medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I don't have the precise version of Merlin's prophecy, interpreted as being
about Jeanne d'Arc, but Christine de Pisan's Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc (1429)
refers to it, and you may be able to trace it through the sources below. The
following comes from http://www.smu.edu/ijas/cdepisan/text.html - an online
version of a scholarly edition of the *Ditié* edited by Angus J. Kennedy and
Kenneth Varty (originally published by the Society for the Study of Mediæval
Languages and Literature, Oxford, 1977):
Car Merlin et Sebile et Bede,
Plus de Vc ans a la virent
En esperit, et pour remede
En France en leurs escripz la mirent,
Et leur[s] prophecies en firent,
Disans qu'el pourteroit baniere
Es guerres françoises, et dirent
De son fait toute la maniere.
(for more than 500 years ago, Merlin, the Sibyl and Bede
foresaw her coming, entered her in their writings as
someone who would put an end to France's troubles,
made prophecies about her, saying that she would carry
the banner in the French wars and describing all that
she would achieve.)
The textual notes to this edition say: "In this huitain Christine is
referring to a number of prophecies which were circulating at the time and
which were applied to Joan once she had embarked on her mission. A prophecy
attributed to Merlin in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae
('Ex nemore canuto puella eliminabitur ut medelae curam adhibeat') was
popularly taken to refer to Joan, 'ex nemore canuto' being interpreted as
'from the Bois-Chenu' of Domrémy. Joan herself seems to have been aware of
this prediction (see Quicherat, op.cit. 1, p.68). At the Trial of
Rehabilitation (1450-56) Merlin's prophecy was referred to briefly by Pierre
Miget (Quicherat op.cit. 3, p.133) and discussed in detail by Jean Bréhal
(Quicherat op.cit. 3, pp.339-344). For allusions to Merlin's prophecies in
two fifteenth-century chronicles, the Registre Delphinal and the
Scotichronicon, see Quicherat op.cit., 4, p.305, p.480."
Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere on the web site precisely what "op." is
being "cit." regarding Quicherat, but at a guess it's *Procès de
condamnation et de réhabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc : dite la Pucelle, publiés
pour la première fois d'après les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque royale,
suivis de tous les documents historiques qu'on a pu réunir, et accompagnés
de notes et d'éclaircissements* par Jules Quicherat. -- Paris : J.
Renouard, 1841-49 ; New York : Johnson Reprint Corp., [1965].
I do have a more precise reference regarding where in Geoffrey of Monmouth's
History the prophecy comes, but just not at hand right now: I can send it
when I have it if you like. I'm not sure how precise Quicherat is on the
prophecy. Apparently in its early 15th c version, it may have stemmed from
the prophecies of Marie Robine, also known as Marie of Avignon, who told
Charles VI that a Maid would come after her, wearing armour, and deliver the
kingdom of France from its enemies. I'm afraid I don't have a good reference
for this, as it comes from one of my students' papers (unreferenced!). But
possibly the notes to Régine Pernoud, *Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her
Witnesses* would be a place to start.
Shannon McSheffrey
Associate Professor of History
Concordia University
LB-601, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. W.
Montreal, QC Canada H3G 1M8
[log in to unmask]
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~shannon
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