The transcripts of Joan of Arcs trial for heresy at Rouen in 1431 and theminutes of her interrogation have long been recognized as our best source ofinformation... » 

The transcripts of Joan of Arcs trial for heresy at Rouen in 1431 and theminutes of her interrogation have long been recognized as our best source ofinformation about the Maid of Orleans. Historians generally view these legaltexts as a precise account of Joans words and by extension her beliefs.Focusing on the minutes recorded by clerics however Karen Sullivan challengesthe accuracy of the transcript. In The Interrogation of Joan of Arc she rereads the record not as a perfect reflection of a historical personalityswords but as a literary text resulting from the collaboration between Joan andher interrogators.Sullivan provides an illuminating and innovative account of Joans trial andinterrogation placing them in historical social and religious context. Inthe fifteenth century interrogation was a method of truthgathering identifiednot with people like Joan who was uneducated but with clerics like those whotried her. When these clerics questioned Joan they did so as scholasticseducated at the University of Paris as judges and assistants to judges and aspastors trained in hearing confessions.The Interrogation of Joan of Arc traces Joans conflicts with her interrogatorsnot to differing political allegiances but to fundamental differences betweenclerical and lay cultures. Sullivan demonstrates that the figure depicted inthe transcripts as Joan of Arc is a complex multifaceted persona that resultslargely from these cultural differences. Discerning and innovative this studysuggests a powerful new interpretive model and redefines our sense of Joan andher time. «