Medieval History
- 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...
- 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...
- Joan Of Arc: Enduring Power
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...
- 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 Geography Of Joan, Part Ii: Orleans
The battles won at Orleans were the decisive victories for the French in the Hundred Years War. Orleans' situation on the Loire was important for the English, as it would have connected their landholdings in the west with their Burgundians allies...
Medieval History
The Geography of Joan, Part I: Domremy to Poitiers
With nomenclature like the "Hundred Years War," one can get an overwhelming sense of longevity. But like any era or war, powerful personalities emerge, and leave their mark. Joan of Arc was an unlikely heroine; she was an uneducated, young girl from a tiny blip on the map. Unlike the war she played a part in ending, her mission only lasted three and a half years. Three in a hundred, but hers is the most famous name from the period.
In this post I have retraced the journeys of Joan, from her birth in Domremy to Poitiers. Subsequent posts will finish her travels, ending in her martyrdom in Rouen. I wanted to see in maps where she went, how far she traveled, and what extant buildings in each city Joan may have seen. I used Google maps, and mostly the official French websites for photos and information about the architecture in each city.
So follow the geography of Joan - she journeyed far from home for a girl in the fifteenth century, in every way. Viewing her life in maps has, for me at least, illuminated how astonishingly brief her life was, how much she accomplished, and what a profound mark on history she left.
1 4 1 3Joan of Arc is born in Domremy, it is also the year of the death of King Henry IV, King of England.
Domremy today. I was expecting a larger town, perhaps because it is a pilgrimage site for the saint born there. But I doubt it has grown much since 1413! The countryside has likely also remained the same, lush green rolling farmland (written with not a little envy from someone living in the Rockies!)
Domremy today. I was expecting a larger town, perhaps because it is a pilgrimage site for the saint born there. But I doubt it has grown much since 1413! The countryside has likely also remained the same, lush green rolling farmland (written with not a little envy from someone living in the Rockies!)
The farmhouse where Joan was born still stands:
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Joan's first trip to Vaucouleurs, north of Domremy by 19.9 kilometers. Her route looked something like this:
Vaucouleurs today:
Porte de France, Vaucouleurs. It is said this is the gate which Joan passed through:
La Chapelle Castrale in Vaucouleurs:
The caption for this photo on Google Maps is titled 'le tilleul de Joan d'arc.' Tilleul is a tea made from the flowers of a lime or a lindin tree. I wish I could read the small plaque in front of the tree to make more sense of this claim!
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Feb 6 Joan travels to Nancy, and meets Charles II of Lorraine. Her route, 44.9 kilometers:
Nancy today:
Château de Remicourt, the first maison was built by Nancy aristocrats on this site in the 13th century, and underwent many architectural changes. So the building pictured below looks much altered from what Joan may have seen, but I like to imagine the skeleton may remain intact.
It is possible Joan saw this medieval gateway to the ville vielle of Nancy...
Feb 23 Joan leaves for Chinon. Her longest journey so far in her life, 516 km.
Chinon today:
Eglise St. Mexme. This site and building are truly ancient - with foundations from the fifth century, a monastery and college in subsequent years. This was certainly present in Joan's Chinon.
Hôtel du Baillage, Chinon, fifteenth century, contemporary with Joan
Eglise St. Etienne, Romanesque
21 March, Joan arrives in Poitiers from Chinon, 71 km
Poitiers today. Oh I just love it when you can see where the medieval city was from space!
Notre-Dame-la Grande, which dates from at least 924, and still contains sections of the original walls, though most of the modern building was erected in the eleventh century.
There must have been a healthy Poitiers-Italian connection, this facade reminds me more of Italian Gothic than anything French (think the cathedral in Siena).
So I'm thinking the next step should be to turn this into a television series. I can envision the PBS spot now, "Follow the remarkable life of Joan of Arc, through medieval France on the journey of a lifetime, Friday at 8!" Michael Wood can't have all the fun, right?
- 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...
- 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...
- Joan Of Arc: Enduring Power
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...
- 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 Geography Of Joan, Part Ii: Orleans
The battles won at Orleans were the decisive victories for the French in the Hundred Years War. Orleans' situation on the Loire was important for the English, as it would have connected their landholdings in the west with their Burgundians allies...