RS 160

RS 160 Donna M. Chapman

Spring, 2005

Compare the plights of Jeanne d’Arc, Dante Alighieri,

and Martin Luther.

How did the authorities of church and state during the middle Ages and Renaissance deal with dissent in the case of the following: Jeanne d’Arc, Dante Alighieri, and Martin Luther?

This is a terrific question. We are asked about the response of the church, and the governments of the time toward three individuals who rock the boat. In fact they don’t just rock the boat, they come close to capsizing it!

The three are very interesting. One is an uneducated girl child of the peasant class. But for the plans God had for her, she would have been destined to a life of invisibility. She would have loved that because it was the only life that women of that social class at that time knew. Peasants were people of no consequence, and female peasants were of even less value. Both of the men are of upper class birth. One of them is a lesser politician, and the other is a priest. We will get a good look at how the church and state regarded women, and how they each deal with it when one of their own disagrees publicly with them. This is going to feel a lot like the temper of the current administration in America. The party line is “if you don’t agree with us, you’re not a true American”. But I digress.

In order to structure the answers to the questions given brief (as possible..) biographical statements for each of the principles involved are necessary.

Jeanne d’Arc

The daughter of a farmer, Jeanne was born in 1412 in Domremy, on the border of the Champagne and Lorraine provinces of France. She was not educated, as education was a privilege only bestowed upon males of the upper classes. Joan spent her youth learning religion and housekeeping from her mother.

At the age of 12, she began to hear the “voices” of St Michael, St Catherine and St Margaret. This is the bleakest point in the history of France. Beyond being devastated by England militarily, the country was completely and thoroughly broken of spirit. At the top of what remains of the government, apathy reigns supreme. Jeanne believed that the voices she heard were sent by God. They told her that she was destined to liberate France from the English, and place the Dauphin upon the throne. They also told her that she is to cut her hair, put on men’s clothing, take up arms, and lead men in battle.

Five years later, Jeanne is finally convinced that the voices are true and she makes a journey to Vaucouleurs to present herself to the Dauphin’s Captain there. You can imagine the reception she received. Who is this filthy peasant girl to come to us with these preposterous notions? She stayed in Valcouleurs in spite of being turned away after the first meeting. Everything changed when she stated that a great defeat had befallen the French outside Orleans. When confirmation of the routing came several days later, she was given a military escort and taken to see the Dauphin.

An aside: The dressing in men’s clothing and armor was as much a practical thing as a rebellious act. New Advent, the Catholic Encyclopedia online, mentions that even though she dressed as a man to protect her modesty, and always slept with her clothes on, the men who surrounded her stated that there was something about her that repressed every impure thought regarding her.

After selecting him, without hesitation, out of a crowd, (a test for her, as he was hiding, and had an impostor dressed as himself sitting on the throne), the Dauphin sent Jeanne to Poitiers to be “tested by a church court”.

Jeanne’s character was examined by a committee of bishops and doctors, and she was found to be NOT heretical in any way. In order to further test her calling, the committee recommended that she be employed in the tasks that she said she was there to do. Sadly these records (from a church that is usually meticulous about its record keeping, good or bad) were lost. Her appeals to the findings of this committee during her trial for heresy were for naught.

Jeanne returned to Chinon to begin her campaign. At the end of it she had lead the French to reclaim Orleans, Patay and Troyes. There was an urgency to these battles, as Jeanne’s voices had told her that she would only last a year. These victories were strategic because now the route to Reims was open. The Dauphin could travel safely. On July 17, 1429, Charles VII of France was crowned king in the cathedral at Reims. Jeanne was there.

Jeanne felt that her job was done and wanted to return home, but the king had other ideas. It is thought that he commanded her to stay with the army, in spite of her protest. She attempted to retake Paris, but failed. She was wounded during an attempt to retake St. Denis, and was removed from the battlefield. The apathy of the king had returned, and there was no commitment to a speedy expulsion of England. Her voices told her that she would be taken prisoner. During the siege on Compiegne, the drawbridge was raised before a group of soldiers, Jeanne included, could get into the city. She and her group were taken captive.

The king and his advisors made no effort at all to help Jeanne. They had high level prisoners, English officers who could have been traded for her safety, but they did not even try. She was sold to the English, and they in turn handed her over to the ecclesiastical court at Rouen led by Pierre Cauchon, a bishop with stonger ties to England than to the church, to be tried for heresy. It was asserted that for a woman to wear men’s clothing was a crime against God.

The English were obsessed with taking Jeanne’s life for several reasons. First, they were superstitious, and thought she really was a witch. Next they were ashamed of the dread that she inspired in the armies. On several occasions during her campaigns the English soldiers fled the battlefield before the fighting even started. And last, they were ashamed that a girl child had bested them on the battlefield. They couldn’t put her to death for besting them, but they could put her to death for heresy and witchcraft. They coupled with corrupt church officials to do just that and they succeeded.

The panel of inquisitors consisted almost entirely of Frenchmen, mostly theologians and doctors of the University of Paris. I would guess that its possible that one or two of them were on the panel that originally found that she was of sound and sincere intent at that other examination early in her career.

The whole court experience was a fraud. The court met for a month before Jeanne was even in attendance. She was not allowed an advocate, she, in her non-education, had to face church scholars and theologians who did not hesitate to use terminology that she did not understand. Her appeals for papal intervention were denied. The implication is that either Rome did not know about the trial, or that the trial took place in defiance of papal wishes. She was confined illegally in a secular male prison with male guards, in spite of her requests to be housed in a church prison with female guards.

She persisted in wearing men’s clothing most likely to better protect her modesty while in prison, but it was seen as defiance. After a thwarted escape attempt, she was kept in an iron cage, chained by the neck, hands and feet. All access to the sacraments was denied. The excuses for this were the charge of heresy and her insistence upon wearing men’s clothing.

The entire text of her trial for heresy is preserved. Her common sense, simplicity, and piety carry her through attempt after attempt of the judges to confuse and confound her. Her attitude was fearless throughout the trial. The trial started out before a large assembly. As Jeanne gave testimony, she won the sympathy of many in attendance. Cauchon decided that this had to be stopped, so he had the group in attendance reduced significantly in size and moved the proceedings inside the prison itself.

At the end of the trial, seventy propositions were drawn up. All of them mis-representing her “crimes” terribly. She was allowed to hear and offer rebuttal to the propositions. She argued well. The court dropped the seventy, and drew up 12 worded so that she couldn’t possibly understand what they meant. The majority of the judges declared her voices to be false and diabolical, and decided that if she did not recant them, they would turn her over to be executed by fire.

Jeanne would not recant.

She was threatened with torture on several occasions. A stake was erected in the cemetery of St Ouen. She was taken there, showed the stake and threatened yet again. She broke down, her courage failed her, and she consented to sign a letter of retraction. The document was read to her in several lines, but witnesses attest to the fact that the document was formidable, and could not have been read in “several lines”. Nevertheless, Jeanne signed her X on the document. This should have bought Jeanne’s freedom, but Cauchon, and the English were not to be undone.

One of the stipulations of the recantation was that she would no longer wear men’s clothing. Her women’s clothing was stolen, and men’s clothing left in her cell. She put on men’s clothing out of modesty, but Cauchon determined that she was defying her retraction, was a lapsed heretic, and should be burned. They executed her the next day.

Jeanne was allowed to confess, and to receive communion for the first time in a year. Many many times during her imprisonment she had begged to have a priest, so she could confess, and was denied. In the Catholic Church, a person needs to be “absolved” from sin through the actions of confessing those sins to a priest, and then receiving the blessing of absolution from that priest. Although a priest can withhold absolution, it is apparent that this was not done in Jeanne’s case (good of them) because she was given Holy Communion. The Eucharist would not be given to someone with a known sinful soul particularly under these circumstances.

Jeanne maintained her composure at the stake. Asking for a cross, which, after she embraced it, was held above the flames so she could see it. She called continuously upon the name of Jesus until she died. It is said that even her enemies, who were there to witness, were in tears.

Twenty-four years later, her trial was reopened. The first trial was declared illegal, and she was pronounced innocent of all charges against her. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized a saint in 1920.

Dante Alighieri

Dante was born of noble Florentine ancestry. He received a thorough education in classical and Christian literature. The love of his life was not the woman he was promised to marry. His beautiful poetry featured the recurring character of “Beatrice” who was thought to be the love of his life – Beatrice Polinari - a woman who he is said to have met when she was 9 years old. At the age of 12 he was promised to Gemma Donati in marriage. They were married. Sadly her name in never mentioned in any of his poetry. In any case, Dante was devoted to the womanly “ideal”, the ideal of pure love for its own sake.

Dante spent some time in the Florentine army, after which he joined the Guild of member Apothecaries which opened doors for his political career. He served on community councils, served as ambassador to the cities of San Gimignano and Rome. Next he was a governor, and after that was appointed superintendent of roads and road repair.

During this period the dominant political party was the Guelph party. This party was composed of two factions: one, the “White” (bianchi) Guelphs were the constitutional party, supporting the local government, the other, the “Black” (Neri) Guelphs were more aristocratic, and their strength came from the Pope’s favor. Dante was a member of the White Guelphs.

While Dante was elected governor. He, along with other members of the government, attempted to stand against the Church’s, more specifically the Pope’s involvement in territorial expansion. Papal involvement in government was supported by the Black Guelphs. There was an altercation between the factions in which blood was shed. The White Guelphs lost. Dante was falsely accused of fraud, then eventually sentenced to death.

It should be noted here that Dante was not against the Church altogether, far from it. Dante was convinced that a secular ruler and a spiritual ruler were necessary for the well being of the world. . He asserts that since man has a duality of purpose, one in this world and one in the afterlife, there was a need for a “two fold” directive power. One to lead us, by virtue of revealed scripture, to eternal life and one to lead us to worldly happiness by virtue of philosophical writings. The authority of this temporal monarchy and the authority of the spiritual guide both descend directly but separately from God. These two offices are mandated by God, but exist and operate independently of each other.

Most likely because of his noble birth, Dante was able to flee Florence, and was protected by friends in Verona, Lunigiana, Poppi, Lucca and eventually to Ravenna, where he died. Every where he went, there was someone, some noble or politician to take him in.

During his time of exile he wrote several famous works two being: “Divina Commedia” and “De Vulgari Eloquentia”. Divina is a set of 3 elaborate poems. They tell a story of medieval hierarchy and individual heroism in the journey of a man as an observer through hell, ascending to purgatory, and finally into heaven. It is an allegory of life. Eloquentia is a treatise on the importance of writing in the common vernacular. The book illustrates how Italian should be used in the composition of lyric poetry. A secondary advantage of this was that everyone appreciate his work. He wrote in Italian and his work indeed reached all, poor and elite alike.

It is said that Dante was devoted to the Virgin Mary, but I think that it was a bit more than that. I think he was in love with the feminine ideal. Its almost as though he is in love with love itself. This passion materializes in the dramatic style of his poetry. In his youth he coined the term “Stilnovo” for a particular school of writing. The Stilnovo poets are seen as loves scribes. They analyze and celebrate love. Their kind of love “theory” is seen in the saving presence of Beatrice in Paradiso (the Divina Commedia). Their love “theory” states love as an absolute ideal, a sort of god to ennoble and save man. Women are angels; celebrated as examples of purity and virtue. These last two paragraphs do not really pertain to the question, but I thought that they were interesting.

Luther

Martin Luther did not set out to start the Reformation movement. He did not want to cause dissent or rifts between himself, and eventually his followers, and the church. He wanted scripture to be known and available to everyone in their own language. He wanted people to be able to derive truth from scripture on their own. At the time that he is writing, the only source for the interpretation of scripture was the Church. He wanted people to understand that the notion of “good works” earning someone a place in heaven was a construct of the Church and that salvation of soul was bestowed from Christ by faith alone by virtue of His death and resurrection. Even still, he stated that he would have yielded every one of his dispute points if only the Pope had affirmed the gospel.

A frustrated copper miner, Luther studied for and received a Bachelors then Masters degree in Liberal Arts. He began law school at the University of Erfurt. His father financed his entire education.

So how did a future lawyer wind up triggering the greatest crisis in Church history? There is a story that says once when on his way back to the university, after a visit home, he was caught in a terrible thunderstorm. He was almost struck by lightning, and thrown to the ground. He is terrified, and prays to St. Anne (patron saint of miners) vowing that he will become a monk if she will save him. Shortly thereafter Martin entered the Black Monastery in Erfurt, a community of Augustinian Hermits. They are a strict order but not particularly austere, however they are mendicants (they beg for provisions).

Two years later, Luther is ordained a priest, and takes a teaching position at Wittenberg University, founded by the man who would become his friend and protector, Frederick the Wise. He continues his education, eventually earning a Doctorate in Theology. Within 6 years Martin has served on the senate of the theology faculty of Wittenberg, and has been given charge of eleven Augustinian monasteries. Somewhere in all this busyness, he takes on the pastoral duties of a priest at Wittenberg’s city church.

Luther spent a year studying and lecturing on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. During this time of study he comes to the conclusion that the just shall live by faith. At a time when the prevailing view is that heaven must be earned by good works in this life, this notion is considered heretical. However, the genie is out of the bottle at this point, for so begins Luther’s public quest for truth.

Meanwhile Johann Tetzel, a Dominican priest, a Doctor of Theology and Inquisitor of Saxony, begins to sell indulgences. Indulgences are a type of favor; a release from punishment due to sin. The church will assert that an indulgence is not a pardon for future sin, but the fact is that the practice of selling indulgences allowed this notion to become prevalent. Rome did nothing about it because Rome liked the income for only the noble class, the ones with the money, could afford to purchase indulgences. Luther notices that fewer people are coming to confession, and finds out that it is because they are buying their forgiveness from Tetzel. Born from his outrage at this is Luther’s signature work: The 95 Theses, or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. He nailed it to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church.

Tetzel’s cashflow slows considerably, so he writes two sets of theses of his own, countering the theses of Luther. Luther’s own order, the Augustinians meet at Heidelberg to debate his ideas, and many in attendance come to his way of thinking. Shortly thereafter, a papal court in Rome begins an inquisition. Luther is tried in absentia for heresy and summoned to Rome to answer the charges.

Now enters the political part of the story. Emperor Maximillian denounces Luther as a heretic. At this time there are people in important places in government who do not like the amount of power and influence that the church has over Germany. They seek to change this, and it is perhaps here that they get an inkling that they can use Luther to do it. It is perhaps the case that they are escalating trouble between Luther and the church to this end.

For Luther now starts what will be a repetitive cycle of church orders to recant, and his refusal to do so. Another event will cycle as well. During his life there will be several outbreaks of plague, and in spite of urgings from friends to protect himself, Luther will consistently elect to stay and minister to the sick and dying. But I digress.

Upon refusing to recant during this first inquisition, Luther returns to Wittenberg, and seeks the protection of his friend, Frederick the Wise. Frederick protects Luther, and in defiance of request by Rome, refuses to banish him.

On several occasions during the process of inquisition Luther agrees to concessions to Rome. These concessions included letters of apology, and submitting his case before a third party. And he honors this by writing the letters of apology, but he continues to denounce what he sees as corruption and false doctrine. Luther adds the unique authority of the pope to his list of disputes.

Another of Luther’s disputes is the notion of rote prayer. He believes that prayer should be a conscious thought process. When we pray we should think about what we are saying and to whom we are saying it. He wrote several documents concerning this issue. Most noteworthy are: “A Brief Form of the Ten Commandments” and “A Brief Form of the Creed”. For example, in “Ten Commandments, Second Commandment”, he extrapolates the true meaning of “You must not misuse your God’s name”

“We must fear and love God, so that we will not

use His name to curse, swear, cast a spell, lie

or deceive, but will use it to call upon Him, praise

Him and thank Him in all times of trouble.” (4)

He does the same with the Creed; phrase by phrase, concept by concept. I think there is something very sweet about this, although I expect that Luther was not a particularly “sweet” person.

His writing now, by and large takes on the shape of an attack. In his “Meditation on Christ’s Passion”, he brings forth the notion that sinners are freed from sin by virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection. Rome responds by putting pressure on Luther’s superiors, urging them to restrain him or be fired. Some of them refuse, some of them resign on their own, but none of them ever punish Luther in any way.

Luther’s ideas are now catching on with the people. He receives offers of protection from various sources. He is now something other than simply Martin Luther. He has such popular support that it is doubtful that the church can get away with any punitive activities against him without incurring the inconvenience of a secular uprising.

Rome finally issues a papal bull of excommunication against Luther. He has 60 days to recant – which he does not. Luther is excommunicated.

Now back to the secular festivities. The emperor calls Luther to appear before the Diet of Worms. At this meeting, an order to have his books sequestered is issued. Princes who support Luther hope that this meeting will be the pivotal event to weaken Rome’s political power over Germany. A lot is at stake here. Throughout his journey to Worms he was welcomed enthusiastically and cheered on by the people.

Luther appeared before the emperor twice at Worms and was told at both audiences to recant his teachings. He replies:

“Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason

I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils,

for they have contradicted each other – my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”(4)

When they left Worms, the emperor issued an Imperial Act formally condemning Luther’s teachings and saying that he was an outlaw. This meant that he could be killed by anyone without fear of punishment. During the journey home, and by prior plan, Luther was “taken hostage”. This was a plan laid by his friend Friedrick the Wise so that he could protect Luther without being held liable for protecting an outlaw and heretic.

But the deed was done. The reformation was under way. He is so popular now that in spite of more edicts condemning him, he is never arrested. Up until now Luther had maintained his vocation. From now on he removes the religious habit, and begins to live a secular life. He marries and has a family.

Finally, 10 short years after he started, The First Imperial Diet of Speyer makes Protestant reforms legal. This leads to a complete severing of temporal ties between Germany and Rome. By the end of this year Germany was for all intents and purposes entirely Protestant.

Discussion

There are several interesting perspectives with which to view the plights of the three individuals mentioned in this paper. Jeanne is stopped before she becomes “bigger” than herself, whereas Luther’s transition into that state of “big-ness” is probably what saved his life. Luther is a priest used by nobility to break the strangle hold that the church has on Germany. This begs the question, if Luther had not gone along with the Protestant break with Rome, but instead chose to work with Rome to change from the inside, would the nobility of Germany still have backed and protected him? Luther and Dante both challenge Rome, and Rome bites back by trying to kill them. Secular nobility saves both of them. Jeanne and corrupt church officials are both used by the secular. Jeanne herself was used by the church and the government for their own best interest, then abandoned when her task was completed.

Another interesting perspective, and I expect the impetus for another paper entirely, is that of origin of task. Dante and Luther both challenged Rome’s authority in the secular world by virtue of their education and intellect. They are products of intense study and reasoning. Their arguments are strongly rooted in philosophical argument and no doubt the logic of Aristotle. Jeanne, on the other hand, receives her task by “supernatural” means. She is uneducated. Her simplicity and piety moves her accusers somewhat, but it is not enough to save her. It is also interesting to note that there is no credibility issue with Jeanne. There is no question about whether or not she hears voices. The pseudo challenge is who the voices are: demons or saints. I do not believe that the supernatural context of her task has anything to do with the church and the secular succeeding in her murder. I believe that the real reason for their success was only because she was a female. Being young, uneducated and male would have brought different results.

The direction that I am going to take my discussion, however juicy the previous paragraph is, is in the area of church and government expedience. In the case of the church the pattern of response to dissent seems to be: “if you mess with us, we’ll kill you”, possibly followed by arrogant tolerance. In the case of government, the first response is “can we get something out of this” followed by “how can we spin this so we can get something out of it” and last “well if we can’t get anything out of it, we’re going to have to kill you”.

These three individuals were used and abused by both church and government. Church and government tolerated their exploits as long, and only as long as it was in their best interest to do so.

It seems to me that Jeanne got the worst of it. During her trial the church denied itself to her. She was an ignorant peasant. The church was the human representation of the salvation of her soul. In spite of the fact that she never ever challenged the church’s authority or dogma, she was tried and convicted and executed. This was allowed to happen for a secular purpose and a church purpose. The secular purpose was that England could not have it be known that an ignorant peasant girl was responsible for leading France to victory over them. If they found a way to kill her in the secular realm they would have been seen as monsters. So they used the church to do it. The church cooperated because it was in their best interest to do so. They could not have the myth of the “Maid of Orleans” become a reality. They could not have someone ordained by God get in the way of their power and control. France did nothing to help her because they’d gotten what they needed from her, and it was not in their best interest to go any further. They could not have a peasant girl serving as advisor and confidant to the ruling monarch in spite of the fact that she was the conduit for a miracle from God. So she was eliminated.

Then, of course, there is the feminist angle. No man will stand in defense of a woman, but they will enjoy the benefits of her labor. And they will even go so far as to encourage it if there is something in it for them. The church certified her as acceptable before her first campaign. France accepted her efforts with the crown in view. Once those goals were achieved, there was no ethical tug to do the right thing – after all, she’s just a peasant girl. This is not new, in America women in the same job, with the same experience and education as their male counterparts are paid 85% of what a man is paid. There is no mandate for enforcement of “equal pay for equal work” from the government. Our church does not demand this either, but the church will jump up and down about gay people getting married.

Dante was allowed and encouraged to challenge the involvement of Rome in the government of Florence so long as the White Guelphs really thought that they had a chance to overpower the Blacks. Once that dream was dashed to pieces, and it is known that he is not a popular favorite (like Luther was), the church tries to eliminate him. Dante never challenged the authority of Rome! He challenged the connection to the secular. In the case of Dante the church uses government to attempt to squash what it perceives as a threat. Dante was banished from his home of Florence and spent his life wandering from friends house to friends house. Because of his noble blood, there was always a friend to take him in.

Luther was used by the nobility of Germany to try to break the stronghold that Rome had upon it. Because of his personal popularity, it was difficult for the church to actually cause any harm to come to him. Luther became a friend of the people when he passed German translations of the scriptures to the common people, started saying mass in German, and allowed the laity to receive communion from the cup (a privilege reserved for church hierarchy). In Luther’s case, since the government wanted Rome out, there was no way for Rome to use German law or German government to eliminate him. The church cuts its losses and backs down when Luther becomes more than Luther the man. When Luther becomes a movement for change and reformation. It is too big to stop and the church of Rome will never be the same.

During the time of Jeanne, Dante, and Luther,

The bottom line is:

If you piss off the church, it will try to kill you.

If you’re a guy with money or noble blood, you will always

have friends who will take you in.

If you’re a guy and you have something that

government wants, they will protect you.

If you’re a girl, you’re out of luck because no man will ever

stand to defend you, be it church or government.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jeanne d’Arc

Websites:

Distinguished Women of Past and Present,