GUIDED BY THE VOICES OF ST. MICHAEL, ST. CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA, AND ST. MARGARET OF ANTIOCH
Joan of Arc (1412 - 1431)
Patroness of Soldiers and of France
Credit: britannica.com/biography/Saint-Joan-of-Arc/Character-and-importance
Who was Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) referred to herself as Jehanne la Pucelle, or Joan the Maid. She is also known as the "Maid of Orleans". Purcelle: signifies that she was a virgin - a significant distinction at the time that signified society held virginity in high regard before marriage.
Jeanne was an illiterate girl who led a French Army to victory placed a king on the throne of France and saved the kingdom of France from English Domination. A patron saint of France, Joan of Arc was honoured as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. She is the only historical figure condemned and Canonised by the Catholic Church. Jeanne was Canonised as a saint by Pope Benedict XV on May 16,1920. The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) was a conflict between France and England over the legitimate succession to the French throne.
Why is she famous and St. Joan of Arc's Belief
St. Joan of Arc was a Catholic with extreme personal piety. At the young age of 13, Joan began to hear voices and receive revelations. Due to her visitations, direct communication with the Saints, she believed that God had chosen her for a specific purpose of overwhelming importance. Guided by the voices of St. Michael, St Catherine of Alexandria and St. Margaret of Antioch, Jeanne felt her mission was to aid the Dauphin Charles (later Charles VII) to expel the English and their Burgundian allies from the Valois kingdom of France and to install him as the rightful king of France. As part of her divine mission, Joan took a vow of chastity. Acting under divine guidance of the Saints, with no military training, Joan convinced Crown Prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orléans. In 1429, during the Hundred Year's War, at Orleans, Jeanne led the French army in a momentous victory that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France.
Joan was endowed with remarkable mental and physical courage. She possessed many attributes characteristic of the female visionaries of her time. Her claim to direct communication with the Saints and subsequent reliance upon her individual experience of God’s presence went far beyond the ministrations of the priesthood and the confines of the institutional church.
Jeanne became a military leader who transcended gender roles. She gained recognition as a saviour of France. She also became the greatest national heroine of her compatriots. Her achievement was a decisive factor in the later awakening of French national consciousness. Her beloved country made her a national heroine. She became the spirit of France, the maiden, holy warrior, and Napoleonic symbol of opposition to the English, and for those who would defend and protect France from foreign invasion and domination. Joan of Arc was considered one of history’s greatest martyrs, and the patron saint of France.
The role Jeanne played in the Hundred Years' War: The Seige of Orleans
Joan was able to tell of a
French defeat related to the Siege of Orleans before anyone could have known
about it; thereby demonstrating her divine powers.
credit: worldhistory.org/Joan_of_Arc/
worldhistory.org/image/14751/joan-of-arc-by-john-everett-millais/
In 1428, Jeanne appeared at the office of Robert de Baudricourt captain of the garrison of Vaucouleurs, requesting to be taken to the dauphin. De Baudricourt laughed her away at least twice before she convinced him of the seriousness of her mission. According to events, it was during one of her visits to the captain's office, that she told him of a French defeat related to the Siege of Orleans before anyone could have known about it. Relenting Robert de Baudricourt decided to escort Joan to Chinon to meet the dauphin. When Baudricort relented, Jeanne cropped her hair and dressed in men’s clothes to make the 11-day journey across enemy territory to Chinon, site of the crown prince’s palace. Charles VII had been advised of Joan's visit and decided to test her by dressing as one of his courtiers and having one of them dress as the dauphin; if Joan were truly sent by God then she would know the true dauphin. When Joan entered the assembly, she went directly to Charles and addressed him as the dauphin. Later, in private, it is said she convinced him of her legitimacy by telling him things that he had only said to God in his prayers. Joan promised Charles she would help him reconquer his kingdom and see him crowned king. She asked him to give her an army to lead to Orléans, then under siege from the English. Against the advice of his counsellors, courtiers and general Charles granted her request and she was given a small army. At the age of seventeen, in March of 1429, dressed in white armour and riding a white horse, Jeanne set off to fend off the Seige of Orleans.
Credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Craig_Franck_joan_ark.jpeg
Frank Craig “Joan of Arc in Battle” 1907
Spirit of France, the maiden, holy warrior, and Napoleonic symbol of opposition to the English
Miraculous Victory, followed by Capture of Joan of Arc and Death
Jeanne led several French assaults. She enjoyed a series of spectacular military successes driving the Anglo-Burgundians from their bastion and forcing their retreat across the Loire River. After succeeding in lifting the Siege of Orleans and her miraculous victory, Joan’s reputation spread far and wide among French forces. She and her followers escorted Charles across enemy territory to Reims, taking towns that resisted by force and enabling him to be crowned King (King Charles VII in July 1429) with her by his side. Following Charles's coronation, Georges de La Trémoille, a favourite of his at court warns the king that Joan is becoming too powerful.
During this time the Anglo-Burgundians fortify their positions in Paris and turn back an attack led by Joan in September. In the spring of 1430, the king ordered Joan to confront a Burgundian assault on Compiège. In her effort to defend the town and its inhabitants, she was thrown from her horse and was left outside the town’s gates as they closed. The Burgundians took her captive and brought her amid much fanfare to the castle of Bouvreuil, occupied by the English commander at Rouen where she was sold to them. The English could not prosecute a woman who claimed she was serving God but could not allow even the suggestion she was telling the truth because that would mean that God was on the French side of the conflict.
In the trial that followed, Joan was ordered to answer to some 70 charges against her, including witchcraft heresy and dressing like a man. The Anglo-Burgundians were aiming to get rid of the young leader as well as discredit Charles, who owed his coronation to her. In attempting to distance himself from an accused heretic and witch, the French king made no attempt to negotiate Joan’s release. In May 1431, after a year in captivity and under threat of death, Joan relented and signed a confession denying that she had ever received divine guidance. Several days later, however, she defied orders by again donning men’s clothes, and authorities pronounced her death sentence. Finally, Jeanne was tried as a heretic for witchcraft and on the morning on May 30,1431, at the age of 19, she was taken to the old marketplace of Rouen and burned at the stake.
At the time of her death, few witnesses doubted Jeanne's salvation. The trial of Joan of Arc was reviewed as early as 1452 and found to be invalid. Jeanne was exonerated and her sentence was annulled by Pope Calixtus III in 1455-1456. She was proclaimed a martyr in 1456. By the time she was Canonised on May 16,1920, Joan of Arc was considered one of history’s greatest martyrs. Jeanne was canonised as a Virgin and not as a Christian martyr. Jeanne is one of the patron saints of France in the modern day.
SUMMARYSaint, Heroic Woman and Martyr
Jeanne’s legacy is global. She is one of the most studied people of the Middle Ages. Her image, changing over time, has included being the saviour of France, an obedient daughter of the Roman Catholic Church, an early feminist, and a symbol of freedom and independence.
A LEGEND
Her death only made her more powerful. Jeanne's fame only increased after her death. Long before her canonisation she had attained mythic stature. In 1909 Joan of Arc was beatified in the famous Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris by Pope Pius X. A statue in the cathedral of Jeanne d’Arc, who eventually became the patron saint of France, pays tribute to her legacy.
Since the time of her death, Joan of Arc has inspired thousands of historians, poets, painters and writers such as William Shakespeare, Voltaire and Mark Twain.
Credit: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joan-of-Arc-in-Battle.jpg
Hermann Stilke, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Our next Legend, Influencer, Renowned Figure and Prophetic Voice
will be Rumi - The Great Sufi Mystic, Poet of East and West, Philosopher, Scholar, Theologian and Free Thinker.
Until then, as they say in Malaysia, "Selamat Tinggal ".
