Joan of Arc has been everything to everyone: saint, witch, nationalist mascot, feminist icon, medieval teenager who simply refused to stay in her lane. In this episode, we cut through six centuries of myth to get to the girl in the armor — the one who heard divine voices, out-strategized grown men, terrified theologians, and paid for it with her life.
We look at how a France in crisis accidentally created its most enduring symbol, how Joan’s gender-bending authority sparked a medieval moral panic, and how her trial was less a quest for truth than a masterclass in patriarchal damage control.
And because we’re Bitchy History, we also trace Joan’s unlikely afterlife: from canonized saint to suffragette poster girl to “girlboss” before the term existed — and why exceptional women like Joan often become symbols while systemic change stays conveniently off-limits.
It’s a story about faith, politics, misogyny, nationalism, witchcraft panic, and the dangerous power of a woman who actually believes her own voice.
Additional Reading:
Daniel Hobbins (trans.) – The Trial of Joan of Arc
Definitive English translation of her 1431 heresy trial. Essential.
British Library Digitized Manuscripts:
Egerton MS 984 (condemnation trial) & Stowe MS 84 (rehabilitation trial)
Some of the most important surviving documents of medieval Europe.
Helen Castor – Joan of Arc: A History
The gold standard narrative history — detailed, vivid, and non-hagiographic.
Françoise Meltzer – “Joan of Arc in America”
On how Americans mythologized Joan as everything from patriotism to purity.
Karma Waltonen – “Saint Joan: From Renaissance Witch to New Woman”
Excellent analysis of Shaw’s Saint Joan and Joan’s modern feminist reclamation.
Elizabeth Fox-Genovese – “Culture and Consciousness in the Intellectual History of European Women”
Essential for understanding why Joan was threatening to patriarchal structures.
Mark Twain – Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
Surprisingly earnest and historically grounded — his personal passion project.
George Bernard Shaw – Saint Joan
The most influential literary reimagining of Joan’s trial and personality.
