History & Classics
Medievalism, War, and Cheese: How Joan of Arc Inspires Nations
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
History & Classics
Start Date
11-4-2014 1:15 PM
End Date
11-4-2014 2:45 PM
Sponsor
Janina Traxler (Manchester University)
Description
Fifteenth-century France was a time of fear, chaos, and hopelessness. The Hundred Year's War devastated the French people through battles fought between the English and the French figures who both claimed the French throne. In 1428 an unlikely hero emerges: a fifteen-year-old peasant girl named Joan of Arc. She proves her mettle, successfully raises the English siege at Orleans, leads her own army against the English battalions and miraculously puts Charles VII of France on his rightful throne. Joan's life is a study of contradictions. As a young girl who could probably write only her name, she turned the tide in favor of the French in the Hundred Year's War before her death. The same Catholic Church that executed her as a herectic later beautified and canonized her. The English who arrested her in the Hundred Year's War later used her story to rally the British population during World War One.
This presentation will investigate Joan's story as an example of medievalism, focusing on why contemporary France and other countries use Joan of Arc as a popular icon for war, commercialism, and Nationalism. Because of her origins, France logically idolizes Joan. But what about other countries like Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, who all use Joan for propagandistic purposes during war? Joan has become patron saint of France as reflected by the numerous churches dedicated to her, but she has also become the mascot for one of France's more conservative political parties, Le Front Nationale. In addition to political associations, Joan's story also inspires blatant commercialism for products as diverse and mundane as cheese and kidney beans.
Medievalism, War, and Cheese: How Joan of Arc Inspires Nations
Indianapolis, IN
Fifteenth-century France was a time of fear, chaos, and hopelessness. The Hundred Year's War devastated the French people through battles fought between the English and the French figures who both claimed the French throne. In 1428 an unlikely hero emerges: a fifteen-year-old peasant girl named Joan of Arc. She proves her mettle, successfully raises the English siege at Orleans, leads her own army against the English battalions and miraculously puts Charles VII of France on his rightful throne. Joan's life is a study of contradictions. As a young girl who could probably write only her name, she turned the tide in favor of the French in the Hundred Year's War before her death. The same Catholic Church that executed her as a herectic later beautified and canonized her. The English who arrested her in the Hundred Year's War later used her story to rally the British population during World War One.
This presentation will investigate Joan's story as an example of medievalism, focusing on why contemporary France and other countries use Joan of Arc as a popular icon for war, commercialism, and Nationalism. Because of her origins, France logically idolizes Joan. But what about other countries like Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, who all use Joan for propagandistic purposes during war? Joan has become patron saint of France as reflected by the numerous churches dedicated to her, but she has also become the mascot for one of France's more conservative political parties, Le Front Nationale. In addition to political associations, Joan's story also inspires blatant commercialism for products as diverse and mundane as cheese and kidney beans.