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.At least fifty-three feature films have reached the screen, directedby, among others, Cecil B.DeMille, Carl Dreyer, Victor Fleming, Afterword 205Roberto Rossellini, Otto Preminger, Robert Bresson and JacquesRivette.Documentary films about her are legion.Joan of Arc is certainly an example of the victimized political pris-oner, of the hostage unjustly taken, betrayed by those to whom shewas devoted, oppressed by those who place power before people.Lone-ly in her suffering, terrified in the face of a dreadful death, she was atlast a sacrifice to a suffocating kind of fanaticism.Religious, psychological, philosophical and literary theories aboutJoan of Arc are still stockpiled, given new twists, sifted, discarded andtaken up again.But perhaps the essential truth about her is capturedin an affecting and powerful image that of a country girl in her fami-ly s garden, listening silently in the presence of the living God.Improb-ably, she becomes the sign that God is free to act as He wills to act, notas we presume He ought to act.Contrary to all expectations, she is areminder that God in His mercy often chooses the least obvious peoplefor greatness.His freedom is reflected in hers, for she responds in com-plete trust.Perhaps Joan makes no sense without this leap of faith inthe divine ingenuity.Joan of Arc, with her radical and incandescent confidence in Godand her unshakable belief in His love for the integrity of every nation,continues to claim our attention in the work of historians, philoso-phers, theologians and biographers; in the tropes of poets, playwrightsand novelists; in the creative imagination of painters, composers andfilmmakers.Almost six hundred years after her death at the age of nine-teen, there is no indication that she will quietly disappear. AcknowledgmentsNhis book could not have been written without the cooperationTand assistance provided by personnel at the following archivesand libraries: in Paris, the Centre Historique des Archives Nationales,the Bibliothèque Nationale and the Bibliothèque de l Assemblée Natio-nale; in Orléans, the Bibliothèque Municipale and the Centre Jeanned Arc; in London, the British Library; in Copenhagen, the RoyalLibrary, the National Library of Denmark and the University Library ofCopenhagen.I am equally grateful for the assistance of the International Joan ofArc Society/Société Internationale de l étude de Jeanne d Arc, a trea-sury of scholarly information gathered by professors, independentscholars and students.Among the scholars who have enriched our knowledge and percep-tions of Joan, I am grateful to several who took time to answer crucialquestions: Kelly DeVries, Loyola College (Baltimore, Maryland);Siobhan Nash-Marshall, College of St.Thomas (St.Paul, Minnesota);and Jane Marie Pinzino, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).My niece, Ann-Britt Elvin Andersen, enabled me to have quickaccess to rare volumes at the Royal Library, Copenhagen. 208 AcknowledgmentsIrene Mahoney, OSU, replied generously and extensively to myquestions about religious life in the Middle Ages.The producer and director Pamela Mason Wagner kindly provided acopy of her magnificent documentary, Joan of Arc Child of War, Soldierof God (2005).I am very fortunate indeed to be represented by my dear friend andagent of thirty years, Elaine Markson.I would have no career at all, orat least a far less happy one, without Elaine and her colleagues GaryJohnson, Geri Thoma and Julia Kenny.It was they who introduced meto Gideon Weil at HarperSanFrancisco as enthusiastic and support-ive an editor as any writer could hope to find.His intelligent and specificobservations much improved the text, and his friendship cheered mywork at every stage.Carolyn Allison-Holland was an expert productioneditor, and Priscilla Stuckey my keen-eyed and graceful copyeditor.In all my tasks and projects, I am sustained daily by the love andunfailing support of Ole Flemming Larsen, with whom I share my life.THE NAM E ON the dedication page is that of a film and television pro-ducer with a long list of credits.Respected by collaborators, admired bydirectors, and esteemed by everyone who has the good fortune to workwith her, Sue Jett is a woman of keen insights and deep sympathies.Courageous and generous, she would very quickly have secured theaffection of Joan of Arc.My life is much the better for Sue s loyalty andconfidence, her leavening humor and enduring friendship and for thehappy times I share with her and her husband, Paul Elliott, a remark-ably artistic cinematographer with equally impressive credits.I ammore grateful than I can say. NotesNNOTES TO CHAPTER ONE: OF WAR AND OCCUPATIONOn Jacques d Arc and the family, see esp.Pernoud and Clin, Joan of Arc, 221 22.Onthe name Darc or d Arc, see esp.Doncoeur, in Nouvelles Littéraires, no.1198 (1950)
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