Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured (54 page)

May 30: Joan is burned alive in the old marketplace in Rouen.

1450

February 15: Charles appoints Cardinal Guillaume Bouillé to initiate an investigation into Joan’s trial of condemnation.

1456

January 28: Inquest begins at Domrémy.

February 12–March 16: Inquest continues at Orléans.

July 7: Joan’s 1431 condemnation is nullified on the basis of the trial’s procedural flaws.

1909

April 18: Joan of Arc is beatified.

1920

May 16: Joan of Arc is canonized.

Acknowledgments

Gerry Howard, my inspired editor, suggested Joan of Arc as a subject, and I know I’ll look back on the time devoted to this book as some of the headiest and happiest of my writing life. I bear him boundless gratitude. Jeremy Medina, Bette Alexander, Ingrid Sterner, and Benjamin Hamilton helped shepherd this book into the world, and John Fontana gave it a sublime jacket. My agent, Amanda Urban, has made everything possible from the very beginning.

Lia Ottaviano and Samantha Kristia Smith provided me expert research assistance, and Sarah Harrison shouldered the endnotes. Chris and Catherine Snidow were expert guides in France, and Thomas Dubiaha made sure I made it home.

My husband, Colin, and our children, Sarah, Walker, and Julia, are always their generous selves. Everyone knows how many dinners were takeout and that it’s been years since I sorted the socks.

Notes

  
Chapter I: In the Beginning Was the Word

   In the beginning was: John 1:1. All biblical citations are taken from the Revised Standard Version.

1
“Have you not heard”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 99.

2
Throughout the text, I have relied on W. P. Barrett’s translation of the trial of condemnation. Unless otherwise cited, all quotes attributed to Joan or her judges are taken from that translation. As it was the custom during the Middle Ages to record testimony in the third rather than first person, I have on occasion returned the inquisitor’s examination of Joan to its original dialogue form.

3
“seeing may not see”: Luke 8:10.

4
“new and everlasting covenant”: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ conflation of Isaiah 55:3, Jeremiah 32:40, and Hebrews 8:13 and 12:24.

5
“the most noble life”: Twain,
Personal Recollections
, xvi.

6
“In preference to all the brave men”: Craig Taylor,
Joan of Arc
, 105.

7
Her
Ditié de Jehanne
: “The Song of Joan” is generally known as “The Song of Joan of Arc,” but as the suffix “d’Arc” is an anachronism added centuries after her death, I have left it off.

8
a “young maiden, to whom God gives”: Craig Taylor,
Joan of Arc
, 102.

9
summoned as a trio: Fraioli,
Joan of Arc
, 61.

10
the fifth century
BC
: Heraclitus, 12th frag.

11
“Behold, battles resound”: Fraioli,
Joan of Arc
, 62.

12
“For unto us a child is born”: Isaiah 9:6.

13
prophets Isaiah, Daniel, and Hosea: Isaiah and Hosea in the eighth century
BC
, and Daniel in the second.

14
“triumphant and victorious is he”: Zechariah 9:9.

15
“All this has taken place”: Matthew 26:26.

16
“set at liberty those who are oppressed”: Isaiah 58:6.

17
“great sufferings”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 115.

18
“bad form to praise”: Huizinga,
Waning of the Middle Ages
, 22.

19
“to
see only its suffering”: Ibid., 28.

20
Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah: Isaiah 40:11 and 44:28; Ezekiel 34:12, 23, 24; Zechariah 11:16.

21
lumped Joan in among the herd: Duby,
France in the Middle Ages
, 288.

22
“even cooking instructions”: Tuchman,
Distant Mirror
, 32.

23
“went down into the abyss”: Cervantes,
Don Quixote
, 601.

24
hairdressers: Hubert Demory,
Monsieur Antoine: Grand maître de la haute coiffure française
(Paris: L’Harmattan, 2006).

  
Chapter II: By Angels’ Speech and Tongue

1
The strategy was intended: Gies,
Joan of Arc
, 19.

2
Born in 1375: According to some accounts, he was born in 1380.

3
“true and good Catholics”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 73.

4
“Honest farmers”: Ibid., 71.

5
“the only house in the village”: Richey,
Joan of Arc
, 26.

6
“It was during the night”: Sackville-West,
Saint Joan of Arc
, 31.

7
“Wonderful to relate”: Ibid., 31.

8
The Evangelist Matthew chose Bethlehem: Micah 5:2.

9
“You, oh Bethlehem”: Matthew 2:1.

10
“We have found him”: John 1:45.

11
“bears herself vigorously”: Gies,
Joan of Arc
, 48.

12
“never had any carnal desire”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 160.

13
“Although she was a young girl”: Ibid., 174.

14
“found that she was
stricta
”: Wheeler and Wood,
Fresh Verdicts
, 299.

15
“Black and swart before”: William Shakespeare,
Henry VI, Part One
, act 1, scene 2.

16
“was very small and looked”: Craig Taylor,
Joan of Arc
, 229.

17
“A white dove will fly up”: Schiller,
Joan of Arc
, 136.

18
“in the skies of France”: Anouilh,
Lark
, adapt. Hellman, 35.

19
“making sparrows, then slapping”: Charlesworth,
Historical Jesus
, 65.

20
“saw the Spirit of God descending”: Matthew 3:17.

21
“accompanied the mayors”: Larissa Juliet Taylor,
Virgin Warrior
, 6.

22
“the daughter of a shepherd”: Craig Taylor,
Joan of Arc
, 112.

23
“young girl who had only”: Ibid., 90.

24
“mendacious propositions”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 61.

25
“Ladies who cast spells”: Ibid., 72.

26
“leaves and branches come down”: Ibid., 84.

27
posthumously acquitted of the crime: Warner,
Joan of Arc
, 41.

28
“a whole century” : Huizinga,
Waning of the Middle Ages
, 9.

29
“Their only liege”: Michelet,
Joan of Arc
, 7.

30
“near continuous incursions”: Larissa Juliet Taylor,
Virgin Warrior
, 12.

31
“used to go down on her knees”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 87.

32
“it was her habit”: Ibid., 143.

33
“seized with a marvelous”: Ibid., 142.

34
as Satan is called: Revelation 12:20.

35
“the primordial feat of arms”: Huizinga,
Waning of the Middle Ages
, 56.

36
“The first maker of the gods”: James,
Varieties of Religious Experience
, 74.

37
“orison of union”: Teresa of Avila,
Life of Saint Teresa of Jesus
, 158.

38
“ineffable light and splendor”: Saint Bridget of Sweden,
Birgitta of Sweden
, 203.

39
“air opened as bright”: Kempe,
Margery Kempe
, 42.

40
“dead from the middle downwards”: Julian of Norwich,
Revelations of Divine Love
, 19.

41
“the red blood trickl[ed] down”: Ibid., 21.

42
“The Roman soldier who stuck”: Péguy,
Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc
, 34.

43
“malicious semblance”: Julian of Norwich,
Revelations
, 153.

44
“Satan, in an abominable shape”: Teresa of Avila,
The Life of Saint Teresa of Jesus
, 168.

45
“comes to snare a soul”: Anouilh,
Lark
, trans. Fry, 7.

46
“her reluctance to discuss”: Sackville-West,
Saint Joan of Arc
, 298.

47
“A light came over the sun”: Anouilh,
Lark
, adapt. Hellman, 7.

48
“Born in the shadow”: Michelet,
Joan of Arc
, 9.

49
“Virgins would be rewarded”: Duby et al.,
History of Women in the West
, 29.

50
“an explosion of female categories”: Ibid., 74.

51
Sexually immature girls: Ibid.

52
“Art thou not formed”: Rogers,
Troublesome Helpmate
, 67.

53
“foul substance was blamed”: Duby et al.,
History of Women in the West
, 65.

54
Aristotle taught that the gaze: Ibid.

55
“a temple built over a sewer”: Grant,
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
, 483. Grant corrects the widely held misperception, attributing the words to Marcion.

56
“whitewashed tombs”: Matthew 24:13–36.

57
“In her, the life of the spirit”: Michelet,
Joan of Arc
, 9.

58
“I was only born the day”: Anouilh,
Lark
, adapt. Hellman, 54.

59
“She gave alms gladly”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 84–85.

60
“She was deeply devoted”: Ibid., 79.

61
“I and the others”: Ibid., 87.

62
“I say my prayers, yes, Joan”: Péguy,
Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc
, 17–18.

63
“She liked going to church”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 81.

64
“when her parents thought”: Ibid., 72.

65
“You were crying out”: Anouilh,
Lark
, adapt. Hellman, 11–12.

 
Chapter III: A Small, Nay, the Least, Thing

1
“escalating tensions between the warring factions”: Larissa Juliet Taylor,
Virgin Warrior
, 30.

2
“She was not so much warned”: Craig Taylor,
Joan of Arc
, 109.

3
“A terrible contract binds me”: Schiller,
Joan of Arc
, 173.

4
“The terms in which earthly women”: Gies,
Knight in History
, 54.

5
“completely human in her origin”: Pelikan,
Mary Through the Centuries
, 107.

6
“Daily was she visited”: Anonymous,
The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary
, chap. 7.

7
“appeared in front of me”: Schiller,
Joan of Arc
, 157–58.

8
“If anyone comes to me”: Luke 14:26; 33.

9
“He’d been a good son”:
Péguy, Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc
, 46.

10
“well-behaved, pious, and patient”: Pernoud,
Retrial of Joan of Arc
, 86.

11
“Was it not said that France”: Ibid., 86.

12
“give her a good slapping”: Ibid.

13
“I saw her there”: Ibid., 102.

14
“The King of Heaven”: Sackville-West,
Saint Joan of Arc
, 74.

15
“kick [her] in the place”: Anouilh,
Lark
, adapt. Hellman, 15.

16
“The village girls”: Anouilh,
Lark
, trans. Fry, 20.

17
“they only laughed”: Craig Taylor,
Joan of Arc
, 250.

18
“Don’t get involved”: Brecht,
Saint Joan of the Stockyards
, 13.