In Memoriam; St. Joan of Arc

Yesterday marks the 588th year since the martyrdom of Joan, the Maid of Orleans.  Little is known of her early life, but much is surmised.  Even her tragic death is shrouded in mystery; there is some historical talk that she did not die at the stake that day, but was spirited a way; a corpse or some other unfortunate allegedly took her place.


Documents from her trial are online.


Some write she was an illiterate peasant girl with visions, others that her voices were schizophrenia taking its toll.  Yet, her mother did go to court to clear her name several years after her death, and Mark Twain was moved to write a book about her.  She did unify her country, like Deborah or Boadicea, and she led her people to victory.  That took intelligence, courage, much more than we can even imagine.


So, today, we honor her and celebrate her victories, and mourn her tragic loss at 19.  "We are lost!" the executioner supposedly cried, "We have burned a saint!" Her heart was found unburned in the ashes.

St. Joan, a French bisque doll, via Ruby Lane

Joan, Public Domain

Joan the Maid, Public Domain