Editing Joan of Arc (section)

==Visions==

[[File:Jeanne d' Arc (Eugene Thirion).jpg|thumb|upright|''Jeanne d'Arc écoutant les voix'' by Eugène Thirion (1876, Notre Dame Church, Ville de Chatou)|alt=Joan seated and looking forward with her furled banner while an angel whispers in her ear. An armored figure with fleur-de-lys banner is blowing a horn in the background.]]
Joan's visions played an important role in her condemnation, and her admission that she had returned to heeding them led to her execution.{{sfnm|Gies|1981|1p=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclegendr0000gies/page/217 217]|Hobbins|2005|2pp=[https://archive.org/details/trialofjoanofarc00dani/page/24 24–25]|Taylor|2006|3p=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclapucel00unse/page/33 33]}} Theologians of the era believed that visions could have a supernatural source.{{sfnm|Gies|1981|1pp=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclegendr0000gies/page/24 24]|Taylor|2006|2pp=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclapucel00unse/page/13 13], [https://archive.org/details/joanofarclegendr0000gies/page/27 27]}} The assessors at her trial focused on determining the specific source of Joan's visions,{{sfnm|Gies|1981|1p=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclegendr0000gies/page/24 24]|Sullivan|1996|2p=[https://archive.org/details/freshverdictsonj0000unse/page/86 86]|Weiskopf|1996|3p=[https://archive.org/details/freshverdictsonj0000unse/page/127 127]}} using an ecclesiastical form of {{lang|li|discretio spirituum}} ([[discernment of spirits]]).{{sfn|Sullivan|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/interrogationofj00sull/page/32 32]}} Because she was accused of heresy, they sought to show that her visions were false.{{sfn|Taylor|2006|p=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclapucel00unse/page/29 29]}} The rehabilitation trial nullified Joan's sentence, but did not declare her visions authentic.{{sfnm|Gies|1981|1p=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclegendr0000gies/page/236 236]|Lightbody|1961|2p=[https://archive.org/details/judgementsofjoan0000ligh/page/140 140]|Warner|1981|3p=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarcimageof0000warn/page/190 190] }} In 1894, [[Pope Leo XIII]] pronounced that Joan's mission was divinely inspired.{{sfn|Kelly|1996|pp=[https://archive.org/details/freshverdictsonj0000unse/page/222 220–223]}}

Modern scholars have discussed possible neurological and psychiatric causes for her visions.{{sfnm|Harrison|2014|1pp=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclifetra0000harr/page/35 35–36]|Henker|1984|2loc=[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6390693/ abstract]|Schildkrout|2017|3loc=[https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17080948 §6]}} Her visions have been described as hallucinations arising from [[epilepsy]]{{sfnm|1a1=d'Orsi|1a2=Tinuper|1y=2006|1loc=[https://www.epilepsybehavior.com/article/S1525-5050(06)00175-2/fulltext abstract]|2a1=Foote-Smith|2a2=Bayne|2y=1991|2loc=[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1991.tb05537.x abstract]|3a1=Nicastro|3a2=Fabienne|3y=2016|3loc=[https://www.epilepsybehavior.com/article/S1525-5050(15)00698-8/fulltext abstract]}} or a temporal lobe [[tuberculoma]].{{sfn|Ratnasuriya|1986|p=[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014107688607900413 235]}} Others have implicated [[Ergot#Effects on humans, other mammals and LSD|ergot poisoning]],{{sfn|Sherman|Zimmerman|2008|loc=[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J053v02n03_08 abstract]}} [[schizophrenia]],{{sfn|Allen|1975|pp=[https://web.archive.org/web/20131228212724/https://www.medievalists.net/files/09012321.pdf 4–7]}} [[delusional disorder]],{{sfn|Mackowiak|2007|p=[https://archive.org/details/postmortemsolvin0000mack/page/140 140]}} or creative [[psychopathy]] induced by her early childhood rearing.{{sfn|Henderson|1939|ps=, cited in {{harvnb|Ratnasuriya|1986|p=[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014107688607900413 234]}}}} One of the [[Devil's advocate|Promoters of the Faith]] at her 1903 canonization trial argued that her visions may have been manifestations of [[hysteria]].{{sfn|Kelly|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/freshverdictsonj0000unse/page/220 220]}} Other scholars argue that Joan created some of the visions' specific details in response to the demands of the interrogators at her trial.{{sfnm|Huizinga|1959|1pp=[https://archive.org/details/menideashistoryt00huiz/page/223 223–224]|Sullivan|1996|2pp=[https://archive.org/details/freshverdictsonj0000unse/page/104 104–105]|Taylor|2009|3pp=[{{Google books|id=sV9kFj3O1noC|pg=PT37|plainurl=yes}} 37]–[{{Google books|id=sV9kFj3O1noC|pg=PT38|plainurl=yes}} 38]|Warner|1981|4pp=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarcimageof0000warn/page/130 130–131]}}

Many of these explanations have been challenged;{{sfn|Phillips|Fallon|Majeed|Meador|2023}}
{{efn| For example, {{harvnb|Mackowiak|2007|pp=[https://archive.org/details/postmortemsolvin0000mack/page/138 138–139]}} points out problems with assuming Joan had schizophrenia, ergot poisoning or temporal lobe issues; {{harvnb|Hughes|2005|loc= [https://www.epilepsybehavior.com/article/S1525-5050(04)00354-3/fulltext abstract]}} disputes the conjecture that she had epilepsy; {{harvnb|Nores|Yakovleff|1995|loc =[https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/119218 abstract]}} argue against her visions being caused by tuberculosis; one of Joan's advocates at the canonization trial pointed out that her case did not meet the clinical descriptions of hysteria;{{sfn|Kelly|1996|p=[https://archive.org/details/freshverdictsonj0000unse/page/222 222]}} and {{harvnb|Ratnasuriya|1986|pp=[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014107688607900413 234–235]}} critiques diagnosing Joan as a creative psychopath.}} the trial records designed to demonstrate that Joan was guilty of heresy are unlikely to provide the objective descriptions of symptoms needed to support a medical diagnosis.{{sfn|de Toffol|2016|p=81|ps=: "it would seem very difficult to defend a medical diagnosis that was based on this available information [the trial record]. The format of the&nbsp;... interrogation does not allow one to gather the necessary facts about the symptoms&nbsp;... the orientation of the questions aimed at achieving a guilty verdict and the thinking of that era both serve to weaken the capacity to conclude a valid medical diagnosis."}}

Joan's firm belief in the divinity of her visions strengthened her confidence, enabled her to trust herself,{{sfnm|DeVries|1999|1pp=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780750918053/page/38 38–39]|1ps=|Gies|1981|2p=[https://archive.org/details/joanofarclegendr0000gies/page/28 28]|2ps=|Henderson|1939|3p=|3ps=, cited in {{harvnb|Ratnasuriya|1986|p=[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014107688607900413 234]}}|Schildkrout|2017|4loc=[https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17080948 §8]|4ps=}} and gave her hope during her capture and trial.{{sfn|Sullivan|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/interrogationofj00sull/page/140 140]}}