To thine own true self, be
To thine own true self, be
Booting the English...
Joan of Arc —Jeanne d’Arc — remains a fascinating and mysterious figure. Born 600 years ago today, she has become a polyvalent symbol in French politics, regularly invoked by all the parties across the spectrum, Communists to Extreme Right. Today President Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting her birthplace of Domrémy, in Lorraine. Of course, he is also officially launching his presidential campaign...
You can find original materials from her trials here. The more interesting account is the transcript of her first trial. Her own words, transcribed by her enemies, are remarkable. She is clear in her thoughts and precise in her choice of words. In fact, her discourses are claimed by some to be the beginning of modern French.
I am not interested in her legend, her épopée, as the French say. Too many rascals have used it for their benefit over the centuries. What is historically attested in manuscripts of the time, however, is very strange indeed. Who were her “voices”? How did she have seeming moments of clairvoyance, which she attributed to those voices? How did she instantly learn warcraft, when all she had studied was sewing?
Why would God apparently intervene in the course of history of one nation over another?
There is something Christ-like in her story. Jeanne d’Arc’s recapitulation of his Passion: the trial of an innocent at the hands of the religious authorities of the time, the forgiveness of enemies, the brutal execution, all by an illiterate teenage girl of all people, remains very challenging. Beyond the paranormal is the very typical murder of a scapegoat. Like Christ, the intended effect of discrediting her failed.
The English were “booted” out of France. The nation came together. Perhaps God does use people in various nations for the welfare of their country. Ancient Israel itself is the primary example, after all.
There are three great French women saints, each with an extraordinary story: Bernadette Soubirous, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Jeanne. Of the three, Jeanne d’Arc is the strangest. Like Thérèse, her words have enduring power. Like Bernadette, she was a visionary. But her story is so particular, so rooted in a very precise context, that she seems to challenge us far more than the others.
Bon anniveraire, Jeanne. Prie pous nous, s’il te plaît...
6 janvier 2012/ Epiphany