Customer Reviews

Saint Joan of Arc

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Prof. Bonnie Wheeler of the International Joan of Arc Society has labeled this book "dead wrong" (a position which she rarely takes), and other researchers, myself included, tend to agree. More precisely: certain subjects are handled in an entirely fraudulent manner, as the author had a talent for misquoting or selectively citing the evidence, misinterpreting the original language to reflect her theories, and taking things out of context in order to make "hints" about Joan which happen to suit the author's inclinations (some of these will be dealt with in detail below). Even worse, more recent (and less honest) authors have taken some of the above innuendoes and extrapolated claims which Vita herself knew better than to make, and this has further muddled the subject.
In fairness, at least the author genuinely read a wide selection of the documents, and was honest enough to refrain from the more outrageous claims. But the numerous distortions in this book include:
- A persistent effort to remake Joan into a large, masculine, "sexually-unappealing" androgyne (in direct contradiction to eyewitness accounts describing her as "beautiful and shapely", "short", with "beautiful eyes", a "sweet girl's voice", etc). The author often manipulates such testimony until it becomes the opposite of what the eyewitnesses actually said. This is especially true with regards to the comments made by some of the men who had served in her army: what these fellows actually said (in summary) is that although they did find her attractive, they were amazed to find that their normal sexual desire (for all women) was suppressed when she was around. At no point did they say that they found her ugly or unappealing (as the author sometimes claims about this testimony), but precisely the reverse. The author admits that this was the case with the testimony from the Duke of Alencon, but characteristically sensationalizes it into something which the Duke never said, and which would be at odds with the other sources who are all agreed that Joan always slept in full clothing when with the army and never "undressed" in front of the troops, for heaven's sake. Alencon never claimed otherwise.
- Worse, the author cites - sometimes out of context - some of the testimony given by a group of women (namely Charlotte Boucher (who had been only 9 years old when she "slept with" Joan at Orleans), Hauviette de Sionne (apparently under 13 at the time), and Marguerite La Touroulde) who described a common medieval practice whereby whenever Joan and the men in her group were billeted for the night in a house in which there weren't enough beds for everyone, they placed Joan with the little girls of the house or the hostess rather than the men (her male bodyguard, Jean d'Aulon, frequently slept in the same room with her, and so the hostess or a little girl was also placed in the room for propriety's sake, and sometimes in the same bed if there weren't enough to go around). The author admits that this was "the custom", and at least never goes so far as to claim that Joan was having sex with these women (which would contradict their own testimony that she was "chaste"), but nevertheless makes enough innuendoes to prompt a few modern playwrights and others to cite this book as alleged "proof" that such was the case. An author should not make careless comments on such a subject when she knows full well what the facts of the matter were.
- Aside from the above, there are frequent misinterpretations: just to pick one random example, the author claims that Martin Ladvenu testified that Joan was raped, which is false: he said that there had been an _attempted_ rape after she agreed to give up her soldiers' clothing (which had "laces and points" by which the pants and tunic could be securely fastened together, thereby providing some protection against such assaults), and Ladvenu cites this attempted assault as one of the reasons she resumed her soldiers' clothing after the above-mentioned incident, to try to prevent another attempt from going even farther.
- There are some anachronisms, such as when the author interprets Joan as a "feminist" while ignoring certain of her recorded statements which sound like precisely the opposite (such as the comment: "I would rather stay home with my poor mother and spin wool [rather than lead an army]", or her statement to Catherine de la Rochelle to "go home to your husband and tend your household", etc). Feminism is a modern movement which really had no counterpart in the 15th century.
On the plus side, however, the author has faithfully mentioned many of the eyewitness accounts which are so often ignored, such as the testimony regarding the other reason for her return to "male clothing" (i.e., Massieu's statement that her guards had finally left her nothing else to wear, as a way to entrap her into a "relapse"); and most of the basic material on other subjects is generally accurate enough and detailed. The writing style is often engaging, and Vita Sackville-West, an aristocrat in early-20th century England, brings an almost Victorian-style flavor to the subject (which is a bit odd, but a welcome departure from most other modern books on this topic). Nevertheless, it's still a little sad to see this book in yet another reprint. Its previous popularity seems to have been due entirely to the fact that it was well-written (if not always factual), and the author did enough research to give it the illusion of being authoritative despite the fact that historians have rejected so many of the author's interpretations. The only accepted authority on Joan during the last half-century was the great French medievalist Regine Pernoud (founder of the Centre Jeanne d'Arc at Orleans, France); two of her books can be purchased here at Amazon.com.

This is a must read for anyone who is interested in the real Joan of Arc. This is quite simply the best book I have read about her. Taken from recorded accounts Vita attempts to depict who Joan truely was without the romantic stories often told of this amazing woman. An important book for anyone wanting to know truth from legend.

Joan of Arc (or Jeanne d'Arc, in French) was an interesting person, a female soldier in an age when women didn't fight, a visionary in an age of backwardness, a prophetess who wasn't believed in her day, and a valuable asset for the French nation, betrayed to France's enemies by Frenchmen. This book about her, written in the thirties, covers as much of her life as was known at the time (there haven't been many changes to the record since) in beautiful prose, with sympathy and understanding. Vita Sackville-West was a prominent member of society in Britain, and Catholic, so she understood some of the things that were going on in Joan's head as history unfolded around this strange young woman.

Sackville-West's book is very literary, and if there's one flaw it's that it doesn't show, sufficiently, how successful and revolutionary a soldier Joan was. She was much more aggressive than other French soldiers of the day, who had been conditioned to defend cautiously by the advent of the English longbow. How Joan overcame this isn't discussed (I suspect in part because this remains a mystery of sorts) though the remarkable fact of her becoming a soldier in this era where women didn't fight is commented on at great length. Joan's abilities as a prophet are also examined at great length, and analyzed carefully.

This book is a good starting point for anyone wishing to know more about Joan of Arc. There's nothing on the market since (at least not that I'm aware of) as well-written, and the scholarship is good, as far as it goes.

This book is a beautiful mixture of literature and concise autobiographical information! West truly knows who Joan of Arc was, what Joan did, and how she lived. This book is a masterpiece!

Historians have rejected this book as erroneous on many points. While the material is relatively balanced, it nevertheless makes far too many baseless claims which have given rise to several profound falsifications of the subject.

In some cases, the book misquotes or misrepresents 15th century documents. For example, eyewitness accounts describing Joan as "beautiful and shapely", very feminine, and "short", are here distorted or glossed over to make precisely the opposite claims about her appearance. The book also seems to have been responsible for inventing the absurd notion that Joan undressed in front of her troops, again by distorting or misinterpreting the accounts. Likewise, it gave rise to another falsehood by indirectly implying that Joan was a lesbian. This was achieved by irresponsibly citing out of context - while nevertheless simultaneously admitting the genuine facts of the matter - the testimony concerning the 9-year old Charlotte Boucher, the (then) 12 or 13-year old Hauviette de Sionne, and Marguerite La Touroulde, with whom Joan was sometimes placed in bed for various reasons, usually as a then-common means of coping with a lack of adequate bedspace in a household. The author admits that this was in fact the custom and does not imply lesbian sexual activity (or pedophilia, in the case of the young girls), but the book nevertheless delights in making sly innuendoes to the contrary which later authors then adopted in order to make more direct claims.

Other errors are numerous. Martin Ladvenu's testimony was misquoted by alleging that she was raped by her English guards, although Ladvenu instead described only attempted rape, as did the other eyewitnesses. Several scurrilous allegations about her family are invented or repeated, without basis. Modern political ideology is introduced by misinterpreting Joan of Arc's role: she was given a position in the army after being accepted as a genuine mystic or visionary by the theologians at Poitiers; her role had nothing to do with feminism, as many feminists themselves have pointed out.

In summary, this book cannot be recommended as a reliable history of Joan of Arc. The only general biographies on the subject widely accepted by historians are those by Regine Pernoud (a prominent medieval historian and founder of the Centre Jeanne d'Arc at Orleans, France).

This book, while well-written, is fatally marred by the author's biases and selective view of the evidence. If you read the entire retrial testimony rather than merely the few portions which are mentioned by the author, it quickly becomes clear that Sackville-West's "take" on Joan is largely false. I would recommend Regine Pernoud's books instead, many of which are sold on this site.

"{And it was shown to her} how serious and dangerous it is curiously to examine the things which are beyond one's understanding, and to believe in new things...and even to invent new and unusual things, for demons have a way of introducing themselves into such-like curiosities."
ADMONITION ADDRESSED TO JOAN OF ARC
It seemed that Joan of Arc was far more important and problematic than any of the figures or politics that surrounded her. The strange career of Joan of Arc remains a story the conclusion of which is as yet unfound.

This book is a beautiful mixture of rich literature and a concise autobiographical account! West truly knows who Joan of Arc was, how Joan lived, and her life. This book is astounding!

Imagine my surprise...I was looking for the best modern bio of St. Joan & found Sackville-West's book could hardly be improved on. It's brisk, witty, informative, and seems to be asking all the pertinent (or impertinent) questions that still confront us, trying to engage this "puzzle or Pucelle" (Shakespeare)

A thoroughly enjoyable and informative biography. Vita Sackville-West's voice informs the reader and highlights the facts without interfering with the reader's ability to judge the events discussed on his\her own. The author's style is witty, respectful of her subject, and a pleasure to read.