Saint Joan of Arc (Jeanne la Pucelle): Difference between revisions

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This time period crosses with that of Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) who was terribly upset at the Avignon papacy, but whose pleadings to the Church to return to Rome were ignored. In 1350, Bridget sought papal authorization for her order, the Bridgettines, but she refused to go to Avignon, and went to Rome instead where she awaited the Pope's return -- which occurred finally in 1367 when the Avignon Pope Urban V visited Rome as a symbolic gesture of a permanent return. In Rome, he ran the Holy See from the Vatican but ran into various problems with local lords who had gotten used to having things their way. Along with rebellions within the Papal States (taking advantage of the absence of Rome), Urban faced trouble with the bishops back at Avignon who demanded his return. He did grant Saint Bridget her order in 1370, but as he prepared that year to return to Avignon, Saint Bridget told him that if he left Rome he would die. He did, and three and a half months later he died.

Urban's successor, Pierre Roger de Beaufort<ref>His uncle, the Bishop of Rouen, was the Avignon Pope Clement VI. Beaufort was a "Cardinal Deacon" and not a priest, and hesitated to accept the position. (See [https://cardinals.fiu.edu/conclave-xiv.htm#1370 The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Conclaves by century]) He was ordained the day before crowning as Gregory XI. For his biography, see [https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06799a.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Gregory XI]</ref>, who became Gregory XI, had witnessed in person Bridget's prophesy to Urban V<ref>See [[wikipedia:Pope_Urban_V#To_Rome_and_back|Pope Urban V - Wikipedia]]</ref>, which may have, one can imagine, at least been in the back of his mind when he privately vowed before God to return the papacy to Rome should he be selected as Pope. Whatever the intention, for the first years of his papacy there were plenty of fires to put out (or try) and reforms to institute, including, interestingly, his 1373 ''règle d'idiom'', which instructed clergy to speak the local vernacular to their flocks outside of the liturgy, came well before the proto-Protestant heretic John Wycliffe translated the Bible into English.<ref>Wycliffe's radicalism led to Gregory's five 1377 Bulls against Wycliff.</ref> Gregory's attempts to reconcile the kings of France and England failed.

Urban's successor, Pierre Roger de Beaufort<ref>His uncle, the Bishop of Rouen, was the Avignon Pope Clement VI. Beaufort was a "Cardinal Deacon" and not a priest, and hesitated to accept the position. (See [https://cardinals.fiu.edu/conclave-xiv.htm#1370 The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Conclaves by century]) He was ordained the day before crowning as Gregory XI. For his biography, see [https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06799a.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Gregory XI]</ref>, who became Gregory XI, had witnessed in person Bridget's prophesy to Urban V,<ref>See [[wikipedia:Pope_Urban_V#To_Rome_and_back|Pope Urban V - Wikipedia]]</ref> which may have, one can imagine, at least been in the back of his mind when he privately vowed before God to return the papacy to Rome should he be selected as Pope. Whatever the intention, for the first years of his papacy there were plenty of fires to put out (or try) and reforms to institute, including, interestingly, his 1373 ''règle d'idiom'', which instructed clergy to speak the local vernacular to their flocks outside of the liturgy, came well before the proto-Protestant heretic John Wycliffe translated the Bible into English.<ref>Wycliffe's radicalism led to Gregory's five 1377 Bulls against Wycliff.</ref> Gregory's attempts to reconcile the kings of France and England failed.

The Avignon papacy was not tenable. And no matter how you look at it, Saint Peter died at Rome and not Avignon. Gregory XI seemed to think so, anyway, but he only acted on the conviction at the insistence of Saint Catherine of Sienna (1347-1380). Saint Catherine had picked up where Saint Bridget had left off,<ref>From Urban V's return to Rome through to her death, Bridget remained in Rome but focused setting up and financing her order and on other spiritual matters.</ref> dictating a series of letters to the Pope commanding him, among things, to return to Rome and in language Gregory characterized as having an “intolerably dictatorial tone, a little sweetened with expressions of her perfect Christian deference.”<ref>[https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/saints/saints-stories-for-all-ages/saint-catherine-of-siena-1347-1380/ Saint Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380 | Loyola Press]</ref> Not sure if it's Catherine so much as Gregory not wanting to hear it.<ref>Saint Joan of Arc issued similar exhortations.

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"Her incontestable victory in the argument with the masters of theology makes her like another Saint Catherine come down to earth."

Pernoud, Regine. Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses (p. 131). Scarborough House. Kindle Edition. </ref> For example, she wrote, ~~<blockquote>~~

Pernoud, Regine. Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses (p. 131). Scarborough House. Kindle Edition. </ref> For example, she wrote,

I have prayed, and shall pray, sweet and good Jesus that He free you from all servile fear, and that holy fear alone remain. May ardor of charity be in you, in such wise as shall prevent you from hearing the voice of incarnate demons, and heeding the counsel of perverse counselors, settled in self-love, who, as I understand, want to alarm you, so as to prevent your return, saying, “You will die.” Up, father, like a man! For I tell you that you have no need to fear.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine] cites ''St. Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters'', ed. Vida D. Scudder (London, 1911), 165-166.

<blockquote>I have prayed, and shall pray, sweet and good Jesus that He free you from all servile fear, and that holy fear alone remain. May ardor of charity be in you, in such wise as shall prevent you from hearing the voice of incarnate demons, and heeding the counsel of perverse counselors, settled in self-love, who, as I understand, want to alarm you, so as to prevent your return, saying, “You will die.” Up, father, like a man! For I tell you that you have no need to fear.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine] cites ''St. Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters'', ed. Vida D. Scudder (London, 1911), 165-166.

The webpage seems to conflate this letter with another from that source on p. 185. << to cofirrm</ref> </blockquote>

The webpage seems to conflate this letter with another from that source on p. 185. << to cofirrm</ref></blockquote>

In 1376, Catherine traveled to Avignon on behalf of the Republic of Florence to negotiate a peace with the Papal States.<ref>As did the 19th century French historian Michelet, it's easy to forget that this is at the cusp of what Michelet termed the "Renaissance," which means this period and the "Renaissance" were actually one, not distinct periods. A lot was going on.</ref> She failed at the immediate mission<ref>Catherine became famous across Tuscany as a holy woman (''santa donna)'' for her acts of charity, especially for the sick, as well as her calls for clerical reform general repentance through "total love for God." Florence was in rebellion from the Papal States and under a papal interdict, so it was thought that Catherine, who called for reconciliation with the Vatican, could yield advantageous returns. However, both sides succumbed to distrustful elements who did not want to see her succeed. After Gregory XI moved to Rome, he sent her back to Florence, this time on his behalf. While she was there, Gregory died and street riots broke out, likely due to longstanding frustration with the papal interdict, the larger conflict which had disrupted the economy and led to increased taxes, and the general policies of the guilds that ran Florence. That July a more general rebellion arose, the Ciompi Revolt, led by discontented wool workers in which Saint Catherine was nearly killed. The shocked calm that followed the rebellion led to reconciliation with the new Pope Urban VI.</ref> but through a divine inspiration won a far more important one: when they met, she told him that she knew of his private vow to return the papacy to Rome.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine]</ref> He so decided, but wavered in face of strenuous French objections. When Catherine heard of the indecision, she wrote, <blockquote>I beg of you, on behalf of Christ crucified, that you be not a timorous child but manly. Open your mouth and swallow down the bitter for the sweet.</blockquote>In January of 1377, Gregory moved the papacy back to Rome. He soon after died, and his successor Urban VI refused to return to Avignon, where the French bishops held their own conclave and selected Clement VII, the first antipope of the "Western Schism" that would last almost seventy years, and that would lay the ground for the Martin Luther and the protestant schisms that followed.

In 1376, Catherine traveled to Avignon on behalf of the Republic of Florence to negotiate a peace with the Papal States.<ref>As did the 19th century French historian Michelet, it's easy to forget that this is at the cusp of what Michelet termed the "Renaissance," which means this period and the "Renaissance" were actually one, not distinct periods. A lot was going on.</ref> She failed at the immediate mission<ref>Catherine became famous across Tuscany as a holy woman (''santa donna)'' for her acts of charity, especially for the sick, as well as her calls for clerical reform general repentance through "total love for God." Florence was in rebellion from the Papal States and under a papal interdict, so it was thought that Catherine, who called for reconciliation with the Vatican, could yield advantageous returns. However, both sides succumbed to distrustful elements who did not want to see her succeed. After Gregory XI moved to Rome, he sent her back to Florence, this time on his behalf. While she was there, Gregory died and street riots broke out, likely due to longstanding frustration with the papal interdict, the larger conflict which had disrupted the economy and led to increased taxes, and the general policies of the guilds that ran Florence. That July a more general rebellion arose, the Ciompi Revolt, led by discontented wool workers in which Saint Catherine was nearly killed. The shocked calm that followed the rebellion led to reconciliation with the new Pope Urban VI.</ref> but through a divine inspiration won a far more important one: when they met, she told him that she knew of his private vow to return the papacy to Rome.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine]</ref> He so decided, but wavered in face of strenuous French objections. When Catherine heard of the indecision, she wrote,

<blockquote>I beg of you, on behalf of Christ crucified, that you be not a timorous child but manly. Open your mouth and swallow down the bitter for the sweet.</blockquote>

In January of 1377, Gregory moved the papacy back to Rome. He soon after died, and his successor Urban VI refused to return to Avignon, where the French bishops held their own conclave and selected Clement VII, the first antipope of the "Western Schism" that would last almost seventy years, and that would lay the ground for the Martin Luther and the protestant schisms that followed.

=== Saint Joan settles the question ===

@@ Line 1,400: / Line 1,400: @@
 This time period crosses with that of Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) who was terribly upset at the Avignon papacy, but whose pleadings to the Church to return to Rome were ignored. In 1350, Bridget sought papal authorization for her order, the Bridgettines, but she refused to go to Avignon, and went to Rome instead where she awaited the Pope's return -- which occurred finally in 1367 when the Avignon Pope Urban V visited Rome as a symbolic gesture of a permanent return. In Rome, he ran the Holy See from the Vatican but ran into various problems with local lords who had gotten used to having things their way. Along with rebellions within the Papal States (taking advantage of the absence of Rome), Urban faced trouble with the bishops back at Avignon who demanded his return. He did grant Saint Bridget her order in 1370, but as he prepared that year to return to Avignon, Saint Bridget told him that if he left Rome he would die. He did, and three and a half months later he died.
-Urban's successor, Pierre Roger de Beaufort<ref>His uncle, the Bishop of Rouen, was the Avignon Pope Clement VI. Beaufort was a "Cardinal Deacon" and not a priest, and hesitated to accept the position. (See [https://cardinals.fiu.edu/conclave-xiv.htm#1370 The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Conclaves by century]) He was ordained the day before crowning as Gregory XI. For his biography, see [https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06799a.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Gregory XI]</ref>, who became Gregory XI, had witnessed in person Bridget's prophesy to Urban V<ref>See [[wikipedia:Pope_Urban_V#To_Rome_and_back|Pope Urban V - Wikipedia]]</ref>, which may have, one can imagine, at least been in the back of his mind when he privately vowed before God to return the papacy to Rome should he be selected as Pope. Whatever the intention, for the first years of his papacy there were plenty of fires to put out (or try) and reforms to institute, including, interestingly, his 1373 ''règle d'idiom'', which instructed clergy to speak the local vernacular to their flocks outside of the liturgy, came well before the proto-Protestant heretic John Wycliffe translated the Bible into English.<ref>Wycliffe's radicalism led to Gregory's five 1377 Bulls against Wycliff.</ref> Gregory's attempts to reconcile the kings of France and England failed.
+Urban's successor, Pierre Roger de Beaufort<ref>His uncle, the Bishop of Rouen, was the Avignon Pope Clement VI. Beaufort was a "Cardinal Deacon" and not a priest, and hesitated to accept the position. (See [https://cardinals.fiu.edu/conclave-xiv.htm#1370 The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church - Conclaves by century]) He was ordained the day before crowning as Gregory XI. For his biography, see [https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06799a.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Gregory XI]</ref>, who became Gregory XI, had witnessed in person Bridget's prophesy to Urban V,<ref>See [[wikipedia:Pope_Urban_V#To_Rome_and_back|Pope Urban V - Wikipedia]]</ref> which may have, one can imagine, at least been in the back of his mind when he privately vowed before God to return the papacy to Rome should he be selected as Pope. Whatever the intention, for the first years of his papacy there were plenty of fires to put out (or try) and reforms to institute, including, interestingly, his 1373 ''règle d'idiom'', which instructed clergy to speak the local vernacular to their flocks outside of the liturgy, came well before the proto-Protestant heretic John Wycliffe translated the Bible into English.<ref>Wycliffe's radicalism led to Gregory's five 1377 Bulls against Wycliff.</ref> Gregory's attempts to reconcile the kings of France and England failed.
 The Avignon papacy was not tenable. And no matter how you look at it, Saint Peter died at Rome and not Avignon. Gregory XI seemed to think so, anyway, but he only acted on the conviction at the insistence of Saint Catherine of Sienna (1347-1380). Saint Catherine had picked up where Saint Bridget had left off,<ref>From Urban V's return to Rome through to her death, Bridget remained in Rome but focused setting up and financing her order and on other spiritual matters.</ref> dictating a series of letters to the Pope commanding him, among things, to return to Rome and in language Gregory characterized as having an “intolerably dictatorial tone, a little sweetened with expressions of her perfect Christian deference.”<ref>[https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/saints/saints-stories-for-all-ages/saint-catherine-of-siena-1347-1380/ Saint Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380 | Loyola Press]</ref> Not sure if it's Catherine so much as Gregory not wanting to hear it.<ref>Saint Joan of Arc issued similar exhortations.
@@ Line 1,408: / Line 1,408: @@
 "Her incontestable victory in the argument with the masters of theology makes her like another Saint Catherine come down to earth."
-Pernoud, Regine. Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses (p. 131). Scarborough House. Kindle Edition. </ref> For example, she wrote,  <blockquote>
+Pernoud, Regine. Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses (p. 131). Scarborough House. Kindle Edition. </ref> For example, she wrote,
-I have prayed, and shall pray, sweet and good Jesus that He free you from all servile fear, and that holy fear alone remain.  May ardor of charity be in you, in such wise as shall prevent you from hearing the voice of incarnate demons, and heeding the counsel of perverse counselors, settled in self-love, who, as I understand, want to alarm you, so as to prevent your return, saying, “You will die.”  Up, father, like a man!  For I tell you that you have no need to fear.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine] cites ''St. Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters'', ed. Vida D. Scudder (London, 1911), 165-166.
+<blockquote>I have prayed, and shall pray, sweet and good Jesus that He free you from all servile fear, and that holy fear alone remain.  May ardor of charity be in you, in such wise as shall prevent you from hearing the voice of incarnate demons, and heeding the counsel of perverse counselors, settled in self-love, who, as I understand, want to alarm you, so as to prevent your return, saying, “You will die.”  Up, father, like a man!  For I tell you that you have no need to fear.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine] cites ''St. Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters'', ed. Vida D. Scudder (London, 1911), 165-166.
-The webpage seems to conflate this letter with another from that source on p. 185.   << to cofirrm</ref>  </blockquote>
+The webpage seems to conflate this letter with another from that source on p. 185.   << to cofirrm</ref></blockquote>
-In 1376, Catherine traveled to Avignon on behalf of the Republic of Florence to negotiate a peace with the Papal States.<ref>As did the 19th century French historian Michelet, it's easy to forget that this is at the cusp of what Michelet termed the "Renaissance," which means this period and the "Renaissance" were actually one, not distinct periods. A lot was going on.</ref> She failed at the immediate mission<ref>Catherine became famous across Tuscany as a holy woman (''santa donna)'' for her acts of charity, especially for the sick, as well as her calls for clerical reform general repentance through "total love for God." Florence was in rebellion from the Papal States and under a papal interdict, so it was thought that Catherine, who called for reconciliation with the Vatican, could yield advantageous returns. However, both sides succumbed to distrustful elements who did not want to see her succeed. After Gregory XI moved to Rome, he sent her back to Florence, this time on his behalf. While she was there, Gregory died and street riots broke out, likely due to longstanding frustration with the papal interdict, the larger conflict which had disrupted the economy and led to increased taxes, and the general policies of the guilds that ran Florence. That July a more general rebellion arose, the Ciompi Revolt, led by discontented wool workers in which Saint Catherine was nearly killed. The shocked calm that followed the rebellion led to reconciliation with the new Pope Urban VI.</ref> but through a divine inspiration won a far more important one: when they met, she told him that she knew of his private vow to return the papacy to Rome.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine]</ref> He so decided, but wavered in face of strenuous French objections. When Catherine heard of the indecision, she wrote,  <blockquote>I beg of you, on behalf of Christ crucified, that you be not a timorous child but manly. Open your mouth and swallow down the bitter for the sweet.</blockquote>In January of 1377, Gregory moved the papacy back to Rome. He soon after died, and his successor Urban VI refused to return to Avignon, where the French bishops held their own conclave and selected Clement VII, the first antipope of the "Western Schism" that would last almost seventy years, and that would lay the ground for the Martin Luther and the protestant schisms that followed.
+In 1376, Catherine traveled to Avignon on behalf of the Republic of Florence to negotiate a peace with the Papal States.<ref>As did the 19th century French historian Michelet, it's easy to forget that this is at the cusp of what Michelet termed the "Renaissance," which means this period and the "Renaissance" were actually one, not distinct periods. A lot was going on.</ref> She failed at the immediate mission<ref>Catherine became famous across Tuscany as a holy woman (''santa donna)'' for her acts of charity, especially for the sick, as well as her calls for clerical reform general repentance through "total love for God." Florence was in rebellion from the Papal States and under a papal interdict, so it was thought that Catherine, who called for reconciliation with the Vatican, could yield advantageous returns. However, both sides succumbed to distrustful elements who did not want to see her succeed. After Gregory XI moved to Rome, he sent her back to Florence, this time on his behalf. While she was there, Gregory died and street riots broke out, likely due to longstanding frustration with the papal interdict, the larger conflict which had disrupted the economy and led to increased taxes, and the general policies of the guilds that ran Florence. That July a more general rebellion arose, the Ciompi Revolt, led by discontented wool workers in which Saint Catherine was nearly killed. The shocked calm that followed the rebellion led to reconciliation with the new Pope Urban VI.</ref> but through a divine inspiration won a far more important one: when they met, she told him that she knew of his private vow to return the papacy to Rome.<ref>[https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/how-st-catherine-brought-the-pope-back-to-rome How St. Catherine Brought the Pope Back to Rome | Catholic Answers Magazine]</ref> He so decided, but wavered in face of strenuous French objections. When Catherine heard of the indecision, she wrote,
+<blockquote>I beg of you, on behalf of Christ crucified, that you be not a timorous child but manly. Open your mouth and swallow down the bitter for the sweet.</blockquote>
+In January of 1377, Gregory moved the papacy back to Rome. He soon after died, and his successor Urban VI refused to return to Avignon, where the French bishops held their own conclave and selected Clement VII, the first antipope of the "Western Schism" that would last almost seventy years, and that would lay the ground for the Martin Luther and the protestant schisms that followed.
 === Saint Joan settles the question ===