Joan of Arc Impersonator

In Johannes Nider’s Fornaticus, he writes of a woman who dresses as a man, performs many miracles and claims to be the infamous Joan of Arc, reincarnated. It is thought that the woman he speaks of is none other than Jeanne (Claude) des Armoises.

Jeanne des Armoises was originally known as Claude de Sermaise; her new name began to be recognized after much convincing. It was believed by many that she was from the village of Sermaise, a place where the true Joan had frequently visited.

She was one of the many women that passed themselves off as Joan of Arc. However, she was the most believed and even convinced the real Joan’s brothers Jean and Pierre that she was their sister. Moreover, she convinced an aristocrat named Nicole Louve that she was the real Joan. He believed her because of her appearance and various details, such as the placement of her wounds. Nicole provided her with a horse and escort to confront King Charles VII.1

Jeanne travelled for 3 weeks with the nobles and the brothers of Joan. She found herself in Arlon, the court of princess Elisabeth of Luxembourg, where she was put in charge of a mercenary military unit sent to Cologne to support Manderscheid. She arrived there as the head of the military until August 1436.2

The main cause for her deception to continue for so long was because in the Middle Ages it was difficult to be certain about anything and there was no way for many to prove the Joan really died. Information circulation was not very good in those times.3

Her time in Cologne brought about many stories of her, pertaining to miracles she had allegedly performed. “They said that in the presence of all she tore a big cloth, which in the sight of all she restored to its original state. Then she grabbed a glass and threw her against the wall so that it crashed. But made it back to an undamaged condition and did other useless things”.4

Eventually, Jeanne had to flee Cologne and return to Arlon to hide from the inquisitor that was chasing her.5 However, she did end up facing excommunication by the inquisitor for witchcraft, wearing men’s clothing, and for giving support given to an excommunicated person as a candidate for bishop.

Jeanne married a widowed aristocrat named Robert des Armoises with 2 children.6 On the marriage document she had “Jehanne du Lys – La pucelle de France”, Jehanne du Lys is the name King Charles VII gave to the real Joan of Arc. Jeanne des Armoises lived to the prime age of 20.

  1. J. Van Herwaarden, Dirk Arend. Berents, D. E. H. De. Boer, and Marina Warner, Joan of Arc, Reality and Myth, (Netherlands: Verloren, 1994), 92.
  2. Calmet, Augustin, François Jean-Baptiste. Noël, and Auguste Prost. Histoire De Lorraine. Paris: Éd. Du Palais Royal, 1973.
  3. Herwaarden, Joan of Arc, 90.
  4. lbid, 93.
  5. Nider, Johannes. Formicatus. Douai. 1602.
  6. Marie-Véronique Clin. Jeanne d’Arc, (Paris, France: Le Cavalier Bleu, 2003), 68.