Jeanne was born in 1412 in the village of Domréme on the border of Champagne and Lorraine in a family of wealthy peasants. At the age of 13, the girl first heard the voices of Saints Catherine and Margaret and the Archangel Michael, who told that it was she who was destined to lift the siege from Orleans, elevate the Dauphin to the throne and expel the invaders from the kingdom. When the future national heroine turns 17, she goes to meet with the Dauphin Charles VII, convinces him of her mission and becomes the head of the French army. Having shown, according to Napoleon, a genius in military affairs, Jeanne won several important military victories, taking Orleans and defeating the English army on the Loire. However, soon after the coronation of Charles VII, during a sortie near the city of Compiegne, Jeanne's detachment was captured by the Burgundians, who handed her over to the Duke of Luxembourg, who, in turn,sold the girl to the British.
In January 1431 in Rouen, the Inquisition began the trial of the Virgin of Orleans. Despite the fact that the girl behaved with tremendous courage and confidently avoided all the traps, the holy fathers nevertheless deceived her to renounce her "delusions" and on May 30 they burned Jeanne alive on the Old Market Square in Rouen. Her last words were: “Bishop, I am dying because of you. I challenge you to God's judgment!.. "Almost everyone present cried with pity …
Found the remains of the Maid of Orleans?
However, the story of the savior of France did not end there. In 1452, after the end of the war in Normandy, Charles VII ordered to examine all the documents related to the trial of Jeanne, and determine whether everything was in accordance with the law. The investigation, having interviewed witnesses and collected the necessary papers, concluded that the law had been repeatedly violated during the trial. In 1455, Pope Calixtus III initiated a second trial, for which he personally appointed three observers. Legates and judges sat in Paris, Rouen, Orleans, in the native land of Jeanne, interviewed 115 witnesses and studied tons of documents. Finally, on July 7, 1456, the judges delivered a verdict - each point of the accusation against Jeanne is refuted by the testimony of witnesses and, accordingly, the first trial over her is declared invalid. Thus, the good name of Joan of Arc was restored. The 20th century brought even greater honors to the warrior - in 1909, Pope Pius X proclaimed Joan blessed, and on May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized her. Accordingly, her relics were recognized as saints and miraculous. But where should they come from - after all, the Maid of Orleans was burned at the stake, and the unburned remains were thrown into the Seine?
However, in 1867, in the attic of one of the Parisian pharmacies, a glass vessel was accidentally discovered with the inscription: "The remains of Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, found in a fire." The accompanying note explained that one of Jeanne's supporters, after the execution, made his way to the fire and collected the fragments preserved there. Thus, the vessel contained: charred-looking fragments of human bones, a shard of another bone, wood chips and fragments of linen cloth. Sensation?
However, everything turned out to be not so simple. The quickest identified fragment of a bone - it turned out to be a feline. In principle, in the Middle Ages, witches were often burned together with black cats, so in theory it could have been planted on Jeanne - despite the fact that cats do not appear in the testimony of witnesses. The rest of the items belonging to the Tours diocese, stored in the storeroom of the Chinon Museum, were given to scientists only last year. Their verdict was unexpected.
“Some particles have been tested with infrared and optical spectrometers. They confirm that the black substance that envelops the bones is not a combustion product. The bones are impregnated with an embalming compound containing resins, herbal and mineral products, explains Philippe Charlier, medical examiner at Raymond Poincaré Hospital in Garsh. - At work, I constantly encounter charred human remains. These have nothing to do with them."
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So the remains of Jeanne still have not survived, which is a pity! After all, their analysis could clarify a lot in the personality of the legendary girl. However, some diagnoses can be made now, relying on well-known facts from her biography. The Maid of Orleans was an extraordinary person because she suffered … Morris syndrome.
Jeanne or Jean?
"… Jeanne has an attractive appearance and a man's posture, she speaks little and shows a wonderful mind; she speaks in a pleasant high voice, as befits a woman. She finds pleasure in beautiful horses and weapons. Often her eyes are filled with tears, she loves and fun. He undergoes unheard-of hard work, and when he carries a weapon, he shows such tenacity that day and night for six days he can continuously remain fully armed. " This is how the associates of their commander-in-chief described. Her squire, Jean d'Olonne, later told the judges at the acquittal that, with a height of 158 centimeters and a thin figure, the Virgo was beautiful and had attractive breasts for men. Jeanne's resistance to adversity was also admirable: during the storming of the Mosta castle, she was wounded in the neck, but she did not go to the hospitaland continued to ride on horseback and command the troops. All this combined - strength and dexterity, extraordinary for a girl of her age and physique, indomitable energy, emotional stability and strong will - allows Jeanne to diagnose testicular feminization - Morris syndrome.
This hereditary anomaly is characterized by insensitivity of peripheral tissues to the masculinizing action of the male hormone of the testes, and as a result, the prenatal and postnatal development of an organism with a male set of chromosomes and testes follows the female direction. As a result, a pseudohermaphrodite develops: a slender, physically developed woman without a uterus, unable to bear children. This syndrome is very rare (about one case in 65 thousand people), but, as we can see, it was he who helped save France. So, if Jeanne were an ordinary girl, Charles VII would have been left without a crown, and the French without independence …
L. Lemesheva. “Interesting newspaper. Mysteries of Civilization No. 7 2009