Who owns Joan of Arc's ring: France or Britain?

Who owns Joan of Arc’s ring: France or Britain? Joan of Arc led the French to victory over the Brits, and the feud continues.

Charles VII sent her to the battle of New Orleans when she insisted on helping him. Victory after nine days, and subsequent victories, resulted in Charles becoming King of France, and was the spearhead to victory against the English. Joan of Arc was captured, imprisoned in England, put on trial, and burned a the stake at 19 years of age. Napoleon Bonaparte declared Joan of Arc (1412-1431) a national symbol of France in 1803, she was beatified in 1909, and became a saint in 1920.

An English bishop supposedly took the ring, said to be a parental gift for her first communion, when Joan of Arc was in prison. It remained in England as ‘war booty’ for 600 years.

On 3 March 2016, the gold-plated silver ring, believed to be Joan of Arc’s ring and estimated at £10,000 pounds, was sold at auction in London for nearly £300,000 pounds (The Telegraph, 21 March 2016). The winning bidder was the Le Puy du Fou amusement park near Nantes in western France. On Sunday, 20 March 2016, the park held a ceremony to celebrate ‘the return of the ring.’

Philippe de Villiers, the founder of the amusement park, revealed at the ceremony that the British government sent a lawyer to ensure that the ring is returned to England. The National Arts Council of Britain considers the ring to be of ‘high national symbolic value’ to England.

The British government indicated that the winning bidder, the Puy de Fou park, should have obtained a special export licence to take the ring out of England, the site of the auction, before returning to France – which did not happen. A special export licence for antiques is required for anything worth more than £39,219 that have been in England for more than 50 years. The responsibility of obtaining a special export licence is with the exporter, and not the auction house. The process takes about a month to get the licence. The rule is that ‘if the licence is deferred, a UK buyer then has an opportunity to match the price.’

The auction house said that they gave the winning bidder the ring when they received the money, and a letter advising them of the special export licence. The letter was signed by the winning bidder. When back in France, the winning bidder received a letter from the National Arts Council of Britain (from their lawyer), asking for the ring’s return.

The French de Villiers said they checked the rules and said they only apply if the object is taken out of the European Union.

Nicolas de Villiers, the theme park founder’s son, said the ring was ‘one of the last bones of contention between France and England.’ He added that Britain’s attempt to reclaim the ring would be ‘deeply traumatic for France’ for ‘Joan belongs to all French.’

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/12200145/Come-and-get-it-French-refuse-to-hand-Joan-of-Arcs-ring-back-to-Britain.html

MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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