Jeanne d'Arc, nicknamed the Maid of Orleans, is considered the national heroine of France. It is known that as a teenager, she began to hear "voices" who declared that her mission was to save France from the British. This led to the fact that the girl led the French army and really won many victories in the Hundred Years War, and then died martyrically at the stake. But how could she, an illiterate peasant woman from Lorraine, be entrusted with an army?
Voices at the Fairy Tree
According to sources, Jeanne d'Arc (at first she bore the surname Dark or similar) was born around 1412 in a peasant family living in the Lorraine village of Domréme.
From about 13 years old, the girl began to hear “voices”. She claimed that Saints Michael, Catherine and Margarita were talking to her. For the first time, they allegedly spoke to her at the "Fairy Tree", next to which was a source, reputed to be healing.
According to Jeannette, the "saints" said that she must save France from her enemies - the British. There was a Hundred Years War (1337-1453).
Carier start"
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When Jeannette was 17, she went to Chinon, where the French dauphin's residence was located. The girl managed to convince the commandant of the Vaucouleur fortress, Robert de Baudricourt, to help her get an audience at the palace. After meeting with the Dauphin, she told him about her upcoming mission.
Why did they agree to accept and listen to her? Not long before that, a rumor had spread about a prophecy made by a certain Marie of Avignon. It said that "France was ruined by a woman, and an innocent girl will save". Several candidates "claimed" for the role of the destroyer. The first of these was the Dauphin's mother, Queen Isabella of Bavaria, who is rumored to have convinced the mentally ill King Charles VI to sign an agreement that effectively put France into British rule. The second is Queen Aleanor of Aquitaine, whose husbands were first the French, then the English king, which led to disputes over land ownership. Finally, the third is Queen Isabella of England, who was the daughter of the French king Philip IV and the mother of the English king Edward III. The latter's uncle, King Charles IV, left no direct male heirs,which allowed the English monarch to claim the French crown. Actually, he started the Hundred Years War.
Meanwhile, the simpleton from Domremi was quite suitable for the role of an "innocent girl." Her virginity, which was verified after a special examination, played a decisive role.
Joan of Arc - a political "special project"?
Jeanne was subjected to various tests, including those that really confirmed her mystical abilities. After that, it was decided to entrust the army to her. The first victory under the leadership of Jeanne was won on May 7, 1429. The French, led by Jeanne, managed to lift the siege from Orleans, after which they began to call her the Maid of Orleans. This was followed by the coronation of the Dauphin in Reims: from now on he began to rule France under the name of Charles VII. There were other military victories as well.
According to the testimony of contemporaries, Jeanne not only effectively led the soldiers, she was smart and judicious, and also had extensive knowledge in the field of various sciences. But where could they have come from a peasant woman who, by her own admission, did not even know how to read and write until she was 17?
Perhaps she was not at all illiterate and was not even a peasant? Did such a person as Joan of Arc really exist?
Researchers of the biography of the national heroine Regine Pernoux and Marie-Veronique Clain in their book “Jeanne d'Arc” write: “For some, the Virgo is an instrument of God or the devil: for others, the appearance of Jeanne is a figment of the imagination of the king's inner circle”.
Suppose that Joan of Arc was, after all, a real figure who took part in a kind of "advertising project" that was actively promoted at court. Something was required that would raise the patriotic spirit among the French soldiers, would inspire them to victory. Such "political PR" was the legend about a "simple peasant woman" who heard the "voices of the saints."
But such "Jeanne" could not be alone. After all, there was no television then, and not everyone knew the "peasant woman from Domremi" by sight. Indirectly, this version is confirmed by the fact that subsequently several women tried to impersonate her.
The king and his entourage really could have come up with the tale of the "Maid of Orleans" for political purposes. It is possible that behind this "special project" there was a whole army of "puppeteers" pulling the strings, including people versed in the military field.
Then the question of what is myth and what is true in Jeanne's story becomes even more controversial. But her martyrdom (or one of the participants in the "project") is an absolutely indisputable fact.
After Jeanne's army was defeated at Compiegne in 1430, she herself was captured by the Burgundians, who took the side of the British. The king of France refused to take any part in the fate of Jeanne, forgetting to whom he owed the crown. Either he believed that she played her part, or saw her as a rival: after all, Jeanne was so popular with soldiers and ordinary people! Or maybe for him she was just a pawn, one of the participants in the "patriotic project"? One way or another, the Maid of Orleans became a waste material for him.
The British bought the prisoner from the Burgundians. Church representatives brought charges of heresy and witchcraft against her, promising that if she confessed everything, she would not be burned, unlike other heretics and sorcerers. But despite the confession received, the church court still sentenced her to be burned. The execution took place in 1431 in Rouen. Before going to the fire, Jeanne publicly retracted her earlier confessions. But that didn't help her anymore …