The Ballade on JOAN of ARK
By Victor Hudson 2015
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France was in ruins: Hundred Years' War
Allied with deadly plague and famine
To bring her to her knees. Seemed anymore
No one believed that mighty Lord in Heaven
Was taking care of men or crops or wasted lands.
In 'heart of hearts people couldn't comprehend
Why cursed-dog Englishmen prevailed in every fight,
As if it was, indeed, their true God-given right.
There, in a midst of indistinguished creatures,
A peasant girl of very common features
Heard Voices from Above; at their command
She left her village in a quiet land,
Then saddled a horse and raised a sword.
Like forest fires spread the word
Through country's places high and low:
Nobles donned the armor, laymen strang the bow.
They followed The Virgin as a flock of geez
And in nine days Orleans was released,
In Rheims' Cathedral t' King received his crown
Thus France was saved. But in another town
The Maid was burnt to ashes at the stake.
Methinks, in clouds, angels made 'mistake...
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Biography.
Joan of Arc (French: Jeanne d'Arc; c. 1412[5> 30 May 1431), nicknamed "The Maid of Orleans" (French: La Pucelle d'Orleans), is considered a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. She was born to a peasant family at Domremy in north-east France. Joan said she received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent Joan to the siege of Orleans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted in only nine days. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims. On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiegne by the allied English-Burgundian faction. She was later handed over to the English,[6> and then put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges[clarification needed>.[7> After Cauchon declared her guilty she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age.[8>
Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr.[8> Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is one of the nine secondary patron saints of France, along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis, St. Michael, St. Remi, St. Petronilla, St. Radegund and St. Therese of Lisieux.
Joan of Arc has been a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, filmmakers and composers have created works about her. Cultural depictions of Joan of Arc have continued in films, theatre, television, video games, music, and performances to this day.
