Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured, by Kathryn Harrison, published by Doubleday, 2014.

The amazing thing about the legend of Joan of Arc is that there is such an extensive and accessible historical record of her meteoric rise and fall. Inspired by visionary voices only she could hear, Jehanne la Puselle, as she preferred to be known, fervently believed that she had been anointed to save France, and, in the process, salvage the final outcome of the Hundred Years’ War between France and England which had begun in 1337. In May of 1429, Joan boldly led the charge to relieve Orleans from occupation by the English. She was spectacularly victorious and instantly won fame and glory. But it didn’t last. A year later, she was captured in the Siege of Compiegne and ransomed to England.

While chained up in a jail cell at Rouen, Joan was relentlessly accused of witchcraft and sorcery. How else to explain her blind allegiance to the voices in her head? How else to explain her irreverent obsession with wearing men’s military attire? The remedy selected was to have a trial to evaluate the full scope of her depravity (even though the outcome was predetermined), and then proceed with a final reckoning. The man selected to oversee the trial as the presiding judge was Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais. The trial was conducted from January through May of 1431. Joan was not allowed a lawyer and relied upon her own talents to defend herself against her many accusers. She was found guilty of heresy and, predictably, was sentenced to death. On May 30, 1431, Joan was burned at the stake at Rouen and her ashes dumped into the Seine.

What the author, Kathryn Harrison, accomplishes in her narrative is to tell the story of Joan’s self-proclaimed mission from the perspective of her uniqueness as a woman leading men in battle in search of an outcome that would not be fully recognized until after her execution. In time, Joan would once again be hailed as a heroine; in time, it would be understood that her trial was a case of orchestrated entrapment; and, in time, the Vatican would belatedly recognize her piety and valor and, on May 16, 1920, she would be canonized in recognition of her fidelity and sacrifices.