Saint Stories - Joan of Arc (Part 1)

Saint Joan of Arc, born the 6th of January 1412. The reason we know this to be sure, this exact date, is because a man named Percival du Boulainvilliers, who was the councillor of King Charles VII, indicates this in a letter he wrote to the Duke of Milan, saying she was born on the feast of the epiphany. Well, what an epiphany Saint Joan of Arc was to be for the French armies. At the time of Saint Joan's birth, France was embroiled in a long-running war with England, known as the Hundred Years' War. But to provide a bit of context for this, let's dig deeper. King Charles VI, during his reign as the King of France, suffered from bouts of insanity, which led to his brother Louis, the Duke of Orleans, and the King's cousin, John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, to therefore argue over who should look after the King's children and who should govern France. Louis accused John the Fearless of kidnapping the royal children, and John the Fearless accused Louis of having an affair with King Charles VI's wife, Isabel, Queen of Bavaria. Now, this dispute between them climaxed when John the Fearless ordered Louis, the Duke of Orleans, successful assassination in 1407. The son of Louis, the young Charles of Orleans, succeeded his father therefore as Duke, but he then also saw his mother succumb to illness shortly after, and on her deathbed, swore the traditional oath of vengeance against John the Fearless. Now, by 16 years of age, Charles of Orleans was placed in the custody of the Count of Ammoniac, who had become his father-in-law after he married Charles to his 11-year-old daughter. Their faction became known as the Ammoniac Faction, and the opposing party, led by the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, was called the Burgundian Faction. Now, during the chaos and fraction between these two French factions, meanwhile, the King of England, Henry V, seized his opportunity and struck the north of France, winning at the famous Battle of on the 25th of October 1415. He won this battle despite the fact the English were outnumbered by the French, and then subsequently, he then captured many northern French towns. And in 1418, Paris was taken by the Burgundians, who massacred the Count of Ammoniac and about 2,500 of his followers. The future French King, Charles VII, assumed the title of Dauphin, the heir of the throne, at the age of 14, after all four of his older brothers had died one after the other in succession. His first significant official act was to conclude a peace treaty with the Duke of Burgundy in 1419. However, this ended in disaster when Ammoniac supporters assassinated John the Fearless during a meeting under Charles' guarantee of protection. The new Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, blamed Charles for the murder and entered into an alliance with the English. This allied force of conquered large sections of France. Now you can hear, now the background of Joan of Arc is quite complicated, and it's not even over yet. Because in 1420, the Queen of France, Isabel of Bavaria, signed the Treaty of Troyes, which granted the succession of the French throne to Henry V, and his heirs instead of her son Charles. Now naturally, this agreement brought up the old suspicion that Isabel of Bavaria and Louis had had an affair, and so therefore Charles VII was the illegitimate product of this affair. When Henry V and King Charles VI died within two months of one another in 1422, this left the infant Henry VI of England the nominal monarch of both kingdoms. And while Henry VI was still a young infant, Henry V's brother John of Lancaster, the first Duke of Bedford, therefore acted as regent. And lo and behold, this is the backdrop into which Joan of Arc comes in. By the time Joan of Arc began to influence events in 1429, at this point nearly all of northern France, and even some parts of the southern west, were under Anglo-Burgundian control. The English controlled Paris and Rouen, while the Burgundian faction controlled Reims, which had served as the traditional coronation site for French kings since 816. This was actually a really important consideration since neither claimant to the throne of France had been officially crowned yet. In 1428, the English had begun the Siege of Orleans, one of the few remaining cities still loyal to Charles VII. And the Siege of Orleans was a really key moment in the Hundred Years' War. It was an important objective since it held a strategic position along the Loire river, which made it the last obstacle to an assault on the remainder of the French heartland. In the words of one modern historian, quote, on the fate of Orleans hung that of the entire kingdom, end quote. At this point, no one was really optimistic that the city could long withstand the siege. However, there was a glimmer of hope. For generations, there had been a prophecy in France which promised that France would be saved by a virgin from, quote, the borders of Lorraine, end quote, who would, quote, work miracles, end quote, and that, quote, France will be lost by a woman and shall thereafter be restored by a virgin, end quote. Now, the part of the prophecy which predicted that France would be lost by a woman was taken to refer to Isabelle and her role in signing the Treaty of Troyes, thereby disinheriting her heir, her son, Charles VII, for the King of England. Now, Joan was the daughter of Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romy in Donremy, a village which was then in the French part of the Duchy of Bath. Joan's parents owned about 50 acres of land and her father supplemented his farming work with a minor position as a village official, collecting taxes and heading the local watch. They lived in an isolated patch of eastern France that remained loyal to the French crown, despite being surrounded by pro-Burgundian lands. And so we can see here, right in the territory of darkness, God raising up this light. Now, it really was a territory of darkness around because several local raids occurred during her childhood. And on one occasion, even her whole village was burned by pro-Burgundians. And so Joan was raised in relative poverty, a normal girl brought up in simple means. She was taught the Catholic faith from an early age by her mother, Isabelle. And she was a generous girl, was quite well liked by other inhabitants of her village, who later reported under oath on her character after she had passed away. But it was only until around the age of 13 did Joan of Arc's life take an unexpected and extraordinary turn. She mentions that during one summer at the age of 13, when she was in a father's garden, something extraordinary happened. And indeed, something that has hardly ever happened to any human on this planet. And something that was indicative of her call on her life. She reported to see visions of figures that she identified as the Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. Now, it must be noted here, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret were two virgin martyrs who died in the 4th century. Which is very interesting since Joan lived her life as a virgin and died a martyr's death. And how providential is it that God would give us the people around us in our lives, even saints, who can teach us about our mission in our life as well. Now, the Archangel Michael and Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret appeared to her and told her to be good. That was all they said at the start. It was nothing that extraordinary or that special, other than to go to mass frequently and to be good. They repeatedly appeared to her and particularly Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, they would be her guardians up until her death. Joan of Arc called them, quote, her voices, end quote. Which I think by today's standards, makes one sound quite insane. However, it's important to note here that Joan of Arc, this is the 15th century, this was before that connotation was made. And in fact, the term hearing voices might actually have originated from the story of Joan of Arc. But for Joan, these visions were very, very real indeed. And with her being canonised as a saint by the Catholic church, that would imply the church consider her visions of these saints as worthy of belief. And when one looks at the historical data regarding Joan of Arc's life, well, her accomplishments are nothing short of miraculous. So logic itself can also imply to us that these visions she was experiencing were real, because she must have been receiving divine help. For Joan, the visions were so real that she would cry. When they left her, she called them and one time asked them to take her with them as they went back to heaven. At the age of 16, at this point, her voices had been speaking to her and started to give her a divine mandate. She'd been hearing her voices now for three years, and they were now saying to her more than just be a good Catholic. Now they were saying, you have been chosen by God to lead the French armies against the English and to see the King of France coronated and for the English to be completely driven out of France. Quite a different message now. And Saint Joan of Arc, being a complete saint and in complete humility, despite not understanding how this would happen, accepted the call. It became so burdensome for her that by the age of 16, she had to respond to it. And so she, in secret, not letting her parents know, asked a relative called Durand-Lassault to take her to a nearby town called Vaucouleur, where she petitioned the garrison commander, Robert de Baudricourt, for an armed escort to bring her to the French royal court at Chinon. Now, Robert de Baudricourt was understandably quite sceptical and his sarcastic response was quite harsh, but this did not deter Joan. In fact, she came back again the following January after having been mocked returning back to a townsfolk at Don Remy, and it must also be said Jacques d'Arc was furious. He'd had a premonition a few years before of Joan running off with French soldiers, and at that time that was seen as something that a prostitute would do and would naturally bring dishonor and shame to the family. Jacques d'Arc had actually asked his sons, and well, Joan's brothers, to drown Joan if this would ever happen. So you can see here just the sort of opposition Joan was facing. So she returned to Robert de Baudricourt in Vaucouleur the following January, and having gained support from two of Baudricourt's soldiers, Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poligny, according to Jean de Metz, she told him that I, quote, must be at the king's side. There will be no help for the kingdom if not from me. Although I would rather have remained spinning wool at my mother's side, yet I must go, I must do this, for my lord wills that I do so, end quote. And so with these two contacts, she was given a second meeting with And it was during this second meeting that she gave a prediction about a military reversal at a battle near Orleans. It was unexpected that this reversal would take place, but here we are seeing Joan of Arc predict this was going to happen before messengers had even arrived to report it. Now, a journal written several decades after Joan's life said that she actually received this revelation of this reversal of this battle through, quote, grace divine, end quote, while tending her flocks in Lorraine. Now, Robert de Baudricourt, understandably quite amazed, granted Joan an escort to visit Chinon after the battle's reversal had been confirmed several days later. And so Joan waded through Burgundian territories. She left at night and she dressed in male clothing, in soldier's clothes, which actually led to a charge of her, quote, cross-dressing, end quote, which would ultimately come to work against her in the future. Although it must be said, her escort viewed this cross-dressing, or supposedly cross-dressing, as a normal precaution for protection as she was walking through hostile territories. And two of the members of her escort said they and the people of Vaucouleur provided her with this clothing and had suggested it even to her. And so, traveling by night, undetected by enemy soldiers, Joan, who would occasionally stop off to St. Mass if they passed through a town, would, with her escort, carefully weave in and around the French countryside until eventually she reached the court of Chinon in 1429, where Charles was located. At this point, she was only 17 years old. Charles himself was 26. And so, after arriving at the Chinon court, she made a strong impression on Charles during a private conference with him. During this time, Charles' mother-in-law, Yolanda of Aragon, was planning to finance a relief expedition to Orleans. Joan asked for permission to travel with the army and wear protective armor, which was provided by the royal government. She depended on donated items for her armor, horse, sword and banner, and other items utilized by her entourage. Now, some historians have tried to explain the reason she attracted the royal court so much. They try to point out that perhaps she was their only hope, and that this message of divine deliverance was, well, what they wanted and needed to hear. However, it must also be noted that there was skepticism among the court originally when Joan entered. These are not gullible fools who just take the word of anyone who claims to be hearing from God. They actually subjected Joan to interrogation at Potier, where scholars and theologians asked difficult questions of her, but eventually found her to be simple and, well, worthy of belief. It must also be said that what really attracted Charles to Joan was the fact that Joan, upon meeting him, was able to reveal a secret of his heart that he had prayed alone to God. So surely, even Charles could see the divine work of God at display here. But just to be sure, because now Joan's entrance into the scene had effectively turned the war into a religious war, he wanted to make sure beyond a shadow of a doubt, by checking Joan's background and history, and also at this interrogation at Potier, that it could not be accused of him that he would receive his crown from the work of Satan and not by the power of God. But we see here Joan passes with flying colours, which adds even more proof to us today of her saintly character and her true, authentic mission from God. And so, willing to allow her to be put to the test by seeing if what she says would happen, they sent her off to Orléans, and she arrived at the perceived city of Orléans with the army on the 29th of April, 1429. Now, Jean d'Orléans, the acting head of the family of Orléans, on behalf of his captive brother, half-brother, Charles, who had been captured by the English during the Battle of Agincourt many years before, Jean initially excluded her from all war councils and failed to inform her when the army engaged with the enemy. However, his decision to exclude her did not prevent her presence at most councils and battles. She had a way of finding her way in there and knowing when the action was taking place. They couldn't really shake her off, no matter how hard they tried. Now, the actual extent of her military participation is subject to debate among historians even to this day. Joan stated that she carried her banner in battle and had never killed anyone, preferring her banner, quote, 40 times, end quote, better than her sword. Secular historians do suggest, however, that the army was always directly commanded by noblemen as opposed to Joan, but on the other hand, many of these same noblemen state that Joan had a profound effect on their decisions since they often accepted the advice she gave them as divinely inspired. In either case, historians do agree that the army under Joan enjoyed remarkable success during her brief time with it. Now, the appearance of Joan of Arc at Orleans coincided with a sudden change in the pattern of the siege. During the five months before her arrival, the defenders had attempted only one offensive assault, which had ended in defeat. However, on the 4th of May, the Armagnacs attacked and captured the outlying fortress of Saint-Loup, followed on the 5th of May by a march to a second fortress called Saint-Jean-les-Blancs, which was found deserted. When English troops came out to oppose the advance, a rapid cavalry charge drove them back into their fortresses, apparently without even a fight. Divine intervention here we see already. The Armagnacs then attacked and captured an English fortress built around a monastery called Les Augustines. That night, Armagnac troops maintained positions on the south bank of the river before attacking the main English stronghold called Les Torelles on the morning of the 7th of May. Contemporaries acknowledged Joan as the heroine of the engagement. She was wounded by an arrow between the neck and shoulder, which, p.s. she had prophesied would happen the day before. She was wounded while holding her banner in the trents opposite Les Torelles, but later returned to encourage a final assault despite her injuries, and this final assault succeeded in taking the fortress. The English therefore retreated from Orleans the next day, and the siege was over. So here we see, Orleans had been besieged for months by the English. There was no hope. And what does God do? He sends a peasant, illiterate young girl, who's never even ridden a horse, all the way to Vaucouleur, then to Chinon, and then to Orleans. And we see her arrival at Orleans, her arrival at the scene, and pretty much instant victory. What could secular historians make of that, one wonders. Well, they do ignore that fact, or seemingly not let it sink in, one might say. I mean, this is compounded when one considers the contemporary sources, or well, the near contemporary sources, that attest to the miracles Joan of Arc performed while at Orleans. For example, one time they were getting in their boats across the river to enter Orleans, and the wind was in the wrong direction. They couldn't therefore sail in the right direction to get to the city. What does Joan of Arc do? She prays, and well, instantly the wind changes direction. This comes from a report only 25 years after her life from an eyewitness. And so we hear, we see with Joan of Arc's life, a clear, clear proof and evidence of the supernatural. And this is one thing that secular historians don't really seem to take note of. And if they do take note of, they normally claim Joan of Arc was a schizophrenic due to her voices, her claims who have been seeing the apparition of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Margaret of Antioch, two virgin martyrs who would regularly appear to Saint Joan. They had been martyred themselves for their faith, and they were virgins, and they were young women. So you see, again, God provides the right people in your life. We can believe that to be true. But they will label Saint Joan as a schizophrenic rather than a visionary. And they like to put these labels on her simply because they don't believe in miracles. That's that really. Moving on. So after the Battle of Orleans, Saint Joan of Arc's fame spreads like wildfire around France and even neighboring countries. There was a poet called Christine de Pizan. She was an Italian, French, late medieval author. And she writes while in Italy. So the news of her has spread even to Italy at this point. She writes a poem about Joan of Arc, praising her as the peasant girl, the maid sent by God to relieve the French armies. And indeed, Joan had declared herself that she would provide a sign at Orleans. And the lifting of the siege at Orleans was interpreted by many to be that sign. And it gained her the support of prominent clergy and theologians. Some of them wrote supportive writings about her immediately following the event of Orleans. To the English, however, the ability of this peasant girl to defeat their armies was regarded as proof that she was possessed by the devil. And the British medievalist Beverly Boyd noted that this charge was not just propaganda, but was sincerely believed by the English since the idea that God was supporting the French through Joan was very, very unappealing to them. The sudden victory at Orleans led to many proposing further offensive action. Joan herself was of this camp. She wanted to do this immediately. Why waste time was kind of her thinking. And Joan actually persuaded Charles VII to allow her to accompany the army with Duke John II of Alençon. And she gained the royal permission for her plan to recapture nearby bridges along the Loire as a prelude to an advance on Reims for the coronation of Charles VII, which Joan said was one target of her mission from God. Now, it must be made clear here just what a bold proposal this was from Joan. Reims was roughly twice as far away as Paris and deep within enemy territory. The English expected France to try and recapture Paris or to attack Normandy. And so actually this plan was perfect because it was exactly what they did not anticipate. So the Duke of Alençon accepted Joan's advice concerning this particular strategy. Other commanders, including Jeanne d'Orleans, had been impressed with Joan and her performance at Orleans and became her supporters. Alençon credited her with saving his life at Jagot, where she warned him that a cannon on the walls was about to fire at him. And so he subsequently moved out of the way and was spared, see another sign of Joan's miraculous works. During the same siege, Joan withstood a blow from a stone that hit her helmet while she was near the base of the town's wall, again showing her divine protection from God. And so the French army took Jagot on the 12th of June 1429 and two more towns followed on the 15th of June and the 17th of June 1429. The English army in response withdrew from the Loire Valley and headed north on the 18th of June, joining with an expected unit of reinforcements under the command of Sir John Fastoff. John urged the Armagnacs to pursue and the two armies henceforth clashed southwest of the village of Pate. The battle of Pate might be compared to Agincourt in reverse, remember that famous battle before Joan of Arc's mission where the French were completely slaughtered by the English, even despite the fact the French had more men. And so now you see the tables are starting to turn. Then the French vanguard attacked a unit of English archers who had been placed to block the road. A rout ensued that decimated the main body of the English army and killed or captured most of its commanders. Fastoff escaped with a small band of soldiers, simply a small band, and became the scapegoat for the humiliating English defeat. The French it must be said suffered minimal losses. And so on the 29th of June the French armies then left and marched directly towards Relance and accepted the conditional surrender of Burgundian held territories. Other towns in the army's path returned to French allegiance without resistance. See how the tables were turning. Relance opened its gates to the French army on the 16th of July 1429 and well the coronation of the king Charles VII took place the following morning. They weren't going to waste any time being so thick into enemy territory. This was where Joan of Arc was to see her parents again and heartbreakingly for the last time. Now the morning after the celebrations at Relance the festivities were over and people were just about dying down. Joan on the other hand in a mission mindset the woman of action that she always was was urging the armies for a prompt march upon Paris to besiege it and to by the help of God take it. On the other hand the royal court King Charles VII, the reasonable and cautious folk they were, preferred instead to negotiate a truce with the Duke of Burgundy. However this would come to be a negative because the Duke of Burgundy would violate the purpose of the agreement by simply using it as a stalling tactic to reinforce his armies and thus reinforce Paris. And I think here's a lesson actually for all of us. When someone comes of God, a visionary, even though their actions may seem slightly unwise or unprudent, we should follow it at least while they're with us because prophets unfortunately have a tendency not to live that long. And so by the time the French armies marched upon Paris it was quite a difficult task ahead. Now the assault at Paris ensued on the 8th of September and despite a wound to the leg from a crossbow bolt, Joan was insistent on staying in the trench and winning the siege. But instead she was carried back to safety by one of the commanders and she was very indignant saying no we must besiege Paris and take it. However this was not the attitude nor the mentality of the French commanders at this point and soon later the royal order to withdraw was given. So we kind of see a dip slightly in the reputation of Joan of She is following God but it's not quite going according to plan one might say. And there's now a bit of doubt, a bit of confusion. People might be thinking well Joan's mission had been completed, she'd lifted the siege of Orleans as she'd seen King Charles VII coronated at Reims. You know now she should go back to Domremy with her family and take up the However in Joan's mind that was not the case. She had three objectives to her mission, two of which yes had been completed but the third had not been. And to put it quite simply, the third objective was to remove all the English armies out of France. So in Joan of Arc's mind, no her mission was not completed. Now during the siege of Orleans and the coronation at Reims, we can pretty much track Joan's whereabouts and her location and what she was doing almost every day. But at this point after the siege of Paris, her movements, her whereabouts and what she was doing are slightly harder to track. Here now we move from daily accounts to well monthly accounts. We know in October she had success in a siege at another town but then in November and December she was unsuccessful at taking another town with the royal armies. And we also know in December her family was ennobled by Charles VII which was basically a gesture of thanksgiving for the actions that she had performed within the last year. And no doubt at this point Joan of Arc's fame was still present. It was still in people's minds. She was still the divine visionary for many people and with her new royal status she would have had to have been around other noble women in the courts of the king and of such. And it was probably quite a difficult time for her. Not only that but sources suggest her sister Kathleen died around this point. It was probably a slightly confusing and maybe even a slightly isolating part of her life. And like I said the information regarding her life at this point is rather sketchy. The next clear-cut source we have comes from actually the particularly the 23rd of March 1430. Here we have her dictating a threatening letter to the Hussites. Now it must be noted Joan was illiterate. She couldn't write so she would often dictate letters. In fact we even have a few of these letters remaining and the only thing she would write in these letters is her signature at the end, Joan. And so if you want to see writings they should appear on screen now of her signature. This is actually by the hand of Joan of Arc. And it must also be noted here friends that this is the closest we can get to the living memory, the material memory of Joan of Arc. It was customary at this point in time to actually seal the envelope with the wax and a piece of your hair. A strand of your hair was plucked and added to the sealed wax of the letter. And so yes actually there were some strands of Joan of Arc's hair that were contained in some of these letters. Unfortunately they're now missing. But these signatures you can now see are the closest thing you can get to any Joan of Arc relic. The French revolutionists destroyed other relics of Joan of Arc in their purging, in their hatred towards faith and towards God. And so this is quite unfortunate actually. There's no living portrait. We don't even really know what she looked like. We can know what she looked like from sources, eyewitnesses who describe what she looked like. But do not go looking for a painting. Do not go looking on google images for any kind of image of Joan if you're wanting a realistic interpretation. Because well unfortunately friends they're just going to be artistic interpretation rather than actual realism and actual facts. And so as I said on the 23rd of March 1430 by her secretary she dictates a threatening letter to the Hussites. Now the Hussites were a sect that broke off from the catholic church. Now in this letter Joan says return to the catholic faith and move away from your superstitions. And so we have here in the 15th century even to a unschooled illiterate peasant how clear in her mind the truths of the catholic church are that anyone who would break off are actually following the inventions of man. Essentially superstitions. This is what an illiterate peasant can tell us from the 15th century about the truths of the catholic church. It was clear as day to them back then. So she writes this letter and one does sort of think you know she's not quite as busy as she was a few months ago with the siege of Orleans and the siege of Paris. Perhaps she's kind of I don't want to say looking for a fight because that makes her sound like she's hostile or aggressive. In actual fact she just has a huge zeal for the catholic church. And that is how one ought to understand Saint Joan of Arc. She actually said during her trial later on in her life under oath that she had never killed anyone but she simply used her banner in battle to encourage and support the French armies. And so in a letter to the her letter promises to quote remove your madness and foul superstition taking away either your heresy or your lives. And so Joan an ardent catholic we see here that she hated all forms of heresy together with islam as well which had recently reared its head at this point in history. And she also sent a challenging letter to the English saying to leave France and go with her to Bohemia to fight the Hussites. An offer that must be said was unanswered by the English. The Hussites at this point had resisted crusade sent by the pope and the churches and so Joan of Arc here is really imitating the wish of the pope. So we see an ardent catholic we do not see a bloodthirsty cruel person. Now I neglected to say before that actually the royal court of France had made a treaty with the English a treaty of peace explaining Joan's lack of activity. But after this truce with the English ends and after this threatening letter has been sent to the Hussites several months later Joan then travels to Compiègne with her smaller force at this point her force was a lot smaller than it was during the days of Paris and of Orleans a few months ago. And so in May she arrives in Compiègne in order to defend it from the seat of the English and the Burgundians. Now at this point the story of Joan of Arc starts to accelerate and starts to get a little bit more fascinating because Joan of Arc says that around this time well actually a bit before this time her voices had told her that she was going to be captured and she says that she was not given the time or location as to when she would be captured. So she arrives at Compiègne not necessarily expecting the worst but at the siege of Compiègne Saint Joan of Arc is captured an English archer drags her off her horse. Now there's even some debate that she was betrayed by her own army in the sense that the bridge welcoming her into the city as she was retreating from the English Burgundian army was raised so she could not even enter and retreat into the city. Now perhaps this was accidental perhaps they did not know Joan was out there but there is some debate that she was betrayed by one of her own soldiers. In fact she once confessed to someone else that her only fear in life was treachery. Perhaps Joan was made aware of this treachery by her voices from Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret of Antioch. In any case her voices had told her that this was going to happen that she was going to be captured and again we see here another sign of the supernatural intervention of Joan of Arc. If that wasn't enough back in the winter Joan of Arc had prayed for a recently deceased baby who had not yet been baptised. So Joan prays for this baby and the baby comes back to life unbelievably and is then baptised and quickly dies soon after. So miracle stories litter the overall story of Saint Joan of Arc and so now we enter the stage two or the part two of Joan of Arc's life which is her capture, imprisonment and then her untimely and cruel death. Stay tuned for part two.