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Secondary sourceDocument1913

St. Joan of Arc (Catholic Encyclopedia entry)

Charles G. Herbermann and others · 1913

A 1913 reference article on Joan of Arc's life and sainthood, from the Catholic Encyclopedia. It gives a scholarly overview of her birth at Domremy, her family and her trial.

This reference article summarises Joan of Arc's life, the figure this archive is about, for later readers.

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About this source

What it is

This is an encyclopedia entry on Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), published in the Catholic Encyclopedia in 1913. It was edited by Charles G. Herbermann and others and published in New York. The article opens by giving her birthplace as Domremy in Champagne, probably on 6 January 1412, and her death at Rouen on 30 May 1431.

Why it matters

The article describes the conflict between the Armagnacs, the party of Charles VII, and the Burgundians, who were allied with the English. It explains that Domremy had stayed loyal to Charles. It also says that Joan's father, Jacques d'Arc, was a peasant farmer, and that witnesses in her rehabilitation process described her as a pious child. Because it is a later reference work, it reflects how the Church and later writers understood her life.

Look closer

  • Which details in the article come from witnesses, and which come from the writer's own judgment?
  • Why might a Catholic encyclopedia from 1913 emphasise Joan's piety and sainthood?
  • What parts of Joan's life does this short opening leave out?

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