PART 1
This portrait represents Joan of Arc. It was painted fifty years after her death; around 1480.
In this painting we can see a woman; Joan who is wearing an armour and holding a sword. So we can deduce that she was a fighting woman. In our opinion she was really courageous, because at the time, none of the women fought. So she was considered as a crazy. We think that she was, and still is, extremely amazing. Moreover, behind her there is a religious banner. In this one we can see three saints. In our opinion, they are St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Marguerite Indeed, Joan, at the age of twelve, heard "voices" from these people. To our mine, the catholic religion was terribly important for her; it help her.
Moreover this portrait shows us Joan of Arc with an armour. We can easily deduce that she fought during the 100 year's war. At the time, we can see, in the painting, that she was about 20. Indeed, she was 18, when she came to see François de Baudricourt for the first time. She told him that she would like to fight; he treated her like a raving mad girl.
We have chosen this painting of her, because for us, it is the one that represents her the best. We only have to look at the portrait in few seconds, to know that she fought, she was courageous and she was linked with religion.
That's why we wanted to present( speak about her life) Joan of Arc. We admire her courage. Even if everybody was ready to abandon, she didn't lose hope. Then she intrigues us with her religion beliefs. she affirmed, she heard voices from God. Finally the fact that she was one of the first women who fought is interesting for us.
PART 2
Joan of Arc was born on January 6, 1412. She was the fifth child of a farmer who lived in Domrémy (in Lorraine). She didn’t receive any education, except a religious one. When she was young, she lived through the worst things (death, rape and famine) of the war (against the English). The Hundred Years War was in its last quarter and it was a hard time for patriotism in France. France was in need of a king who would keep the country together. Joan was really pious, that’s why she thought that God called her to deliver France from the occupation of the English.
Fighting and Famous woman
Joan decided to speak to captain Robert de Baudricourt in 1428. As we said in part 1, he treated her as a silly girl, when she told him that she wanted to fight. He didn’t mock her because she wanted to save France, but because she was a woman. In our opinion, thanks to her courage, she didn’t abandon France and French people. She fought until the end (she was under arrest).
Joan was famous at the time, for French people, she was a woman sent by God. They trusted her; she gave them hope. Twenty-five years after her death, the church reprocessed her case, and she was proved innocent. In 1920, pope Benedict XV canonized her; her traditional feast day is May 30. Now, for us she is as popular as she was when she was alive.
At the time, when a man died, his wife could inherit his money and she could also make use of their property. If she had to run an army, she had to get married (so that her "new husband" could run it). So, we can see that Joan of Arc was one of the few women who fought, because women weren’t allowed to do it. Now there are still few of them who work in an army. To our mind, it’s not as difficult as it was, to work in an army; but it’s still a hard work for women because of discrimination. Men thought that women were inferior, according to them, they were just able to look after children and to cook. We find it terribly unfair! For us, Joan of arc was also fighting for equality between men and women, even if she didn’t say so. So, to us she seems to be a feminist, she did as she was one of them (feminists).
Even a century later, Montaigne said: "Women only have to know "the housework sciences" and to provide procreation"
Mysterious aspects
Joan of Arc intrigues us. It seems that in 1425, she heard voices asking her to liberate France from the occupation of the English. She said:
"I was thirteen when I had a voice from God for my help and guidance. The first time I heard this voice, I was young child, and I was much afraid. It seemed to come from lips I should reverence. I believe it was sent to me from God."
At the time people thought she was crazy; but we probably would have thought the same if we had lived in her society in the 15th century. But now, people are less sceptical and believe that Joan’s "voices" could be real, so do we. Unluckily, we could never be sure she really received a "divine message".
There are few women who heard "voices" from God. That’s why we decided to learn more about her. We would like to know what she felt while she had divine messages. The "voices" asked her to help the Dauphin, later Charles VII. Because of the conflicts between France and England, Charles hadn’t been crowned king of France yet. In our opinion, When Joan heard the "voices", she felt nervous, intrigued and above all terrified.
In 1428, after several requests, she finally met the Dauphin. She wanted him to give her an army, to push the English out of France. But the Dauphin was suspicious, he was afraid that Joan wanted to meet him in order to assassinate him. According to us, he suspected her because she was a woman. It would certainly has been different if she had been a man. Therefore he decided to swap place with one of his servants. Mysteriously, she entered the Dauphin’s castle, and even if she hadn’t seen Charles before, she recognized the man hidden in the court. We wonder how she did that! When Joan recognised the Dauphin, the man was so astonished that he accepted to speak with her. Joan succeeded in convincing him that she had a divine mission, and Charles gave her an army to run. He hoped that Joan would help him reach Reims, where he would be crowned king of France. We will never know how Joan managed to convince the most important man of France to have an army; because she was perceived as a poor and crazy peasant.
Joan was really linked with religion. All the girls who worked with Joan at the farm criticized her for her devotion to the church. She attended mass daily, confessed her sin. Joan gave candles for the saints, loving service to all about her, and on occasion her bed to the poor. In our opinion, if Joan hadn’t been so linked with religion, she wouldn’t have received her divine mission.
Thanks to her courage, she would never abandon
Joan conducted on her own a military operation .She won the terrible Battle of Orleans on May 8, 1429. All the French soldiers followed her: she gave them confidence. The exploit she accomplished is extraordinary. A few years before, Joan was a little peasant, but she succeeded in everything she undertook, even command men (unimaginable thing at the time). If we had been in her shoes, we certainly wouldn’t have been courageous enough to liberate France from the English.
Thanks to Joan, Charles VII had finally been crowned king of France. He was reining, therefore he didn’t need Joan anymore: he abandoned her. Joan was lonely, certainly despaired. Shortly after, She was captured by Burgundian soldiers, who sold her to their English allies. She was tried by an ecclesiastical court at Rouen for heresy and sorcery. Joan suffered 14 horrible months of interrogation (she certainly was humiliated, tortured and raped). It would seem that she wore masculine clothes, contrary to the wish of the church. The court finally condemned her to death, but she confessed her sins, and the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. If we had been in Joan’s shoes, we would have preferred to admit a crime we hadn’t done, rather than support a judgment as horrible as she received. Because she resumed wearing masculine dress, she was condemned again and, on May 30, 1431, Joan was burned in the Old Market Square at Rouen. In our opinion, that is the most awful death we could imagine: burned alive! Joan didn’t deserve this death. The courage she showed in her latest years of her life is unequalled.
In our group, we disagreed about the reasons why Joan was chosen by God. Some of us thought that she was chosen because she was extremely linked with religion and was of service to the church. Some others thought when she was chosen by God, she became pious. Doing this work, we discovered what courage is, and what someone could do for God.
Nowadays, it would certainly be easier for a woman to fight. There are more and more "women soldiers". This is due to the evolution of mentalities in our society: Women are considered as important as men. But we think Joan was really courageous, and even if some women are soldiers, there are certainly very few of them that would have her courage in hard fights like the battle of Orleans.
We admire her because she started from scratch, and she became very famous very rapidly. In our opinion, she died too young.
Marie Camille, Stéphanie, Claire Hélène
Mars 2001
