Get Free Newsletters
| For more Stories Behind the Movies See the Story Directory |
You state that you are my judge.
I am not aware that you are such;
But I charge you
Take heed and
Do not judge me wrongfully,
As in such case
You will place your soul
In great jeopardy.
It was the morning of March 14, 1431. Joan of Arc, age 19, was standing trial for heresy. She had no lawyer. Her chief accuser - Pierre Cauchon - was also her judge. Cauchon, a Bishop of the Catholic Church, was a man whose strongest loyalties were to himself and to his own ambitions. After three weeks of cross examination, Cauchon had not broken Joan of Arc. With incredible courage, Joan warned her accuser to "take heed" that he "not judge [her] wrongfully." Cauchon threatened Joan with death by burning if she were found guilty of heresy, but Joan reminded him of eternal penalties if he continued to be unfair and biased in his responsibilities. What facts had brought this young woman to trial? On whose authority was she being tried without legal representation? What crimes could she have committed that resulted in a charge of heresy, among other things? To understand the trial, and the basis of the charges against Joan, we have to take a trip back to the Middle Ages. We have to examine what life was like back then. We have to understand who Joan of Arc was, and why her story still fascinates us centuries later.
|
