Claude des Armoises
In 15th century France, the name ‘Joan of Arc’ was widely known, even among illiterate peasants living far from the main cities. However, few people actually knew what the legendary “Maid of Orleans” looked like. It’s no surprise, then, that several women came forward claiming to be Joan. Even the real Joan of Arc’s death in Nay 1431 didn’t stop such women coming forward. Indeed, the most famous example of someone presenting themselves as Joan of Arc came several months after the legendary warrior-saint was burned at the stake. Remarkably, the claimant was not only believed by illiterate peasants but by several people who actually knew the real Joan.
Claude des Armoises – who also went by the name Jeanne la Pucelle – first appeared close to the city of Metz, in May 1436, around five years after Joan of Arc’s grisly end. She claimed that she was Joan of Arc and, while she acknowledged that she had been burned at the stake, she went so far as to claim that divine intervention meant that she had miraculously survived. Many people living in Metz did indeed agree: this was Joan. What’s more, Joan’s own brothers, Jean and Pierre, confirmed she was the real deal, as did the aristocrat Nicole Louve. The rich Louve gave her some money and a horse and the three siblings headed to Orleans and then to other towns and cities across France.
This ‘resurrection’ tour carried on for an incredible six years. Everywhere Claude des Armoises went she divided opinion. Some, including nobles who had fought at the side of Joan of Arc, believed her claims, while others dismissed her as a fraud. However, Claude too the deception too far. Around the year 1400 or 1401, she managed to gain an audience with King Charles VI. The French monarch had met with the real Joan of Arc and she had revealed to him a secret which, in his eyes, proved she had been sent by God to help him defeat the English. Could she repeat this secret to him? She could not. According to some records, it was at this point that Claude confessed to being an imposter and begged his forgiveness.
Little is known of the later years of her life. It’s known that she married the knight Robert des Armoises and started a family with him. However, after she gave up pretending to be Joan of Arc, she largely vanished from history. She left behind a mysterious legacy. Even today, the debate over why so many people believed that Joan of Arc had survived her execution and come back to them continues to occupy scholars of the period. Similarly, the motivations of Claude and other women who pretended to be Joan remains a mystery.