Joan of Arc Turns 600

Joan of Arc or Jeanne d’Arc (1412-1431) Turns 600

Joan of Arc ranks as one of the French female icons, along with the likes of the writer Colette, actresses Catherine Deneuve and Brigitte Bardot, and other historic characters like Catherine de Medici and Charlotte Corday.

France will host many celebrations, exhibitions and events this year for Joan of Arc, as one of France’s most beloved historic heroines and a Catholic saint. Nicknamed the “Maid of Orleans”, or “La Pucelle” (the Maid), she was born 600 years ago in 1412, in Domremy in the Vosges, eastern France. Locals believe she was born on January 6th. She died by burning at the stake on May 30th, 1431 in Rouen—a mere 19 years old.

There will be many celebrations of Joan of Arc all over France. But the main ones will be centered around the places most closely associated with her: at Domremy, where she was born; at Vaucouleurs, a little to the north of Domremy, from where Joan began her bid to push the English out of France during the Hundred Years War between the two countries, and to put Charles VII on the throne; at Chinon, where she first met Charles VII and eventually persuaded him to believe in her cause; at Orleans where she lifted the English siege on the city; in Reims, where the Dauphin was crowned King Charles VII; and in Rouen where she was burned at the stake.

We will visit France in March and in June/July this year, and will have fun tracking down some of these celebrations.

Much has been written about her life, which is reasonably well-documented, and it’s easy to get information, such as on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc  or the Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08409c.htm . Her story has inspired the imagination of many artists and composers over the years, as evidenced in the many books, plays, operas etc. Think of “Giovanna d’Arco” by Guiseppe Verdi, Tchaikovsky’s “Maid of Orleans” opera, a poem by Voltaire, a play by Schiller and Personal Reflections by Mark Twain, for example.

This young girl who was able to rally the troops began life as the daughter of a peasant family. She was always very pious and at age 12 or 13 she began to hear the voices of various saints, including Michael, Margaret and Catherine, who instructed her to save France from the English. The voices apparently became more insistent over the years until, by May 1428, she knew she had to act on what they were telling her. France and England were in the midst of the Hundred Years War (1336-1453), which in itself is a very complicated story as for so long the history and rulers of the two countries had been inter-twined. The British were taking more and more territory but, with the special inspiration of “The Maid”, the French slowly began to drive the invaders out.

In March 1429, Joan, dressed as a man, set off to find the Dauphin Charles V11. She found him taking refuge in Chinon Castle in the Loire Valley, making Chinon the French capital at that time. Here she implored him to take back the French crown and told him that he would in fact be crowned king and that the French armies would be defeated at Orleans, which did happen. Charles initially was reluctant to acknowledge her or believe her, but she convinced him because she knew some secret signs that the voices had told her. He gave her a special sword and she became a part of the army, riding with the men, rallying them, getting wounded and helping to liberate Orleans. On July 17, 1429, she held her banner high in Reims at the Gothic Cathedral, where Charles V11 was officially proclaimed king of a resurgent France.

However, things did not go well for her after that. She and her troops tried unsuccessfully to retake Paris. She was wounded again, which destroyed the belief in her invincibility. In 1430, during a battle at Compiegne she was captured by the Burgundians (who were allied with England) and sold to the English. The local authorities in Rouen turned against her, chained her by the neck in an iron cage, and instituted a heresy trial against her, at which she was condemned as a witch.

But, the French people rallied around their new king, and helped push England out of France to end the Hundred Years War.

The French government proclaimed her trial illegal in 1455, and stories and legends about Joan continued to grow. The Catholic Church finally beatified Joan of Arc in 1909 and canonized her in 1920.

Along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis IX and St. Theresa of Lisieux, St Joan is one of the patron saints of France. There is a Joan of Arc Museum and the Jeanne d’Arc Eglise (Church) in Rouen, and she is part of the story told inside Paris’s famous Pantheon and in the wonderful mosaics of the Basilica in Lyon. Almost wherever you go in France, you will find more statues to Joan, churches that she stopped in and other references to this remarkable young woman. **See an upcoming post for one such place that we were lucky enough to find on an earlier visit to France.