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Can the power of symbol
radically change the behavior of large groups from cowards
to victors or from victors to cowards?
What behavior is symbolic enough to inspire
others?
Is it our responsibility to become more visible?
What happens when you feel "chosen"?
Is there such a thing as too much self-confidence?
Does the adrenaline rush of the fight
cause some heretics to look for more and more fights to feed
their passions?
What happens when you belittle your interrogators?
Are the measurements and management control
systems we seek to appease similar to the literal-minded interrogators
that destroyed Joan's connection to a truth that cannot be
measured in the physical world (like trust, integrity, compassion,
good intentions)?
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Joan of Arc Does Impatience Invite Disaster? As much as I'd like to...we
can't ignore Joan of Arc. Burning at the stake for a cause seems a bit extreme.
Plus... how can we ever find the real story? There are so many versions
of her story - movies, plays, novels, even websites. There is an entire
field of study called "Johannic studies." She is portrayed as a messenger
from God, a great warrior, a leader, a crazy woman, and an innocent 19-year-old
girl. The complexity of her story, with its contradictions might be the
most important part. She is both wise and naïve, courageous and timid, believable
and unbelievable, selfless and selfish...like most heretics I know. Although
I must admit, I'm interested in her story for one main reason...what can
I learn about not burning at the stake?
Apparently, Joan started hearing voices when she was 13 (1425). First it
was St. Michael, and later St. Catherine and St Margaret. She said that
the voices taught her "how to behave." She kept them secret from her family
and her priest - she must have suspected that they wouldn't be too thrilled.
Ultimately her voices demanded action. She was promised that "the king should
have his kingdom again" and that "the saints would lead her to paradise."
Feeling "chosen" endowed her with exceptional levels of self-confidence
and a blind disregard for consequences. She was a woman on a mission from
God. Her first stop was to convince de Boudricourt to escort her to see
Charles - the disputed king. It took three tries but he finally agreed to
send her with an escort. This is when she first donned men's clothing--
more comfortable and quite acceptable for women traveling (not so acceptable
later when she refused to stop). Once she arrived at Chinon, she continued
asking for an audience with King Charles until a letter from Boudricourt
convinced Charles to agree. His reasons for seeing her might have been as
simple as a desire for entertainment. An 18-year-old farm girl who wanted
to tell him how to save his kingdom must have seemed a welcome distraction
from news about lost battles.
How did she win him over, though? Charles had to have been hungry for good
news. The Burgundians and the English were destroying his world. They were
power-hungry and ruthless. When they briefly ruled Paris in 1412, the day-to-day
administration was handled by the public executioner (an early French experiment
in downsizing?) Charles own internal conflict about his parentage (King's
son or bastard?) didn't help his self-confidence much. He was getting trounced
out there. Maybe Joan gave him self-confidence -- a precious gift. It remains
a mystery how Joan won Charles over that day in March. There are several
legends: that he disguised himself and she knew him anyway (the recent movie
portrayed that one) she gave him a "treasure", she told him about secret
thoughts that no one else could have suspected. Maybe he just wanted to
believe. He was smart enough to have her questioned by a pack of priests
in Poitiers.
Apparently she was o.k. (definitely a virgin, like that matters). Nothing
has survived from that first interrogation. The transcripts from her next
interrogation, trial, and rehabilitation are largely intact, but nothing
remains from Poitiers. They gave her a chance. Orleans (under siege) seemed
a lost cause and she was so convinced that she could save it...the decision
of the court to sponsor her might well have originated with a collective
"oh, why the hell not?" They equipped her with everything a knight needed
- except a sword which she discovered for herself buried near an altar to
St Catherine. Joan enjoyed not only men's clothing but men's weapons as
well. Before she left, she sent an arrogant note to the English and Burgundians
giving them a chance to give up before she arrived to "have them all killed."
They scoffed. She bristled.
In her glorious suit of armor brandishing a white banner with a blue fleur-de-lis,
she must have seemed a striking symbol of hope for the desperate and hungry
troops. The generals who expected her to be no more than a pretty symbol,
learned different when she scolded them for ignoring her military tactical
directions. She told them, "The Lord's advice is surer and wiser than yours!"
She did not suffer their foolishness. That first day of failure (proof of
what happens when you don't listen to Joan) was followed by victory once
the soldiers began following her orders. On that first successful day, even
the wind seemed to obey Joan's directives and moved ships aside to allow
opportunities for Joan's triumph. This miraculous victory launched an external
reputation that began to equal her internal image as the "daughter of God."
She threw her weight around, went where she wanted, called the shots and
won more battles than seemed possible. At least, she was present at battles
won by the troops. Was she taking orders from the Ultimate General? Or could
it be that disheartened soldiers simply found new energy and courage when
they heard a maid of God openly threatening the English in writing? Did
it stir their courage to hear this young maid, impatient to remain still
and wait for a reply, proceed to get into a shouting match across the lines?
Joan yelled that the English better do God's will, save their skins, and
go home even as the English yelled back colorful descriptions of how they
would burn her when they captured her.
During that first week in May, her victory in Orleans proved to the French
that she was indeed sent from God and to the English she was indeed a witch.
The English assumed that she must have cast a spell that sucked the courage
right out of their previously reliable English soldiers. She, "withdrowe
the courage of the remenant in merveillous wyse." The victories continued
- once a week during June. Joan either prophesized these victories or led
them. All we can say for sure is that she was there.
Being driven, Joan loved fast action. She was impatient. This was a sure
factor in the speed of her success. The first of her promises came true
within six weeks. But, it was not such good a thing for Charles, who was
reluctant to move as fast or as forcefully as Joan wanted. From the beginning,
Charles kept his distance. She didn't seem to notice. She wanted him to
be anointed by the holy oils in Rheims to cement his kingship over France.
She told Charles she would bring him there "either by love or by force."
And by God she did. His anointing in Rheims was the high point for her.
It was July. She had fulfilled her goals and she was ready to go home. All
Charles had left to do was recapture Paris.
The only problem was that Charles wanted to go home too. I guess he 'didn't
know nuthin 'bout capturing no cities.' Exasperated, Joan stayed. She goaded
him towards Paris. Instead, he withdrew. By September he had disbanded his
army. She was granted the position of second-in-charge of a small, meagerly
provisioned army, and fought through the winter. Joan must have been disgusted
with the lack of courage and ineptitude of "senior management." Time ticked
away, Joan's impatience pushed her to try to recapture Paris, an aggressive
move. When proposals for a truce were offered, Joan rejected them.
Later during her interrogation, she was asked if the voices commanded her
to take this aggressive move and she admitted, "no." When asked if she knew
it was a feast day (a day that a daughter of God would not choose for a
battle) she said she did. She had begun to betray her own principles in
exchange for action. After four hours of unsuccessful battle, Joan was "gravely
wounded and lay in the trench behind an ass." Over-enthusiasm and miscalculation
of risk drove Joan from one bad decision to another and right into the hands
of her captors. By the next July the proceedings that led to her trial had
begun. In February relentless interrogations began the slow erosion of Joan's
self-confidence. In the beginning the questions designed to trip her up
were met with clipped disregard. They asked questions designed to prove
her heresy according to medieval law. Did you see a light? "Pass on to the
next question." Was it an angel? "Spare me that. Continue." She was belligerent
and refused to be cornered...initially. She refused to take an oath to tell
the truth because she did not feel they deserved to hear some of the truths
she possessed. Her attitude did not endear her to her fifty-seven interrogators.
The strength of numbers, decent lodging, good food, and a deep need to expose
her weaknesses helped her interrogators wear her down. They dissected the
voices that gave her "great comfort" demanding physical descriptions of
touch, sound, and sight. Did they have wings? Natural heads? Were the wearing
crowns? How did they smell? Were they warm to the touch? Once they had pulled
her descriptions into the physical world (gotcha - any experience of the
flesh must necessarily be Satanic), they ripped her descriptions into shreds
further destroying her tenuous connection to the convictions and faith she
had found from the non-physical voices.
She feared death and recanted her convictions to save her life... for four
whole days. Yet in the end, she could not betray her inner experience and
faith. On May 30, 1431 Joan was burned at the stake. The verdict was rescinded
in 1455. She would have (could have) been about 43 years old by the time
they changed their minds. In 1920 she was officially made a saint by the
same church who had her burned at the stake.
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