When you hear the word, "diva", you must instantly think : "sassy,sweet,fashionable,independent". Obviously, the word "armor" doesn't come to mind at first. Neither does "renissance,medival, or gothic". It's actually far from it. But the DaVinci Divas of this very Girls Inc. were learning about the other side of the typical story of the damsel in distress and the knight in shining armor, Friday, July 30th. We learned about the typical medival male behind a suit of armor. 9 times out of 10 it was a particularly rich kid from the 14th century, showing off all of Daddy's money. Some of them were used for jousts, festivals, parties, and actual war but every single one was very fascinating and left many in the group awestruck.
What seemed to strike most of the Divas as interesting however was especially the Joan of Arc statue held in a small glass case. At a tender age, Joan had claimed to hear the "voice of God" telling her to lead the French army to victory. She dealt with this voice every day for most of her life. Finally, at the age of 16, she went to a professional who had told her the visions and voices she heard rang true and she had to lead the army to victory. She was given a suit of armor and whisked away to the army and was soon appointed leader of all the French soldiers. At this point she lead the French army to many many victories, being undefeated. Unfortunately this came to an end. At the age of 19, she was captured, tried, and murdered for hearing voices and was considered a witch to the English, while considered a hero to many others.
That was the icing on the field trip cake, as we piled back in to the van. A big thanks to the Higgins Armory team, and a fresh new stamp of knowledge placed on our minds made the day one to remember. We were all considered true Divas in Shining Armor.