Joan of Arc: Heretic, Mystic, Shaman (Studies in Women and Religion) [Hardcover]

Anne Llewellyn Barstow (Author)

Book Description

Series: Studies in Women and Religion | Publication Date: July 1986

This study reveals Joan of Arc as a mystic who heard what the church would not approve. It focuses on aspects of her behaviour and her social environment that enabled her, as both a woman and an illiterate peasant, to act autonomously and acquire power.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: Edwin Mellen Pr (July 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0889465320
• ISBN-13: 978-0889465329
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,265,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars "New Age" philosophy, not history., May 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Joan of Arc: Heretic, Mystic, Shaman (Studies in Women and Religion) (Hardcover)

This is another book which ignores the more objective evidence in favor of the slander promoted by Joan's opponents (i.e., the English and their allies among the Anglo-Burgundian clergy) while adding a large dollop of speculation and New Age philosophy into the mix. Joan was never considered a heretic by anyone except her enemies: for a more balanced selection of the clerical views of that era, see Jean Gerson's treatise in her defense (written in 1429) and Inquisitor Bréhal's declaration of her innocence contained in his "Recollectio" at the end of the Rehabilitation Trial in 1456. Similarly, the notion that 15th century women were a stifled class is rather curious, given that there were so many aristocratic women (Marie de Berri, Jeanne de Montfort, Marcia Ordelaffi, Jeanne de Penthièvre...) who took charge of their families' armies and other affairs during the Hundred Years War period (Joan was not the only woman to be given titular command of an army, by any means); this doesn't fit the model of history which certain modern academics subscribe to, but it's the way the feudal system has traditionally operated (that's why England has a Queen right now). Finally, the book's insistence on calling Joan a "shaman" has provoked justifiable ridicule, and hardly needs to be debunked here (I hope).

It seems that some authors cannot resist the temptation to rewrite Joan's history in terms of their own ideology. The end result hardly qualifies as history.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yet another product of the "intellectual nihilism" movement, July 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Joan of Arc: Heretic, Mystic, Shaman (Studies in Women and Religion) (Hardcover)

This book violates every tenet of scholarship by shamelessly repeating and repackaging the dishonest accusations made against Joan in 1431 (accusations which were soundly debunked when the case was appealed a couple decades after her death and the original verdict was thrown out by the courts on July 7, 1456). The obvious lack of evidence for the views expressed in this book does not seem to concern the author, who plunges ahead with her "theory" in complete disregard for scientific methodology and standards of proof.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authority from which to speak., February 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Joan of Arc: Heretic, Mystic, Shaman (Studies in Women and Religion) (Hardcover)

Irrespective of the claims of the previous reviewer, this is a book based on scholarship. As early as 1986, Barstow uncovered what so many others are announcing today--that a central question of women's lives is the question of authority. On whose authority does a woman speak when she can not speak on her own? In a world where women were tightly hemmed in by culture and religion, where they had no authority to speak, Joan of Arc discovered a new basis for personal authority. In her case, it was her voices which gave her that authority; once heard, she could do no other than to speak what they commanded. As Barstow says--Joan's story is a that of an autonomous woman, one who broke through the limitations and constraints of her time. In this highly documented book the reader learns of Joan's doubts, her humiliation, her torments. Finally, one learns again about courage against all odds.