Jeanne d'Arc's childhood and youth summary. Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc

The only lifetime image of Joan of Arc

Brief description of life:

Joan of Arc is one of the most famous figures of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). By the time the king came to the throne Charles VII(1422) France found itself in a critical situation - all of northern France was occupied by the British, the army was extremely weakened, and the question of the independence of the French state arose. The key moment was the English siege of Orleans (1428).

The capture of this fortress opened up an almost unhindered advance to the south. At that moment, the peasant girl Joan of Arc appeared, claiming that she heard the voices of saints who encouraged her to a military feat and promised her their help.

Jeanne managed to convince the military of her liberation mission, she received a military detachment and, supported by experienced military leaders and popular faith, inflicted several defeats on the British. The siege of Orleans was lifted.

Jeanne's fame and influence grew enormously. At her insistence, Charles was solemnly crowned in Reims. However, Jeanne's attempt to storm Paris ended unsuccessfully.

Joan of Arc was captured in 1430 and brought to the church court. At the insistence of the British, she was accused of witchcraft, found guilty and burned in Rouen on May 30, 1431. After 25 years, her case was reviewed, she was recognized as innocently convicted , and in 1920 she was canonized.

Netre Dame de Senlis - Cathedral of Our Lady of Senlis Memorial plaque in honor of the 500th anniversary of Joan of Arc's stay here: "On August 15, 1429, she won a victory against the English army of the Duke of Bedford in the Senlis Plain, where she spent from April 23 to 25. She returned back in April 1430."

Siege of Orleans by the British

On March 6, 1429, Joan arrived at the castle Chinon to King Charles VII of France

The Marxist looked:

Jeanne d'Arc (c. 1412, Domremy, Lorraine, - May 30, 1431, Rouen), national heroine of France, who led the liberated struggle of the French people against the British during the Hundred Years' War 1337-1453. The fanatically religious J. d'A., seeing the disasters that befell her homeland, gradually became convinced that she could lead the movement against foreign invaders. Her desire to fight met the aspirations of the French people. With difficulty making her way from the territory occupied by the British and their allies - the Burgundians, in Chinon to the Dauphin Charles, she convinced him to begin decisive military actions. Placed at the head of the army, J. d'A. showed courage and inspired the troops to fight the enemy. She broke through with her troops into Orleans, besieged by the British, and on May 8, 1429, forced them to lift the siege of the city, for which people began to call her the Maid of Orleans. A series of victories won by J. d'A. allowed the Dauphin Charles (Charles VII) to be crowned in Reims on July 17, 1429. However, the king and the aristocratic elite, frightened by the wide scope of the people's war and the growing popularity of J. d'A., actually removed her from the command of the army. On May 23, 1430, during a sortie from the besieged Compiegne, J. d'A., as a result of betrayal, was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the British. The Church Court in Rouen, where the judges were French accomplices of the invaders, accused J. d'A. of heresy and witchcraft and sentenced her to be burned at the stake. 25 years after her execution, at a new church trial in the case of J. d'A., which took place in France in 1456, she was solemnly rehabilitated, and almost five centuries later, in 1920, the Catholic Church canonized her. In memory of the French . people and all humanity J. d "A. remains a shining example without cherished love for the homeland. Nowadays in France, the second Sunday of May is celebrated annually as a holiday in honor of J. d'A.

Used materials from the Soviet Military Encyclopedia in 8 volumes, volume 3: American Civil War, 1861-65 - Yokota. 672 pp., 1977.

Joan of Arc leads the French into battle

Passionary example

Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans (1412-1431) - the national heroine of France. During the Hundred Years' War, she led the French fight against the British, in 1429 she liberated the city of Orleans from the siege. In 1430 she was captured by the Burgundians, who gave her away for a lot of money to the British, who declared Jeannou a witch and brought her to the ecclesiastical court. Accused of heresy, with the connivance of Charles VII, she was burned at the stake in Rouen. In 1920, she was canonized by the Catholic Church. Considered Gumilev as an example of a passionary.

Quoted from: Lev Gumilyov. Encyclopedia. / Ch. ed. E.B. Sadykov, comp. T.K. Shanbai, - M., 2013, p. 252.

The image of Jeanne in literature

“We know more about Joan of Arc than about any other of her contemporaries, and at the same time it is difficult to find among the people of the 15th century another person whose image would seem so mysterious to posterity.” (*2) p.5

"...She was born in the village of Domremy in Lorraine in 1412. It is known that she was born of honest and just parents. On Christmas night, when peoples are accustomed to honor the works of Christ in great bliss, she entered the mortal world. And roosters, like "The heralds of new joy, then screamed with an extraordinary, hitherto unheard cry. We saw them flapping their wings for more than two hours, predicting what was destined for this little one." (*1) p.146

This fact is reported by Perceval de Boulainvilliers, the king's adviser and chamberlain, in a letter to the Duke of Milan, which can be called her first biography. But most likely this description is a legend, since not a single chronicle mentions this and the birth of Jeanne did not leave the slightest trace in the memory of fellow villagers - residents of Domremi, who acted as witnesses in the rehabilitation process.

She lived in Domremy with her father, mother and two brothers, Jean and Pierre. Jacques d'Arc and Isabella were, according to local standards, “not very rich.” (For a more detailed description of the family, see (*2) pp. 41-43)

“Not far from the village where Jeanne grew up, there grew a very beautiful tree, “as beautiful as a lily,” as one witness noted; village boys and girls gathered around the tree on Sundays, they danced around it and washed themselves with water from a nearby source. The tree was called a tree fairies, they said that in ancient times wonderful creatures, fairies, danced around it. Jeanne also often went there, but she never saw a single fairy." (*5) p.417, see (*2) p.43-45

“When she was 12 years old, the first revelation came to her. Suddenly a shining cloud appeared before her eyes, from which a voice was heard: “Jeanne, it behooves you to go a different way and perform wonderful deeds, for you are the one whom the King of Heaven chose for protection.” King Charles.." (*1) p.146

“At first I was very frightened. I heard a voice during the day, it was in the summer in my father’s garden. The day before I was fasting. The voice came to me from the right side, from where the church was, and from the same side came great holiness. This the voice always guided me." Later, the voice began to appear to Jeanne every day and insisted that she needed to "go and lift the siege from the city of Orleans." The voices called her “Jeanne de Pucelle, daughter of God” - in addition to the first voice, which, as Jeanne thinks, belonged to the Archangel Michael, the voices of Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine were soon added. To all those who tried to block her path, Jeanne reminded them of an ancient prophecy that said that “a woman will destroy France, and a virgin will save it.” (The first part of the prophecy came true when Isabella of Bavaria forced her husband, the French king Charles VI, to declare their son Charles VII illegitimate, with the result that by the time of Joanna Charles VII was not king, but only the Dauphin)." (*5) p.417

“I came here to the royal chamber in order to speak with Robert de Baudricourt, so that he would take me to the king or order his people to take me; but he paid no attention to me or my words; nevertheless, I need to appear before the king in the first half of Lent, even if for this I will wipe off my legs to the knees; know that no one - neither the king, nor the duke, nor the daughter of the Scottish king, nor anyone else - can restore the French kingdom; salvation can only come from me, and although I would prefer to stay with my poor mother and spin, this is not my destiny: I must go, and I will do it, for my Master wants me to act in this way." (*3) page 27

Three times she had to turn to Robert de Baudricourt. After the first time, she was sent home, and her parents decided to marry her off. But Zhanna herself ended the engagement through the court.

“Time passed slowly for her, “like a woman expecting a child,” she said, so slowly that she could not stand it and one fine morning, accompanied by her uncle, the devoted Durand Laxart, a resident of Vaucouleurs named Jacques Alain set off ; her companions bought a horse for her, which cost them twelve francs. But they did not go far: arriving at Saint-Nicolas-de-Saint-Fonds, which was on the road to Sauvroy, Jeanne declared: “This is not the proper way for us to depart,” and the travelers returned to Vaucouleurs (*3) page 25

One fine day a messenger arrived from Nancy from the Duke of Lorraine.

“Duke Charles II of Lorraine gave Jeanne a gracious welcome. He invited her to his place in Nancy. Charles of Lorraine was not at all an ally of Charles Valois; on the contrary, he took a position of hostile neutrality towards France, gravitating towards England.

She told the Duke (Charles of Lorraine) to give her his son and people who would take her to France, and she would pray to God for his health." Jeanne called his son-in-law, Rene of Anjou, the son of the Duke. "Good King Rene" (famous subsequently as a poet and patron of the arts), was married to the Duke's eldest daughter and his heir Isabella... This meeting strengthened Jeanne's position in public opinion... Baudricourt (commandant of Vaucouleurs) changed his attitude towards Jeanne and agreed to send her to the Dauphin." (*2) p.79

There is a version that Rene d'Anjou was the master of the secret order of the Priory of Sion and helped Jeanne fulfill her mission. (See the chapter "Rene d'Anjou")

Already in Vaucouleurs, she puts on a man's suit and goes across the country to the Dauphin Charles. Tests are ongoing. In Chinon, under the name of the Dauphin, another is introduced to her, but Jeanne unmistakably finds Charles out of 300 knights and greets him. During this meeting, Jeanne tells the Dauphin something or shows some kind of sign, after which Karl begins to believe her.

“The story of Jeanne herself to Jean Pasquerel, her confessor: “When the king saw her, he asked Jeanne her name, and she answered: “Dear Dauphin, I am called Jeanne the Virgin, and through my lips the King of Heaven addresses you and says that you will accept anointing and you will be crowned in Reims and become the viceroy of the King of Heaven, the true king of France." After other questions asked by the king, Jeanne again told him: “I tell you in the name of the Almighty that you are the true heir of France and the son of the king, and He sent me to you to lead you to Reims so that you could be crowned and anointed there.” , if you want." Hearing this, the king informed those present that Jeanne had initiated him into a certain secret that no one except God knew and could not know; that's why he trusts her completely. “I heard all this,” concludes Brother Pasquerel, “from the lips of Jeanne, since I myself was not present.” (*3) p. 33

But, nevertheless, an investigation begins, detailed information is collected about Jeanne, who at this time is in Poitiers, where the college of learned theologians of the Bishopric of Poitiers must make its decision.

“Believing that precautions are never superfluous, the king decided to increase the number of those entrusted with interrogating the girl, and to choose the most worthy of them; and they were to gather in Poitiers. Jeanne was settled in the house of Maitre Jean Rabateau, a lawyer of the Parisian Parliament, who joined the king two years earlier, several women were assigned to secretly monitor her behavior.

François Garivel, the king's adviser, clarifies that Jeanne was interrogated several times and the investigation took about three weeks." (*3) p. 43

“A certain lawyer of parliament, Jean Barbon: “From learned theologians who studied her with passion and asked her many questions, I heard that she answered very carefully, as if she were a good scientist, so that they were amazed by her answers. They believed that there was something divine in her very life and her behavior; in the end, after all the interrogations and inquiries carried out by the scientists, they came to the conclusion that there was nothing bad in it, nothing contrary to the Catholic faith and that, taking into account the plight of the king and the kingdom - after all, the king and the inhabitants of the kingdom loyal to him were in This time they were in despair and did not know what kind of help they could hope for, if only not for the help of God - the king can accept her help." (*3) p. 46

During this period, she acquires a sword and a banner. (see chapter "Sword. Banner.")

“In all likelihood, by giving Jeanne the right to have a personal banner, the Dauphin equated her with the so-called “banner knights” who commanded detachments of their people.

Jeanne had under her command a small detachment, which consisted of a retinue, several soldiers and servants. The retinue included a squire, a confessor, two pages, two heralds, as well as Jean of Metz and Bertrand de Poulangy and Jeanne's brothers, Jacques and Pierre, who joined her in Tours. Even in Poitiers, the Dauphin entrusted the protection of the Virgin to the experienced warrior Jean d'Olon, who became her squire. In this brave and noble man, Jeanne found a mentor and friend. He taught her military affairs, with him she spent all her campaigns, he was next to her in all the battles, assaults and sorties. They were captured together by the Burgundians, but she was sold to the British, and he ransomed his freedom and a quarter of a century later, already a knight, a royal adviser and, occupying a prominent position as seneschal of one of the southern French provinces, At the request of the rehabilitation commission, he wrote very interesting memoirs in which he spoke about many important episodes in the history of Joan of Arc. We have also reached the testimony of one of Jeanne’s pages, Louis de Coutes; about the second - Raymond - we know nothing. Jeanne's confessor was the Augustinian monk Jean Pasquerel; He has very detailed testimony, but obviously not everything in it is reliable. (*2) p.130

“In Tours, a military retinue was assembled for Jeanne, as befits a military leader; quartermaster Jean d’Olon was appointed, who testifies: “For her protection and escort, I was placed at her disposal by the king, our lord”; she also has two pages - Louis de Coutes and Raymond. Two heralds, Ambleville and Guienne, were also under her command; Heralds are messengers dressed in livery that allows them to be identified. Heralds were inviolable.

Since Jeanne was given two messengers, it means that the king began to treat her like any other high-ranking warrior, vested with authority and bearing personal responsibility for his actions.

The royal troops were supposed to gather in Blois... It was in Blois, while the army was there, that Jeanne ordered a banner... Jeanne's confessor was touched by the almost religious appearance of the marching army: “When Jeanne set out from Blois to go to Orleans, she asked to gather all the priests around this banner , and the priests walked ahead of the army... and sang antiphons... the same thing happened the next day. And on the third day they approached Orleans." (*3) page 58

Karl hesitates. Zhanna hurries him. The liberation of France begins with the lifting of the siege of Orleans. This is the first military victory of the army loyal to Charles under the leadership of Jeanne, which is also a sign of her divine mission. "See R. Pernu, M.-V. Clain, Joan of Arc / p. 63-69/

It took Jeanne 9 days to liberate Orleans.

"The sun was already setting to the west, and the French were still unsuccessfully fighting for the ditch of the forward fortification. Jeanne jumped on her horse and went into the fields. Away from view... Jeanne plunged into prayer among the grape vines. The unheard-of endurance and will of a seventeen-year-old girl allowed her to make this decisive a moment to escape from her own tension, from the despondency and exhaustion that gripped everyone, now she has found external and internal silence - when only inspiration can arise..."

"...But then the unprecedented happened: the arrows fell out of their hands, the people, confused, looked into the sky. Saint Michael, surrounded by a whole host of angels, appeared shining in the shimmering Orleans sky. The Archangel fought on the side of the French." (*1) page 86

"... the English, seven months after the beginning of the siege and nine days after the Virgin occupied the city, retreated without a fight, every last one, and this happened on May 8 (1429), on the day when St. Michael appeared in distant Italy on Monte Gargano and on the island of Ischia...

The magistrate wrote in the city register that the liberation of Orleans was the greatest miracle of the Christian era. Since then, throughout the centuries, the valiant city has solemnly dedicated this day to the Virgin, the day of May 8, designated in the calendar as the feast of the Apparition of the Archangel Michael.

Many modern critics argue that the victory at Orleans can only be attributed to accidents or to the inexplicable refusal of the British to fight. And yet Napoleon, who thoroughly studied Joan’s campaigns, declared that she was a genius in military affairs, and no one would dare to say that he did not understand strategy.

The English biographer of Joan of Arc, V. Sanquill West, writes today that the entire mode of action of her fellow countrymen who participated in those events seems to her so strange and slow that it can only be explained by supernatural reasons: “Reasons about which are we in the light of our twentieth century science - or perhaps in the darkness of our twentieth century science? - we don’t know anything.” (*1) p.92-94

“To meet the king after the siege was lifted, Jeanne and the Bastard of Orleans went to Loches: “She rode out to meet the king, holding her banner in her hand, and they met,” says a German chronicle of that time, which brought us a lot of information. When the girl bowed her head before the king as low as she could, the king immediately ordered her to rise, and they thought that he almost kissed her from the joy that overwhelmed him." This was May 11, 1429.

Word of Jeanne's feat spread throughout Europe, which showed extraordinary interest in what had happened. The author of the chronicle we quoted is a certain Eberhard Windeken, treasurer of Emperor Sigismund; Obviously, the emperor showed great interest in the deeds of Jeanne and ordered to find out about her. (*3) p.82

We can judge the reaction outside France from a very interesting source. This is the Chronicle of Antonio Morosini... partly a collection of letters and reports. Letter from Pancrazzo Giustiniani to his father, from Bruges to Venice, dated May 10, 1429: “A certain Englishman named Lawrence Trent, a respectable man and not a talker, writes, seeing that this is said in the reports of so many worthy and trustworthy people: “ It drives me crazy." He reports that many of the barons treated her with respect, as did the commoners, and those who laughed at her died a bad death. Nothing, however, is as clear as her undisputed victory in debate with the masters of theology, so that it seems as if she is the second Saint Catherine who descended to earth, and many knights who heard what amazing speeches she made every day consider this a great miracle... They further report that this girl must perform two great deeds, and then die. God help her..." How does she appear before a Venetian of the Quartocento era, before a merchant, diplomat and intelligence officer, that is, before a person of a completely different culture, of a different psychological make-up than herself and her entourage?... Giustiniani is confused." (*2) p.146

"...The girl has an attractive appearance and a masculine posture, she speaks little and shows a wonderful mind; she speaks in a pleasant high voice, as befits a woman. She is moderate in food, and even more moderate in drinking wine. She finds pleasure in beautiful horses and weapons. Many meetings and conversations are unpleasant for the Virgo. Her eyes are often filled with tears, she also loves fun. She endures incredibly hard work, and when she carries a weapon, she shows such tenacity that she can continuously remain fully armed day and night for six days. She says that the English have no right to rule France, and for this, she says, God sent her so that she would drive them out and defeat them..."

"Guy de Laval, a young nobleman who joined the royal army, describes her with admiration: "I saw her, in armor and in full battle gear, with a small ax in her hand, mounting her huge black war horse at the exit of the house , who was in great impatience and did not allow himself to be saddled; then she said: “Take him to the cross,” which was located in front of the church on the road. Then she jumped into the saddle, but he did not move, as if he was tied. And then she turned to the church gates, which were very close to her: “And you, priests, arrange a procession and pray to God.” And then she set off, saying: “Hurry forward, hurry forward.” A pretty page carried her unfurled banner, and she held an ax in her hand." (*3) p.89

Gilles de Rais: “She is a child. She has never harmed an enemy, no one has ever seen her hit anyone with a sword. After every battle she mourns the fallen, before every battle she communes with the Body of the Lord - most warriors do this together with her, - and at the same time she does not say anything. Not a single thoughtless word comes from her mouth - in this she is as mature as many men. No one ever swears around her, and people like it, although all of them "The wives stayed at home. Needless to say, she never takes off her armor if she sleeps next to us, and then, despite all her cuteness, not a single man feels carnal desire for her." (*1) p.109

“Jean Alençon, who was the commander-in-chief in those days, recalled many years later: “She understood everything that had to do with war: she could stick a pike and review the troops, line up the army in battle order and place guns. Everyone was surprised that she was so careful in her affairs, like a combat commander with twenty or thirty years of experience." (*1) p.118

“Jeanne was a beautiful and charming girl, and all the men who met her felt it. But this feeling was the most genuine, that is, the highest, transformed, virgin, returned to that state of “God’s love” that Nuyonpon noted in himself.” (*4) p.306

" - This is very strange, and we can all testify to this: when she rides with us, birds from the forest flock and sit on her shoulders. In battle, it happens that pigeons begin to flutter near her." (*1) p.108

“I remember that in the report drawn up by my colleagues about her life, it was written that in her homeland in Domremy, birds of prey flocked to her when she was grazing cows in the meadow, and, sitting on her lap, pecked at the crumbs that she was pinching off bread. Her flock was never attacked by a wolf, and on the night she was born - on Epiphany - various unusual things were noticed with animals... And why not? Animals are also God's creatures... (*1) page 108

“It seems that in the presence of Jeanne the air became transparent for those people for whom the cruel night had not yet darkened their minds, and in those years there were more such people than is commonly believed today.” (*1) p.66

Her ecstasies proceeded as if outside of time, in ordinary activities, but without disconnection from the latter. She heard her Voices amidst the fighting, but continued to command the troops; heard during interrogations, but continued to answer theologians. This can also be evidenced by her cruelty when, near Turelli, she pulled out an arrow from her wound, ceasing to feel physical pain during ecstasy. And I must add that she was excellent at identifying her Voices in time: at such and such an hour when the bells were ringing." (*4) p.307

“Rupertus Geyer, that same “anonymous” cleric,” understood Jeanne’s personality correctly: if it is possible to find some kind of historical analogy for her, then it is best to compare Jeanne with the Sibyls, these prophetesses of the pagan era, through whose mouths the gods spoke. But there was a huge difference between them and Zhanna. The Sibyls were influenced by the forces of nature: sulfur fumes, intoxicating odors, babbling streams. In a state of ecstasy, they expressed things that they immediately forgot about as soon as they came to their senses. In everyday life they did not have any high insights, they were blank slates on which to write forces that could not be controlled. “For the prophetic gift inherent in them is like a board on which nothing is written, it is unreasonable and uncertain,” wrote Plutarch.

Through the lips of Joan they also spoke spheres whose boundaries no one knew; she could fall into ecstasy at prayer, at the ringing of bells, in a quiet field or in a forest, but it was such an ecstasy, such a transcendence of ordinary feelings, which she controlled and from which she could emerge with a sober mind and awareness of her own self, in order to then translate what he saw and heard into the language of earthly words and earthly actions. What was available to the pagan priestesses in an eclipse of feelings detached from the world, Jeanne perceived in a clear consciousness and reasonable moderation. She rode and fought with men, she slept with women and children, and, like all of them, Jeanne could laugh. Simply and clearly, without omissions or secrets, she spoke about what was about to happen: “Wait, three more days, then we will take the city”; “Be patient, in an hour you will become winners.” Virgo deliberately removed the veil of mystery from her life and actions; Only she herself remained a mystery. Since the impending disaster was predicted for her, she closed her lips, and no one knew about the gloomy news. Always, even before her death at the stake, Zhanna was aware of what she could say and what she could not say.

Since the days of the Apostle Paul, women who “speak in tongues” in Christian communities were required to remain silent, for “the spirit who gives inspiration is responsible for speaking in tongues, but the speaking person is responsible for intelligent prophetic words.” Spiritual language must be translated into the language of people, so that a person accompanies the speech of the spirit with his mind; and only what a person can understand and assimilate with his own reason should he express in words.

Joan of Arc in those weeks managed to prove more clearly than ever that she was responsible for her intelligent words of prophecy and that she spoke them - or remained silent - while in her right mind. (*1) page 192

After the siege of Orleans was lifted, disputes began in the Royal Council about the direction of the campaign. At the same time, Jeanne was of the opinion that it was necessary to go to Reims to crown the king. “She argued that as soon as the king is crowned and anointed, the power of the enemies will decrease all the time and in the end they will no longer be able to harm either the king or the kingdom” p. 167.

Under these conditions, the coronation of the Dauphin in Reims became an act of proclamation of the state independence of France. This was the main political goal of the campaign.

But the courtiers did not advise Charles to undertake a campaign against Reims, saying that on the way from Gien to Reims there were many fortified cities, castles and fortresses with garrisons of English and Burgundians. Jeanne's enormous authority in the army played a decisive role, and on June 27, the Virgin led the vanguard of the army to Reimstr. A new stage of the liberation struggle began. Moreover, the liberation of Troyes decided the outcome of the entire campaign. The success of the campaign exceeded the wildest expectations: in less than three weeks the army covered almost three hundred kilometers and reached its final destination without firing a single shot, without leaving a single burned village or plundered city along the way. The enterprise, which at first seemed so difficult and dangerous, turned into a triumphal march.

On Sunday 17 July, Charles was crowned at Reims Cathedral. Jeanne stood in the cathedral, holding a banner in her hand. Then at the trial they will ask her: “Why was your banner brought into the cathedral during the coronation in preference to the banners of other captains?” And she will answer: “It was in labor and by right should have been honored.”

But then events unfold less triumphantly. Instead of a decisive offensive, Charles concludes a strange truce with the Burgundians. On January 21, the army returned to the banks of the Laura and the bvla was immediately disbanded. But Zhanna continues to fight, but at the same time suffers one defeat after another. Having learned that the Burgundians have besieged Compiegne, she rushes to the rescue. Virgo enters the city on May 23, and in the evening, during a sortie, she is captured.....

“For the last time in her life, on the evening of May 23, 1430, Jeanne stormed the enemy camp, for the last time she took off her armor, a standard with the image of Christ and the face of an angel was taken away from her. The fight on the battlefield was over. What now began at her 18 years , was a fight with a different weapon and with a different opponent, but, as before, it was a struggle for life and death. At that moment, the history of mankind was accomplished through Joan of Arc. Saint Margaret's behest was fulfilled; The hour for the fulfillment of St. Catherine's behest has struck. Earthly knowledge was preparing to fight with wisdom, in the morning rays of which the Virgin Jeanne lived, fought and suffered. In the tide of change the centuries were already approaching when the forces of God-denying scholarship began a bloodless but inexorable offensive against man's dawning memory of his divine origin, when human minds and hearts became the arena in which fallen angels fought with the archangel named Michael, the herald of the will of Christ . Everything that Jeanne did served France, England, and new Europe; it was a challenge, a shining riddle for all the peoples of subsequent eras." (*1) p. 201

Jeanne spent six months in captivity in Burgundy. She waited for help but in vain. The French government did nothing to help her out of trouble. At the end of 1430, the Burgundians sold Jeanne to the British, who immediately brought her before the Inquisition.

A year has passed since the day when Zhanna was captured... A year and one day...

Behind us was Burgundy captivity. There were two escape attempts behind us. The second almost ended tragically: Zhanna jumped out of a window on the top floor. This gave the judges a reason to accuse her of the mortal sin of attempted suicide. Her explanations were simple: “I did it not out of hopelessness, but in the hope of saving my body and going to the aid of many nice people who need it.”

Behind her was the iron cage in which she was kept for the first time in Rouen, in the basement of the royal castle of Bouverey. Then the interrogations began, she was transferred to a cell. Five English soldiers guarded her around the clock, and at night they chained her to the wall with an iron chain.

Behind were grueling interrogations. Each time she was bombarded with dozens of questions. Traps awaited her at every step. One hundred thirty-two members of the tribunal: cardinals, bishops, professors of theology, learned abbots, monks and priests... And a young girl who, in her own words, “doesn’t know either a or b.”

…. Behind were those two days at the end of March when she was familiarized with the indictment. In seventy articles, the prosecutor listed the criminal acts, speeches and thoughts of the defendant. But Zhanna deflected one accusation after another. The two-day reading of the indictment ended in the defeat of the prosecutor. The judges were convinced that the document they had drawn up was no good, and replaced it with another.

The second version of the indictment contained only 12 articles. The unimportant things were eliminated, the most important things remained: “voices and knowledge”, a man’s suit, a “fairy tree”, the seduction of the king and the refusal to submit to the militant church.

They decided to abandon torture “so as not to give a reason for slandering the exemplary trial.”

All this is behind us, and now Zhanna was brought to the cemetery, surrounded by guards, raised above the crowd, shown the executioner and began to read the verdict. This entire procedure, thought out to the smallest detail, was calculated to cause mental shock and fear of death in her. At some point, Zhanna cannot stand it and agrees to submit to the will of the church. “Then,” the protocol says, “in front of a great many clergy and laity, she pronounced the formula of renunciation, following the text of the letter drawn up in French, which letter she signed with her own hand.” Most likely, the formula of the official protocol is a forgery, the purpose of which is to retroactively extend Jeanne’s renunciation to all her previous activities. Perhaps at the Saint-Ouen cemetery, Jeanne did not renounce her past. She only agreed to submit henceforth to the orders of the church court.

However, the political goal of the process was achieved. The English government could notify the entire Christian world that the heretic had publicly repented of her crimes.

But, having snatched words of repentance from the girl, the organizers of the trial did not at all consider the matter over. It was only half done, because Jeanne’s abdication was to be followed by her execution.

The Inquisition had simple means for this. It was only necessary to prove that after her renunciation she committed a “relapse into heresy”: a person who relapsed into heresy was subject to immediate execution. Before her abdication, Jeanne was promised that if she repented, she would be transferred to the women's section of the archbishop's prison and the shackles would be removed. But instead, on Cauchon's orders, she was taken back to her old cell. There she changed into a woman's dress and had her head shaved. The shackles were not removed and the English guards were not removed.

Two days have passed. On Sunday, May 27, rumors spread throughout the city that the convict had once again put on a men's suit. She was asked who forced her to do this. “Nobody,” Zhanna answered. I did it of my own free will and without any coercion.” On the evening of that day, the protocol of Zhanna's last interrogation appeared - a tragic document in which Zhanna herself talks about everything that she experienced after her renunciation: about the despair that gripped her when she realized that she had been deceived, about the contempt for herself because that she was afraid of death, about how she cursed herself for betrayal, she herself said this word, - and about the victory that she won - about the most difficult of all her victories, because it is a victory over the fear of death .

There is a version according to which Jeanne was forced to wear a man's suit (See page 188 Raitses V.I. Joan of Arc. Facts, legends, hypotheses."

Jeanne learned that she would be executed at dawn on Wednesday, May 30, 1431. She was taken out of prison, put on a cart and taken to the place of execution. She was wearing a long dress and a hat...

Execution of Joan of Arc: Medieval image

Only a few hours later the fire was allowed to go out.

And when it was all over, according to Ladvenu, “at about four o’clock in the afternoon,” the executioner came to the Dominican monastery, “to me,” says Izambar, “and to brother Ladvenu, in extreme and terrible repentance, as if despairing of receiving forgiveness from God.” for what he did to what he called a holy woman." And he also told both of them that, having climbed the scaffold to remove everything, he found her heart and other entrails unburned; he was required to burn everything, but, although he several times placed burning brushwood and coals around Jeanne’s heart, he could not turn it into ashes” (Massel, for his part, relays the same story of the executioner from the words of the deputy of the Rouen bailiff). Finally, struck. , “like an obvious miracle,” he stopped tormenting this Heart, put the Burning Bush in a bag along with everything that was left of the Virgin’s flesh, and threw the bag, as expected, into the hay. The imperishable heart was gone forever from human eyes and hands.” (*1)

.... Twenty-five years passed and finally - after a trial in which one hundred and fifteen witnesses were heard (her mother was also present) - in the presence of the papal legate, Jeanne was rehabilitated and recognized as the beloved daughter of the Church and France. (*1) page 336

Throughout her short life, Joan of Arc, “an earthly angel and a heavenly girl,” again and with unprecedented power declared the reality of the Living God and the Heavenly Church.

In 1920 after the Nativity of Christ, in the four hundred and ninetieth year after the Bonfire, the Roman Church canonized her as a saint and recognized her mission as true, in fulfilling which she saved France. (*1)

Five and a half centuries have passed since the day when Joan of Arc was burned in the Old Market Square in Rouen. She was then nineteen years old.

Almost all her life - seventeen years - she was an unknown Jeannette from Domremy. Her neighbors will later say: “she’s like everyone else.” "like others."

For one year—just one year—she was the glorified Virgin Joan, the savior of France. Her comrades will later say: “as if she were a captain who spent twenty or thirty years in the war.”

And for another year - a whole year - she was a prisoner of war and a defendant in the Inquisition Tribunal. Her judges will later say: “a great scientist - even he would have difficulty answering the questions that were asked of her.”

Of course, she was not like everyone else. Of course, she was not the captain. And she certainly wasn't a scientist. And at the same time, she had it all.

Centuries pass. But every generation again and again turns to such a simple and infinitely complex story of the girl from Domremy. Appeals to understand. Applies to become familiar with enduring moral values. For if history is the teacher of life, then the epic of Joan of Arc is one of her great lessons. (*2) p.194

Material used from the site http://www.newacropol.ru

Monument to Joan of Arc.
Photo from the site http://www.newacropol.ru

Read further:

Protocols of the indictment of Joan of Arc (document)

Charles VII (biographical information)

Chronicle of Joan of Arc (chronological table)

Literature:

Maria Josepha, Crook von Potucin Joan of Arc. Moscow "Enigma" 1994.

Raitses V. I. Jeanne d'Arc. Facts, legends, hypotheses. Leningrad "Science" 1982.

R. Pernu, M. V. Klen. Joan of Arc. M., 1992.

Devotees. Selected biographies and works. Samara, AGNI, 1994.

Bauer W., Dumotz I., Golovin PAGE. Encyclopedia of Symbols, M., KRON-PRESS, 1995

Marx K. Chronological extracts, 2.- Archives of Marx and Engels. T. 6;

Chernyak E. B. The verdict of centuries (From the history of politics, processes in the West). M., 1971,

Levandovsky A. P. Jeanne d'Arc. M., 1962;

Rosenthal N. N. Joan of Arc. People's heroine of France. M., 1958,

Dragomirov M.I. Joan of Arc. Essay. St. Petersburg, 1838.

Biography and episodes of life Joan of Arc. When born and died Joan of Arc, memorable places and dates of important events in her life. Saint Quotes, images and videos.

Years of life of Joan of Arc:

born 6 January 1412, died 30 May 1431

Epitaph

"Listen, in the night -

France cries:

Come again and save me, meek martyr

Zhanna!
From the prayer of Saint Therese of Lisieux

Biography

The name of Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic and subsequently canonized, is dear to the heart of any Frenchman as a symbol of freedom and justice. Moreover, the bright star of Joan shone for less than two years from her ascension into the sky to her martyr’s crown. There are many legends around this historical figure; there is no certainty even about the correct year of Jeanne’s birth. But one thing is certain: the young, inexperienced girl accomplished in her short life what seemed impossible.

Zhanna was born into a family of either wealthy peasants or impoverished nobles - historians have disagreements on this matter. At the age of 13, she first heard voices and saw saints who told her that her destiny was to lead an army and drive out the English invaders from her native land. At the age of 16, Jeanne went to the captain of the city of Vaucouleurs, who laughed at her. But the girl did not give up, and in the end she was assigned a detachment to travel to Chinon, where the uncrowned Dauphin Charles was at that time.

Having achieved an audience with the Dauphin, Jeanne passed all the tests that were prepared to test her, and eventually convinced the Dauphin to transfer command of the troops to her. This in itself was a miracle. But others soon followed: with a small detachment, Jeanne liberated Orleans from the siege of the British in 4 days, while the French commanders could not cope with this for many months. After this victory, Jeanne received the nickname “Maid of Orleans” and moved towards Patay, winning one victory after another. In the last battle, the British troops were defeated, and Jeanne called the Dauphin to Reims for the coronation.

“Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII”, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, 1854

The trial of Joan of Arc officially accused her of having relations with the devil, but was paid entirely from English pockets. In order to prevent her from receiving the crown of a martyr, they tried to get Jeanne to admit guilt, but to no avail. In the end, Jeanne's signature on the relevant document was obtained fraudulently, and the Maid of Orleans was sentenced to be burned alive.

The Hundred Years' War ended 22 years after Joan's execution. The Maid of Orleans, having actually organized the anointing of the French king to the throne, dealt too serious a blow to the claims of England. Immediately after the end of the war, Charles VII ordered that all materials from the trial be collected and the case reinvestigated. Joan of Arc was completely acquitted, and more than four centuries later she was canonized.

“Joan of Arc” by John Everett Millais, 1865

Life line

January 6, 1412 Date of birth of Joan of Arc.
1425 Appearances of the saints to Joan.
March 1429 Arrival in Chinon and audience with the Dauphin Charles.
May 1429 The first victory of Joan of Arc and the lifting of the siege of Orleans.
June 1429 A rapid series of victories and the complete defeat of the English troops at the Battle of Pat.
July 1429 Presence at the solemn confirmation of Charles in Reims.
September 1429 Dissolution of Joan's army.
May 1430 Captivity of Joan of Arc by the Burgundians.
November-December 1430 Transporting Jeanne to Rouen.
21 February 1431 The trial of Joan of Arc begins.
30 May 1431 Date of death of Joan of Arc.
1455 Start of retrial.
1456 Acquittal of Joan of Arc on all counts of the previous indictment.
May 16, 1920 Canonization of Joan of Arc.

Memorable places

1. The house in Domremy, where Jeanne was born and lived, is now a museum.
2. Chinon, where Jeanne met King Charles.
3. Orleans, where Jeanne won her first victory.
4. The site of the Battle of Pat, in which Joan's army defeated the British.
5. Reims Cathedral, the traditional place of coronation of French monarchs, where the Dauphin Charles was anointed in the presence of Joan.
6. Compiegne, where Joan was captured.
7. Tower of Joan of Arc in Rouen, former part of Rouen Castle, where, according to legend, Joan was kept during her trial.
8. House No. 102 on the street. Joan of Arc, in the courtyard of which are the remains of the foundation of the Tower of the Virgin, where Joan was actually kept.
9. Monument and church at the site of the execution of Joan of Arc on the Old Market Square in Rouen.

Episodes of life

Belief in Joan of Arc was based largely on a prophecy that said that the maiden would save France. After her appearance with the Dauphin Charles, the latter checked her in various ways, but Jeanne really turned out to be a girl, and besides, she recognized Charles, who had placed another person on the throne and was mingled among the crowd of courtiers.

Joan herself never used the surname “d’Arc” and called herself only “Jeanne the Virgin.” There is an opinion that the British contributed to the spread of the name “Joan of Arc” because of its consonance with the word “dark” - “dark”.

Jeanne preferred to wear men's clothing because it was more comfortable in battle and less embarrassing to her male companions. In medieval France, this was considered a grave sin, and a special commission of theologians from Poitiers gave the Maid of Orleans special permission to do this. Nevertheless, wearing men's clothing appeared as one of the charges proving Jeanne's connection with the devil.

Monument by Maxime Real del Sarte at the site of the execution of Joan of Arc

Testaments

“For God to grant victory, soldiers must fight.”

“We will get peace only at the end of the spear.”

Documentary film “The Controversial History of Joan of Arc. Part I"

Condolences

“Jeanne embodied the Spirit of Patriotism, became its personification, its living, visible and tangible image.<...>
Love, Mercy, Valor, War, Peace, Poetry, Music - for all this you can find many symbols, all this can be represented in images of any gender and age. But a fragile, slender girl in the prime of her first youth, with the crown of a martyr on her brow, with a sword in her hand, with which she cut the bonds of her homeland - won’t she, precisely she, remain a symbol of PATRIOTISM until the end of time?
Mark Twain, writer, author of Joan of Arc

“The famous Joan of Arc proved that the French genius can work miracles when freedom is in danger.”
Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France

“Joan of Arc could remain a rural seer, could prophesy and heal. She could have ended her work as a revered abbess, or even a respected citizen. There were ways to everything. But the Great Law had to find in it another bright evidence of the Truth. The flame of her heart, the flame of the fire - the fiery crown - all this is far beyond ordinary laws. Even beyond the ordinary human imagination.”
Nicholas Roerich, artist and philosopher

Joan of Arc, Holy Virgin of Orleans. Ability to hypnosis

Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans. 1429... It was the 82nd year of the Hundred Years' War with the British in France. It seemed that nothing could save France from the invaders except a miracle. The French were waiting for a Messenger who would gather victorious armies around himself and crush their enemies... they no longer cared whether he would be God's or the devil's...

And finally, the cold spring skies took pity on the unfortunate people: those besieged in Orleans (the siege lasted for more than 3 years) learned that a girl named Jeanne had come to the Dauphin.

She claims that God chose her to lift the siege of Orleans, to crown the Dauphin in the Cathedral of Reims, where French kings have long been crowned, and to expel the English from France. She sends her regards to the Orléans and asks them to be patient a little longer. Soon she will come to their aid...

In her native village they called her Zhanetta. She was the daughter of the peasant Jacques D'Arc and his wife Isabella Romeu, the fourth child and eldest daughter. When asked in 1429 how old she was, she replied: “Seventeen or nineteen.” This means she was born in 1410 or 1412. Most biographers are inclined to the second date.

We write her last name with an apostrophe. Contemporaries wrote it together. However, they did not know the apostrophe at all and did not separate the “noble” particles “de”, “du” and “d” when writing. Jeanne's surname was written and pronounced in different ways: Darс, Tarc, Dare, and Daye.

Such free use of surnames was generally characteristic of people of the Middle Ages - an era not familiar with passports or other identification documents.

The usual form of writing Jeanne's surname appeared only at the end of the 16th century. under the pen of a certain Orleans poet, who, wanting to “elevate” the heroine, changed her surname in a noble manner - fortunately this was very easy to do.

This is just one version of its origin, but there are also many others, for example, the French scientist and researcher Robert Ambelain in his book "Dramas and Secrets of History" claims that Joan was the illegitimate daughter of Queen Isabella of Bavaria of France. As evidence, the researcher cites the following reasoning and facts:

Jeanne was showered with honors even before she accomplished her exploits. Firstly, she had her own battle flag, which at that time was a considerable privilege.

Secondly, she had golden spurs, which was only allowed to knights, thirdly, she had her own retinue and her own staff of noble nobles, who under no circumstances would submit to the subordination of a commoner - it’s another thing to serve, even if she was illegitimate, but a princess of royal blood.

And no political tricks would force the King of France to give Jeanne the sword of Bertrand du Guesclin, which she requested when she came to court. Guecklen was a famous knight, famous for his numerous exploits.

And his sword, kept in the royal palace, was considered a genuine relic. But since the sword was bequeathed to the late Duke of Orleans (who, according to Ambelain, was Jeanne’s father), the weapon was given to the maiden without objection - after all, the rightful heir.

We will not dwell in detail on her historical biography, because we are more interested in the esoteric side of her biography. It should be noted that the prophecy of the great Merlin was confirmed this time: the royal physician carried out a virginity test and confirmed Jeanne’s purity, which is recorded in the royal annals.

After this, Zhanna demanded another weapon from the prediction - a battle ax. It was made especially for her by the best craftsmen. And, remarkably, the blade was engraved with the letter "J" with a small crown on top. In the Abbey of Saint-Denis there is a slab depicting d’Arc in armor and with an ax, on which you can see the same letter “J” with a crown.

We do not know a single authentic image of Joan. The only known “portrait” of her during her lifetime is a pen drawing made by the secretary of the Parisian parliament in the margins of his register on May 10, 1429, when Paris learned of the lifting of the English siege of Orleans.

This drawing has nothing in common with the original. It shows a woman with long curls and a dress with a gathered skirt; she holds a banner and is armed with a sword. Jeanne really did have a sword and a banner. But she wore a man's suit and her hair was cut short.

Some vague and generalized features of Jeanne’s external appearance can be established from those “verbal portraits” that her contemporaries left. People who saw Zhanna said that she was a tall, black-haired and black-eyed girl.

She was distinguished by good health, which allowed her to lead the difficult life of a warrior. The power of her personal charm was experienced by everyone who met her - even her opponents.

It is obvious that Jeanne had the ability to hypnotize. Her voice, as contemporaries recalled, literally mesmerized the warriors before the battle so much that they rushed even into an obviously unequal battle, not knowing fear, and some did not even experience pain from their wounds, continuing to fight, already being mortally wounded.

The warriors attributed this to divine protection. The gift of clairvoyance was also Joan of Arc’s secret weapon, says American parpsychologist J. Worker. “And, apparently, her abilities in this were truly colossal.

Comparing her actions with her inner voices, she never made a mistake in her predictions, brilliantly winning one battle after another. The Battle of Potet, as well as the capture of the Turel fortress, which was carried out by the young commander-in-chief, went down in history as one of the most brilliant victories of French arms; about five thousand soldiers took part in it from the British, and barely one and a half thousand from the French.

But, despite their numerical superiority, the British suffered a crushing defeat - they counted two and a half thousand people killed, the rest escaped or were captured. In the French army, the losses amounted to only... ten people. “It was like a miracle! - Jeanne's contemporaries admired. “The Virgin seemed to know the course of the battle in advance, unerringly sending troops to the most dangerous points...”

Ambelain, by the way, explaining Jeanne’s military successes by her high birth, also does not deny her supernatural abilities.

In his opinion, this extraordinary property was passed on to the girl from her father, Louis of Orleans, who, as is known, had the ability to see the future - he accurately “saw” the picture of his death long before the murder and described it in detail to his friends.

True, the Duke of Orleans acquired this gift already in adulthood. But Zhanna’s “contacts” began in childhood.

As chroniclers testify, strange things began to happen to the girl after she... visited the fairies. Near the village where she lived, there was the Shenu forest, where, according to local legends, a fairy tree grew on the banks of the Currant Creek.

Zhanna loved to walk in these places. And one day, returning home, she told her parents that near an old beech tree a door to a magical land had opened in front of her.

The little girl was received by the fairy queen herself and predicted a great future for her. From then on, Zhanna began to be regularly visited by strange visions and voices. And one day one of the voices told Zhanna that the time had come for her to liberate France...

Events developed like this: Jeanne’s army was preparing for a combat sortie. Before this, a service was held in the parish church of Saint-Jacques. As the girl knelt, a wave of hopeless melancholy washed over her.

Jeanne's friends froze as soon as she swayed with her eyes closed - this always happened when a vision came to her.

When she woke up, the maiden said: “I was sold and betrayed... I know the people who did this. I can no longer help you, for I will soon be given into the hands of death!”

The commanders asked Zhanna to postpone the attack. But she refused. And soon during the battle she was captured by a Burgundian archer.

The predicted betrayal also happened - Captain Guillaume Flavy ordered the gates to be closed and the drawbridge of the fortress to be raised, from which Jeanne’s detachment emerged. And the knights who still remained in it could not come to D’Arc’s aid.

In the memoirs of Joan of Arc's contemporaries, hints of the girl's superpowers slip through every now and then.

Eyewitnesses describe how a certain horseman cursed at the sight of a maiden in armor, to which Jeanne predicted his quick death.

And so it soon happened. During one of the battles, D'Arc warned her comrade to step aside, otherwise he would be hit by a cannonball. The knight walked away, another took his place and was immediately killed.

Rumors about Jeanne's mysterious gift certainly reached her enemies. And therefore it is not surprising that they first of all accused her of witchcraft.

The Holy Fathers and representatives of the Inquisition tortured D’Arc for a long time, everyone asked what kind of voices helped her in difficult times? The painful interrogations lasted for months...

There was a moment when the exhausted girl became seriously ill. The doctor, urgently brought to her prison bed, just threw up his hands, saying that medicine is powerless. But a miracle happened.

Once again, the voices that had been silent came flooding back to Jeanne, and after two or three days she completely recovered from the fever, an incurable disease at that time.

When the “witch” was taken to the stake and executed, the incredible happened again. In a pile of coal and ash, a girl’s completely untouched heart was discovered. With all precautions, he was carried to the banks of the Seine and thrown into cold water. This happened on May 30, 1431.

This is the official version of the life and death of Joan of Arc. However, within the framework of this version it is impossible to explain the chain of further mysterious events.

Within a few months after the bloody execution in Rouen, all the prosecution witnesses and judges died one after another: Bishop Philibert de Satigny, Pierre Loisaleur, Nicolas de Roux - from heart attacks, Jacques d'Estive - drowned in a swamp, investigator Ledontein and chief inquisitor Jacques le Meyer - disappeared without a trace.

Did Jeanne have a spontaneous gift or did she use it quite consciously? There is no evidence of this.

But it can be assumed that she had teachers who developed her extraordinary abilities. One of them is Marshal of France Gilles de Rais, who was d’Arc’s associate in many of her campaigns.

In some paintings depicting the coronation of Charles VII, Joan stands on the right hand, and Gilles de Rais on the left. So, this marshal was also a famous alchemist, an expert in ancient esoteric knowledge, and could well have turned Jeanne’s wonderful gift into a real and formidable weapon.

Was it not for this that Gilles de Rais was captured by the Inquisition soon after Jeanne’s death? He was also accused of witchcraft and sent to the stake.

On July 17, 1430, the Dauphin of France was crowned at Reims Cathedral, and at the same time the fate of the Virgin of Orleans was decided. For the Dauphin, the war was over... He no longer needed Jeanne, on the contrary, she was harmful... Conspiracy - betrayal - court of the Inquisition - bonfire...

Such was the path of many great people of that dark and ungrateful era, the same fate befell Jeanne; on May 30, 1431, the Holy Inquisition put her to the stake on charges of "witchcraft, heresy, apostasy" and announcing her "demon whisperer" and like this “which undermines the authority of the Holy Church”...

After the burning, the Cardinal of Winchester ordered her remains to be thrown into the Seine for fear that they would become relics. But neither he nor anyone else could erase the image of this amazing girl from thousands of hearts. People remembered her, and this made her immortal...

In 1456, a quarter of a century later, Jeanne was rehabilitated. The procedure itself did not take much time.

It boiled down to the fact that the presiding officer announced the verdict, which listed the abuses that took place during the hearing of Jeanne’s case in the court of the late Bishop of Boves, and noted that “the said case is tainted by slander, lawlessness, contradictions and obvious errors of a legal and factual nature.”

At the end it said:

“We cancel, cancel and annul (previously passed in this case) sentences and deprive them of all force. And we declare the said Joan and her relatives cleansed from the stain of dishonor” (Q, III, 362, 363). We also decided to honor the memory

Joan with two religious processions, a sermon and the erection of a cross at the place of execution.

And in 1920, the Vatican completely rehabilitated Joan of Arc, canonizing her.

In the minds of the people, the image of Jeanne is inextricably linked with the traditions of the national liberation struggle. In August 1792, when the armies of feudal Prussia marched on revolutionary France, the residents of Orléans cast the bronze statue of Joan, which stood at the entrance to the Loire bridge, onto cannons and named one of the cannons after the girl from Domremy.

And a century and a half later, during the time of the Resistance of the French people to the Nazi invaders, many partisan detachments bore this glorious name. Joan of Arc rightfully takes her place among those heroes of whom humanity will forever be proud.

Was Joan a Princess of France? Perhaps... But much more important is the fact that researchers today recognize the paranormal capabilities of this legendary woman.

Indeed, this is truly, perhaps, the only reliably known case when the gift of clairvoyance was used on the scale of military operations and at the same time with constant success...

Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans (Jeanne d'Arc, January 6, 1412 - May 30, 1431) is the most famous historical figure of France. In the Hundred Years' War she acted as commander-in-chief, but was captured by the Burgundians and, by order of the king, was handed over authorities in England.As a result of religious accusations, d'Arc was burned at the stake, and later rehabilitated and even canonized.

Childhood

Jeanne or Jeanette - that’s what the girl called herself - was born in 1412 in the small village of Domremy, located on the border of Lorraine and Champagne. It is not known for certain who her parents were, since some sources claim their poor origins, while others claim a quite prosperous status.

The situation is the same with the date of birth of Jeanette herself: the parish book contains an entry from 1412 about the birth of a girl, which was considered for a long time the exact date of her birth. However, on January 6, 1904, when Pope Pius X canonized d'Arc, he indicated 1409/1408, thereby refuting previous information.

Almost nothing is known about Zhanna's early childhood. Only a few entries have been preserved in the diaries of her parents that the girl was born very weak and was often sick. At the age of four, she caught a bad cold and was between life and death for about a month.

And since at that time people were not yet able to prepare potent drugs, parents could only pray for the successful recovery of the child. Fortunately, after a few months, d'Arc fully recovered from her illness, but remained secretive and silent throughout her life.

Youth

At the age of thirteen, according to Jeanette herself, she first saw the Archangel Michael. The girl could only tell her parents about her visions, since she had no friends. But the relatives did not recognize what d’Arc said, attributing everything to Jeanne’s fantasy and her desire to “at least acquire imaginary friends.”

But a few months later, d’Arc again told her parents that she saw the Archangel Michael and two other women (according to scientists, these were Saints Margaret of Antioch and Catherine of Alexandria). According to the girl, the “guests” who appeared told her about her mission: to lift the siege of the city of Orleans, expelling the invaders forever, and to place the Dauphin on the throne.

Having not received adequate support from her relatives, Joan of Arc went to Captain Robert de Bondicourt, who was at that time the manager of the city of Vaucouleurs. There the girl tells her story, but, unfortunately, she sees an absolutely identical situation: the captain only laughs at her unhealthy fantasy and sends her back, not even wanting to listen to the end. Jeanette, annoyed by this attitude towards her person, goes to her native Domremy, but does not give up.

A year later, the situation repeats itself: she again comes to the captain, claiming the possibility of victory in the battle only if he appoints her as a military leader. Decisive is D'Arc's prediction about the outcome of the so-called "Battle of the Herring", which should take place in the near future under the walls of the city of Orleans.

This time, de Bondicourt listens to the girl's words and decides to allow her to participate in the battle. Jeannette is given men's clothing (which, by the way, she then began to prefer to numerous dresses, declaring that such an image not only helps in battle, but also discourages attention from the soldiers to her person) and is equipped with a small detachment. It is he who is subsequently joined by d’Arc’s two best friends: the knights Bertrand de Poulangis and Jean de Metz.

Participation in battles

As soon as the detachment was fully equipped, Jeannette led the people behind her. It took them 11 days to reach Chinon, where the warlike woman planned to enlist the support of the Dauphin. Entering the city, she told the ruler that she was “sent by Heaven to liberate Orleans and bring peace and tranquility,” and also demanded his support and provision of her army. But, despite d’Arc’s noble aspirations, King Charles hesitated for a long time whether to place his best warriors under her command.

For several weeks, he tested Joan of Arc: she was interrogated by theologians, messengers sought information about her in her homeland by order of the king, the woman underwent numerous tests. But not a single fact was found that could discredit the name of d’Arc, after which the active army was completely transferred to her for command.

With the army, the young military leader goes to Blois, where she unites with another part of the army. The news that they are now commanded by a “messenger of God” causes an unprecedented moral uplift in the soldiers. On April 29, troops under the command of d'Arc penetrated Orleans. After short battles, in which the active army loses only two, on May 4, Jeanette liberates the Saint-Loup fortress.

Thus, a mission impossible for numerous military leaders is accomplished without much effort by a woman in just 4 days. For such merits, Joan of Arc receives the title “Maid of Orleans”, and May 8 is designated an official holiday (by the way, it still exists to this day).

Accusation and inquisition process

In the autumn of the same year, immediately after the coronation of Charles, Joan of Arc, having secured his support, launched an attack on Paris, where at that time there was turmoil and chaos due to the desire of the English military leaders to independently command the remaining troops. However, a month later, the king, for unknown reasons, gives the order to retreat and, forced to obey Jeanne, leaves the army in the Loire.

Immediately after this, a message is received about the capture of the city of Compiegne by the Burgundians, and d’Arc rushes to liberate it without even asking the consent of the new king. As a result, luck turns away from the “Maid of Orleans” and she is captured by the Burgundians, from where neither King Charles nor other influential persons can save her.

On February 21, 1431, the inquisitorial hearing of Joan of Arc began, whom the Burgundians, without hiding their involvement in the process, accused of heresy and disobedience to existing church canons. Jeannette was credited with both relations with the devil and disregard for church canons, but the woman denied any negative statements addressed to her.

Such courageous behavior only delayed the church’s decision to burn d’Arc, because, in this case, she would have become a martyr and, perhaps, would have encouraged the people to revolt. That is why the church ministers resort to meanness: they take D’Arc to “the fire being prepared for her” and, in exchange for her life, they offer to sign a paper asking her to be transferred to a church prison because she realizes what she has done and wants to atone for her guilt.

The woman, untrained in reading, signs a paper, which is then replaced with another - in which it is written that Jeannette fully admits everything that she was accused of. Thus, d’Arc, with his own hand, signed the sentence of burning, which was carried out on May 30, 1431 in the square of the city of Rouen.

Posthumous acquittal

Over the next 20 years, Joan of Arc was practically not remembered, and only by 1452, King Charles VII, knowing about the exploits of the courageous girl, decided to find out the whole truth about the high-profile case of the past. He ordered to collect all the documents and find out in every detail the essence and conduct of the trial of Jeannette.

To collect all the necessary information, manuscripts of church books were taken up, surviving witnesses of that time were interviewed, and even messengers were sent to Domremy - the homeland of the “Maid of Orleans”. By 1455, it was absolutely clear that during the hearing of the d'Arc case, monstrous violations of the law were committed, and the girl herself was indeed innocent.

The restoration of the noble name of Joan of Arc took place in three cities at once: Orleans, Paris and Rouen. Documents about her alleged involvement with the devil and the illegality of her actions were publicly torn up in front of a crowd in the city square (by the way, including Jeanne’s friends and her mother). On July 7, 1456, the case was closed, and the girl’s good name was restored. And in 1909, Pope Pius X declared Joan blessed, after which a solemn canonization took place.

Every second Sunday in May, France celebrates the Day of Remembrance of Joan of Arc, the famous Maid of Orleans, who led the French army during the Hundred Years' War, won several decisive military victories, crowned the Dauphin Charles VII, but was captured by traitors from Burgundy and burned at the stake. by the British. The execution of Joan of Arc took place in Rouen on May 30, 1431. 25 years after her execution, she was rehabilitated and recognized as a national heroine, and in the 20th century, the Catholic Church declared her a saint. This is the official version. But many myths and legends are associated with Joan of Arc. According to some sources, the Maid of Orleans was a village shepherdess, according to others, a noble lady.

Shepherdess

According to the most common version, Joan of Arc was born into the family of a village headman in the village of Domremy on the border of Alsace in 1412. One day she heard the voices of Saints Catherine and Margaret, who told her that she was destined to save France from the invasion of the English.

Having learned about her destiny, Jeanne left her home, achieved a meeting with the Dauphin Charles VII and led the French army. She managed to liberate several cities, including Orleans, after which she began to be called the Maid of Orleans. Soon Charles VII was crowned in Reims, and Joan won several more important victories.

On May 23, 1430, near the city of Compiegne, Joan of Arc’s detachment was captured by the Burgundians. They handed over the Maid of Orleans to the Duke of Luxembourg, and he, in turn, handed over to the British. There were rumors that those close to Charles VII had betrayed Joan.

The trial of Joan of Arc began in January 1431 in Rouen. The Inquisition brought forward 12 charges. Meanwhile, in Paris, Henry VI was proclaimed king of France and England. The main purpose of Joan's trial was to prove that Charles VII was elevated to the throne by a witch and heretic.

Bishop Pierre Cauchon conducted the trial. Even before the trial began, he subjected the girl to a medical examination to establish that she was not innocent and that she had entered into a relationship with the devil. However, an examination showed that Zhanna was a virgin, so the court was forced to abandon this charge.

The trial of Joan of Arc lasted several months. It was full of tricky questions and cunning traps, into which, according to the inquisitors, the girl was supposed to fall. As a result, on May 29, 1431, a final decision was made to transfer the defendant into the hands of secular authorities. Jeanne was sentenced to be burned at the stake. On May 30, 1431, the sentence was carried out.

Mentally ill

The legend of the great young warrior was dealt a significant blow by the famous French historian and philosopher Robert Caratini. In his monograph "Joan of Arc: from Domremy to Orleans" he stated that the story of the Maid of Orleans as we know it has little to do with the truth. The expert claims that in fact Joan was a mentally ill girl, which politicians and senior military officials quite skillfully used for their own purposes to awaken hatred of England in the souls of the French.

Caratini writes that all the battles that were supposedly won by the French under the leadership of Joan of Arc were minor skirmishes like a Russian fist fight at a fair. The French historian also adds that the maiden herself did not participate in any of them, and that she did not I've never picked up a sword in my life.

Robert Caratini argued that Joan of Arc herself did not influence the course of events in any way, but served only as a symbol, a kind of iconic figure with the help of which French politicians whipped up anti-English sentiments.

The French historian also questions the fact that Joan of Arc saved the besieged Orleans. This city, writes Caratini, was simply not besieged by anyone. An English army of five thousand people wandered around the area adjacent to Orleans. There was not a single one in the city itself at that time French soldier Finally, the French army under the command of Charles VII arrived at the walls of Orleans with great delay, but this was not followed by any military action.

According to Caratini, in 1429, Joan of Arc was actually in military service, but remained in the army as a kind of living talisman. The historian believed that she was an unbalanced girl, with obvious signs of mental disorder. The reason for her condition could have been horrors war, but not the Hundred Years' War, but another - the ongoing battle between France and Burgundy... And since Jeanne's native village was located on the border, even as a child the impressionable girl had to see quite a lot of terrible pictures.

The British responded to Robert Caratini's book with applause. For more than five centuries, the entire enlightened world condemned the British for the merciless reprisal of the Maid of Orleans, however, this part of the story, the French scientist believes, is also fiction.

Joan of Arc was captured in Burgundy. Then the Sorbonne of Paris sent a letter to the Duke of Burgundy with a request to hand over the girl to the university. However, the Duke refused the Sorbonne. After holding Joan for eight months, he sold her to Henry VI of England for 10 thousand pounds. Henry handed over Joan to the French church. The Maid of Orleans was tried in Normandy by 126 Sorbonne judges, then she was executed. The British did not take any part in all this at all, Caratini believes.

The historian also claims that the legend of Joan of Arc was created only at the end of the 19th century, because the French rulers of that time needed new heroes, and the young maiden, who fell victim to dynastic squabbles, was ideal for this role.

Married lady and mother

Rumors that Joan of Arc did not actually die, but was saved, began to spread among the people immediately after her execution. According to one version, which, in particular, is presented in Efim Chernyak’s book “The Judicial Loop,” Joan of Arc not only escaped death at the stake, but also got married and gave birth to two sons. Her husband was a man named Robert d'Armoise, whose descendants still consider themselves relatives of the Maid of Orleans and claim that their respected ancestor would not have married a woman for all the treasures of the world who would not have presented him with genuine documents certifying her true identity. origin.

For the first time, the new Jeanne, or, as she was already called, Madame d’Armoise, appeared about five years after her tragic death. In 1436, Jeanne's brother Jean du Lye often sent letters to his sister and went to see her in the city of Arlon. Records of relevant expenses are preserved in the account book of Orleans.

It is known that this mysterious lady lived in Arlon, where she led a busy social life. In 1439, the miraculously resurrected Jeanne appeared in Orleans, which she had once liberated. Judging by the entries in the same account book, the residents of Orleans greeted Jeanne d'Armoise more than warmly. Not only were they recognized, but noble townspeople held a gala dinner in her honor; in addition, Jeanne was presented with a gift of 210 livres “for the good service she rendered to the specified city during the siege.” There is indirect evidence that the mother of the real Joan of Arc, Isabella Romeu, could have been in Orleans at this time.

The resurrected Jeanne was also warmly welcomed in Tours, the village of Grande-aux-Ormes and several other settlements. In 1440, on the way to Paris, Madame d'Armoise was arrested, declared an impostor and pilloried. She repented of taking the name of the Maid of Orleans and was released.

They say that after the death of her husband Robert d'Armoise, this Jeanne married again. And at the end of the 50s, the lady was granted an official pardon for daring to impersonate Joan of Arc.

King's daughter

Another sensational statement was made by Ukrainian anthropologist Sergei Gorbenko: Joan of Arc did not die at the stake, but lived to be 57 years old. He also claims that Jeanne was not a simple village girl, as popular legend says, but came from the royal Valois dynasty.

The scientist believes that the historical name of the famous Maid of Orleans is Marguerite de Champdiver. Sergei Gorbenko examined the remains in the sarcophagus of the Notre-Dame de Clery Saint-André church near Orleans and discovered that the female skull, which was kept along with the king’s skull, did not belong to Queen Charlotte, who died at the age of 38, but to another woman who was not less than 57 years old. The specialist came to the conclusion that in front of him were the remains of the same Joan of Arc, who in fact was the illegitimate princess of the house of Valois. Her father was King Charles VI, and her mother was the king's last mistress, Odette de Champdivers.

The girl was raised under the supervision of her father-king as a warrior, so she could wear knightly armor. This also explains how Jeanne could write letters (something an illiterate peasant girl would not have been able to do).

According to this version, the death of Joan of Arc was simulated by Charles VII: instead of her, a completely different woman was sent to the stake.

King's sister

According to another legend, Joan of Arc was the illegitimate daughter of Queen Isabella, half-sister of King Charles VII. This version explains, in particular, how a simple village girl managed to force the king to accept her, listen to her, and even believe that she would be the one who would save France.

In addition, it always seemed strange to many researchers that a girl from a village family was too well versed in the political situation in the country, from childhood she owned a battle spear, which was the privilege of only nobles, spoke pure French without a provincial accent and allowed herself to communicate with any respect. with crowned heads.

There is a version according to which Joan of Arc was called the Maid of Orleans not only because of her liberation of Orleans, but also because of her involvement in the royal House of Orleans. It is possible that this version has some basis. In 1407, Queen Isabella did give birth to an illegitimate child, whose father was apparently the Duke of Louis d'Orléans. The baby is believed to have died soon after, but the grave and remains of this child, whose gender was not specified in historical documents of the time, could not be located. Later, in a detailed work on the history of France, which was published in the 18th century, this baby was first called Philip, and in subsequent reprints already Jeanne.

The question of how old Joan of Arc really was when she went to the stake is still controversial. During one of the interrogations, she once indicated her age - “about 19 years old.” Another time she found it difficult to answer this question. However, when Jeanne first met the Dauphin Charles VII, she said that she was “three times seven years old.” Thus, it turns out that she was a little older than her canonized age and could well have turned out to be the illegitimate child of Queen Isabella.

In "The Judicial Loop" it is mentioned that Jeanne was medically examined twice. And both times the inspection was carried out by very high-ranking persons: first by Queens Maria of Anjou and Iolanta of Aragon, then by the Duchess of Bedford, who was the aunt of Charles VII. “You only need to imagine the class differences in medieval society,” the author writes, “to understand: the honor that Jeanne was awarded could not be given to a simple shepherdess.”

The material was prepared based on information from open sources