Joan of Arc

Check out this summary of Joan's life, written in 1903 by T. Douglas Murray (of London). Although one needs to get past patronizing, turn-of-the-century references to women, like:

While her woman's nature shoed itself in her burst of tears when dishonoring names were flung at her by some brutal English soldiers, or when she screamed at the sharp and sudden pain of the wound she received...

the article is still worthwhile.

Some folks have a passion for Joan of Arc which allows the rest of us to view really interesting material. An excellent site on the topic is The St. Joan of Arc Center. It contains the entire, annotated transcripts for Joan's two trials ("The Lapse" and "The Relapse"), plus the Rehabilitation Trial.

If you would like a more scholarly look at Joan's life and impact, visit Professor Bonnie Wheeler's site at SMU. You can join the International Joan of Arc Society hosted at this site.

By all accounts, Joan was very religious as a child and as a young woman. Follow this link to her village church to see the actual baptismal font the priest used to baptize her.

During her trial, Joan tells her accusers that "The Voices" are St. Catherine, St. Margaret and St. Michael.

It took Joan about eleven days to make the journey from Vaucouleurs to the Dauphin's court at Chinon. This link will show you her route and what she saw along the way.

Enroute to Rouen, Joan was imprisoned in several places. Follow these links to see the deplorable conditions at Beaulieu-les-Fontaines and Beaurevoir.

Want to read more about it? Check out this bibliography.

The Roman emperor Justinian ordered St. Catherine's Monastery to be built in 527. It is located in a spectacular setting at the foot of Mount Moses and took nearly 40 years to build. It contains priceless works of art. This is a link to pictures and stories about the monastery and the saint to whom Joan of Arc prayed.

It is interesting to ponder an apparent dichotomy.  The Catholic Church condemned Joan to be burned at the stake and then, 500 years later, made her a saint. How does that follow? 

This story has taken you to many links about Joan of Arc. You have seen interpretations of what she must have looked like (currently there are no known pictures of her, although frescoes have been uncovered near her home town.) You have seen artist interpretations of her death. Alex Beard also has a modern interpretation: "Joan of Arc Burned at the Stake."

With this background, perhaps some of the haze (surrounding Joan's life and death) has been cleared - at least to some extent.