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Jacques d'Arc

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Farmer

The Resume

    (1380-1440)
    Born in Ceffonds, France
    Joan of Arc's father
    Owned roughly 50 acres in and around the village of Domrémy
    Held a local leadership position within the Domremy community ('doyen')
    Commemorated, along with his wife Isabelle Romee, with statues outside the basilica of Bois-Chenu, in Lorraine (unveiled in Sept. 1911)
    Portrayed by Powers Boothe in the mini-series 'Joan of Arc' (1999)

Why he might be annoying:

    As is usually the case with medieval peasants, few records exist as to his private life.
    He allegedly had a nightmare about his daughter going off with the army (according to his daughter's trial testimony).
    He forced his brothers to promise that, should she ever attempt such a thing, they would drown her. If they refused, he allegedly promised to do it himself.
    Pop culture tends to depict his and Joan's life before her fame as poverty-stricken but they would have been pretty comfortable, as Jacques held a position similar to that of a modern-precinct captain; charged with collecting taxes and heading the local watch (as such they were probably 'middle class' for the period).
    William Shakespeare added a scene in 'Henry VI Part I' (in which his daughter 'Jeanne La Pucelle' is the supernatural antagonist) where he arrives at the English prison to plead for his daughter's release. She angrily turns him away after insulting him (the scene has no historical basis).
    There are conspiracy theories claiming that was the illegitimate father of Charles VII (the Dauphin's mother had famously planted rumors that he was not her late husband's child), thereby making Joan his half-sister and explaining her sudden trajectory.
    Another long-standing folklore tradition has it that he died of a broken heart after receiving the news of his daughter's burning at the stake, passing away only two months later. However most sources pinpoint his death to eleven years after Joan's execution.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He overcame his resistance to the idea of his daughter's joining the army and later gave his two sons his blessing to join her.
    His village was subject to local raids by pro-Burgundian forces. On one occasion it was even burned to the ground.
    He attempted to arrange a marriage for his daughter several times but did not force her when she made refusals.
    He made a comfortable living for his family despite being of the peasant class.
    Joan's first series of 'visions' of the Archangel Michael and St. Margaret were experienced reportedly in his garden.
    He traveled a considerable distance to Reims to see his daughter appear at King Charles VII's coronation ceremony, in 1430, indicating that he was proud of his daughter.
    All the moreso perhaps, when the newly-crowned King presented him not only with the then-large sum of sixty francs.
    More importantly, the King announced a decree registering his family among the nobility, allowing them to change their name to 'de Lys,' and announcing that their hometown of Domremy would be forever free from taxation, as a sign of gratitude to his daughter.
    Even if the legend of his dying to months after his daughter is untrue, it must have been an incredibly painful experience (his wife would spend the years following his death campaigning to restore their late daughter's good name and working to overturn her conviction).
    His daughter was canonized as a Saint in 1920, and remains a cultural symbol of female empowerment and French nationalism.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 20 Votes: 45.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 28 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying