Sacrifice of Joan of Arc - Essay Example

The female clothing had been removed from her cell leaving her with the option of only the clothing for men. This clearly shows that she was set up and convicted of the offense of heresy (Halsall, 2013).

The trial shows that Joan was merely set up by the religious leaders who were merely after political power and organized how she could be sentenced on trumped-up charges. The bishop had also made sure that he chose biased and timid assessors who misquoted the defense of Joan with the sole aim of finding her guilty (Halsall, n.d). This also included the falsification of evidence and the threatening of the assessors, which just led to her conviction despite her pleas to be tried by an unbiased tribunal headed by the pope. After being found guilty, the court further prepared for her execution by burning her at the marketplace. Joan, therefore, died a martyr as recorded on May 30 by Maugier Leparmentier who writes... “And in the fire, she cried more than six times "Jesus". The usher Jean Massieu also weighed in that Joan had died to “proclaim and confess aloud the holy name of Jesus”. This clearly shows the conviction that Joan had in whatever she had carried out as that bordering on martyrdom. Therefore, it can be seen from the trial that it was carried out through intimidation and putting her under duress to swear allegiance to the church as it was then constituted.

It is also important to note that the trial of Joan of Arc was mainly inspired by the interests of the English to claim that the coronation of Charles as the king had been under the guidance of the devil and so they convicted her of witchcraft. This development in the trial process was also informed by the desire of the English troops to demoralize the French troops who had made some victories in some wars while at the same time curtailing the dwindling fortunes of the English troops (Halsall, 2013).

These were confirmed by the confirmation of Joan as a saint as an inquiry ordered by the Pope found that the sentence made by Cauchon was erroneous and therefore nullity. This confirmed the sainthood of Joan who had been wrongly convicted for disobeying the church, heresy, and witchcraft. The conviction was wrong as Joan had led a lifestyle of prayer and adherence to the teachings of the Catholic Church, which advocated for righteous living and chaste. Her trial was therefore illegal as it was carried out by a person hell-bent on achieving political purposes, which was laid bare when she was declared a saint. Read More