WAS JOAN OF ARC REALLY BURNED ?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18768, 23 January 1923, Page 8

WAS JOAN OF ARC REALLY BURNED ?

AN ASTOUNDING STORY. By H. Creenhough Smith. “On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burnt alive in the market-place at Rouen.” So say the history books, and so have most of us believed. But was she? Thera is another side to the story, which by slow degrees has come to light. And a curious and perplexing tale it is. hive years after the Maid, as it was thought, had perished in the flames, a young -woman of twenty-five, who had been living in obscurity at Metz issued from her garret and appeared before the elders of the city. Her statement burst unou them like a bombshell. She announced that she was Joan of Arc ! Recognised by Her Brothers.— • Some of these city fathers had known the Maid in person. Some had beheld her, at tjie coronation of the King, standing in her glory by the Sovereign’s side, holding the flag of battle in her hand. They were convinced that it was she who stood before them. But to put the matter out of reach of cavil they resolved to send for her two brothers. The elder, Jean, was provost of Vaucouleurs; Pierre, the younger, was a soldier. To Metz they came, and both recognised with instant jov the sister who, as they believed, had passed from earth to heaven as a martyr. Finally, they called to mind that Joan had carried all her life a small red mark * behind her ear. Behind the stranger’s ear the red mark was discovered. It is not easy to imagine how the girl’s own brothers could be dupes, or why they should be liars. Supplied With Horse and Sword. — The leader of the city-elders, Messire Nicole-Lowe, the King’s chamberlain, supplied her with a horse; the, town governor offered her a sword. • She proved that she could sit a charger with the skill of Joan

of Arc. And so, with her two brothers, she rode in triumph to Vaucouleurs. Crowds who had known the Maid of France cheered her to the echo. Like Joan, she wore a man’s attire. Like Joan, she talked continually of her visions and her voices. All the hearers, it is true, were not of one opinion. Some contended that she had taken on, by sorcery, the face and figure of the Maid. It was disputed whether an effigy or a substitute had been bound to the stake, or whether an angel had snatched her from the flames. Bets were made and heads were broken. While some cried out upon her as a witch, others brought her gifts, as to a saint. To'one veritable saint she went, herself, on pilgrimage, and passed a night of vigil and thanksgiving before the shrine of the Black Virgin of Liance. Among the chief of her supporters’was the King himself. Her elder brother took tne news to Court. Charles listened to the tidings with belief and gladness, and recompensed the herald with a gift of gold. Miracles.— At that time there lived at Arlon the Duchess of Luxtgnbourg, a vile old harridan with a devil’s temper, a strong • believer in the art of magic. She desired to include among her attendants a person capable of working miracles. Saint or sorceress, it was all one to the duchess. She sent for Joan (as we may call her) and the girl took up her residence within the palace. Soon strange reports were heard in the vicinity. She had torn up a tablecloth and restored it whole. She had crashed a wine-glass into atoms, ana had made them fly together at a word. These rumours reached the cars of the Inquisitor-General of Cologne. He charged her to appear before him as a witch, and when she failed to answer he laid upon her ban and malediction of the Church. Marriage and Children. — But bell, book, and candle did her no apparent harm. A great change was before her. \.aile still residing in the palace of the duchess, she fell in love with a young man of noble birth, Robert des Armoises, Lord of Tichemont, married him, and went to live with him at Metz. Theremin due course, were born to them two children, boy and girl. The Lady of Tichemont (to give her her new title) still called herself Jeanne, Maid of France: and Joan of Arc’s armorial bearings, the sword, the crown, and the lilies, appeared above the gateway of her dwelling. . Banquevea.— The councillors of Orleans, some years before, had given a banquet to the Maid of France. As she was still living, these same elders saw no reason why they stiould not hold a second banquet in her honour. The Lady came, the feast was held, and she was presented with a nurse of gold, as the deliverer of the town in time of siege. The items of expenditure may still be read in the account-books of the city. That the girl should carry all this off without a slip, without exposure, is, for the experts who believe her an imposter, one of the hardest nuts they have to crack. Most of them assume that .the connci.lors were fools. But a fool can recognise an old acquaintance as well aa Solomon himself. And now she took a step which was to land her in disaster, ohe set out to visit Haris. But the authorities of the city took alarm. They feared that the coming of the deliverer of Orleans might stir up a tumult among the rabble of the alleys. A force of men at arms was sent to meet her. She was arrested, put on trial, found guilty, compelled to utter a confession, and condemned to take her stand upon a marble slab outside the Palais, on which the worst of malefactors were offered to the gibes and laughter of the mob. A Pretty Problem.— This confession may be thought to settle the whole case against her. But what weight does it really carry ? It must not be forgotten that, when face' to face with death, the Maid herself recanted all her claims. Is it wonderful, is it out of character, that, being now a wife and mother, the same person, under the same terror, should recant again ? When the victim descended from the pedestal and vanished from the eyes of tne spectators, she vanishes from ours as well, ho further trace of her has been discovered. Upson her form, upon her after history, the curtain of the night comes down for ever. Mow, who was it who thus vanished trom tne sight of men, Joan of Arc or a pretender ? It is a pretty problem, to be sure.