JOAN OF ARC

Introduction

JOAN OF ARC.

She was a young french peasant who, assuring that she recieved voices from God, guided the french arny in the hundred years war against England, and suceeding having CharlesVll of Valois crowned king of France.At this point of events,Carlos Vll, wrapped in envy and compromises with the enemies, withdraws the trops to Joan is wounded in the battle, and falls prisioner of the burgundians and months later is burned alive.

Santiago Infante Prieto and Andrew Humenick

Task

JOAN OF ARC

Joan of Arc was a young French peasant who claimed to receive voices from God according to her from the age of thirteen, the French army in the Hundred Years' War against England, making Charles VII crowned King of France. Unfortunately, after a while was captured by the Burgundians and delivered to the English, and although it was an extremely unfair trial which led to a sad and very horrible end. The clerics condemned her for heresy and Duke John of Bedford burned her alive in Rouen on May 30, 1431, although later she was canonized as Saint Joan of Arc.

Resultado de imagen para What military strategies did Joan use? Why were they successful?

Process

GROUP 1

What does this excerpt tell us about the events that the speaker witnessed?

It tells us about Joan of Arc’s trial, specifically the Third and the Fourth public examinations that she had, which took place on Saturday, February 24th and on Tuesday, February 27th respectively, in presence of the Bishop and many Assessors. On each one of those examinations, they asked Joan to swear to answer the truth to all of the questions she would be asked. In response, she told them that she had already sworn two times and that she would only answer questions referring to the trial and not about her revelations. Then the assessors ordered Doctor Maître Jean Beaupère to question her. Joan did not have a defender who helped her during the interrogation. After that, they put off the remainder of the Trial for another date at the same place and time and convoked all of the Assessors to assist.

What does it tell us about Joan’s actions and behavior during these events?

It tells us that Joan was very brave and skillful. She defended herself all the time in an exceptional way, she never lost control even though she did not have anybody at the trial who defended her. Her answers were so shrewd that the inquisitors couldn’t get the incriminating information they were seeking. For example, when she told them: “My judges are not judges, they are my enemies”, this was an excellent way to provide justification of her refusal to reveal the secrets that her voices ordered her not to say. Her faith and obedience in God is seen all the time. She wanted to finish the mission with France. She was very courageous answering the questions in a bold manner which is the way the voices told her to answer the questions. She did not act like a crazy or sick person in the way the bishop, the assessors and the questioner tried to make her appear.

What does the testimony tell us about the person giving the evidence?

It tells us that he was an important and well-known person whose name was Maître Jean Beaupère. He was ordered by the Bishop and the Assessors to question Joan of Arc. During the trial he tried to condemn her in many ways:

With different arguments that would explain her voices and visions as something unreal caused either by her abstinence and poor eating or due to a connection to the devil.
With particular questions that would make Joan say something that could demonstrate she was against the Catholic doctrine. For example, when he asked if she was or not in God’s grace, because at that time Catholics could not be sure of that and they could not say it either.
Asking her about dressing like a man and if she wanted to be a man, which was completely forbidden to a woman at that time.
Trying to demonstrate that she was a witch who had cast a spell on the sword she used in the war, when he asked if she invoked any blessing on it.

What does the excerpt convey about the speaker’s point of view and motivations? Is this person a supporter or an opponent of Joan?

The speaker represents the group of judges at Joan’s Trial. These judges were selected by the English since they were the ones that captured her. It’s clear that their motivation was to get rid of Joan because she was a problem for the English. They made this clear since at the beginning of the trial Joan did not help them because she did not swear to tell the truth in the way the wanted her, and for that reason she was liable to suspicion. They are opponents of Joan because they never mentioned good things that supported her, and the reasons she did not have a person helping her during the trial seemed to be not important at all for them. They also refer to Maître Jean Beaupère as a “well-known Doctor” while to Joan as “The forenamed Jeanne or the said Jeanne”.

If you did not know which trial this evidence came from, would you think this came from Joan’s trial for heresy or the subsequent nullification trial? Why?

I would think it came from Joan’s trial for heresy because all of the evidence presented tried to demonstrate Joan was a sick or crazy person, or a witch or an adorer of the Devil who was trying to hide this adoration under the name of God, or simply a person who did not follow the rules of that time, like being dressed like a man. This evidence did not help her to demonstrate her innocence at all. On the contrary, all of the evidence was intended to demonstrate her guilt of all the crimes she was charged with. On the other hand, the nullification trial was done with the purpose of probing her total innocence so that King Charles VII was not seen as the king who owned his throne to a heretic person, and therefore, the evidence presented at that trial was intended to show Joan as a religious person who always wanted to please God and did not have anything to do with the Devil.

What does this excerpt tell us about Joan’s motivations?

It tells us that the main reason Joan acted and behaved in that way was her desire to follow the will of God which Saint Michael had told her was to liberate France from the English. She wanted to accomplish this mission. Her devotion to her voices which supported the King of France was also a very important motivation for her.

What can we learn from this excerpt about her goals?

That her goal was to leave the prison and go on with the mission that God order her to accomplish which was to expel the English from French territory, trying first to make the English surrender peacefully. She wanted to continue with her mission at all costs because she was very sure her voices would continue helping her.

What does this testimony tell us about her strengths? Weaknesses?

Her strengths: Great courage, charisma, intelligence, bravery, persistence, energy, dedication to her mission, faith in God, physical resistance.

Her weaknesses: The fact that she was a woman, and at that time women were no respected and did not participate in any military task, it was an insult for men to be beaten by a woman, and this was one more reason for the judges to condemn her. Also they thought there was no possibility of God speaking to a woman, especially a peasant woman

GROUP 2

What does this excerpt tell us about the events that the speaker witnessed?

It tells us about Joan of Arc’s trial, specifically the Third and the Fourth public examinations that she had, which took place on Saturday, February 24th and on Tuesday, February 27th respectively, in presence of the Bishop and many Assessors. On each one of those examinations, they asked Joan to swear to answer the truth to all of the questions she would be asked. In response, she told them that she had already sworn two times and that she would only answer questions referring to the trial and not about her revelations. Then the assessors ordered Doctor Maître Jean Beaupère to question her. Joan did not have a defender who helped her during the interrogation. After that, they put off the remainder of the Trial for another date at the same place and time and convoked all of the Assessors to assist.

What does it tell us about Joan’s actions and behavior during these events?

It tells us that Joan was very brave and skillful. She defended herself all the time in an exceptional way, she never lost control even though she did not have anybody at the trial who defended her. Her answers were so shrewd that the inquisitors couldn’t get the incriminating information they were seeking. For example, when she told them: “My judges are not judges, they are my enemies”, this was an excellent way to provide justification of her refusal to reveal the secrets that her voices ordered her not to say. Her faith and obedience in God is seen all the time. She wanted to finish the mission with France. She was very courageous answering the questions in a bold manner which is the way the voices told her to answer the questions. She did not act like a crazy or sick person in the way the bishop, the assessors and the questioner tried to make her appear.

What does the testimony tell us about the person giving the evidence?

It tells us that he was an important and well-known person whose name was Maître Jean Beaupère. He was ordered by the Bishop and the Assessors to question Joan of Arc. During the trial he tried to condemn her in many ways:

With different arguments that would explain her voices and visions as something unreal caused either by her abstinence and poor eating or due to a connection to the devil.
With particular questions that would make Joan say something that could demonstrate she was against the Catholic doctrine. For example, when he asked if she was or not in God’s grace, because at that time Catholics could not be sure of that and they could not say it either.
Asking her about dressing like a man and if she wanted to be a man, which was completely forbidden to a woman at that time.
Trying to demonstrate that she was a witch who had cast a spell on the sword she used in the war, when he asked if she invoked any blessing on it.

What does the excerpt convey about the speaker’s point of view and motivations? Is this person a supporter or an opponent of Joan?

The speaker represents the group of judges at Joan’s Trial. These judges were selected by the English since they were the ones that captured her. It’s clear that their motivation was to get rid of Joan because she was a problem for the English. They made this clear since at the beginning of the trial Joan did not help them because she did not swear to tell the truth in the way the wanted her, and for that reason she was liable to suspicion. They are opponents of Joan because they never mentioned good things that supported her, and the reasons she did not have a person helping her during the trial seemed to be not important at all for them. They also refer to Maître Jean Beaupère as a “well-known Doctor” while to Joan as “The forenamed Jeanne or the said Jeanne”.

If you did not know which trial this evidence came from, would you think this came from Joan’s trial for heresy or the subsequent nullification trial? Why?

I would think it came from Joan’s trial for heresy because all of the evidence presented tried to demonstrate Joan was a sick or crazy person, or a witch or an adorer of the Devil who was trying to hide this adoration under the name of God, or simply a person who did not follow the rules of that time, like being dressed like a man. This evidence did not help her to demonstrate her innocence at all. On the contrary, all of the evidence was intended to demonstrate her guilt of all the crimes she was charged with. On the other hand, the nullification trial was done with the purpose of probing her total innocence so that King Charles VII was not seen as the king who owned his throne to a heretic person, and therefore, the evidence presented at that trial

was intended to show Joan as a religious person who always wanted to please God and did not have anything to do with the Devil.

What does this excerpt tell us about Joan’s motivations?

It tells us that the main reason Joan acted and behaved in that way was her desire to follow the will of God which Saint Michael had told her was to liberate France from the English. She wanted to accomplish this mission. Her devotion to her voices which supported the King of France was also a very important motivation for her.

What can we learn from this excerpt about her goals?

That her goal was to leave the prison and go on with the mission that God order her to accomplish which was to expel the English from French territory, trying first to make the English surrender peacefully. She wanted to continue with her mission at all costs because she was very sure her voices would continue helping her.

What does this testimony tell us about her strengths? Weaknesses?

Her strengths: Great courage, charisma, intelligence, bravery, persistence, energy, dedication to her mission, faith in God, physical resistance.

Her weaknesses: The fact that she was a woman, and at that time women were no respected and did not participate in any military task, it was an insult for men to be beaten by a woman, and this was one more reason for the judges to condemn her. Also they thought there was no possibility of God speaking to a woman.

5. Answers

What military strategies did Joan use? Why were they successful?

Joan of Arc was an aggressive military commander who a always opted for offense instead of defense. In thirteen known engagements, her troops were victorious nine times. Personally, she was a skilled horseman and swordsman, but in tactical skills, she knew how to direct armies and place a very strong artillery. She was successful when she had the troops and the cannons to either match or overpower her opponents, but when she fought in difficult or complex circumstances, she could not pull off a brilliant victory.

Is there sufficient evidence to understand why Charles failed to support Joan during her Condemnation Trial?

Because Charles V was negotiating with the people from Burgundy so if he intervened in the trial that would mean that his negotiations would be affected and could even be withdrawn.

Resultado de imagen para What military strategies did Joan use? Why were they successful?

Conclusion

Joan of Arc is a very inspirational figure to many women even today. Even though she grew up a peasant and was a woman (women back then had almost no privileges) she was able to succeed and become a great military, political and spiritual leader.

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