As a side-note to the issue of the Rehabilitation's fairness in terms of representing the mix of views on Joan:
It should be noted that the relatively few number of anti-Joan witnesses is largely nothing more than a reflection of the mix of opinion even during the war itself: there are many letters, chronicles, and other sources from people throughout Europe who were supportive of Joan during her campaigns, whereas the anti-Joan views tend to come only from Anglo-Burgundian sources and from those who received their information from them - such as Johannes Nider, whose information came from a pro-English partisan named Nicolas Lami [sometimes confused with Midi, another pro-English partisan who served at Joan's trial], with the result that Nider's information is just a copy of the standard English propaganda. Outside of this small group, however, we find a different view throughout Europe: the German Emperor's treasurer wrote a sympathetic piece about her during her campaigns themselves, and a portrait of her was being publicly displayed to admiring Germans around the same time; an Italian reported that Joan was considered a saint "come down to earth"; nobles outside of France sometimes asked her to intervene in their own disputes; and masses were being held in her honor in many cities. In short, the mix of views at the Rehabilitation tends to mirror the breakdown of opinion in the wider arena of Europe.

copyright © 2003, Allen Williamson All rights reserved.