Medieval History
Joan of Arc was born 600 years ago. Six centuries is a long time to continue to mark the birth of a girl who, according to her family and friends, knew little more than spinning and watching over her father?s flocks. But type her name into Amazon?s search engine and you get more than 6,000 results. France?s national archives include tens of thousands of volumes about her. She has been immortalized by Shakespeare, Voltaire, Twain, Shaw, Brecht, Verdi, Tchaikovsky and Rubens; more recently, her life was fodder for the CBS television series ?Joan of Arcadia.?
What is it about Joan of Arc? Why is her story of enduring interest more than a half a millennium after her birth?
By the time Joan of Arc was 16 and had proclaimed herself the virgin warrior sent by God to deliver France from her enemies, the English, she had been receiving the counsel of angels for three years. Until then, the voices she said she heard, speaking from over her right shoulder and accompanied by a great light, had been hers alone, a rapturous secret.
Click here to read this article from the New York Times
- France Celebrates Joan Of Arc's 600th Birthday
The normally tranquil city of Orleans is buzzing with festivities over the next two weeks to mark the 600th birthday of one of France's best cultural exports: Joan of Arc. Looking appropriately cinematic, the Loire River swarmed with wooden boats...
- The Riddle Of Mark Twain's Passion For Joan Of Arc
Mark Twain?s obsession with Joan of Arc has to rank among the most baffling and least talked about enigmas in American literature. Even for those entrenched within the competitive world of Twain scholarship, stories like the one above are usually treated...
- Celebrating The Real Joan Of Arc
On January 6, people around the world will come together to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the birth of St. Joan of Arc, the brave peasant girl from the French countryside who in 1429 lifted the English siege of Orleans, walloped the enemy army and...
- Marine Le Pen & Jeanne D'arc - An Uncomfortable Iconography
Iconographically, very few can claim as much power as Joan of Arc. The idea of Joan has been used in thousands of ways for innumerable causes, and she continues to resurface in new forms and imagery constantly. The political leader Marine Le Pen of the...
- The Passion Of Joan Of Arc, 1928
So, what would you expect to find in a forgotten janitor's closet in an insane asylum in Oslo, Norway? Dusty brooms, crusty old cleaning chemicals...and maybe a landmark silent film about Joan of Arc, believed to be long since lost to history? Well,...
Medieval History
Joan of Arc: Enduring Power
What is it about Joan of Arc? Why is her story of enduring interest more than a half a millennium after her birth?
By the time Joan of Arc was 16 and had proclaimed herself the virgin warrior sent by God to deliver France from her enemies, the English, she had been receiving the counsel of angels for three years. Until then, the voices she said she heard, speaking from over her right shoulder and accompanied by a great light, had been hers alone, a rapturous secret.
Click here to read this article from the New York Times
- France Celebrates Joan Of Arc's 600th Birthday
The normally tranquil city of Orleans is buzzing with festivities over the next two weeks to mark the 600th birthday of one of France's best cultural exports: Joan of Arc. Looking appropriately cinematic, the Loire River swarmed with wooden boats...
- The Riddle Of Mark Twain's Passion For Joan Of Arc
Mark Twain?s obsession with Joan of Arc has to rank among the most baffling and least talked about enigmas in American literature. Even for those entrenched within the competitive world of Twain scholarship, stories like the one above are usually treated...
- Celebrating The Real Joan Of Arc
On January 6, people around the world will come together to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the birth of St. Joan of Arc, the brave peasant girl from the French countryside who in 1429 lifted the English siege of Orleans, walloped the enemy army and...
- Marine Le Pen & Jeanne D'arc - An Uncomfortable Iconography
Iconographically, very few can claim as much power as Joan of Arc. The idea of Joan has been used in thousands of ways for innumerable causes, and she continues to resurface in new forms and imagery constantly. The political leader Marine Le Pen of the...
- The Passion Of Joan Of Arc, 1928
So, what would you expect to find in a forgotten janitor's closet in an insane asylum in Oslo, Norway? Dusty brooms, crusty old cleaning chemicals...and maybe a landmark silent film about Joan of Arc, believed to be long since lost to history? Well,...