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Thomas de Courcelles, Canon of Paris
A young Dominican priest. He is sympathetic toward Joan and wants her to be treated mercifully. As Joan burns at the stake, he approaches her to give her a cross. When the fire grows and threatens to harm him, Joan orders him to back away and save himself. This act of selflessness in her final moments of life leads Ladvenu to believe that Joan was inspired not by the devil but by God, and that she was ultimately redeemed in her final moments. After her death, he advocates for her image to be restored, and it is he who alerts King Charles VII to the reversal of the charges pressed against Joan. Ladvenu is concerned about the role Joan’s ignorance of the law plays in her trial—he fears she doesn’t understand the charges pressed against her, though he ultimately finds her sentence to be just.
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Brother Martin Ladvenu Character Timeline in Saint Joan
The timeline below shows where the character Brother Martin Ladvenu appears in Saint Joan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Scene 6
Ladvenu, a young Dominican monk, enters the courtroom, suggesting that Joan’s heresy could be the result...
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...from the devil instead of God, but Joan maintains that her visions came from God. Ladvenu pleads with Joan to yield to the Church, but to no avail. She responds simply:...
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...men’s clothing, but she refuses, as her voices tell her to dress like a soldier. Ladvenu asks if she can justify this request. She replies simply: she lived, slept, and fought...
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...believe they would lead her astray, though she finally accepts that it must be true. Ladvenu tells her that the Church will welcome her back, and Cauchon gives her a recantation...
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Ladvenu enters and reports on the burning: Joan had only the improvised cross pressed to her...
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...deed is done: Joan is dead. Her remains were thrown in the river. Reflecting on Ladvenu’s earlier claim that Joan was redeemed in her final moments of life, Warwick wonders whether...
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Epilogue
...bed. Beside him is a table, upon which rests a picture of the Virgin Mary. Ladvenu enters Charles’s room and tells him that Joan has finally received justice. He’s come from...
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