Solved At Last: The Burning Mystery Of Joan Of Arc

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 12-17-2006 | Alex Duval

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Solved at last: the burning mystery of Joan of Arc

France's favourite saint was martyred by her English foes, who ordered her remains to be cast into the Seine. Now scientists believe they have established the facts surrounding her execution

Alex Duval Smith in Paris
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer (UK)

Catholic saint, national icon and one of the world's most famous military leaders, Joan of Arc has been a subject of fascination for the French for almost six centuries. Now academics believe they are close to proving that controversial relics are actually those of the real-life Maid of Orleans. Much is unknown about the life of the warrior. Facts have often been mixed with myth and theory. But what is generally agreed is that Joan's body was burnt three times by the English and ashes from the foot of the pyre were supposedly discovered in 1867, lurking in the Paris loft of an apothecary .

French scientists, who have been studying those ashes, confirmed yesterday that a piece of cloth found among the remains may have been a fragment of Joan of Arc's gown. A new series of DNA tests of bones and tissue found among the ashes is expected to confirm that they belong to a female. These initial discoveries suggest recent controversial claims surrounding the death of Joan of Arc are wrong. One theory, put forward by Ukrainian anthropologist Sergey Gorbenko, suggested Joan was not even burnt at the stake but lived to the age of 57. Another theory is that she was a man.

But the initial discoveries by forensic anthropologist Philippe Charlier, the project's leader, indicate that the standard version of Joan of Arc's death - by being burnt as a witch by the English - appears to be right, although the research...

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Image by the Pre-Raphaelite Collection

"Lady Godiva" c. 1898
by John Collier

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