Clerics and Doctors at Poitiers interrogate Jeanne D'Arc

     Although Joan of Arc is mentioned a lot in films and books and memorials (over 20 statues worldwide), plus canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholics, her history always seemed a bit fuzzy to me. I unenthusiastically took this photo (below) of her angelic statue at Poitiers. She seemed to be everywhere. I had seen her last summer at a garden in Quebec City, at Montreal the summer before, and recently at the abbey entrance on Mont Saint Michel  . . . so my attitude was "another statue of Joan of Arc" ho-hum.

..... the statue was a few feet away from the "Palace of Poitiers" which I had depicted on an earlier post. I decided to research her significance here at Poitiers.

     And it is quite an interesting story. The Hundred Years' War with England was going very badly. She was a French child of a peasant family (a child of a warring culture, as her country was at war off/on approximately 65 years prior to her birth). At a terribly young age, she claims she had visions of helping her countrymen (the French) win battles with England. Folks told her she'd never be able to fight battles looking like a girl, so she cut her hair and dressed like a boy. Folks donated armor, a horse, other things to her. This horsewoman had a winning way!

     She became a media darling, for lack of a better word, but in a very controversial way. A cross-dressing woman fighting battles because "God told me!"? Skeptics claimed she must be the devil's child, and in a very religious Catholic culture, those doubts took on a life of its own! So, the French elite summoned her to appear before the clerics in Poitiers to interrogate her. Is she, or is she not, a child of the devil? They definitely needed all the help they could get to win battles with England, but she had put a religious-spin on her motives, "God spoke to me!" Up till then, the battles between France and England weren't religious ones, just ordinary bullying monarchical land-grabbing ones. So, that's why she came to Poitiers, to appear before the many clerics and doctors at the Palace of Poitiers (also known as Palace of Justice, photo above). She was interrogated for three weeks or so during March - April 1429 (plaque below memorializes those interrogation events on the 500th anniversary in 1929).

     Maybe because I'm a Libra, I find courtroom dramas fascinating. The transcripts to her many interrogations over those three weeks didn't survive, but there are recorded events (click here for the most interesting story) because there were many witnesses. She was interviewed by numerous clerics and doctors to determine her sanity, motives and emotional health (a cross-dresser with visions from God!). Now keep in mind, the French dearly wanted to believe in her, they were losing battles with England. Maybe she WAS sent by God! I think they were optimistically cautious about her. She apparently was a very forceful imposing young lady. When asked what French dialect God used to speak to her, she replied "A better one than yours!"

     And what happened at the conclusion of her interrogation weeks at Poitiers? The clerics and doctors announced to the monarchs and powers to be that this lady was a good Christian, a good Catholic girl, never idle, and that the King should make good use of this girl.

     And when England captured her in 1430, approximately one year later after her many contributions in helping France fight its battles, they were so worried about this media darling (maybe she was a child of the devil) that they burned her three times to make sure the devil in her was burned, too. When she was reduced to a handful of ashes, her ashes were dumped in the Seine River. But it wasn't until May 16, 1920 that Pope Benedict XV canonized her, making her a Catholic saint.

     And now, I finally understand why the French have so many statues of Joan of Arc. She is dearly beloved here.