Jeanne d'Arc

History of the collection: The collection was acquired as a gift of the widow of AHMJ van Kan in 1947.
Size: The collection comprises approximately 1,500 books.
Accessibility: The books are listed in the KB online public catalogue, and partly listed in the KB card catalogues.
More information: Steven Claeyssens 070-3140312

The collection

In 1944 the Hague legal historian AHMJ van Kan passed away. His widow donated his extensive collection of books on Joan of Arc to the KB. At the time of Van Kan's death, the collection included more than 1,000 titles. Every attempt has been made to keep the collection growing; it now comprises more than 1,500 titles. The collection consists of books, documents and secondary literature on Joan of Arc (1412-1431) against the background of the Hundred Years' War. This war lasted, with interruptions, from 1337 to 1453 and began as a dynastic conflict between the English and the French royal houses, both of which had laid claim to the French throne. The collection concentrates on the third and last phase of the war, which begins with the military operations initiated by Joan of Arc in 1429. Before that year, the English were on the offensive and a complete and ultimate English victory had become a real threat. With Joan of Arc's campaign the war actually took a turn in favour of the French.

About the donor
Adam Hubert Marie Joseph van Kan (1877-1944) was born in Maastricht. He studied law in Leuven and Amsterdam, obtained his doctorate in 1913 and in the same year was appointed full professor in Roman law and its history in Leiden. From 1925 to 1929 he served as professor of civil law for the Netherlands East Indies at the newly established School of Law in Batavia, where he was chairman of the faculty. In 1930 he became a member of the Governing Council of the Netherlands East Indies, and in 1936 he returned to the Netherlands.

What was behind Van Kan's great interest in Joan of Arc?
Van Kan was a versatile scholar, but above all he was a man of law, as his publications confirm. There are two things that are striking in this regard, however. First, he published little in his own field, Roman law. And second, despite his enormous love of medieval history, and particularly Joan of Arc, he published only one article on her, the text of a speech: Het rechtsconflict in de tragedie van Joan of Arc: Rede ... uitgesproken ... op 9 juli 1929 (The Legal Conflict in the Tragedy of Joan of Arc: Speech ... given ... on 9 July 1929). This work is of great importance because it shows to what extent the author's legal work was partly determined by his historical interest, and vice versa. In this speech he deals with a legal conflict -- sovereignty over France during the Hundred Years' War -- but he considers this conflict in the historical context of the Middle Ages. Thus Joan of Arc based her military activities on the legitimacy of the authority of the French king, Charles VII, according to medieval legal principles. In 1429 she managed to convince the king that the only way he could save his country from the English was to have himself anointed, as stipulated by the existing law. The anointing took place in July of that year in the traditional location, the Cathedral at Reims, and occurred just before the English pretender to the throne, Henry VI, succeeded in doing the same thing. This anointing signified a psychological breakthrough in the war in favour of the French king, to such a degree that faith in him was restored among a large portion of the population..
The author contends, on the other hand, that the legal aspect of the conflict was in fact turned around theologically by the English opposition. After the English succeeded in capturing Joan of Arc in 1430, they began legal proceedings against her in which they condemned her of being a witch. In other words they regarded her as an apostate, which meant that all the actions she carried out were illegal. So the anointing of Charles VII, which took place with her help, was just as lacking in legitimacy in their eyes.

What does all this say about Van Kan? This one brief article, focusing on the figure of Joan of Arc, illustrates the skill of the author to combine vast legal and technical proficiency with an artistic gift. His need to express matters of faith in an aesthetic way also comes to life in the heroine's story. The author demonstrates that the figure of Joan of Arc personified both faith and the church, which occupied such an important place in the hierarchical structure of medieval society. This hierarchy is clearly represented in the period's rich iconography. For a scholar like Van Kan, the Middle Ages, and particularly Joan of Arc, provided a unique opportunity to discuss a legal subject such as the principle of legitimacy in terms of religion and in a way that was aesthetically sound. There lies the deep significance of Van Kan's final statement: that the burning of Joan of Arc not only served to keep her triumph alive (as that of Christ on the cross), but it was also a triumph for the legitimacy of the court of law of France's reigning house of Valois.

Literature

L. Brummel. 'Tien jaren Koninklijke Bibliotheek'. In: Koninklijke Bibliotheek : gedenkboek, 1798-1948. 's-Gravenhage : Nijhoff, 1948, p. 1-34.
J. van Kan, Het rechtsconflict in de tragedie van Jeanne d'Arc : rede in tegenwoordigheidvan zijne Excellentie den Gouveneur-Generaal uitgesproken bij de opening van het zesde academie-jaar der rechtshoogeschool te Batavia op 9 juli 1929. Weltevreden : Kolff & Co, 1929, 26 p.
Verslag van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek 1944. 's-Gravenhage: Belinfante, 1945.
R. Feenstra. 'Kan, Adam Hubert Marie Joseph van'. In: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland. Dl. 3, 's-Gravenhage : Martinus Nijhoff, 1989, p. 316-318.
'AHMJ van Kan, jurist 1877-1944'. In: Collectors and collections. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, 1789-1998. Zwolle : Waanders, 1998, p. 96-98.