Was Joan of Arc mentally ill?

Question

I know that many historians have proved that Joan of Arc was not mentally ill, but are there some historians that believe she was mental? Anyways, who brought it up in the first place, that she was ill?

After watching the movie "The Messenger" based on the life of Joan of Arc and portraying her as a mentally ill person, I cant help but wonder myself at the possibility.

Are there any good sites about Joan of Arc and whether she was mentally ill or not??

Answer 1

Hearing voices puts you into the paranoid schizophrenic arena...but that just my opinion...

Answer 2

I realize that some people might just dismiss this young woman as suffering from mental illness--face it, if a 17-year-old girl in the United States today suddenly insisted that she had a message from God concerning how the Iraq war could be won, most people would ship her off to the nearest psychiatric facility, and I have little doubt that there were some in her own day who questioned Joan's sanity.

I won't presume to diagnose an alleged case of mental illness 500+ years after the fact--first of all I'm not a mental health practitioner and, secondly, we need to keep in mind that we must look at historical personages in the context of their own time, not ours.

In the context of her time, Joan was a mystic and a saint or an evil woman in league with the devil, depending on whether one favored the English or the French. That's open to debate.

What is not open to debate is the fact that this one individual--born of ordinary people, not of noble status, and a woman at that
--galvanized a nation. She shook a king out of his lethargy and saw to it that he was crowned and inspired her countrymen, even though she herself did not live to see the English expelled from France.

Hmmm. Makes you rethink the tired old saw about "I'm only one person . . ."

Answer 3

Do I think that she was mentally ill? No, however those who believed that she threatened the Catholic Church did. They thought this because she did not " behave" the way a woman of that time period should. She trusted in God alone and not the church.
Most movies about people of faith those in Hollywood try to show in a way that is so far from the truth that you really can not regonize the person that they are protraying!

Answer 4

Interesting question of which I have no answer, but I have often wondered if she should have been canonized in the first place even if she were not mentally ill. She was very nationalistic.

Answer 5

consdering that she substitute into waiting to steer france to victory by using listening to her voices, i could say "no". numerous persons get recommendations and suggestion on a thank you to do issues from exterior supernatural supplies like visions of the priority or possibly a dream. that would not lead them to mentally ill. besides, it particularly is fairly a moot element because she substitute into burned alive for it.

Answer 6

SHE WAS AN ABLE MILITARY COMMANDER WHO LED FROM THE VERY FRONT LINES TO THE VERY PARAPETS OF FORTRESSES THAT SHE WAS ASSAILING IN A NOBLE AND EXCEEDINGLY WORHTY CAUSE!!I WISH SHE WAS AMERICAN CAUSE I COULD REALLY USE SOMEBODY WORTHY OF MY VOTE AND TRUST AS A LEADER!!!WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO IMPUNING SUCH A NOBLE AND WORTHWHILE INDIVIDUAL ,A SHINING PRESENCE WHO SELFLESSLY SACRIFICED HER LIFE ,COURAGE AND VERY PERSON TO A NOBLE END THAT CHANGED WORLD HISTORY AND BROUGHT HER NATION OUT OF DEGRADATION AND FOREIGN USURPATION OF IT'S SOVEREIGNITY!!WHO IS PAAYING YOU TO DEMEAN HER MEMORY IN THE TRUE HEARTS OF HUMANITY,I WONDER IS IT??and wwhen they burned her alive she didn't scream out in pain but looked to her god alone for mercy and deliverance!!