Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
Mark Twain
 The foreword is by fictional author Sieur Louis de Conte, writing from Domrémy, France to his great-great-grand nephews and nieces, in the year 1492. He relates his relationship to Joan as first a childhood friend, and later her page and secretary. He reminisces, “I was with her from the beginning until the end.” Book One begins with the birth of de Conte on January 6th, 1410, in Neufchâteau, France. He relates his early childhood as plagued with misery brought on by the English forces. For over seventy-five years, he states, France has felt the oppressive force of the English and Burgundian armies. With each battle lost, the despair of the French people grows. In 1415, following the death of his family by a Burgundian raiding party, de Conte is sent to Domrémy to live with the parish priest. Here he meets young Joan d’Arc, who lives a relatively quiet life in the small country village. Yet even in her early years, de Conte describes multiple incidents where Joan is shown to be the wisest and bravest child in Domrémy. For example, she defends the children’s friends (the fairies) against unfair banishment, convinces the townspeople to provide food and shelter for a wandering soldier, and peaceably stops a madman who threatens the village. In Chapter VI, the novel relates that, at fourteen years of age, Joan’s manner undergoes a change. Instead of being “the most light-hearted creature and the merriest in the village” de Conte says that “she had been mainly grave”. In the next chapter, a year and a half later, de Conte finds the reason behind her solemn behavior. On the 15th of May, 1428, Joan reveals that she has been visited frequently by saints and angels. On this particular day, she states that God has chosen her “to lead His armies, and win back France, and set the crown upon the head of His servant that is Dauphin and shall be King”. The book describes Joan as at first being hesitant; stating, “I am only a child; a child and ignorant – ignorant of everything that pertains to war.” Book Two’s final chapters, VII and VIII, relate the difficulties Joan faces to follow her mission, beginning when the governor of Vaucoleurs refuses her an escort of men-at-arms. Book Two begins with the elimination of Joan’s hindrances. de Conte relates that, with the advice of her Voices, Joan remains steadfast in her mission and on February 23rd begins her journey to the Dauphin, complete with escort. In Chapter VI, Joan arrives at the Castle of Chinon, prepared to fulfill her mission and speak with the future king. However, before allowing her entry, the Dauphin tests Joan by switching his royal clothes with those of a layman. Joan is unfazed by the test and identifies the true king-to-be. After receiving a further sign from Joan, the Dauphin is convinced that her mission is from God, and establishes her as General of the Armies of France. In Chapter X, Joan begins to organize her campaign, writing a letter to the English commanders at Orleans, demanding them to vacate France. She also instills order amongst her troops, banning prostitution, gambling, and requiring that “every man who joins my standard must confess before the priest…and all accepted recruits must be present at divine service twice a day.” Starting at Orleans, de Conte describes the army’s march across France, winning multiple victories. He states that throughout the campaign Joan’s Voices remain with her, guiding and encouraging her efforts. On one occasion, in Chapter XXI, Joan’s Voices reveal that on May 7th she will be shot by an arrow, between her neck and shoulder. The prophecy is fulfilled the next day in the exact manner prescribed. Two chapters later, following a victory at Tours, the novel states that Joan is given the Dauphin’s permission to march upon Rheims. Once again, each English stronghold standing in her path is reclaimed. de Conte marvels that for the first time in ninety-one years, the French have the upper hand in the Hundred Years’ War. On July 5th, the English forces at Rheims surrender, allowing the coronation of Charles to take place. Yet, even with this accomplishment, Joan refuses to halt her campaign. In Chapter XXVIII, Joan receives permission to march on Paris stating that, if successful, the move would cripple the English forces. However, with a victory at Paris in sight, the King declares the campaign ended. He instead makes a truce to leave Paris unthreatened and unmolested. De Conte bewails, “Joan of Arc, who had never been defeated by the enemy, was defeated by her own King.” In the final chapter, de Conte laments that on May 24th 1430, Joan is taken prisoner by the Burgundians while assailing a small force at Marguy. The third and final book opens with Joan d’Arc imprisonment at Marguy. For five and a half months, the Burgundians hold Joan while waiting for King Charles to provide a ransom of 61,125 francs. When no attempt is made, she is sold to the English. For two more months, Joan remains imprisoned while her enemies, led by Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais, prepare her trial. In an attempt to lessen her influence over the French people, it is decided that Joan must be tried by priests for crimes against religion. de Conte scoffs at the English’s methods of “raking and scraping everywhere for any odds and ends of evidence or suspicion or conjecture that might be made usable against Joan.” Beginning in Chapter IV, the novel provides a detailed account of Joan’s three month long trial starting on February 21st, 1431. de Conte, secretly serving as clerk to the chief recorder, describes the trial as unfair on multiple fronts. “Fifty experts against a novice,” he states, “and no one to help the novice!” de Conte also includes an official transcript that states, “They asked her profound questions…the questioners changed suddenly and passes to another subject to see if she would not contradict herself.” Yet, in spite of this, Joan is praised for boldly answering the questions put to her. de Conte states that many in the courtroom gaped in awe at the wisdom and prudence of her answers. Chapter VII recounts her most well-known answer after being asked by Beaupere, “Are you in a state of Grace.” de Conte states that with simple gravity she answers, “If I be not in a state of Grace, I pray God place me in it; if I be in it, I pray God keep me so.” Yet, in Chapter XX, after nearly three months of imprisonment, Joan finally submits to her captors. Unable to read it, Joan signs a document “confessing herself a sorceress, a dealer with devils, a liar, a blasphemer of God and His angels…and this signature of hers bound her to resume the dress of a woman." However, in Chapter XXII de Conte accuses the English of treachery, stating, “While Joan slept, in the early morning of Sunday, one of the guards stole her female apparel and put her male attire in its place…she saw that she could not save her life if she must fight for it against treacheries like this; so she put on the forbidden garments, knowing what the end would be.” For breaking the condition, Joan is sentenced to be burned at the stake on the following Wednesday, May 30th 1431. The final chapter, XXIV, recounts Joan’s last few hours before she is consumed in flames, but not the execution itself. In his writing, de Conte returns to the present year of 1492, where he is eighty-two years of age. He summarizes the lives and deaths of many of the characters including Joan’s family and King Charles the VII. He closes with a salute to the legacy of Joan, citing her impact on the country she loved so much.