Posts Tagged ‘Joan of Arc’
“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today”*…
One of Lapham’s Quarterly‘s amusing– and remedially instructive– collection of elder laments tough the ages… The worrisome fashions of younger generations: “Kids These Days.”
* Hesiod
###
As we Boomers say OK, we might recall that it was on this date in 1430 that then 18 year old Joan of Arc was captured. A heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years’ War, she had claimed to have received visions of the archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination. In 1429, the unanointed Charles VII sent Joan to the Siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later, and became both a rallying point and a military leader. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII’s consecration at Reims– a boost to French morale that helped pave the way the way for the eventual French victory.
But in the meantime, on this date in 1430, Joan was captured by the Burgundian faction, a group of French nobles allied with the English, and handed over to them. She was tried by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at nineteen years of age.
In 1456, a Catholic inquisitorial court examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr; Joan was canonized by the Church in 1920.
“Animals have no unconscious, because they have a territory. Men have only had an unconscious since they lost a territory.” *…
* Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation
###
As we get in touch with our inner omnivore, we might send passionate birthday greetings to The Maid of Orléans, Joan of Arc; she was born on this date in 1412.** Joan entered history in spectacular fashion during the spring of 1429: following what she maintained was the command of God, Joan led the French Dauphin’s armies in a series of stunning military victories over the English, effectively reversing the course of the Hundred Years’ War. But she was captured in 1430 by the Burgundians, a faction (led by the Duke of Burgundy) allied with the English. The French King, Charles VII, declined to ransom her from the Burgundians who then “sold” her to the English. In December of that year, she was transferred to Rouen, the military headquarters and administrative capital in France of King Henry VI of England, and placed on trial for heresy before a Church court headed by a Bishop loyal to the English.
Joan was convicted and executed in May of 1431. She was exonerated in 1456 when the verdict was reversed on appeal by the Inquisitor-General. She became a French national heroine, and in 1920 was canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
** “Boulainvilliers tells of her birth in Domrémy, and it is he who gives us an exact date, which may be the true one, saying that she was born on the night of Epiphany, 6 January” – Pernoud’s Joan of Arc By Herself and Her Witnesses, p. 98
“In the beginning was the Word”*…
Pope Francis has been widely lauded in the media for his focus on serving as an example of Christian humility and engaging the marginalized and poor. His decision to live in the the Vatican guesthouse rather than in the Apostolic Palace, his handling of extreme opulence within the Catholic Church, and his priority for frequent, visible acts of charity all point to the direction Pope Francis wishes to guide the Church… Since the beginning of his papacy both the pope’s actions and his words have suggested a shift in focus as compared to his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI…
In order to glean more clues about Pope Francis’ philosophy and how he will communicate it, I analyzed word frequencies in the first 104 official speeches given by Pope Francis, from March 2013 to November 2013. For comparison, I did the same analysis for the first 102 official speeches of Pope Benedict XVI, given between April 2005 and November 2005. For both popes I used only speeches that had English translations. To visualize the results I created word clouds below, where the sizes of words are proportional to their usage (the differences in color are meaningless and intended to help the reader focus on specific words). Finally, I removed the top five words used by both popes, to better discern differences in word usage. These top five words were: God, Jesus, Lord, Christ, and Church…
Read more of Chris Walker‘s analysis on his site, Vizynary.
*John 1:1
###
As we ponder pontiffs, we might spare a thought for a saint; it was on this day in 1431 that investigations began for the trial of Joan of Arc. Joan had entered history in spectacular fashion during the spring of 1429: following what she maintained was the command of God, Joan led the French Dauphin’s armies in a series of stunning military victories over the English, effectively reversing the course of the Hundred Years’ War. But she was captured in 1430 by the Burgundians, a faction (led by the Duke of Burgundy) allied with the English. The French King, Charles VII, declined to ransom her from the Burgundians who then “sold” her to the English. In December of that year, she was transferred to Rouen, the military headquarters and administrative capital in France of King Henry VI of England, and placed on trial for heresy before a Church court headed by a Bishop loyal to the English.
Joan was convicted and executed in May of 1431. She was exonerated in 1456 when the verdict was reversed on appeal by the Inquisitor-General. She became a French national heroine, and in 1920 was canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
Joan of Arc interrogated by The Cardinal of Winchester in her prison 1431. Painting by Paul Delaroche (1797-1856).
Don’t know much about history…
Readers may know that there has accumulated on YouTube quite a collection of “adaptations” of pop hits turned to the teaching of history… e.g., “William the Conqueror” (to Justin Timberlake’s “Sexyback”), “Joan of Arc” (“Seven Nation Army” by White Stripes), “The French Revolution” (Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”), “The Spanish Inquisition” (The Human League, “[Keep Feeling] Fascination”), and dozens of others… The work of Honolulu-based “historyteachers” (“Mrs. B” and “Mr. H”– “history teachers, duh”), the videos are both amusing and illuminating…
But surely their masterpiece– and equally surely their most profoundly strange piece of work– is a little ditty devoted to Genghis Khan’s gift to Europe (via the Genoese at Kaffa)…
As we tap our toes, we might recall that it was on this date that Schindler’s List opened in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto; it went on to gross $96.1 million in the United States, over $321.2 million worldwide, and to win seven Academy Awards– including director Steven Spielberg’s first.
You must be logged in to post a comment.