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Saint Joan of Arc bibliography

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Saint Joan of Arc Annotated Bibliography

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A word on Joan of Arc historiography

You will find in the below review of Mark Twain's biography of Joan mention that Twain has been accused of obsessing over little girls and thus his study of Joan of Arc is infatuation not art, a tainted, shall we say, yucky, take on her story. Not at all! Nonetheless, St. Joan somehow challenges the gender-obsessed 20th and 21st centuries. There is absolutely nothing to consider regarding that she was burned as a witch for having worn men's clothing. It had nothing to do with 15th century gender identity. She was a soldier, and soldiers wear pants and cutting her hair, if she did, was an act of prudence not some transgender identity. So we have today works, websites and popular conceptions of Joan as a modern, sexually unburdened, liberated woman. So when you go looking for information about Joan, look carefully, as the perspectives and agenda reveal themselves, such as New Age, girl-power,[1] or gender-identity[2] perspectives.

So be careful.

In addition to author agenda and bias, the various biographies or histories, you will find many discrepancies in the facts and timelines provided. The problem is twofold:

  1. The record of the Trial at Rouen is subject to reasonable interpretation, as it was deliberately edited by the Court to put Joan in a bad light. The main stenographer was loyal the record, but even his manuscript was subject to change. Additionally, we have only copies of those transcripts, so those are subject editorial abuse, as well. This is not to say that the transcripts are false and ahistorical -- they are a uniquely complete testimony of an historical event. We just need to be careful with it.
  2. The various testimonies at the Trial at Rouen and the later Rehabilitation Trial may have conflicting eye witness testimony. That, too, is not irreparable as an historical record, it just means that the historian needs to make choices. More difficult, though, is that the timeline gets confusing as the testimony does not follow chronology. In other words, various witnesses may testify to the same event or moment, but their testimony is scattered across the record, not presented linearly.

So it is best to use various sources and compare them constantly, making up your own mind as to the most accurate.

Trials of Condemnation and Rehabilitation

Original manuscripts

London — British Library — Stowe 84

  • Repository: British Library
  • Collection: Stowe manuscripts (acquired from the Stowe collection in the 19th century).
  • Contents: Latin text of the trial.
  • Date: 15th century copy (not the original register).
  • Character: Considered one of the better early witnesses.
  • Close to the official register tradition but still a copy, not the court register itself.
  • Use by Quicherat: Used as a collation manuscript to verify readings.

Orléans — Bibliothèque Municipale — MS 518 (part 2)

  • Repository: Bibliothèque municipale d'Orléans
  • Contents: Includes the Latin record of the condemnation trial.
  • Date: 15th century.
  • Character: A regional copy produced relatively early.
  • Valuable but not the official court manuscript.
  • Use: Another secondary witness for Quicherat.

Paris — Bibliothèque de l’Assemblée nationale — MS 1119

  • Repository: Bibliothèque de l’Assemblée nationale
  • Provenance: Formerly part of Notre-Dame cathedral archives in Paris.
  • Date: Mid-15th century.
  • Character: One of the most important witnesses.
  • Often considered closest to the original official register.
  • Importance: Many modern scholars consider this manuscript the principal textual authority among the surviving copies.
  • Use by Quicherat: Treated it as one of the main textual bases.

Paris — Bibliothèque nationale — MS lat. 5965

  • Repository: Bibliothèque nationale de France
  • Contents: Latin text of the trial.
  • Date: 15th century.
  • Character: A copy belonging to the same textual family as the official record.
  • Use: Important but not primary.

Paris — Bibliothèque nationale — MS lat. 5966

  • Same repository.
  • Date: 15th century.
  • Character: Closely related to 5965.
  • Another derivative copy of the Latin register.

Paris — Bibliothèque nationale — MS lat. 5970

  • Repository: Bibliothèque nationale de France
  • Date: Later 15th century.
  • Character: Considered less authoritative.
  • Likely copied from a manuscript similar to those above rather than directly from the register.

Paris — Bibliothèque nationale — MS lat. 8838

  • Repository: Bibliothèque nationale de France
  • Contents: Includes trial material along with other texts relating to Joan.
  • Date: Later compilation (15th–16th century).
  • Character: Mixed manuscript rather than a pure trial register.
  • Lower textual authority.

Paris — Bibliothèque nationale — MS lat. 17013

  • formerly Notre-Dame 138
  • Repository: Bibliothèque nationale de France
  • Provenance: Originally in the archives of Notre-Dame de Paris.
  • Date: 15th century.
  • Character: Important witness closely related to the Assemblée nationale 1119 manuscript.
  • Significance: Another high-quality early copy.

Original print transcripts in Latin and Middle French

  • Quicherat, Jules
    • Gallica
    • Archive.org

French translations

  • Champion

English translations

Sources

working sources:

Current:

15th Century

16th Century

  • Histoire de Jeanne La Pucelle d'Orleans, by Edmond Richer, 1630

19th Century biographies

early 20th Century

Early 20th Century

Mid-20th Century

Latter 20th century

21st Century

Catholic Church & Theology

Christian and Spiritual

Academic, Cultural

Popular, Secular

Military & Hundred Years War

Wikipedia

The most extensive entries on Joan of Arc are on the French version of Wikipedia, https://fr.wikipedia.org

Other:

Bibliographies

I'm not yet sure of the perspective of the author of this site, but he has produced a useful bibliography with "comments" (annotations): https://joan-of-arc.org/ls_bibliography.html#joa_pernoud

Joan of Arc#Sources - Wikipedia

Popular culture and social media

Miscellaneous links

Coronation of French kings

Suggested Readings

Biographies

Miscellaneous

  1. ↑ See The trial of Joan of Arc : Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming (Archive.org)
  2. ↑ This essay seeks "gay icons" of Saint Joan: What Did Jeanne d'Arc Look Like?: "GLBT historians love to claim Jeanne as lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. I’m one of those who think she was a case of androgen insensitivity syndrome — burned at the stake in 1431 for her “crime” of flouting Catholic rules on gender and women’s clothing."

Saint Joan of Arc Artifacts in the U.S.

Saint Joan of Arc stone from the dungeon at Rouen

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has a stone taken from the castle where Joan was imprisoned.

The National Shrine’s Connection to Saint Joan of Arc - National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

St. Joan of Arc Chapel at Marquette University

See A History of St. Joan of Arc Chapel // St. Joan of Arc Chapel // Marquette University

Statues and artistic depictions of Saint Joan

In addition to the National Gallery of Art "Life of Saint Joan" paintings, there are many fascinating artistic depictions of Saint Joan, including

File:Four prize winners of the New York Camera Club photo competition.jpg
Joan of Arc Memorial, Riverside Park, NYC. This collage is of the "Four prize winners of the New York Camera Club photo competition" of the statue. (Wikipedia)

Statues

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