Sunday, February 4

St Joan of Valois

Apart from the always delightful A.N. Wilson, the greatest modern booster of poor Sir Walter Scott was Pope John Paul I. This pontiff, who preferred literature to theology, had the habit of writing letters to dead or fictitious persons, epistles which have been gathered into a moving book called Illustrissimi. It is easy to see why Scott was among those he addressed. In Quentin Durward, we get a very sympathetic portrayal of Joan, the daughter of King Louis XI of France famed for her ugliness. Joan’s father did not respect her wishes to enter religious life and she was forced to marry the man who would become Louis XII. Thankfully a declaration of nullity was later obtained from Pope Alexander VI. In gratitude, her sovereign, who was now free to marry a rich and beautiful woman, gave Joan the duchy of Berry and numerous other holdings, the revenue of which she gave over entirely to the poor and religious causes. She founded the Order of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and has been venerated for her piety and generosity from her death until the present.