For some years before and around the time of activity of
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...
, a number of vague prophecies concerning a young Maid who would save
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
were circulating. The prophecies were attributed to several sources, including St.
Bede the Venerable, Euglide of Hungary, and
Merlin. Some of these spoke of a Maid who was supposed to come from the "borders of
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
". Since Joan's home village,
Domrémy, was near the border between the French
Duchy of Bar
The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the '' pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the House of Montbéliard from the 11th century. Part of the county, t ...
and the Duchy of Lorraine in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
, at the time many in France believed in her.
During her examination at
Poitiers, Joan was reportedly questioned about a recent prophecy attributed, perhaps incorrectly, to
Marie d'Avignon[Warner, p. 24 f.] concerning an armed woman who was to save the Kingdom. One version of the prophecies had it that the Maid would come forth from an oak wood and would work miracles, although when questioned about this version of the prophecy at her
trial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...
, Joan said she did not place any faith in that one.
Rehabilitation trial testimony also brought up the subject of such prophecies. Durand Laxart, Joan's uncle, who accompanied Joan on both of her journeys to Vaucouleurs, reported at the rehabilitation trial that Joan had told him: "Was it not said that France would be ruined through a woman and afterwards restored by a virgin?". Catherine Royer, with whom Joan stayed while at Vaucouleurs on her second visit in January and February 1429, also reported substantially the same thing.
Footnotes
References
* {{cite book, last=Warner, first=Marina, title=Joan of Arc: the image of female heroism, publisher=University of California Press, location=Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, year=2001, isbn=0-520-22464-7, authorlink=Marina Warner, url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/joanofarcimageof00warn
Joan of Arc
Prophecy