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Joan of Arc3

Joan of Arc3 The affect of Joan of Arc can be best understood and explained by looking at some of the events surrounding her birth and childhood. She was born in the later half of the Hundred Years’ War. The war was between France and England, which began over the land and control of Aquitaine, located in the southern part of France. Both countries had made legitimate claims of the land, but the dispute was unresolved and war was declared. The war was mainly fought in France and by 1429, England had gained a great portion of France. Joan also entered the world at a time that there was a lot of turmoil not only in her country but also within the church. At this time the Christian theology was not catering enough to the nobility or to the needs of the townspeople. Many were upset and wanted to instill a different type of church. The people became upset with the clergy because they were unaware of or involved in their society. So in order to expel the church leaders and those that stood in their way, rumors of heresy and accusations were thrown. The church began to spiral into much upheaval. Commoners were accusing priests and clergy of heresy and thus weakening the church and their message. So when Joan was born into a town that was associated with a large group of witches and heretics, rumors began to spread about her also. Joan of Arc can be seen through the eyes of two very different of thinking. One would be that she was a witch and possessed, and the other would be that she was a true saint. Joan of Arc was born at Domremy in Champagne most likely on January 6, 1412. Jacques d’Arc was Joan’s father and he was a poor peasant farmer. Joan was the youngest of a family of five, and was rather uneducated. She, however, was skilled in sewing and spinning. Joan’s family was also very religious and when she was about thirteen and a half; she became aware of her manifestations, which came to her in forms of voices. She recognized these voices later as St. Michael, St. Catherine. St. Margaret, and others. However, Joan was ever so reluctant to speak of her voices to anyone. She gradually learned that she was chosen by God to unite France and to give aid to Dauphin Charles, who she believed was to be King of France. She waited until she was about sixteen to act upon her voices because she had been too scared and meek at age fourteen to do anything about them any earlier. However, they had started to become so urgent and strong at this time that she went and presented herself to Robert Baudricourt, who commanded for Charles VII in the neighboring town of Vaucouleurs. Baudricourt was a ruthless soldier and simply dismissed her, saying to Joan’s cousin “Take her home to her father and give her a good whipping.” However she did not leave the town and was very persistent with Baudricourt. Baudricourt noticed her persistency and it gradually made an impression on him. After she predicted the defeat of the French army outside of Orleans, her cause began to gain ground. She finally went to see the king with three escorts. She dressed in man’s clothing, probably to protect her modesty in the rough terrain of the military camp, and on March 6 she reached Chinon. Two days later she was admitted to see the King Charles VII. To test her, he disguised himself in the crowd as a regular person, but she saluted him immediately. The king had her sent to be examined by doctors and bishops, they found nothing wrong with her or heretic about her speech. She then returned to Chinon where Charles VII gave her a sword, which she refused and asked for the one that she said was buried behind the altar in the chapel of Ste-Catherine-de-Fierbois. Charles VII did what she asked and sent people to look for this sword; it was found in the very spot she had indicated. She was then ready for war however; Joan told Sire de Rotslaer that she would save Orleans. She told him how she would be wounded in the chest, but it would not be fatal. Before she entered into war, she boldly ordered the King of England to withdraw his troops from French soil. The English commanders and the King were greatly angered that Joan, this little religious peasant girl, would have the audacity to order them to do anything. She then proceeded with war. Within eight days French troop had surrounded the city of Orleans, capturing all the forts that were around it. Joan was wounded with an arrow in the chest, thus fulfilling her prophecy. However, she continued to push onward. She began a short campaign at Loire, and which after a series of successes it ended with a superb victory at Patay. Joan’s victories had opened the way to the Reims, where on Sunday, July 17, 1429, Charles VII was crowned officially. Joan’s principle mission thus was fulfilled; many feel as if Joan wanted to this return to her home, however she was detained from now returning home by the army. At the end of August, an attempt for the city of Paris was made. Joan was encouraging her men to fill the moat, and was shot through the thigh with a crossbow. The Duc’d Alencon removed her at once and the assault was abandoned. Because of this retreat Joan’s prestige was slightly marred. Charles’ counselors thus signed a truce with the Duke of Burgundy. Joan had to sadly lay down arms upon the altar of St. Denis. It wasn’t until about eight months later that Joan was able to take the field again because the treaty was officially over. Her voices once again came and told her that she was going to be taken prisoner before Midsummer Day. This prediction was not long in forthcoming either. On May 24, 1430, they were defending the town against Burgundian attack, and her small force of merely 500 men was greatly outnumbered. By some mistake or panic of Guillaume de Flavy, who commanded in Compiegne, the drawbridge was raised while many, including Joan, were left outside. She was pulled from her horse and became the prisoner of a follower of John of Luxemburg. Joan was sold to the English for a sum that would measure up to be about several hundred thousand dollars in modern money. Before she was handed over to the English she tried to escape by throwing herself from a seventy-foot tower. Miraculously she was uninjured. Some believe this was one of her witch like powers of levitation. This was one of the reasons she was treated to harshly in prison; for fear that she would escape. At first she was chained around the neck, hands, and feet, and kept in an iron cage. The English were scared of their newly acquired prisoner and were determined to take her life. The only thing they could put her to death for was being a heretic or a witch, not for anything do with her victories over England. Court proceedings took place for over a month without the presence of Joan. Throughout the trial Cauchon’s assessors consisted almost entirely of Frenchmen, mainly doctors and theologians from the University of Paris. She was held in a secular prison guarded by English soldiers, instead of in the church prison where she could have been attended to by women. It was undoubtedly that she insisted on wearing men’s clothing for privacy and modesty. Also, she was not granted any spiritual privileges, such as attending mass. During her trial it was noted that “despite the judges trying to confuse her she kept her simplicity, piety, and good sense at every turn.” At times Joan simply refused to answer some of their questions. This can be seen two ways, one is that she did not simply want to answer their questions because she was guilty which lead some to believe she was a witch. The other one is more comprehensible, it was a known fact that she was uneducated and most likely the judges were using language that she did not understand fully and thus she did not know how to answer their questions. On one occasion, Joan announced that “within seven years’ space the English would have to forfeit a bigger prize than Orleans.” This prediction came true when six years and eight months later when Paris was rendered back to the French. In the trial Joan was asked to submit herself to “the Church Militant,” she obviously became confused and thus did not do so. But obviously if she had known what it was she would have said yes. It seems to have been just another plot of her judges to find her as a heretic. Submitting oneself to “the Church Militant” is simply a pledge of the acceptance of the Church’s decisions. The trial concluded on March 17, and it was the decisions of the judges that Joan needed to retract all that she had claimed about being sent by God and about her voices. The finally settled on a set of twelve crimes she was guilty of. She was subjected to first private then public admonitions; where she could have retracted her crimes and begged mercy, both times she refused. Joan was then subjected to torture, but she still held firm. Finally forty-two of the forty-seven judges collaborated and declared Joan as a heretic and handed her over to civil power. A stake was then erected in the cemetery of St-Quen, and in front of a large crowd she was publicly admonished for the last time. Finally her courage seemed to fail her and she agreed to sign some sort of retraction. It is said that the retraction was of the most humiliating and lengthy, taking over a half an hour to read. The humorous thing is that those who wrote the retraction claim that it was only a matter of a few lines and was nothing more that a confession and not humiliating. However when it was drafted up and read to her, she refused to sign it. She however did say that she only retracted as far as it was God’s will. This for the most part was good enough to save her life for the time being and she was simply thrown back in jail. One of the things she was being condemned as a heretic for was that she wore men’s attire. “Joan, either to defend her modesty from outrage, or because her women’s garments were taken from her, or, perhaps, simply because she was weary of the struggle and was convinced that her enemies were determined to have her blood upon some pretext, once more put on the man’s dress which had been purposely left in her way,” by the guards. By her wearing these men’s clothing she was considered to have relapsed in her heresy. The next day the judges informed her that she was to die at the stake. She was first able to go to confession and was allowed to receive communion. It is said that her demeanor at the stake was such that it would move even the bitterest of her enemies to tears. She asked for a cross, which she clutched and held before her, while she called continually upon the name of Jesus. It is said by some that her heart and entrails would not burn. The executioner, convinced that he had killed a saint threw her ashes, heart, and entrails into the waters of Seine. Joan died still a child at the mere age of nineteen. During this entire trail and imprisonment, Charles VII never once tried to buy her freedom or make any agreement with the English for her life. The common usage of the name “Joan of Arc” was not used until after her death around 1576. In 1920, after a new trial in 1456, Joan was recognized and declared a saint. “Today she is recognized as the second patron saint of France” (McKay 390). It is interesting to me that a girl of just sixteen could have such an enormous impact. Her patriotism to her country and her unbelievable deep faith is something to be admired. I feel Joan of Arc was a true Saint sent by God to save France from England. God used a child to do his will because of her pure heart. Her victories stand out more to me because of her age and she was a woman. These two elements combined would have made it impossible for France to listen to her, but by God’s will she was able to accomplish much for her country. Bibliography: Works Cited Cunneen, Sally. “Joan of Arc.” The Christian Century 24 May 2000: 611. Knight, Kevin. “St. Joan of Arc.” New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia 8th ed. 1999. McCarthy, Todd. Rev. of “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc.” Variety 1 Nov. 1999: 87. McKay, John P. A History of Western Society. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1999. Monet, Jacques. “Joan of Arc: Her Life.” Theological Studies Sept. 2000: 561. The Divine Joan of Arc. 2000 Visual Presence. Nov. 6, 2000 http://www.godecookery.com/jeanne/jeannet.htm.

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