Sometime around 1412, Joan of Arc was born in Domremy,
France. It was a small village, and Joan grew up in a peasant
family. Although she was known for her skill and her hard work,
she seemed fairly ordinary except for her extreme piousness. In
1425, around age 13, Joan started hearing "voices" which she claimed were
the voices of Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret, and Saint Michael.
She said these voices commanded her to aid the Dauphin, Charles,
in his fight against England and Burgundy, and to see him crowned
as the King of France at Reims. Reims was the traditional location
where French kings were crowned. But because Reims was in English
hands, Charles had not been able to hold a coronation ceremony
yet, though his father had been dead for years.
When Joan went to Vaucouleurs to offer her aid, she was
initially laughed away. In February of 1429, however, she was
granted an audience with the Dauphin. He was superstitious and
in dire straits in his battle against the English and Burgundians,
so he sent her with a contingent of troops to aid in the Siege
of Orleans, a long stalemate in which the English had surrounded
the city of Orleans with fortresses. Joan followed sudden commands
from her voices and stumbled upon a battle between English and
French forces. Rallying the French troops, she drove the English
out of fort after fort, decisively ending the siege and earning
herself popularity throughout France as the miraculous "Maid of
Orleans."
After subsequently defeating the English again at the
Battle of Patay, Joan brought Charles to Reims, where he was officially crowned
King Charles VII on July 17. On the way from Reims, Joan and the
Duke of Alencon suggested that the French attempt to take English-controlled
Paris. But after a promising first day of fighting, Charles called
off the assault on Paris; he was running low on funds. He recalled
the army south and disbanded much of it. Charles then named Joan
and her family to French nobility, in thanks for Joan's services
to France.
Joan continued to fight for Charles's interests, but her
luck had run out. In May of 1430, while holding off Burgundian
troops at the Battle of Compiegne so the French townspeople could
flee, Joan was captured by John of Luxembourg. Joan was so popular
and such a valuable symbol to the pro-Charles side (the Armagnacs) that
the English and Burgundians knew killing her immediately would
cause an outrage and create a martyr. Instead, they enlisted the
church to discredit her first.
After two escape attempts, including a leap from sixty-foot tower,
Joan came to trial under Bishop Pierre Cauchon for suspected heresy
and witchcraft. Cauchon, who continually tried to make her admit
that she had invented the voices, found her guilty of heresy.
Before being handed over to secular authorities, Joan signed an
abjuration admitting that her previous statements had been lies.
But after a few days, she said she hadn't meant the abjuration,
and she was sentenced to burn at the stake. Only nineteen, Joan
was burned on May 30, 1431.
