best biography joan of arc

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

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.

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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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10 Books About Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orléans

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

View All posts by Ann Foster

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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‘Joan of Arc: A History,’ by Helen Castor

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By Amanda Foreman

• July 2, 2015

Fame is like a parasite. It feeds off its host — infecting, extracting, consuming its victim until there’s nothing left but an empty husk. For the lucky (or unlucky, depending on your point of view), with the emptiness comes the possibility of a long afterlife as one of the blowup dolls of history.

These women — and they’re almost always women — become the public’s playthings in perpetuity. Stripped of truth, deprived of personhood, they can be claimed and used by anyone for any purpose. Exhibit A is Joan of Arc, simultaneously canonized by Pope Benedict XV and the women’s suffrage movement; sometime mascot of 19th-century French republicans, 20th-century Vichy France and the 21st-century National Front. She has over a dozen operas and several dozen movies to her name. And she’s the single thread that unites a bewilderingly diverse crowd of playwrights, writers, philosophers, poets and novelists, from Shakespeare to Voltaire, Robert Southey, Mark Twain, George Bernard Shaw, Vita Sackville-West and Bertolt Brecht.

No wonder the British historian Helen Castor begins her highly satisfying biography of Joan of Arc by stating the obvious: “In the firmament of history,” the Maid of Orléans is a “massive star” whose “light shines brighter than that of any other figure of her time and place.” Indeed, Castor insists, Joan’s star still shines. But what a travesty if all people can see is the reflected vainglory of their own desires.

Castor’s corrective approach to the problem of Joan’s fame is to turn the mirror outward, changing the point of view from Joan herself to the times in which she lived. Follow her too closely, Castor argues, and “it can seem, unnervingly, as though Joan’s star might collapse into a black hole.” To those who think they know her story, this statement might seem unnerving. But Castor doesn’t mean the facts are wrong or need revising.

Joan was born to a moderately prosperous tenant farming family around 1412. In February 1429, against all the odds, she persuaded Charles VII to allow her to lead an army to relieve the city of Orléans from its seven-month-long siege by the English. Over the next few months, she enjoyed a series of spectacular victories. Galvanized by her presence on the battlefield, the French took back their cities and towns from the English (and their French allies) one after another, beginning with Orléans. Charles was crowned king on July 17 in the cathedral at Reims with Joan standing proudly beside him. But then, on Sept. 8, the Joan juggernaut came to a grinding halt before the gates of Paris.

The following May, she was captured by pro-English French forces at Compiègne. The last phase of her life began in November 1430 when she was sold to the English for 10,000 francs. They wanted her for the simple reason that killing her would not be enough to undermine Charles VII’s claim to the throne: They had to destroy her reputation and any hint of divine legitimacy she had conferred on him.

The interrogation and show trial by handpicked French clerics lasted until May 1431. Central to the charge of heresy was her transgressive behavior against medieval gender roles, particularly with regard to her wearing of men’s clothes. After the sentence was announced, she was paraded through Rouen before being burned with slow deliberation in front of thousands of spectators.

For sheer drama, the story of Joan of Arc needs no embellishment, but without proper context its meaning is easily twisted. Castor’s great coup is in framing this biography within not just one but two contexts. The first, explaining the culture and politics that created the opportunity for a militaristic maid, takes up roughly a third of the book, leaving Joan herself to appear on Page 89. By working forward from the early decades of the Hundred Years’ War, as the Anglo-French struggle for the French throne is called, Castor is able to demonstrate the varying degrees of gravitational force exerted by contingency, expediency, sectarianism and nationalism on the people who determined Joan’s fate.

The siege of Orléans was the turning point. After more than 90 years of bloodshed, treachery and civil strife, Joan’s demonstrable promise that she could deliver France back to the French seemed to show that God was on their side. But what did that mean if the population was divided between two factions, the Burgundians and the Armagnacs, each with its own vision of dynastic power and national boundaries? Castor argues that those who opposed Joan believed they had a moral cause, from the Roman Catholic Church, which shuddered at her claim of individual conscience over blind obedience, to the bourgeois citizens of Paris, who felt more affinity with the commercial cities of Flanders than with the southern provinces ruled by the Armagnacs.

All this is entirely convincing and gripping, but what makes Castor’s biography notable is the other context she subtly weaves through the narrative. Related with little fanfare or highlighting, it puts the women back into the story. The only time Joan’s life became truly an all-male affair was during the orgy of misogyny that passed as her trial. Contrary to the sword-and-crucifix chronicles of the Middle Ages, there was more to the Hundred Years’ War than the blood spilled on the battlefield. The women were there too. And Castor focuses on two whose actions were crucial: Isabeau, the mother of Charles VII, and Yolande, Duchess of Anjou, his mother-in-law. Yolande, Castor observes, “had what Armagnac France needed . . . the insight to perceive God’s plan that France should be reunited under Charles’s kingship, and to comprehend how it might be brought about.” That plan involved both helping Joan to reach Charles and upholding her claim to be the handmaiden of God. After Joan’s death, Yolande used her formidable talent for deal-making to shore up Armagnac support. In Castor’s words, “a queen’s gambit was already in play.”

Earlier this year, the city of Rouen opened a new museum dedicated to Joan of Arc, intended in part to rescue her image from the myths that have surrounded it. Castor’s book is another important way of returning Joan’s “star” to the realm where it belongs, the human one.

JOAN OF ARC

By Helen Castor

Illustrated. 328 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $27.99.

Amanda Foreman is the author, most recently, of “The World Made by Women: A History of Women From the Apple to the Pill,” to be published in 2017.

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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.

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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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

By alvin ward | jan 6, 2020.

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.

Famous Joan of Arc Quotes

• “ I do not fear men-at-arms; my way has been made plain before me. If there be men-at-arms my Lord God will make a way for me to go to my Lord Dauphin. For that am I come.”
• “I would rather die than do something which I know to be a sin, or to be against God's will.”
• “I was in my thirteenth year when I heard a voice from God to help me govern my conduct. And the first time I was very much afraid.”
• “ Children say that people are hung sometimes for speaking the truth.”