Joan of Arc

Butterflies in clouds accompanied her standard;

Pigeons miraculously fluttered toward her;

Men fell into rivers and were drowned;

Dead babies yawned and came to life;

Flocks of little birds perched on bushes

to watch her making war.

--Vita Sackville-West
.....

Joan of Arc, painting by Harold H. Piffard, 1895

Back in my old swashbuckling days, when I wasn't Zorro, I always
wanted to be Joan of Arc. Boys were always much more interesting
to play with than girls, and in the role of Joan, I could still be a girl and
do my fair share of sword wielding. She was born to a French peasant
family in the seventy-fifth year of the Hundred Years War between
England and France, 1412. Leading the French army to several
important victories during this war and claiming divine guidance, she
was indirectly responsible for the coronation of King Charles the VII.
She was captured, tried and burned at the stake by the English, all
when she was just 19 years old. Twenty four years later, Joan was
declared innocent by the Holy See, beatified in 1909 and canonized in
1920. Joan of Arc has remained an important figure in Western culture,
with major writers, composers and filmmakers showing tribute.
Numerous movies have been made, including one starring the

wonderful Ingrid Bergman in 1949. My particular favorite Joan of Arc

film is The Messenger, 1999, starring beautiful Milla Jovovich as Joan,

with a stellar performance of Dustin Hoffman as her conscience. I

would also love to see Tchaikovsky's opera starring mezzo-soprano

Dolora Zajick!

.....