Speaker 1: You're listening to the second and final part of Unexplained,
Speaker 1: Season six, episode thirty, The Inextinguishable Fire. Having successfully routed
Speaker 1: the English army on May fourth, two days later, on
Speaker 1: May sixth, fourteen twenty nine, Joan led a small army
Speaker 1: to storm two more English forts, both of which were
Speaker 1: also successfully captured. That evening, with the d'orphan's army now
Speaker 1: having gained the upper hand in the battle for or Lyons,
Speaker 1: Joan and her fellow soldiers enjoyed a riotous dinner together.
Speaker 1: Spirits were high as Father Jean Pasquarell, who by their
Speaker 1: had anointed himself as Jones's personal chaplain, took a seat
Speaker 1: by the godly child. It was hard to deny the
Speaker 1: wave of optimism that had swelled through the ranks since
Speaker 1: Jones's arrival, But as Pascurel gazed round the room, he
Speaker 1: was troubled by the look on Joan's face as she
Speaker 1: stared off into the middle distance. What is it? He
Speaker 1: asked Joan, who seemed to be in some other place entirely,
Speaker 1: finally snapped out of it. Tomorrow, she said, blood, she'll
Speaker 1: flow from my body above my breast. I will be
Speaker 1: wounded by a shaft. But I shall not die of it,
Speaker 1: and I will remove it with my bare hands. Pascuerrel
Speaker 1: could only stare at her in disbelief. She'd been right before,
Speaker 1: there was no reason to doubt her now. At the time,
Speaker 1: the city of Orleans sat on the north bank of
Speaker 1: the Loire River. By May sixth, the English army had
Speaker 1: been forced to consolidate most of its forces at two
Speaker 1: major points on the opposite side of the river, a
Speaker 1: large turreted gatehouse known as lay to Rell and a
Speaker 1: large earthen rampart known as Boulevart. The French army was
Speaker 1: planning an assault on both of them for the following day. However,
Speaker 1: news of Joan's unnerving vision soon got back to her
Speaker 1: military superiors. With victory and the soldier's morale so finally
Speaker 1: in the balance, it was decided that Joan should stay
Speaker 1: behind at the camp lest the unthinkable should happen, but
Speaker 1: Joan ignored their orders. By the afternoon, the assault had
Speaker 1: been progressing well as all about metal clashed on metal
Speaker 1: and the anguished cries of men rang out. Joan found
Speaker 1: herself standing at the base of lay Torel Gatehouse, helping
Speaker 1: to secure a ladder to scale the walls, when from
Speaker 1: out of nowhere, there came a whistle through the air,
Speaker 1: followed by a blood curdling scream. The French soldiers looked
Speaker 1: on in horror toward Joan, her face pale and stricken,
Speaker 1: her white armor quickly darkening with red, and the long
Speaker 1: shaft of an arrow now sticking out of her neck.
Speaker 1: As the seventeen year old Joan slumped to the floor,
Speaker 1: a group of compatriots quickly dragged her from the battlefield
Speaker 1: and rowed her back to their camp. Before long, rumors
Speaker 1: began to spread that Joan had been killed. The news
Speaker 1: came as a shock to all the French soldiers, immediately
Speaker 1: eviscerating their previously unshakable confidence, while for the English soldiers
Speaker 1: a renewed sense of belief swept over them that all
Speaker 1: was perhaps not divinely fated after all. But just as
Speaker 1: the English army seemed to have clawed back the advantage
Speaker 1: of figure in white, their neck thickly bandaged, was spotted
Speaker 1: approaching on a white steed. Joan was alive and had
Speaker 1: returned to finish what she'd started. Another cry went up
Speaker 1: among the French soldiers as they made one final push,
Speaker 1: repelling the English from the fort once and for all.
Speaker 1: By the end of the following day, all of the
Speaker 1: forts around or Leon had been captured by the Darphan's army.
Speaker 1: The Siege of Lyons, as it would come to be known,
Speaker 1: had finally been lifted. Joan, the Maid of Orlyan, as
Speaker 1: some would come to call her, soon after, had delivered
Speaker 1: exactly what the voices had apparently promised. With Orlyon secure,
Speaker 1: Joan traveled to near by Loche to meet with the Dwarfhan,
Speaker 1: hoping to convince him that now was the time for
Speaker 1: him to head to Rams and anoint himself the true
Speaker 1: king of France. The only problem was that getting there
Speaker 1: men traveling through miles of Anglo Burgundy territory. At first,
Speaker 1: the Darphan and his commanders were unsure about undertaking such
Speaker 1: a potentially dangerous journey, wary of undoing all their recent gains,
Speaker 1: But as Joan continually reminded them, with God on their side,
Speaker 1: there was nothing to fear, and so in late June
Speaker 1: the decision was made to proceed. Forty thousand foot soldiers
Speaker 1: and thirty three thousand cavalry gathered in the town of
Speaker 1: Jeanne and from there. On June twenty ninth, fourteen twenty nine,
Speaker 1: the march began. Along the way, the army faced some
Speaker 1: resistance from towns that were either loyal to the English
Speaker 1: crown or the Duke of Burgundy. Some were bribed to
Speaker 1: allow the Dauphin's army to rest and recuperate, others were
Speaker 1: simply conquered. Plans were made to prevent the Dauphin at
Speaker 1: his army from entering realms, but with the Duke of
Speaker 1: Burgundy Philip the Good, who had been tasked with keeping
Speaker 1: watch over the city duck in Paris at the time,
Speaker 1: in the end, the townspeople were powerless to resist. On
Speaker 1: Saturday July sixteenth, with Joan leading the way, the Dauphan
Speaker 1: and his army marched into Rance. The following day, at
Speaker 1: Bran's Cathedral, the stoic seventeen year old Joan watched on
Speaker 1: from the front of the assembly, proudly displaying her white
Speaker 1: banner as the Dauphan was crowned King Charles the Seventh
Speaker 1: of France, just as she had prophesied all those months ago.
Speaker 1: Despite a failed effort to take back Paris from English control,
Speaker 1: soon after, Joan was heralded for all her services, and
Speaker 1: in December of that year she and her family were
Speaker 1: all ennobled by then King Charles the seventh had returned
Speaker 1: to the Loire Valley, where he was joined by Joan,
Speaker 1: who nued to counsel him. But Joan was restless. She
Speaker 1: had not yet driven the English completely from France, as
Speaker 1: she believed she was meant to do, and the voices
Speaker 1: hadn't stopped either. Shortly after being crowned, King Charles the
Speaker 1: seventh had negotiated a four month truth with the Duke
Speaker 1: of Burgundy, Philippe the Good. This included ceding a number
Speaker 1: of towns back to the Duke in the hope of
Speaker 1: quelling any future military ambitions. However, the residents of those towns,
Speaker 1: many having no doubt been moved by this seemingly divinely
Speaker 1: inspired Joan, were reluctant to submit to him, and so
Speaker 1: the Duke of Burgundy ordered that they be taken back
Speaker 1: by force. One such town was Compiegne, located about fifty
Speaker 1: miles to the north of Paris. In March fourteen thirty,
Speaker 1: Philippe the Good demanded the people of the city surrender
Speaker 1: and allow themselves to be taken over or else he
Speaker 1: would invade, but the townspeople refused his offer. As it
Speaker 1: turned out, little did King Charlesnoe. The Burgundians had no
Speaker 1: intention of stopping with the towns given back to them
Speaker 1: by his treaty. In fact, they planned to take control
Speaker 1: of most of the cities that lined the Ouas River,
Speaker 1: with a view to once again helping secure the north
Speaker 1: of France for the English crown. Joan, however, had foreseen
Speaker 1: the danger, possibly going behind her king's back. Joan marshaled
Speaker 1: four hundred or so troops to help take on the
Speaker 1: Burgundian as they made their way to Compigny. Joan, by
Speaker 1: then only eighteen years old, and her army arrived at
Speaker 1: the town on May fourteenth. After getting involved in a
Speaker 1: number of minor skirmishes with the Burgundian forces over the
Speaker 1: next few days, by May twenty third, Joan and her
Speaker 1: army were eventually pushed back toward Compigny. At some time
Speaker 1: around midday on May twenty third, with the Burgundians gaining
Speaker 1: the upper hand. To spite Joan's protestations, a full retreat
Speaker 1: of French forces was ordered. As the soldiers hastily made
Speaker 1: their way toward the security of Compigny's city walls. Joan
Speaker 1: gallantly put herself at the front of a rear guard
Speaker 1: tasked with protecting the retreating soldiers as they headed for
Speaker 1: the city gates. With the Burgundian soldiers upon them and
Speaker 1: still some way from the gate, Joan could only watch
Speaker 1: with horror as the city's drawbridge was suddenly raised, leaving
Speaker 1: her stranded outside the city. Perhaps in those moments she
Speaker 1: reflected on the prophecy she'd made in March the previous
Speaker 1: year that she would be captured by Midsummer's Day of
Speaker 1: that year, and perhaps felt an air of inevitability about
Speaker 1: what happened next. With nowhere to run, Joan and her
Speaker 1: troops were soon surrounded by Burgundian soldiers, who screamed for
Speaker 1: her to give herself up. Joan refused, but as she
Speaker 1: backed her horse away, a Burgundian crossbowman inched his own
Speaker 1: horse behind her, then grabbed her tunic and yanked her
Speaker 1: down into the mud. Unable to get back in her saddle,
Speaker 1: Joan had no option but to surrender. Joan was imprisoned
Speaker 1: at a castle in Bolliers la Fontaine, ten miles further
Speaker 1: north of Compiegne and by all accounts, is said to
Speaker 1: have been treated reasonably well. True to her indomitable spirit, however,
Speaker 1: she refused to accept her fate. Over the next few months,
Speaker 1: Joan was moved between numerous prisons as she made continued
Speaker 1: efforts to escape, including at one time leaping out of
Speaker 1: a tower into a moat, only to be captured again,
Speaker 1: having knocked herself unconscious when she hit the water. For
Speaker 1: all that she'd achieved and for what she represented to
Speaker 1: supporters of King Charles the seventh, it was only a
Speaker 1: matter of time before she ended up in the hands
Speaker 1: of the English crown. In short, King Henry the sixth
Speaker 1: court feared Joan more than anyone else at the time.
Speaker 1: They feared the awe which she inspired, feared the way
Speaker 1: she shook the church hierarchy in her apparent direct communication
Speaker 1: with God, and hated her prolifically a young woman who
Speaker 1: had dared to beat them. They could not put her
Speaker 1: to death for this, but they could have her tried
Speaker 1: as a witch and a heretic. In late fourteen thirty,
Speaker 1: she was moved to the town of Ruan King Henry
Speaker 1: the sixth headquarters in France and imprisoned to await her trial.
Speaker 1: And so we return back to that grand makeshift court
Speaker 1: room at the Castle of Ruant in February fourteen thirty one,
Speaker 1: as the pale and malnourished Joan, her wrists and ankles
Speaker 1: bound by chains, stands defiantly staring back at those sixty
Speaker 1: pairs of eyes hungrie for blood. Leading her trial was
Speaker 1: Bishop Pierre Cushon, ally to the English Crown. Cushaon was
Speaker 1: charged with accusing Joan of the crimes of heresy, which
Speaker 1: was punishable by death, as well as blasphemy through her
Speaker 1: wearing of traditional men's clothes and for acting on what
Speaker 1: her accusers claimed to be demonic visions. What follow'd was
Speaker 1: a series of hearings lasting from February twenty first through
Speaker 1: to the end of May, in which Joan, despite having
Speaker 1: no lawyers or any counsel at all save for her
Speaker 1: apparent voices, is said to have displayed astonishing control in
Speaker 1: her answers, deftly avoiding saying anything that would unequivocally reveal
Speaker 1: her to be a heretic. Throughout it all, she also
Speaker 1: remained loyal to Charles, even though despite everything she'd done
Speaker 1: for him, not wanting to be associated with the strange
Speaker 1: young woman accused of witchcraft and heresy, He refused to
Speaker 1: come to her aid. What came next remains unclear. On
Speaker 1: May twenty fourth, Joan signed an abjuration, which, in theory,
Speaker 1: acknowledged that she could not be considered a heretic and
Speaker 1: was therefore spared the death penalty. Instead, she was sentenced
Speaker 1: to perpetual imprisonment and ordered never to wear traditional men's
Speaker 1: clothing again. Over the next few days, it is said
Speaker 1: that Joan's guards goaded her with unsuitable clothes and even
Speaker 1: forced her to wear them. Others, however, have suggested that
Speaker 1: Joan had deliberately continued to wear trousers on account of
Speaker 1: the better protection they afforded her from sexual assault. It's
Speaker 1: rumored that a number of guards, and possibly even the
Speaker 1: Earl of Warwick, a loyal servant to King Henry the sixth,
Speaker 1: attempted to rape her while she was in captivity. Either way,
Speaker 1: Bishop Cushon soon received word of Joan's continued transgressions, and
Speaker 1: on May twenty eighth, he and a handful of other
Speaker 1: clerics paid her a visit, with Joan found to indeed
Speaker 1: still be wearing men's clothes. She is then said to
Speaker 1: have claimed that the voice she identified as Saint Catharine
Speaker 1: of Alexandria had been angry with her for signing the abjuration.
Speaker 1: It was clear then to Cushon and his colleagues that
Speaker 1: Joan was a remorseless, determined blasphema who was beyond saving.
Speaker 1: The following day, it was decided by the ecclesiastical court
Speaker 1: that Joan had relapsed into heresy. She was then handed
Speaker 1: over to an English secular court, where she was promptly
Speaker 1: declared a heretic and a witch, and sentenced to death.
Speaker 1: On May thirtieth, fourteen thirty one, a then nineteen year
Speaker 1: old Joan was led out of her prison and taken
Speaker 1: to the Place de beau Marchais, where a huge crowd
Speaker 1: had gathered. In the middle of the square stood a tall,
Speaker 1: plastered pillar surrounded by a large pile of wood. Joan
Speaker 1: was led up to the pillar, then ordered to stop
Speaker 1: and wait as her sentence was read out for all
Speaker 1: to hear. As the words of condemnation rang out through
Speaker 1: the square over the hush of the crowd, Joan openly
Speaker 1: sobbed as she forgave her accusers and asked them to
Speaker 1: pray for her and King Charles the Seventh, the man
Speaker 1: who would one day be the ruler of all France,
Speaker 1: just as the voices had promised her. Joan was then
Speaker 1: grabbed by the executioner and placed against the pillar, which
Speaker 1: had been made or the taller so that the whole
Speaker 1: crowd could witness. The five foot two inch Joan burned
Speaker 1: to death. As the torches were lit, Joan shouted for
Speaker 1: a crucifix. One was hastily fetched from a nearby church
Speaker 1: and brought back to her. Joan clasped it with her hands,
Speaker 1: the last thing she touched before they were placed behind
Speaker 1: her and around the pillar and bound together. Then the
Speaker 1: pyre was lit. As the flames began to crackle and hiss,
Speaker 1: a local Dominican friar kept the crucifix where Joan could
Speaker 1: see it, and quietly began offering the assurances of salvation,
Speaker 1: promising Joan that she would be saved in the eyes
Speaker 1: of God. As the flames grew higher, Joan demanded the
Speaker 1: friar speak louder so she could hear his words above
Speaker 1: the roar of the fire. The crowd gasped as Joan's
Speaker 1: clothes were set alight, and she cried out in agony.
Speaker 1: As the fire continued to grow, its crackling and hissing
Speaker 1: merging with Joan's cries. She is said to have screamed
Speaker 1: the name Jesus six times before finally falling silent. Though
Speaker 1: Joan is thought to have died of asphyxiation sometime before
Speaker 1: the fire really took hold, her body was left to
Speaker 1: burn long after her death. However, her organs proved strangely
Speaker 1: resistant to the flames. It would take another two fires,
Speaker 1: with Jones's diminishing body dragged back and forth across hot coals,
Speaker 1: before it was turned entirely to ash. Despite the loyalty
Speaker 1: to the English Crown of those who participated in Joan's execution,
Speaker 1: it is thought many were left afterward with the distinctly
Speaker 1: uneasy feeling that they had just participated in the burning
Speaker 1: of a saint. In an effort to erase or trace
Speaker 1: of Joan from the culture of France, it was decided
Speaker 1: to throw her ashes into the River Seine, so no
Speaker 1: official place of mourning could ever be established, and those
Speaker 1: who dared to speak fondly of the Maid of All,
Speaker 1: even in hushed tones, faced strict and prompt punishment. However,
Speaker 1: though Joan was gone, her prophecies continued to cast an
Speaker 1: unsettling shadow across the English held regions of France. At
Speaker 1: her trial in March of fourteen thirty one, she'd announced
Speaker 1: that within seven years the English crown would suffer a
Speaker 1: far greater defeat than it had at or Leon, stating
Speaker 1: that they would soon lose everything. Sure Enough, on November twelfth,
Speaker 1: fourteen thirty seven, six years and eight months after Joan's declaration,
Speaker 1: the English Army was finally driven out of Paris. Historians
Speaker 1: recognized this date as the beginning of the end for
Speaker 1: the English Crown's presence in France. The fourteen fifty three
Speaker 1: Battle of Castillon, another fifteen years later, at which the
Speaker 1: English Army was decisively beaten, is considered to mark the
Speaker 1: end of the Hundred Years War, after which the English
Speaker 1: Crown has never once again seriously threatened the sovereignty of France.
Speaker 1: Four years previously, in November of fourteen forty nine, Joan
Speaker 1: was posthumously acquitted of her crimes and remodeled as a
Speaker 1: martyr in the public consciousness. Four hundred and fifty years later,
Speaker 1: in nineteen o nine, she was beatified and in nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty canonized as a saint, proving that although you can
Speaker 1: destroy the body, a legend as a little harder to extinguish.
Speaker 1: Over the years, with the distance of time only further
Speaker 1: obscuring the real truth of just who Joan was, what
Speaker 1: it was exactly that she said or did. That legend
Speaker 1: has only continued to grow and morph into something far
Speaker 1: more potent than any one person could possibly hope to
Speaker 1: achieve in life. Many have questioned the various stories that
Speaker 1: have come to be associated with the one we now
Speaker 1: know as Joan or shand Arc. The facts of the
Speaker 1: matter are that Joan or shand Arc was not a
Speaker 1: name she used in life. Arc is not a real place,
Speaker 1: and the words attributed to her an illiterate teenager, are
Speaker 1: all second and third hand accounts. But perhaps now and
Speaker 1: even then, the truth never really mattered. What mattered was
Speaker 1: the story, the symbolism of what Joan came to represent,
Speaker 1: because whether you believe she truly was a child of
Speaker 1: destiny led by God to emancipate an entire nation or not,
Speaker 1: for many people just to believe it help to make
Speaker 1: that apparent destiny a manifest reality. To this day, her
Speaker 1: name continues to ring through the halls of history appealing
Speaker 1: bell of freedom, fortitude and courage. This episode was written
Speaker 1: by Ella mc cloud and Richard mc clean smith. Unexplained
Speaker 1: as an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard mc
Speaker 1: clean smith. All other elements of the podcast, including the music,
Speaker 1: are also produced by Richard mc clean smith. Unexplained. The
Speaker 1: book and audio book, featuring stories that have never before
Speaker 1: been featured on the show, is now available to buy worldwide.
Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes, and Noble Waterstones, among
Speaker 1: other bookstores. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you
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Speaker 1: with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard
Speaker 1: on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your
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