“Attention, ‘Game of Thrones’ fans: The most enjoyably sensational aspects of medieval politics—double-crosses, ambushes, bizarre personal obsessions, lunacy and naked self-interest—are in abundant evidence in Nancy Goldstone's The Maid and the Queen.” (Laura Miller, Salon.com) Politically astute, ambitious, and beautiful, Yolande of Aragon, queen of Sicily, was one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages. Caught in the complex dynastic battle of the Hundred Years War, Yolande championed the dauphin's cause against the forces of England and Burgundy, drawing on her savvy, her statecraft, and her intimate network of spies. But the enemy seemed invincible. Just as French hopes dimmed, an astonishingly courageous young woman named Joan of Arc arrived from the farthest recesses of the kingdom, claiming she carried a divine message-a message that would change the course of history and ultimately lead to the coronation of Charles VII and the triumph of France. Now, on the six hundredth anniversary of the birth of Joan of Arc, this fascinating book explores the relationship between these two remarkable women, and deepens our understanding of this dramatic period in history. How did an illiterate peasant girl gain access to the future king of France, earn his trust, and ultimately lead his forces into battle? Was it only the hand of God that moved Joan of Arc-or was it also Yolande of Aragon?

This acclaimed work on the life and mysticism of Joan of Arc is considered by historians as one of the most convincing, well researched and best written accounts of the Maid of Orleans. Stolpe vividly creates the contemporary situation in France during Joan's time, evaluates the latest research on her life, and arrives at an original and authentic portrait - one that is also a work of literature. Stolpe sees Joan of Arc as primarily a mystic, and her supreme achievement and lasting significance not so much in a mission to deliver France - though important - but in her sharing in the Passion of Christ. By shifting the emphasis from the national to the universal, Stolpe brings the saint closer to the modern reader. His scholarship is informed by a profound understanding and sympathy for the Maid, giving his essentially sober work the absorbing interest of a novel. As one critic stated, "Stolpe succeeds in producing a very tense interest, so that it is impossible to lay it aside until the last word is reached." This work should do much to present a new evaluation and appreciation of the life and mysticism of St. Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans.

The career of Jeanne Dare—the name usually is written Jeanne d'Arc or Joan of Arc, an absurd equivalent—was so extraordinary, her personality was so marvellous, that she has been from the very beginning a constant source of interest to biographers and historians. She figures largely in contemporary records, not always trustworthy, but it may be worthier of credence than some critics have been willing to admit. Lives of her appeared in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the writers of the nineteenth century have been particularly busy with her fame. Every biographer since has owed an enormous debt to Mr. Lang's work. It would be invidious to choose among the recent biographies written by Frenchmen; Mr. Lang cordially acknowledges his own obligations to them. This book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer. Contents: Preface Introduction - The Maid And Theories About Her Chapter I - The Task Of Jeanne D'arc. Political Conditions Chapter Ii - Domremy. Prophecies, Faith, And Fairies Chapter Iii - The First Voices And Visions Chapter Iv - Domremy In Time Of War Chapter V - The Mission Announced. Jeanne At Neufchateau Chapter Vi - The Siege Of Orleans Begun Chapter Vii - Jeanne's Second Visit To Vaucouleurs Chapter Viii - Chinon. The Kings Secret Chapter Ix - The New St. Catherine At Poitiers Chapter X - Jeanne At Tours. March To Orleans Chapter Xi - The Maid's Victories At Orleans Chapter Xii - The Taking Of The Tourelles Chapter Xiv - The Week Of Victories Chapter Xv - The Ride To Reims Chapter Xvi - The Campaign Of Dupes Chapter Xvii - The Failure At Paris Chapter Xviii - The Autumn Campaign Chapter Xix - Jeanne's Last Campaign Chapter Xx - The Last Day Under Arms Chapter Xxi - Captivity Chapter Xxii - The Trial Chapter Xxiii - The Trial (Continued) Chapter Xxiv - The Abjuration Chapter Xxv - The Last Morning In Prison Chapter Xxvi - Martyrdom Appendix A - Prophecies Attributed To Bede And Merlin Appendix B - The Attack On Paris Appendix C - Charges Against Jeanne In Matters Of Fact Appendix D - The Voices And Visions Of Jeanne D'arc

The girl who led an army. The peasant who crowned a king. The maid who became a legend.

Joan of Arc was perhaps the most wonderful person who ever lived in the world. The story of her life is so strange that we could scarcely believe it to be true, if all that happened to her had not been told by people in a court of law, and written down by her deadly enemies, while she was still alive. She was burned to death when she was only nineteen: she was not seventeen when she first led the armies of France to victory, and delivered her country from the English.

Compiled and translated by Willard Trask, with an historical afterword by Sir Edward Creasy.

FROM Neufch‰teau to Vaucouleurs the clear waters of the Meuse flow freely between banks covered with rows of poplar trees and low bushes of alder and willow. Now they wind in sudden bends, now in gradual curves, for ever breaking up into narrow streams, and then the threads of greenish waters gather together again, or here and there are suddenly lost to sight underground. In the summer the river is a lazy stream, barely bending in its course the reeds which grow upon its shallow bed; and from the bank one may watch its lapping waters kept back by clumps of rushes scarcely covering a little sand and moss. But in the season of heavy rains, swollen by sudden torrents, deeper and more rapid, as it rushes along, it leaves behind it on the banks a kind of dew, which rises in pools of clear water on a level with the grass of the valley. This valley, two or three miles broad, stretches unbroken between low hills, softly undulating, crowned with oaks, maples, and birches. Although strewn with wild-flowers in the spring, it looks severe, grave, and sometimes even sad. The green grass imparts to it a monotony like that of stagnant water. Even on fine days one is conscious of a hard, cold climate. The sky seems more genial than the earth. It beams upon it with a tearful smile; it constitutes all the movement, the grace, the exquisite charm of this delicate tranquil landscape. Then when winter comes the sky merges with the earth in a kind of chaos. Fogs come down thick and clinging. The white light mists, which in summer veil the bottom of the valley, give place to thick clouds and dark moving mountains, but slowly scattered by a red, cold sun. Wanderers ranging the uplands in the early morning might dream with the mystics in their ecstasy that they are walking on clouds. Thus, after having passed on the left the wooded plateau, from the height of which the ch‰teau of BourlŽmont dominates the valley of the Saonelle, and on the right Coussey with its old church, the winding river flows between le Bois Chesnu on the west and the hill of Julien on the east. Then on it goes, passing the adjacent villages of Domremy and Greux on the west bank and separating Greux from Maxey-sur-Meuse. Among other hamlets nestling in the hollows of the hills or rising on the high ground, it passes Burey-la-C™te, Maxey-sur-Vaise, and Burey-en-Vaux, and flows on to water the beautiful meadows of Vaucouleurs. In this little village of Domremy, situated at least seven and a half miles further down the river than Neufch‰teau and twelve and a half above Vaucouleurs, there was born, about the year 1410 or 1412, a girl who was destined to live a remarkable life. She was born poor. Her father, Jacques or Jacquot d'Arc, a native of the village of Ceffonds in Champagne, was a small farmer and himself drove his horses at the plough. His neighbours, men and women alike, held him to be a good Christian and an industrious workman. His wife came from Vouthon, a village nearly four miles northwest of Domremy, beyond the woods of Greux. Her name being Isabelle or Zabillet, she received at some time, exactly when is uncertain, the surname of RomŽe. That name was given to those who had been to Rome or on some other important pilgrimage; and it is possible that Isabelle may have acquired her name of RomŽe by assuming the pilgrim's shell and staff. One of her brothers was a parish priest, another a tiler; she had a nephew who was a carpenter. She had already borne her husband three children: Jacques or Jacquemin, Catherine, and Jean.