A contingent of French soldiers formed a guard of honour at the ceremonial and semi-religious parade at Puy du Fou of the recently purchased ring, said too have belonged to Joan of Arc. It now appears the ring was unlawfully exported from England while the soldiers were commandeered to take part in a charade.
The ring, purported to have belonged to Joan of Arc that was sold at auction last month for $412,845, is now back in France. Its new home is the Puy du Fou theme park in the Vendée region of Western France where the ring was unveiled with great pomp on Sunday by the park founder Philippe de Villiers before a crowd of 5,000spectators.
It now appears that the ring was unlawfully brought to France. When the auctioneers gave the ring to the lawyers, representing de Villiers, they informed them that an export license would have to be secured before the ring could leave the country. Any antiquity worth more than £39,219 and that has been in the UK for more than 50 years requires a special export license issued by the Ministry of Culture. Such licenses are only issued after the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of Cultural Interest (RCEWA) gives the Minister its recommendation, and in the case of this ring, it’s highly unlikely that they would have let it walk away without temporarily blocking export to give British institutions the chance to raise the purchase price and keep it in the country.
However, according to de Villiers, the ring belongs in France. In a very defiant speech held at the unveiling he said that he had no intention of returning the ring, illegally exported or not. “The British government has sent our lawyer an unprecedented demand: the return of the ring to London. Is the ring perhaps part of England’s national heritage?,” he asked the booing crowd. Apparently – even if the European Court decides in favour of the English claim – the ring will not be returned.
A Fake?
The fact, though, is that the ring is in all probability a fake. Although an Oxford University laboratory has dated the ring to the 15th century based on its style, wear and engraving, the long track record of the history of ownership is entirely speculative. It’s based solely on the fact that the owner in 1914, Lady Ottoline Morrell, could trace her ancestry back to Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, who was present at the trial and execution of Joan of Arc. There are no references in archives or histories that mention the ring being owned by anyone in the family at any time between 1431 and when it first appears on the historical record in 1914. Based on this historians advised both the city of Orleans and Joan of Arc Historical Exhibition in Rouen not to bid for the ring.
French Cadets, Socialist Uproar and Religious Sentiments
To this curious controversy the socialists in France have added by raising a formal complaint concerning the guard of honour, which General Marc Paitier led the cadets of Saint-Cyr to form at the spectacle, at which the ring was “returned”.
The École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the “Special Military School of Saint-Cyr”) is the foremost French military academy. It is often referred to as Saint-Cyr Its motto is “Ils s’instruisent pour vaincre”: literally “They Study to Vanquish” or “Training for Victory”. French cadet officers are called “saint-cyriens”, or “cyrards”.
It seems that not only did the presumably fake ring find its new home in a historical phantasy park. It was laid to rest there at a semi-religious event guarded by real soldiers taking part in a medieval reenactment.
SOURCE:
Comment Philippe de Villiers récupère le mythe de Jeanne d’Arc – Le Monde
Hands off, it’s ours: French buyer refuses to return Joan of Arc ring to UK – THE ART NEWSPAPER
READ MORE:
Joan of Arc’s Ring a Stage Prop at Puy du Fou – Medieval Histories
