Between the Cathedral and the city square. The May 8 holiday’s topography in Orleans (15th–21st centuries)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of the Joan of Arc holiday in Orleans, which is traditionally celebrated every year on May 8. Until today none of the researchers set out to study the topography of that holiday: what urban spaces it took place in, what addresses it was linked to in different periods, what the change of its location depended on, and who exactly took part in its arrangement. Those issues are considered in the article on the basis of both written texts (chronicles and historical writings of the 15^th–17^th centuries) and documentary sources (city accounts and holiday posters for the 18^th–21^st centuries). Special attention is paid to the period of the Revolution and the Consulate, when the struggle for the sacralisation of the Joan of Arc “place of memory” unfolded intensively. The beginning of the 20^th century the period before the official canonization of the Pucelle d’Orléans seems also important, as well as the beginning of the 21^st century, the time of an active struggle between the city authorities and the far-right parties over the issue of France’s stay in the EU, which directly affected the topography and the specifics of this holiday.