Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d’Arc, is a heroin from medieval France who was instrumental in Frances victory over English invasion. She believed that God was instructing her to lead the French army in victory against the English in order for France to be united under the rule of a French king. However, after the French king was crowned, Joan was arrested by the English and tried by the church for witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man. The importance placed upon Joan dressing in masculine attire during her trial is indicative of the threat she posed to the Church of England. The church’s influence on society in medieval England is showcased in Joan’s trial through her refusal to accept their authority as higher than the voices she hears. One of the church’s values that Joan threatened in relation to her masculine attire was her alleged direct communications with God’s messengers. When Joan was “asked if God ordered her to wear a man’s dress” for the first time, she answered that “she did not put it on, nor did she do aught, but by the command of God and the angels” . …show more content…
When the court “asked whether it seemed to her that this command to assume male attire was lawful” , she responded that “Everything [she] has done is at God’s command” . In saying this, Joan reaffirms that it only matters to her what God says is right, not what the church deems moral. Similarly, the court offers Joan to go to communion if she puts on a women’s dress but she refuses and claims that God would not care if she were dressed in men or women’s clothing. The church held the power to tell the citizens of England what they can and cannot do under the guise of speaking for God. When Joan refuses to submit to the church and instead chooses to listen the voices she believes come from God, it is a threat to the church that more people may soon find them