Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan: Hope, Myth, Legacy

In this event we will explore the myth and legacy of Joan of Arc and her contemporary, Christine de Pizan. Leading medieval French scholar, Dr Charlotte Cooper-Davis, will explore the sense of hope that Joan of Arc inspired, namely for the writer Christine de Pizan.

Pizan was an influential proto-feminist writer, who, having had retired some 10 years prior, decided to take up the pen again to compose poem Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc (The Tale of Joan of Arc): an optimistic poem celebrating Joan’s incredible achievements, believing it to be a dawn of new age for womanhood.

The evening will also see a panel discussion between Dr Charlotte Cooper-Davis and Sophie Wrigglesworth, 4th year MML student who did her Year Abroad Project on Joan of Arc through the eyes of Christine de Pizan. At the end we will screen Robert Bresson’s acclaimed courtroom drama The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962), with the script based on the actual transcript of Joan’s trial.

The event will take place in Buckingham House.

Host or Publisher Murray Edwards College