Background
Joan of Arc was born around the year 1412, based on collected historical information as her exact year of birth is unknown. Joan of Arc's parents were from the village of Domrémy in the northeastern part of France, where Joan was raised. Joan's father was a peasant called Jacques of Arc, and her mother was Isabelle Romee. Joan of Arc grew up with religious devotion to the Catholic Church as she always went early to church masses, and attended confessions frequently. Also, she was active in tending the family's flock of sheep as well as helping with work on the farm. According to historical records, Joan showed the physical strength that many of the villagers thought was unusual for a woman her age (Goy-Blanquet, 2017). Joan would later use this strength and determination to prove her abilities to King Charles VI, and the French army.
Joan of Arc with Tribulations of a Young Woman in the 15th Century
Women in the 15th century experienced many challenges due to male domination within the society. As much as the modern society is still patriarchal, during the Dark Ages where women were incomparably highly disregarded and subjected to domestic duties while men took charge of important family issues and acted as leaders. Joan of Arc grew up in a period where education was designed for men while women stayed at home tending to domestic duties. Therefore, she never got any formal schooling. However, Isabelle Romee ensured that Joan of Arc learnt about the church and religious ways, which later played a huge part in her life.
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Also, women in the 15th century rarely had a say in the choice of their marriage partners, since in most cases, they got betrothed by their parents. Joan of Arc fell into this situation at 16 years when her father attempted to marry her off to a man from the village. Joan refused the match on the ground that she was dedicated to the church, and wanted to keep her virginity.
Women were not trusted with leadership positions, which translated to the challenge Joan Arc faced when she went to the King to ask to lead the army. Joan was accepted as a leader to direct the French army to battlefields against the English, not because the King believed in her abilities as a woman leader, but rather because there was a prophecy that aligned to Joan's coming as well as there was proof of her virginity. The Catholic church had a prophesy of a young virgin woman who would save France from its oppressors. Therefore, when Joan approached King Charles VI, it was believed she was the girl the prophesy mentioned.
Joan's Success in War
France had a long conflict with England during the Hundred Years' War, in which the King of England, Henry VI had seized part of France due to the declaration of the illegitimacy of the next of kin to King Charles of Valois in 1420. Therefore, King Henry V was made the King of France and England, and later Henry VI took over after the death of Henry V. The English ruled France alongside their allies, the Burgundy. This period marked the beginning of Joan's journey to save France from the English and Burgundy. Charles VI was at the verge of losing the crown of France due to a call out of his illegitimacy, and that created the perfect window for Joan to save the situation.
Reasons for the Success of Joan at War
Joan's resilient character was a major factor in the successes she achieved with the French army during her conquests. Joan's resilience resulted to an inspiration for the French army and an intimidation for the English army. In her engagements with the English army, Joan carried a white banner that was meant to symbolize Jesus, the virgin Mary, and two angels which meant that God was her guide in the battlefield, and this gave the army confidence in her strategies(Sullivan, 2018). The banner became popular, easily recognized and associated with inspiration for the French army. In the midst of panic where King Charles VI did not know whether to send the army to battle or call a truce, Joan inspired the French army to press on, and this won them wars. During her conquest of Orléans, Joan pushed the army to pursue victory regardless of the attack from the English army. This persistence helped them take over Orléans again. One incident recorded historically during the siege of Orléans indicates that during the attack, Joan was shot above her breast as everyone watched. Most soldiers believed she had died, but still, she rose and stuck her white banner on the edge of the ditch surrounding the fort and declared continuous attack. This act gave the French army more momentum and motivation to fight, which led to the flee of the English army. Most of the English army men died after drowning in Loire River during their escape. In 1429, 30 more cities without fighting (Sackville-West, 2018).
The second reason for the victories of Joan in the battlefield was her martial aptitude. Joan was skilled in military weapons and strategies of the 15th century, especially the use of cannons and directing the army, which made her army dangerous. Joan said that she acquired her skills through a divine calling from God. Joan's positioning of artillery helped her in maintaining offensive attacks during the war, which led to the victories she achieved. According to the Duke of Alençon, Joan was a simple young girl at 18 years but with extremely outstanding military strategies (Sackville-West, 2018). For instance, the night King Charles VII failed to get a truce with Troyes, and ordered an attack to Troyes, Joan spent the night placing artillery and ordered the filling of ditches around the city. This strategy helped the French army to bring more than 600 English and Burgundian soldiers to surrender in a fortified city conquest. Similarly, during the siege of Jargeau, Joan saves the life of the Duke of Alençon after she identified a spot in the battlefield with enemy cannons. Joan could tell spots where enemy cannons had been planted through her divine power, which helped her army attack safely. Joan's skills at the use of cannons helped her win all battles until the siege of Paris on September 7, 1429. However, Joan's reliance on the cannons and artillery also led to her failure during her last wars at Paris, La Charité, Choisy-au-Bac, and finally Compiégne, where she ran out of gun powder (Sackville-West, 2018).
Lastly, Joan's aggressiveness was critical in giving the French Army the victories they received. For instance, preceding her move into Burgundy to take over La Charité, and Saint-Pierre-le Moûtier, Joan dismissed the fear of winter. This kind of aggressiveness helped her achieve victory on June 18, 1429 at the Battle of Patay against the English army after fighting with a few thousands of men following a dissolution of her army by King CharlesVI. I Although the English army were dominant in open field battles, Joan still managed to defeat them. Later, this attitude won her a battle at Choisy-au-Bac, where she chased more than 500 Burgundians (Sackville-West, 2018). However, this aggressive nature later led to her downfall at Compiégne.
Controversy, Death, and Canonization
Joan's failure began during her mission in Compiégne in 1430, where she was to kill a Burgundian mercenary. During the battle, she was overwhelmed by the Burgundians who had a stronger defensive mentality unlike Joan who was offensive. Also, during this time, the King Charles VII had dissolved the army, and Joan only had hundreds of soldiers. During her retreat, she tripped from her horse and was abandoned outside the gate of the town, which led to her capture by Burgundians. Joan was taken to the castle of Bouvreuil, which was headed by the English commander at Rouen. The Burgundians accused Joan for 70 charges including witchcraft and dressing like a man. The King of France failed to negotiate for her release for fear of being associated with witchcraft. The witchcraft allegations were built strongly by her involvement with the fairy tree during childhood of the Domremy townfolk which was believed to bear magic. On May 30, 1431, Joan was escorted to the market center of Rouen and burned at the stake at the age of 19 (Scott, 2018). However, her death increased her popularity which led to the clearing of her name by King Charles VII in 1451 and later canonization by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 to be the patron saint of France.
Conclusion
Joan's significance is reflected in the modern day struggles of women. Joan's story has been used to root for the empowerment of women within the society. Joan grew up in a male dominated society but still rose above the hegemony to lead one of the largest armies in Europe during her time, and won 9 out of the 13 battles she fought. Joan proved that women can be exceptional leaders too when given a chance.
References
Goy-Blanquet, D. (2017). Joan of Arc, a saint for all reasons: studies in myth and politics . Routledge.
Sackville-West, V. (2018). Saint Joan of Arc . Random House.
Scott, W. S. (2018). Trial of Joan of Arc . Courier Dover Publications.
Sulliva, K. (2018). “I do not name to you the voice of St. Michael’: The identification of Joan of Arc’s voices.” In Fresh verdicts on Joan of Arc (pp. 85-111). Routledge.
