Joan a Symbol or Propoganda Piece?

First let's ask:

What was Joan's role in the 100 Years War (1337-1453)?

• France was losing miserably until Joan came along.
• Charles likely allowed Joan to lead the army as a last resort and a means for building up a fighting mentale in the people rather than a belief in her divine right.
• She turned it into a religious war. 
• **It’s important to remember her failures as well (huge slaughter in Paris!)
• She allegedly didn’t actually fight but rather merely motivated the army – a symbol (propoganda?)
•  Was she ever anything more to the state than a propaganda piece? 
• She has been used as a symbol for victory from the Napoleonic Wars to WWII. 
•  Based on the above, it is likely that Joan was used by the state who turned her into this warrior figure, who didn't actually fight but instead lead the people to victory, and then threw her away when they did not need her anymore.

Joan's Revival

Philippe-Alexandre Le Brun de Charmettes (1785–1870) was a French historian,  poet, translator and official. He was the first person to chronicle Joan's life, over 300 hundred years after her death!

"He was appointed to the French Conseil d'État in 1810 and became a préfet (prefect) in the French department of Haute-Saône in 1830.

A contributor to the literary magazine l’Abeille littéraire, created by Victor Hugo in 1821, he is mainly known for his successful efforts to rescue the figure of Jeanne d'Arc from partial oblivion and turn her into a national heroine.

His interest for Joan came at a time when France was still struggling to define its new identity after the Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. The national ethos was in search of non controversial heroes. A staunch prop to King and country, Joan of Arc was an acceptable symbol to the monarchists. As a patriot and the daughter of commoners, she was seen as one prototype of the low-born volunteers (the soldats de l'an II) who had victoriously fought for revolutionary France in 1802 and as such could be claimed by the Republicans. As a religious martyr, she was also popular in the powerful Catholic community. De Charmette's Orleanide, today largely forgotten, was another attempt to magnify the national ethos as writers like Virgil (the Aeneid), or Camoens (the Lusiad) had done for Rome and Portugal."

Funny how after death she is no longer considered controversial but rather a perfect balance of church and state as a symbol. 

Histoire de Jeanne d'Arc is in four parts (these are all in french):

1. http://www.archive.org/stream/histoiredejeanne01lebr#page/n9/mode/2up
2. http://www.archive.org/stream/histoiredejeanne02lebr#page/n9/mode/2up
3. http://www.archive.org/stream/histoiredejeanne03lebr#page/n9/mode/2up
4. http://www.archive.org/stream/histoiredejeanne04lebr#page/n9/mode/2up

I am trying to track down the english versions.


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_years_war

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe-Alexandre_Le_Brun_de_Charmettes

http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/archive/hundredyearswar.cfm?CFID=12106913&CFTOKEN=48989585&jsessionid=463076a37003e50bfe0063343a5d3c64687b

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/hundred-years-war.htm