Charisma and Routine

Shaping the Memory of Brother Richard and Joan of Arc

Bibliographic Data

ID3328228
AuthorsAdalsteinn D Brown (0000-0002-9233-087X, Massey University, corresponding author), Andrew Brown (0000-0003-0105-8522)
Year2012
Volume3
Issue4
Pages1162-1179
Publication date2012-12-13
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel3041162
OpenAlexW2124310901
LanguageEN
References cited23

The extraordinary life and fate of Joan of Arc are well known; so is her association with the prophetic preacher, Brother Richard, who predicted the Apocalypse. Less well explained is why contemporaries initially took such an interest in this association, and how and why it began to fade from official memory after Joan's death. Max Weber's concepts of "charisma" and "routinization" offer valuable tools to deal with these questions. Both Joan and Richard have earned the title "charismatic" but interest in the preacher has generally been secondary to interest in the Maid. A more rigorous adoption of Weber's meaning of charisma, however, helps to clarify what the relative importance of these figures was in the eyes of contemporaries. It also shifts attention to the significance of messianic prophecy in the years surrounding Joan's life, the anxieties it generated and the way it was dealt with. In this context, the processions and commemorative ceremonies organized by townspeople, churchmen and royalty during this period deserve further analysis. Seen as forces of "routine", these ceremonies assume a greater significance than they have usually been granted, as processes that managed the memory of charismatic phenomena

Aesthetics · Brother · Charisma · Epistemology · Political science · Sociology · Theology · Historical and Religious Studies of Rome · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces

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