Jeanne d'Arc | french

Jeanne D’Arc, Patron Saint of France

Joan of Arc, as she is called in English, is considered the primary heroine of France. She was born in January 1412 to a peasant family in Domrémy, a small town in northeast France. Her family were farmers and lived in a small part of France which was loyal to the French king, who was being challenged by his brother and his cousin for the throne.

When Jeanne was 13, she claimed to have a vision from God. She said Saint Micheal (the archangel), Saint Catherine (one of the most important saints at the time), and Saint Margaret (considered a very powerful saint for peasants at the time) appeared
and told her to drive the English out of France and bring the Dauphin (the title given to the King’s brother) to Reims for his coronation (to become King of France).

When she was 16, she received another vision of the French army’s defeat at the Battle of Rouvray. She reported it to a general stationed in a nearby town who did not believe her until the messenger finally arrived with the news several days later. He believed Jeanne could only have known this by God revealing it to her ahead of time, and finally took her seriously.

He took her to the royal court dressed as a male soldier (to keep her safe while traveling through hostile territory) and gained permission to join the troops stationed at Orléans. She was granted permission and borrowed supplies such as armor and a horse before leaving. She was not allowed to officially lead the armies, but since the generals and nobles believed she could receive Divine messages, her advice was normally followed. It is unknown if she participated in any battles; Jeanne herself said she was only there to carry the banner and not a sword, but there is some historical suggestion that she may have been forced to participate in battles to defend herself if nothing else.

Her arrival marked a turning point in the war. Before that, the French has been losing fairly badly. Only 9 days after Jeanne’s arrival, the French celebrated a huge breakthrough victory that freed the city of Orléans. She continued to enjoy victory after victory until she was captured in an ambush in 1430. She was imprisoned by the English and the Burgundians (the people working with the cousin of the King) and despite several rescue and escape attempts, was put on trial for heresy (blasphemy, or going against God) in 1431.

Her trial was primarily politically motivated; if the English and Burgundians could “prove” she did not really talk to God, they could destroy the religious motivation of their enemies and demoralize them to make the war easier to win. To help with this goal, portions of the transcript of the trial were falsified to make Jeanne look worse than she appeared in court. When she was finally convicted, she was forced to sign a document she did not understand (as peasants at the time were entirely illiterate and Jeanne could not read the document).

She was burned alive at the stake on May 30, 1431 in Rouen, France. After she died, the English raked back the coals to expose her charred body so no one could claim she escaped. They then burned her body twice more to prevent anyone taking relics (small bones or other mementos from religious figures) and then threw the ashes which were left into the Seine River.

After the war ended in 1435, Pope Callixtus II reopened her trial to investigate the charges. The trial lasted all the way until 1456 when she was finally declared a martyr and innocent of all charges. She became a symbol of the Catholic League in the 1500s but was not canonized as a saint until 1920. She is still honored as the protector of France and is one of the most famous symbols of French freedom.