Samuel Langhorne Clemens, hereafter Mark Twain, tells a captivating, historically accurate version of Joan of Arc’s life in his Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. As a storyteller first and historian second, he plays with fact and fiction in all sorts of ways to entertain the reader and guide him through an investigation into the Truth of Joan’s life, something my class calls construction of memoir.

He does this primarily through his narrator, Sieur Louis de Conte, and two other characters. Each represent distinct historical renderings who Joan was.

Sieur Louis de Conte – Sincere Historian

The fictitious character of Sieur Louis de Conte is Joan’s lifelong friend and confidante. His unique relationship with Joan allows him to narrate the story from the perspective of an eyewitness. For example, Twain places Sieur Louis off in the shadows during one of Joan’s heavenly visions. He appoints Sieur Louis to the position of page and secretary when Joan assumes military command of the French army. Finally, he even gives Sieur Louis a front row seat as a scribe during her trial and condemnation in an ecclesiastical court controlled by the English.

His presence at these key periods makes him the perfect person to describe the “real” Joan. Indeed, Sieur Louis’s narration continually reminds the reader that he was there to see things with his own eyes. He even goes so far as to swear under oath that he is truthfully testifying to Joan’s life just as it was.

Behind this feigned presence, however, Twain masterfully tells another story, a story about the construction of memoir in all its possibilities and limitations. He offers subtle clues throughout the text that he believes Joan was really called by God. Yet, he continually admonishes the reader to make their own determination and to be skeptical of even first-hand accounts such as Sieur Louis’s. In fact, Twain cleverly warns the reader there is more to Sieur Louis than what meets the eye. Not only is he Joan’s confidante, but he is also Twain’s alter-ego.

It is no coincidence that Twain’s real name, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, carries the same initials as Sieur Louis de Conte. Nor is it accidental that “conte” means “story” in French, thereby symbolizing Twain’s ultimate hand in the writing of Joan’s memoir. In this way, Twain readily acknowledges the inevitable insertion of the author into the construction of memoir, something most memoirs often ignore in an attempt to sound objective even when they could not possibly be so.

Twain’s voice through the character of Sieur Louis seems to whisper between the lines, “Believe in Joan’s spiritual calling because you have sincerely questioned it, not because you believe my sincerity in describing it.”

Edmond Aubrey, “The Paladin” – Misguided Historian

Edmond Aubrey, whom Twain ironically nicknames “The Paladin,” is also a fictitious character. He, too, knew Joan during her childhood and joined her military campaign, eventually becoming her standard bearer.

Aubrey delights in his nickname because it likens him to one of Charlemagne’s legendary knights. Thanks to his large ego, however, he is unable to see his sublime inferiority to them. Back in Domremy, he boasts to Joan and others of wanting to join the French war effort but must later be forcibly dragged off to do so. Once enlisted, he tells stories of his fearless magnificence in battle when, in reality, he continually seeks retreat. He even tells of being present at major events in Joan’s life, such as her first audience with King Charles, simply to give himself greater status.     

Like Sieur Louis, the Paladin weaves his story into that of Joan’s. Unlike Sieur Louis, though, the Paladin wants some of her glory and unabashedly lies to attain it. His distortions, however, are given playfully and without the intent of wounding Joan’s image. For him, lying is a type of innocent compulsion. He simply cares more for himself than her—at least at first.

The Paladin eventually undergoes a dramatic character transformation because of Joan. She tells him, “Of old you were a fantastic talker, but there is a man in you, and I will bring it out” (97). At last, he gains the courage he so long talked of and even dies in battle trying to protect Joan.

The Paladin is much like any of Joan’s historians who rejected her religious calling at first. Their conversion requires sincere, personal reflection alongside serious historical analysis. Like the Paladin, those historians were simply misguided at first and unable to place their faith in anyone or anything but themselves.

Pierre Cauchon – False Historian

Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, stands alone in Twain’s three representations of historians in that he is the only one who really existed. His corrupt leadership role in Joan’s trial of condemnation is well-documented as is his designation as a heretic in her posthumous trial of rehabilitation some twenty years later.

Cauchon’s singular goal was to find Joan guilty of heresy. He spent day after day of her five-month-long trial twisting her words, fabricating information, and altering court proceedings to suit his designs.

Twain clearly disrespected Cauchon and the false construction of Joan he proliferated. Through the voice of Sieur Louis, Twain calls him various insulting epithets such as “pig” and “bastard of Satan” (284, 224).  He even condemns Cauchon to Hell countless times.

There is little doubt Twain was disgusted by hypocritical men like Cauchon who feigned to represent Truth. Instead, Cauchon served his own self-interest and unremorsefully sentenced an innocent girl to death. Through Personal Recollections, Twain reminds the reader that even though men like Cauchon will always exist, men like Sieur Louis and the Paladin will nonetheless rise up to challenge them as well.

We’ll look at some of the types of historical constructions Twain was symbolically referencing in the next post.