Joan of Arc - a saint
... imagine they hear voices”(29). Joan was also not lying about the voices. A person does not die at the stake rather than confess to a lie. In fact, Joan was tempted to admit to the charges brought against her, and signed the recantation. She said that she would “rather sign it than burn”(Trask 135). Later she confessed that “What [she] said, [she] said for fear of the fire” (139). This is not unnatural, considering she was a girl of nineteen and greatly scared. However, after she was taken back to her prison, Joan recanted her abjuration. Joan of Arc was not a witch. Some critics say that she was a member of the bona fide cult (Matterer 2). Others claim that she danced around the Fairies’ Tree in her hometown of Domrémy (Brooks 23) in idolatry to the fairies. Although we do know that Joan might have taken part in the dances, along with other peasant girls, we also know that Joan “scorned such rumors [that witches gathered there for their “sabbats”] as befitting only those who believe in sorcery”(22). Joan was not a witch. There is no substantial evidence to support this theory. Documents about this would not have remained hidden from history for so many years. The critics who claimed this theory to be true could not prove their correctness and recalled their claims later. Joan of Arc was divinely guided. Joan’s saints, St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret, directed Joan; they told her what to do (Trask 6). From the beginning they were precise. After several encounters in the summer of 1424, the voice said to her, “Daughter of God, you must leave this village and depart into France. You must lead the Dauphin to Rheims, where he may be rightfully crowned” (Beevers 23). When Joan appeared before the council at Poitiers to be examined, on account of her authenticity, a member of the council said: She prophesied to me and those others present four things which happened as she foretold. First she said that the English would be beaten, that the siege of Oréans would be raised and the town rid of the English. Then she said that the King would be anointed at Rheims. Third, she said that Paris would return to the King’s rule and, last, that the Duke of Orléans would come back from his captivity in England. And I have seen all this come true. (Beevers 53) There is no way Joan could have known these predictions in advance without spiritual guidance. There were several other instances when Joan foretold occurrences and was correct. For instance, “she dictated a letter to the priests of the church of St. Catherine at Fierbois, telling them to dig behind the altar for a sword they would find there, on which five crosses would be engraved. The priests dug and found the sword engraved with five crosses” (Beevers 57). Joan of Arc was a saint. After all, according to the Catholic Church, she has been officially cleared of the charges against her and canonized. However, this is not the sole reason one may consider her a saint. Joan of Arc’s sanctity lies in her acceptance of God’s will and her trust in Him. Joan was a good, Christian woman. She refused to hate the English; she offered them generous surrender terms. A letter that she dictated for the King of England read: King of England…hand back to the Maid, who is sent by God, the keys of all the fine towns of France you have taken and ravaged. She is ready to make peace if you return to France all you have stolen from her…If you will do what is right, you may accompany her to where the French will do the noblest deed ever accomplished for Christianity. Tell me if you want pe...