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Hear voices, why was she tried as a witch, and why did France belive her while no one else did? And yes, I am an Atheist, just wondering whats going on here.

2007-10-31 09:19:33 · 18 answers · asked by Buffy 4 in Arts & Humanities History

Ignore the whole Atheist thing, just tell me why the other countries didn't belive her!

2007-10-31 09:23:37 · update #1

18 answers

Why do you care? You don't believe in anything anyway, so why should we waste our time explaining the mysteries of the world to one who would not seek answers?

Just hold fast to your science, and remember, science says that bees cant fly!

2007-10-31 09:22:52 · answer #1 · answered by Wolfgang92 4 · 1 2

It's hard to say why she heard voices. There's no way to make a psychiatric examination and any kind of medical or psychological diagnosis at this distance of time is just pointless speculation.

She was tried as a witch because the English wanted to discredit her and that was one of the most effective ways of doing so at the time. It also enabled - indeed, required - them to burn her instead of having to keep her in prison as a focus for rescue attempts, and made it look like a religious and moral decision rather than a political or military one. (Almost equivalent to setting up an "independent review body"...)

France believed her because France desperately needed someone to believe in and there weren't many other options on offer at the time. And I'm not so sure that "no-one else did"... some of the English almost certainly did, and so did other contemporaries.

Whether religious, atheist, humanist or just plain human, many people find they need an icon from time to time. The historical Joan may or may not have been divinely inspired but she certainly created a legend that outlived her by centuries. How many modern icons will be able to say the same, even given our far greater information sources?

Perhaps Joan's true 'miracle' was being able to start as an unknown commoner and make herself into a legend.

2007-10-31 09:29:23 · answer #2 · answered by Helen M 4 · 2 0

The voice Joan of Arc heard is said to be the voice of God. She heard it because He was talking to her. The other theory is that she was delusional, or possibly schizophrenic. I believe the former, mainly because the directions and prophecy she was given were correct. The French believed her because she gave them correct information. She was tried as a witch by the English because she was leading France towards almost certain victory and independence from them. France gave her up because that "almost" wasn't good enough in the end. The Dauphin wanted to make sure he wasn't executed for complicity with her, so he gave her up to save his own behind. So England and other countries may or may not have believed her, but they needed her gone and the only palatable way to get rid of a woman with that high of a profile was to have the church declare her a witch (hearing voices was considered a sign of either witchcraft or demon possession at that time). Also, they thought that no mere woman could ever accomplish what she had and not be in league with the devil. Sucks, right?

2007-10-31 09:31:57 · answer #3 · answered by bainaashanti 6 · 1 0

Explaining this to you is maybe a waste of time, since you say that you don't believe. But well, I will strive to give you a serious answer. I expect from you to take it seriously as well.

Joan d'Arc was a French peasant from Doremy.

In a certain day, according to the legend, she heard voices telling her to go to talk to the king and help him to fight the English. At the moment, the English troops were conquering France, that was in serious danger of losing its independence and become an occupied country.

She went to see the king. According to the legend, the king placed somebody else in the throne as a mockery of Joan.
When Joan entered the hall, she told the man in the throne: "That is not your place, and it is not you whom I come to see."
Looking around, she saw the king behind other people and knelt before him.
Well, true or not, the fact is that the king believed her. He was in such a bad situation that he decided to follow her.
The French troops followed her, and a series of victories ensued, making the english retreat to Paris. The path to Reims was open to France, and the king was crowned in the city.

But the king, ungratefully, forsook her. The english made her their prisoner and was judged by the traitor bishop Cauchon ( that in French means pig ) as a heretic, witch, etc.

By the way, she WAS NOT judged by the Church.

Bottom line, the english accused her to get rid of so dangerous an enemy.
In spite of that, shortly after, the english king died, and his heir Henry VI could not keep the seized territory. Slowly France recovered what had been taken from her.

In 1919 Joan was declared inocent by the Church and made the saint protector of France

2007-10-31 12:00:21 · answer #4 · answered by Ludd Zarko 5 · 0 0

You gotta put it in the context of the times.

Remember, around that time there were many unexplainable events, such as the Black Plague, the Crusades were in full swing, Christianity was undergoing its own internal struggle and of course, the world was run by men (if chicks today think men are bad, they shoulda seen 'em back then!).

She may have suffered from delusions (who's to say!) or she might actually have received messages from on high.
Either way, she was able to visualize a lot better than most of the male leadership at the time and she tapped into the zeitgeist, militarily speaking.

Of course she was burned because she was simply that: a woman.
How DARE a woman put on mans clothes?
How DARE a woman act like a man?
How DARE a woman lead men?
How DARE a woman dare to THINK?
BURN HER!!!!

Anyway - that's it in a nutshell.
Even if one is an atheist, her history is worth reading as both an inspiration of what a woman can do and what an individual can do when faced with biased opposition.
Check the link for some good books on her.

2007-10-31 09:30:57 · answer #5 · answered by docscholl 6 · 2 1

The connection of Joan of Arc and Goddess worshipping was a Murrayism. I'm disappointed the History channel would use it. She was a Christian. Very Christian. Most Pagans today would probably have found her more like Falwell and Robertson than any Pagan figure...

2016-05-26 05:13:45 · answer #6 · answered by antoinette 3 · 0 0

I can't explain what Joan of Arc heard or didn't hear. Claiming to be receiving visions and divine revelations was one way that some women in the medieval period exercised limited power, but we don't know whether Joan of Arc was using that as a front, genuinely believed she heard voices, was mentally ill, or whatever. The French had a vested interest in believing what she said, though, and they followed her because she was telling them exactly what they wanted to hear.

But why she was tried as a heretic by the English - that's easy. She presented a serious threat in several ways. She was leading the French under the auspices of divine revelation - making them believe that God was, quite literally, on their side. As a woman, she also presented a second threat to the status quo by stepping out of her rightful place in society.

2007-10-31 09:34:37 · answer #7 · answered by Elizabethe 3 · 2 1

She believed that she was hearing the voice of God and obeying His wishes. And her record of success speaks to that. She was French, and the king there believed her. The Church was her downfall. They believed her to be too powerful, and to have too great an influence on the king. So she had to go. They picked up on the "hearing voices" and convicted her of being a witch and worshipping Satan or some such nonsense. So, she led France to victory and got burned for it.

2007-10-31 09:25:10 · answer #8 · answered by Cat 6 · 2 1

First of all she was a woman, second of all she was claiming to hear God's voice and it was telling her to do the things she did. France considered her a hero because of her bravery and heroism in battle, but she was tried as a witch because in those days a woman wasn't supposed to be capable of doing the things she did, so the church assumed she was in league with the devil. The ironic thing is many years after her death the Catholic Church declared her a saint (the same church who sentenced her to death). Interesting huh?

2007-10-31 09:25:21 · answer #9 · answered by dg2003 5 · 3 1

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)

This is a collection of information designed to present Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) as she was described in the historical documents. Site includes an overview of her life and trial, excerpts from the trial documents, letters, and other such manuscripts (either in translation and/or in the original Latin and French). See the categories below.

http://members.aol.com/hywwebsite/private/joanofarc.html

Search Findings:

http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=ytff4-&p=joan%20of%20arc

2007-10-31 09:31:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Oh blame the English and join the French who can not bear to believe the burning at the stake was a result of their own treachery

2007-10-31 09:23:42 · answer #11 · answered by Scouse 7 · 2 0

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