Joan of Arc -But, who she?

Jeanne d’Arc

The Duke of Bedford’s lament! Oh how the poor man did lament!

The defeat at Orleans cast terrible thoughts into his mind and boy, did they ferment!

The Duke of Bedford was beside himself with shame and sorrow when the French army, commanded by a teenage French girl, freed the city of Orleans.

The siege of Orleans.

In fact, he must have been inconsolable. The embarrassment! In a fit of intense mortification, the Duke would have exclaimed:

‘Look, I say to you, my dear chaps!

This is the most nasty, indeed the cruellest of mishaps!

It is a fair thing to be beaten by a man who has fought on many a battlefield!

But the shame! Oh yes, the shame, of facing an army led by a girl and being forced to yield!

And just when we all thought that the fate of the Dauphin and his allies was sealed!’

In a mere eight days, French forces led by Joan had driven the English out of all of the bases they had held on the river Loire.

But,…. who was this ‘mere slip of a girl’?

 ‘Yes! Who she?

How did this come to be?

Because Jeanne would be born amongst ye!’

Jeanne was born on January 6th 1412, the feast of the Epiphany in Domremy, a village in the duchy of Lorraine. As is well known, it was the anniversary of the night that the ‘Three Kings’ came bearing gifts for the newly born Jesus. Some would say the anniversary in 1412 brought forth a great gift for the French people.

The Three Kings adore the infant Jesus.

‘It was the feast day of the visit to Jesus in Bethlehem by the Three Kings!

The anniversary in 1412 saw the birth of a girl child, who for France, would do great things!’

Jeanne’s father and mother were Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle, nee Romee, who were both highly respected in the locality. Jacques was a peasant farmer and Isabelle was most devout in her religious beliefs. Their daughter, Jeanne was conscientious in her duties around the farm and became a talented seamstress. Like her mother, young Jeanne was  particularly pious, and appears to have been regarded as something of a prig by the other young people of Domremy.

Reasons why!

It has been suggested that Jeanne’s primary motivation for her crusade against the English was borne of religious fervour. Although this may have been a contributory factor, it must be remembered that France had been ravaged by English invasions for decades. In July 1428, the villagers of Domremy had to flee from the advancing Burgundians who were the allies of the English. Jeanne and her family driving their livestock before them, found refuge in the neighbouring town of Neufchateau. When they returned, they found that Domremy was a smouldering ruin. It was a terrible blow, and one that someone with such a deep sense of justice as Jeanne, would have taken very much to heart.

 It is fair to surmise that if the English had not invaded France, Jeanne would have lived the life of a peasant farmer’s wife in Domremy.

The ‘voices’.

Jeanne has stated that she began to hear a mysterious voice when she was twelve. She was in her father’s garden when a luminous cloud appeared, and from it came a voice. The voice told her that she had been chosen by God to restore France to the authority of King Charles VII. The voices continued and Jeanne concluded that they came from Saint Michael the Archangel.

Saint Michael the Archangel.

                                                                                                          ‘The voice of Saint Michael! His voice! His voice!

I must obey! I have absolutely no choice!’

So, with that, Jeanne’s path in life was set forth.