Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc (ca. 1412 – 30 May 1431) was a French peasant girl who, while still a teenager, and in obedience to what she asserted to be a command from God, led her nation's armies to several spectacular military victories which turned the tide in the Hundred Years' War at a time when the French cause was tottering on the brink of collapse. Soon thereafter, she was captured and tried by an English-backed Church court which convicted her of heresy and had her burnt at the stake.

Still later, after the Hundred Years' War was over, she was posthumously exonerated by a Papal commission which not only reversed the verdict, but denied the legality of the original trial. As a result of her life and deeds, she became a French national heroine and, in 1920, was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

Background

Since 1337, the French and English had been locked in a protracted war, punctuated by intermittent periods of tense peace, known to history as the Hundred Years' War. The fighting had left the French economy devastated and the French themselves divided into factions known as the Armagnacs and the Burgundians.

In 1420, the Burgundians and the English entered into the Treaty of Troyes, in which Charles VII, the heir to the French throne, was disinherited and the French royal succession was granted to King Henry V of England's heir. In 1422, Henry V died leaving an infant son as heir to both the English and French thrones.

In the Fall of 1428, the English who, with their Burgundian allies, already controlled nearly all of northern France and some parts of the southwest, laid seige to Orléans, the only remaining loyal French city north of the Loire. The fall of Orléans was imminently expected, removing the last obstacle to an assault on the remaining French heartland. This was the situation when Joan of Arc first stepped onto the stage of world history.

Life

Childhood

Joan of Arc was one of five children (3 brothers and 2 sisters) born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée in Domrémy, then a small village on the banks of the River Meuse in northeastern France. The village, which remained loyal to the French crown, was in an area of patchwork loyalties surrounded by Burgundian lands. Several local raids occurred during Joan of Arc's childhood and on one occasion her village was burned.

Her parents were prosperous peasants who owned about 50 acres (0.2 square kilometers) of land and her father supplemented his farming work with a minor position as a village official, collecting taxes and heading the local watch.

Joan herself had an outwardly normal, unremarkable childhood. She experienced a religious upbringing from her devout mother and was noted for being of a good nature, simple and pious. She spent her time engaged in typical activities for girls of that time and place - spinning, weaving, and tending or watching over the animals.

One other noteworthy event from Joan's childhood occured when she was hailed to Toul to answer a breach of promise case in re marriage. The judge dismissed the case against her, ruling that Joan had in fact not made such a promise. The outcome of this case disappointed her parents who would have preferred to see her married. But Joan was acting in obedience to a higher calling.

Divine calling

According to Joan's testimony at her Trial in Rouen, sometime in the Summer of her thirteenth year (which would be in 1424 or possibly 1425), an event occured which was to be the harbinger of one of the most remarkable sequence of events in recorded history. For it was then that Joan, in her father's garden, first heard the voices which set in motion her subsequent journey and activity and which later figured so prominently in the minds of her contemporaries and also of modern students of history.

Initially frightened by the experience, she soon learned to her satisfaction that the voice was that of an angel and had been sent to her from God. Before long, she had identified that voice as that of St. Michael who told Joan that she should expect further visits from St. Catherine, and St. Margaret and that they would provide her with guidance and counsel.

By 1428, this guidance and counsel had coalesced to, among other matters concerned with good character and the like, telling her to go the the King's court to, in her words, "raise the siege of Orléans and lead the Dauphin to Reims to be crowned and annointed".

The Road to Orleans

Before going to the King's court at Chinon, Joan, at the behest of her voices, had to first to go to Vaucouleurs in order to gain an escort from the captain of that garrison town, Robert de Baudricourt. So in the Spring of 1428, she left Domremy in secret, accompanied by a kinsman, Durand Lassois, for Vaucouleurs. Her petition to Sir Robert was rebuffed and she returned to Domremy.

She returned the following January and gained support from two men of standing: Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy. Under their auspices she was granted a second interview with Baudricourt at which time she gained his support. Several days later, Joan left Vaucouleurs with an escort of 6 men for Chinon to meet with the Dauphin.

Travelling much of the time at night and in male attire to avoid detection, Joan arrived at the King's castle in Chinon in early March of 1429. Soon after her arrival, she met in private with the Dauphin. This meeting, and the sign which she gave to Charles as a token of her authenticity, has become the subject of intense speculation begining with her Trial in Rouen and continuing on through the centuries since.

Following this, Charles elected to send her to Poitiers in order that she be examined by theologians appointed for this purpose. Among other matters, the prelates at Poitiers questioned Joan about her assumption of male attire, inquired into her character, way of life, and sincerity, and considered the question of her faith and orthodoxy. Although the records of the Poitiers examination have not survived, it is known that the theologians charged with the investigation found no fault with her on any of these points. Upon consideration by the King's council, the report of the Poitiers investigators was approved. Joan would appeal to the record of the Poitiers investigation on several occasions during her Trial in Rouen.

During this time Charles's mother-in-law Yolande of Aragon was financing a relief expedition to Orléans. Joan of Arc petitioned for permission to travel with the army and wear the equipment of a knight. She depended on donations for her armor, horse, sword, banner, and entourage.

Joan of Arc arrived at the siege of Orléans on 29 April 1429, but Jean d'Orléans, the acting head of the Orléans ducal family, initially excluded her from war councils and failed to inform her when the army engaged the enemy. This did not prevent her from being present at most councils and battles. The extent of her actual military leadership is a subject of historical debate. Traditional historians such as Edouard Perroy conclude that she was a standard bearer whose primary effect was on morale. This type of analysis usually relies on the condemnation trial testimony, where Joan of Arc stated that she preferred her standard to her sword. Recent scholarship that focuses on the rehabilitation trial testimony asserts that her fellow officers esteemed her as a skilled tactician and a successful strategist. Stephen W. Richey's opinion is one example: "She proceeded to lead the army in an astounding series of victories that reversed the tide of the war." In either case, historians agree that the army enjoyed remarkable success during her brief career.

Military successes

Joan's position in the French forces at Orléans was viewed with mixed feelings by her fellow commanders. Many regarded her very lightly, others were hostile. In the week following her arrival at Orleans, a number of heated discussions took place regarding military plans and tactics with Joan always opting for a very aggressive military approach in contrast to previous French tactics.

Following some preliminary engagements wherein some of the smaller English fortifications were captured, a French force led by Joan assaulted and captured the English position in front of the stronghold of Les Tourelles, leaving the English garrison in the Tourelles isolated.

In opposition to the other military commanders who wanted to wait for reinforcements before undertaking further action, Joan prepared for a direct assault on the fortress the next day (May 7). After an entire day of fighting, with the assault having to be renewed in the evening, the fortresss was taken with all its defenders either killed or captured. The following day, the English forces in the remaining forts abandoned the field and the siege of Orléans was over.

In the weeks following the victory at Orleans, the French army benefitted from a great upsurge in morale and enthusiasm. While volunteers swelled the ranks and materiel was being gathered, the French commanders debated what course of action should be undertaken next. In the end, it was decided that the remaining English strongholds in the Loire River valley should be cleared as a prelude to Joan's proposal of an advance northwards to Reims so that Charles might be crowned in accordance with traditional coronation ceremonies.

In the space of about a week beginning in the middle of June, the remaining major English positions in the Loire River valley - at Jargeau, Meung-sur-Loire, and Beaugency - were cleared.

Meanwhile, an English relief force under the command of Sir John Fastolf was approaching the area and arrived just north of Beaugency on the 18th, though too late to aid in the relief of that garrison. As this relief force retreated northwards, they were pursued by the French army and in an engagement which has been compared to the Battle of Agincourt, though with a reversal of results, the English were routed at Patay.

During the military actions at Orleans and in the Loire valley, Joan twice sustained wounds (an arrow wound at Orleans and the other when she was struck on the head by a stone cannonball while climbing a scaling ladder). It was also as a result of the actions up to this time that Joan won the support of the major French military commanders. This set the stage for the march north to Reims and the coronation of Charles VII as King of France.

The French army set out for Reims from Gien-sur-Loire on 29 June and accepted the conditional surrender of the Burgundian-held city of Auxerre on 3 July. Every other town in their path returned to French allegiance without resistance. Troyes, the site of the treaty that had tried to disinherit Charles VII, capitulated after a bloodless four-day siege. The army was in short supply of food by the time it reached Troyes. Edward Lucie-Smith cites this as an example of why Joan of Arc was more lucky than skilled: a wandering friar named Brother Richard had been preaching about the end of the world at Troyes and had convinced local residents to plant beans, a crop with an early harvest. The hungry army arrived as the beans ripened.

Reims opened its gates on 16 July. The coronation took place the following morning. Although Joan and the duke of Alençon urged a prompt march on Paris, the royal court pursued a negotiated truce with the duke of Burgundy. Duke Philip the Good broke the agreement, using it as a stalling tactic to reinforce the defense of Paris. The French army marched through towns near Paris during the interim and accepted more peaceful surrenders. The Duke of Bedford headed an English force and confronted the French army in a standoff on 15 August. The French assault at Paris ensued on 8 September. Despite a crossbow bolt wound to the leg, Joan of Arc continued directing the troops until the day's fighting ended. The following morning she received a royal order to withdraw. Most historians blame French grand chamberlain Georges de la Trémoille for the political blunders that followed the coronation.

Capture and imprisonment

Following some minor action over the winter of 1429-30, the Duke of Burgandy launched an offensive. In May, Joan went to Compiègne to defend against the siege which the Anglo-Burgundian forces had begun against that town. In the course of this action, on the 23rd of May, 1430 she was captured by Burgundian forces during a minor skirmish on the outskirts of the town.

Over the course of the next several months, she was held in various castles, on at least two occasions attempting to escape, all the while earnest negotiations for her transfer to stand trial for heresy took place. Eventually, she was surrendered to the English in exchange for a large sum of money and taken to Rouen, the administrative capital of the English forces in France.

Trial and execution

The proceedings against the captive Joan began on January 9, 1431 in the castle of Rouen. Initially, an inquiry was made into her morals, character, and life. This involved an examination in order to determine her virginity as well as an envoy who travelled to Domremy and vicinity to collect information from witnesses about Joan. Neither of these preliminary inquiries yielded any information which could support charges against Joan.

After the necessary preparations for the trial were complete, consisting mainly of assembling the assessors (judges), Joan was brought before her judges for interrogation. This part of the proceedings, preliminary to the filing of formal charges being levelled against her, began on February 21. At first the sessions were held in public, but after it became clear that Joan was gaining sympathy among the people of Rouen, the sessions were transferred to prison and held in secret.

It was only on March 26, after the drafting of 70 articles (charges) were drawn up based on the previous trial sessions, that the regular (or ordinary) trial sessions began. By early April, the assessors had re-worked the original 70 articles into a final list of 12 charges (articles).

Threatened with immediate execution by burning at the stake and promised transfer to a church prison where she would not be under the guard of English soldiers, Joan signed an abjuration (in late May). Upon being returned to the English prison and possibly molested by her captors, she then renounced her previous abjuration and was brought to trial a second time, this time as a relapsed heretic, the penalty for which was death by burning.

On May 30, 1431, the sentence of death by burning was carried out in the market square of the town of Rouen.

Heresy was a capital crime only for a repeat offense. Joan agreed to wear women's clothes when she abjured. A few days later she was subjected to a sexual assault in prison that may have gone as far as attempted rape. She resumed male attire either as a defense against molestation or, in the testimony of Jean Massieu, because her dress had been stolen and she was left with nothing else to wear.

Eyewitnesses described the scene of the execution on 30 May 1431. Tied to a tall pillar, she asked two of the clergy, Martin Ladvenu and Isambart de la Pierre, to hold a crucifix before her. She repeatedly called out "in a loud voice the holy name of Jesus, and implored and invoked without ceasing the aid of the saints of Paradise." After she expired, the English raked back the coals to expose her charred body so that no one could claim she had escaped alive, then burned the body twice more to reduce it to ashes and prevent any collection of relics. They cast her remains into the Seine. The executioner, Geoffroy Therage, later stated that he "...greatly feared to be damned for he had burned a holy woman."

Aftermath and rehabilitation

The Hundred Years' War continued for 22 years after Joan of Arc's death. Charles VII succeeded in retaining legitimacy as king of France in spite of a rival coronation held for Henry VI in December 1431 on the boy's tenth birthday. Before England could rebuild its military leadership and longbow corps lost during 1429, the country also lost its alliance with Burgundy at the Treaty of Arras in 1435. The duke of Bedford died the same year and Henry VI became the youngest king of England to rule without a regent. That treaty and his weak leadership were probably the most important factors in ending the conflict. Kelly DeVries argues that Joan of Arc's aggressive use of artillery and frontal assaults influenced French tactics for the rest of the war.

In 1449, the city of Rouen opened its gates to Charles and Dunois and the trial records became available. With the war drawing to a close, early the following year (15 February 1450), Charles appointed Guillaume Boulle to study the records to ascertain the facts about the original Trial.

Boulle took depositions from several participants in the Trial, including Guillaume Manchon and Beaupere. All but one testified to judicial bias, English pressure and numerous procedural violations. Boulle then drew up a summary and delivered it to Charles.

In February of 1452, Cardinal d'Estouteville, Papal legate to France, met with Charles and contacted Inquisitor General Jean Brehal concerning the matter. Later that year, in May, Brehal produced a critique of the original Trial consisting of 12 articles, including the charge that Cauchon was biased and that he was not legally empowered to conduct the Trial. This list of articles was later expanded and submitted to theologians and canon law experts who pronounced in favor of Joan.

Finally, in response to a petition from Joan's mother, Pope Calixtus III quthorized an inquiry into the original Trial. On November 7, 1455, a Papal commission headed by Jean Jouvenel des Ursins, the Archbishop of Reims, began its work.

The assessment of the trial

Joan of Arc's trial for heresy was politically motivated. The Duke of Bedford claimed the throne of France for his nephew Henry VI. She had been responsible for the rival coronation so to condemn her was to undermine her king's legitimacy.

To summarize some major problems with the original Trial, the jurisdiction of judge Bishop Cauchon was a legal fiction. He owed his appointment to his partisan support of the English government that financed the entire trial. Clerical notary Nicolas Bailly, commissioned to collect testimony against Joan of Arc, could find no adverse evidence. Without such evidence the court lacked grounds to initiate a trial. Opening a trial anyway, the court also violated ecclesiastical law in denying her right to a legal advisor.

Several court functionaries later testified that significant portions of the transcript were altered in her disfavor. Many clerics served under compulsion, including the inquisitor, Jean LeMaitre, and a few even received death threats from the English. Under Inquisitorial guidelines, Joan should have been confined to an ecclesiastical prison under the supervision of female guards (i.e., nuns). Instead, the English kept her in a secular prison guarded by their own soldiers. Bishop Cauchon denied Joan's appeals to the Council of Basel and the pope, which should have stopped his proceeding.

The twelve articles of accusation that summarize the court's finding contradict the already doctored court record. The illiterate defendant signed an abjuration document she did not understand under threat of immediate execution. The court substituted a different abjuration in the official record.

Further reading

• Kelly DeVries, Joan of Arc: a Military Leader. Sutton Publishing Ltd, Great Britain, 1999. ISBN 0-7509-1805-5.
• Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc, edited by Bonnie Wheeler and Charles T. Wood. Garland Publishing, Inc, New York and London, 1996. ISBN 0-8153-3664-0.
• Régine Pernoud, Joan of Arc, by Herself and Her Witnesses. Scarborough House, Lanham, MD, 1994. ISBN 0-8128-1260-3.
• Régine Pernoud and Marie Veronique-Clin, Joan of Arc: Her Story (revised and translated by Jeremy Duquesnay Adams and edited by Bonnie Wheeler). St. Martins Press, New York, 1998. ISBN 0-312-21442-1.
• Stephen Richey, Joan of Arc: the Warrior Saint. Praeger Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0275981037.
• Marina Warner, Joan of Arc, the Image of Female Heroism. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 1981. ISBN 0-520-22464-7.

See also

• Historical perspectives on Joan of Arc
• Joan of Arc's voices
• Cultural depictions of Joan of Arc
• Joan of Arc bibliography
• Joan of Arc facts and trivia
• Canonization of Joan of Arc

Internet resources

• The text of the condemnation trial
• International Joan of Arc Society (Bonnie Wheeler, Director)
• Catholic Encyclopedia entry for St. Joan of Arc.
• The Jeanne d'Arc Centre biography and research.
• Jeanne-darc.dk Various materials including a complete English translation of the rehabilitation trial transcript.
• Joan of Arc Archive by Allen Williamson. Includes a biography, translations, and other original research.
• Joan of Arc in the First World War by B.J. Omanson, covers interest in Joan of Arc during the First World War.
• Joan of Arc Museum in Rouen, France.
• Journal of Joan of Arc Studies Academic journal.
• St. Joan of Arc Center of Albuquerque, New Mexico, maintained by Virginia Frohlick.

Joan of Arc