Joan's Amazing Leap

During the month October in 1430, Joan of Arc was held prisoner at the Castle of Beaurevoir by the Burgundians who had captured her. Joan had been waiting since the end of May to be ransomed back to her own forces which was the normal custom of the time for military prisoners of war. Unfortunately for Joan the English were not ever going to allow her to again lead armies against them and were negotiating with the Burgundian John of Luxemburg to have Joan sold to them. Joan knew that if she were delivered into English hands she was as good as dead because they had always yelled taunts at her that if they captured her they would burn her.



Joan apparently knew about the negotiations to sell her to the English because she became desperate enough to attempt an escape by jumping from the window of the tower where she was held which was at least sixty feet above the ground. Later at her trial Joan explained about her escape attempt: “I was sold to the English and I preferred to die rather than be in the hands of the English.” Somehow Joan managed to survive the sixty foot drop that would have killed most people but she was knocked unconscious and was later found by her captors ending her escape attempt.

The miraculous feat of Joan surviving such a long fall was recently driven home to me when I had my own fall off of a ladder from about nine feet above the ground. I was very fortunate that I hit on my side and did not break any bones but I was busted up pretty bad with damage to my hand, knees, and face. It is five months later and I am just now getting back to normal with my front teeth still being a little sore. When I think about Joan falling sixty feet with no damage to herself all I can say is amazing, which is the same exclamation that can be used for so much of Joan’s life: AMAZING!

Saint Joan Needs Your Help!

If you have performed a Google search for Joan of Arc lately then you may have noticed that the #1 result returned is for a band named Joan of Arc. This came to my attention about a month ago and after researching this site and band I was able to determine that they have nothing whatsoever to do with the real Saint Joan of Arc. What really disturbs me the most are the offensive and pornographic words used in titles to songs and albums that jumped out at me when I visited this website. I know there have to be millions of school children using Google to research Joan of Arc and instead of finding what they are looking for they are being sent to this website instead. This is terrible and is something Google should deal with if for no other reason than this website has nothing at all to do with the real Joan of Arc and grossly violates their advertised policy to provide the most relevant search results. Below is the letter I sent yesterday to Google complaining about this spam site.

I encourage all of you to complain as well and if you need specific instructions on how to complain to Google online then please visit this special page below:
Page about Spam in Joan of Arc Google Search

Jesus+Maria

Another Spiritual Lesson from Joan

“Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera”
“Aid yourself and God will aid you”

This spiritual truth is one that Saint Joan of Arc exemplified in her life and actions and one that I was only personally able to completely comprehend through studying Joan. I had always heard the old saying that “God helps those who help themselves” however I was taught in the churches that I attended that this was not true because these exact words are not contained in the Bible. When I came to the part of Joan’s life where she was examined by theologians prior to her being given command of the armies of France she was asked: “If God desires to deliver France where is the need for soldiers?” Joan famously responded: “In God’s name, the soldiers will fight and He will grant victory.” The priests examining Joan understood that Joan was correctly saying that God will aid those who attempt to aid themselves trusting in God for the ultimate victory such as the example of David when he stepped forward to face Goliath trusting God for victory.

I was recently reminded again of this spiritual truth in a way that made me think of Joan when a friend of mine sent me a link to a news article about Robert E. Lee’s sword. What caught my attention were the words contained on one side of the sword: Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera. These are the French words that Joan is renowned for speaking during her life and it is highly likely that the French craftsman who made this sword placed them on the sword in memory of one Christian general as a present for another. It is easy to envision Robert E. Lee gazing upon this sword and drawing strength from these words during the darkest moments of his life. (For more go to Joan of Arc & Robert E Lee)

Thank you Joan for continuing to teach me along with everyone else about the truths of God.

Joan at Paris

Joan Of Arc may have failed in her attempt to liberate Paris but few military commanders in history have acquitted themselves so admirable in a defeat. On September 8, 1429, Joan led an assault upon the St. Honore gate at Paris in an attempt to breach the strong walls surrounding the city which ultimately ended in failure when Joan was wounded in the thigh around dusk after a long day of fighting. Not willing to admit defeat herself Joan continued to encourage her men to attack and had to be forcible carried from the battle field. While historians have long debated about the factors that led to the French defeat at Paris one thing that has never been questioned is Joan’s valor. As historian Andrew Lang eloquently writes in his own commentary about Joan at Paris:

“But, through the mist, one figure stands out clear in the sunlight, discerned alike by friend and foe; a girl of seventeen in white armour, who lets herself down into the deep dry fosse, who climbs out on to the dos d'dne under the city wall, and, like Bruce at Perth, fathoms the water of the great fosse with her lance, under a rain of projectiles, till she is smitten through the thigh. Undaunted, unweakened, she cries on the men. History shows no other such picture.”

The following scene from the 1999 movie Joan of Arc is a touching, if not exactly historically accurate, portrayal of Joan’s failure at Paris.


To learn more about Joan at Paris visit these resources at MaidOfHeaven.com:

Eyewitness accounts of Joan of Arc at Paris
Andrew Lang's chapter about Joan at Paris

Joan of Arc leads people to God!

One of the best parts about studying Joan Of Arc is how much you will learn about God. In one of the first interviews I did after writing Maid of Heaven I commented about “how much I was able to learn about God from studying her life.” Here it is several years later and the lessons continue. Recently I was given a picture of a beautiful statue of Joan by my friend and fellow Joan devotee Chris Snidow of PilgrimWitnesses.com. I was intrigued by this statue and wanted to learn more about it.

After contacting another good friend of both mine and Saint Joan, Virginia Frohlick of the St. Joan of Arc Center Online, I found out that the statue portrays a young Joan up at midnight to listen to her Voices. I believe I am drawn to artistic representations of Joan as just a simple young woman because they better demonstrate the great power of God in her life. This particular statue really emphasizes this truth because on it’s base are inscribed the following verses from Psalm 27:

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."

Thank you Joan for another lesson on what a great God it is that we serve.

Jesus+Maria

Watch Deadliest Warrior TV program featuring Joan

For everyone who was unable to watch the Deadliest Warrior program featuring Joan on cable TV the entire episode is available below:


Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror Episode

Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror
Get More: Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror

You can also find it online at Joan of Arc on Deadliest Warrior

Joan portrayed on Deadliest Warrior TV program

The Deadliest Warrior TV program that aired this past Wednesday night included Joan in their most recent show titled Joan of Arc vs. William the Conqueror. This show is kind of cross between a history documentary and a professional sports event with three commentators as “experts” breaking down the match up. I enjoyed seeing the weapons demonstrations and thought they did a reasonably good job of portraying Joan however they seemed to have a lot of trouble explaining Joan’s divine inspiration. I think they would have helped themselves by relating what the men who followed Joan said about her as they all shared the same sentiment.

"I believe that Joan was sent by God and that her deeds in the war were the fruit of divine inspiration rather than of human agency." Jean de Metz

"All of the Maid's exploits seemed to me rather divine and miraculous than otherwise. It would have been impossible for any as young as the Maid to have performed such deeds except at the will and guidance of God." Jean d’Aulon

All in all I thought the program was well worth watching and except for one comment by their Doctor about Joan being bipolar (ridiculous) they presented Joan in a way that was positive and should inspire many viewers to want to learn more about her amazing life.

Vive la Joan!