Joan of Arc’s Prophetic Voices and Trial

Record summary

Joan of Arc reported voices and visions associated with saints and angels, and these claims became central to her military mission, political legitimacy, condemnation, and later rehabilitation. The 1431 condemnation transcript and 1450s nullification proceedings offer unusually important but mediated evidence. The case supports comparison of visionary authority, prophecy, gender, warfare, and ecclesiastical evaluation in late medieval Europe. Testimony was translated, edited, and elicited under legal conditions, while later Catholic and nationalist traditions shaped Joan’s image. The historical record does not settle the ontological status of her experiences.