Now the flames they followed Joan of Arc
As she came riding through the dark
No moon to keep her armour bright
No man to get her through this very smoky night
She said, "I'm tired of the war
I want the kind of work I had before
A wedding dress or something white
To wear upon my swollen appetite"
Well, I'm glad to hear you talk this way
You know I've watched you riding every day
One of the charges against Joan for which she was burned at the stake was that she wore man’s clothing. The church officials saw this as a perversion of God’s natural order and evidence that she was a witch rather than a follower of God. She wore men’s clothing for practical reasons, not because she wanted to—riding horses day and night, fighting in many battles, and for her own safety, considering that she was a 16 year old girl living and traveling with male soldiers. The officials who imprisoned her demanded that she dress like a woman and confess that the voices that instructed her were not of God, but she refused, put the men’s clothing back on and was burned at the stake.
Joan of Arc