Joan of Arc, Saint (1412?-1431), was a French national heroine who became a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She was a simple peasant girl who rescued France from defeat in one of the darkest periods of the Hundred Years’ War with England. Her first great triumph was to lead a French army against the English who had laid siege to the city of Orléans. She has often been called the Maid of Orléans in honor of that victory.
Joan’s mission.
Jeanne d’Arc, as she was known in France, was born at Domrémy, near Nancy. She was a strong and healthy child. Like most peasants of her time, she never learned to read and write. She grew up as a devout Catholic under the strong influence of her deeply religious mother. The girl called herself Jeanne la Pucelle (Joan the Maid). Some historians believe that Joan may have been a clairvoyant—that is, a person who has knowledge of events happening far away or in the future without using any of the five senses. By the age of about 13, Joan was having religious visions and hearing what she believed were the voices of saints. These voices in time convinced Joan that God had chosen her to help King Charles VII of France drive the English from French soil. She went to the town of Vaucouleurs to ask the military commander for an escort because she had to see the king. At first, the commander laughed at her. But he finally gave her what she wanted. Early in 1429, at the age of about 17, she left to fulfill her mission.
Joan sees the king.
Much of southern France had recognized young King Charles VII as their ruler since 1422. But his enemies, the English and the Burgundians (French citizens who supported the English), controlled Paris and the northern part of France. The people there did not accept Charles as their king. Charles had never been crowned, because the city of Reims, where French kings were crowned, lay in enemy territory. In addition, the quarrels of his advisers paralyzed his government, and the treasury was empty. If the English captured Orléans, Charles’s position would be desperate. His situation was so hopeless that he was willing to listen to the young girl who had arrived at his castle in Chinon claiming to have heard the voices of saints.
But first, Charles tested Joan. Slipping into the ranks of his courtiers, he let one of his nobles occupy the throne. Joan, however, was not deceived, and quickly identified Charles as her king. Even then, Charles was doubtful. But when she told him exactly what he had asked of God when he prayed alone, he realized she had unusual powers. People at that time often feared such powers were the work of the devil. But members of the clergy accepted Joan’s beliefs, so Charles gave her armor, a banner, and the command of troops.
Joan’s military career.
Joan set out with her army in April 1429 to rescue Orléans from the English. At first, the French commanders hesitated to obey her. However, they soon realized that all went well when they followed her orders. Joan’s forces broke the siege of Orléans in only 10 days, and the English fled.
After this victory, she persuaded Charles of the need for a coronation. To a deeply religious person like Joan, Charles was not a true king until he was crowned in the cathedral at Reims. She led Charles and his military escort through enemy territory, and her troops defeated the English in several battles along the way. Joan entered the city in triumph and stood beside Charles when he was crowned king on July 17, 1429.
After the coronation, Joan became anxious to free Paris from English control. The king doubted her chance of success at this time, but he allowed Joan to make an attempt on Paris. In September 1429, Joan was wounded in a minor battle near Paris. In May 1430, the Burgundians captured her at Compiègne. Although important prisoners could bring high ransoms, the English were determined not to give her up to the French. They acquired her from the Burgundians for a large sum.
Joan’s trial and death.
The English saw Joan as an agent of the devil. They imprisoned her and tried her on charges of witchcraft and heresy (disbelief in the accepted religion). Despite the bullying of her English captors, she continued to insist that her visions and voices had come from God. However, a tribunal of French clergy sympathetic to the English sentenced her to death.
Joan was burned at the stake before a large crowd in Rouen on May 30, 1431. Her courageous death led many to fear that they had witnessed the martyrdom of a saint. Because heretics could not receive a Christian burial, Joan’s ashes were thrown into the Seine River.
In 1455, Joan’s family asked for a new trial to reconsider the charges against Joan. Pope Callistus III granted a hearing. In 1456, the pope pronounced Joan innocent. Pope Pius X beatified her in 1909. Beatification is a preliminary step toward canonization (sainthood) in the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XV declared Joan of Arc a saint in 1920. Her feast day, the day of her death, is May 30.
The memory of Joan of Arc.
The works of many authors deal with the life of Joan of Arc. Friedrich Schiller, a German poet and playwright, wrote the drama The Maid of Orléans (1801). Saint Joan (1923), a famous play by Irish-born playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw, shows Joan as a woman with Protestant beliefs who opposed the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church.
Joan of Arc is admired by patriots, supporters of women’s rights, and even people who study the supernatural. She is also memorialized in monuments and works of art throughout the world. Joan remains a mysterious figure, however. Even during the 1400’s, some people claimed that another person had died in her place at Rouen.
