I'd like to start a thread on one of the most amazing persons who ever lived, and will update it if there is interest.
What? You 'know all about Joan' because you saw "The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc"? Then you know nothing about Joan. That movie was so full of "errors" I lost count in ten minutes. Joan was nothing like that.
Here is what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said: "Joan is a being so uplifted from the ordinary run of mankind, that she finds no equal in a thousand years". ( Birth of Birth)
Was Joan that outstanding? Yes. If anybody else had set out to do what she did they would have failed miserably. But Joan was a genius in the highest rank. Old generals admitted she knew more about strategy then they did.
Here are some questions and answers to stimulate your interest.
Q. Who were the Voices that spoke to Joan?
A. Not Dustin Hoffman! They were St Michael the Archangel, and two Saints from the early centuries, Catherine and Margaret. Cynics note that the two female saints were removed from the Church calendar because of uncertainties about their life histories, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist.
Q. Was Joan of Arc a schizophrenic?
A. No. The medical profession has carefully outlined criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Joan met none of these criteria. I have fuller explanations if there is interest.
Q. What can we really know about someone who lived nearly six hundred years ago?
A. We probably know more about Joan than of any person before the 20th Century. The collection of original contemporary documents fill five volumes. We have the transcript of her three month trial, and the transcript of the investigation into her life conducted by the Pope 20 years after her death. In this investigation, 150 people who had known her in all phases of her life told under oath all they knew about Joan. We know a lot about Joan!
Q. Why was Joan killed?
A. That's a very complicated issue which involves the political situation of the time. I can say this: the Catholic Church as such had nothing to do with Joan's death. Pope Eugenius most likely didn't know of Joan's existence. The "Church officials" who tried and condemned Joan were actually allied with a faction that was trying to wrestle power away from Rome. I can discuss this in great detail if there is interest.
Q. What kind of personality did Joan have?
A. A very attractive one. She apparently won over everybody who met her. God picked a winner.
Q. Why would God take sides with the French in a worldly war?
A. To end the war! It had been going on for 91 years before Joan was ready to join in (at 17!). The war had killed at least hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of French from economic disruptions, starvation, and so forth. God said "Enough already!"
Q. Where did Joan learn to fight?
A. Nowhere. She was a totally uneducated peasant girl from an a tiny village on the Eastern border of France. She'd probably never seen a soldier before going off to war. But she was so brilliant she learned the most complicated subjects instantly.
Q. Was the rape and murder of her sister the reason Joan went to war?
A. That's a total fabrication of the "Messenger" movie. Nothing like that happened. The historical records say nothing about Joan's sister. The sister's name appears in Church records and then is never mentioned again. In those days one out of three people got sick and died in childhood. Actually, Joan testified at her trial that when the Voices told her to go into France and save the nation, she would have preferred to stay home spinning wool with her mother!
That should peak your interest. There are internet forums out there that are dedicated exclusively to Joan of Arc. Serious people investigate details of her life year after year. Tired of television and formula movies? Turn your attention to a real heroine.
Norman Boutin
What? You 'know all about Joan' because you saw "The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc"? Then you know nothing about Joan. That movie was so full of "errors" I lost count in ten minutes. Joan was nothing like that.
Here is what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said: "Joan is a being so uplifted from the ordinary run of mankind, that she finds no equal in a thousand years". ( Birth of Birth)
Was Joan that outstanding? Yes. If anybody else had set out to do what she did they would have failed miserably. But Joan was a genius in the highest rank. Old generals admitted she knew more about strategy then they did.
Here are some questions and answers to stimulate your interest.
Q. Who were the Voices that spoke to Joan?
A. Not Dustin Hoffman! They were St Michael the Archangel, and two Saints from the early centuries, Catherine and Margaret. Cynics note that the two female saints were removed from the Church calendar because of uncertainties about their life histories, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist.
Q. Was Joan of Arc a schizophrenic?
A. No. The medical profession has carefully outlined criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Joan met none of these criteria. I have fuller explanations if there is interest.
Q. What can we really know about someone who lived nearly six hundred years ago?
A. We probably know more about Joan than of any person before the 20th Century. The collection of original contemporary documents fill five volumes. We have the transcript of her three month trial, and the transcript of the investigation into her life conducted by the Pope 20 years after her death. In this investigation, 150 people who had known her in all phases of her life told under oath all they knew about Joan. We know a lot about Joan!
Q. Why was Joan killed?
A. That's a very complicated issue which involves the political situation of the time. I can say this: the Catholic Church as such had nothing to do with Joan's death. Pope Eugenius most likely didn't know of Joan's existence. The "Church officials" who tried and condemned Joan were actually allied with a faction that was trying to wrestle power away from Rome. I can discuss this in great detail if there is interest.
Q. What kind of personality did Joan have?
A. A very attractive one. She apparently won over everybody who met her. God picked a winner.
Q. Why would God take sides with the French in a worldly war?
A. To end the war! It had been going on for 91 years before Joan was ready to join in (at 17!). The war had killed at least hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of French from economic disruptions, starvation, and so forth. God said "Enough already!"
Q. Where did Joan learn to fight?
A. Nowhere. She was a totally uneducated peasant girl from an a tiny village on the Eastern border of France. She'd probably never seen a soldier before going off to war. But she was so brilliant she learned the most complicated subjects instantly.
Q. Was the rape and murder of her sister the reason Joan went to war?
A. That's a total fabrication of the "Messenger" movie. Nothing like that happened. The historical records say nothing about Joan's sister. The sister's name appears in Church records and then is never mentioned again. In those days one out of three people got sick and died in childhood. Actually, Joan testified at her trial that when the Voices told her to go into France and save the nation, she would have preferred to stay home spinning wool with her mother!
That should peak your interest. There are internet forums out there that are dedicated exclusively to Joan of Arc. Serious people investigate details of her life year after year. Tired of television and formula movies? Turn your attention to a real heroine.
Norman Boutin
