Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan's Ditié by Karen Green

Abstract

Reviewed by: Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan's Ditié by Karen Green Mary-Rose McLaren Green, Karen, Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan's Ditié, Lanham, Lexington Books, 2021; hardback; pp. 241; 11 b/w illustrations; R.R.P. US$100.00; ISBN 9781793613165. In this book Karen Green constructs an argument that connects Christine de Pisan's beliefs and Joan of Arc's actions. She begins with the premise that the accepted history of Joan of Arc is incoherent: first, it is unbelievable; second, it disregards the numerous demonstrable and plausible connections between Christin and Joan. She suggests that there is 'tangible, albeit circumstantial' (p. 4) evidence that Joan's appearance was the result of purposeful political manoeuvring, and that [End Page 163] Christine de Pisan was central to this as a writer, an interpreter of prophecies, and a teacher. Green's key idea is that Joan was trained for her role. Green provides a brief outline of the life and writings of Christine and looks closely at Christine's Le Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc (1429), Martin le Franc's The Ladies' Champion (Le Champion des dames, 1441–42), and Alain Chartier's The Book of Hope (Le Traité de l'espérance, c. 1428–30). She explores the representation of Joan by her contemporaries, and the anticipation of this image by Christine some thirty years earlier, and examines the trial and rehabilitation records, noting references to 'voices' and 'secrets' in these documents—but not in prior accounts of Joan. Drawing on le Franc's poem, Green discusses evidence of a group of royal women as influential in Joan's appearance, using tropes of Amazons, sybils and the Virgin Mary. She ties together her thinking by analysing the prophetic imagery that anticipates the arrival of Joan, asking whether Joan's appearance was God's fulfilment of such imagery, or whether motivated women seeking peace set about training Joan to fulfil prophecies. Finally, she examines the question of where Christine was between 1418 and 1429. Green carefully deconstructs the common belief that she was at Poissy and posits an alternative argument for Christine being at the Abbey of Mureau, close to Domrémy. Green asks the reader to constantly reassess the Joan story, and to bring a critical reading to both texts and events. She undertakes a detailed and thorough analysis of the interconnections between noble families and between Christine and the women of these families. She meticulously untangles relationships of manuscript ownership and family and political connections and identifies when these family members are near Joan. In so doing, she constructs a significant argument that Joan was trained by Christine and supported by her affiliates to fulfill the prophecies. I am open to the hypothesis that Joan may have been instructed to fulfil the Charlemagne prophecy and was guided and supported by Christine's associates. I can also accept that Christine was not at Poissy, and that she continued to write while in another convent, perhaps Mureau. Green's argument is detailed and thorough, and she is quick to identify those times when her account, by necessity, must move into speculation. However, such a hypothesis opens further questions. The first of these concerns the familial relationships upon which Green places such emphasis. She has done an excellent job at identifying these interconnections. However, recognizing that people knew each other, shared texts, and worked together does not necessarily mean they were conspiring together. Secondly, Joan's religious observance means that we cannot disregard the possibility that she genuinely believed she had heard 'voices' of saints that instructed her. Green rejects Joan's instruction by 'voices'; instead, she suggests Joan had human instructors. There is a lack of clarity about how this instruction took place—did Joan 'hear' the instruction and therefore interpret it as voices of saints? Or did Joan receive instruction face to face from her instructors—in which case, why identify them as her voices? Further, Green suggests that Joan must have been [End Page 164] instructed regarding prophecies, biblical women, and the political flux around her. I question this. Although Domrémy was a small village, it was not a backwater. There is...