Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women Read Online Free PDF

him that she had heard the voice of God and to ask him for his help in meeting the Dauphin. She reminded him of the prophecy that France would be lost by a woman 3 and regained by a virgin from Lorraine. Annoyed, Baudricourt sent her home and told her uncle to give her a good beating. Not willing to take no for an answer, Joan came back two more times. The third time several of his knights were persuaded by her sincerity and determination and asked for permission to accompany her. Baudricourt finally gave in and agreed to give her his support.
    Joan made her way to Chinon with an escort of six men. Before they left, she made the radical decision to cut her hair and put on men’s clothing. She was now a soldier of God and needed to dress like one. They crossed France in eleven days in the middle of February, passing through English territory miraculously without a hitch. Joan had dictated a letter asking to be put on the Dauphin’s calendar. What she found at Chinon didn’t inspire confidence. Charles was insecure, introverted, and indecisive. He wasn’t exactly jonesing to be king. It hadn’t done his father any favors. Charles VI had ended up mad as a hatter, thinking he was made of glass. His mother wasn’t exactly Mother of the Year material either, claiming he was illegitimate. Joan pulled him aside to talk privately and revealed to him information that only God or his confessor would have known. Nobody knows exactly what she said but it was enough to convince him.
    Charles was now a believer but just to make sure, he sent Joan to Poitiers to be questioned by various senior clergymen to make sure she hadn’t been sent by the devil or the English. Only the conclusions from the inquiry at Poitiers survive but Joan must have aced it because the churchmen gave her their seal of approval. Charles now made her his captain of war. The idea was angrily denounced by the court and his generals.
    Before she could lead an army Joan needed a crash course in war games, under the tutelage of the Duc d’Alençon. Luckily she absorbed knowledge like a sponge. Within months, she was as skilled as if she had been fighting for twenty years. She carried a huge banner made with images of Jesus and angels that read “De par le Roi du Ciel,” which translates as “On the side of the King of Heaven.” Her sword came from St. Catherine’s Church at Fierbois, where it was buried behind the altar—Joan claimed that her voices directed her to it. Medieval press releases were sent out in the form of theological treatises, linking Joan to the biblical figures of Judith, Deborah, and Esther, announcing her to the world—sort of like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.
    As an officer, Joan was a skillful leader. She rebuked her force of four thousand men when they swore; she reassured them when they expressed fear. Even though she was a young woman, she slept rough like her men, never asking for special treatment. She forced them to give up their “camp followers” if they wanted to be in her army, haranguing any women she found hanging around. Her army prayed every day and sang hymns while they marched. Hardened and seasoned soldiers didn’t take kindly at first to taking orders from a seventeen-year-old girl. When they disobeyed, which they often did, she furiously invoked God. Kind of hard to object when God is giving the orders. Despite their close proximity, none of her soldiers seem to have found her desirable. They claimed they feared and respected her too much.
    Joan’s first test was the city of Orléans, which had been besieged by the English for seven long months. Everyone knew that it was make-or-break time. The city was the gateway to the south of France. If the French lost, it was time to fold up their tents because they would be drinking tea and eating scones before they knew it. For Charles, sending Joan to Orléans was a no-brainer. If Joan failed, it was her fault. If she won, he came out smelling like a