St. Joan of Arc is a constant source of inspiration for Western artists, particularly in the United States, who have made this 13th-century saint the heroine of so many of their contemporary works — sometimes on the basis of the most fanciful narratives, ideologically far removed from the life and work of the Maid of Orleans, reducing her to a feminist icon or a figurehead of the class struggle.   

 A recent article on CNN examined why, 600 years after her birth, she is still held up as an admired figure in pop culture. The author describes her as the ultimate expression of feminine power, having succeeded in changing the course of French history by crowning a king, Charles VII, despite her modest background. The piece also notes a resurgence of references to the French saint in recent months in the culture world, from singer Chappell Roan’s performance at the VMAs, to the futuristic horsewoman dressed by the self-declared “genderless” designer Jeanne Friot at the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony, and, most recently, director Baz Luhrmann’s announcement of a forthcoming film. 

 From literature to cinema, from music to fashion and even manga, few historical figures can boast of having been the muse of so many artists, for better or for worse. 

Where does this enduring popularity come from? Historically speaking, it is relatively recent, having only begun to emerge in the 19th century, several centuries after her death. One reason for this is that no comprehensive historiographical work existed prior to the publication of Procès de condamnation et de réhabilitation de Jeanne d’Arc (“Joan of Arc’s Trials of Condemnation and Rehabilitation”) by Jules Quicherat in the 1840s.    

The story of her life struck a chord with the French intellectual elite of the time, particularly the republican and anticlerical movements who saw her as a model of strength and moral rectitude in the face of a decadent monarchy and as a victim of the institutional Church. 

As the heroine who freed France from England during the 100 Years’ War, she was obviously an ideal figure of resistance to foreign invaders in the war propaganda of the first half of the 20th century. 

The popularization of this patron saint of France in the U.S. came about mainly through feminist movements campaigning for women’s suffrage, as French historian William Blanc pointed out in a 2019 article, citing as an example the founding of the “Joan of Arc Suffrage League” in New York in 1909.  

He also suggested that this romantic vision of a democracy pioneer was imbued in the American imaginary by the book Joan of Arc of the fiercely anti-clerical novelist Mark Twain in 1896, in which she is directly compared to Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish soldier famous for being the victim of a judicial conspiracy in 19th-century France. 

“The Maid of Orleans, a young woman taking on men’s clothes, has indeed become in recent years an androgynous figure who questions the boundaries between genders,” Blanc wrote, also referring, in support of his demonstration, to American writer Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2017 dystopian novel the Book of Joan, which describes the struggle of a young woman named Joan against a dictator, Jean de Men, in a world ruined by ecological crisis. She is supported in her resistance by a self-declared gender-fluid character named Christine (in reference to the great medieval poet Christine de Pizan).   

 “One thing is certain: her representation, constantly reinvented to suit different eras and audiences, will no longer have much in common with the prophetess of the Middle Ages,” the historian commented. 

But these forms of hijacking, however haphazard and misplaced, bear witness to an unquenchable thirst for models of greatness and purity of soul, which tends to transcend all ideological divides. It is a sign of the times that has not escaped the notice of Catholic youth and one that they intend to capitalize on by evangelizing this collective thirst, which also crosses borders. 

This is reflected by initiatives such as Jean d’Arc 600, a large prayer and training network based on the saint’s legacy launched to mark the sixth centenary of her birth, and the multiplication of pilgrimages to revisit the stages of her life in her native country. 

The main challenge nowadays lies in making her admirers worldwide aware that her entire life was “a proof of the existence of God,” as Pope Benedict XV put it on the occasion of Joan of Arc’s canonization on May 16, 1920. 

It was indeed a salutary reminder from the Pope, who wittily added that all those who had tried to explain her life and work without God “got lost in a labyrinth of inextricable mazes.”  

“France is rightly proud of Joan,” he declared, “and the Holy Church triumphs in her too!” 

This piece was updated after posting.