WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.899 Welcome to the Deep Dive, the show engineered 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:03.960 to take your most complicated stack of sources, 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:06.440 the articles, the history, the dense research, 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:09.240 and distill the absolute essential must -know 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:12.320 insights you need, delivered with pace, context, 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.500 and zero fluff. Today, we are undertaking a deep 00:00:15.500 --> 00:00:18.019 exploration of a life that remains one of the 00:00:18.019 --> 00:00:21.160 most remarkable and, ironically, one of the most 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:23.359 meticulously documented lives of the late Middle 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.469 Ages. We're talking about Joan of Arc. Or Jeanne 00:00:26.469 --> 00:00:29.050 d 'Arc. Exactly. And that documentation you mentioned, 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:31.829 it's really the key. Her life was just shockingly 00:00:31.829 --> 00:00:35.170 brief, right? 19 years. Around 1412 to 1431. 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:37.570 Yeah, but because she achieved this spectacular 00:00:37.570 --> 00:00:40.429 military success and then, you know, underwent 00:00:40.429 --> 00:00:42.710 two massive legal proceedings. A condemnation 00:00:42.710 --> 00:00:44.909 trial and then the rehabilitation. Right. And 00:00:44.909 --> 00:00:47.270 because of that, we have this, I mean, this treasure 00:00:47.270 --> 00:00:49.630 trove of direct testimony and legal records. 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:51.929 It's so unusual for a peasant woman from that 00:00:51.929 --> 00:00:54.469 time. It really is. Which brings us to our mission 00:00:54.469 --> 00:00:56.950 for you today. We're not just reciting the legend. 00:00:57.109 --> 00:01:00.329 We are synthesizing her entire story, focusing 00:01:00.329 --> 00:01:03.210 on the mechanism of her trajectory, how deep 00:01:03.210 --> 00:01:06.329 religious conviction drove high -stakes military 00:01:06.329 --> 00:01:09.989 action, and how that success made her the ultimate 00:01:09.989 --> 00:01:13.469 political target during the tumultuous Hundred 00:01:13.469 --> 00:01:15.790 Years' War. Okay, so let's unpack this. Let's 00:01:15.790 --> 00:01:18.189 start with the woman herself. Her name originally 00:01:18.189 --> 00:01:21.299 was Jahan Dark. We also see some historical variations, 00:01:21.379 --> 00:01:24.420 like Tark or Dart. She was born into a, well, 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:27.180 a surprisingly established, propertied peasant 00:01:27.180 --> 00:01:30.019 family in a village called Domremy. Her father 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:32.780 was Jacques Dark. And her identity, the name 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:35.840 she actually used, is so important. It is. She 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:37.909 didn't call herself Joan of Arc. She referred 00:01:37.909 --> 00:01:40.469 to herself most frequently as Jeanne La Pucelle. 00:01:40.590 --> 00:01:42.909 Joan the Maiden. Exactly. And this wasn't just 00:01:42.909 --> 00:01:44.950 a nickname. It was fundamental to her entire 00:01:44.950 --> 00:01:47.670 mission. It was about her virginity, which she 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:50.250 saw as the leading physical proof of her divine 00:01:50.250 --> 00:01:53.189 mandate. And the name we all use today, the Maid 00:01:53.189 --> 00:01:55.939 of Orléans. That came much, much later. Not until 00:01:55.939 --> 00:01:58.120 the 16th century, really. It's also a crucial 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:00.239 detail that she came from a background where 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.920 literacy just wasn't a thing. Right. She was 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:05.260 an illiterate peasant girl. She wasn't taught 00:02:05.260 --> 00:02:07.640 to read or write in her childhood. So all her 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:09.740 famous letters, her communiques, they were all 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:11.979 dictated. The idea that she might have learned 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:16.240 to sign her name later is debated. But her wisdom 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:18.620 and her political sharpness were completely separate 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.039 from any kind of formal education. Absolutely. 00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:23.919 To really get a handle on Joan's impact, we have 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.139 to start with the catastrophe of her era. She 00:02:27.139 --> 00:02:29.680 was born into a France that was just completely 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:32.800 consumed by the Hundred Years' War. This conflict 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:35.979 had been grinding on since 1337. Yeah, so for 00:02:35.979 --> 00:02:38.319 almost a century by the time she was born. And 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.659 it was all rooted in English territorial status 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.580 in France and, more importantly, these English 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:46.210 claims to the French throne itself. So by the 00:02:46.210 --> 00:02:49.150 time Joan is growing up in the 1410s and 20s, 00:02:49.169 --> 00:02:52.129 France is just devastated. The economy is ruined. 00:02:52.289 --> 00:02:54.150 And the leadership was completely fractured. 00:02:54.150 --> 00:02:56.490 The political landscape was essentially a civil 00:02:56.490 --> 00:02:59.009 war layered on top of an international one. A 00:02:59.009 --> 00:03:01.629 big part of that was the leadership vacuum. The 00:03:01.629 --> 00:03:04.270 French king, Charles VI, suffered from these 00:03:04.270 --> 00:03:06.800 severe recurring bouts of mental illness. Which 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.400 left him, you know, functionally unable to rule 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:12.500 for long stretches. And that created the perfect 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:15.300 environment for these two major French factions 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:18.219 to just descend into a deadly civil war. Okay, 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.560 so let's break those down. Who were the two parties? 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:23.020 On one side, you had the Armagnacs. They were 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:25.039 the staunch supporters of the rightful heir, 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:27.300 the Dauphin Charles, who would later become Charles 00:03:27.300 --> 00:03:30.479 VII. And on the other? The Burgundians. And they 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:33.000 were a huge problem because after their duke 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.919 was assassinated by Armagnac partisans in 1490, 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.199 they threw their lot in completely with the English. 00:03:39.460 --> 00:03:41.580 So French nobles siding with a foreign invader. 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.319 Exactly. And this internal feud led to the 1420 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.280 Treaty of Troy. This treaty, signed by Charles 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:51.780 VI's own wife, Isabeau of Bavaria, was just the 00:03:51.780 --> 00:03:54.139 ultimate act of political self -destruction for 00:03:54.139 --> 00:03:56.659 the French crown. Because it completely disinherited 00:03:56.659 --> 00:03:59.280 the Dauphin, her own son. It did. It arranged 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:01.639 for the succession of the French throne to pass 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:04.439 to the English heir, Henry V, who would marry 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.150 the French prince. And then just to add to the 00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:10.330 chaos. The chaos really kicks in. In 1422, both 00:04:10.330 --> 00:04:13.250 Henry V of England and Charles VI of France die. 00:04:13.930 --> 00:04:16.829 almost at the same time. Wow. So the beneficiary 00:04:16.829 --> 00:04:18.670 of that treaty becomes this nine -month -old 00:04:18.670 --> 00:04:21.490 infant, Henry VI of England. And he's immediately 00:04:21.490 --> 00:04:24.509 proclaimed king of an Anglo -French dual monarchy. 00:04:24.829 --> 00:04:26.970 Which leaves the Dauphin Charles VII in just 00:04:26.970 --> 00:04:30.050 a desperate, vulnerable position. Utterly. His 00:04:30.050 --> 00:04:32.870 legitimacy was so tenuous, there were all these 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:35.189 political and popular rumors that he wasn't even 00:04:35.189 --> 00:04:37.550 the legitimate son of Charles VI. Right, the 00:04:37.550 --> 00:04:39.670 rumors about an affair between Queen Isabeau 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:42.310 and the Duke of Orléans. Exactly. And that doubt 00:04:42.310 --> 00:04:53.850 was a massive So let's zoom in on Joan's specific 00:04:53.850 --> 00:04:57.569 world. Dumb Remy. Her family, while they were 00:04:57.569 --> 00:04:59.829 peasant farmers, they were doing okay. They were. 00:04:59.930 --> 00:05:02.110 Her father, Jacques, owned about 50 acres of 00:05:02.110 --> 00:05:04.810 land. He collected local taxes, even headed the 00:05:04.810 --> 00:05:07.790 town watch. Joan herself was doing, you know, 00:05:07.790 --> 00:05:10.389 the typical work of a girl of that status. Household 00:05:10.389 --> 00:05:12.689 chores, spinning wool, helping in the fields. 00:05:12.889 --> 00:05:15.589 But Damremi was basically an island. It was loyal 00:05:15.589 --> 00:05:18.350 to the Armiacs, but surrounded by hostile, pro 00:05:18.350 --> 00:05:21.449 -Burgundian territory. And those raids in 1419 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:24.149 and 1425, they weren't just abstract political 00:05:24.149 --> 00:05:27.170 threats. They were violent, real events. And 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:29.689 this constant threat created this fierce community 00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:32.829 belief. The only way to get peace was to kick 00:05:32.829 --> 00:05:35.199 the English out. This is the fertile ground where 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:37.379 her mission really takes root. It is. Around 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:40.879 age 13, so about 1425, Joan had her first vision. 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:43.079 She was in the family garden. And she testified 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:45.759 that it was St. Michael. St. Michael, surrounded 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:48.480 by angels, appeared to her. And the intensity 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.980 of it was profound. She said she wept, just desperately 00:05:51.980 --> 00:05:54.300 wanting to go with them. Her voices then became 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:56.220 a regular thing, often when the church bells 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:58.720 were ringing. And they included Saint Michael, 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:01.899 the archangel, but also two very specific female 00:06:01.899 --> 00:06:04.519 saints. Saint Margaret, likely of Antioch, and 00:06:04.519 --> 00:06:06.420 Saint Catherine of Alexandria. And the choice 00:06:06.420 --> 00:06:08.519 of those two women is just, it's so symbolic. 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:11.100 It's deeply symbolic. Both were renowned virgin 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:13.480 saints who were tortured and martyred for their 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:16.720 faith. They defied powerful rulers while maintaining 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:19.699 their purity. They embodied that exact blend 00:06:19.699 --> 00:06:22.920 of purity and, well, aggressive defiance that 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:25.550 Joan would come to represent. Absolutely. And 00:06:25.550 --> 00:06:28.110 it was through these voices that she swore a 00:06:28.110 --> 00:06:31.189 vow of virginity, which, as we said, became central 00:06:31.189 --> 00:06:34.250 to her identity as La Bruxelles. And this commitment 00:06:34.250 --> 00:06:36.550 was even tested locally, right? There was a court 00:06:36.550 --> 00:06:39.290 case. There was. A young man from her village 00:06:39.290 --> 00:06:41.389 claimed she'd broken a promise to marry him. 00:06:41.610 --> 00:06:44.490 She went before an ecclesiastical court and said 00:06:44.490 --> 00:06:47.209 she'd made no such promise and that her vow to 00:06:47.209 --> 00:06:50.910 her voices superseded any earthly contract. The 00:06:50.910 --> 00:06:53.399 court just dismissed the case. And at the same 00:06:53.399 --> 00:06:55.480 time, in the bigger picture, there were these 00:06:55.480 --> 00:06:57.360 prophecies floating around France. Prophetic 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.459 currents, yeah. And her story fit them perfectly. 00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:03.500 A popular prophecy stated that France, which 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:06.120 had been destroyed by a woman, referring to Queen 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:08.300 Isabeau in the Treaty of Troy, would be saved 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:11.160 by an armed virgin. So by 1428, she's ready. 00:07:11.240 --> 00:07:13.180 She travels to the nearby town of Vaucouleurs 00:07:13.180 --> 00:07:16.199 and petitions the garrison commander, Robert 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.839 de Baudricourt, for an escort to the Dauphin 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:21.480 at Chinon. Her first attempt was a flat -out 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:23.740 refusal. He basically laughed her off and sent 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:25.879 her home. But the war was reaching its climax. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.899 By July of 1428, the English had laid siege to 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:32.620 Orléans. And this city was strategically vital. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:35.899 It was the last major stronghold preventing the 00:07:35.899 --> 00:07:38.060 English from just pouring into the rest of Charles' 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:41.839 territory south of the Loire. If Orléans fell, 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:45.000 the French cause was, for all intents and purposes, 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:47.860 finished. And the final straw. The thing that 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:50.459 finally swayed Baudricourt was the Battle of 00:07:50.459 --> 00:07:53.939 the Herrings in early 1429. Such a demoralizing 00:07:53.939 --> 00:07:57.480 defeat. An Armagnac relief convoy was just annihilated 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.019 by the English. It was crushing. And it highlighted 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:02.779 just how desperate the situation was. Baudricourt 00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:05.339 relented only after that disaster. He did. He 00:08:05.339 --> 00:08:07.980 provided the escort. And crucially, before leaving, 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:10.800 Joan cut her hair short and put on men's clothes 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:13.439 given to her by her escorts and the locals, a 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:15.620 choice that was rooted in practicality, spirituality, 00:08:15.860 --> 00:08:18.160 and necessity, and one she would maintain for 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:20.019 the rest of her very short life. So with her 00:08:20.019 --> 00:08:22.019 escort, she travels across enemy territory to 00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:24.860 Chinon. She arrives in early 1420. She's just 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:27.079 17 years old. And she's there to meet the Dauphin, 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:30.040 Charles VII, who's 26. Her goals were so clear 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:32.539 and immediate. First, relieve the brutal siege 00:08:32.539 --> 00:08:35.500 of Orléans. And second, lead Charles to Rheims, 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.139 the traditional site of French coronations, for 00:08:38.139 --> 00:08:41.179 his consecration. The most famous part of this 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:43.019 meeting, though, is what happened in private. 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:46.779 As we discussed, Charles was just paralyzed by 00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:49.340 doubts about his own legitimacy. Joan's intervention 00:08:49.340 --> 00:08:51.980 here wasn't tactical. It was psychological. It 00:08:51.980 --> 00:08:55.450 was political. In that private moment, she somehow 00:08:55.450 --> 00:08:58.169 convinced him that he was, in fact, the legitimate 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:01.529 son of Charles VI. And that reassurance was exactly 00:09:01.529 --> 00:09:05.009 what he and his entire court needed to break 00:09:05.009 --> 00:09:07.690 their inertia. Her belief gave him the certainty 00:09:07.690 --> 00:09:10.409 that he lacked. But the court, you know, it was 00:09:10.409 --> 00:09:13.110 full of skeptical noblemen and cautious theologians. 00:09:13.110 --> 00:09:15.570 They needed public proof before they committed 00:09:15.570 --> 00:09:18.110 the kingdom's resources to some peasant girl 00:09:18.110 --> 00:09:20.129 who claimed she was getting messages from God. 00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:22.330 So they put her through the wringer. Absolutely. 00:09:22.470 --> 00:09:24.990 She was subjected to three rigorous tests of 00:09:24.990 --> 00:09:27.370 legitimacy. The first was the theological test 00:09:27.370 --> 00:09:30.210 at Poitiers. Right. A council of theologians 00:09:30.210 --> 00:09:33.129 who were highly skeptical of private revelation. 00:09:33.789 --> 00:09:37.350 They examined her very, very carefully. And their 00:09:37.350 --> 00:09:39.809 final report was actually pretty pragmatic. They 00:09:39.809 --> 00:09:42.049 concluded she was a good person and a good Catholic, 00:09:42.090 --> 00:09:44.230 and they couldn't find any immediate theological 00:09:44.230 --> 00:09:47.230 flaw. But they didn't exactly endorse her. No, 00:09:47.309 --> 00:09:49.269 and this is where you see the pragmatic medieval 00:09:49.269 --> 00:09:52.429 mindset. They decided that the source of her 00:09:52.429 --> 00:09:55.269 inspiration would be judged by results. The proof 00:09:55.269 --> 00:09:58.250 wasn't in her words. It was in her actions. They 00:09:58.250 --> 00:10:00.129 would test her divine commission by sending her 00:10:00.129 --> 00:10:03.049 to Orleo. Exactly. If she succeeded in lifting 00:10:03.049 --> 00:10:05.009 the siege, that would be the sign they needed. 00:10:05.309 --> 00:10:08.879 Okay, so test number two was... Much more personal. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.919 It was. The physical verification of her virginity 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:15.899 at tours. Women, directed by Charles's very shrewd 00:10:15.899 --> 00:10:18.460 mother -in -law, Yolande of Aragon, performed 00:10:18.460 --> 00:10:21.240 this inspection. And this was absolutely vital. 00:10:21.299 --> 00:10:23.340 It wasn't just about confirming her status as 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:26.360 the prophesied virgin savior La Pucelle. No, 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:29.059 it was also a theological safeguard. If she weren't 00:10:29.059 --> 00:10:30.759 a virgin, she could be immediately condemned 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:33.100 as having consorted with the devil. So this was 00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:35.899 a critical checkbox. Once those two hurdles were 00:10:35.899 --> 00:10:38.659 cleared. The Dauphin was reassured enough to 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:41.379 fully equip her. He commissioned a full suit 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:44.519 of plate armor for her, a massive expense. She 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.080 designed her own banner and famously requested 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:50.100 a specific ancient sword that was said to be 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:53.000 buried under the altar at a church. Saint Catherine 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.279 de Fierbois. That's the one, and the psychological 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:57.779 shift she represented, you just can't overstate 00:10:57.779 --> 00:11:00.580 it. Before she arrived, the Armagnacs were a 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:03.870 broken disp - bearing force. They'd been at war 00:11:03.870 --> 00:11:06.230 for nearly a century. And even if the strategic 00:11:06.230 --> 00:11:09.129 situation wasn't completely hopeless, the English 00:11:09.129 --> 00:11:11.350 were arguing among themselves, the Burgundians 00:11:11.350 --> 00:11:13.909 were wavering, the French morale was just... 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:17.440 And Joan changed all of that. Completely. Her 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:20.480 absolute, unwavering conviction transformed what 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:22.860 had been a technical, diplomatic squabble over 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:25.519 inheritance into a righteous, religious war for 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.899 the salvation of France. She gave the soldiers 00:11:27.899 --> 00:11:29.840 a reason to fight that was bigger than their 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:32.320 loyalty to a disputed Dauphin. You see that change 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.240 immediately. Before she even gets to Ornelas, 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.940 she dictates this ferocious letter to the Duke 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:39.179 of Bedford, the English commander. It's not a 00:11:39.179 --> 00:11:42.159 diplomatic note. It's a divine ultimatum. She 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:44.840 warns him that she was sent by God to expel them 00:11:44.840 --> 00:11:47.480 and demands they leave immediately. So the campaign 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:50.860 finally begins with the siege of Orléans. She 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:54.559 arrives with a relief army on April 29th, 1429, 00:11:54.659 --> 00:11:57.610 and the city... which was starved and exhausted, 00:11:57.990 --> 00:12:00.690 just greets her with massive enthusiasm. But, 00:12:00.809 --> 00:12:03.149 you know, despite her eventual fame, at first 00:12:03.149 --> 00:12:05.529 she was treated as a morale -boosting figurehead, 00:12:05.629 --> 00:12:08.389 not a commanding officer. Right. She wasn't included 00:12:08.389 --> 00:12:10.509 in the military councils. She wasn't given formal 00:12:10.509 --> 00:12:13.549 command. A fact she later testified to. But she 00:12:13.549 --> 00:12:16.289 became a force multiplier. She used her banner, 00:12:16.389 --> 00:12:18.789 her symbol of divine authority, and just her 00:12:18.789 --> 00:12:21.129 sheer presence on the front lines to inspire 00:12:21.129 --> 00:12:23.649 the troops. And that inspiration quickly turned 00:12:23.649 --> 00:12:26.389 into real influence. all the effects she had, 00:12:26.470 --> 00:12:28.230 how ready the troops were to charge when she 00:12:28.230 --> 00:12:30.269 was there. And they started taking her tactical 00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:32.970 advice. You see it play out immediately at the 00:12:32.970 --> 00:12:35.429 Bastille de Saint -Louis on May 4th. The Armagnacs 00:12:35.429 --> 00:12:37.370 had attacked and were actually retreating after 00:12:37.370 --> 00:12:40.149 a failure. Joan shows up and her appearance alone 00:12:40.149 --> 00:12:42.590 rallies them. They turn around and launch a second 00:12:42.590 --> 00:12:46.090 assault. Driven by this new divine fervor. And 00:12:46.090 --> 00:12:49.070 they take the fortress. The next day, May 5th, 00:12:49.070 --> 00:12:52.710 was Ascension Thursday. A holy day. And she respected 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:55.610 that. No combat. Instead, she dictates another 00:12:55.610 --> 00:12:58.110 warning letter to the English, famously ties 00:12:58.110 --> 00:13:00.750 it to a crossbow bolt, and has it fired into 00:13:00.750 --> 00:13:04.149 their lines. The main push came on May 6th. Right. 00:13:04.549 --> 00:13:06.789 They took a position the English had abandoned, 00:13:06.990 --> 00:13:09.639 Saint -Jean -le -Blanc. The commanders, always 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:13.080 cautious, wanted to consolidate. But Joan pressed 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:15.600 them to attack Les Augustins. A fortress built 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:17.620 around a monastery. And they captured it. And 00:13:17.620 --> 00:13:19.700 again, the commanders hesitated. They wanted 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:22.399 to pause, consolidate their gains. And again, 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:25.519 Joan pushed them to ignore caution and keep going 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:28.039 toward the main English stronghold, Littoral. 00:13:28.340 --> 00:13:31.139 The decisive action was May 7th. She was right 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:32.559 in the thick of it, holding her banner. When 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:34.779 she was seriously wounded, an arrow struck her 00:13:34.779 --> 00:13:36.539 between the neck and the shoulder. An injury 00:13:36.539 --> 00:13:38.379 like that would have sidelined most people for 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:41.039 weeks. But she returned later that same day, 00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:44.659 wounded but defiant. And she encouraged the final 00:13:44.659 --> 00:13:47.240 successful assault that overwhelmed and captured 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.820 Le Tourelle. The result was just immediate and 00:13:49.820 --> 00:13:53.620 spectacular. The English commanders, seeing the 00:13:53.620 --> 00:13:55.759 defeat and the total collapse of their men's 00:13:55.759 --> 00:13:58.539 morale, just retreated from Orléans the next 00:13:58.539 --> 00:14:01.419 day, May 8th. The siege was over. And this is 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:03.120 the moment where the political and theological 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:06.559 significance just crystallizes. Remember that 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.980 test at Poitiers? They said success would be 00:14:08.980 --> 00:14:11.679 the sign. And the lifting of the siege was instantly 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.539 interpreted by the French clergy, including prominent 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:17.320 figures like Archbishop Jacques Jaloux and the 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.500 theologian Jean Gerson, as the unambiguous sign 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:22.960 that proved her divine origin. And on the other 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:25.830 side. For the English. For the English and their 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:28.590 Burgundian allies, the fact that a peasant girl 00:14:28.590 --> 00:14:31.350 could so rapidly defeat their professional armies 00:14:31.350 --> 00:14:35.669 was equally and immediately interpreted as definitive 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:38.029 proof of demonic possession. The stakes were 00:14:38.029 --> 00:14:40.929 no longer just military. They were cosmic. Joan, 00:14:41.049 --> 00:14:43.149 capitalizing on this huge momentum, insisted 00:14:43.149 --> 00:14:46.029 on a swift advance to rhymes for Charles' coronation. 00:14:46.149 --> 00:14:48.509 Charles agreed, and the Loire campaign was designed 00:14:48.509 --> 00:14:51.269 to clear that path. She accompanied the army 00:14:51.269 --> 00:14:53.549 under the command of John II, Duke of Alençon. 00:14:53.690 --> 00:14:57.370 And Alençon was a key ally for her. He was. Unlike 00:14:57.370 --> 00:14:59.850 some of the other cautious nobles, he really 00:14:59.850 --> 00:15:02.169 respected her counsel and collaborated with her, 00:15:02.250 --> 00:15:04.529 which strengthened her ability to act on the 00:15:04.529 --> 00:15:07.950 battlefield. So in June 1429, the objective was 00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:11.389 to clear the bridge towns along the Loire, Jargaud, 00:15:11.429 --> 00:15:14.929 Mingsou Loire, and Bechoncy. At Jargoe on June 00:15:14.929 --> 00:15:17.769 11th, Joan advocated for a direct assault and 00:15:17.769 --> 00:15:19.929 they captured it the next day. And again, she 00:15:19.929 --> 00:15:23.110 showed incredible personal bravery. She was actually 00:15:23.110 --> 00:15:25.490 struck by a stone that split her helmet while 00:15:25.490 --> 00:15:28.149 she was scaling a siege ladder. Just incredible 00:15:28.149 --> 00:15:30.850 tenacity. And it's worth noting in that Jargoe 00:15:30.850 --> 00:15:32.850 capture, many of the English who surrendered 00:15:32.850 --> 00:15:35.950 were killed. This was brutal medieval warfare. 00:15:36.190 --> 00:15:38.889 It was. The army moved fast. June 15th, they 00:15:38.889 --> 00:15:41.429 took the bridge at Nung Sur Luar, and by June 00:15:41.429 --> 00:15:43.809 18th, the English garrison at Burgensee just 00:15:43.809 --> 00:15:46.029 surrendered. Which was a bit premature on their 00:15:46.029 --> 00:15:48.669 part. Very. The English commander had no idea 00:15:48.669 --> 00:15:51.269 that a major relief army under Sir John Fastolf 00:15:51.269 --> 00:15:53.629 was approaching from Paris. So when the Armagnacs 00:15:53.629 --> 00:15:56.370 learned that Fastolf's army was retreating, Joan 00:15:56.370 --> 00:15:58.730 urged an immediate aggressive pursuit. And the 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:01.129 two armies met that afternoon, June 18th, at 00:16:01.129 --> 00:16:03.690 the Battle of Pate. Fastolf had prepared an ambush 00:16:03.690 --> 00:16:06.590 with hidden archers. But the Omnyak vanguard 00:16:06.590 --> 00:16:08.710 detected them and scattered them before they 00:16:08.710 --> 00:16:11.129 could even get set up. The whole thing was less 00:16:11.129 --> 00:16:14.129 a battle and more a rout. The English army was 00:16:14.129 --> 00:16:17.090 decimated. And Joan wasn't in that initial charge. 00:16:17.350 --> 00:16:21.049 But her insistence on the rapid pursuit was credited 00:16:21.049 --> 00:16:23.590 by everyone with making that crushing victory 00:16:23.590 --> 00:16:27.090 possible. The string of wins was just... The 00:16:27.090 --> 00:16:29.970 path was now open. The march to Reims began on 00:16:29.970 --> 00:16:32.990 June 29th. The Armagnac army advanced virtually 00:16:32.990 --> 00:16:36.190 unopposed. Towns that had resisted Charles for 00:16:36.190 --> 00:16:38.789 years, like Auxerre, they just switched their 00:16:38.789 --> 00:16:41.769 allegiance. Troyes held out for four days, but 00:16:41.769 --> 00:16:43.769 Joan just ordered an assault preparation and 00:16:43.769 --> 00:16:45.850 the town immediately surrendered. It's a perfect 00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:48.230 illustration of the power of her reputation by 00:16:48.230 --> 00:16:50.389 that point. The sight of her and her army was 00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:52.830 enough to break the will of defenders. And then 00:16:52.830 --> 00:16:56.100 the ultimate political validation. Reims, the 00:16:56.100 --> 00:16:58.799 traditional city of consecration, opens its gates 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:19.740 on July 16th. But the euphoria of Reims faded 00:17:19.740 --> 00:17:23.380 very quickly. With Charles now crowned, the, 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.970 uh... Cautious, traditional political establishment 00:17:26.970 --> 00:17:29.650 went right back to its old habits. Calculation, 00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:32.549 diplomacy. And this spelled trouble for Joan's 00:17:32.549 --> 00:17:35.089 aggressive, divinely mandated style of warfare. 00:17:35.349 --> 00:17:37.430 Right. The court immediately prioritized political 00:17:37.430 --> 00:17:40.890 negotiation. Charles entered into a 15 -day truce 00:17:40.890 --> 00:17:42.930 with the Duke of Burgundy. Who promised to transfer 00:17:42.930 --> 00:17:44.650 Paris to Charles, but it was just a political 00:17:44.650 --> 00:17:46.930 feint. He reneged on the promise entirely. And 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:49.250 this political drift caused immense frustration 00:17:49.250 --> 00:17:51.970 for Joan and her ally, the Duke of Alençon. They 00:17:51.970 --> 00:17:54.849 argued vehemently for a rapid march on Paris 00:17:54.849 --> 00:17:57.470 to capitalize on their momentum. Instead, the 00:17:57.470 --> 00:18:00.230 court's slow advance, bogged down by fruitless 00:18:00.230 --> 00:18:03.410 negotiations, just wasted valuable strategic 00:18:03.410 --> 00:18:05.930 time. They finally launched the assault on Paris 00:18:05.930 --> 00:18:08.289 on September 8th, and it was a catastrophic failure. 00:18:08.589 --> 00:18:12.549 The Armagnacs suffered 1 ,500 casualties. Joan 00:18:12.549 --> 00:18:15.230 herself was struck in the leg by a crossbow bolt 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:17.369 and had to be rescued from the trench beneath 00:18:17.369 --> 00:18:19.960 the city walls after nightfall. The consequences 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:22.420 for her influence were swift and devastating. 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:26.180 The very next morning, Charles VII ordered an 00:18:26.180 --> 00:18:29.140 immediate halt to the attack, had a key bridge 00:18:29.140 --> 00:18:33.259 dismantled, and forced a retreat. Joan was profoundly 00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:35.960 displeased, arguing fiercely for the attack to 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.380 continue. And that failure at Paris was the turning 00:18:38.380 --> 00:18:41.079 point for the court's faith in her. Her aggressive 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:43.539 strategy no longer aligned with Charles' preference 00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:46.019 for a negotiated peace. And the scholars at the 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:47.779 Pro -English University of Paris immediately 00:18:47.779 --> 00:18:50.400 seized on the failure, arguing publicly that 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.339 her inability to take the capital proved her 00:18:52.339 --> 00:18:55.460 inspiration was not divine. The sign of Orléans 00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:57.940 was suddenly being questioned. So Charles responded 00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:00.900 by actively minimizing her role. He disbanded 00:19:00.900 --> 00:19:03.019 the army that had marched to Reims. And critically, 00:19:03.220 --> 00:19:05.119 he prevented her from working with her trusted 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.220 military ally, Alençon, ever again. She was deliberately 00:19:08.220 --> 00:19:10.700 sidelined. She was sent on a smaller campaign 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:14.000 against a brigand captain. She did manage a success 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:16.339 at the siege of Saint -Pierre -le -Moutier in 00:19:16.339 --> 00:19:19.210 November. But her reputation took another hit 00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:22.049 right after that. The siege of La Charité sur 00:19:22.049 --> 00:19:24.990 l 'Or failed. They were forced to abandon their 00:19:24.990 --> 00:19:27.890 heavy artillery in the retreat, which was a huge 00:19:27.890 --> 00:19:30.789 material loss and a blow to her military credibility. 00:19:31.269 --> 00:19:34.029 Despite these diminishing returns, Charles did 00:19:34.029 --> 00:19:38.299 reward her family. In December 1429, he ennobled 00:19:38.299 --> 00:19:40.380 Joan and her family for their service. Which 00:19:40.380 --> 00:19:42.819 shows that while he might have been sidelining 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:45.980 her militarily, he still recognized her immense 00:19:45.980 --> 00:19:48.680 political and symbolic value. But during the 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.420 extended truce with the Burgundians, which lasted 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:54.720 until Easter of 1430, the royal court just had 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.460 no use for her. Her whole purpose driving military 00:19:57.460 --> 00:19:59.779 success was suspended in favor of diplomacy. 00:20:00.259 --> 00:20:02.839 But the truce was fragile. The Duke of Burgundy 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:05.740 began reclaiming towns, including the vital town 00:20:05.740 --> 00:20:08.240 of Compiègne. And Joan, driven by her mission, 00:20:08.380 --> 00:20:10.380 organized an expedition of volunteers at the 00:20:10.380 --> 00:20:13.380 end of March 1430 to relieve the siege. This 00:20:13.380 --> 00:20:15.660 was basically an unauthorized military action. 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:19.200 Essentially, yes. She proceeded without Charles' 00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:22.359 explicit documented permission, though it's highly 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:24.660 probable she had some financial backing from 00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:28.420 the court. It suggests Charles sort of tolerated 00:20:28.420 --> 00:20:30.519 it. to keep pressure on the Burgundians without 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:33.160 officially breaking the truce himself. Her final 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:36.359 military success was at Lannes -sur -Marne, where 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:38.700 her troops defeated a mercenary captain named 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:41.559 Franquette d 'Aura. And typically, a commander 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:43.480 like that would have been ransomed for a huge 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.859 sum. But Joan insisted on putting him on trial 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:49.519 and allowed the townspeople to execute him. Which, 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:52.119 while popular with the locals, showed a disregard 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.779 for the established rules of warfare that many 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:57.759 nobles relied upon. And then the end came, brutally. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:02.099 On May 23rd, 1430, during a desperate failed 00:21:02.099 --> 00:21:04.559 sally from Compiègne against the Burgundian camp, 00:21:04.819 --> 00:21:06.700 Joan was pulled from her horse and captured. 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:09.359 For the English and Burgundians, this was a massive 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:11.259 propaganda victory. They didn't just capture 00:21:11.259 --> 00:21:13.559 a military leader. They captured the symbol of 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:15.779 French divine providence, and they moved her 00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:17.740 between several castles while they negotiated 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:20.019 her fate. The pressure on the Burgundians to 00:21:20.019 --> 00:21:22.380 hand her over to the English was immense. Driven 00:21:22.380 --> 00:21:24.940 largely by Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais, 00:21:25.099 --> 00:21:28.480 a fervent... pro -Burgundian partisan who saw 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.299 a clear path to political advancement by prosecuting 00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:33.740 her. The negotiations concluded in November. 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:38.700 The English paid a massive 10 ,000 livres tournois 00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:41.259 for her ransom. And to put that into perspective 00:21:41.259 --> 00:21:43.579 for you, that was an astronomical amount, the 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:46.440 equivalent of ransoming a major noble. It shows 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:48.740 the English crown's absolute commitment to getting 00:21:48.740 --> 00:21:50.680 their hands on her, not for military purposes, 00:21:50.859 --> 00:21:53.240 but for a trial. And this is the fact that continues 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:56.000 to haunt French history. Once she was transferred 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.940 to English custody, there was no documented evidence 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:01.759 that Charles VII made any official attempt to 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:04.819 save her. None. So why? Was it just the cost? 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:07.099 Was it that he'd already sidelined her and she 00:22:07.099 --> 00:22:09.680 was now a political liability? It was likely 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.660 a cruel convergence of all of those things. The 00:22:11.660 --> 00:22:14.240 ransom was high and the political cost of trying 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.359 to retrieve a potentially compromised asset, 00:22:16.660 --> 00:22:19.259 one whose divine mandate was now openly questioned, 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:21.900 was simply too great. By letting the English 00:22:21.900 --> 00:22:24.200 have her, Charles could distance himself from 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:26.480 the controversy. The military savior had become 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:29.660 the political liability. Exactly. And we have 00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:32.039 to mention her sheer desperation during captivity. 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:35.680 She made two escape attempts. One involved a 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:39.019 dramatic jump from a tower into a dry moat, which 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:41.640 injured her. It just shows her absolute refusal 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:44.460 to accept her fate passively. The trial began 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:49.180 in Rouen on January 9th, 1431, and it was a masterful 00:22:49.180 --> 00:22:51.539 piece of political theater. It was strategically 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:54.440 disguised as a purely ecclesiastical inquiry 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:57.279 into heresy. Which allowed them to bypass the 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:59.619 laws around treating her as a prisoner of war. 00:22:59.859 --> 00:23:02.500 Right. And the objective was crystal clear and 00:23:02.500 --> 00:23:05.740 purely political. Destroy Charles VII's legitimacy. 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:09.039 If Joan, the woman who led him to his coronation, 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:11.339 could be proven a heretic acting under demonic 00:23:11.339 --> 00:23:14.000 influence. Then Charles. was consecrated by an 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.500 agent of the devil, his claim to the throne would 00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:18.720 be invalid and the English claim for Henry VI 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:21.140 would be strengthened. The outcome was predetermined 00:23:21.140 --> 00:23:22.980 by the structure of the court. The presiding 00:23:22.980 --> 00:23:25.680 judge was Bishop Pierre Cauchon, a French partisan 00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:28.180 loyal to the Burgundians and heavily subsidized 00:23:28.180 --> 00:23:30.000 by the English crown. And the composition of 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:33.380 the court cemented that bias. Of the 131 clergy 00:23:33.380 --> 00:23:36.049 who participated, nearly all were French. Which 00:23:36.049 --> 00:23:39.049 sounds fair on the surface, but they were overwhelmingly 00:23:39.049 --> 00:23:42.390 pro -Burgundian and pro -English, with many scholars 00:23:42.390 --> 00:23:44.990 from the University of Paris, which was the intellectual 00:23:44.990 --> 00:23:47.670 stronghold supporting the Anglo -French monarchy. 00:23:47.809 --> 00:23:51.430 The entire process was just rife with irregularities, 00:23:51.509 --> 00:23:55.400 directly violating canon law. For one, Joan should 00:23:55.400 --> 00:23:57.480 have been held by the church in an ecclesiastical 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.619 prison and guarded by women. Instead, she was 00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:03.440 deliberately kept in chains by English male guards, 00:24:03.619 --> 00:24:06.519 which guaranteed her mistreatment. And second, 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:09.500 Cochon failed to establish her infamy beforehand, 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:12.640 which was a prerequisite in canon law for charging 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:15.019 someone as a heretic. He just skipped the step. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:17.920 Furthermore, she was denied legal counsel, which 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.140 was essential given the complexity of the theological 00:24:20.140 --> 00:24:22.660 traps they were laying for her. The charges weren't 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:24.960 even read until well into the interrogations. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:27.000 And later investigations showed strong evidence 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:29.140 that the trial records themselves were falsified. 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:31.880 The illegitimacy of it was even recognized internally. 00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:34.680 One cleric stepped down because he believed the 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:37.000 testimony was coerced. Another who challenged 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:40.029 Koshan was jailed for it. But despite all of 00:24:40.029 --> 00:24:42.609 that pressure, Joan showed remarkable control 00:24:42.609 --> 00:24:45.529 during the interrogations. She really did. She 00:24:45.529 --> 00:24:48.170 managed to force her inquisitors to ask questions 00:24:48.170 --> 00:24:50.910 sequentially and often just demanded that sessions 00:24:50.910 --> 00:24:53.150 end when she felt they were becoming too abusive. 00:24:53.549 --> 00:24:55.609 And this brings us to that famous theological 00:24:55.609 --> 00:24:59.549 trap question. Ah, yes. She was asked if she 00:24:59.549 --> 00:25:01.789 knew she was in God's grace. Which was designed 00:25:01.789 --> 00:25:04.910 to be an immediate confession of heresy. If she 00:25:04.910 --> 00:25:07.910 said yes... She committed the heresy of presumption. 00:25:08.009 --> 00:25:10.789 If she said no, she confessed her own guilt. 00:25:11.130 --> 00:25:13.650 And her response was just stunning in its prudence. 00:25:13.769 --> 00:25:16.470 She said, If I was not in God's grace, I hoped 00:25:16.470 --> 00:25:18.430 God would put me there. And if I was in God's 00:25:18.430 --> 00:25:21.609 grace, then I hoped I would remain so. It completely 00:25:21.609 --> 00:25:24.910 evaded the trap and revealed a theological subtlety 00:25:24.910 --> 00:25:27.650 that just shocked her highly educated interrogators. 00:25:27.809 --> 00:25:29.950 They even considered using torture to break her 00:25:29.950 --> 00:25:32.430 resolve, but the assessors rejected it by majority 00:25:32.430 --> 00:25:35.079 vote after she refused to be intimidated. The 00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:37.940 political machine just kept churning. In early 00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:41.180 May 1431, the heresy charges were officially 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:43.839 approved by the University of Paris. And on May 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:47.339 24th, at the churchyard of Saint -Ouen, she performed 00:25:47.339 --> 00:25:50.359 her act of abjuration. She publicly agreed to 00:25:50.359 --> 00:25:52.799 submit to the church's authority. She signed 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:56.039 a document agreeing not to bear arms or wear 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.289 men's clothes again. There's another irregularity 00:25:59.289 --> 00:26:01.849 here. The document she actually signed might 00:26:01.849 --> 00:26:04.730 have been only eight lines long, but the official 00:26:04.730 --> 00:26:07.549 trial record later replaced it with a much longer 00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:10.920 More damning text. Right. So after the abjuration, 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:13.960 she was legally considered a penitent. She switched 00:26:13.960 --> 00:26:16.420 to a woman's dress. Her head was shaved. And 00:26:16.420 --> 00:26:18.160 the crucial part of the agreement was that she 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:20.000 would be transferred to an ecclesiastical prison 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:22.279 with female guards. But the English immediately 00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:24.720 violated that. They sent her right back to her 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:27.359 original cell in chains under the custody of 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:29.960 the English male guards. Witnesses at the later 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:32.400 rehabilitation trial testified to the mistreatment 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:34.500 and alleged sexual assault attempts she endured. 00:26:35.150 --> 00:26:37.089 Witnesses also suggested that the guards intentionally 00:26:37.089 --> 00:26:39.829 put the male garments back in her cell, effectively 00:26:39.829 --> 00:26:42.490 forcing her hand. And when Cauchon visited her 00:26:42.490 --> 00:26:45.230 cell on May 28th, Joan explained her decision 00:26:45.230 --> 00:26:48.670 to resume wearing them. She cited two practical 00:26:48.670 --> 00:26:51.970 reasons. The necessity of male dress for protection, 00:26:52.250 --> 00:26:54.369 and the fact the judges had broken their promises 00:26:54.369 --> 00:26:57.130 to move her and let her attend mass. But the 00:26:57.130 --> 00:26:59.170 decision to wear the clothes was the smallest 00:26:59.170 --> 00:27:02.069 part of it. The truly damning statement came 00:27:02.069 --> 00:27:04.549 when Cauchon asked about her voices. And she 00:27:04.549 --> 00:27:07.009 stated clearly that the voices had rebuked her 00:27:07.009 --> 00:27:09.230 for abjuring out of fear and that she would not 00:27:09.230 --> 00:27:11.529 deny them again. And that refusal to deny her 00:27:11.529 --> 00:27:14.970 voices was the point of no return. It was. Since 00:27:14.970 --> 00:27:17.329 her abjuration required her to deny her personal 00:27:17.329 --> 00:27:19.950 revelations, her return to affirming them was 00:27:19.950 --> 00:27:22.309 sufficient evidence to convict her as a relapsed 00:27:22.309 --> 00:27:24.809 heretic. And once she was a relapsed heretic, 00:27:25.069 --> 00:27:27.470 the church's hands were canonically clean and 00:27:27.470 --> 00:27:29.549 the state could execute her. Two days later, 00:27:29.609 --> 00:27:33.579 on May 30, 1431, at about 19 years old, Joan 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:36.539 of Arc was led to her execution. In a final, 00:27:36.579 --> 00:27:39.079 strange act of minor clemency, she was allowed 00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:40.740 to receive the sacraments that morning, which 00:27:40.740 --> 00:27:43.319 was highly unusual. She was taken to Rouen's 00:27:43.319 --> 00:27:45.980 old marketplace, and legally, she should have 00:27:45.980 --> 00:27:48.440 been transferred to a secular official for sentencing. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:50.980 But instead, she was delivered directly to the 00:27:50.980 --> 00:27:53.599 English authorities, ensuring the execution remained 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:56.720 firmly under their political control. She was 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:59.059 tied to a tall, plastered pillar for burning. 00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:02.559 In her final moments, she asked to see a cross. 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.859 An English soldier, perhaps moved, fashioned 00:28:05.859 --> 00:28:09.059 a simple cross from a stick. A processional crucifix 00:28:09.059 --> 00:28:11.420 was also brought and held before her eyes as 00:28:11.420 --> 00:28:14.079 the execution began. And to prevent any relics 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:16.220 from being gathered, her body was completely 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:18.759 burned and her remains were thrown into the Seine 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:21.240 River. The English hoped her execution would 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:23.660 crush the French resistance. But ironically, 00:28:23.940 --> 00:28:27.380 it didn't. Her triumphs had provided this irreversible 00:28:27.380 --> 00:28:30.220 spiritual boost to the Armagnacs. The momentum 00:28:30.220 --> 00:28:33.440 continued, and by 1453, the English were expelled 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:36.839 from all of France except Calais. But the heresy 00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:39.299 verdict was still a huge political problem for 00:28:39.299 --> 00:28:41.619 Charles VII. If the woman who led him to his 00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:44.460 coronation was officially a heretic, his entire 00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:47.279 claim to the throne was tainted. So he needed 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:50.059 that judgment legally overturned. And the process 00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:54.059 began relatively quickly. In 1450, Charles ordered 00:28:54.059 --> 00:28:56.740 the first inquest. It concluded that the original 00:28:56.740 --> 00:28:59.920 judgment was arbitrary. A second, more intense 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:03.519 inquest followed in 1452, led by Cardinal Guillaume 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:05.680 de Stuteville and the Inquisitor of France, Jean 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:08.359 Bréal. They interviewed about 20 original witnesses. 00:29:08.619 --> 00:29:10.480 And they found conclusive evidence of systemic 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:13.440 bias and procedural fraud. The political climate 00:29:13.440 --> 00:29:15.900 was finally right. After the English were expelled, 00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:19.000 the path was clear. Pope Calixtus III granted 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:21.839 permission for a full rehabilitation trial, which 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:25.140 began in November 1455 at Notre Dame. It was 00:29:25.140 --> 00:29:28.000 a very public event. Joan's elderly mother, Isabelle 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:30.420 Romay, publicly requested her daughter's rehabilitation, 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:33.240 turning it into a public act of restitution. 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:37.660 The trial concluded on July 7th, 1456. And the 00:29:37.660 --> 00:29:40.339 verdict was conclusive. The original 1431 trial 00:29:40.339 --> 00:29:43.480 was declared unjust, fraudulent, and deceitful. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:46.299 Her abjuration and execution were formally nullified. 00:29:46.619 --> 00:29:49.420 And in a powerful symbolic gesture, a copy of 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:51.380 the original articles of accusation was publicly 00:29:51.380 --> 00:29:53.599 torn up and a cross was ordered to be erected 00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:55.720 on the very site of her execution in Iran. One 00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:58.160 of the most complex parts of her life, and the 00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:01.039 one her condemnation hinged on, was her clothing. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:04.059 The male garments and short hair were explicitly 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:07.240 singled out as the emblem of her heresy. The 00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:09.440 legal argument was that cross -dressing was a 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:12.680 defiance of God's order. But Joan's rationale 00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:15.519 was entirely practical and spiritual. Right. 00:30:15.700 --> 00:30:18.799 She claimed divine command that the dress was 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:21.920 necessary for her mission as a warrior. And she 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:25.079 also cited the practicality of armor and, crucially, 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:27.619 using men's clothes for protection against rape. 00:30:27.700 --> 00:30:29.859 Which is why she immediately put them back on 00:30:29.859 --> 00:30:32.220 when she was returned to the cell with male guards. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:34.759 And the theology on this wasn't even black and 00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:37.470 white. Thomas Aquinas had permitted cross -dressing 00:30:37.470 --> 00:30:40.529 when necessary to hide from enemies. Jean Gerson, 00:30:40.789 --> 00:30:43.829 a prominent French theologian, had publicly deemed 00:30:43.829 --> 00:30:47.309 her male clothes appropriate for a warrior. So 00:30:47.309 --> 00:30:49.369 scholars today argue her clothing wasn't about 00:30:49.369 --> 00:30:52.509 deception, but transcendence. It helped her cement 00:30:52.509 --> 00:30:55.069 her unique identity as La Pucelle. It allowed 00:30:55.069 --> 00:30:57.430 her to operate in a man's world without conforming 00:30:57.430 --> 00:31:00.230 to traditional female expectations, serving as 00:31:00.230 --> 00:31:03.089 a powerful sign of her unique status that transcended 00:31:03.089 --> 00:31:06.089 conventional gender roles. And her legacy as 00:31:06.089 --> 00:31:09.269 a national symbol began almost immediately. The 00:31:09.269 --> 00:31:11.470 city of Orléans began its annual celebration 00:31:11.470 --> 00:31:14.710 of the lifting of the siege in 1429, a celebration 00:31:14.710 --> 00:31:17.750 that continues to this day. For centuries, her 00:31:17.750 --> 00:31:19.750 legacy was tied strictly to the divine right 00:31:19.750 --> 00:31:21.849 of the monarchy. Which meant during the French 00:31:21.849 --> 00:31:24.630 Revolution, her reputation was questioned because 00:31:24.630 --> 00:31:27.150 of those monarchical links. But her power as 00:31:27.150 --> 00:31:29.190 a symbol of French independence was just too 00:31:29.190 --> 00:31:32.730 great to ignore. Napoleon authorized the renewal 00:31:32.730 --> 00:31:35.769 of the festival in 1803. He said she proved that 00:31:35.769 --> 00:31:38.170 there is no miracle which French genius cannot 00:31:38.170 --> 00:31:40.609 accomplish when national independence is threatened. 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:43.519 She officially became the defender of the nation, 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:45.960 separate from the monarchy. And that's the enduring 00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:48.640 power of her myth, right? She's been a rallying 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:50.819 point across the entire political spectrum. Absolutely. 00:31:51.079 --> 00:31:53.720 After the Franco -Prussian War, she was the symbol 00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:56.339 of reclaiming Lorraine. During World War II, 00:31:56.660 --> 00:31:59.700 Vichy France, the Free French, even the communist 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:02.500 resistance all invoked her image. She remains 00:32:02.500 --> 00:32:05.299 a crucial political reference point today. Her 00:32:05.299 --> 00:32:08.019 status in the church also advanced. Beatified 00:32:08.019 --> 00:32:12.619 in 1909, canonized in 1920. And in 1922, Pope 00:32:12.619 --> 00:32:15.339 Pius the Aleph declared her a patron saint of 00:32:15.339 --> 00:32:17.900 France. But let's get into that theological nuance. 00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:21.019 She was canonized as a virgin, not a Christian 00:32:21.019 --> 00:32:24.470 martyr. Why the distinction? She was burned at 00:32:24.470 --> 00:32:27.029 the stake. It's a complex but crucial point. 00:32:27.190 --> 00:32:29.930 She was executed by a court that, despite its 00:32:29.930 --> 00:32:32.990 massive bias, was considered canonically constituted. 00:32:33.089 --> 00:32:35.450 They didn't execute her for denying the core 00:32:35.450 --> 00:32:37.650 tenets of Christianity, the divinity of Christ, 00:32:37.809 --> 00:32:39.849 for example. They executed her for private revelation. 00:32:40.109 --> 00:32:42.549 Exactly. For her personal, direct communication 00:32:42.549 --> 00:32:46.069 from God. Her voices, which she refused to deny. 00:32:46.410 --> 00:32:49.849 In the court's eyes, denying her voices was disobedience 00:32:49.849 --> 00:32:52.309 to their judgment, not denial of universal church 00:32:52.309 --> 00:32:55.130 dogma. She died for obeying what she personally 00:32:55.130 --> 00:32:57.289 believed was God's direct command. Nevertheless, 00:32:57.549 --> 00:32:59.910 she's been popularly revered as a martyr ever 00:32:59.910 --> 00:33:02.490 since. For her purity, her convictions, and her 00:33:02.490 --> 00:33:04.829 country. And finally, let's return to the source 00:33:04.829 --> 00:33:08.730 of it all. The mystery of the visions. Theologians 00:33:08.730 --> 00:33:10.930 of her era believe supernatural visions are possible. 00:33:11.150 --> 00:33:13.470 The trial assessors just sought to prove them 00:33:13.470 --> 00:33:16.230 demonic. And the rehabilitation trial was legally 00:33:16.230 --> 00:33:18.769 cautious. It nullified the sentence, but never 00:33:18.769 --> 00:33:21.730 actually declared the visions authentic. It wasn't 00:33:21.730 --> 00:33:25.349 until 1894 that Pope Leo III pronounced her mission 00:33:25.349 --> 00:33:28.150 as divinely inspired. And in the modern era, 00:33:28.269 --> 00:33:30.769 speculation has tried to rationalize the experience. 00:33:31.509 --> 00:33:34.349 Diagnoses from epilepsy and ergot poisoning to 00:33:34.349 --> 00:33:37.069 schizophrenia have been suggested. But the critique 00:33:37.069 --> 00:33:40.150 of those modern diagnoses is strong. Scholars 00:33:40.150 --> 00:33:42.829 argue that the primary source material, the trial 00:33:42.829 --> 00:33:45.369 records, were highly biased documents specifically 00:33:45.369 --> 00:33:48.390 created to prove her guilty of heresy. They are, 00:33:48.490 --> 00:33:51.450 you know, poor, unreliable sources for an objective 00:33:51.450 --> 00:33:53.829 medical diagnosis. Regardless of the medical 00:33:53.829 --> 00:33:56.809 truth, we know the impact was profound. Her absolute 00:33:56.809 --> 00:33:59.230 belief in her voices gave her extraordinary confidence, 00:33:59.529 --> 00:34:01.750 self -trust, and the inner strength that sustained 00:34:01.750 --> 00:34:03.990 her through her captivity and trial. So what 00:34:03.990 --> 00:34:06.880 does this all mean for you, the learner? We've 00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:09.579 traced Joan of Arc's life, how a deeply religious 00:34:09.579 --> 00:34:11.960 peasant girl, propelled by divine certainty, 00:34:12.199 --> 00:34:14.980 became a military savior, only to be rejected 00:34:14.980 --> 00:34:17.579 by the very king she crowned and destroyed by 00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:20.519 a hostile political legal machine. Her entire 00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:24.039 legacy rests on the knife edge of her unwavering 00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:26.519 personal conviction. And the paradox of her identity 00:34:26.519 --> 00:34:29.489 is what defines her enduring power. She gained 00:34:29.489 --> 00:34:31.869 legitimacy through her virginity, a symbol of 00:34:31.869 --> 00:34:34.750 traditional female virtue, yet she was condemned 00:34:34.750 --> 00:34:37.610 and later celebrated for explicitly transcending 00:34:37.610 --> 00:34:40.150 gender roles through her men's clothing and her 00:34:40.150 --> 00:34:42.630 command of men in battle. This leaves us with 00:34:42.630 --> 00:34:44.530 a final provocative thought, something for you 00:34:44.530 --> 00:34:46.909 to mull over. Joan insisted her male clothing 00:34:46.909 --> 00:34:49.590 was purely practical, a necessity for war and 00:34:49.590 --> 00:34:52.130 protection from assault. But when is a simple 00:34:52.130 --> 00:34:54.530 necessity for function? like wearing armor in 00:34:54.530 --> 00:34:57.210 battle, become an intentional revolutionary act 00:34:57.210 --> 00:34:59.769 of identity? When did Joan's utility transform 00:34:59.769 --> 00:35:02.449 into her ultimate defiant challenge to the established 00:35:02.449 --> 00:35:04.929 male -dominated order? Think about how those 00:35:04.929 --> 00:35:07.210 garments, far from hiding her, actually became 00:35:07.210 --> 00:35:09.429 the signature of her unique and profound authority. 00:35:09.789 --> 00:35:13.030 A truly enduring question for an absolutely singular 00:35:13.030 --> 00:35:15.650 life. Thank you for joining us for this deep 00:35:15.650 --> 00:35:18.170 dive into the history and legacy of Joan of Arc. 00:35:18.369 --> 00:35:19.389 We'll catch you next time.