Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte is an 1896 novel by Mark Twain which recounts the life of Joan of Arc. It is Twain's last completed novel, published when he was 61 years old.

The novel is presented as a translation by "Jean Francois Alden" of memoirs by Louis de Conte, a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc's page Louis de Contes. The novel is divided into three sections according to Joan of Arc's development: a youth in Domrémy, a commander of the army of Charles VII of France, and a defendant at trial in Rouen.

Introduction

The novel begins with a "Translator's Preface," a translator note on the "Peculiarity of Joan of Arc's History," and a foreword by Sieur Louis de Conte. The "Translator's Preface" offers a condensed overview of Joan of Arc's life, with heavy praise ("the character of Joan of Arc ... occupies the loftiest possible to human attainment"). The "Peculiarity" note explains that Joan of Arc's life is preserved in court documents and that the particulars are provided by Louis de Conte, who, the translator assures us, is reliable. The foreword is Sieur de Conte's writing from 1492 (Joan of Arc died in 1431) about his intimate relation to Joan of Arc: "I was with her from the beginning until the end"

Book One: In Domrémy

Book One begins with the birth of de Conte on January 6, 1410 in Neufchâteau, France and his parents' subsequent move to Paris. He relates his early childhood as chaotic with the city tormented by mobs, criminals, and other instabilities. In 1415, following the death of his family by a Burgundian raiding party, de Conte is sent to a small, rural, rudimentary village named Domrémy to live with the parish priest. Here, he meets young Joan d'Arc, an illiterate peasant. de Conte tells multiple incidents where Joan is shown to be the wisest, bravest, most virtuous child in Domrémy, such as her arguments to the priest on the fairies and her treatment of the wandering soldier and the criminal madman.

In Chapter VI and VII, de Conte recounts his seeing Joan converse with a divine entity and her explanation that she has been chosen by God to "win back France, and set the crown upon the head of His servant that is Dauphin and shall be King." The governor and the people in the Domrémy mock her when she openly announces this mission; her parents even keep her under watch. Nonetheless, Joan remains adamant.