Joan of Arc's Sword

[Jeffrey Hull]

Make of this what you will -- just found it interesting -- hopefully it is not too off-topic

The Sword From Heaven
An Inquiry into Joan of Arc's Sword
Found at the Church of St. Catherine de Fierbois

http://www.stjoan-center.com/JoansSword ... eaven.html

[s_taillebois]

Off topic can't comment, if so, no doubt the moderators will.
It appears the writers trying to link some of the later apocrophal stories about Joan to actual artifacts (which don't survive) .
Problem is Joan of Arc, even when she was alive was a focus of symbolic meanings (especially visual ones), in a society which was intensely oriented to that type of mnemonic. Perhap's he's trying to take it all too literally.
As far as the altar sword being literally Carolingian especially Charles Martel's, unlikely. It was a common practice to leave swords at altars (for atonement or gratitude). But the clergy would also give them out to less affluent knights. And any sword which was deeply symbolic, probably would have been encased in a requilary, or entombed with it's owner. (and usually in Church internments for influential people tended to be at the crossing of the nave and transept-and anyone close to the status of Charles Martel would not generally have been interred at a minor church. More likely at the palace chapel at Aachen or somewhere like St. Denis). The burial motif, and the shaking loose of the dirt (implying incorruptability), are very close to the Lance situation during the Crusade.
And in the Parlement (sp) of Paris image, she's shown with a roughly contemporary weapon, not an ancient weapon.
If there's a immediately useful aspect to this paper, it is in observation of Joan's testimony to a very hostile court. In her responses, it's obvious that she was thinking ahead of her opponents attacks. And for an woman of her age and status to be able to do so...attests to her abilities and character.
Interestingly, the writer, is partaking of the long tradition of manufacturing (either literally or metaphorically) relics.

[Jeffrey Hull]

Yes, I just wish the obviously learned author of the article had somehow told us about the actual sword of Joan, instead of so much conjecturing, however clever and even reasonable. Of course, he does admit it and defend it

As we said at the beginning of this paper, concerning the sword of Fierbois there is very little we can know for sure, but we have to assume that the best evidence comes from the mouth of Joan herself when she testified that the blade had five crosses upon it and that the rust easily fell away after a light rubbing. Everything after that is speculation and conjecture. However, speculation and conjecture are not fantasy; we speculate and we conject based on reasonable hypotheses, assumptions and conclusions.

Expensive conjecturing, that, since he commissioned Hrisoulas to make that conceptual replica sword seen in the article

In any event, doubtless Joan bore and wielded some sword appropriate to her person and the conflict in which she was involved.

[s_taillebois]

Expensive conjecturing indeed. The vex is that one of the surviving images of Joan in her own lifetime is the margin drawing from the Paris Parlement.
And on that image the quillions are considerably more evident, and the general blade shape is close to a bastard type. Problem is was that image done by someone who'd seen Joan, or heard discriptions of her weapon, or had just done a drawing using a common weapon of the period? It may be somewhat accurate, as the design on the banner is close to one of the types which she is known to have carried.
No doubt Joan had carried several swords, and could have learnt the sword arts in the fairly brief years she was on campaign. But by her own admission, during the hostile trail procedings, she did state she had not killed. Also her entourage of henchs, who for religious (and very pragmatic morale reasons), would have tried very hard to keep her from getting too involved in melee. Obviously given her personality a attempt which didn't always work, as evidenced by the situation which she was finally captured.
Although all this stated, it is possible that she may have , at times, used the guidon/banner she carried as a weapon. Especially since the capture of that (and her) would have been a focus of the English or Burgundians.
And that condition would be difficult to assess for those of us studying period arts today. Some of the melee during the medieval/Renn (and much later i.e. the American Civil War) was directed at the standard bearer. During those situations, I'd wonder of the manner of fencing changed to the more defensive styles (ie the British Hanging Guard), albeit aggressively so, than the more projection premised offensive styles.

[Jeffrey Hull]

Yeah, that snazzy little Parlement-margin drawing, although probably not done by an artist who actually saw her and her sword, is indeed a stylised yet accurate depiction of circa 1430 Type XV or XVIII bastard-sword / longsword for that time and place and warfare.