The Maid of Orleans: Vol. XL

It's no secret that Voltaire was perhaps the most controversial writer of the Enlightenment, but his most scandalous work gave a new meaning of controversial to the author, poet and playwright. The Maid of Orleans, an epic poem about Joan of Arc, published in 1730. The poem was thought to be one of Voltaire's more involved works, featuring elaborate cantos and verse. The poem was outlawed and banned throughout a great portion of Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries for its ridiculing and satirizing of the life of Joan of Arc. The poem was described in many contemporary newspapers as "bawdy" at best. Voltaire became publicly ashamed of his work after much criticism about the poem's subverted nature and perverse sexual undertones. The author even attempted to spread the rumor that his work had somehow been tampered with to soil the poem's message. He published another version in 1762 omitting the controversial themes and passages, but the original poem remains an example of one of the most contentious works in modern literary history.