The extensive 15th century sources that have survived concerning the life and military campaigns of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc in modern French, Jehanne Darc in medieval French) include the transcript of her trial in 1431, the posthumous investigations of her case (1450 and 1452) and postwar appeal (1455-1456), as well as many letters, chronicles, and thousands of military records. These provide us with vivid eyewitness accounts from the people who knew her; correspondence from her commanders; the letters she herself dictated to scribes; and minuscule details such as the amount of oats bought for her horses and the names of many of the rank-and-file soldiers in her army.
Her life is therefore reasonably well documented.
This is a brief outline of that life; click here for a much longer version.
The Early Years
Joan of Arc was born on January 6th around the year 1412 to Jacques d'Arc and his wife Isabelle in the little village of Domremy, within the Barrois region (now part of "Lorraine") on the border of eastern France.
The events in France during these years would set the stage for Joan's later life and the circumstances surrounding her death.
Although at the time of her birth a truce was still in effect between France and England, an internal war had erupted between two factions of the French Royal family which would make it easier for the English to re-invade. One side, called the "Orleanist" or "Armagnac" faction, was led by Count Bernard VII of Armagnac and Duke Charles of Orleans, whom Joan would later say was greatly beloved by God. Their rivals, known as the "Burgundians", were led by Duke John-the-Fearless of Burgundy. The forces of his son, Philip III, would later capture Joan and hand her over to the English. One of his supporters, a pro-Burgundian clergyman and English advisor named Pierre Cauchon, would later arrange her conviction on their behalf.
While the French remained divided into warring factions, diplomats failed to extend the truce with England. King Henry V, citing his family's old claim to the French throne, promptly invaded France in August of 1415 and defeated an Armagnac-dominated French army at the battle of Agincourt on October 25th.
The English returned in 1417, gradually conquering much of northern France and gaining the support (in 1420) of the new Burgundian Duke, Philip III, who agreed to recognize Henry V as the legal heir to the French throne while rejecting the rival claim of the man whom Joan would consider the rightful successor, Charles of Ponthieu (later known as Charles VII), the last heir of the Valois dynasty which had ruled France since 1328.
Joan indicated that it was around 1424, when she was twelve, that she began to experience visions which she described as both verbal communication as well as visible figures of saints and angels which she could see and touch. Her own testimony as well as a Royal document say that on at least two occasions specific other persons could see the same figures.
She identified these visions as St. Catherine [of Alexandria], St. Margaret [of Antioch], the Archangel Michael, occasionally Gabriel, and large groups of angels on some occasions. Various authors have speculated on the significance of these personages. The only one with a definite relevance to the military situation would be the Archangel Michael, who had been chosen in 1422 as one of the patron saints of the French Royal army (with Saint Denis) and had long served as patron of the fortified island of Mont-Saint-Michel, which had withstood an ongoing siege or blockade since 1418 and would successfully resist continued English efforts until the truce of 1444 finally brought a respite.
The rest of northern France was less successful. Charles gradually lost the allegiance of all the towns north of the Loire River except for Tournai in Flanders and Vaucouleurs, near Domremy. Since Paris had been controlled by the opposite faction since 1418, his court was now located in the city of Bourges in central France, hemmed in by hostile forces on nearly every side: pro-English Brittany to the northwest, English-occupied Normandy to the north, the Burgundian hereditary domains of Flanders, Artois, Burgundy, Franche-Comte, and Charolais to the northeast and east; and the English hereditary domain of Aquitaine to the southwest.
In 1428 the situation became critical as the English gathered troops for a campaign into the Loire River Valley, the northern perimeter of Charles' dwindling territory. The city of Orleans on the Loire now became the primary focus.
It was at this moment that an unexpected turn of events began to unfold. Joan of Arc said that for some time prior to 1428 the saints in her visions had been urging her to "go to France" (in its original feudal sense - the direct Royal domain) and drive out the English and Burgundians, explaining that God supported Charles' claim to the throne, supported Orleans' captive overlord Duke Charles of Orleans, and had taken pity on the French population for the suffering they had endured during the war.
She said that during her childhood these visions had merely instructed her to "be good [or pious], to go to church regularly"; but over the next several years they had persistently called for her to go to the local commander at Vaucouleurs to obtain an escort to take her to the Royal Court.
She embarked on the latter course in May of 1428, not long before large English reinforcements landed in France for deployment in the Loire Valley. Joan arranged for a family relative, Durand Lassois, to take her to see Lord Robert de Baudricourt, who had remained loyal to the Armagnacs despite his status as a vassal of the pro-Burgundian Duke of Lorraine. Baudricourt refused to listen to her, and she returned home.
Shortly after her return, in July of 1428 Domremy found itself in the path of a Burgundian army led by Lord Antoine de Vergy, forcing the villagers to take refuge in the nearby city of Neufchateau until the troops had passed. Vergy's army laid siege to Vaucouleurs and induced Baudricourt to pledge neutrality.
A few months later on October 12th, Orleans was placed under siege by an English army led by the Earl of Salisbury. The eyewitness accounts and other 15th century sources say that the situation for Charles was rather hopeless by that stage. His treasury at one point was down to less than "four ecus"; his armies were a motley collection of local contingents and foreign mercenaries; and he himself, according to the surviving accounts, was torn with doubt over the validity of his cause - since his own mother, cooperating with the English, had allegedly declared him illegitimate in order to deny his claim to the throne. Now Orleans, the last major city defending the heart of his territory, was in the grip of an English army.
This was the situation facing his government, by that point located in the city of Chinon on the Vienne River, when Joan was finally granted Baudricourt's permission, after her third attempt, to go with an escort to speak with Charles. One account says that she convinced Baudricourt by accurately predicting an Armagnac defeat on 12 February 1429 near the village of Rouvray-Saint-Denis several miles north of Orleans. In this latest disaster, an army under the Count of Clermont took heavy losses while unsuccessfully attempting to stop an English supply convoy bringing food to their troops at the siege. When Baudricourt received confirmation of the predicted defeat he promptly arranged for an armed escort to bring Joan through enemy territory to Chinon. Following the standard procedure, her escorts dressed her in male clothing, partly as a disguise in case the group was captured (as a woman might be raped if her identity were discovered), and partly because such clothing had numerous cords with which the long boots and trousers could be tied to the tunic, which would offer an added measure of security. The eyewitnesses said she always kept this clothing on and securely tied together when encamped with soldiers, for safety and modesty's sake. She would call herself "La Pucelle" (the maiden or virgin), explaining that she had promised her saints to keep her virginity "for as long as it pleases God", and it is by this nickname that she is usually described in the 15th century documents.
The extensive 15th century sources that have survived concerning the life and military campaigns of Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc in modern French, Jehanne Darc in medieval French) include the transcript of her trial in 1431, the posthumous investigations of her case (1450 and 1452) and postwar appeal (1455-1456), as well as many letters, chronicles, and thousands of military records. These provide us with vivid eyewitness accounts from the people who knew her; correspondence from her commanders; the letters she herself dictated to scribes; and minuscule details such as the amount of oats bought for her horses and the names of many of the rank-and-file soldiers in her army.
Her life is therefore reasonably well documented.
This is a brief outline of that life; click here for a much longer version.
The Early Years
Joan of Arc was born on January 6th around the year 1412 to Jacques d'Arc and his wife Isabelle in the little village of Domremy, within the Barrois region (now part of "Lorraine") on the border of eastern France.
The events in France during these years would set the stage for Joan's later life and the circumstances surrounding her death.
Although at the time of her birth a truce was still in effect between France and England, an internal war had erupted between two factions of the French Royal family which would make it easier for the English to re-invade. One side, called the "Orleanist" or "Armagnac" faction, was led by Count Bernard VII of Armagnac and Duke Charles of Orleans, whom Joan would later say was greatly beloved by God. Their rivals, known as the "Burgundians", were led by Duke John-the-Fearless of Burgundy. The forces of his son, Philip III, would later capture Joan and hand her over to the English. One of his supporters, a pro-Burgundian clergyman and English advisor named Pierre Cauchon, would later arrange her conviction on their behalf.
While the French remained divided into warring factions, diplomats failed to extend the truce with England. King Henry V, citing his family's old claim to the French throne, promptly invaded France in August of 1415 and defeated an Armagnac-dominated French army at the battle of Agincourt on October 25th.
The English returned in 1417, gradually conquering much of northern France and gaining the support (in 1420) of the new Burgundian Duke, Philip III, who agreed to recognize Henry V as the legal heir to the French throne while rejecting the rival claim of the man whom Joan would consider the rightful successor, Charles of Ponthieu (later known as Charles VII), the last heir of the Valois dynasty which had ruled France since 1328.
Joan indicated that it was around 1424, when she was twelve, that she began to experience visions which she described as both verbal communication as well as visible figures of saints and angels which she could see and touch. Her own testimony as well as a Royal document say that on at least two occasions specific other persons could see the same figures.
She identified these visions as St. Catherine [of Alexandria], St. Margaret [of Antioch], the Archangel Michael, occasionally Gabriel, and large groups of angels on some occasions. Various authors have speculated on the significance of these personages. The only one with a definite relevance to the military situation would be the Archangel Michael, who had been chosen in 1422 as one of the patron saints of the French Royal army (with Saint Denis) and had long served as patron of the fortified island of Mont-Saint-Michel, which had withstood an ongoing siege or blockade since 1418 and would successfully resist continued English efforts until the truce of 1444 finally brought a respite.
The rest of northern France was less successful. Charles gradually lost the allegiance of all the towns north of the Loire River except for Tournai in Flanders and Vaucouleurs, near Domremy. Since Paris had been controlled by the opposite faction since 1418, his court was now located in the city of Bourges in central France, hemmed in by hostile forces on nearly every side: pro-English Brittany to the northwest, English-occupied Normandy to the north, the Burgundian hereditary domains of Flanders, Artois, Burgundy, Franche-Comte, and Charolais to the northeast and east; and the English hereditary domain of Aquitaine to the southwest.
In 1428 the situation became critical as the English gathered troops for a campaign into the Loire River Valley, the northern perimeter of Charles' dwindling territory. The city of Orleans on the Loire now became the primary focus.
It was at this moment that an unexpected turn of events began to unfold. Joan of Arc said that for some time prior to 1428 the saints in her visions had been urging her to "go to France" (in its original feudal sense - the direct Royal domain) and drive out the English and Burgundians, explaining that God supported Charles' claim to the throne, supported Orleans' captive overlord Duke Charles of Orleans, and had taken pity on the French population for the suffering they had endured during the war.
She said that during her childhood these visions had merely instructed her to "be good [or pious], to go to church regularly"; but over the next several years they had persistently called for her to go to the local commander at Vaucouleurs to obtain an escort to take her to the Royal Court.
She embarked on the latter course in May of 1428, not long before large English reinforcements landed in France for deployment in the Loire Valley. Joan arranged for a family relative, Durand Lassois, to take her to see Lord Robert de Baudricourt, who had remained loyal to the Armagnacs despite his status as a vassal of the pro-Burgundian Duke of Lorraine. Baudricourt refused to listen to her, and she returned home.
Shortly after her return, in July of 1428 Domremy found itself in the path of a Burgundian army led by Lord Antoine de Vergy, forcing the villagers to take refuge in the nearby city of Neufchateau until the troops had passed. Vergy's army laid siege to Vaucouleurs and induced Baudricourt to pledge neutrality.
A few months later on October 12th, Orleans was placed under siege by an English army led by the Earl of Salisbury. The eyewitness accounts and other 15th century sources say that the situation for Charles was rather hopeless by that stage. His treasury at one point was down to less than "four ecus"; his armies were a motley collection of local contingents and foreign mercenaries; and he himself, according to the surviving accounts, was torn with doubt over the validity of his cause - since his own mother, cooperating with the English, had allegedly declared him illegitimate in order to deny his claim to the throne. Now Orleans, the last major city defending the heart of his territory, was in the grip of an English army.
This was the situation facing his government, by that point located in the city of Chinon on the Vienne River, when Joan was finally granted Baudricourt's permission, after her third attempt, to go with an escort to speak with Charles. One account says that she convinced Baudricourt by accurately predicting an Armagnac defeat on 12 February 1429 near the village of Rouvray-Saint-Denis several miles north of Orleans. In this latest disaster, an army under the Count of Clermont took heavy losses while unsuccessfully attempting to stop an English supply convoy bringing food to their troops at the siege. When Baudricourt received confirmation of the predicted defeat he promptly arranged for an armed escort to bring Joan through enemy territory to Chinon. Following the standard procedure, her escorts dressed her in male clothing, partly as a disguise in case the group was captured (as a woman might be raped if her identity were discovered), and partly because such clothing had numerous cords with which the long boots and trousers could be tied to the tunic, which would offer an added measure of security. The eyewitnesses said she always kept this clothing on and securely tied together when encamped with soldiers, for safety and modesty's sake. She would call herself "La Pucelle" (the maiden or virgin), explaining that she had promised her saints to keep her virginity "for as long as it pleases God", and it is by this nickname that she is usually described in the 15th century documents.
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