Who Killed Joan Of Arc?

[Anna]

Hmmmmmmm. Good question! I dunno! My daughter wanted the book, and I've been searching for it for over a year now!

[M.SIGGA]

I have always found the St. Joan story to be a little bit wierd. If she was still burned as a witch, why was the "witch" allowed to recieve communion before being publicly humiliated and burned at the stake? Since her voices mainly held a political message that condemned one party (England) and glorified the other (France), why should the Church take this into consideration for something saintly? Both monarchies were Catholic at the time and one wasn't necessarily more Christian than the other. As I recall, St. Joan once replied to an inquiry about why God is on her side by saying "God is French." I know there are miracles to back up her causes for beatification and canonization, but some of the other aspects of her story seem a little bit sketchy.

[PatrickRitaMichael]

I don't think that she was politically motivated and her voices weren't supporting the French over the British politically, they were just telling her God's message which was to rescue the French from the burning and pillaging of France that had been going on for a long, long time. Back then the King was crowned in a type of religious ceremony, too (no separation of Church and state back then) so she was fighting to get the crown placed on the true King of France, the one God told her to crown. I must admit your position is one that I'd never heard before (interesting), but I really think that she was a saint, fighting for freedom -- that isn't so bad, is it? :)

[M.SIGGA]

She's definitly a heroic saint who fought for freedom, and paid the ultimate price too, but I can't see why God needed France to have a French king. There was a lot of burning and raping and pillaging going on in Christendom at the time - Ireland for example. A great saint, but I don't understand the Church's position on those voices. Maybe if they were just left untouched and open to interpretation, I dunno?

[God Conquers]

A possible explanation:

Tension between the Church and secular leaders in England was not merely a 16th century problem, the roots of the conflict go WAY back, and were especially inflamed during the middle ages. The canonization could possibly have been a political statement on top of the spiritual merit of St. Joan, a confirmation of the Church's endorsement of the King of France and his claims to the northern lands of the kingdom.

[PedroX]

Don't forget, that the English kings had a legitimate claim to about half of modern France. William the Conqueror came from France (Burgundy?) and the war was between English expansion and a French king.

peace...