Accomplishments
Up to this point in the Hundred Years'
War, the French did not perform very well. Their lands were
destroyed and their morale was shattered. But now that Providence seemingly had taken a
breath mint and a Holy Maid led the way, France felt motivated
again and up to the task.
And then events happened with the
quickness:
Joan visited the French camp at Blois,
and on April 25, 1429, she left for Orleans, where she arrived on
April 28. By May 8 the English raised the
Siege
of Orleans.
Joan of Arc Thanking
God After the Battle of Patay,
Decisive French Victory — June 18, 1429
Unknown artist, Musée des
Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, Paris
On July 17, 1429, Charles VII was crowned at Rheims.
So, what was Joan of Arc's greatest accomplishment?
It was thanks to her that the Siege of
Orleans became the turning point in the Hundred Years' War and
France eventually managed to win this war.
"Then what did the Voice say?"
"It told me to answer boldly, and God would help
me."
Mark Twain in
Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, 1895
Joan's Life After Rheims
Joan went on to fight as a soldier in
Charles' army and saw battle at Laon, Soissons, and Beauvais.
In September 1429, Joan was severely
wounded while trying to take Paris in the name of her king.
Joan of Arc in Action
Gutenberg Project
Click image to
enlarge
The Death of Joan of Arc
It was 1430 and spring when a strong Burgundian force besieged the fortress of
Compiegne. On May 24, 1430, the
besieged tried to make a break for it, but weren't successful. Joan was taken
prisoner by the Burgundians.
Being basically the enemy's mascot, Joan was somewhat of a catch for the Burgundians,
who brought her to Arras
and later to Crotoy on the Flemish coast. In November 1430, the Burgundians sold her to the English
for a good buck.
The English, too, believed that Joan
had connections to other realms, but were convinced that these
were clearly of the evil kind. Hence, they brought her
to Rouen, an English stronghold in France at the time (Henry V of
England had taken Rouen in 1419), put her on trial, and burned Joan at the stake on
the Place du Vieux-Marché.
When did Joan of Arc die?
It was on May 30, 1431. Joan was
19 years old.
Joan of Arc's Death at
the Stake
Oil on canvas by Hermann Anton
Stilke, 1843
State Hermitage Museum
How Joan of Arc Became
Saint Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc became the official patron
saint of France, soldiers, and all girls who like to cross-dress, when she was canonized by
Benedict XV on May 16, 1920.
Joan of Arc and
National Holidays
Joan is still a national hero.
Annually on the second Sunday in May, the French slow down with a national holiday
and honor the incredible amount of guts the Maid Joan of Arc had shown.
Depressed by people who achieved
amazing things before their twentieth birthday?
Here are some fun facts to cheer
up our
suicidal late bloomers:
Joan of Arc Movies
Ingrid Bergman was Joan of Arc twice.
First at age 33 in 1948 with Gone With the Wind director Victor Fleming, and
then in 1954 with husband Roberto Rossellini directing. At this
point the lady was 39 years old. Takes a Bergman to pull that off.
Ingrid Bergman is Joan
of Arc, 1948
Sierra Pictures
Ingrid Bergman is Joan
of Arc, 1954
Produzioni Cinematografiche
Associate
The other way around is equally
impressive. In 1999, Leelee Sobieski was 16 years old when Canada's
Christian Duguay directed her as, and in, Joan of Arc.
Leelee Sobieski is
Joan of Arc, 1999
Alliance Atlantis
A real gem is Robert Bresson's 1962
French movie The Trial of Joan of Arc (Procès de Jeanne
d'Arc) starring Florence Delay as Jeanne d'Arc, based on the
transcripts of Joan's real-life trial.
Florence Delay is Joan
of Arc, 1962
Agnes Delahaie
More Joan
of Arc movies in the right column.
Best Joan of Arc Quote
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen
Götter selbst vergebens.
With stupidity the gods
themselves struggle in vain.
Friedrich von Schiller in Die Jungfrau von
Orleans, 1801
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