Joan of Arc
Overview
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...

ine of France and a Roman Catholic saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

. A peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...

 girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...

, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII
Charles VII of France
Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

. She was captured by the Burgundians
Burgundian (party)
The Burgundian party was a political allegiance in France that formed during the reign of Charles VI during the latter half of the Hundred Years' War...

, sold to the English, tried by an ecclesiastical court
Ecclesiastical court
An ecclesiastical court is any of certain courts having jurisdiction mainly in spiritual or religious matters. In the Middle Ages in many areas of Europe these courts had much wider powers than before the development of nation states...

, and burned at the stake when she was 19 years old.
Timeline

1429    Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans.

1429    Joan of Arc ends the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning, wounded, to lead the final charge. The victory marks a turning point in the Hundred Years' War.

1429    Hundred Years' War: Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk in the second day of the Battle of Jargeau.

1429    French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War.

1429    Joan of Arc liberates Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier.

1429    Joan of Arc unsuccessfully besieges La Charité.

1430    Siege of Compiègne: Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne.

1431    Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon.

1431    Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.

1431    Hundred Years' War: in Rouen, France, 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. Because of this the Catholic Church remember this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.

Quotations

Of the love or hatred God has for the English, I know nothing, but I do know that they will all be thrown out of France, except those who die there.

Trial records (15 March 1431)

You say that you are my judge. I do not know if you are! But I tell you that you must take good care not to judge me wrongly, because you will put yourself in great danger. I warn you, so that if God punishes you for it, I would have done my duty by telling you!

Jeanne's warning to Bishop Cauchon, Trial records (15 March 1431)

Children say that people are hung sometimes for speaking the truth.

As quoted in World Famous Women: Types of Female Heroism, Beauty, and Influence from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time (1881) by Frank Boott Goodrich, p. 126

About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter.

As quoted in The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994)

If I am not in the state of grace, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.

Trial records

 
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