Joan of Arc is one of the most revered legends of French history. She is often called the “Maid of Orleans,” where her great military success against the English took place, yet few remember that Poitiers played one of the most critical roles in her story.
The backdrop to Joan of Arc’s tale was the Hundred Years’ War, the seemingly interminable series of conflicts between England and France that stretched across much of the 14th and 15th centuries. The English had the upper hand in the early decades (burning Poitiers in 1346, and then capturing the French King at the (third) Battle of Poitiers in 1356), then were largely pushed back across the channel for a while. Then came Henry V. At Agincourt in 1415, spurred on Henry’s Saint Crispin’s Day speech, one of the most famous passages anywhere in Shakespeare (or something close to it), the English again decimated an overwhelmingly larger French army.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
The unexpected victory, where an estimated 40% of France’s nobility lost their lives, started a new period of English dominance in the war. By 1418 the English and their allies, the Burgundians, occupied Paris. Charles VI, the “mad king” of France, recognized Henry V and his English heirs as his successor to the throne. On Charles’ death in 1422, his son Charles VII was “King” only of parts of south-central France: the Court is moved to Bourges, and the Parliament now meets in Poitiers. Charles VII cannot be coronated in Rheims, where French kings have been received the crown for nearly a thousand years; instead, his coronation takes place at the Cathedral of Poitiers. He becomes known as the “King of Poitiers.” From 1422 to 1424 Charles resided at #118, Grand’ Rue.
Cue the entrance of Joan of Arc.
Hailing from a peasant family in small village, Joan reports hearing divine voices, among others that of the Archangel Michael, telling her to help Charles VII recover France from the English. Eventually her voice intrigued local officials enough that she was given an escort to visit Charles on the Loire, at Chinon, in 1429. He and his advisers were suitably impressed (or maybe they had not much left to lose).
Before going so far as trusting Jeanne with military leadership, the King sent her to Poitiers to be examined by a numerous committee of learned bishops and doctors. They questioned her for 3 weeks, in an elaborate and formal process. The examination took place in Poitiers, in March of 1429, because it was the only major French center of theology which still remained loyal to Charles VII. Other centers of ecclesiastical power recognized the sovereignty of the King of England, or more exactly, of the English regent, the Duke of Bedford. The theologians found nothing heretical in her claims to supernatural guidance, and, without pronouncing upon the reality of her mission, they thought that she might be safely employed. On March 24 Joan mounted her white horse in front of the Hotel de la Rose, at the corner of the Grand’ Rue and the Rue Arsene-Orillard. She was given command of an expedition charged with delivering the strategic city of Orleans. The French won. And won again. Her legend was set. The English were driven out of France – though not before having captured Joan and burning her at the stake. She was canonized as a Saint of the Catholic Church. Charles, King of Poitiers, became Charles, King of France.
Joan of Arc can be seen on her horse in a sculpture behind the Palace of Justice, which is often called by its old name of the Palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine. Perhaps the most impressive depiction in Poitiers of Saint Joan is in a large painting hanging in the Church of Montierneuf. The painting hangs over the only remaining tomb of the Dukes of Aquitaine, that of Duke William VIII. A fitting pairing, both in sculpture and in painting, as the Aquitaine of the Dukes was nearly as large a territory as that controlled by Charles VII before Joan’s entry on the scene. And the Dukes, or Counts of Poitiers as they were also known, thought of themselves as the Kings of Poitiers.
