Who was Joan of Arc?  If you’ve watched Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, you will remember that she is NOT Noah’s wife.  In the early 1400’s, France was under English occupation, and Charles, the rightful heir to the French crown, feared to step into his royal role.  As a young teenager, Joan of Arc began to receive regular visions of angels and saints, convincing her that God had a mission: she would lead armies to drive out the English and ensure Charles’ coronation.  Joan believed God called her to give up her feminine appearance, cut her hair in men’s style, and wear men’s clothing.  Dressed in this way, she approached Charles, and convinced him to give her an army to lead.  She did indeed drive the English out of Orleans and stood by Charles as he received his crown.  Though her parents had initially tried to dissuade her from following her visions, she became venerated by peasants and royalty alike in her short lifetime…not in spite of her cross-dressing, but because of it.  Cross-dressing was a visible symbol of her utter devotion to God’s call on her life, and she could not separate it from who she was as a Christian.

Unfortunately, Joan was captured by her own people, the Burgundians, or French allies of the English.  They hurled slurs upon her for her appearance, calling her “man-woman,” and handed her over to the English Inquisition, where she would be tried for witchcraft and heresy.  Though she had a lifetime of visions, Joan demonstrated no signs of mental illness, and it became difficult for the Inquisitors to maintain the witchcraft accusations…so they focused in on the cross-dressing.

“A woman shall not wear a man’s apparel, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whoever does such this is abhorrent to the Lord your God.” -Deuteronomy 22:5, NRSV.

Pierre Cauchon was Joan’s primary antagonist, a bishop who supported English occupation of France.  He oversaw Joan’s trial and execution by burning at the stake, ultimately accusing her of heresy for claiming God told her to wear men’s clothes.  Though killed under the approval of her own Catholic Church, Joan of Arc would later be canonized in 1920 as a martyr of the faith.

While Joan has long been a folk-hero for many, she holds particular significance for queer people of faith.  Long before our modern language around queer identity had developed, Joan insisted that her queerness was firmly rooted in her faith in God.  By queerness, we mean her refusal to conform to gender norms, we mean her belief that cross-dressing was inherent to her identity and obedience to God–despite scripture and tradition that would call such an abomination.  Centuries later she was seen as faithful in her obedience to God by insisting on cross-dressing.

Okay, that’s the tea on Pierre Cauchon and Joan of Arc.  If you don’t know who Ru-Paul is, I don’t think I can help you.