First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar: Witch, Heroine, Saint: Joan of Arc and Her World

Catalog description

In May 1431, Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orléans, was burned at the stake as a heretic and a witch by an English partisan court. An illiterate peasant girl just eighteen years of age, she had led the French in war and saved the French monarchy from ruin. In death, she would gain further power still as a martyr and symbol of indomitable French will and resistance. In this seminar, students will study Joan’s complex historical moment and her place within the long history of medieval women, Christian mysticism, and religious fanaticism. We will trace the stories of her appearance and military success, attempt to hear her voice in the extant transcript of her heresy trial, analyze contrasting French and English narratives about her life, and explore how she became the transnational heroine, patron saint, and political symbol that she has become today.