THE TALE OF JOAN OF ARC

In Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan, trans. By Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee; ed. by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski. Norton Critical Edition, 1997, 252-262.

[After Christine fled Paris she took refuge in an ahbey, most likely the abbey of Poissy, where her daughter was a nun. Her son, Jean de Castel, died probably in 1425, and around that time Christine wrote a religious meditation, Les Heures de contemplacion sur Ia Passion de Nostre Seigneur [The hours of contemplation on our Lord's Passion]. But toward the end of her life, Christine had occasion to rejoice, for it seemed that salvation had come to France in the shape of a simple young girl from Lorraine, Joan of Arc.
Born around 1412 in the little village of Domremy, Joan began hearing the voices of saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret when she was thirteen, urging her to save France. In 1429 she managed to persuade Robert de Baudricourt, captain of the royal garrison, to support her cause and provide an escort to the dauphin's court. She was examined by theologians and then given the command of an army that managed to raise the siege of Orleans in May 1429. On July 17 she succeeded in having the dauphin crowned as King Charles VII in Rheims. Only two weeks later Christine composed her Tale. But Joan's good fortune did not last. After the unsuc-cessful attack on Paris in September 1429 and a truce with the Burgundians, Charles abandoned Joan when she was taken prisoner in May 1430 and sold by the Burgundians to the English. Her male dress and her claims to divine inspiration provided the pretext for her trial on charges of witchcraft. She was finally burned at the stake on May 30, 1431.' In the nineteenth century she was rediscovered as a French national heroine, and in 1920 she was canonized.
Christine probably died hefore Joan's fall from grace and could thus cele-brate her success at the moment of her greatest triumph. In the figure of Joan, two of Christine's aspirations found their fulfillment: a woman, worthy of living in the City of Ladies, has come forward to drive the English from France and unite the country.2 Christine saw Joan's mission as ordained by Providence and evoked various prophecies that over the centuries had predicted the coming of a saviorlike figure. The celebration of Joan's accom-plishments was a fitting end to Christine's career.
Translated by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosiuski from Christine de Pisan, Le Ditie de Jehanne d'Arc, ed. Angus J. Kennedy and Kenneth Varty (Oxford, UK: Society for the Study of Mediaeval Literatures and Language, 1977).]

.
1. Twenty-five years later her sentence was annulled by Pope Calixtus III. For her biography see Marina Warner, Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (New York: Knopf, 1981). Her trial rerords were edited by Jules Quicherat in Proces de condamnation et de rehabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc, dite La Pucelle 5 vols. (Paris: Renouard, 1841-49).
2. See Kevin Browlee, "Structures of Authority in Christine de Pizan's Ditie d'Arc" on p. 371.
3. Christine wrote this piece as a poem, though it has been translated here as prose.

1

I, Christine, who have wept for eleven years in a closed abbey, where I have lived ever since Charles (what a strange thing!), the king's son, fled, if I dare say it, in haste from Paris*, enclosed here because of this treachery, I begin now for the first time to laugh.

*'When the Burgundiaus took Paris in 1418, the dauphin fled; see also p. xiv.

2

I begin to laugh frankly with joy because winter is departing when I used to stay sadly in my cage. But now that the good weather is back . . * I will change my language from weeping into singing. I have well endured my share.

*At this point there is a gap in the manuscript.

3

In 1429 the sun began to shine again. It brings back the good new season which we had not really seen for a long time, which made many people live in sorrow. But I no longer grieve over anything, for now I see what I desire.

4

But things have changed from great sorrow to new joy since the time I came here to stay, and, thank God, the lovely season I so desired, the one called spring where everything renews itself, has turned dry land green.

5

All this because the cast-out child of the legitimate king of France*, who has suffered for a long time great troubles and who now approaches, rose up like one who goes to prime, coming as a crowned king, in wonderful and great power, wearing spurs of gold.

* In the 1420 treaty of Troycs, Charles VI had to disinherit his son and recognize Henry V, husband of his daughter Catherine, as the heir to the French throne.

6

Now let us celebrate our king! May he be welcomed on his return! Rejoice at his noble appearance, let us all go, great and small-may no one hold back-and joyfully greet him, praising God who has protected him and loudly shout "Noel."

7

But now I want to tell how God has done all this by His grace. I pray to Him to give me guidance so that I won't omit anything. This should be told everywhere, for it is worthy of memory and of being written down-no matter who may be displeased-in chronicles and history books!

8

Now listen, throughout the world, to something more marvelous than anything! See if God, in whom all grace abounds, does not support in the end that which is right. This fact is noteworthy, in view of the case at hand! May it be of value to those who are disappointed, those whom Fortune has beaten down.

9

And note that no one should be dismayed by misfortune, when be sees himself unjustly despised and attacked by everyone! See how For-tune, who has harmed so many people, is always changing. For God, who takes a stand against all wrong deeds, raises up those in whom hope lives on.

10

Who, then, has seen something so extraordinary occur-which should be noted and remembered in all regions-that France, who in everyone's opinion was defeated, has, by divine command, changed from evil to such great good,

11

and truly through such a miracle that, if the matter were not so well-known and obvious in every way, no one would believe it? This is well worth remembering: that God has wished to bestow His grace on France-and this is true-through a tender virgin.

12

Oh, what an honor given to the French crown by this divine proof! For by the grace He gives it it is obvious that he supports it and that more than anywhere else He finds faith in the royal estate of which I read-and there is nothing new in this-that the Lilies of France never erred in the faith.
13

And you Charles, French king, seventh of that noble name, who waged a great war before things changed for the better for you: But now, by God's grace, see how your renown is exalted by the Maid, who has subjugated your enemies under your flag-and this is something new-

14

in a short time; people thought that it was impossible that you would ever get back your country which you were losing. Now it is clearly yours, for against all those who harmed you, you have recovered it! And through the clever Maid, who thank God has done her share!

15

I firmly believe that God would not bestow on you this grace if it were not ordained by Him that you should, in the course of time, bring to fruition and a good end a great and solemn task, and if it were not destined for you to be the leader of the greatest events.

[Christine pursues the idea that there was a prophecy predicting the current events and appeals to the king to be worthy of his great mission. She thanks God for His mercy and then turns to the maid, Joan of Arc.]

21

And you blessed Maid, should you be forgotten in all this? For God has honored you so much that you undid the rope that held France tightly bound. Could one praise you enough when you have given peace to this country humiliated by war?

22

You, Joan, were born at a propitious hour, blessed be He who created you! Maid, ordained by God, in whom the Holy Spirit (in whom there was and is the greatest generosity with noble gifts) poured His great grace and never refused any of your requests, how can we ever reward you?

23

How could one say more of anyone else or of the great deeds of the past? Moses, on whom God in His generosity bestowed many blessings and virtues, by a miracle led his people out of Egypt, without tiring of it. In the same way you have led us from evil, elected Maid!
24

When we reflect on your person, you who are a young maid, to whom God has given the strength and power to be a champion who gives to France her breast of peace and sweet nourishment and cast down the rebels. See how this goes beyond nature!

25

For if God performed so many miracles through Joshua* who con-quered so many places and rousted so many enemies-he was a strong and powerful man! But after all, a woman, a simple shepherdess, braver that any man ever was in Rome! For God, this was an easy thing to do.

*He vanquished the Arnorites when the sun miraculously stood still (Joshua 10:12-14).

26

But for us, we never heard tell of such a great marvel, for all the brave men from the past cannot measure up in prowess against this woman who strives to cast out our enemies. But this is God's doing who coun-seled her, who from Him received more courage than any man.

27

We make much of Gideon*, who was a simple laborer, so the story goes, God made him fight, none could hold out against him, he con-quered everything. But whatever orders He gave him, He never did such a clear miracle as He did in our case.

*See Judges 6-7.

28

I have learned about Esther, Judith, and Deborah*, worthy ladies, through whom God restored His people which was so oppressed, and I also learned about many others who were brave, but there was none through whom He has performed a greater miracle than through the Maid.

*As Kennedy and Varty point out, Joan was often linked to these Old Testament heroines, for example, by Jean Gerson in his text about Joan, De quadam puella [About a certain maid), written in the spring of 1429 in support of Joan's mission. They suggest that the Tale may have been inspired by Judges 5, the Song of Deborah'; see Le Ditie 67. Christine also mentioned these women in the Book of Fortune's Transformation and the City of Ladies.

29

She was sent by divine command, guided by God's angel to the king, in his support. Her deeds are not an illusion, for she was well tested in a council (we conclude that a thing is proved by its ef-fect),

30

and before one wanted to believe her, and before it became known that God sent her to the king she was led before clerks and wise men and was well examined to see whether she spoke the truth*. But one found in history books that she was destined for these deeds.

*Joan was interrogated during March and April 1429 in Poitiers.

31

For more than five hundred years ago, Merlin, the Sibyl, and Bede* foresaw her in their minds and put her into their writings and made prophecies about her as the remedy for France. They said she would carry the banner in French wars and they exactly predicted her deeds.

*To link these three prophets may appear strange to a modern reader, since Merlin was a magician connected to the Arthurian tradition, Bede an English historian (d. 735), and the Sibyl one of the prophetic women of antiquity. But in the Middle Ages the three were often linked. At the time, their prophecies were interpreted as referring to Joan of Arc. For details see Kennedy and Varty La Ditie 68-69, and Andrew Lang, The Maid of France (London:
Lougmans Green, 1909).

32

And her life in beauty, by my faith, shows that she is in God's grace, and therefore one accords more faith to her deeds. For what-ever she does, she always has God before her eyes, whom she calls to, serves and prays to in deed and word; nowhere does she let her faith decrease.

33

Oh, how clear was this at the siege of Orleans* where her power first appeared! No miracle, I believe, was ever clearer, for God helped His people so much that the enemies were as helpless as dead dogs. There they were captured and put to death.

*It was raised May 8, 1429.

34

Oh, what an honor to the female sex! That God loves it is clear with all these wretched people and traitors who laid waste the whole king-dom cast out and the realm elevated and restored by a woman-some-thing a hundred thousand men could not have done! Before, one would not have believed it possible.

35

A young girl of sixteen years (is this not something beyond nature?), to whom arms seem weightless, she seems to have been brought up for this, she is so strong and hardy. And the enemies flee before her, not one can last in front of her. She does this, with many eyes looking on,

36

and rids France of her enemies, recapturing castles and towns. Never was there such great strength, not in a hundred or a thousand men. And she is the supreme leader of our brave and skilled people. Neither Hector nor Achilles had such strength*. But all this God does who guides her.

*Heroes of the Trojan War.

37

And you, trusty men-at-arms who do the deeds and prove yourselves good and loyal, one should certainly mention you (you will be praised for it in all countries!) and speak of you above all else, and of your courage,

38

you who in such harsh pain risk blood, body, and life for justice and dare to go forward in such great peril. Be constant, for I promise you, for this you will receive glory and praise in heaven. For I dare say, who-ever fights for justice will win Paradise.

39

And so you English, lower your horns, for you will never find good game! Don't carry on with your nonsense in France! You are check mated, something you wouldn't have thought possible recently when you seemed so threatening; but then you were not yet on the path where God cuts down the proud.

40

You thought you had already conquered France, and that she would be yours forever. Things have turned out differently, you false people! You'll have to beat your drums elsewhere if you do not want to taste death like your companions whom the wolves may well devour, for they lie dead in the fields.

41

And may it be known that she will cast down the English, there will be no getting up, for this is the will of God who hears the voices of the good people whom they wanted to harm! The blood of those forever dead cries out against them. God will no longer stand for this, but con-demn them as evil-this is decided.

42

In Christendom and the Church harmony will reign through her. She will destroy the unbelievers one talks about and the heretics with their vile ways*, for thus it is prophesied; she will have no pity for any place where one speaks ill of God.

* Christine writes in the aftermath of the Great Schism (1378-1417), during which two popes had reigned and had thus divided Europe. Johan Hus was burned as a heretic at the Council of Constance in 1415. Christine probably refers to his followers, the Hussites.

43

She will destroy the Saracens, by conquering the Holy Land*. There she will lead Charles, whom God may protect! Before he dies he will make this trip, he is the one who will conquer it. There she will end her life, and both will gain glory. There things will be fulfilled.

*Joan seems to have had plans for a crusade. In two letters, to the king of England and to the duke of Burgundy, she spoke of fighting the Saracens. To the duke she suggested that it would be more useful to make peace with the French king and fight the Saracens than continue the internal strife. For details, see Kennedy and Varty, La Ditie, 70.

44

Therefore, above all the brave men of the past she must wear the crown, for her deeds show clearly that God has given her more courage than all those men one talks about. And she has not finished yet! I believe that she is God's gift to those of us on earth, so that through her deeds peace may be made.

45

And destroying the English is the least of her worries, for her de-sires lie rather elsewhere: to guard against the destruction of the Faith. As for the English, whether one laughs or cries about it, they are done for. One will mock them in times to come. They have been vanquished!

46

And all you lowly rebels who make common cause with them*, now you can see that you should have gone forward rather than backward and become the serfs of the English. Watch out that nothing else will happen to you (for you have been tolerated long enough), and think well about the end result!

*I.e., the Burgundians.

47

Don't you realize, you blind people, that God has a hand in this? Those who don't see this are truly stupid, for how could this Maid have been sent to us in this way, she who strikes all of you down dead? You do not have sufficient strength! Do you want to go into combat against God?

48

Has she not led the king with her hand to his coronation? Greater things were not done before Acre*. There as well, were many obstacles. But in spite of everyone he was received there gloriously and duly anointed, and there he heard mass.

*Acre was captured in 1191 by the French king Philip Augustus and the English Richard the Lionheart during the third crusade.

49

With great triumph and display of power was Charles crowned at Rheims. In the year 1429, without a doubt, he was there safe and sound, in the midst of many men-at-arms and barons, right on the seventeenth day of July. His sojourn there was five days,

50

and he stayed with the little Maid. As he returns through his lands, no city, castle or small town remains unconquered. Whether he is loved or hated, whether the inhabitants are overwhelmed or reassured, they all surrender. No need to attack, they fear his power so much!

[Stanzas 51 and 52 emphasize the pointlessness of trying to resist the maid's assault.]

53

I don't know if Paris will hold up* (for they have not arrived there yet), nor whether it is prepared for the Maid. But if it makes her its enemy I'm afraid she will attack it harshly, as she has done elsewhere. If they resist for an hour, or even half an hour, they will be in trouble, I believe

*Paris was then in the hands of the English and the Burgundians

54

for [the king] will enter it-whether they like it or not! The Maid has promised him that much. Paris, do you think the Burgundians will keep him from entering? They won't, for he does not present himself as their enemy. No one has the power to prevent it, and you and your presump-tion will be subdued!

55

Oh, Paris, you have received bad advice! Foolish inhabitants without confidence! Would you rather be cast out than make peace with your prince? If you don't watch out your great contrariness will surely destroy you! You'd be much better off if you humbly begged for mercy.* You are making a mistake!

*As it turned out, the attack on Paris (September 8, 1429) did not succeed.

56

I am speaking about the bad [inhabitants], for there are also many good ones, I have no doubt. But they don't dare to speak out. I am sure that it displeases them that one has cast down their prince like that. These people will not have deserved the punishment Paris is heading for, where many will lose their lives.

57

And you, all you rebel towns, and you people who have rejected your lord, you men and women who have renounced him for another, may everything be settled in peace, with you seeking his forgiveness. For if you are subdued by force, his generosity will come too late for you.

58

And to avoid killing and wounding people he waits as long as he can, for it saddens him to spill blood. But, finally, if people won't give up peacefully what is rightfully his, if he recovers it by force and bloodshed, he does well.

59

Alas, he is so generous that he wants to pardon everyone. And the Maid, following God's commands, makes him do this. Give yourselves and your hearts to him as loyal Frenchmen! And when the news are spread, you will not be blamed by anyone.

60

I pray to God that He will put it in your hearts to act this way, so that the cruel tempest of these wars will be obliterated, and that you can spend your lives in peace, under your supreme ruler, and that you may never offend him, and that he may be a good lord to you. Amen.

61

This poem was finished by Christine in the above-mentioned year 1429, on the day that ends July. But I understand that some people will not be satisfied with its contents, for if one's head is lowered and one's eyes are heavy one cannot look at the light.

Here ends a most beautiful poem written by Christine.

Harold Garrett-Goodyear

hgarrett@mtholyoke.edu

Skinner 209, ext. 2451

Dickinson 101, ext. 2055

(

Copyright © 1999 Mount Holyoke College.  This page is maintained by H. Garrett-Goodyear. Contact email:  hgarrett@mtholoke.edu