Joan Of Arc Project

19 hours ago

Are there symbolic connections between Joan of Arc and unicorns? This guy thinks so:

kennethmichaelflorence.substack.com/p/unicorns-joan-of-arc-and-the-cultural

“Her story coincides with the epochal transition from the Medieval to the Modern era. Symbolically, she is, in effect, the “last knight.” Above I spoke about the unicorn as a symbol of the chivalric knight. The Maid of Orleans, both virgin and knight, is therefore both lady and unicorn. Her sword is the alicorn. Her execution — what befell her personally as a result of her sacrifice — is the unicorn’s death from the hunt. These are at least all connections that seem plausible to me.”The Musée de Cluny (the National Museum of the Middle Ages) in Paris is currently running a major exhibition called "Unicorns!" — open until July 12, 2026.
For centuries, people genuinely believed unicorn horns had healing powers and could neutralize poison. Royal families across Europe paid fortunes for objects they thought were made from unicorn horn. Scientists later confirmed those objects were narwhal tusks. Nobody at the time knew narwhals existed.
That gap between belief and reality is exactly what makes this exhibition so interesting. It brings together nearly 100 artworks and historical objects from major institutions including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Prado in Madrid, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, tracing how the unicorn moved through ancient myth, medieval religion, and royal symbolism for thousands of years.
The show is built around the Cluny's most famous possession: the "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries, six medieval works from the early 1500s representing the five senses, plus a sixth panel titled "À mon seul désir" (To my only desire) whose meaning has never been fully explained.
The Musée de Cluny sits in the Latin Quarter, inside a 15th-century mansion built over Roman ruins. It is one of the most beautiful museum buildings in Paris and one of the least crowded. ... See MoreSee Less

Joan Of Arc Project

21 hours ago

Joan on her horse…women on bicycles…=movement, freedom, independence!Victorians feared the bicycle more than any demonstration — and they had good reason to.

In 1896, Susan B. Anthony made a bold declaration. At 76 years old, the legendary suffragist told reporters that the bicycle had "done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world."

Those weren't idle words. The bicycle shifted everything — from the way women moved through the world to how they organized, dressed, and ultimately demanded the vote.

But here's what made the 1890s bicycle revolutionary: it was the first truly accessible machine that didn't require male assistance.

Before the safety bicycle emerged in the late 1880s, women were trapped in a system of chaperoned transportation. Horse-drawn carriages required money and servants. The earlier penny-farthing bicycles, with their massive 50 to 60 inch front wheels and seats perched over four feet high, were practically impossible for women to ride.

Then came the game-changer.

The safety bicycle featured equal-sized wheels, typically 26 to 28 inches, with a chain-driven rear wheel and gears. This design dropped the center of gravity dramatically, reducing the potential fall height from over five feet to just two feet.

The diamond-shaped frame made mounting and dismounting manageable. Pneumatic tires, introduced in 1888, smoothed out rough roads that would have rattled riders on solid rubber. Most importantly, the whole machine cost the equivalent of $100 to $200 in today's money.

Suddenly, women could travel alone. Unchaperoned. To meetings, workplaces, and political organizing events.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony's fellow suffrage leader, saw the implications immediately. In 1895, at age 80, she wrote: "Woman is riding to suffrage on a bicycle."

And ride they did.

Suffragettes transformed the bicycle from a transportation tool into a campaign weapon. They rode through towns with "Votes for Women" banners streaming from their handlebars, turning heads and sparking conversations everywhere they went.

The Women's Social and Political Union established Cycling Scouts in 1907. These brigades scouted routes for demonstrations, distributed pamphlets across wide territories, and announced meetings in multiple communities in a single day, covering ground that would have been impossible on foot.

In London, organized bicycle brigades took direct action. They deliberately blocked Winston Churchill's motorcade, forcing a public confrontation that generated newspaper headlines and drew attention to their cause.

But the bicycle's most shocking impact might have been on fashion.

Victorian women were expected to wear corsets, heavy petticoats, and floor-length skirts. This clothing was not just uncomfortable, it was dangerous on a bicycle. Fabric could tangle in chains and spokes. The weight and restriction made riding nearly impossible.

So women changed.

They adopted bloomers, shorter skirts, and looser garments. They shed the corsets that had symbolized their physical constraint. Every woman pedaling down a public street in practical clothing was making a visual argument: women's bodies didn't have to be decorative and fragile.

The sight scandalized critics who called these women "unwomanly" and "revolting." Newspapers ran cartoons mocking women cyclists. Moralists warned that bicycles would destroy femininity itself.

The suffragettes didn't care. They understood something profound.

The bicycle gave women control. They mastered a new technology. They navigated public streets. They maintained their own machines. They chose their own routes and destinations.

That feeling of self-propulsion, that physical sensation of moving through the world by your own power, fed directly into the suffrage movement's core argument: women were capable of self-governance and deserved political agency.

Susan B. Anthony's full quote captures this perfectly: "Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance... the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."

The bicycle didn't win women the vote by itself. But it materially supported the organizing that made victory possible, and it gave the movement a striking, modern symbol that embodied exactly what suffragists were demanding.

A shift from domestic dependence to public citizenship. From being transported to self-propulsion. From asking permission to claiming freedom.

All on two equal-sized wheels, a chain drive, and the courage to ride.

#WomensSuffrage #CyclingHistory #SusanBAnthony #FreedomMachine #Suffragettes ... See MoreSee Less