Joan of Arc claimed that the voices told her where it was hidden.

JOAN OF ARC - SAINT OR WITCH?

It is sometimes stated that on the 30th of May 1431 the Catholic Church condemned Joan of Arc as a witch, and on the 16th of May 1920 declared her to be a saint. The conclusion is then drawn that judgements made by the Church can be very unreliable. But the history of Joan of Arc does not support the basis for this conclusion.

Joan lived during the 'Hundred Years War' between England and France and, by the time Joan became involved, all northern France had fallen into English hands. A further large area, controlled by the Duke of Burgundy, had revolted against the authority of the French king, thereby commencing a civil war.

The Burgundians made a pact with the English and fought on their side. A skilful propaganda campaign was launched, alleging that Charles, heir apparent to the French crown, was illegitimate and therefore had no right to the throne. Many people became confused by the conflicting claims and tended towards neutrality. A number of towns were unwilling to resist what appeared to be the winning side. French morale was very low, and it seemed likely that France as a distinct monarchy and nation would cease to exist.

Rheims Cathedral, the traditional site for coronations, had been captured by the English, so preventing Charles being invested. This had a further demoralising effect on the ordinary people as many felt that Charles was not fully a king until he had been crowned.

As Joan grew into her teens she developed a deep spiritual and mystical life of prayer. She claimed that the 'voices' of saints were instructing her to raise the siege of Orleans, capture Rheims and have Charles crowned as king. They also instructed her to dress as a man while carrying out this work.

Joan left home in early 1428 and, following a Church trial at Poitiers clearing her of any suspicion of witchcraft or heresy, animated Charles and the French troops with the belief that God wished them to be victorious and would help them. Joan did not take command of the army but, with Joan providing inspiring personal leadership in key places at crucial times, the French won surprising victories leading to Charles being crowned in Rheims Cathedral in July 1429.

Although Joan said that her mission was now been completed, she continued to take part in the fighting and was captured in May 1430.

The English-Burgundian forces did not deny Joan's superhuman powers, but ascribed them to the Devil. So the English commanders arranged for bishop Cauchon, who was more interested in politics than in religion, to establish a court to prove that Joan was a witch.

Cauchon was zealously pro-English and chose Assessors (Jury-men) who were either biased, timid or both. Even so, as the trial proceeded he found it necessary to falsify evidence, terrorise the Assessors, misquote Joan's defence in a report to Paris University, and refuse to grant Joan's repeated demand to be tried by the Pope or an unbiased Church Council.

So many people see this girl as a saint, a person that gave everything that she had for her country in an awe inspiring and even spiritual way. However, was she really a saint, was she truly doing the work of God?

Joan of Ark grew up in a poor family, she was the youngest out of five, she could not read or write but apparently she was rather skilled at sewing and spinning, something that every woman of those times could do to some degree or another.

Joan was a very serious child, she spent a lot of time in the church praying and when she wasn’t doing that she was taking care of the poor… so what inspired this child to go off to war? What made her give up these things and go and fight? Well, it is said that when she was 13 years old (in 1425) she started hearing voices of a supposedly supernatural character, these voices were accompanied by a blaze of light and she claimed that she recognized the supernatural beings that were speaking to her, they were different saints of the Church…at her trial she did not like to talk about them although she did say that she saw them with "her very own eyes…"

It has been suggested that Joan was influenced by priests and the local legends about a maid that would save France, one other thing that was mentioned about her childhood was the fact that there was a certain tree called the fairy tree, now it was at this tree that certain superstitions practices were evidently carried out and something interesting is the fact the Joan of Arc, up until the age of 12 used to go and sing and dance around the tree with other children her age…also at the same spot she used to make wreaths for the Lady’s statue.

It is believed that the voices made Joan d’Arc’s mission known to her at a gradual pace and by 1428 she was sure of what she had to do, at the voices insistence she found Robert Baudricourt, commander for Charles VII; after two attempts she was eventually accepted and she began to lead the French army to great victories.

She had a very aggressive style of fighting something that was not done too much by the French in those days. She dazed everybody with her supernatural way of dealing with things and even managed to convince the king that she was sent by God.

Time went by and Joan of Arc was able to predict the future on more then one occasion…at the very beginning when they tried to give her a sword she refused and asked them to dig in a certain place and they would find an ancient sword…they did as she requested and sure enough the sword was right where she said it would be, Joan of Arc claimed that the voices told her where it was hidden.

It was because of Joan d’Arc that Charles VII was eventually crowned; she convinced him after showing him a secret that the voices had revealed to her.

When Joan of Arc was finally captured her accusers tried everything to convict her…they looked for anything that would allow them to sentence her to death. But no matter what questions they asked she had a correct and clever answer for them….the whole time managing to be utterly submissive and humble…there was one time when they almost got her on the stake but at the last moment she agreed to sign a paper saying that she repented and that she was going to be a good catholic…that only saved her for the time being however as they soon were able to convict her on the fact that she insisted on wearing men’s clothing.

So, was she a saint or a witch, as they accused her?
In her child hood she played around a tree that was the place of witches gatherings…she heard voices that many times threatened her and forced her to do things that she did not want to do…Joan of Arc herself admitted, at the end of her life when she was in prison, that, "Her voices had deceived her".




In this fraudulent Court, Cauchon found Joan 'guilty' and the English prepared for her execution. When at the last moment Joan, out of fear, signed a document promising to obey 'The Church', she was given a light sentence, and ordered to dress as a woman, which she did.

The English commanders were furious. It was essential for them to have 'The Church' condemn Joan for witchcraft so that they could execute her and be able to claim that Charles owed his coronation to the power of the Devil. They hoped that her execution as a witch would provide a blow to the new found confidence of the French troops and cure the fear and fatalism of the English.

One night, Joan's clothes were removed, and in the morning she had to dress in male attire. Cauchon rushed to her cell and sentenced her for 'disobeying The Church', thereby providing the English with the excuse that they needed to burn her as a heretic and a witch.