GailS
Unregistered User
(3/13/03 10:34:22 am)
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Maid of Lorraine
Found this online-hope it helps.
GailS
The CBS miniseries JOAN OF ARC started off by quoting a supposed prophecy made by Merlin, the magician of King Arthur's court: "It was said that after nearly a century of war this young maiden would unite her divided people and lead them to freedom."
This was, in fact, NOT a Merlin prophecy. According to the American historian, Albert Bigelow Paine, a generation before Joan's birth - the French mystic, Marie of Avignon, prophesied to the then King of France, Charles the Sixth, the following: "France, ruined by a woman, would be restored by a maid from the borders of Lorraine." Mr. Paine goes on to say that this prediction was fairly well known as Joan had heard and quoted it herself. A similar prophecy, attributed to the mythical Merlin concerning Bois Chenu, or Chesnu, seems not to have been known in Domremy and in fact had no connection with any forest in France. (This information came from Page 26 of volume 1 of Mr. Paine's two volume work JOAN OF ARC: MAID OF FRANCE.)
The fact that this film kept emphasizing the idea of the "legend" about the Maid of Lorraine and that the 'Joan' character kept denying it, is important to consider. It is significant for the reader to realize that during Joan's lifetime she NEVER used the title "Maid of Lorraine," nor did she ever use her father's surname "D'Arc." The only title Joan ever used for herself was "The Maid." This title emphasized her virginity and that she was God's servant.
The only conclusion that I can come to, for the miniseries over emphasizing of the term "Maid of Lorraine" and erroneously making the assumption that it was spoken by Merlin, was to give this film a "new age" flavor
More can be found at:
www.stjoan-center.com/cbs...revie.html
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