Joan of Arc: The Controversial Role as A French Leader

On January 6, 1412, a historically significant and influential woman was born: Joan of Arc, also known as Jeanne d’Arc.[1] Joan is best recognized for her role as the French army’s military commander during the Hundred Years’ War. However, this commandership was quite different compared to others because throughout history, the role of military leaders was predominantly in the hands of men, not women. This is what makes Joan of Arc so influential when it comes to women in power. Although this power was an extremely important part of history, the role that Joan took on did not go without its challenges. Due to the multiple implications of putting herself in the public view as a military leader, this heroine had only lived a brief life. The purpose of this study is to investigate Joan of Arc’s life from beginning to end. This will begin with the examination of her home life before she entered to war, with the inclusion of the visions that she began to receive at a young age. There will then be an examination of Joan and her involvement in the French military during the Siege of Orléans in 1429, along with how the English captured her, and why they placed her on trial. Joan of Arc’s life was both exciting and intriguing, however, her involvement in the French army was quite controversial. Seeing that Joan was a woman, a teenager, and a peasant, people did not think highly of her as a military leader, which resulted in the buildup of consequences that had quickly led to her execution.

Joan of Arc was not originally destined for the life of a military leader. As a young girl, Joan had grown up in the accessible village of Domremy, which was placed along the border of France during the fourteenth century.[2] She was a part of an ‘average’ sized family of seven; her mother and father, three brothers and one sister. Her mother’s name was Zabillet (Isabelle) Romée, her father as, Jacques Darc, and her brothers and sister were known as Jacquemin, Jean, Pierre, and Catherine.[3] Joan and the rest of her family had also followed the religion of Catholicism, which resulted in the baptism of Joan herself.[4] Joan’s family could be described as well-off compared to many of the families within the Domremy village, because of the land they had possessed. It was explained that “They owned nearly ‘50 acres, 25 in their own property, 10 contiguous, and ten more in woods,’ including part of the oak forest (known as le bois chenu).”[5] When it comes to the work life that Joan had when she was a child, she had few servantry occupations. Some of these positions included the trade of sewing and spinning, as well as helping with the plowing of farmland and the herding of farm animals.[6] As it has been demonstrated, Joan had a typical childhood of those in the fifteenth century up until something unexpected occurred.

Around the age of thirteen, Joan was wandering around her father’s garden when she began hearing voices and seeing visions that she believed to be messages from God himself, or his Angels.[7] The most important message that had defined Joan’s future journey had declared: “Joan, you must lead another life and perform wondrous deeds; for you are she whom the King of Heaven has chosen to bring reparation to the kingdom of France and help and protection to King Charles.”[8] Shortly after this experience, Joan had decided to hold on to her chastity as sign of devotion, as it was explained that “she had vowed not to marry, and she had resolved to remain a maid as long as her voices were pleased.”[9] Joan was experiencing something remarkable, however, many people around her would have been skeptical. Therefore, she kept these visions and voices a secret from everyone. Joan ended up keeping this secret for four years, not telling her parents, friends or even her confessor.[10] Eventually, Joan discovered who exactly was delivering these massages from God. As she was able to both hear and physically touch these visions, Joan realised that there were three voices, which she recognised as archangel Michael and Saints Margaret and Catherine.[11] Joan’s visions were a pivotal moment in her life, as she became increasingly connected to the religious realm, pulling her into the role of a military leader in an attempt to fulfil God’s request.

In 1429, four years after these visions began, seventeen-year-old Joan had decided to embark on her mission appointed by God. She had “presented herself at the castle of Vaucouleurs and told her tale to the sceptical captain.”[12] It took much persuasion for said French captain, Robert de Baudricourt, to allow Joan to continue on this expedition to Chinon in order to aid Dauphin (King) Charles, for which he eventually agreed to assist her.[13] In this decision, Baudrcourt was taking many risks as he needed to provide Joan with a plan in order for her to travel from Domremy to Chinon without complications. He had alerted the Dauphin that she would be coming to his aid, for which he then provided her with a horse, as well as the means to disguise herself as a male.[14] Complications may have risen if she failed to disguise herself, as young women traveling alone were open to assault, especially during times of warfare. Joan had to cut her hair short in attempt to resemble a boy as part of this disguise, however, she did not want to be mistaken for a boy when she arrived to Chinon, therefore she called herself la Pucelle, implying that she was a girl and was still a virgin.[15] Once this plan was set in place, Joan was on her way to King Charles in order to convince him in allowing her to help protect both him and the country of France. When Joan had successfully arrived to Chinon, Charles was required to take precautions on her honorability and reliability before making such an important decision. Therefore, Joan “was carefully examined by the Parlement and by a number of clerics, who finally attested to her chastity, sincerity and orthodoxy.”[16] This rapid confirmation had allowed Charles to implement Joan within his French army a month later, to fight in the Hundred Years’ War.[17] This war was between the French and English, which started ninety-two years prior to Joan enlisting, demonstrating the need for new leaders.[18] Given that military leaders during this century were predominantly men, it would have been a last resort to appoint a woman as a commander. Therefore, implying that the French were in such a bad position during this war, that King Charles had no choice but to select Joan as the next leader.

Joan of Arc immediately assumed her military position during the Hundred Years’ War, after King Charles appointed her as commander. She had rushed a dictated letter to the English commanders on March 22 of 1429 essentially declaring that: “She has come here in the name of God to support the Royal family. She is quite prepared to make peace, if you are willing to do right, so long as you give up France and male amends for occupying it.”[19] As this war continued, the King had officially provided Joan with both horses and armour in order to enter upon the battle of Orléans.[20] During this battle, Joan had lead the French army in successful outcomes in each area, attempting to end this siege. Although Joan did not take part in the active combat between the French and English, she was a vital ally to the French army as she made various strategic decisions resulting in successful outcomes.[21] An important factor connected to the Siege of Orléans, is how Joan made these decisions. It was explained that she continuously “relied on no one but her voices for counsel, neither priests nor family nor military allies.”[22] This was a crucial component of her influence inside the French military since it revealed both her and her armies’ faith and confidence in these visions, as they continued their battle with the English. Joan did end up getting wounded during the battle of Les Tourelles, where she was shot in the shoulder with an arrow, however, her armour protected her from most of the damage.[23] On May 8 of 1429, Joan and the rest of the French army had eventually managed to end the seven-month long English siege in a matter of days, which resulted in Joan becoming France’s patron saint.[24]

In April 1430, a year after Joan joined the French army at the Siege of Orléans, another attack had begun, this time in the city of Compiègne.[25] This siege, however, did not go as Joan had anticipated. When she learned that both the English and Burgundian forces had arrived in this city, she was advised that her army lacked the necessary soldiers to combat their adversaries.[26] However, despite this, she responded with “‘By my Martin, we are enough, I am going to see my good friends of Compiègne,’” which resulted in her returning to the city.[27] Shortly after this decision was made, Joan would soon regret her bravery to attempt such task. The reason for this is that Joan and her men were besieged by both enemy troops and had no choice but to retreat; however, the bridge needed for them to cross was closed off, trapping them on the wrong side.[28] The opposing troops were victorious in this aspect of the battle, as they successfully captured the commander of their enemy. Joan’s situation was made much worse by the fact that France’s King Charles had made no attempt to reclaim her from the Burgundians.[29] This resulted in Joan becoming their prisoner, up until the English decided to ransom her for their own benefit, turning her into a prisonnnière de guerre (Prisoner of War).[30] This benefit would then evolve into a trial for Joan of Arc, criticizing her of everything she had done wrong since her military service began.

During this trial, Joan was faced with multiple charges from the English Church, some of which being cross-dressing, witchcraft and heresy. As Joan was also experiencing various visions since she was thirteen, this would be considered as heresy in the eyes of the English, because her beliefs follow a separate path. Within her trial records, Joan was questioned about her choice to dress in men’s clothing. She was asked, “Do you think it was well to take a man’s dress?” and she responded with, “All that I have done by the order of Our Lord I think has been well done; I look for good surety and good help in it.”[31] The English had a problem with this cross dressing, because during the fifteenth century, it went against the law as women were prohibited to dress in men’s clothing within Deuteronomy 22:5.[32]Although it was concluded that she dressed as such in order to cause offense to various parties,[33] as mentioned above she did it in order to follow her visions. The second charge against Joan, was that of witchcraft. The Church wanted to test Joan in order to figure out if she was working with the devil, therefore, they attempted to get her to say prayers of the Christian faith, to which she did not comply.[34] The third charge that was made, was Joan’s connection to heresy. They charged her with this because Joan had different beliefs than that of the Catholic church. The Church had essentially forced Joan to swear various oaths in order to demonstrate that she was committing heresy, therefore, she was eventually “caught” defying these oaths because the Church was twisting the wording from earlier questions.[35] In the end, Joan did not confess to using witchcraft or heresy throughout her life.[36] Instead, she had solely confessed to her habit of cross dressing as a man, which defied the religious beliefs of the church. However, she was ultimately charged for each of these accusations.

These many accusations had developed into one large consequence, as a result of Joan’s choice to follow her revelations from God. Because Joan had followed these visions, and joined the French army, she opened herself up to these accusations. Due to these accusations, it had eventually resulted in her execution during 1431.[37] Although Joan knew she was going to be executed, she held on to her everything that was charged against her. It was explained that “in the end Joan preferred to remain faithful to her voices and her masculine look.”[38] As she did this, it demonstrated the power she held, and the fearless faith she had in her religion. However, it was the opposite for the English and Catholic church. Seeing that they provided Joan with the consequence of death, they were fearful of her and what she was capable of, therefore “Joan’s executioner quenched the fire long enough for her naked corpse to be displayed, proving that it was really she and that she was really dead.”[39] Following Joan’s execution, years later another hearing was permitted. It was explained that several witnesses had claimed that the English had heavily persuaded them in declaring Joan as guilty.[40] Therefore, “in 1456 Joan was declared innocent of the charges for which she had been executed.”[41] This was unfortunate as Joan was already dead, however declaring her as innocent would have change the views of people who both looked up to her and “feared” her power.

Overall, Joan of Arc was a tremendous and controversial military leader during the fifteenth century, however, it did ultimately lead her to death. Joan of Arc’s legacy has been examined for centuries, allowing for historians to uncover the change in history that she had begun. By beginning with the examination of Joan’s childhood and moving through her life experiences from start to finish, it provides a wide understanding of how she went from being a young girl from a small town and turning into a famous female military leader. This chronological order was also able to demonstrates the various consequences she accumulated throughout the years by following and fulfilling God’s requests. However, despite her execution, by following these visions, Joan and the French army were able to win their portion of the Hundred Years’ War, defining her as a heroine. In the end, by examining the vary surface of Joan’s life, it demonstrates to readers how female leaders such as Joan, were able to do just as well as men, even if they were executed for doing so.

 

Bibliography:

Primary Sources:

“Joan of Arc’s First Letter to the English Commanders At Orleans (22 March 1429),” translated by Allan Williamson, accessed on January 16, 2022, http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_letter_Mar1429.html

“Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents. Accessed May 8^th, 2022, https://dmdhist.sitehost.iu.edu/joantrials.html#firstcon.

Secondary Sources:

Ambühl, Rémy. “Joan of Arc as Prisonnière De Guerre.” The English Historical Review 132 no. 558 (2017): 1045-1076.

Barstow, Anne Llewellyn. “Joan of Arc and Female Mysticism.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 1 no. 2 (1985): 29-42.

Neillands, Robin. “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31.” In The Hundred Years War. Rev. ed, 252-265. London: Routledge, 2001.

Stewart, Joan Hinde. “The Maid and the Milkmaid: Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette.” The French Review 93 no. 4 (2020): 13-30.

Taylor, Larissa Juliet. The Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Warner, Marina. Joan of Arc: The Image Of Female Heroism. London: Vintage, 1991.

[1] Joan Hinde Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid: Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette,” The French Review 93 no. 4 (2020): 14, 20.

[2] Larissa Juliet Taylor, The Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc, (Yale University Press, 2009), 4-5.

[3] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 6.

[4] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 7.

[5] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 7.

[6] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 8.

[7] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 24.

[8] Quoted in Marina Warner, Joan of Arc: The image of female heroism, (London: Vintage, 1991), 119.

[9] Warner, Joan of Arc, 15.

[10] Anne Llewellyn Barstow, “Joan of Arc and Female Mysticism,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 1 no. 2 (1985): 31.

[11] Barstow, “Joan of Arc and Female Mysticism,” 32.

[12] Robin Neillands, “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31,” in The Hundred Years War. Rev. ed (London: Routledge, 2001), 253.

[13] Neillands, “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31,” 253-254.

[14] Neillands, “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31,” 254.

[15] Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid,” 13-15.

[16] Neillands, “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31,” 258.

[17] Neillands, “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31,” 258.

[18] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, xxi.

[19] “Joan of Arc’s First Letter to the English Commanders At Orleans (22 March 1429),” translated by Allan Williamson, accessed on January 16, 2022, http://archive.joan-of-arc.org/joanofarc_letter_Mar1429.html.

[20] Neillands, “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31,” 258.

[21] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 68.

[22] Barstow, “Joan of Arc and Female Mysticism,” 31.

[23] Neillands, “The Maid of Orléans 1429-31,” 253; Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, xvi.

[24] Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid,” 13-14; Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, xvi.

[25] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 114.

[26] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 115.

[27] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 115.

[28] Taylor, The Virgin Warrior, 117.

[29] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents. Accessed May 8^th, 2022, https://dmdhist.sitehost.iu.edu/joantrials.html#firstcon.; Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid: Joan of Arc and Marie Antoinette,” 24.

[30] Rémy Ambühl, “Joan of Arc as Prisonnière De Guerre,” The English Historical Review 132 no. 558 (2017): 1060-61.

[31] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents.

[32] Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid,” 21.

[33] Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid,” 21.

[34] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents.

[35] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents.

[36] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents.

[37] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents.

[38] Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid,” 26.

[39] Stewart, “The Maid and the Milkmaid,” 25.

[40] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents.

[41] “Trial Records” in Joan of Arc: Documents.

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