best biography of joan of arc

10 Books About Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orléans

Joan of Arc is someone many people have heard of, but not everyone knows all of the details about her. These ten books are here to change that.

Ann can often be found walking very slowly through the aisles of bookstores, making sure that nothing new has come out she doesn’t know about yet, and then eagerly telling people about them. She writes about women from history at annfosterwriter.com , and about books, film, TV, and feminism at various other sites. She prefers her books to include at least three excellent plot twists, which is why she usually reads the end first. Twitter: @annfosterwriter

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Joan of Arc is one of those historical figures many people have heard of, but that not everyone knows all the details about. An illiterate French peasant girl, she claimed to have been visited by angels who instructed her to lead armies against the English. By age 16, she donned armor and was doing just that. But by age 19, at the height of her fame, she was put on trial and sentenced to death by fire.

Her story has been reimagined in manga, movies, and countless books over the years. Here are ten recent ones that help explain her story to both those familiar with her as well as those learning about her for the first time.

Note: as with much writing about European history, these books have mostly all been written by white authors.

Joan of Arc Books for Children

Who was joan of arc  by pam pollack and meg solvino.

This book, from the Who Was/Is series, explains Joan’s story in plain language. Aimed at children aged 8–12, this basic biography emphasizes Joan’s bravery and how unusual it was for a young girl to accomplish all that she did.

You Wouldn’t Want to be Joan of Arc! : A Mission You Might Want to Miss  by Fiona Macdonald, illustrated by David Antram

This book has a lighthearted tone and lots of illustrations. Readers will learn the basic facts of Joan’s life, as well as often grisly details about life as a 15th century French soldier.

Joan of Arc by Kristin Thiel

This biography, part of the Great Military Leaders Series, is aimed at middle school readers. Combining text and illustrations, this work covers the historical backdrop of Joan’s life as well as her continued prominence as both a religious and historical figure.

Joan of Arc Books for Teens

Language of fire: joan of arc reimagined  by stephanie hemphill.

Hemphill has already written YA novels in verse about Mary Shelley ( Hideous Love ), Sylvia Plath ( Your Own, Sylvia ), and the Salem Witch Trials ( Wicked Girls ). In this, her latest work, she makes Joan’s story personal as it imagines her voice telling her own story from ordinary girl to war hero.

Voices: The Final Hours of Joan of Arc by David Elliott

Also written in verse, this book uses the voices of those who surround Joan to explore her story. These include the voices of her family and even the trees, clothes, cows, and candles of her childhood. In so doing, issues of gender, misogyny, and the peril of speaking truth to power are examined.

Messenger: The Legend of Joan of Arc  by Tony Lee and Sam Hart

This graphic novel shares Joan’s story in a compelling mix of text and imagery. Following the co-creators’ previous works Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood and Excalibur: The Legend of King Arthur , this is a visually striking retelling of Joan’s legendary story.

Joan of Arc Books for Adults

The maid and the queen: the secret history of joan of arc  by nancy goldstone.

This book explores the possible connections between Joan and Yolande of Aragon, queen of Sicily. Yolande, like Joan, supported the French dauphin against his enemies. But despite the queen’s armies and spies, victory seemed out of reach…until Joan arrived on the scene.

Joan of Arc: A History  by Helen Castor

Author Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves: the Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth , here turns her lens across the pond to explore Joan’s story. Referring to documents from both of Joan’s trials, this book examines the first-person accounts of Joan, her family, and friends to develop as full a picture as possible of the real young woman and her life.

Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured  by Kathryn Harrison

Novelist and memoirist Kathryn Harrison deftly weaves historical fact, myth, folklore, artistic representations, and centuries of scholarly and critical interpretation into a compelling narrative, she restores Joan of Arc to her rightful position as one of the greatest heroines in all of human history.

The Maid: A Novel of Joan of Arc  by Kimberly Cutter

The flexibility of historical fiction allows Cutter to imagine the parts of Joan’s story that fall between recorded history. What was her relationship like with her parents? What was it like to be a teenage girl leading armies in the fifteenth century? This is a novel about the power and uncertainty of faith, and the exhilarating and devastating consequences of fame.

Can’t get enough history? Check out our list of 15 new historical fiction reads to pack for your summer vacation !

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Action at Orléans

Victories and coronation, ambitions for paris, further struggle.

• Abjuration, relapse, and execution
• Character and importance

What were St. Joan of Arc’s beliefs?

How did st. joan of arc die.

• What was the Hundred Years’ War?
• When did the Hundred Years’ War start?
• How did the Hundred Years’ War end?

St. Joan of Arc

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• Catholic Online - St. Joan of Arc
• Ancient Origins - Speaking of Angels and Saints: The Story of Joan of Arc
• Order of the Temple of Solomon - Saint Joan of Arc and the Knights Templar
• LiveScience - Joan of Arc: Facts and Biography
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Undiagnosing St Joan
• University of Notre Dame - FaithND - St. Joan of Arc
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• World History Encyclopedia - Joan of Arc
• Joan of Arc - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Joan of Arc - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

Why is St. Joan of Arc famous?

St. Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France . She was a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans in 1429 that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years’ War .

St. Joan of Arc was a Catholic with extreme personal piety. She believed she was guided by the voices of St. Michael , St. Catherine of Alexandria , and St. Margaret of Antioch in her mission to aid the dauphin Charles (later Charles VII ) and expel the English from the Valois kingdom of France.

In 1430 St. Joan of Arc was captured by the English and their French collaborators and tried as a heretic . Convicted, she was burned to death on May 30, 1431, at age 19. Few witnesses of her death seem to have doubted her salvation, and Pope Calixtus III annulled her sentence in 1455–56.

St. Joan of Arc (born c. 1412, Domrémy, Bar, France—died May 30, 1431, Rouen; canonized May 16, 1920; feast day May 30; French national holiday, second Sunday in May) was a national heroine of France , a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years’ War . Captured a year afterward, Joan was burned to death by the English and their French collaborators as a heretic . She became the greatest national heroine of her compatriots, and her achievement was a decisive factor in the later awakening of French national consciousness .

Joan was the daughter of a tenant farmer at Domrémy , on the borders of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine . In her mission of expelling the English and their Burgundian allies from the Valois kingdom of France, she felt herself to be guided by the voices of St. Michael , St. Catherine of Alexandria , and St. Margaret of Antioch . Joan was endowed with remarkable mental and physical courage, as well as a robust common sense, and she possessed many attributes characteristic of the female visionaries who were a noted feature of her time. These qualities included extreme personal piety, a claim to direct communication with the saints , and a consequent reliance upon individual experience of God’s presence beyond the ministrations of the priesthood and the confines of the institutional church.

Joan’s mission

At the time, the crown of France was in dispute between the dauphin Charles (later Charles VII ), son and heir of the Valois king Charles VI , and the Lancastrian English king Henry VI . Henry’s armies were in alliance with those of Philip the Good , duke of Burgundy (whose father, John the Fearless , had been assassinated in 1419 by partisans of the dauphin), and were occupying much of the northern part of the kingdom. The apparent hopelessness of the dauphin’s cause at the end of 1427 was increased by the fact that, five years after his father’s death, he still had not been crowned. Reims , the traditional place for the investiture of French kings, was well within the territory held by his enemies. As long as the dauphin remained unconsecrated, the rightfulness of his claim to be king of France was open to challenge.

Joan’s village of Domrémy was on the frontier between the France of the Anglo-Burgundians and that of the dauphin. The villagers had already had to abandon their homes before Burgundian threats. Led by the voices of her saints, Joan traveled in May 1428 from Domrémy to Vaucouleurs, the nearest stronghold still loyal to the dauphin, where she asked the captain of the garrison, Robert de Baudricourt, for permission to join the dauphin. He did not take the 16-year-old and her visions seriously, and she returned home. Joan went to Vaucouleurs again in January 1429. This time her quiet firmness and piety gained her the respect of the people, and the captain, persuaded that she was neither a witch nor feebleminded, allowed her to go to the dauphin at Chinon . She left Vaucouleurs about February 13, dressed in men’s clothes and accompanied by six men-at-arms. Crossing territory held by the enemy, and traveling for 11 days, she reached Chinon.

Joan went at once to the castle of the dauphin Charles, who was initially uncertain whether to receive her. His counselors gave him conflicting advice; but two days later he granted her an audience. As a test Charles hid himself among his courtiers, but Joan quickly detected him; she told him that she wished to go to battle against the English and that she would have him crowned at Reims. On the dauphin’s orders she was interrogated by ecclesiastical authorities in the presence of Jean, duc d’Alençon, a relative of Charles, who showed himself well-disposed toward her. She was then taken to Poitiers for three weeks, where she was further questioned by eminent theologians who were allied to the dauphin’s cause. These examinations, the record of which has not survived, were occasioned by the ever-present fear of heresy following the end of the Western Schism in 1417. Joan told the ecclesiastics that it was not at Poitiers but at Orléans that she would give proof of her mission; and forthwith, on March 22, she dictated letters of defiance to the English. In their report the churchmen suggested that in view of the desperate situation of Orléans, which had been under English siege for months, the dauphin would be well-advised to make use of her.

Joan returned to Chinon. At Tours , during April, the dauphin provided her with a military household of several men; Jean d’Aulon became her squire, and she was joined by her brothers Jean and Pierre. She had her standard painted with an image of Christ in Judgment and a banner made bearing the name of Jesus . When the question of a sword was brought up, she declared that it would be found in the church of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois, and one was in fact discovered there.

French troops numbering several hundred men were mustered at Blois , and on April 27, 1429, they set out for Orléans. The city, besieged since October 12, 1428, was almost totally surrounded by a ring of English strongholds. When Joan and one of the French commanders, La Hire, entered with supplies on April 29, she was told that action must be deferred until further reinforcements could be brought in.

On the evening of May 4, when Joan was resting, she suddenly sprang up, apparently inspired, and announced that she must go and attack the English. Arming herself, she hurried to an English fort east of the city, where she discovered an engagement was already taking place. Her arrival roused the French, and they took the fort. The next day Joan addressed another of her letters of defiance to the English. On the morning of May 6 she crossed to the south bank of the river and advanced toward another fort; the English immediately evacuated in order to defend a stronger position nearby, but Joan and La Hire attacked them and took it by storm. Very early on May 7 the French advanced against the fort of Les Tourelles. Joan was wounded but quickly returned to the fight, and it was thanks in part to her example that the French commanders maintained the attack until the English capitulated . Next day the English were seen retreating, but, because it was a Sunday, Joan refused to allow any pursuit.

Joan left Orléans on May 9 and met Charles at Tours. She urged him to make haste to Reims to be crowned. Though he hesitated because some of his more prudent counselors were advising him to undertake the conquest of Normandy , Joan’s importunity ultimately carried the day. It was decided, however, first to clear the English out of the other towns along the Loire River . Joan met her friend the Duc d’Alençon, who had been made lieutenant general of the French armies, and together they took a town and an important bridge. They next attacked Beaugency , whereupon the English retreated into the castle. Then, despite the opposition of the dauphin and his adviser Georges de La Trémoille , and despite the reserve of Alençon, Joan received the Constable de Richemont , who was under suspicion at the French court. After making him swear fidelity , she accepted his help, and shortly thereafter the castle of Beaugency was surrendered.

The French and English armies came face to face at Patay on June 18, 1429. Joan promised success to the French, saying that Charles, would win a greater victory that day than any he had won so far. The victory was indeed complete: the English army was routed and with it, finally, its reputation for invincibility.

Instead of pressing home their advantage by a bold attack upon Paris , Joan and the French commanders turned back to rejoin the dauphin, who was staying with La Trémoille at Sully-sur-Loire. Again Joan urged upon Charles the need to go on swiftly to Reims for his coronation. He vacillated, however, and as he meandered through the towns along the Loire, Joan accompanied him and sought to vanquish his hesitancy and prevail over the counselors who advised delay. She was aware of the dangers and difficulties involved but declared them of no account, and finally she won Charles to her view.

From Gien, where the army began to assemble, the dauphin sent out the customary letters of summons to the coronation . Joan wrote two letters: one of exhortation to the people of Tournai , always loyal to Charles, the other a challenge to Philip the Good , duke of Burgundy. She and the dauphin set out on the march to Reims on June 29. Before arriving at Troyes , Joan wrote to the inhabitants, promising them pardon if they would submit. They countered by sending a friar , the popular preacher Brother Richard, to take stock of her. Although he returned full of enthusiasm for the Maid of Orléans (as she was known) and her mission, the townsfolk decided to remain loyal to the Anglo-Burgundian regime . The dauphin’s council decided that Joan should lead an attack against the town, and the citizens quickly submitted to the next morning’s assault. The royal army then marched on to Châlons, where, despite an earlier decision to resist, the count-bishop handed the keys of the town to Charles. On July 16 the royal army reached Reims, which opened its gates. The coronation took place on July 17, 1429. Joan was present at the consecration, standing with her banner not far from the altar. After the ceremony she knelt before Charles, calling him her king for the first time. That same day she wrote to the duke of Burgundy, adjuring him to make peace with the king and to withdraw his garrisons from the royal fortresses.

Charles VII left Reims on July 20, and for a month the army paraded through Champagne and the Île-de-France . On August 2 the king decided on a retreat from Provins to the Loire, a move that implied abandoning any plan to attack Paris . The loyal towns that would thus have been left to the enemy’s mercy expressed some alarm. Joan, who was opposed to Charles’s decision, wrote to reassure the citizens of Reims on August 5, saying that the duke of Burgundy, then in possession of Paris, had made a fortnight’s truce, after which it was hoped that he would yield Paris to the king. In fact, on August 6, English troops prevented the royal army from crossing the Seine at Bray, much to the delight of Joan and the commanders, who hoped that Charles would attack Paris. Everywhere acclaimed, Joan was now, according to a 15th-century chronicler, the idol of the French. She herself felt that the purpose of her mission had been achieved.

Near Senlis , on August 14, the French and English armies again confronted each other. This time only skirmishes took place, neither side daring to start a battle, though Joan carried her standard up to the enemy’s earthworks and openly challenged them. Meanwhile Compiègne, Beauvais , Senlis, and other towns north of Paris surrendered to the king. Soon afterward, on August 28, a four months’ truce for all the territory north of the Seine was concluded with the Burgundians.

Joan, however, was becoming more and more impatient; she thought it essential to take Paris. She and Alençon were at Saint-Denis on the northern outskirts of Paris on August 26, and the Parisians began to organize their defenses. Charles arrived on September 7, and an attack was launched on September 8, directed between the gates of Saint-Honoré and Saint-Denis. The Parisians could be in no doubt of Joan’s presence among the besiegers; she stood forward on the earthworks, calling on them to surrender their city to the king of France. Wounded, she continued to encourage the soldiers until she had to abandon the attack. Though the next day she and Alençon sought to renew the assault, they were ordered by Charles’s council to retreat.

Charles VII retired to the Loire, Joan following him. At Gien, which they reached on September 22, the army was disbanded. Alençon and the other captains went home; only Joan remained with the king. Later, when Alençon was planning a campaign in Normandy , he asked the king to let Joan rejoin him, but La Trémoille and other courtiers dissuaded him. Joan went with the king to Bourges , where many years later she was to be remembered for her goodness and her generosity to the poor. In October she was sent against Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier; through her courageous assault, with only a few men, the town was taken. Joan’s army then laid siege to La Charité-sur-Loire; short of munitions, they appealed to neighbouring towns for help. The supplies arrived too late, and after a month they had to withdraw.

Joan then rejoined the king, who was spending the winter in towns along the Loire. Late in December 1429 Charles issued letters patent ennobling Joan, her parents, and her brothers. Early in 1430 the duke of Burgundy began to threaten Brie and Champagne. The inhabitants of Reims became alarmed, and Joan wrote in March to assure them of the king’s concern and to promise that she would come to their defense. When the duke moved up to attack Compiègne , the townsfolk determined to resist; in late March or early April Joan left the king and set out to their aid, accompanied only by her brother Pierre, her squire Jean d’Aulon, and a small troop of men-at-arms. She arrived at Melun in the middle of April, and it was no doubt her presence that prompted the citizens there to declare themselves for Charles VII.

Joan was at Compiègne by May 14, 1430. There she found Renaud de Chartres, archbishop of Reims, and Louis I de Bourbon, comte de Vendôme, a relative of the king. With them she went on to Soissons , where the townspeople refused them entry. Renaud and Vendôme therefore decided to return south of the Marne and Seine rivers; but Joan refused to accompany them, preferring to return to her “good friends” in Compiègne.

Joan of Arc

Martyr, saint and military leader Joan of Arc, acting under divine guidance, led the French army to victory over the English during the Hundred Years' War.

(1412-1431)

Who Was Joan of Arc?

A national heroine of France, at age 18 Joan of Arc led the French army to victory over the English at Orléans. Captured a year later, Joan was burned at the stake as a heretic by the English and their French collaborators. She was canonized as a Roman Catholic saint more than 500 years later, on May 16, 1920.

Historical Background

At the time of Joan of Arc’s birth, France was embroiled in a long-running war with England known as the Hundred Years’ War ; the dispute began over who would be the heir to the French throne. By the early 15th century, northern France was a lawless frontier of marauding armies.

Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans," was born in 1412, in Domremy, France. The daughter of poor tenant farmers Jacques d’ Arc and his wife, Isabelle, also known as Romée, Joan learned piety and domestic skills from her mother. Never venturing far from home, Joan took care of the animals and became quite skilled as a seamstress.

In 1415, King Henry V of England invaded northern France. After delivering a shattering defeat to French forces, England gained the support of the Burgundians in France. The 1420 Treaty of Troyes, granted the French throne to Henry V as regent for the insane King Charles VI. Henry would then inherit the throne after Charles’s death. However, in 1422, both Henry and Charles died within a couple of months, leaving Henry’s infant son as king of both realms. The French supporters of Charles’ son, the future Charles VII, sensed an opportunity to return the crown to a French monarch.

Around this time, Joan of Arc began to have mystical visions encouraging her to lead a pious life. Over time, they became more vivid, with the presence of St. Michael and St. Catherine designating her as the savior of France and encouraging her to seek an audience with Charles—who had assumed the title Dauphin (heir to the throne)—and ask his permission to expel the English and install him as the rightful king.

Meeting with the Dauphin

In May 1428, Joan’s visions instructed her to go to Vaucouleurs and contact Robert de Baudricourt, the garrison commander and a supporter of Charles. At first, Baudricourt refused Joan’s request, but after seeing that she was gaining the approval of villagers, in 1429 he relented and gave her a horse and an escort of several soldiers. Joan cropped her hair and dressed in men’s clothes for her 11-day journey across enemy territory to Chinon, the site of Charles’s court.

At first, Charles was not certain what to make of this peasant girl who asked for an audience and professed she could save France. Joan, however, won him over when she correctly identified him, dressed incognito, in a crowd of members of his court. The two had a private conversation during which it is said Joan revealed details of a solemn prayer Charles had made to God to save France. Still tentative, Charles had prominent theologians examine her. The clergymen reported they found nothing improper with Joan, only piety, chastity and humility.

The Battle of Orléans

Finally, Charles gave the 17-year-old Joan of Arc armor and a horse and allowed her to accompany the army to Orléans, the site of an English siege. In a series of battles between May 4 and May 7, 1429, the French troops took control of the English fortifications. Joan was wounded but later returned to the front to encourage a final assault. By mid-June, the French had routed the English and, in doing so, their perceived invincibility as well.

Although it appeared that Charles had accepted Joan’s mission, he did not display full trust in her judgment or advice. After the victory at Orléans, she kept encouraging him to hurry to Reims to be crowned king, but he and his advisors were more cautious. However, Charles and his procession finally entered Reims, and he was crowned Charles VII on July 18, 1429. Joan was at his side, occupying a visible place at the ceremonies.

Capture and Trial

In the spring of 1430, King Charles VII ordered Joan to Compiègne to confront the Burgundian assault. During the battle, she was thrown off her horse and left outside the town’s gates. The Burgundians took her captive and held her for several months, negotiating with the English, who saw her as a valuable propaganda prize. Finally, the Burgundians exchanged Joan for 10,000 francs.

Charles VII was unsure what to do. Still not convinced of Joan’s divine inspiration, he distanced himself and made no attempt to have her released. Though Joan’s actions were against the English occupation army, she was turned over to church officials who insisted she be tried as a heretic. She was charged with 70 counts, including witchcraft, heresy and dressing like a man.

Initially, the trial was held in public, but it went private when Joan bettered her accusers. Between February 21 and March 24, 1431, she was interrogated nearly a dozen times by a tribunal, always keeping her humility and steadfast claim of innocence. Instead of being held in a church prison with nuns as guards, she was held in a military prison. Joan was threatened with rape and torture, though there is no record that either actually occurred. She protected herself by tying her soldiers’ clothes tightly together with dozens of cords. Frustrated they could not break her, the tribunal eventually used her military clothes against her, charging that she dressed like a man.

On May 29, 1431, the tribunal announced Joan of Arc was guilty of heresy. On the morning of May 30, she was taken to the marketplace in Rouen and burned at the stake, before an estimated crowd of 10,000 people. She was 19 years old. One legend surrounding the event tells of how her heart survived the fire unaffected. Her ashes were gathered and scattered in the Seine.

Retrial and Legacy

After Joan's death, the Hundred Years’ War continued for another 22 years. King Charles VII ultimately retained his crown, and he ordered an investigation that in 1456 declared Joan of Arc to be officially innocent of all charges and designated a martyr. She was canonized as a saint on May 16, 1920, and is the patron saint of France.

Watch "Joan of Arc: The Virgin Warrior" on HISTORY Vault

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Joan of Arc
• Birth Year: 1412
• Birth City: Domremy
• Birth Country: France
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: Martyr, saint and military leader Joan of Arc, acting under divine guidance, led the French army to victory over the English during the Hundred Years' War.
• Nacionalities
• Death Year: 1431
• Death date: May 30, 1431
• Death City: Rouen
• Death Country: France

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CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Joan of Arc Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/military-figure/joan-of-arc
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: May 6, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

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Joan of Arc

By: History.com Editors

Updated: July 13, 2022 | Original: November 9, 2009

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 Orléans, 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 history’s greatest martyrs, and the patron saint of France.

Joan of Arc’s Early Life

Born around 1412, Jeanne d’Arc (or in English, Joan of Arc) was the daughter of a tenant farmer, Jacques d’Arc, from the village of Domrémy, in northeastern France. She was not taught to read or write, but her pious mother, Isabelle Romée, 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 Joan’s village, Domrémy, were forced to abandon their homes under threat of invasion.

Did you know? In a private audience at his castle at Chinon, Joan of Arc won the future Charles VII over by supposedly revealing information that only a messenger from God could know; the details of this conversation are unknown.

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.

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The Siege of Orléans

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 men’s clothes to make the 11-day journey across enemy territory to Chinon, site of the crown prince’s 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 Orléans, 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 Orléans 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.

Capture of Joan of Arc

After such a miraculous victory, Joan’s 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 Trémoille, 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 Compiège. In her effort to defend the town and its inhabitants, she was thrown from her horse and was left outside the town’s 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.

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 Joan’s 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 men’s 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 .

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 d’Arc, who eventually became the patron saint of France, pays tribute to her legacy.

HISTORY Vault: Joan of Arc: Soul on Fire

Joan of Arc: a teenage girl so dangerous, she had to be burned at the stake. Discover how an illiterate peasant girl took command of an army and placed a king on the throne of France.

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Joan of Arc: A History Paperback – Illustrated, May 17, 2016

From the author of the acclaimed She-Wolves , the complex, surprising, and engaging story of one of the most remarkable women of the medieval world—as never told before.

Helen Castor tells afresh the gripping story of the peasant girl from Domremy who hears voices from God, leads the French army to victory, is burned at the stake for heresy, and eventually becomes a saint. But unlike the traditional narrative, a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become and told in hindsight, Castor’s Joan of Arc: A History takes us back to fifteenth century France and tells the story forwards. Instead of an icon, she gives us a living, breathing woman confronting the challenges of faith and doubt, a roaring girl who, in fighting the English, was also taking sides in a bloody civil war. We meet this extraordinary girl amid the tumultuous events of her extraordinary world where no one—not Joan herself, nor the people around her—princes, bishops, soldiers, or peasants—knew what would happen next.

Adding complexity, depth, and fresh insight into Joan’s life, and placing her actions in the context of the larger political and religious conflicts of fifteenth century France, Joan of Arc: A History is history at its finest and a surprising new portrait of this remarkable woman.

Joan of Arc: A History features an 8-page color insert.

• Print length 376 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Harper Perennial
• Publication date May 17, 2016
• Dimensions 5.31 x 0.84 x 8 inches
• ISBN-10 0062384406
• ISBN-13 978-0062384409
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

“A book that shows vividly what Joan meant to those in her own time, politically and militarily…fascinating” — The New Yorker

“A triumph - brings the real Joan and her time to dramatic, moving and brilliant life.” — Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets, New York Times bestseller

“In Castor’s hands [Joan’s] voice comes across in a truly vibrant way that illuminates her personality as few others have managed…eye-opening, engaging, and overall, excellent non-fiction…Castor’s outstanding ability to convey the important events and people that made up the political landscape make this one a winner.” — BookBrowse

“Castor creates a strong introduction to the courageous girl who swore she heard saints’ voices, but also to the nation-rending struggle for power so fiercely waged that only that singular, obsessive teenager could finally save France…Recreates the heady atmosphere of the period.” — Publishers Weekly

“Convincing and gripping…a highly satisfying biography…Castor’s great coup is in framing this biography within another context...it puts the women back into the story…Castor’s book is an important way of returning Joan’s ‘star’ to the realm where it belongs, the human one.” — Amanda Foreman, New York Times Book Review

“Castor brings keenly observed historical details to the grandeur and drama of the political and religious turmoil of medieval Europe and an extraordinary young woman.” — Booklist

“Castor’s research is thorough and her account…always fascinating. Readers interested in history, rather than folklore, will find this detailed framing of Joan’s story very rewarding.” — Library Journal

“Castor’s account is filled with gruesome murders, even more gruesome accidents, and layers of intrigue that make Game of Thrones look like child’s play…enjoyable…never dull, thanks to Castor’s knack for weaving in salacious bits, usually involving a particularly unfortunate death.” — Daily Beast

“JOAN OF ARC: A HISTORY is popular history at its best: pacy, clear and undergirded with a formidable array of scholarly footnotes. Helen Castor shows how well it can be done.” — Daily Telegraph

“An amazing read…This is a true story from the histories and journals of the times that reads like fiction…one of the best histories I have encountered.” — Blogcritics (Leslie Wright)

“An unorthodox yet erudite and elegant biography of this ‘massive star.’” — Kirkus Reviews

“There have been many lives of Joan, and books about her times, some of them excellent. But none is quite like Castor’s ... [her] book is a historian’s achievement.” — The Guardian

“[A] vivid and intelligent biography ... hugely impressive. ” — Sunday Business Post

“Clear and elegant ... an engaging piece of popular scholarship that does not diminish Joan’s star, but instead uses its light to illuminate a remarkable age.” — Times Higher Education

“Compelling ... [Castor] succeeds triumphantly in rescuing [Joan] from the various straitjackets in which she has been confined ... a fascinating and privileged insight.” — Sunday Times (London)

“…quite intriguing. This book is a great historical read.” — Manhattan Book Review

“An elegant, subtle biography of great historical integrity and sensitive understanding. Castor lets the humanity of Joan’s story shine through.” — Kate Mosse, Evening Standard (London)

“A fascinating biography ... truly thrilling.” — Daily Mail (London), Book of the Week

“Excellent ... perhaps Castor’s greatest achievement is to remind us of just how extraordinary Joan was. ” — Literary Review

“Enlightening ... [an] elegant and vivid account.” — The Times (London)

“With the meticulous scholarship that she revealed in SHE-WOLVES, and in the same captivating manner, Helen Castor presents us with a very compelling analysis.” — Trevor James, Historical Association / The Historian

“[An] excellent retelling of the strange tale of the Maid from Domrémy...JOAN OF ARC: A HISTORY is popular history at its best” — Daily Telegraph (London)

“Gripping…Written to the impeccable standards of her award-winning bestseller, SHE-WOLVES, Castor’s meticulous untangling of six centuries’ worth of incredibly complex and contradictory detail into elegant prose is a thing of wonder…Castor doesn’t make history fun or cool in JOAN OF ARC. She makes it shockingly, poignantly, irresistibly real.” — BookReporter

“[An] illuminating new biography... a clear and elegant account .” — Times Higher Education, Book of the Week

From the Back Cover

Helen Castor brings us afresh a riveting life of Joan of Arc. Instead of the icon, she gives us a living, breathing young woman, a roaring girl fighting the English and taking sides in a bloody civil war that was tearing apart fifteenth-century France.

Here is a portrait of a nineteen-year-old peasant who hears voices from God; a teenager transformed into a warrior, leading an army to victory in an age that believed women should not fight. And it is also the story behind the myth we all know, a myth that began to take hold at her trial: that of the Maid of Orleans, the savior of France, a young woman burned at the stake as a heretic, a woman who, five hundred years later, would be declared a saint.

Adding complexity, depth, and fresh insight into Joan’s life, showing her confronting the challenges of faith and doubt in a superstitious age, Castor’s Joan of Arc is a rich history and biography that allows us to better understand this remarkable woman and her world.

About the Author

Helen Castor is a historian of medieval England and a Bye-Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her first book, Blood and Roses , was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize and won the English Association’s Beatrice White Prize. Her second book, She-Wolves , was selected as one of the books of the year by The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Independent, Financial Times , and BBC History Magazine . She lives in London.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Illustrated edition (May 17, 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 376 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062384406
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062384409
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.5 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.84 x 8 inches
• #241 in Historical France Biographies
• #872 in French History (Books)
• #2,795 in Religious Leader Biographies

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Helen castor.

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Biography of Joan of Arc, Visionary, Saint, and Military Leader

Jeanne D'Arc was 16 when she led France to victory

 Thierry PRAT / Getty Images

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Jeanne D'Arc (c. 1412–May 30, 1431), known in English as Joan of Arc, was a French peasant girl whose visions of angels led her to become a military leader. Joan of Arc's intervention changed the outcome of the Hundred Years War and helped ensure that Charles VII of France would become king. Joan was, finally, executed by the English forces whom she defeated.

Throughout her young life, from age 13, Joan believed that she was visited by various angels and given clear direction to take action for France; various theories have been suggested that may explain the origins of her visions. In May 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

Fast Facts: Joan of Arc

• Also Known As : Jeanne D'Arc, The Maid of Orléans, Saint Joan
• Known For : A visionary whose actions turned the tide of the Hundred Years War
• Born : 1412 in Domremy, Kingdom of France 
• Died : May 30, 1431 in Rouen, Normandy
• Parents : Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée
• Notable Quote : "One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."

Joan was born in the village of Domremy, which at the time was part of the Duchy of Bar within the Holy Roman Empire. Her parents, Isabelle Romee and Jacques d’Arc, were peasants with a small farm; her father also worked as a village official. Joan had two older brothers as well as a younger brother and sister. As a peasant girl during the Middle Ages, Joan was not taught to read or write, but she was brought up in the Catholic Church.

Joan of Arc was born during the middle of the Hundred Years War, a battle over who should inherit the French throne. At the time of her birth, the English were in the ascendancy; France had declined as a result of the Black Plague and other challenges. While Domremy, where Joan lived, was not a major focus of the war, it was located in a portion of France that had remained loyal to the French crown. Joan was well aware of the fighting. In fact, Domremy had actually been burnt more than once by English loyalists.

Joan's Visions

At the age of 13, Joan began to claim that she heard the voices of angels and saw visions of St. Michael , St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch. While some modern researchers suggest that these visions may have been the result of epilepsy or some other medical issue, many still believe these visions were genuine.

Joan described her visions very clearly; in a transcript from her trial, she says: “I was thirteen when I had a Voice from God for my help and guidance. The first time that I heard this Voice, I was very much frightened; it was mid-day, in the summer, in my father’s garden."

Over time, Joan's visions became increasingly specific. According to records, she was told by St. Michael and St. Catherine that she was the savior of France. Her destiny, they told her, was to seek an audience with Charles, the Dauphin (heir) to the French crown. Joan, the visions told her, would be the one to defeat the English, drive them from France, and install Charles as the rightful king.

In 1428, when Joan was about 16 years old, her visions gave her direct instructions. She was to contact Robert de Baudricourt, the garrison commander at Vaucouleurs, who would help her achieve her divinely appointed goal. While Baudricourt turned down the teenager at her first attempts, he later relented; his decision may have related to Joan's apparently clairvoyant ability to describe a French defeat at Orleans. Baudricourt provided Joan with a horse and escort; she cut her hair and dressed in men's clothing to undertake the journey.

Joan of Arc and the Dauphin

Like Baudricourt, the Dauphin was skeptical of Joan's visions. To test her claims, he had a courtier dress up as the dauphin; Joan was immediately able to detect the deception and, without hesitation, went directly to the Dauphin himself. To be sure she was not a witch or under the influence of dark forces, the Dauphin had a group of clergy examine Joan; they found her to be pure and orthodox.

Charles, like many of his countrymen, knew of a prophecy that stated that a maid in armor would come from Lorraine to save France. Joan fulfilled that prophecy, and so, with the Dauphin's blessing, Joan donned armor and led the French troops to Orleans to free the city from an English siege.

The Siege of Orleans

Not surprisingly, Joan was initially excluded from councils of war, but her presence had a significant impact on the morale of the French Army who began to see the conflict with the English as a religious war. Historic records are not clear on Joan's physical contribution to the battle, but she certainly rode with the soldiers and carried a flag.

Prior to Joan's arrival, the siege had gone poorly for the French. Now, however, the Armagnacs (Joan's forces) were able to capture the fortress of Saint-Loup, and then the fortress of Saint-Jean-le-Blanc. Soon after, the French forces consolidated their gains and attacked the English at Les Tourelles. Joan, acknowledged as the heroine of the day, was wounded but nevertheless led the final successful assault against the English.

The impressive victory at Orleans was seen as a sign that Joan of Arc was, indeed, sent by God to support the French. The English, by contrast, believed that she was sent by the Devil.

The Dauphin Is Crowned

Following the liberation of Orleans, Joan wanted to move forward with military plans that would lead to the crowning of the Dauphin. Word of her victory had spread, and new recruits were daily joining her forces. Several military engagements led to victory at Rheims, where Charles VII was crowned King of France in 1429. Joan of Arc stood by him at the coronation.

Capture and Trial

In 1430, Joan was captured in battle and sold to the English. Held illegally in an ecclesiastical prison, she was threatened by male guards and therefore refused to give up her male clothing. The English were determined to prove that Joan's visions were false, as they suggested that God was on the side of the French.

The English court did their best to trick Joan into heresy but was unsuccessful. When asked whether she was in a state of grace , for example, Joan responded: “If I am not, may God put me there and, if I am, may God keep me there.”

At one point, Joan did recant her visions in order to escape death by burning. Her visions returned, however, and she withdrew her recantation. The result: she was sentenced to death as a heretic .

Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431; she is said to have called on Jesus to her dying breath. Following her execution, her body was burned again and yet again; her ashes were disposed of in the Seine.

Following Joan's death—and largely as a result of her actions and inspiration—France won the Hundred Year's War. A "nullification trial," held in 1456, reversed the heresy charge against Joan, and she was declared innocent. Joan of Arc was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church and canonized a saint in 1920.

Joan has been the subject of countless books, dramas, songs, and movies. She is also the namesake for several French naval vessels.

• Mark, Joshua J. " Joan of Arc ."  Ancient History Encyclopedia . Ancient History Encyclopedia, 28 Mar 2019. Web. 27 Aug 2019.
• Rieger, Bertrand, et al. “How Joan of Arc Turned the Tide in the Hundred Years' War.”  How Joan of Arc Turned the Tide in the Hundred Years' War , 13 Apr. 2017, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/03-04/joan-of-arc-warrior-heretic-saint-martyr/.
• “Visions: Joan of Arc.”  Joan of Arc - Jeanne D'Arc (1412 – 1431) , 6 Aug. 2019, https://www.jeanne-darc.info/biography/visions/.
• “What Really Caused the Voices in Joan of Arc's Head?”  LiveScience , Purch, https://www.livescience.com/55597-joan-of-arc-voices-epilepsy.html.
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Joan of Arc

MILITARY (1412–1431); DOMRÉMY-LA-PUCELLE, FRANCE

Today, Joan of Arc (or Jeanne d'Arc) is most often referred to as a heroine and early symbol of female empowerment. But during her brief life, she was deemed a heretic—and burned at the stake for it in Rouen, France on May 30, 1431, when she was just 19 years old. Read on to learn more facts about Joan’s early life and premature death, how history transformed her from sinner to saint, some famous quotes, and how her legacy has lived on in movies, books, and art.

1. Joan of Arc’s birth date is unknown, but her childhood was marked by war.

Though her exact date of birth isn’t known, Joan of Arc was born in the French village of Domrémy (now known as Domrémy-la-Pucelle) around 1412 to Jacques d’Arc and his wife, Isabelle. Her remote area of northeastern France was not immune to the growing dangers of the Hundred Years’ War , a protracted conflict between France and England that lasted from 1337 to 1453 and saw the French crown fall into dispute. Raids were common at the time, especially as the area in which Joan and her family lived was controlled by the Burgundians, a faction allied with England against the French ruling family. During one incident, her home village was burned down.

2. Joan of Arc began having visions when she was just 13 years old.

While Joan of Arc spent her teenage years fighting for the French army toward the end of the Hundred Years’ War, her willingness to go into battle wasn’t just an act of patriotism. In 1424, Joan began having visions in which St. Michael the Archangel, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch appeared to her to instruct her to live a life dedicated to God. As time went on, the visions grew more intense, and eventually the saints would tell her to meet with the Dauphin, the future Charles VII, whom she viewed as the rightful heir to the French throne. The visions urged Joan to convince him to allow her to take up arms against the English and drive them out of France, which would result in Charles officially being recognized as king.

In May 1428, Joan of Arc tried to convince Sir Robert de Baudricourt, commander of a royal garrison, to let her go see Charles. She was initially turned away, but her persistence paid off, because by February 1429, Joan and her visions had gained enough support from the war-weary townspeople to earn Baudricourt's respect and a trip to Chinon to meet with Charles. While traveling to the court, she cut her hair short and began dressing like a man to blend in with the other soldiers.

3. Joan of Arc had correctly spotted Charles VII in disguise.

Joan of Arc claimed she would be able to recognize the Dauphin without ever having met him, so before their first meeting, the future king decided to see this ability in person. He disguised himself as just another member of the court. When Joan arrived, true to her word, she was still able to pick him out, and before long, Charles was ready to listen to her.

While she had no military experience, Joan of Arc managed to convince Charles to let her lead an army to the town of Orléans, then occupied by English forces, so that she could liberate it in his name. In April 1429, as English and French forces battled near the west side of the city, Joan and her troops entered through the east, virtually unopposed, bringing much-needed supplies and reinforcements with them. Once entrenched in Orléans, Joan— dressed in white armor and riding atop a white horse—became an inspiration for the French soldiers and was known for charging into battles, distributing food , and openly calling for the English to depart.

Joan of Arc was an invaluable symbol of hope for the French in Orléans, and by May 8, 1429, after a series of battles within the city, Joan and her army were successful in driving the English out. After a few more victories, Joan of Arc attended Charles's triumphant coronation in Reims in July 1429.

4. Joan of Arc was put on trial for heresy and witchcraft.

In May 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundian troops during a siege on the town of Compiègne. After her capture, she was sold to the English for 10,000 francs , and she would be held in prison for more than a year on charges of heresy, witchcraft, and wearing men’s clothing. The latter was directly forbidden in the Biblical verse Deuteronomy 22:5, which states that women should not wear “that which pertaineth unto a man.”

A very pro-English trial ensued , with a guilty verdict all but confirmed. On May 28, 1431, Joan signed a retraction of her claims that saints had appeared before her and agreed to only dress as a woman, which would have reduced her death sentence to life in prison, instead. But a few days later, she was again found in men’s clothing and claimed that the visions had returned to her. Her retraction now nullified, the death sentence would be carried out.

5. Joan of Arc died when she was burned at the stake.

On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the Place du Vieux-Marché in Rouen, France. The main charges after her relapse did not involve witchcraft but were instead related to wearing men’s clothing and falsely claiming that God had urged her to commit violence against the English. Joan of Arc was only 19 at the time of her execution , and it’s estimated that 10,000 people gathered to watch. After her death, a legend soon grew that Joan's heart had somehow survived the fire.

6. Joan of Arc Became a Saint in 1920.

The rehabilitation of Joan of Arc’s reputation took place soon after her execution. In 1456, a retrial was held, ordered by King Charles VII, that posthumously overturned Joan’s conviction and cleared her of any dubious claims of witchcraft and heresy. While Joan of Arc would remain a hero in France for centuries, she gained wider immortality on May 16, 1920, when she was officially canonized by the Catholic Church and was named the patron saint of France, soldiers, and prisoners.

7. The Passion of Joan of Arc is known as one of the most important silent movies.

Less than 10 years after Joan of Arc was made a saint by Pope Benedict XV, her story was brought to the big screen while the movie industry was still in its infancy. Titled The Passion of Joan of Arc , this 1928 silent film is the product of director Carl Theodor Dreyer and star Renée Jeanne Falconetti, who played Joan of Arc. The movie depicts Joan’s imprisonment, trial, and execution. And while it was a financial flop at the time, it has since earned a reputation as one of the finest films of the silent era, with publications like Sight & Sound and The Village Voice , along with critics like Roger Ebert , singing its praises.

8. Jules Bastien-Lepage's Joan of Arc Painting Has Been in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art Since 1889.

Joan of Arc has inspired countless different works of art in nearly every medium imaginable. In addition to the Saint Joan of Arc statue in Notre Dame cathedral, one of the most recognizable works inspired by the famed French hero is the painting by artist Jules Bastien-Lepage that hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The figure of Joan was modeled by Marie-Adèle Robert, one of the artist’s cousins, and was completed in 1879.

Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc ( Jeanne D 'Arc, l. c. 1412-1431 CE) was a medieval peasant who, claiming to receive visions from God , turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War in favor of a French victory. She was famously martyrd for standing by her claim of divine inspiration and later canonized as a saint.

She was born in Domremy, France to a peasant farmer but, at the age of 13, received a revelation while standing in her father's garden that she should lead the French to victory over the English and ensure that Charles, the dauphin (Charles VII of France, r. 1422-1461), was crowned at the traditional site of Rheims.

Joan succeeded in lifting the Siege of Orleans in 1429 and Charles was crowned at Rheims in July of the same year following the Loire Campaign. Joan was captured by the Burgundian allies of the English in 1430 and sold to them. The English could not prosecute a woman who claimed she was serving God but could not allow even the suggestion she was telling the truth because that would mean that God was on the French side of the conflict. They finally convicted her of being a relapsed heretic and burned her at the stake in May 1431.

The trial of Joan of Arc was reviewed as early as 1452, found to be invalid, and Joan was exonerated and proclaimed a martyr in 1456. She was later canonized and is one of the patron saints of France in the modern day.

The Hundred Years ' War

The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) was a conflict between France and England over the legitimate succession to the French throne. William the Conqueror led the Norman conquest of England in 1066, ruling England from 1066-1087 and establishing a French monarchy. The later kings of England still had estates and interests in France and periodically would make some gesture asserting their rights, disregarding the policies or wishes of the French king. The monarchy in France, therefore, wanted to cut England's power in their country while the English worked to increase the power they already had there.

In 1328, Charles IV of France (r. 1322-1328) died, leaving no male heir. Charles' sister, Isabella of France , claimed the French throne for her son, Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377) but her claim was denied because she was a woman and women were not allowed to make such claims. The throne passed to Charles' cousin, Philip VI (r. 1328-1350), and the antagonistic relationship of these two monarchs – Edward and Philip – finally ignited the war in 1337.

The war was not one long continuous conflict but a series of military campaigns, waged mostly on French soil, which consisted of hostilities followed by a truce and then re-engagement. Modern-day scholars have divided the history of the war into three periods for ease of study. Joan of Arc appears in the final period, known as the Lancastrian War (1415-1453) after the House of Lancaster, the ruling house of England at the time.

The Lancastrian War began with the stunning victory by Henry V of England (r. 1413-1422) at Agincourt where he defeated a numerically superior French force. Throughout the Hundred Years' War, English victories far surpassed those of the French and in this last phase of the war, that paradigm seemed it would hold following Agincourt. Henry V married Catherine of Valois, daughter of the sitting French king, Charles VI (r. 1380-1422), under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes (1420) and could now lay claim to the throne of France. Charles VI, however, had a male heir, the dauphin Charles, who maintained his right to the throne and was able to garner support for his claim.

English victories continued as Charles' supporters struggled to drive the English from France and legitimize his rule by crowning him king at Rheims, a city then held by the Burgundian allies of the English. The dauphin Charles only had any power in and around the city of Chinon, and his dwindling forces were defeated every time they took the field. It is during this period that Joan of Arc appears and reverses Charles' – and France's - fortunes.

Early Life & Visions

Joan was born in Domremy village to Isabelle Romee (l. 1377-1458) and Jacques d'Arc (l. 1380-1440). She had two older brothers – Jacques (sometimes given as Jacquemin) and Jean – and a younger brother and sister – Pierre and Catherine. Jacques d'Arc was a farmer, and the children would have all been brought up learning that trade .

At her later trial, the records of which are the main source of information on Joan's life, she claimed that she received a vision from God one day in 1425 when she was 13 years old. Saint Catherine, Saint Michael, and Saint Margaret appeared to her in her father's garden and instructed her to drive the English from France and see that the dauphin was crowned king at Rheims.

Joan never seems to have doubted that her vision was a genuine message from God, and yet it would be three years before she was able to begin her mission. It is possible that her family detained her or perhaps that she did not know how she was supposed to proceed, but this is speculation as no records exist on Joan's life c. 1425-1428.

In 1428, she appeared at the office of Robert de Baudricourt (c. 1400-1454), captain of the garrison of Vaucouleurs, a nearby town, asking to be taken to the dauphin. De Baudricourt laughed her away at least twice before she convinced him of the seriousness of her mission.

According to one version of the events, Joan returned to the captain's office in early 1429 and was able to tell him of a French defeat related to the Siege of Orleans before anyone could have known about it; thereby demonstrating her divine powers. The other version claims that Joan shamed him by addressing him loudly in public in a harangue on his lack of faith and refusal to believe God had sent her to liberate France. Whichever may be true, Robert de Baudricourt and some of his men escorted Joan to Chinon to meet the dauphin.

Meeting the Dauphin & Orleans

Charles VII had been apprised of Joan's visit and decided to test her by dressing as one of his courtiers and having one of them dress as the dauphin; if Joan were truly sent by God then she would know the true dauphin. When Joan entered the assembly, she went directly to Charles and addressed him as the dauphin, and when he protested and tried to trick her further, she held her ground. Later, in private, she is said to have convinced him of her legitimacy by telling him things he had only said to God in prayer.

Still, the dauphin had to make sure that Joan was not a witch trying to place him under her spell and so had her examined for orthodoxy and purity by an assembly of clergy at Poitiers. She was declared an orthodox Christian in good standing and presented herself to the dauphin again as the answer to his problems at Orleans.

Prophecies had been in circulation in France for years that a maiden in armor would arise from the region of Lorraine to save the country, and Joan now fulfilled that prophecy in traveling with the army to Orleans in full battle gear. Although she had thus far had nothing to do with the war and had never been involved in a single military engagement, the prophecy attached itself to her so firmly that she was welcomed in the city as a hero. The siege was conducted by the English in such a way that gaps were open to the city at various intervals which could quickly be closed when necessary. Joan and her forces were able to enter the city through one of these on the Loire river a few miles east of Orleans.

The Siege of Orleans had been underway at this point for five months, and the French had found no way to lift it. Scholars continue to debate Joan of Arc's significance in lifting the siege citing how new tactics were used in May of 1429 that had not been attempted before and how the defenders were open to new possibilities and so, by this reasoning, Joan's presence in Orleans may not have had as much impact as legend claims.

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This reasoning is specious, however, in that it could and has been argued that Joan's arrival in Orleans, seemingly the fulfillment of prophecy, inspired the change in tactics and the sudden belief in the possibility of victory. Orleans was a pivotal city and of immense tactical and symbolic importance to both sides in the conflict. If the city fell, the French would most likely lose the war.

Joan immediately embraced her role as heroine by personally greeting the citizens of Orleans and going among them daily to encourage, inspire, and deliver food and supplies. The men in charge of the defense of the city routinely tried to keep her from the war councils but she would not be dissuaded and, if she could not participate, she could at least listen in.

Repeatedly, Joan called for direct action against key points in the English line and was ignored but continued patiently to suggest courses of action and to go among the people encouraging them and lifting their spirits. She rallied the troops and led them in an assault on the English position of St. Loup, which was successful and, the next day, backed by a militia of the citizenry which had responded to her inspiration, took part in another engagement which further broke the siege. Joan was wounded in the chest in these engagements but still persevered and carried her standard, inspiring others to fight on. The Siege of Orleans was lifted nine days after her arrival.

Other Engagements & Capture

Joan instantly went to work on a campaign which would pave the way for Charles VII to be crowned at Rheims but was met by opposition and continual objections. Rheims was held by the Burgundian allies of the English, deep in the heart of English-held territory, and Joan's plan of simply marching in, protected by the grace and strength of God, and taking the land seemed a naïve and impossible proposal to the commanders of the French forces. The prevailing wisdom of the day made clear that women had certain tasks they had been given by God and men had other and far more important responsibilities, and so women's advice on men's business was simply ignored. Joan was not only a woman but a teenage woman without any military experience or professional training in leadership.

Even so, she was able to convince command to agree to her suggestion as her victory at Orleans brought recruits from all over the country to join in the Loire Campaign of 1429. This initiative resulted in French victories from Jargeau to Meung, Beaugency, and culminating in the June victory at Patay, all inspired by Joan, even if she was not in a command position at each of them. The Loire Campaign steadily cleared the region on a march toward Rheims. The French were so successful that the Burgundians of Rheims surrendered the city and opened its gates without opposition and Charles VII was crowned king of France in the Rheims cathedral, in keeping with tradition and with Joan of Arc by his side, in July of 1429.

The great medieval French writer Christine de Pizan (l. 1364 - c. 1430), wrote her Tale of Joan of Arc to celebrate the liberation of Orleans (the first literary work written in Joan's honor and the only one in her lifetime) and must have been overjoyed at the coronation of the king. Records of the time suggest high spirits among the French everywhere as it seemed that the tables had finally turned and there was, at last, a chance that France might win the interminable war which by this time had been ongoing for almost a century. The French hopes were dimmed, however, when Joan was captured by the Burgundians in 1430 and sold to her English enemies.

Trial & Execution

Joan was held in the English-controlled city of Rouen where her trial for heresy took place. She should have been held in an ecclesiastical prison where she would have been tended to and guarded by women but instead was kept in a secular jail, constantly harassed and threatened by male guards. The trial, from the beginning, was a farce which a number of clerics initially refused to participate in until their lives were threatened by English authorities. Those who finally agreed to take part, however, were far from happy about it.

If Joan were telling the truth, then the English had been wrong in God's eyes for continuing the war and the English clergy had been wrong in supporting it. Joan had to be found guilty, and yet the evidence that God had directed her victories was irrefutable. With no experience in leadership or military matters, Joan had proven herself an exceptional strategist, winning every engagement she took part in. The judges knew she had been examined for orthodoxy and purity and had been found a good Christian and a virgin. In order to convict her, the tribunal would have to trick her into confessing she had lied about her visions and was guilty of heresy.

Joan was held in a military prison, shackled even in her cell and abused by her guards, and was led out to be questioned by the most sophisticated legal minds of her day. According to the transcripts of her trial, she ably defended herself, especially in the moment when the judges tried to trick her by asking if she believed she was in a state of grace. Since the church claimed that one could not know if one was in a state of grace, if Joan answered yes then she would be a heretic and if she answered no she would be confessing herself as guilty of not being in God's grace and so her visions would be invalidated. Joan slipped through their trap answering simply, “If I am not, may God put me there and, if I am, may God keep me there.”

Threatened with death by fire, she recanted her claim to have been directed by God to liberate France, but her visions returned to her and denounced her for trying to save her life at the expense of the truth. Joan withdrew her recantation and was sentenced to death under ecclesiastical law as a heretic. She was burned at the stake in Rouen, calling upon the name of Jesus throughout her execution, on 30 May 1431. To make sure that she was dead, the court ordered her corpse to be burned twice more and her ashes thrown into the River Seine.

Charles VII, for whom Joan had given her life, largely proved an unworthy monarch in almost every regard. He is generally regarded as weak-willed and apathetic, especially in the years prior to Joan's involvement with him, and the accomplishments of his 38-year reign are understood to have been inspired and encouraged by others and hardly worth the life which had been paid for his rise to power. Attempts had been made to free Joan, but none of them were orchestrated or authorized by Charles.

France would win the Hundred Years' War in 1453 and, although there have been many books through the years arguing otherwise, this was due to the inspiration provided by Joan of Arc more than any innovations of French military tactics. Even a cursory survey of the history of the Hundred Years' War prior to Joan's involvement makes clear that the French consistently lost more engagements than they won and the kinds of successful tactics which changed that paradigm appear after the victory at Orleans.

Shortly after her death, Joan's brothers Pierre and Jean 'adopted' a woman, Jeanne des Armoises, and presented her to the public as Joan, claiming she had escaped her captors at the last minute. The three made a good living off this scam for six years until word of Joan's survival at Rouen reached Charles VII who called for her to come to him. When the pseudo-Joan could not tell Charles what secrets she had told him in 1429, the fraud was revealed. No legal consequences followed, however, and the brothers – who had been ennobled by the crown in 1429 along with every member of Joan's family following Orleans – continued to prosper and Jeanne des Armoises married well.

Joan's father is popularly believed to have died shortly after his daughter's execution from grief, but records indicate he lived until 1440. Joan's mother continually petitioned the authorities for a reversal of the conviction which finally came in 1456. Joan's conviction was ruled invalid, and she was proclaimed a martyr for the French cause. Although modern-day scholars and experts have attempted to explain away her visions – most notably as mental illness – none have succeeded. Joan of Arc continues to inspire people in the present day as she did in her own time and is honored as one of the patron saints of the country she helped to save.

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Bibliography

• Cantor, N. F. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 1994.
• Gies, F. & J. Women in the Middle Ages. Harper Perennial, 2016.
• Harrison, K. Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured. Doubleday, 2014.
• Loyn, H. R. The Middle Ages: A Concise Encyclopedia. Thames & Hudson, 1991.
• Pernoud, R. Joan of Arc: By Herself and Her Witnesses. Scarborough House, 1990.
• Seward, D. The Hundred Years War. Penguin Books, 1999.
• The Trial of Joan of Arc Transcript translated by W.P. Barrett , accessed 19 Mar 2020.

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Joan of arc.

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When Joan of Arc (1412-1431) or in French Jeanne D'Arc, was a child the territory where she lived— Domremy-la -Pucell — like much of France, was under the control of the English. The future king of France himself, Charles VII was somewhat in doubt of his claim to the throne. Seemingly as much as two thirds of France as we know it today was unsure of the legitimate ruler. This unstable period known as the Hundred Years' War was marked by near constant warfare between France and England. Joan, who heard voices from God telling her to save France, was allowed a visit with the future king. Upon entering the room it is said she was able to locate him, unmarked, among his courtiers. How remarkable that a young "maid" of 17 would not only have the conviction that Charles VII must be crowned king, but had the passion, determination and some might say, delusional courage, to cut her hair, don armor and lead men into battle and regain the city of Orléans. Through stubborn diplomacy, and as an inspiring leader in battle, she paved the way for Charles to be crowned King at Reims (pronounced raans). While Charles VII successfully claim his right to the throne, Joan was captured by the British and burned at the stake as a heretic.

The infamous trial of Jeanne d'Arc illustrates the precarious position of women who defied the expectations of their place in society. One of the most courageous women of French history, she was ultimately used and abandoned after her purpose had been served. She was captured and burned at the stake as a heretic (charges also included witchcraft and violating divine law by dressing like a man) by the British and their Burgundian allies. The King, wary of his precarious position did nothing to intervene.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Joan of Arc's story is how women can be both revered and feared in equal measure. Crass soldiers are said to have been unable to swear in her presence. She was both commanding and serene. And yet the Church condemned her as an "excommunicated heretic, a liar, a seducer, pernicious...and contemptuous of God." (Parton, James, Daughters of Genius [N.P, 1897],148). How can the same woman be branded as a heretic in 1431 and canonized as a Saint in 1905? This has been a question scholars have debated for centuries but to the French people, Jeanne d'Arc, is revered as the patron saint of France, and countless celebrations take place every year honoring her bravery and sacrifice for the nation.

For digitized sources on women of this time period see Digitized Sources: Medieval Women .

You can identify additional material by searching the Library of Congress Online Catalog using the following heading:

Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431--In literature

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The following titles link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog . Links to additional online content are included when available.

• Aperçus nouveaux sur l'histoire de Jeanne d'Arc by Jules Quicherat External "Ce livre ... était destiné à accompagner la publication des procès de Jeanne d'Arc que j'ai récemment achevé pour la Société de l'histoire de France. Son étendue l'ayant empêché d'être mis à la place pour laquelle il avait été fait, je me décide à le publier séparément."--Préf.
• Der Jungfrau von Orléans Print shows characters from the play "The Maid of Orleans," loosely based on the story of Joan of Arc, by Friedrich Schiller, on uncut toy theater sheet.
• Heroines of France; an historic tragedy, in two parts and seven acts. Makes reference to Joan of Arc.
• Procès de condamnation et de réhabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc External Procès de condamnation et de réhabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc, dite La Pucelle, publiés pour la première fois d'après les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque royale, suivis de tous les documents historiques qu'on a pu réunir, et accompagnés de notes et d'éclaircissements, par Jules Quicherat.
• Trial of Jeanne d'Arc A chapter from, Daughters of Genius by James Parton. Published in 1897.
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‘Joan of Arc,’ by Kathryn Harrison

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It remains, after nearly 600 years, a story to break your heart. In the 1420s, in a village in northeastern France, an illiterate teenage peasant girl has a series of visions telling her that God wants her to lead a French army to lift the English siege of Orléans and help crown the dauphin, Charles, king in the cathedral at Reims. Putting on men’s clothing and winning over everyone by force of character and belief, she gets her army and triumphantly achieves all that the voices have foretold. Pious, outspoken, stubborn and recklessly courageous, she breaks every rule of gender, class and organized religion, and the people flock to her. Then comes her fall. Sidelined at court, she waits too long to launch an unsuccessful attack on English-occupied Paris, during which she is wounded, and then in a skirmish at Compiègne she is captured. Abandoned by the king, she is cruelly imprisoned, tried as a heretic and witch, then burned at the stake. The light of revelation ends in the agony of fire, and the legend of Joan of Arc is born.

You could fill a library with books about Joan. In France alone, it’s estimated that by 1920 at least 12,000 works had been written. The list of artists in her thrall include the writers Twain and Voltaire, the playwrights Schiller, Brecht, Shaw and Anouilh, the screenwriter Graham Greene and directors as diverse as Robert Bresson, Otto Preminger, Cecil B. DeMille and Luc Besson. Is there, one wonders, anything more to say?

The novelist Kathryn Harrison, whose own breaking of social taboos through an incestuous relationship with her father was retold in her best-selling memoir “The Kiss,” clearly thinks so. As its subtitle suggests, “Joan of Arc: A Life Transfigured” both tells and observes history, interweaving Joan’s own story with fictional and historical interpretations (the usual suspects mentioned above and many more). It makes for rich cultural reading. How far it illuminates or obscures Joan herself is a different question.

Harrison’s first task is to guide the 21st-century mind through the political and spiritual quagmires of medieval France. Absorbing a huge amount of research, she has a fine eye for detail: Imagine a world where people timed the boiling of eggs by reciting the Miserere prayer. And though she uses her novelist’s pen sparingly, it can be to great effect, seating us inside the cathedral at Reims as the sun shines “through the great rose window, spraying coins of colored light over the hushed congregants.” Harrison — like Joan — is impressive on the battlefield: medieval warfare and weaponry, Joan as strategist, her horsemanship and her extraordinary physical and mental stamina, carrying 40 to 50 pounds of full armor, which after a night sleeping in a field leaves her, according to her page, “bruised and weary,” yet back in the saddle next morning heading for Orléans.

The body underneath that armor tells its own story. In recent years, historians have done fascinating work on visionary females in medieval Europe. In a world reeling from the Black Death and endless wars — sometimes history reads like a catalog of post-traumatic stress — people were desperate for evidence of God’s love, and holy women served to provide it. Eve’s sin had left women ruled by their husbands and suffering the punishment of endless, agonizing childbearing. For them to be taken seriously in spiritual terms, virginity and chastity were obligatory, and the purity of Joan’s body was central to her sense of self. Like many visionaries, she didn’t menstruate. People talk about how little she ate, how she went for days with only the bread and wine of the Eucharist to sustain her. While anorexia would be a reductive diagnosis here (and there has been a heated debate among scholars about the role of food and fasting within female spirituality), it makes one appreciate the astonishing strength of will possessed by this young girl.

Though Harrison touches on these issues, they aren’t her main concern. Rather, she is interested in how Joan has been transfigured by and into art. The primary historical source material is rich and plentiful, with trial records and witness reports painting vivid pictures. At every stage, writers use — or abuse — these materials differently, reflecting their own age and cultural concerns. Brecht and Shaw refashion Joan as a force for social justice, while Maxwell Anderson, writing his play at the end of World War II, speaks to a society where women, having taken on men’s roles, are being asked to go back into the home. Rosie the Riveter and Joan the soldier — what a mischievous cultural marriage. But not every extract or interpretation is that telling, and there are so many woven into each stage of her life that after a while it becomes hard to distinguish the historical evidence from the chorus of commentators.

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How Joan of Arc turned the tide in the Hundred Years’ War

Divine voices guided a young girl to lead the French against the English. Burned as a heretic in 1431, the Maid of Orléans was both shaped and destroyed by the religious fervor and politics.

By the end of 1430 the rulers of England and France, who had been locked in a war for decades, became increasingly preoccupied by the fate of an 18-year-old peasant girl. In December the faculty of the University of Paris wrote a letter to the king of England, who controlled Paris at that time: “We have recently heard that the woman called The Maid is now delivered into your power, (and)... must humbly beseech you, most feared and sovereign lord... to command that this woman shall be shortly delivered into the hands of the justice of the Church.”

The Maid was Joan of Arc, whose role in liberating the city of Orléans in 1429 had put courage back into the hearts of the embattled French. Even so, her capture soon after was a morale boost for the English, who immediately set out to vilify the woman who had done so much damage to their military campaigns. Shortly after the letter from the University of Paris was written, her trial took place. After the guilty verdict was handed down, Joan was executed in Rouen on May 30, 1431, by being burned alive.

Once her ashes had been scattered in the Seine River, Joan’s detractors hoped her name would be erased from history, but her name has burned more brightly in the hearts and minds of the French ever since then. The humble farm girl turned the tide for the French in the closing years of the Hundred Years’ War. Her claims that the divine voices she heard would lead France to victory made her one of the most celebrated figures of late medieval history. (Read more about the history of the devil in the Middle Ages. )

Portrayed by her enemies as a heretic, a witch, and a madwoman, she was later pardoned and eventually recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Today, she is a national hero of the French. Although historians regard Joan’s role as one of many factors in the winning of a complex war, her presence both as a warrior and spiritual visionary sparked the beginnings of France’s rise as a great European power.

Joan’s story has deep roots in the medieval struggle over control of France. Since the invasion of England by the French-speaking William the Conqueror in 1066, the English kings who followed him had maintained a claim to certain French lands. In 1337 King Edward III went to war with French king Philip VI over these territories, the opening act of the Hundred Years’ War.

At first, the English armies won significant battles under the command of Edward III’s son Edward the Black Prince. But the English strength faltered, checked by the ravages of the Black Death in the 1350s , the decline of Edward and his heir, and the rallying of French forces under their king Charles V. By 1413 momentum had started to shift again—this time back in England’s favor with the accession of Henry V.

In 1415 Henry won the Battle of Agincourt over a much larger French force. The victory strengthened England’s standing in Europe. Henry continued to win battles, and after a run of successes, he forced the French to recognize his heirs as successors to the French throne as one of the terms of the Treaty of Troyes in 1420. Henry then married the French king’s daughter Catherine of Valois, and forged a military alliance with Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. By 1422, the year of King Henry V’s early death, the Anglo-Burgundian alliance controlled much of northern France, including Paris. His son, Henry VI, would continue the fight for these lands.

The Warrior Maid

Joan of Arc was born in 1412 in Domrémy, a small village in northeastern France near the border of the lands controlled by the English. From the age of 13, Joan claimed to have heard divine voices and seen visions of St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch. These divine messengers, she said, were urging her to go to the aid of the man who was the rightful king of France: Charles of Valois, son of Charles VI, whom the English had disinherited.

Because Paris lay deep in English-held territory, Charles had been forced to set up a makeshift court at Chinon on the Loire River. In 1428, Joan traveled there to explain her divine mission to Charles, but was turned away before she could meet with him. She returned to Chinon the following year and was able to convince a panel of theologians of her claim that she had been sent to “liberate France from its calamities.” They granted the teenager an audience with the exiled heir.

Joan informed Charles that divine voices wished her to fight the English and that her participation would lead to his coronation at Reims, the sacred site where France’s kings were crowned. After much examination, she won over Charles and his followers. They decided to put her to use at Orléans, a city under English siege.

Support for La Pucelle (the Maid) was galvanized later that year when Joan, dressed as a warrior, liberated the city of Orléans followed by more French victories. In June French troops crushed the English at Patay, and in July Charles VII was crowned in the cathedral of Reims in the presence of the young warrior prophet who had predicted the event.

But the tide soon turned against Joan of Arc. Instead of expelling the English from France, Joan and her army then suffered several military setbacks. On May 23, 1430, Joan was captured near Paris by the Duke of Burgundy’s men, who later turned her over to the English. Suddenly, her claims appeared weak. How could an envoy of God fall so easily into enemy hands? And if she hadn’t been sent by God, who or what was she?

The English and their allies among the French were in no doubt. Religious doubts about the sanctity of Joan of Arc blended seamlessly into high politics. If the voices she heard were diabolic, then her whole cause, and the coronation of Charles VII itself, had been the work of the devil.

A Harlot to Enemy Eyes

From the moment that Joan of Arc was incorporated into Charles’s army, her Anglo-Burgundian enemies unleashed a war of words against her. As well as the charge that she was inspired by the devil, Joan would endure attempts to slander her sexually for the rest of her life. While her allies emphasized her purity, her enemies denounced her as a “harlot,” who spent all her time surrounded by soldiers.

According to one account, during the siege of Orléans Joan composed a passionate message to the English soldiers, warning them to retreat. She tied her letter to an arrow and had an archer fire it into the English camp. On receipt of the letter, a great cry could be heard from the enemy lines opposite: “News from the whore of the French Armagnacs!”

The Journey to the Stake

The English brought their accusations against Joan, now imprisoned in Rouen, in January 1431. Among them were the charges that she had violated divine law by dressing as a man and bearing arms; that she had deceived simple people by making them believe that God had sent her; and finally that she had committed “divine offense,” namely heresy. Some days later, when the trial opened, the Bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon, added the charge of witchcraft and declared that Joan was now also under suspicion of having cast spells and invoked demons.

On February 21 Joan answered her charges for the first time before the tribunal. “They asked poor Joan very difficult, subtle, and misleading questions,” said one contemporary, “many clerics and educated men present there would have had problems answering.” But the young woman knew how to defend herself. Her concise replies often disarmed the judges and aroused admiration from the public.

Was Joan sure of being in God’s grace, she was asked? If she answered no, she knew she would be lying, while if she answered yes, she would be arrogantly placing herself beyond the authority of the church. So instead Joan answered: “If I am not [in a state of grace] may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.” Several weeks passed, no confession was forthcoming and Cauchon was forced to drop the charges of witchcraft and concentrate instead on a few key points that he thought would clinch the case of Joan’s heresy. At the beginning of April, a list of 12 accusations, reduced from 70, was approved and then submitted for examination by the University of Paris.

Retraction and Revelation

On May 28, 1431, Bishop Cauchon, accompanied by seven judges, interrogates Joan of Arc. This extract is taken from the transcript:

When, and why, did you revert to dressing as a man? I have done this on my own free will. Nobody has forced me; I prefer the apparel of a man to that of a woman.

Why have you done this? It is both more seemly and proper to dress like this when surrounded by men, than wearing a woman’s clothes. While I have been in prison, the English have molested me when I was dressed as a woman. (She weeps.) I have done this to defend my modesty.

Have you heard, since Thursday, the voices of St. Catherine and St. Margaret? Yes

What did they tell you? That God was telling me, through them, that I had endangered my soul by recanting, and that I had condemned myself for having tried to save my life, If it is not God who sent them, I condemn myself; but I know it really is God who has sent them. Everything I have recanted, I have done so only because of the fear of the fire. If it does not please God to recant, then I will not do so.

You are, therefore, a relapsed heretic. If you, Lords of the Church, had placed me in your own prisons, this would not have happened.

Now we have heard this, we can proceed only according to law and reason.

They found Joan to be a liar and an invoker of malign spirits. While she claimed to have had visions of archangels and saints, the panel judged that these figures were in fact Belial, Satan, and Behemoth. Her wearing of men’s clothes, which she argued was necessary to escape detection while in Burgundian-controlled territory, was portrayed as unnatural and wicked. Joan was found to be a heretic. If she would not repent, she would be punished as such.

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On May 24 she was taken to a site on the outskirts of Rouen and placed beside the stake. The sight may have terrified her, leading to a declaration that she would hand herself over to the authority of the church and sign a retraction. Joan’s sentence was reduced to life in prison and she agreed to dress as a woman.

When the judges went to visit her four days later, however, they found her once again in men’s clothing. The voices had returned, she told them, and had reproached her for her weakness. This relapse was exactly what the accusers wanted; they could now justify the death penalty. Unable to conceal his delight, Cauchon proclaimed to his laughing fellow clerics: “You can have a great celebration, everything is prepared.” On the morning of May 30, Joan was taken to the stake. As the flames consumed her, she could be heard repeatedly proclaiming the name of Jesus.

Joan of Arc had been incarcerated in a room in the castle of Rouen since the first days of her trial. The conditions of imprisonment were, by most accounts, very harsh. As she had attempted to escape on various occasions, her English captors restricted her movements with a long chain attached to her feet and watched her every move. According to one witness, she was also restrained on her bed at night, observed closely by three guards inside the cell and two others outside, all English. According to another witness, the jailers “were wretched brutes who wanted the death of Joan and taunted her mercilessly.” During the brief period in which she had recanted and agreed to wear a dress, Joan claimed her guards had tried to rape her, which is why she decided to put on men’s clothes again. The only people who visited her were her judges, certain curious English nobles, and French-speaking spies who hoped to gain information from her.

The court bailiff of Rouen, Father Jean Massieu, was present at the execution of Joan of Arc, and recorded his observations of her death: “She was led to the Old Market... with an escort of eight hundred soldiers armed with axes and swords. And when she came to the Market she listened to the sermon with fortitude, and most calmly, showing evidence and clear proof of her contrition, penitence, and fervent faith, she uttered pious and devout lamentations... An Englishman who was present made her a [cross] out of wood and handed it to her. She received it and kissed it most devotedly, uttering pious lamentations... Then she put that cross on her breast... and humbly asked me to let her have the crucifix from the church so that she could gaze on it until her death. I saw to it that the clerk of the parish church of Saint Sauveur brought it to her... and her last word, as she died, was a loud cry of ‘Jesus.’”

The Hundred Years’ War would continue for 22 years after her death. English fortunes plummeted after the Duke of Burgundy switched sides to Charles VII. Distracted by the Wars of the Roses at home, England steadily lost all its possessions in France except the port of Calais. Charles VII stabilized his reign and transformed France into a great power.

More than 20 years after her death, an inquiry into Joan’s trial ordered by Charles VII resulted in her sentence being overturned. Joan of Arc’s importance to the French people was further solidified when she was made a saint, four centuries later, in 1920.

English Sinner, French Saint

Following the execution of Joan of Arc, Henry VI of England wrote detailed letters to sovereigns, prelates, and nobles across Europe to announce that a certain “false prophetess” had received her just punishment. He even assured them that Joan had confessed to having been a heretic before her execution. In Paris a general procession was organized to celebrate her demise.

Several years later, when Charles VII reconquered Normandy and expelled the English from France, he made it his business to annul Joan’s trial, with the help and support of the papacy. This was as much a political act as a religious act, a way for Charles VII to ratify his legitimacy as a king designated by God—just as the Maid herself had declared.

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5 Historical Strategy Games With The Best Stories, Ranked

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10 Best Historical Board Games For History Buffs

The most historically accurate video games ever made, ranked, 8 best historical games to play if you love shogun, key takeaways.

• Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition offers accurate medieval warfare depictions.
• Total War: Three Kingdoms features complex, character-driven military campaigns.
• Europa Universalis 4 allows players to lead nations and alter history with real-life events.

The strategy genre is one of the most popular in gaming, and that's been the case for several decades. There's something appealing about being able to take control of large armies and siege units to both conquer new territories and build different civilizations on them. Combining strategy with historical settings is probably one of the greatest ideals gaming developers ever had, as it has led to the creation of amazing titles over the years.

While some strategic historical games focus solely on world-building and warfare, others adopt different storylines and focus on creating a compelling narrative around themselves. Here are a few historical strategy games with the best stories .

5 Best Video Games With Historical Fiction

A lot of games manage to take history and historical tales and reinvent them intuitively, here are some of the best examples.

5 Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition

An in-depth look into medieval warfare strategies, age of empires 2: definitive edition, your rating.

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• Accurate depiction of medieval military campaigns.
• Joan of Arc's campaign is rich in narrative.

Set during the Middle Ages, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition combines historical campaigns for civilization development and territory conquest, with notable figures of the era, such as Saladin, Joan of Arc, and Genghis Khan. Covering different warfare campaigns and the rise and fall of civilizations and armies, the game offers an in-depth look into medieval armed conflicts.

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition , has one of the greatest story progressions of its genre, interweaving military campaigns that involve resource management, with iconic leaders and their lives. A great example is Joan of Arc's campaign, which offers rich narrative elements for players to become invested in.

4 Total War: Three Kingdoms

A struggle for power and territory control in ancient china, total war: three kingdoms.

• Complex narrative-driven military campaigns.
• The three main characters form alliances, and also plot against each other.

Total War: Three Kingdoms is set in ancient China, in the middle of a war. Several factions are fighting over control of large territories after the Han dynasty collapsed, leaving power up for grabs. Following characters such as Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Jian, players will get to see how they form alliances with each other and plot betrayals at the same time.

History buffs will find plenty to occupy their time with the following board games.

Total War games are well-known for containing great military campaigns with a strong focus on resource management and strategy, and Total War: Three Kingdoms isn't an exception. Blending grand strategy elements with character-driven storytelling, the game offers players historical depth and accuracy.

3 Europa Universalis 4

Lead a nation through the centuries to turn it into a superpower, europa universalis 4.

• The game features real-life events like the Protestant Reformation.
• Players can change history in many different ways.

While it's not the only game in its genre that spans over 400 years, Europa Universalis 4 does so gracefully while offering players a fun experience. Focused on global history and going from the Dark Ages to the Age of Enlightenment, the game allows players to control a nation and lead it through the centuries to make it prosper and grow in terms of territory and power.

Europa Universalis 4 features diplomacy, military campaigns, colonization and a few elements of trade. It also includes real-life events, such as the Protestant Reformation, and combines them with intriguing narratives while trying to maintain as much historical accuracy as possible. Another interesting element of the story is that, depending on players' actions, history will change dramatically, leading to events that might not have happened in real life.

2 Crusader Kings 3

A more personal approach to warfare tactics, crusader kings 3.

• Offers a more personal perspective of military leaders.
• Players can conquer territories and form alliances either through marriage or by force.

Allowing players to control a dynasty, Crusader Kings 3 offers the possibility to manage political alliances, military campaigns, and personal relationships. Showing personal stories of different rulers, players will have the chance to take an in-depth look into marriage problems, the sting of betrayal, and the stress of planning warfare tactics.

Many developers play fast and loose with factual accuracy in favor of creating an enjoyable playing experience. However, this has started to change.

As the game progresses, players can form different alliances either through marriage or through territory conquest of sovereign nations — all while involved in narrative-driven events that still manage to involve strategy and diplomacy without feeling overwhelming. Crusader Kings 3 portrays the rise and fall of kingdoms accurately, while providing different perspectives that are not often seen in other games of its genre.

1 Rome: Total War

One of the greatest historical strategy games ever.

• The game covers important real-life events of Roman history, such as the conquest of Carthage and numerous Greek States, and the Punic Wars.
• Provides players with an in-depth look into both Roman warfare, politics, and its complex societal issues.

Rome: Total War puts players in the shoes of different Roman factions as the Great Roman Empire rises. The game combines the crude realities of war with the strategic moves of warfare generals and the political debates of the Roman Senate. Players will get an in-depth look into Rome's conquest of other civilizations through armed conflict, providing a rich narrative experience that covers several different elements.

Considered by many to be one of the best games that touch on the vast topic of Roman history , Rome: Total War leads players through the conquest of real-life historical civilizations. It also covers the tumultuous era of the Punic Wars, which helped Rome establish itself as the leading power of the world at that time. Few games have managed to capture the complexity of Roman civilization like Rome: Total War has, which is why it's still critically acclaimed by both veteran players and newcomers alike.

Here are some fantastic historical games for fans of the Hulu/FX adaptation of James Clavell’s novel Shōgun.

5 Ways to Find Peace on the Lonely Path of the High Road

Don't fight back. fight forward by releasing these 5 attachments..

Posted September 16, 2024 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

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• Taking the high road means behaving in line with our moral and ethical values even when others don't.
• Fear of being misunderstood, judged, or rejected by our peers can make it challenging to take the high road.
• We can find a sense of peace if we recognize that our suffering on the high road stems from attachment.
• Releasing attachment is an ongoing practice that helps reduce pain and isolation and increases positivity.

Most of us are familiar with the idea of “taking the high road.” We take the high road when we act according to our moral or ethical principles, even when others do not.

For example, let’s say you fired someone and they went on to disparage you online or in your community. Or an ex-lover airs a private dispute between the two of you publicly, sharing only their side of the story.

In either situation, taking the high road would mean not retaliating with gossip or your own disparagement and not seeking revenge . It would mean moving forward with dignity and poise.

The Challenges of Taking the High Road

Taking the high road is difficult. In fact, there are few experiences more anguishing than knowing that someone is out there trolling us or perhaps even seeking to sabotage us.

Why is this experience so particularly painful? As tribal beings, humans historically relied on the support of their immediate communities for survival. Not so long ago, being cast out from the tribe meant death in short order. That’s why the prospect of social rejection creates true existential fear .

But striking back often backfires. In addition to prolonging the conflict, we tend to make ourselves look as petty, crazy, or nasty as the other guy. Some schools of thought also believe in what's called karma—the energetic tone we radiate outward with our intentions and behaviors, creating the conditions for our (and others’) future life experiences. Even if you don’t believe in karma yourself, who wants to create more bad energy in the world? Not me.

So how do we find peace, knowing there are haters out there bad-mouthing us?

The key is to let go. Really let go. Not just pretend to let go and stuff our feelings down. You'll know you haven't quite found the high road if you're still simmering with rage . We have to authentically, sincerely, and strategically move on and let go.

In Buddhism, a cardinal teaching is that suffering comes from attachment . If we can reframe our situation as attachments that can be released, we have the potential to move forward without resentment. Let’s explore the specific attachments relevant to this situation and how to work with them:

Attachment to What Others Think

We want people to like, respect, and trust us. So, naturally, we feel threatened when someone is trying to sabotage our reputation.

The key here is to remember that anyone living authentically is going to have people who love them and those who dislike or disagree with them. That’s just a fact of life.

We can’t control what everyone thinks about us. We can focus on what the people who really matter in our lives think about us, such as our partner, kids, and best friend; those are the people whose feedback is worth listening to. The opinions of the rest of the world, we must (for the sake of our sanity) not worry about.

To release this attachment, try using meditation and journaling, or write a mantra or quote on a sticky note and consult it each morning. A favorite of mine is by Lao Tzu: “Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”

Attachment to Control

We often forget that we can’t control what others think, feel, or do. We can only control our own behavior. The best we can do is be thoughtful in our words and actions and show up as the best versions of ourselves whenever possible. That is where our responsibility ends.

When we give our best to the world each day, we can be optimistic that we are creating positive energy in the world around us. With enough positive vibration, we just might create a protective energetic buffer so that anyone who stumbles into gossip about us is likely to a) not listen, b) stand up for us, or c) simply blow it off as nonsense.

Attachment to Being Right

We all want to be right—and for everyone else to know we were right! It's painful to know that others are only hearing the other side of the story.

But we can generate peace when we let go of our attachment to being right and consider that perhaps both parties did what they did because it made sense to them in the moment. We can apologize and make repairs for our role; we can show ourselves and the other person compassion for our actions. Doing so tends to generate immense relief and allows us to let go of tit-for-tat rumination over what happened. To get started, try a forgiveness practice like ho'oponopono .

Attachment to Feeling Happy

It’s OK to be angry, sad, or upset about a situation. We make things worse when we don’t accept that these emotional states are a part of life.

We gain wisdom when we sit with and explore our feelings with mindful awareness and see that they will eventually pass. All things are impermanent. We can cultivate a sense of peace with the bumpy ride of emotional experiences by accepting them.

This RAIN meditation works wonders for being with uncomfortable feelings. We just let them have their air time—consider any wisdom or protection they seek to offer—and trust that we won’t always feel this way.

Attachment to “Other”ing

According to the Buddha, we all operate in an interconnected system of energies, and suffering for any of us leads to suffering for all of us. Hurt people hurt people, right?

We can release the pointless and self-sabotaging battle of us vs. them by showing compassion for ourselves and others, knowing that we have all been hurt, disappointed, rejected, and judged at some point in our lives. To wisely address these conditions, we can use meditation to build compassion for difficult people. For example, a lovingkindness meditation helps generate supportive, loving feelings for everyone, including ourselves.

As we undertake the difficult work of traveling the high road, take comfort in knowing that we are in good company. Many influential and talented people—including Socrates, Joan of Arc, Vincent Van Gogh, Martin Luther King, and Nikola Tesla (to name a few)—were judged and misunderstood in their time.

Working to release our attachments is an ongoing process that requires effort, but the payoff is greater peace and confidence in our ability to move forward from life's challenges with grace and integrity.

Jordan Fiorillo Scotti, Ph.D. , is a licensed psychologist and school psychologist and aspiring Bodhichitta living in Whitefish, MT.

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