Sunday 22 November 2020

The Maid and the Queen: The Secret History of Joan of Arc by Nancy Goldstone – Book Review



Joan was an illiterate maid from eastern France in the 15th century. Legend has it that she saved France from English takeover during the Hundred Years War and is one of the figures with most statues around France. But the question remains – how did an illiterate teenager put up such a courageous fight and led the demoralised French forces against all odds (in decisive battles at Orléans, Beaugency, Reims, etc.)? Nancy Goldstone in this book tries to demystify Joan and rationalise the events surrounding her rise.

The first I knew of Joan was when I was a child; while playing Age of Empires II; wherein Joan’s story is one of the campaigns and since then – this history surrounding England and France has always fascinated me. This book does not start with Joan’s origins at Domrémy in eastern France, which was her birthplace, but instead in Aragon (present day Spain). It introduces us to another prominent woman from those times – Yolande of Aragon. The writer builds her case as to how Joan’s whole story was prop used by Yolande for her power grab (coincidentally or otherwise, Joan was from the Duchy of Bar – which was Yolande’s matrilineal place of origin).

To provide a context – the latter phase of the Hundred Years War was effectively a civil war between two factions, the Burgundian faction which had King Charles VI on their side who backed the English king – Henry V’s, claim to the French throne; the other faction known as the Armagnacs – wanted the succession to remain with the Valois family – the King’s son. And what was Yolande’s interest in this? Charles VII, the son of the King was Yolande’s son-in-law.

I would say the book highlights three aspects – the first is to provide us a brief account of the Hundred Years War during the latter phase and in particular – the role of Yolande and her diplomatic skills in bringing various factions together as France was a highly divided country during the time. The second was to demystify the myths surrounding Joan of Arc – while the book certainly portrayed her as heroic – it also emphasised as to how not all on the Armagnac side were in favour / in awe of Joan. The third was also to demonstrate how divided France was and while we might know Henry V’s exploits in the Battle of Agincourt through Shakespeare’s play, he also had the advantage of attacking a country so divided that his victory was not as surprising as dramatisations have portrayed.

I got a good sense of who was Joan of Arc, her motivations, and the legal systems in place in the 15th century, considering how her trial is one of the most documented events of the era. I also got to know of some interesting anecdotes which I would surely like to read (like the folklore The Romance of Melusine).

My only suspicion is the extent to which the author’s bias has influenced the work. The book has two principal characters – the Maid – Joan of Arc and the Queen – Yolande of Aragon, Queen of Sicily. The book certainly glorifies Yolande a lot, and sometimes I suspected it was far more than her importance in history. Yolande held her court in her castle at Saumur (in the western French region of Pays de la Loire) and after having read the book, I visited Saumur and the castle. The museum in the castle had more mention of René I of Naples than Yolande herself. This was strange as the book was dismissive of René and described him as the incompetent son of Yolande who often needed his mother’s diplomatic skills to bail himself out. Yolande’s name was mentioned in the castle only once and if that is the extent to which her history is savoured in Saumur, I wonder to what extent it remains elsewhere. However, I would also consider that modern French historians are downplaying or ignoring her role during the Hundred Years War.

To conclude, this is one of the most interesting historical accounts that I have read so far, and I would look forward to reading more about the insights I picked up from this book. On that note, I would award the book a rating of eight.

Rating – 8/10

Have a nice day,
Andy

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