Saint Joan of Arc (Jeanne la Pucelle): Difference between revisions
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=== Saint Gabriel the Archangel === | === Saint Gabriel the Archangel === | ||
With histories of Joan we hear less of Saint Gabriel than of the others, although he also visited her. Joan had placed the two Archangels, Michael and Gabriel, on | With histories of Joan we hear less of Saint Gabriel than of the others, although he also visited her. The sources on her battle standard are ambiguous, but its very possible that Joan had placed the two Archangels, Michael and Gabriel, on it to either side of the Lord who was depicted holding the world in his hands, with ''Jhesus Maria'' written above or below. The standard was of great concern to the court at Rouen, not just for what her interrogators considered its presumptuous design, but because that battle flag was a key instrument in her victories over the English and was prominently displayed at the coronation of the Charles VII as King of France. To the English partisans, the standard was demonic. The formal charges included that she had been saying about her battle flags, a ring, some linens and her sword that,<ref>From Ariticle XX (Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 349). As for the accusations regarding her sword, which she found behind an altar through divine knowledge, see Murray p. 30.</ref><blockquote>... these things were very fortunate. She made thereon many execrations and conju rations...</blockquote>Joan replied,<blockquote>In all I have done there was never any sorcery or evil arts. As for the good luck of my banner, I refer it to the fortune sent through it by Our Lord.</blockquote>To an earlier interrogation over the banner and the Saints, Joan's responses are marvelous:<ref>JJeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, pp. 90-91</ref><blockquote> | ||
“Did the two Angels painted on your standard represent Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel?” </blockquote><blockquote>They were there only for the honour of Our Lord, Who was painted on the standard. I only had these two Angels represented to honour Our Lord, Who was there represented holding the world.</blockquote><blockquote>Were the two Angels represented on your standard those who guard the world? Why were there not more of them, seeing that you had been commanded by God to take this standard? </blockquote><blockquote>The standard was commanded by Our Lord, by the Voices of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, which said to me: "Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven"; and because they had said to me "Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven," I had this figure of God and of two Angels done; I did all by their command. </blockquote><blockquote>Did you ask them if, by virtue of this standard, you would gain all the battles wherever you might find yourself, and if you would be victorious? </blockquote><blockquote>They told me to take it boldly, and that God would help me. </blockquote><blockquote>Which gave most help, you to your standard, or your standard to you? </blockquote><blockquote>The victory either to my standard or myself, it was all from Our Lord. </blockquote><blockquote>The hope of being victorious, was it founded on your standard or on yourself? </blockquote><blockquote>It was founded on Our Lord and nought else. </blockquote><blockquote>If any one but you had borne this standard, would he have been as fortunate as you in bearing it? </blockquote><blockquote>I know nothing about it: I wait on Our Lord. </blockquote><blockquote>If one of the people of your party had sent you his standard to carry, would you have had as much confidence in it as in that which had been sent to you by God? Even the standard of your King, if it had been sent to you, would you have had as much confidence in it as in your own? </blockquote><blockquote> | “Did the two Angels painted on your standard represent Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel?” </blockquote><blockquote>They were there only for the honour of Our Lord, Who was painted on the standard. I only had these two Angels represented to honour Our Lord, Who was there represented holding the world.</blockquote><blockquote>Were the two Angels represented on your standard those who guard the world? Why were there not more of them, seeing that you had been commanded by God to take this standard? </blockquote><blockquote>The standard was commanded by Our Lord, by the Voices of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, which said to me: "Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven"; and because they had said to me "Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven," I had this figure of God and of two Angels done; I did all by their command. </blockquote><blockquote>Did you ask them if, by virtue of this standard, you would gain all the battles wherever you might find yourself, and if you would be victorious? </blockquote><blockquote>They told me to take it boldly, and that God would help me. </blockquote><blockquote>Which gave most help, you to your standard, or your standard to you? </blockquote><blockquote>The victory either to my standard or myself, it was all from Our Lord. </blockquote><blockquote>The hope of being victorious, was it founded on your standard or on yourself? </blockquote><blockquote>It was founded on Our Lord and nought else. </blockquote><blockquote>If any one but you had borne this standard, would he have been as fortunate as you in bearing it? </blockquote><blockquote>I know nothing about it: I wait on Our Lord. </blockquote><blockquote>If one of the people of your party had sent you his standard to carry, would you have had as much confidence in it as in that which had been sent to you by God? Even the standard of your King, if it had been sent to you, would you have had as much confidence in it as in your own? </blockquote><blockquote> | ||
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In the summary of their findings, the theologians at Poitier spoke of Orleans, and not of the coronation at Reims. However, a priest who was present at Poitiers, gives us a little more detail on what was discussed at Poitiers:<ref>From Trial of Rehabilitation, testimony of Fr. Séguin de Séguin, Murray, p. 307</ref> <blockquote>And then she foretold to us — to me and to all the others who were with me — these four things which should happen, and which did afterwards come to pass: first, that the English would be destroyed, the siege of Orleans raised, and the town delivered from the English; secondly, that the King would be crowned at Rheims; thirdly, that Paris would be restored to his dominion; and fourthly, that the Duke d'Orléans should be brought back from England. And I who speak, I have in truth seen these four things accomplished.</blockquote>With the only contemporaneous document from Joan's period at Chinon, the Poitiers Conclusions, speaking only of Orlėans, perhaps the recollections from the Trial of Rehabilitations conflated events and ascribed to Joan a prophesy about them. But it makes no sense for the Poitiers Conclusions to mention the crowning, as the Doctors were concerned solely with Joan's first step, Orlėans. And for the theologians to endorse Joan's subsequent mission to crown the King at Reims would question the King's legitimacy, thus it was a topic they would not touch. We do know from her testimony at Rouen that Joan mentioned the Archangel and the Saints at Poitiers, so the discussions certainly covered additional ground past Orlėans, for an obvious question would be what's next after that? | In the summary of their findings, the theologians at Poitier spoke of Orleans, and not of the coronation at Reims. However, a priest who was present at Poitiers, gives us a little more detail on what was discussed at Poitiers:<ref>From Trial of Rehabilitation, testimony of Fr. Séguin de Séguin, Murray, p. 307</ref> <blockquote>And then she foretold to us — to me and to all the others who were with me — these four things which should happen, and which did afterwards come to pass: first, that the English would be destroyed, the siege of Orleans raised, and the town delivered from the English; secondly, that the King would be crowned at Rheims; thirdly, that Paris would be restored to his dominion; and fourthly, that the Duke d'Orléans should be brought back from England. And I who speak, I have in truth seen these four things accomplished.</blockquote>With the only contemporaneous document from Joan's period at Chinon, the Poitiers Conclusions, speaking only of Orlėans, perhaps the recollections from the Trial of Rehabilitations conflated events and ascribed to Joan a prophesy about them. But it makes no sense for the Poitiers Conclusions to mention the crowning, as the Doctors were concerned solely with Joan's first step, Orlėans. And for the theologians to endorse Joan's subsequent mission to crown the King at Reims would question the King's legitimacy, thus it was a topic they would not touch. We do know from her testimony at Rouen that Joan mentioned the Archangel and the Saints at Poitiers, so the discussions certainly covered additional ground past Orlėans, for an obvious question would be what's next after that? | ||
So we see the reason for the focus on Orléans, as all the other prophesies were contingent upon it, so Orléans had to happen first, and none of the others would matter if the "sign" she promised did not arrive there. | So we see the reason for the focus on Orléans, as all the other prophesies were contingent upon it, so Orléans had to happen first, and none of the others would matter if the "sign" she promised did not arrive there. | ||
It all seems so easy: this girl shows up at the French royal pretender's court, declares he is the true heir to the throne and that she will save his country from a twenty-five-year civil war and a ten-year foreign occupation. The pretender king shrugs and says, here, priests, see if she's real. They do, she is, and the king gives her armor, a horse, and an army and off she goes. | It all seems so easy: this girl shows up at the French royal pretender's court, declares he is the true heir to the throne and that she will save his country from a twenty-five-year civil war and a ten-year foreign occupation. The pretender king shrugs and says, here, priests, see if she's real. They do, she is, and the king gives her armor, a horse, and an army and off she goes. | ||
What Joan had to accomplish is hidden in the compression of the events. So let's review the contingencies, the one thing she needed to do to accomplish the next, starting with her ultimate goal, to save France: | Joan explained it during the Trial at Rouen, when asked,<ref>Murray, p. 27</ref> <blockquote>Why was your King able to put faith in your words? </blockquote><blockquote>He had good signs, and the clergy bore me witness</blockquote>What a great summary! Nevertheless, what Joan had to accomplish to get there is hidden in the compression of the events. So let's review the contingencies, the one thing she needed to do to accomplish the next, starting with her ultimate goal, to save France: | ||
To save France, Joan needed to affirm the legitimacy of the French King, the Dauphin Charles; to crown him legitimately, she needed to take him to the traditional site of coronation at Reims; to get him to Reims,<ref>In his 1909 biography, [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19488/19488-h/19488-h.htm#V2Page_ii.24 The Life of Joan of Arc], Anatole France absurdly claims "It was not Jeanne who drove the English from France. If she contributed to the deliverance of Orléans, she retarded the ultimate salvation of France by causing the opportunity of conquering Normandy to be lost through the coronation campaign." (Vol II, p. 24)</ref> she needed to clear a path through enemy-held territory; to start that campaign, she needed first to relieve the city of Orléans from the English siege; to take Orléans, she had to earn the loyalty and enthusiasm of her fellow military commanders and troops and to exercise tactical brilliance and remarkable bravery; to lead the army, she needed the support of the Dauphin and his court; to convince the Dauphin's court, she had to demonstrate Catholic orthodoxy to her ecclesiastical interrogators at Poitiers; to even be subjected to that investigation, she had to convince the Dauphin of the possibility of her divine mission; to convince him of it, she had to meet with him; to meet with him she needed to have generated popular enthusiasm and curiosity as to who she might be, especially that she might be the fulfillment of the legend of a girl who would save France; for that she had to be thoroughly convinced of it herself; to be convinced of it herself, she had to experience not just the Visions but to embrace and submit to them and their effects upon her piety and faith. | To save France, Joan needed to affirm the legitimacy of the French King, the Dauphin Charles; to crown him legitimately, she needed to take him to the traditional site of coronation at Reims; to get him to Reims,<ref>In his 1909 biography, [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/19488/19488-h/19488-h.htm#V2Page_ii.24 The Life of Joan of Arc], Anatole France absurdly claims "It was not Jeanne who drove the English from France. If she contributed to the deliverance of Orléans, she retarded the ultimate salvation of France by causing the opportunity of conquering Normandy to be lost through the coronation campaign." (Vol II, p. 24)</ref> she needed to clear a path through enemy-held territory; to start that campaign, she needed first to relieve the city of Orléans from the English siege; to take Orléans, she had to earn the loyalty and enthusiasm of her fellow military commanders and troops and to exercise tactical brilliance and remarkable bravery; to lead the army, she needed the support of the Dauphin and his court; to convince the Dauphin's court, she had to demonstrate Catholic orthodoxy to her ecclesiastical interrogators at Poitiers; to even be subjected to that investigation, she had to convince the Dauphin of the possibility of her divine mission; to convince him of it, she had to meet with him; to meet with him she needed to have generated popular enthusiasm and curiosity as to who she might be, especially that she might be the fulfillment of the legend of a girl who would save France; for that she had to be thoroughly convinced of it herself; to be convinced of it herself, she had to experience not just the Visions but to embrace and submit to them and their effects upon her piety and faith. | ||