Saint Joan of Arc (Jeanne la Pucelle): Difference between revisions
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“Does not Saint Margaret speak English?” | “Does not Saint Margaret speak English?” | ||
“Why should she speak English, when she is not on the English side?”</blockquote>Just magnificent. So where historians can simply dismiss her testimony as self-delusion, taking it on face-value without affirming their reality, Joan here gives us a unique view into a real mystic. The English-backed court of course, was entirely antagonistic to her experiences, and reoriented her testimony and their questions constantly towards the accusations of witchcraft, such as the legend of a "Fairy Tree" at her hometown, Domrémy and mandrakes, a flowering plant which sorcerers were supposed to have used, and which were commonly kept by peasants as charms. Evidently their investigation into Joan's hometown found that mandrakes were used there, which would be affirmed by the village priest who in April 1429, after Joan had already departed, preached against them.<ref>Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 42 See footnote no. 45 for the sermon against them.</ref> After Joan declares,<blockquote>“Do you want me to tell you what concerns the King of France? There are a number of things that do not touch on the Case. I know well that my King will regain the Kingdom of France. I know it as well as I know that you are before me, seated in judgment. I should die if this revelation did not comfort me every day.”</blockquote>the questioner turns away from that rather uncomfortable, for the English and their allies, prophesy, the Court employed a classic leading question regarding the mandrakes: <blockquote>“What have you done with your mandrake?”</blockquote>Joan had no counsel, so no one was there to point out that the question assumed she owned one. But no matter for Joan, who swatted it back at them,<blockquote>I never have had one. But I have heard that there is one near our home, though I have never seen it. I have heard it is a dangerous and evil thing to keep. I do not know for what it is [used].<ref>The exchange continued: | “Why should she speak English, when she is not on the English side?”</blockquote>Just magnificent. So where historians can simply dismiss her testimony as self-delusion, taking it on face-value without affirming their reality, Joan here gives us a unique view into the experiences of a real mystic. | ||
The English-backed court of course, was entirely antagonistic to her experiences, and reoriented her testimony and their questions constantly towards the accusations of witchcraft, such as the legend of a "Fairy Tree" at her hometown, Domrémy and mandrakes, a flowering plant which sorcerers were supposed to have used, and which were commonly kept by peasants as charms. Evidently their investigation into Joan's hometown found that mandrakes were used there, which would be affirmed by the village priest who in April 1429, after Joan had already departed, preached against them.<ref>Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 42 See footnote no. 45 for the sermon against them.</ref> After Joan declares,<blockquote>“Do you want me to tell you what concerns the King of France? There are a number of things that do not touch on the Case. I know well that my King will regain the Kingdom of France. I know it as well as I know that you are before me, seated in judgment. I should die if this revelation did not comfort me every day.”</blockquote>the questioner turns away from that rather uncomfortable, for the English and their allies, prophesy, the Court employed a classic leading question regarding the mandrakes: <blockquote>“What have you done with your mandrake?”</blockquote>Joan had no counsel, so no one was there to point out that the question assumed she owned one. But no matter for Joan, who swatted it back at them,<blockquote>I never have had one. But I have heard that there is one near our home, though I have never seen it. I have heard it is a dangerous and evil thing to keep. I do not know for what it is [used].<ref>The exchange continued: | |||
Question: “Where is this mandrake of which you have heard?” Joan: “I have heard that it is in the earth, near the tree of which I spoke before; but I do not know the place. Above this mandrake, there was, it is said, a hazel tree.” Question: “What have you heard said was the use of this mandrake?” Joan: “To make money come; but I do not believe it. My Voice never spoke to me of that.”</ref></blockquote>Getting nowhere with the mandrake, the questioners turned back to the Saints:<blockquote>“In what likeness did Saint Michael appear to you?” | Question: “Where is this mandrake of which you have heard?” Joan: “I have heard that it is in the earth, near the tree of which I spoke before; but I do not know the place. Above this mandrake, there was, it is said, a hazel tree.” Question: “What have you heard said was the use of this mandrake?” Joan: “To make money come; but I do not believe it. My Voice never spoke to me of that.”</ref></blockquote>Getting nowhere with the mandrake, the questioners turned back to the Saints:<blockquote>“In what likeness did Saint Michael appear to you?” | ||
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“Has he a balance?”<ref>Saint Michael is commonly depicting the scales of judgment. (He is not himself the judge.)</ref> | “Has he a balance?”<ref>Saint Michael is commonly depicting the scales of judgment. (He is not himself the judge.)</ref> | ||
“I know nothing about it. It was a great joy to see him; it seemed to me, when I saw him, that I was not in mortal sin. Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret were pleased from time to time to receive my confession, each in turn. If I am in mortal sin, it is without my knowing it.”</blockquote>Always deferring to another topic when it got them nowhere, and seizing on any point Joan made that could be twisted or used against her, her interrogators must have nearly jumped from their seats in glee at this one:<ref>Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 43</ref><blockquote>When you confessed, did you think you were in mortal sin?</blockquote>But they were up against a Saint. Joan replied,<blockquote>I do not know if I am in mortal sin, and I do not believe I have done its works; and, if it please God, I will never so be; nor, please God, have I ever done or ever will do deeds which charge my soul!</blockquote>The next day, | “I know nothing about it. It was a great joy to see him; it seemed to me, when I saw him, that I was not in mortal sin. Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret were pleased from time to time to receive my confession, each in turn. If I am in mortal sin, it is without my knowing it.”</blockquote>Always deferring to another topic when it got them nowhere, and seizing on any point Joan made that could be twisted or used against her, her interrogators must have nearly jumped from their seats in glee at this one:<ref>Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 43</ref><blockquote>When you confessed, did you think you were in mortal sin?</blockquote>But they were up against a Saint. Joan replied,<blockquote>I do not know if I am in mortal sin, and I do not believe I have done its works; and, if it please God, I will never so be; nor, please God, have I ever done or ever will do deeds which charge my soul!</blockquote>The next day, they went straight at her visions. The scribe noted that she had previously testified that Saint Michael "had wings" but nothing about the forms of Saints Catherine and Margaret. The scribe noted,<ref>Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, pp. 45-46</ref><blockquote>Afterwards, because she had said, in previous Enquiries, that Saint Michael had wings, but had said nothing of the body and members of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, We asked her what she wished to say thereon.</blockquote>Joan responded,<blockquote>“I have told you what I know; I will answer you nothing more. I saw Saint Michael and these two Saints so well that I know they are Saints of Paradise.” | ||
“Did you see anything else of them but the face?” | “Did you see anything else of them but the face?” | ||
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“Do you think that God did from the first create them in this form and fashion?” | “Do you think that God did from the first create them in this form and fashion?” | ||
“You will have no more at present than what I have answered.” </blockquote>Time to move on, then, now | “You will have no more at present than what I have answered.” </blockquote>Time to move on, then, now to whether her voices told her she will escape, another point they used against her as she had attempted to escape from her original capture by the Burgundians. | ||
We also learn about Joan's relationship with the Saints, not just her interactions of guiding, consoling, and redirecting her. After being threatened with torture, Joan turned to them:<ref name=":2" /> <blockquote>I asked counsel of my Voices if I ought to submit to the Church, because the Clergy were pressing me hard to submit, and they said to me: ‘If thou willest that God should come to thy help, wait on Him for all thy doings.’ I know that Our Lord hath always been the Master of all my doings, and that the Devil hath never had power over them. I asked of my Voices if I should be burned, and my Voices answered me: ‘Wait on Our Lord, He will help thee.’</blockquote>Joan knew full well the consequences of condemnation for heresy, so the stake was on her mind, likely throughout. The court brought it up to her directly, though, in the public assembly at the cemetery of St. Ouen, where she was read the documents of abjuration. After his public sermon in which he admonished Joan, the priest Érard, who was as violently against Joan as any, including the Bishop of Beauvais, read the charges that she was to "abjure"<ref>''ab-'' (off or out of) + ''jure'' (swear) = to swear off, or deny under oath. </ref>, adding that were she not to admit it, she'd burn. From the testimony at the Trial of Rehabilitation by the scribe, Father Jean Massieu,<ref>Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 173</ref> <blockquote>To which Jeanne replied, that she did not understand what abjuring was, and that she asked advice about it. Then Érard told me to give her counsel about it. After excusing myself for doing this, I told her it meant that, if she opposed any of the said Articles, she would be burned. I advised her to refer to the Church Universal as to whether she should abjure the said Articles or not. And this she did, saying in a loud voice to Érard: “I refer me to the Church Universal, as to whether I shall abjure or not.” To this the said Érard replied: “You shall abjure at once, or you shall be burned.” And, indeed, before she left the Square, she abjured, and made a cross with a pen which I handed to her. </blockquote>There is much argument as to whether or not in the abjuration Joan knowingly denied the Saints.<ref>Thus she was to "abjure" or deny all that she had testified to. It is unclear what, exactly Joan had knowingly abjured, although she knew specifically that as a result of the abjuration she was to wear women's clothing.</ref> We know she had earlier disobeyed her Voices when she leapt from captivity from the Burgundians,<blockquote>About four months. When I knew that the English were come to take me, I was very angry; nevertheless, my Voices forbade me many times to leap. In the end, for fear of the English, I leaped, and commended myself to God and Our Lady. I was wounded. When I had leaped, the Voice of Saint Catherine said to me I was to be of good cheer, for those at Compiègne would have succour.<ref>Another prophesy Joan received from her Voices was that the town of Compiègne, which she was defending when she was captured on May 23, 1430, would be saved, which happened in October of 1430 when the Burgundians gave up on trying to take it. </ref> I prayed always for those at Compiègne, with my Counsel.</blockquote>So perhaps facing the threat of burning -- understandably so -- she signed the papers. | |||
A few days after her abjuration, she was brought back to the Rouen court for a "relapse" trial for having put back on the men's garments. It gave the court the opportunity to not only accuse her of breaking her vow to wear women's clothes but to force her into a denial of her recantation of the Saints. Joan admitted she had betrayed the Saints:<blockquote>“They said to me: ‘God had sent me word by St. Catherine and St. Margaret of the great pity it is, this treason to which I have consented, to abjure and recant in order to save my life! I have damned myself to save my life!’ Before last Thursday, my Voices did indeed tell me what I should do and what I did on that day. When I was on the scaffold on Thursday, my Voices said to me, while the preacher was speaking: ‘Answer him boldly, this preacher!’ And in truth he is a false preacher; he reproached me with many things I never did. If I said that God had not sent me, I should damn myself, for it is true that God has sent me; my Voices have said to me since Thursday: ‘Thou hast done a great evil in declaring that what thou hast done was wrong.’ All I said and revoked, I said for fear of the fire.” | |||
“Do you believe that your Voices are Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret?” | |||
“Yes, I believe it, and that they come from God.”</blockquote>[[File:Bergognone_007.jpg|alt=Ambrogio Bergognone. The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena|thumb|375x375px|<small>"The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Catherine of Siena" by Ambrogio Bergognone. (wikipedia). Catherine of Sienna set important precedent for Saint Joan's affirmation of the papacy at Rome.</small> ]] | |||
=== Saint Catherine & Saint Margaret === | === Saint Catherine & Saint Margaret === | ||
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“What have you to say on this Article?” </blockquote>It's a core theological question: did Joan assume judgment upon her enemies? <blockquote>“I hold by what I have already said elsewhere of the King and the Duke d’Orléans; of the others I know not; I know well that God, for their well-being, loves my King and the Duke d’Orléans better than me. I know it by revelation.”</blockquote>They couldn't nail her down on this charge, and it infuriated the court. Joan stood firmly not as God's judge but his instrument for judgement. So back it went to wearing pants, which was the only charge they could hold upon her. | “What have you to say on this Article?” </blockquote>It's a core theological question: did Joan assume judgment upon her enemies? <blockquote>“I hold by what I have already said elsewhere of the King and the Duke d’Orléans; of the others I know not; I know well that God, for their well-being, loves my King and the Duke d’Orléans better than me. I know it by revelation.”</blockquote>They couldn't nail her down on this charge, and it infuriated the court. Joan stood firmly not as God's judge but his instrument for judgement. So back it went to wearing pants, which was the only charge they could hold upon her. | ||
Joan's intersection with Saint Michael ceased upon her delivery to the English at the Battle of Compiègne and her imprisonment by the Duke of Luxumbourt. She told the court at Rouen,<blockquote>I have not seen Saint Michael since I left the Castle of Crotoy.<ref>Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 43</ref></blockquote>With her | Joan's intersection with Saint Michael ceased upon her delivery to the English at the Battle of Compiègne and her imprisonment by the Duke of Luxumbourt. She told the court at Rouen,<blockquote>I have not seen Saint Michael since I left the Castle of Crotoy.<ref>Crotoy was a coastal fortress in northern France held by the English where Joan was sent upon delivery to the English from the Burgundians for a ransom. Crotoy, thereby, marked the final disposition of Joan's custody to the English. (Joan's testimony from Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 43)</ref></blockquote>With her delivery to the English at Crotoy, the duties of the warrior Saint Michael had ceased; however, Saints Catherin and Margaret, virgin captives and martyrs took over, and guided her from there, at times reluctantly on Joan's part, to her martyrdom. | ||
Nevertheless, Joan turned to Saint Michael just before her martyrdom, during her crisis of faith, after having signed the documents of "abjuration" (admission of guilt) and, upon the stake. Her abjuration was conducted in public, followed by a puplic Mass, in which the priest insulted Joan (and when she defended the integrity of the King of France she was told to shut up).<ref>I remember that at the sermon given at Saint Ouen by Maître Guillaume Érard, among other words were said and uttered these: “Ah! noble House of France, which hath always been the protectress of the Faith, hast thou been so abused that thou dost adhere to a heretic and schismatic? It is indeed a great misfortune.” To which the Maid made answer, what I do not remember, except that she gave great praise to her King, saying that he was the best and wisest Christian in the world. At which Érard and my Lord of Beauvais ordered Massieu, “Make her keep silence. (Murray, p 171)</ref> | Nevertheless, Joan turned to Saint Michael just before her martyrdom, during her crisis of faith, after having signed the documents of "abjuration" (admission of guilt) and, upon the stake. Her abjuration was conducted in public, followed by a puplic Mass, in which the priest insulted Joan (and when she defended the integrity of the King of France she was told to shut up).<ref>I remember that at the sermon given at Saint Ouen by Maître Guillaume Érard, among other words were said and uttered these: “Ah! noble House of France, which hath always been the protectress of the Faith, hast thou been so abused that thou dost adhere to a heretic and schismatic? It is indeed a great misfortune.” To which the Maid made answer, what I do not remember, except that she gave great praise to her King, saying that he was the best and wisest Christian in the world. At which Érard and my Lord of Beauvais ordered Massieu, “Make her keep silence. (Murray, p 171)</ref> | ||
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=== Saint Gabriel the Archangel === | === Saint Gabriel the Archangel === | ||
We hear less of Saint Gabriel than of the others, but he also visited and spoke to Joan. | We hear less of Saint Gabriel than of the others, but he also visited and spoke to Joan. When Joan was threatened by the torture machines, Saint Gabriel consoled her:<ref name=":2">Jeanne D‘arc, by T. Douglas Murray_The Trials_The Project Gutenberg eBook.pdf, p. 118</ref><blockquote>I received comfort from Saint Gabriel; I believe it was Saint Gabriel: I knew by my Voices it was he. </blockquote><blockquote></blockquote> | ||
When Joan was threatened by the torture machines, | |||
== Crazed, witch, or... Saint? == | == Crazed, witch, or... Saint? == | ||