HISTORY LESSONS
  • The Books
  • The Blog
  • The channel
  • Extra Credit
  • Visit Victory Independent Planning

The Lost Arc

5/8/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
Synopsis: A young girl goes to war and wins
the hearts and minds of France. Her life and death create
a cautionary tale for insurrectionists and investors. 

     Jeannette?!” The motherly tone of exasperation rattled off the wood beams of the farmhouse overhead and the woman scowled.

     “Jeannette de Romée, where are you girl?” She was becoming rather annoyed with her teenage daughter who had taken to daydreaming and ignoring her chores. They lived in rural France and on the edge of poverty, making all chores important. Her two brothers were beginning to grumble about not doing her share. If the girl were lucky her father wouldn’t find out.

     Through the window now, she could see her gliding out of the dusty courtyard and into the lane toward town. The mother, her name was Isabelle, followed, catching her as she rounded the hedge. But as Jeanette turned, the look in her eye brought her mother up short.

     “What is it child?” The mother felt gooseflesh ripple across her bare arms though it was a warm spring day.

     Her daughter’s eyes looked vacant, staring at her as if she didn’t know her. And yet, she said, “They call me mother. And I must go.”

     “Who calls you? And where are you going?” Isabelle was a deeply religious woman. Indeed, a family name like Romée likely indicates one of her ancestors had journeyed as far as Rome on a religious pilgrimage. Something about the look in her young daughter’s eye made her make the sign of the cross.

     Jeanette smiled at the gesture. “The Saints have called me to war. I must go find Charles.” In the beginning the voices in her head had urged her to be virtuous, live piously and to remain a devout Catholic. In a family such as hers, this wasn’t that difficult.  But now the voices, she believed them to be those of angels or Saints, had became more specific and more dangerous in their directions.

     The Anglicized version of Jeannette is Joan, but you’ve probably never heard of Joan de Romée either.  In her home town it was common for female children to take their mother’s surnames.  She never went by her father’s surname d’Arc.

     Joan found Charles of Valois, gave him information that supposedly only he could know to prove she was sent by God and with no military training convinced the crown prince to allow her to lead a French army against the besieged city of Orleans. On May 8th, 1429 troops led by the peasant girl in white armor defeated the English and raised the siege, shifting the balance of power in the Hundred Years War in favor of the French defenders.

     Unfortunately, some in the French court wondered if this teenage girl who dressed like a man was becoming too popular with the peasantry and too powerful in France. In defense of the town of Compiegne, the warrior teen was thrown from her horse outside the city gates and captured by the pro-English Burgundians. No attempt was made at securing her release. More than seventy charges including witchcraft, heresy and dressing as a man were brought against her. After a year in captivity, she signed a confession and was allowed to live, but reneged on the deal when the voices returned.  Her judges found her again dressing like a man and to the stake she went.  Twenty years after her death, Charles demanded a new trial where Joan was found innocent.  Better late than never, unless you were a nineteen-year girl who wasn’t fire resistant. 

     Here are three lessons from Joan that investors can use to keep their plans from going up in flames:
​
  1. Don’t rely on divine intervention. The most hazardous afflictions investors face are: 1) trying to time the markets and 2) chasing performance. Neither of these is witchcraft, but they are mental shortcuts that often produce poor long-term results. Creating a plan and sticking to it will help you help yourself.
  2. Beware the voices in your head. Investors are often beset by loud voices telling them to do dangerous things and they have little professional training when it comes to carrying them out. Television, the Internet, and social media have created an unholy trinity bent on convincing you success is just a click or “simple trick” away. Ignore them.
  3. Choose your friends carefully. For those not trained in financial “warfare” the investment landscape can be perilous.  And who you ultimately team up with matters. Make sure they are fiduciaries and on your side at all times. 
Picture

​Photo: Bing.com, Free to share and use
Links & Sources:
 
  1. http://guardianlv.com/2014/05/joan-of-arc-burned-alive-history-today/http://www.history.com/topics/saint-joan-of-arc?
  2. https://www.history.com/news/7-surprising-facts-about-joan-of-arc
  3. http://www.history.com/topics/saint-joan-of-arc?
 

1 Comment
<<Previous

    RSS Feed

    Don't wait for history to happen...

      Sign up to have your lessons delivered to your inbox.

    Deliver My History Lessons!

    Archives

    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    ABL
    Action Bias
    Advice
    Advisor
    Anchoring Bias
    Annual Recap
    Astronomy
    Aviation
    Bandwagon Effect
    Baseball
    Broadway
    Bull Market
    China
    Christmas
    Civil War
    Cognitive Bias
    Cold War
    Columbus
    Confirmation Bias
    Corrections
    COVID
    Cyclicality
    DALBAR
    Darwin
    Data
    D Day
    Diversification
    Earnings
    Economics
    Emotions
    Expert
    Expert Bias
    Federal Reserve
    Fiduciary
    Financial Media
    FOMO
    Football
    Founders
    France
    Fund Flows
    GDP
    Gift Planning
    Globalism
    Golf
    Government
    High Jump
    Impressionism
    Inflation
    Interest Rates
    Italy
    January Effect
    Journalism
    Julius Caesar
    Loss Aversion
    Market Timing
    Music
    Normandy
    October
    Oregon State
    Performance
    Pilgrims
    Planning
    Politics
    Prognostication
    Property Rights
    Rationality
    Recency Bias
    Regulation
    Retirement
    Revolutionary War
    Risk
    Roman History
    Santa
    Sell In May
    Sentiment
    Spanish Flu
    Statistics
    Taxes
    Technology
    Tennis
    Trade
    Trade War
    Unintended Consequences
    VIX
    Wall Of Worry
    Wild West
    WW I
    WW II

Patrick Huey is the author of two books:  "History Lessons for the Modern Investor" and "the Seven Pillars of (Financial) Wisdom"; this is considered an outside business activity for Patrick Huey and is separate and apart from his activities as an investment advisor representative with Dynamic Wealth Advisors.  The material contained in these books are the current opinions of the author, Patrick Huey but not necessarily those of Dynamic Wealth Advisors.   The opinions expressed in these books are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. They are intended to provide education about the financial industry. To determine which investments may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing. Any past performance discussed in these books is no guarantee of future results.  As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. 
  • The Books
  • The Blog
  • The channel
  • Extra Credit
  • Visit Victory Independent Planning