Joan Of Arc

I'm not afraid

Introduction

Joan of Arc, a pious peasant in medieval France, believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England. With no military training, Joan convinced crown prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orleans, where they achieved a stunning victory. After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by enemy forces, tried for witchcraft and burned at the stake at the age of 19. By the time she was canonized in 1920, Joan of Arc was considered one of historys greatest martyrs, and the patron saint of France.

Joan of Arcs Early Life

Born around 1412, Jeanne Arc (or in English, Joan of Arc) was the daughter of a tenant farmer, Jacques Arc, from the village of Domremy, in northeastern France. She was not taught to read or write, but her pious mother, Isabelle Romee, instilled in her a deep love for the Catholic Church and its teachings.

At the time, France had long been torn apart by a bitter conflict with England (later known as the Hundred Years War), in which England had gained the upper hand. A peace treaty in 1420 disinherited the French crown prince, Charles of Valois, amid accusations of his illegitimacy, and King Henry V was made ruler of both England and France.


His son, Henry VI, succeeded him in 1422. Along with its French allies (led by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy), England occupied much of northern France, and many in Joans village, Domremy, were forced to abandon their homes under threat of invasion.

At the age of 13, Joan began to hear voices, which she determined had been sent by God to give her a mission of overwhelming importance: to save France by expelling its enemies, and to install Charles as its rightful king. As part of this divine mission, Joan took a vow of chastity. At the age of 16, after her father attempted to arrange a marriage for her, she successfully convinced a local court that she should not be forced to accept the match..

I was born to do this
Jesus! Jesus!

The Siege of Orleans

In May 1428, Joan made her way to Vaucouleurs, a nearby stronghold of those loyal to Charles. Initially rejected by the local magistrate, Robert de Baudricourt, she persisted, attracting a small band of followers who believed her claims to be the virgin who (according to a popular prophecy) was destined to save France.


When Baudricort relented, Joan cropped her hair and dressed in mens clothes to make the 11-day journey across enemy territory to Chinon, site of the crown princes palace. Joan promised Charles she would see him crowned king at Reims, the traditional site of French royal investiture, and asked him to give her an army to lead to Orleans, then under siege from the English.


Against the advice of most of his counselors and generals, Charles granted her request, and Joan set off to fend off the Siege of Orleans in March of 1429 dressed in white armor and riding a white horse. After sending off a defiant letter to the enemy, Joan led several French assaults against them, driving the Anglo-Burgundians from their bastion and forcing their retreat across the Loire River.

Move it or lose it

Capture of Joan of Arc

After such a miraculous victory, Joans reputation spread far and wide among French forces. She and her followers escorted Charles across enemy territory to Reims, taking towns that resisted by force and enabling his coronation as King Charles VII in July 1429.


Joan argued that the French should press their advantage with an attempt to retake Paris, but Charles wavered, as his favorite at court, Georges de La Tre moille, warned him that Joan was becoming too powerful. The Anglo-Burgundians were able to fortify their positions in Paris and turned back an attack led by Joan in September.


In the spring of 1430, the king ordered Joan to confront a Burgundian assault on Compiegne. In her effort to defend the town and its inhabitants, she was thrown from her horse and was left outside the towns gates as they closed. The Burgundians took her captive and brought her amid much fanfare to the castle of Bouvreuil, occupied by the English commander at Rouen.


Go forward bravely. Fear nothing.

How Did Joan of Arc Die?

In the trial that followed, Joan was ordered to answer to some 70 charges against her, including witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man. The Anglo-Burgundians were aiming to get rid of the young leader as well as discredit Charles, who owed his coronation to her.


In attempting to distance himself from an accused heretic and witch, the French king made no attempt to negotiate Joans release. In May 1431, after a year in captivity and under threat of death, Joan relented and signed a confession denying that she had ever received divine guidance.


Several days later, however, she defied orders by again donning mens clothes, and authorities pronounced her death sentence. On the morning of May 30, 1431, at the age of 19, Joan was taken to the old marketplace of Rouen and burned at the stake.


Jehanne la Pucelle

St. Joan of Arc

Her fame only increased after her death, however, and 20 years later a new trial ordered by Charles VII cleared her name. Long before Pope Benedict XV canonized her in 1920, Joan of Arc had attained mythic stature, inspiring numerous works of art and literature over the centuries, including the classic silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc.


In 1909 Joan of Arc was beatified in the famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris by Pope Pius X. A statue in the cathedral of Jeanne Arc, who eventually became the patron saint of France, pays tribute to her legacy.