Jeanne d'Arc in French Literature of the Nineteenth Century

521 Pages·27.516 MB·English

by  O'Mara, Rita B

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FO RDHAM UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE SCHOOL
.........May... .15.,........ 19.. .51
This dissertation prepared under my direction by
Rita B.0»Mara
entitled ..................................................JEONE. D.’ARC.................................................
IN FRENCH LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
has been accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
Degree of
Dr. Jean Misrahi
(Faculty Adviser)
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JEANNE Df ARC
IN FRENCH LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
BY
RITA B. 0*MARA
M.A., Fordham University, *38
DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF
ROMANCE LANGUAGES AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
NEW YORK
1951
ProQuest Number: 10992591
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TABLE OP CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION................ ................. 1
Background of the Study
II. THE HISTORIANS 1806-1850........................... 8
Romantic Historians
Scientific Historians discover historical truth
of the Maid
III. THE DRAMATISTS 1809-1844........................... 53
Classical writers portray legendary Jeanne d*Arc
Romantic writers attempt a historical portrayal
IV. THE POETS 1820-1846............ 76
Romantic poets continue a distorted interpre­
tation of the Maid
V. THE NOVELISTS 1816-1846........................... 91
Imaginative concept of the life of Jeanne d’Are
PART II 1850-1899
VI. THE HISTORIANS................,................... 112
Controversy over the divine inspiration of
Jeanne d*Arc
Complete clarification of the Maid*s life
Catholic Church approves the cause of the Maid1 s
sanctification
VII. THE DRAMATISTS....... 271
Continue legendary interpretation of Jeanne d* Arc
Portray historical Jeanne dfArc
!
VIII. THE POETS............... 404
Jeanne d*Arc treated as Heroine
Jeanne dfArc presented as historical character
IX. THE NOVELISTS......... 482
Eailure of writers to produce fictional work
on Jeanne d*Arc
X. CONCLUSION........... 493
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................... 502
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JEANNE D* ARC
IN PRENCH LITERATURE OP THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Jeanne d’Arc, by her contemporaries commonly knorni as La Pucelle,
was born in Domremy, in Lorraine, on January 6, llj.12. Raised in an at­
mosphere of war, because the English were disputing the rights of the
Dauphin to the French crown, she saw France being gradually conquered
year by year, until the Dauphin had but a small section of his Kingdom
to call his own. He could not be crowned King in the Cathedral of
Rheims because the town was held by the English. Jeanne, as a faithful
subject, prayed earnestly for the victory of the Dauphin. At the age
of thirteen, according to her testimony, St. Michael appeared to her
and told her that God had selected her to do His work and to prepare
herself for His bidding by continuing to live a holy and virtuous life.
During the four years which followed the first appearance of St. Michael,
Jeanne claimed that she was visited often by St. Catherine and St.
Margaret. In lb.28, she said that she was bidden by the Saints to go to
the aid of the Dauphin, to raise the siege of Orleans and to have the
Dauphin crowned King at Rheims.'*' Jeanne then set out on her appointed
Mission and when she convinced the Dauphin that she was sent by God to
save France, preparations were ma.de to deliver Orleans. When the town
was successfully liberated on May 8, lb-29, Jeanne prepared the way
for her next objective, the crowning of the Dauphin, by conquering all
the territory from Orleans to Rheims. After the crowning of Charles VII
on July 17, lb.29, Jeanne was persuaded to remain with the army to
continue its campaign against the English. On May 2hi 1U30, she was
captured at Compiegne by Jean de Luxembourg, an ally of the English, and
1. Jules Quicherat, Proces de condamnation et de rehabilitation de
Jeanne d1Arc, £ vo1s., Paris,’ Renouard, TUUT^lBb9, 1? 50.
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she was sold to the English for ten thousand pounds. The English
decided to put Jeanne to death, but since they could not do it accord-
ing to the articles of war, they decided to try her on a religious
charge of being a witch and a heretic. The English had a convenient
ally in the person of Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, who was a
political appointee of the Burgundian party. The pretext for invoking
his authority was found in the fact that Compiegne, where Jeanne was
captured, was within the diocese of Beauvais of which Pierre Cauchon
was Bishop. Jeanne’s trial took place at Rouen,.Beauvais being in
the hands of the French. Technicalities were overriden by the fact
that the See of Rouen was vacant at the time. Jeanne was not allowed
an advocate and was illegally confined in the Castle of Rouen, a
secular prison, although she was technically accused in an ecclesias­
tical court. The Court examined Jeanne from February 21, 1U31 to
May 17, 1U31. As a result of the examination, the Court decreed that
Jeaiine ought to be declared heretical and handed over to the civil
power for execution if she still refused to retract her statements.
On May 23rd., Jeanne consented to sign a retraction with the proviso
that what she was signing was God’s will. But when the Judges did
not keep their promise to place her in an ecclesiastical prison with
women guards and allow her to receive the Sacraments, Jeanne resumed
masculine clothes and rejected the feminine garb which she had
recently put on by order of the Court. She then declared that when
she had recanted, she had done so through fear of fire, and she
still maintained her "Voices" were from God. On May 29th, the Court
decided unanimously that the Maid just be treated as a relapsed
heretic and on the following day, May 30, II4.3I, she was burned at
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the stake. All this was done without consulting the Holy See* and
despite Jeanne’s unsuccessful plea to have her case referred to the
Pope.
Twenty-four years later* with the consent of Pope Galistus III*
a review of her trial was opened in Paris. After long inquiry and
examination of witnesses* the Court reversed the sentence passed on
Jeanne in 1U31* The illegality and injustice of the original pro­
ceedings were emphasized and it speaks well for this new inquiry that
it could not have been made without inflicting some degree of reproach
upon both the King of France and the French Bishops for the great
injustice which had been so long allowed to go unredressed.^ Histori­
cal justice eventually triumped when Jeanne was declared Venerable
in 189U* Blessed in 1909* and Saint in 1920.
To the majority of her French contemporaries* the Maid of
Orleans was inspired by God; to not a few, she was a witch; to her
father, an enigma. On receipt of the news that Jeanne had left home
to lead the French Army against the English, the latter is reported
to have said:
Vere, si ego crederem quod ilia res eveniret, quam
timeo de ipsa filia mea, ego vellem quod submergeretis
earn; et si non faceretis hoc, egomet submergerem earn.
Abandoned by her King, for whom Jeanne originally took up the
sword, the Maid of Domremy had but few champions among the men of
letters of her own generation. Franqois Villon, in his Ballade des
dames du temps jadis, mentioned in passing l,Jehanne, la bonne
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Lorraine* qu'Anglois brulerent a Rouen11. Christine de Pisan dedi­
cates her last verses to the memory of the Maid.^ Jean Chartier*
1. Quicherat, Proces de condamnation* III, £96-29?.
2. Ibid.* I, 13T,I
3. Franqois Villon, La ballade des dames du temps jadis* Paris*Jannet,l85U.
U. Christine de Pisan* 11 JDitte a-la louange de Jeanne d'Arc11 * in
Quicherat* Proems de condamnation, V* U.
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