Saturday: May 29
Saint-Michel and Jean de Arc
We go to Saint-Michels a lot. That area is home to Sorbonne and several other schools, and it is popular with the younger people. There are a lot of bookstores; and many used bookstores which Sema likes. Of course, it is a tourist trap. And nearby is Little Athens (we will see it later) and lots of other stuff. But the main attraction is the statue/fountain of Saint-Michel slaying the dragon, right on the main place. It is a great statue although it doesn't seem to have a great history. BTW, Saint-Michel represents the protector of France.
Not too far away, on the Rue de Rivoli at the Pyramids, is a statue of Jean de Arc. I always refer to it as my girlfriend. It is a nice statue, and it gets a lot of tourist attention, but it is not all that famous. There are just hundreds and hundreds of things for Jean de Arc. On the second Sunday in May they honour her, so there were lots of flowers etc at her statue. It's an interesting (and long) story, but one worth reading if you're into looking up history. She died before she was 20; yet she had a BIG influence on the world at the time. Worth reading. Enjoy.....
Place Saint-Michel and around
The pivotal point of the Quartier Latin is place Saint-Michel, where the
tree-lined boulevard St-Michel begins. The name is redolent of student chic,
though these days dull commercial outlets have largely taken over the famous
"boul' Mich". Nevertheless, the cafés and shops around place St-Michel and place
St-André-des-Arts are jammed with people, mainly young and, in summer, largely
foreign, while the fountain on the place is a favourite meeting spot. The
fountain in the center of the square was created by French sculptor Davioud in
1860 and represents Saint Michel, protector of France, slaying a dragon.
The touristy scrum is at its ugliest on and around rue de la Huchette, just east
of the place St-Michel. The only sign of the street's former incarnation as the
mecca of beats and bums in the post-World War II years is the Théâtre de la
Huchette; the rest is given over to cheap bars and Greek seafood-and-disco
tavernas of indifferent quality and inflated prices. Connecting rue de la
Huchette to the riverside is the evocatively named rue du Chat-qui-Pêche
(Fishing Cat Street), a narrow slice of medieval Paris as it used to look before
Haussmann set to work clearing the way for the boulevards
At the end of rue de la Huchette, rue St-Jacques is aligned along the main
street of Roman Paris, its name derived from the vastly popular medieval
pilgrimage to the shrine of St Jacques (St James) in Santiago de Compostela,
northern Spain. For the millions who set out from the church of St-Jacques (only
the tower remains), just across the river, this bit of hill was their first
taste of the road. One block south of rue de la Huchette, and west of rue
St-Jacques, stands the mainly fifteenth-century church of St-Séverin. It's one
of the city's most elegant churches, with splendidly virtuoso chiselwork in the
pillars of the Flamboyant choir, as well as stained glass by the modern French
painter Jean Bazaine. The flame-like carving that gave the flamboyant (blazing)
style its name flickers in the window arch above the entrance, while inside, the
first three pillars of the nave betray the earlier, thirteenth-century origins
of the church.
One block to the south of the church, rue de la Parcheminerie is where medieval scribes and parchment sellers used to congregate. It's worth cricking your neck to look at the decorations on the facades, including that of no. 29, where you'll find the Canadian-run Abbey Bookshop.
Click here to see other pictures.
Click here to see other pictures.
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl, following divine "voices," led an army to
break the siege of Orleans, crown the dauphin Charles as the rightful king, and
drive the English army out of her country.
Although Joan's military career lasted less than a year and she died
before the age of twenty, she directly influenced the result of the Hundred
Years' War and still today serves as a symbol of French reconciliation and
unity.
Born on January 6, 1412, in the northeastern French village of Domremy to
religious peasant parents, Joan, at age thirteen, began to hear voices from
saints she later identified as Michael, Margaret, and Catherine.
Apparently, Joan made no mention of these divine directions to free her
country until 1429, when she approached Robed de Baudricourt, the captain of a
nearby town militia, and convinced him to provide her an escort to the Loire
Valley castle of Charles, he only surviving son of King Charles VI.
I inserted the picture here if you
don't wish to read the rest. But it is an interesting story! Continues after the
picture.
Denied the crown of France by the Anglo-French Treaty of Troyes of 1420, Charles
was unsuccessfully attempting to assume the throne by militarily expelling the
English occupiers when Joan arrived.
He directed church leaders to interview the young woman, and when they
supported her claims, Charles provided Joan a small force to accompany her to
Orleans.
Nowhere in the glamorized and often fictionalized history of Joan is there any
rationale as to why the French army commanders allowed her to take command.
Nevertheless, in early May 1429, Joan led a series of successful attacks
against the siege of Orleans that resulted in the English withdrawal on May 8.
The news of the victory at Orleans and a new leader who responded to
"voices from God" swept across the country and renewed the French spirit to free
their country from the English invaders.
Joan then turned from Orleans toward Rheims, clearing the route and city so that
Charles VII could be crowned in the cathedral on July 17.
After attending the ceremony, Joan encouraged Charles to press their
advantage and to march against Paris, which the English had occupied for ten
years. Charles delayed his decision
on the advice of his councilors, who recommended negotiating a peace.
Finally however, he agreed to Joan's plan and accompanied his "coronation
army" to Paris in September.
Following a failed attack led by Joan, Charles directed a withdrawal back to the
Loire Valley.
After six month of inactivity, Joan departed with a small force and returned to
Paris. At Compiegne on May 23, she
attacked an army of Burgundians who were allied with the English.
Her attack failed, and she was taken prisoner.
The Burgundians ransomed her to the English, who turned her over to the
English-controlled University of Paris and the inquisitor of France.
Joan's trial, which violated many of the legal procedures of the time, began in
January 1431. Initial charges of
witchcraft changed to heresy as the trial progressed.
Eventually, the proceedings shifted and focused on Joan's refusal to
submit to the church's investigation into her "voices" and the issue of her
wearing men's clothing. On May 24
court officials took Joan to a courtyard, where they told her they would execute
her if she did not confess. Joan
admitted to her "crimes and errors," but several days later, dressed in men's
clothing, she recanted her confession.
On May 29, Joan's judges declared her a "relapsed heretic," and the next day,
her jailers burned her at the stake in Rouen's Old Market before a large crowd.
Charles VII made no effort during the trial or afterward to save Joan.
Joan's death did not end her influence on the French army.
Guerrilla bands, formed in her memory, raided English lines, and the
demoralized French military rallied in her name and renewed their struggle.
Within five years, they forced the English out of Paris and eventually
gained a truce.
Joan's influence, both in life and legend, played a direct role in the Hundred
Years' War. There is no evidence
that Joan had any comprehension whatsoever of tactics, strategy, or even the
basic essentials of military operations.
What she did understand and exhibit was leadership.
In every battle in which she participated, she led at the front of the
army. Although wounded twice, she
remained in the most dangerous positions at the center of the battle.
Interestingly, Joan herself recognized her worth as a symbol rather than
a fighter and readily admitted during her trial that she never personally killed
anyone in combat.
Joan, in a mere six months of warfare, earned the distinction of being the only
woman included in this list of influential commanders.
She, however, is no token.
Regardless of one's feelings about "divine voices" or women in combat, Joan left
her mark at the time, one that continues today.
Charles VII, who did nothing to save Joan, ordered a formal retrial in 1456 that rehabilitated the reputation of the young woman. On May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict V canonized her. Today each second Sunday of May a national festival all across France honors Joan as an enduring symbol of that country's unity and nationalism.