Practicality or Unsexing Herself?

A lot of discussion centers around what motivations led to Joan “unsexing” herself.  Some people claim it is because she was a cross dresser or that she was distancing herself from her true self.  Saxo Grammaticus said that a female warrior would have to “’unsex’ herself, to abandon her true womanly nature and act with ‘virile ruthlessness’” (CP 24).  This was the opinion of a critic from the 13^th century.  The fact that historians still consider that she was “unsexing” herself today is rather odd.  Take for example Rosie the Riveter who was drawn to show both masculine and feminine traits.  Rosie took off the long dresses and put on the jeans and t-shirt that are a more practical choice to wear while riveting and welding.

Joan did not wear men’s clothing to “unsex” but to make it easier to ride a horse and fight.  It would be hard to ride a horse, in a position that would allow you to fight, in a dress.  To a no nonsense person like Joan it would make sense to trade in her long dresses for the britches and tights worn by men at the time.  When reading about Sichelgaita, a princess from Lombard, who, “was said to present a ‘fearsome’ sight when dressed in full armor…” it is hard to picture an armored skirt that could easily trip up even a skilled warrior.

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Course Packet

Google Images

A Widow or Warrior At Sea

In one of the articles discussed in class this week, Megan McLaughlin addresses the topic of women as warriors in the Middle Ages, like Joan of Arc. McLaughlin stresses that women often participated in war when it was required of them. This frequently happened during an “emergency” that would in essence enable or necessitate that a woman, usually of noble birth, forge a path in the male-dominated sphere of war if briefly (CP 26-27). The author also emphasizes it is more difficult to find an example of women simply, “fighting for their own purposes and apparently on the same basis as their male counterparts,” for which she cites a few well-known instances of widows in conflict with male relatives for landholdings (CP 26, 28). In this way, McLaughlin appears to separate women’s warring activities into two “types,” one based on the necessity of defense and one based on individual motivations, not strictly tied to defensive measures only. However, such typifying, to a degree, increases a sense of mutual exclusivity between the two that does not exist.

Women in war during the Middle Ages were able to act outside of gender norms because of arising “emergencies,” yet also took advantage of their entrance into the public sphere to advance their own aims further than simple defense required. One interesting example of this is Jeanne de Belleville or Jeanne de Clisson, who is also now legendarily known as the Lioness of Brittany. She was a French noblewoman in the fourteenth century, whose husband, Lord Olivier de Clisson, was executed by the French king as he was expected to have ties to the English in a time when the English and French crowns were vying for control of Brittany. Jeanne’s reaction was not only to save her life by fleeing to England, but rather to gather a small fleet and engage in naval warfare against France along the journey.¹ In an excerpt from the book, “Seafaring Women,” Dr. De Pauw describes Jeanne, saying, “She sold her jewels, bought and outfitted three ships, and then cruised along the coast of Normandy, attacking French vessels and ravaging the countryside.”²  In the case of Jeanne de Belleville, she was both a noblewoman and widow forced by circumstance and conflict to leave her home country, yet also a warrior in her own rights and in some ways, by choice. Much of her story is wrapped up in legend, but she still historically represents a woman who had to react, but did so to further her own cause.  

Was, as Jeanne de Belleville demonstrates, widowhood or in the case of Joan of Arc, virginity, essential to making war as a woman in the Middle Ages when it involved one’s “own purposes”?

Sources:

Course packet compiled by Dr. Wolbrink 2014

1.       http://www.jamesadamshistoricenterprises.com/treasuretrove/jeandeclisson.html

2.       http://www.navyandmarine.org/ondeck/1800seawomen.htm

Image: Google Images

 

Was Joan a lesbian?

This week’s class discussion we briefly focus on woman warrior during the middle ages. In our reading, McLaughlin mentions Saxo Grammaticus, he gave us a border line difference between what is usual and what is unusual for “normal” feminine behavior and military activity (CP). He describes women warriors who were “forgetful of their true selves” in that they “cultivated soldier’s skills” (CP). This quote reminds me of our Joan because she disguised herself with men clothing. If warfare was a unnatural activity for women at the time then it makes sense that any women who took on the role of a warrior to disguise themselves and in Saxo’s words,”a woman who undertook the role of warrior would be forced to “unsex” herself, to abandon her true womanly nature and act with “virile ruthlessness” (CP). Therefore that justifies Joan’s “strange” behavior of wearing men’s clothing. Historians have speculate that Joan's cross-dressing symbolize her confused sexuality. 

 Above is a image of Joan dressed as a warrior. 

What are your guys thoughts about Joans cross-dressing? Can we connect her cross-dressing as a confused symbol of her sexuality? Or can we just assume that she "unsex" herself to become a warrior? 

Sources: Course packet 

image: Google images

In the Arms of the Angel(s)?

The evolution of Joan’s differing answers in regards to the voice or voices she heard is readily depicted in artwork, with images that illustrate her varying descriptions. Historically speaking, it is known and recorded information (from the words of Joan herself at her Rouen trial) that the voice of God first appeared to Joan in her father’s garden, outside of her home. Joan described it as an angelic voice (note the mention of just one voice in her description). Upon further questioning Joan labels the voice as that of Saint Michael. The first image below depicts the scene Joan first described where Saint Michael himself spoke to her. Also interesting to note is the red attire Joan is illustrated in, a trademark often ascribed to Joan in artwork, as historians now know through testimony of several men who traveled with Joan, that she wore a red dress before changing into her solider apparel. The image also does not show Joan looking upon Saint Michael, but rather he is whispering into her ear, leaning down from the heavens. This idea of Joan not seeing but simply hearing the voice of Saint Michael is more akin to what her testimony describes, as she never relates to having seen a heavenly figure or saint, but merely hearing them and taking instruction.  

Jeanne d'Arc, by Eugène Thirion (1876). 

The second image below is more illustrative of Joan’s last testimony of the voice, during which she describes the formerly know "voice" as the “the vocies” and reveals the names of three saints who spoke to her in the garden: Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret. This image presumably depicts the two female saints Joan describes, although choosing not to depict Saint Michael is an intersting choice on the part of the artist. Again, Joan is depicted as wearing a form of red clothing, her traditionally illustrated pre-warrior garb. Differing from the first image, however, is the placement of the two saints, who are standing in front of Joan almost as if appearing in sight to her. However, Joan’s eyes are closed, as if in prayer. While neither image is historically perfect, the two pieces of artwork depict perhaps one of the greatest discrepancies throughout the Joan of Arc trial and testimony.

Saint Joan of Arc, by Howard Pyle (1919). 

How did Joan ride her horse?

In class and in our discussion today, Joan's ability to ride a horse was briefly mentioned. "One final point: many have wondered how she became able to ride a horse"(Pernound 2013). From what the text tells us, this was a bit of a dumb question because nearly every farm girl from Lorraine could ride a horse. Due to Joan sometimes switching from male to female disguises, there is a question raised. How did Joan adapt her riding style to suit what role she was playing? What were these different riding styles? (Pernound 2013).

After doing some digging around on the internet and with the help of the textbook, there were at least two common riding positions. Those positions were sidesaddle and traditional seated position. Some characteristics of the more traditional riding style involved strataling the horse's back with the legs on either side of the horse. At the time period of Joan of Arc, this kind of style was traditional in hunting and travel (Herbolsheimer 2001). However in the 15th century, women began to sit in a style called sidesaddle. This is where the woman sits on the specially shaped saddle and let both of her legs rest on one side of the horse. This kind of riding can be seen in events that involved ceremonial elements (Herbolsheimer 2001). Based on this knowledge, we know that Joan rode her horse the traditional way. This could have been an attest to the fact that with Joan's gender change, her riding styles would have had to change from something feminine to something masculine (Herbolshiemer 2001).

Work Cited:

"Medieval Women Riding and Hunting." Medieval Women Riding and Hunting. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.

Pernoud, Re. Joan of Arc by Herself and Her Witnesses. New York: Stein and Day, 1982. 44-45. Print.

The Spinning Wheel: A Reminder for Women?

  The article "Women at Work" in the course packet focuses on the lives of Medieval peasant women and the various jobs they undertook. One such job was spinning but Leyser, the author of this article, brought up an interesting idea that the invention of the spinning wheel was not in the interest of women.  According to Leyser, "Spinning wheels speeded up work, but, unlike spindles, they could not be carried around. They were an unsociable invention that would keep a woman in her place in a hitherto unaccustomed manner" (CP 147). Spinning has been an art form for centuries and it has traditionally been linked to women's work. But the argument that spinning wheels acted as a way to trap women within the home is an intriguing idea.
 Women in the Middle Ages provided for their households the same, if not more so, than their husbands. One of the most popular ways women earned an income was from spinning. According to John Styles, "Hand spinning- of wool, flax and increasingly cotton-became the principal income-generating activity pursued by women. For many of those women, it was also an essential means of furnishing their own families with textiles" (1). Spinning was a way in which women could provide directly for the household, such as clothing, but it also allowed women to earn money by selling the cloth to other women.
  Before the spinning wheel, women spun using a distaff. Through this process, women could spin anywhere thus they had more "freedom". However, the invention of the spinning wheel forced women inside the home. Women could no longer spin wherever they pleased. The spinning wheel forcefully reminded women that their place was in the home not outside of it.
Questions:
 1) Do you think the spinning wheel was created to force women to work within the home?
 2) Why do you think spinning has always been labeled as women's work?

Images:
-The first image shows a women inside the home at a spinning wheel.
-The second image shows a woman using a distaff, the precursor to the spinning wheel.

Works Cited
Leyser. "Women at Work." In Course packet compiled by Dr. Wolbrink, 2014.
Styles, John. "Spinning In The Era of the Spinning Wheel, 1400-1800." http://www.johnstyles.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/spinning.htm.
Images from Google