Joan of Arc: French Fighter and English Heretic

Warfare has traditionally been a masculine practice, with the battlefields of the world being the wheelhouse of men. They were expected to defend their homes from foreign invaders and conquer new territories for their righteous ruler. The early modern period of Europe was no stranger to war. Men had for ages battled each other with increasingly devastating weapons of warfare. Wars were fought by men for the benefit of men, be it kings or members of the church. Women were not thought of as capable to aid in warfare. This general thought was turned on its head in 1428 when, in France, Joan of Arc turned up swearing her allegiance to King Charles VII. This teenaged girl would go on to help push the English out of France, rallying French troops and providing them hope of victory. But why was Joan of Arc allowed on the battlefield at all in an age of perceived male superiority? We can see everything that was wrong with her on the battlefield in this excerpt from her trial in 1431.

“ The reputation of this woman had already gone forth into many parts: how, wholly forgetful of womanly honesty, and having thrown off the bonds of shame, careless of all the modesty of womankind, she wore with an astonishing and monstrous brazenness, immodest garments belonging to the male sex; how moreover, her presumptuousness had grown until she was not afraid to perform, to speak, and to disseminate many things contrary to the Catholic faith and hurtful to the articles of the orthodox belief.”[1]

The English speak of Joan’s forgetting of a woman’s modesty and her monstrous behaviour of wearing men’s clothes. Her actions led others to believe she was a heretic who had scorned the Christian beliefs of the Catholic Church. Was she out of place in her actions? Did she act in accordance or out of line with the Christian teachings? The French believed Joan of Arc was a good Christian while the English believed she was a heretic, although they may have had alternative motives for this.

It is generally thought that women were never near the battlefield in Europe, but this is not quite true. While men acted on the frontlines, women had many important roles on the backlines. This lack of general knowledge about women’s roles in war mostly comes down to military historians’ preoccupation with the battlefield exploits of men.[2] The French army of 40,000 that invaded Italy in 1494 included thousands of non-combatants.[3] There were approximately 5000 “mouths” for every 3000 soldiers.[4] There were three main roles for women accompanying an army. The first was to become a sutler. Sutlers sold goods to the soldiers that were not a part of the regular supply system such as meat, drink, and other luxuries.[5] Some women were there to accompany their husbands to war and supplemented his income while he was fighting. This could be done by doing jobs such as sewing, washing, spinning, selling second hand goods, or even stealing items for her husband.[6] The last main type of woman accompanying armies were prostitutes. Prostitutes were generally accepted as a necessary evil to protect local women from ravenous soldiers, although this practice was overlooked rather than outright approved.[7] Overall, women’s roles in the army were largely similar to their roles in everyday life.[8] It seems as if women were still subservient to men, with their only power coming from the female sutlers who could procure desirable goods for the soldiers. In scenes of army life, women are pictured with small children, implying that they would continue to have children, especially if they were accompanying their husband.[9] Women could not even escape motherhood while travelling with the army. However, none of these roles seem very combat oriented. Women, while present in the army, were rarely present on the battlefield. So how did Joan of Arc come to be present on the frontlines, leading the French soldiers’ charges?

It is first important to know the state of France at the time immediately before Joan of Arc. The battle of Agincourt in 1415 ended in an English victory, with King Henry V assuming control over the French throne and culminating in the arranged marriage of Henry to the daughter of King Charles VI of France.[10] This was viewed by the people of France as invalid since King Charles VI was viewed as “mentally diminished” at the time of signing this treaty.[11] Charles VI and Henry V both died within three months of each other and their offspring were both crowned king of France.[12] Charles VII was deeply superstitious and quickly became hopeless about the state of his kingship, making little effort to drive back the English, who were actively campaigning against his legitimacy.[13] This is the stage in which Joan of Arc came into play.

According to Joan of Arc, God spoke to her to tell her that Charles VII was meant to be king of France.[14] Charles VII’s councillors wanted to ensure she was not a heretic and examined her virginity to ensure her divine assignment as well as her role in the prophecy of Marie of Avignon.[15] After their checks, Joan was deemed not corrupted.[16] There was an association of Joan with biblical women and with prophecy that gave authority and legitimacy to her mission.[17] By May 1429, three treatises had been written in support of Joan of Arc.[18] The first was written by Jean Gerson and stated, “God uses the weak to confound the strong,” and that Esther, Judith, and Deborah were all examples of women who, “…obtained salvation for people of God.”[19] The second treatise was written by Archbishop Jacques Gelu, an advisor to Charles VII, who argued that there was nothing surprising about God using a woman as the instrument of his power.[20] Gelu also argued that God would be able to bring about victory through anyone, even the form of a woman.[21] The third treatise was written by an unknown author, but agrees with the other two treatises and compared Joan to biblical women as well.[22] Joan of Arc was seen, at least by the French, to be divinely sent by God to help rid France of the English. This was a large reason as to why she was allowed to fight. It also helped that Charles VII was superstitious and desperate to legitimize his kingship. In her letter to the King of England in 1429, Joan states her mission directly. She says that she will personally drive out the Englishmen from France because God told her that Charles VII was the rightful ruler.[23] Joan adds, “… we will soon see who has the better right, God or you.”[24] This further showed her conviction but more importantly her connection to God.

Charles VII provided Joan with a full suit of armour costing 100 ecas, which was twice as much as the cheapest gear for a knight but eight times less than the most expensive.[25] A regular soldier would be considered well off if he owned a helmet and a gambeson, which was a padded shirt.[26] Full suits of armour were reserved for nobility due to their cost and Joan’s armour took eight weeks to make.[27] While Joan’s armour is one quality that made her stand out from her soldiers, it was also a reason that the English tried her as a heretic. A woman wearing a man’s clothes was a big deal. Deuteronomy 22:5 states that, “the woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man.”[28] When asked by the English court why she wore men’s clothes, Joan said that she did it on her own accord and not by the request of any man alive.[29] It was also stated that she wore men’s clothes while living with the soldiers.[30] When, later in her trial, Joan said she would wear a dress instead, she showed up the next day in men’s attire stating that she simply preferred men’s dress.[31] It was partly her insistence on dressing like a man that got Joan of Arc convicted as a heretic.

When Joan took over the French army, she began spreading God’s will over their camp by banning swearing and prostitutes, saying that, “God would only assist those in a worthy state.”[32] She would also often weep over those wounded and killed in battle which endeared her to the French, and English, soldiers.[33] Despite the ability to rally the French troops out of defeat, Joan was constantly left out of war councils, despite her continued successes.[34] This continued until Joan was captured by the Burgundians at Compiegne in 1430, but Charles refused to ransom her.[35] This led to Joan being sold to the English for a sum of 10,000 Francs.[36]

Besides the wearing of men’s clothes, Joan was tried as a heretic for several reasons, all of which were tied to going against the teachings of the bible. The first was that she disobeyed her parents. Joan’s father had a dream that she would run away with man-at-arms and feared for her safety.[37] Joan was warned that she should never leave but did so anyways, against her parents’ wishes.[38] This was seen as a direct violation of God’s commandment to honour her father and mother.[39] The voices inside her head were deemed to be either fictitious and misleading lies or having come from evil or diabolical spirits such as Belial, Satan, and Behemoth.[40] She was also ruled cruel and athirst for the spilling of human blood.[41] All of these points were enough evidence for the English to have Joan sentenced to death. Her stake was built up high to prevent the executioner from administering the killing blow when she had sufficiently felt the flames.[42] Joan only asked for a cross, which an English soldier made out of two twigs.[43] After her execution, her ashes were gathered and tossed into the river Siene.[44]

There was an alternate reason the English wanted to have Joan executed. While she could not have been executed on a military trial, for she had never killed anyone, she could be handed over to the church court to be tried for heresy.[45] This had the dual purpose of disposing of Joan while discrediting the legitimacy of Charles VII’s rule.[46] The English also had a hatred of Joan that drove the trial since she bolstered the French against them.[47] These political reasons led to her execution without much counsel. The Pope, 18 years later, ruled that the Rouen trial was invalid because her appeal to the Pope had been improperly ignored, that she was a minor who had not been given proper counsel, the judges were biased, that her male attire was indeed necessary, and that the voices in her head were not that of the devil.[48] A cross was eventually raised where Joan had been executed.[49]

Joan of Arc’s actions did eventually lead to the English being pushed out of France. While she was not alive to see it, her name was cleared of heresy charges and she would eventually become a folk hero for the French people. There are many things to learn about Joan of Arc. The main points covered here are how she broke the mold and, despite being a woman, became an inspiring presence on the battlefield. While women were relegated to the camps, Joan rallied the troops from the frontlines. Despite being a warrior sent from God, she still was not allowed in the men’s club of the war council and many of her manlier actions were eventually seen as heresy. She did what would be impossible for many women but was still executed for her gender and religious transgressions.

Bibliography

Barrett, W.P., Coley Taylor, and Ruth H. Kerr, trans. “Medieval Sourcebook: The Trial of Joan of Arc.” New York, 1999. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/joanofarc-trial.asp.

Fraioli, Deborah. “The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences.” Speculum 56, no. 4 (1981): 811–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/2847364.

Frank, John P. “The Trial of Joan of Arc.” Litigation 23, no. 2 (1997): 51–69. http://www.jstor.org/stable/29759909.

Hacker, Barton C. “Women and Military Institutions in Early Modern Europe: A Reconnaissance.” Signs 6, no. 4 (1981): 643–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3173736.

Joan of Arc, Translated by Belle Tuten. Letter to King of England. “Letter to the King of England, 1429,” France: March 22, 1429.

“Suit of Armour: Joan of Arc.” Joan of Arc – (1412 – 1431), December 28, 2021. https://www.jeanne-darc.info/biography/suit-of-armour/.

Taylor, Larissa Juliet. 2012. “Joan of Arc, the Church, and the Papacy, 1429-1920.” Catholic Historical Review 98 (2): 217–40. doi:10.1353/cat.2012.0129.

Williams, Gareth. “Manipulation and the Maid: Joan of Arc and the Siege of Orléans.” Medieval Warfare 4, no. 2 (2014): 25–32. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48578334.

[1] Barrett, W.P., Coley Taylor, and Ruth H. Kerr, trans. “Medieval Sourcebook: The Trial of Joan of Arc.” New York, 1999: 3.

[2] Hacker, Barton C. “Women and Military Institutions in Early Modern Europe: A Reconnaissance.” Signs 6, no. 4 (1981): 644.

[3] Hacker, 647.

[4] Hacker, 647.

[5] Hacker, 648.

[6] Hacker, 650.

[7] Hacker, 651.

[8] Hacker, 653.

[9] Hacker, 652.

[10] Williams, Gareth. “Manipulation and the Maid: Joan of Arc and the Siege of Orléans.” Medieval Warfare 4, no. 2 (2014): 25.

[11] Williams, 25.

[12] Williams, 25.

[13] Hacker, 25.

[14] Williams, 26.

[15] Williams, 26.

[16] Williams, 26.

[17] Fraioli, Deborah. “The Literary Image of Joan of Arc: Prior Influences.” Speculum 56, no. 4 (1981): 812.

[18] Fraioli, 813.

[19] Fraioli, 813-814.

[20] Fraioli, 814.

[21] Fraioli, 814.

[22] Fraioli, 814.

[23] Joan of Arc, Translated by Belle Tuten. Letter to King of England. “Letter to the King of England, 1429,” France: March 22, 1429.

[24] Joan of Arc.

[25] “Suit of Armour: Joan of Arc.” Joan of Arc – (1412 – 1431), December 28, 2021.

[26] “Suit of Armour: Joan of Arc.” Joan of Arc – (1412 – 1431), December 28, 2021.

[27] “Suit of Armour: Joan of Arc.” Joan of Arc – (1412 – 1431), December 28, 2021.

[28] Frank, John P. “The Trial of Joan of Arc.” Litigation 23, no. 2 (1997): 54.

[29] Barrett, W.P., Coley Taylor, and Ruth H. Kerr, trans. “Medieval Sourcebook: The Trial of Joan of Arc.” New York, 1999: 100.

[30] Taylor, Larissa Juliet. 2012. “Joan of Arc, the Church, and the Papacy, 1429-1920.” Catholic Historical Review 98 (2): 220.

[31] Barrett, W.P., Coley Taylor, and Ruth H. Kerr, trans. “Medieval Sourcebook: The Trial of Joan of Arc.” New York, 1999: 348.

[32] Williams, 27.

[33] Williams, 27.

[34] Williams, 32.

[35] Williams, 32.

[36] Frank, 53.

[37] Barrett, 99.

[38] Barrett, 100.

[39] Barrett, 315.

[40] Barrett, 314.

[41] Barrett, 315.

[42] Frank, 54.

[43] Frank, 54.

[44] Frank, 69.

[45] Frank, 53.

[46] Frank, 53.

[47] Taylor, 233.

[48] Frank, 69.

[49] Frank, 69.

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