The Simple Story of Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was born in 1412 in Dombremy, a French village in the northeast of France. Her father's name was Jacques d'Arc, and her mother was Isabelle Romée, and both were peasants. Joan had three older brothers named Jean, Pierre, and Jacques, and an older sister named Catherine. The girl grew up amidst a turbulent political time. At that time, her country was going through the Hundred Years' War, which was a lasting conflict between France and England. It had begun in 1337, after the death of King Charles IV of France, who left no heirs. The throne was claimed by Edward III, who was the King of England. Not all French people were pleased with the new king who took power, and this dynastic issue, together with economic struggles and ideological differences, gave rise to several battles between these two great powers. Joan of Arc's family led a very humble life, and so, early on, the girl started working. She looked after the flock, and her mother taught her how to sew, so that she could help the family with the sustenance and housework. Due to this poverty and struggles when she grew up, the young peasant girl did not have time to study, and never learned to read nor write. The routine of Joan's family, with intense work in the crop fields, was occasionally interrupted so that they could attend church. The whole family was deeply Christian and the bearer of intense faith. At the age of 13, the young woman began to have visions and to hear voices that she claimed to have a divine source. They told her she had the great mission to fight for her country and to help expel the English from French territory. As the young woman herself once told, on the first occasion she heard a voice, she was Joan of Arc also said that the first voice she heard was from St. Michael, and that, with her own eyes and in a very clear and palpable way, she saw the saint sighted by angels. She also reported that she heard voices from St. Margaret of Antioch and St. Catherine of Alexandria. According to Joan of Arc, the voice was that of an angel and from God. She on one occasion declared, I believe that this voice comes from God and, by his command, I believe as firmly as I believe in the Christian faith. She also said that the voice was very beautiful, modest and sweet. After the first contact that took place in the church, the voices continued to communicate with the girl and insisted on saying that she had to fulfill her mission. She needed to talk to the throne's heir and reveal her case to him. It was then that, on one occasion, Johann Luxard, who was the husband of Joan's cousin, took her to the city of Aquilure so that the peasant girl could meet Captain Baldricourt. But the meeting between the two did not go well as the captain did not believe the girl's story and became very suspicious of her words. Joan, however, was persistent and after about a year, Baldricourt agreed to send the young girl under escort to Chinon so that she could meet there with the heir. From that moment, from head to toe, the young peasant girl began to dress in men's suits. When Joan of Arc arrived in Chinon, she went directly to the castle where Charles VII was. The heir felt intrigued by the situation and so was Captain Baldricourt who was also suspicious of the girl. It was then that he had the idea of disguising himself in the middle of several noblemen, mixing with them in one of the chambers of the castle. This was a way of testing the peasant girl. She had never before seen the heir and so it would certainly be impossible to recognize him among the crowd, unless of course there really was contact between her and the sky above. And, much to the surprise of everyone present, as soon as she entered that place, Joan of Arc quickly recognized him. Shortly after she was introduced to the heir, the young woman began to call herself Joan the Maiden. Nevertheless, despite this impressive feat, more evidence was needed about the truthfulness than the young woman proclaimed and, for this reason, the peasant girl was subjected to some tests. The first of which was a physical test to assess her virginity to know whether she was pure. This verification was done by ladies of the court and later by Yolanda of Aragon, Queen of Sicily. They also made a spiritual test in which they dialogued with her, asking different questions about her personal life and also about her faith. Joan proved to be lucid, coherent and secure in her answers. She was then sent to the city of Boutier to be questioned by a group of experienced theologians of great knowledge. After a long conversation and after asking Joan of Arc many questions, they gave the following account of this fact. She talked to everyone, publicly and privately, but in her one found no evil, only goodness, humility, virginity, piety, integrity and simplicity. Joan seemed ready and determined to take over the French army front. And members of royalty and the Church were now willing to support her. After the tests and conquering the trust of the royalty and the Church, she asked them to write a letter and send it to the King of England. The writing, dictated by the maiden, said that she had been sent by God, that she was the new military leader, and that in one way or another she would force the English out of France. If they did not leave by the peaceful request she was sending, they would be killed if she found them. She also said that, if they did not hear her through the words she wrote, her war cry would be the greatest in France for a thousand years. She made it clear that the celestial forces did not want the English in their soil. The members of the French court and the theologians were finally convinced of the purity and truthfulness of what the humble peasant woman reported. They noticed that, if they denied the girl's request to command soldiers and lead battles for her country, they could be denying an order coming directly from heaven. Given the circumstances, the King handed her a sword, showing his confidence. From then on, preparations began. At first, Joan of Arc's garments were provided, which consisted of a fine armor made especially for the young woman, as well as the use of a banner made by a French painter who lived in Tours. He made it with the national symbol of France, a golden fleur-de-lis, with the words Jesus and Mary, and an image of Christ, with an angel on each side. Joan was also presented with a white horse and needed a brief period to cope with the She soon became familiar with these items and her skill with them was remarkable, a fact that caught the attention of several individuals. Finally, with her short hair, properly dressed, mounted on her horse and armed with her banner, in a leading position, standing in front of her soldiers, she set out for Orleans, which had been taken over by the English for several months. At first, when she stood before them, Joan was intensely mocked and slandered by her rivals. They had heard of her, but they did not take seriously a woman commanding troops, and they believed even less that she did so by order of heaven. However, despite hearing their insults and provocations, Joan ignored the rivals' disbelief and remained determined in her mission. The maiden wanted to free Orleans, but before that, she took part in a battle at Tourelles. When Joan of Arc took an arrow between her shoulder and her neck, the French were worried and almost lost the focus during the mission until the maiden bravely stood up and began to encourage her men to fight. Her bravery enticed the troops, who, inspired, went up against the enemy, leaving the English truly terrified. In fact, on that occasion, a captain who had once cursed the peasant woman, frightened, plunged into the water and was never seen again. Joan of Arc was definitely starting to shine and revealed her leadership skills. Soon after, it took only four days to, with major success, make the enemies leave Orleans. This victory was decisive in strengthening the French troops and motivating the country's population. After that, her name, which was already known to both the English and the French, began to spread, and the mocking and laughter of the enemies was replaced by recognition of the country's prominent military command and a concern about what was to come. After lifting the siege of Orleans, the maiden went to the air and suggested that he go to Rome to be crowned, as he was not yet officially king of France. Joan of Arc believed that the coronation was a will from heaven. She led Charles to Rome's and on July 17th, a Sunday, in the city cathedral, in front of many, including relatives of Joan of Arc, the coronation ceremony took place. Joan had followed the advice of the heavenly voices. She liberated Orleans, collaborated in the crowning of the heir, and, in addition to those achievements, she also won and stood out in several other conflicts, such as that of Meaux, Jargo, Beaugency, and Patoy. With so many important achievements, the peasant heroic was consolidating herself more and more as someone who really had a special and great destiny ahead. Nevertheless, Joan of Arc's life was about to take a tragic turn. Joan of Arc had accomplished the mission ordered by the heavenly voices. In front of the French army, she freed Orleans and guided the heir to be crowned in Rome. After so many glorious deeds, and captivating a large part of the French people and nobility, Joan's fate took an unexpected and dramatic turn. Despite the significant victories of the French army, the royal government decided to consolidate the territorial gains and initiated diplomatic negotiations, suspending the offensive campaigns. Most of the soldiers of the French army were dismissed and returned home, which weakened Joan's position in her fight against the enemies of France. Even without royal support, Joan kept fighting. She led her army to the city of Compagnie, which was under the control of the Burgundian army, who were allies of the English. The outcome of the battle was disastrous for the French, who were outnumbered. During the fight, Joan was surrounded and captured. The English, having captured Joan, finally had the opportunity to get rid of her and desecrate her image. The peasant girl was a powerful and important weapon of the French, and her war achievements had already done the English great harm. But how could they put an end to Joan of Arc? The solution was to accuse her of heresy. She wore men's clothes, and this was forbidden by the sacred scripture of the Catholic Church. Moreover, she listened to voices, which might well have a diabolical source. Accusing and condemning the young woman was a path that seemed effective, with clear political intentions. We must recall that the King of France had supported Joan of Arc, if she were seen as a sorceress, a heretic. King Charles would also be demoralized in a way. Initially, she was taken to the castle of Aulou-les-Fontaines, and then she was taken to the castle of Aurevoir, where she stayed for a while. Finally, when she was taken to the city of Rhône, in northwest France, where her sentence would take place, under Bishop Pierre Cajon, a man loyal to the King of England. There, she was imprisoned in a deeply uncomfortable, dark, and humid cell in the Rhône castle. Joan of Arc knew that her fate would suffer one way or another, and that she would experience difficult moments. It was painful to have fallen into the hands of her adversaries. This capture was painful to her, and an interesting fact is that Joan of Arc tried to escape from prison twice, but failed. Her process began on January the 9th. The day before her trial began, she said she would like to attend Mass, but the Bishop refused her request. Throughout the process, Joan also asked that the Pope be made aware of her case. This request was promptly denied by those responsible for her trial. The interrogation took place in both court and in the prisoner's cell. Throughout her trial, Joan showed herself to be courageous, determined, brave, and having a deep and unwavering faith. In the first interrogation, the judges asked her to take a sacred oath by which she would Joan of Arc promptly showed a lack of interest in taking this sacred oath. She said that she might not answer all the questions that would be asked. She would willingly talk about her life as a peasant and her family, but would keep the divine revelations that she had received in secrecy, believing that she was not allowed to talk about it. Finally, after insistence from those responsible for the interrogation, she took the oath, but made her position clear again. On that occasion, she talked about herself, her name, her supposed age, which was 19, the name of the place where she was born, and she also told about the prayers she knew by heart, learned from her mother. During that conversation, she told about the origin of the voices, which began to manifest at the age of 13, coming from the direction of the church. She mentioned that the voices instructed her to be courageous and steady, so that God could protect her. At one point, with boldness and assertiveness, she looked directly at the bishop and said to him, You say you are my judge. Be careful what you do, for I am sent by God, and you are putting yourself in great danger. Generally speaking, throughout the whole process, she was always brave and secure. Joan argued, answered with new questions, and often refused to comment on certain issues. The clerics remained committed to questioning the girl incessantly, in an attempt to find contradictions and flaws. Her accuser said that she had come up with the voices and visions, which were either demonic apparitions or simply buffoonery. Any of these alternatives would condemn Joan of Arc, but she, relentlessly brave, said about those experiences, Whether good or bad spirits, they appeared before me. But despite the pleasant girl's conviction, it must be noted that the voices had promised her freedom, and in the end, this did not happen. This security, this bravery when retorting questions, were not enough to escape the death sentence and the dreadful execution to which she would be subjected. Finally, the heroic peasant was found guilty of several crimes, such as idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy, and others. Joan of Arc was condemned to be burned alive in the Old Market Square in Rhone. On the day of her execution, she was taken to the spot at 8 o'clock in the morning and was dressed in a tunic. When she arrived, she was put in front of the fire and stayed there until Pierre Cachon made a last speech about the young woman, declaring the reasons for which she was accused and why she was convicted. Then, Cachon pronounced Joan of Arc's final sentence. She was taken to a pole on which she was tied and set ablaze. The flames went up, hit the girl's lower limbs, and soon spread to the rest of her body. Those who witnessed her death tell that, as she became engulfed in flames, she repeatedly and desperately shouted the name of Jesus. She repeated it until her very last breath. A large share of the population was moved by the death of the young woman. After the flames were extinguished, Joan's body was displayed to the public and then set the body on fire again until it was turned to ashes. They say that her ashes were thrown into the river Seine to avoid turning her grave into a place of worship and pilgrimage. And that was the end of the young French hero. In 1456, not long after her death, Pope Calixtus allowed the Catholic Church to investigate in a deep, intricate, and careful manner the indictment, conviction, and trial of Joan of Arc. As a result of this examination by the Church, she was officially exonerated and, from then on, the public opinion about her changed. However, before this intervention by the Pope, the image of the brave peasant girl had already begun to change. In 1450, King Charles told his opinion about Joan of Arc's death, claiming that there had been several misunderstandings throughout the so-called trial to which the enemies cruelly subjected her. A few years later, in 1455, at a ceremony held in the Church of Notre Dame in the French capital before the mother of Joan of Arc and her brother Pierre, there was a public recognition of the injustice that had incurred in the trial and the maiden's conviction. It was declared that the case would be investigated. The investigations and analyses proceeded. In early June 1456, the group of judges accountable for reviewing the case finally declared that the articles for which Joan of Arc was convicted were established in an unfair, impartial, and fraudulent way. The conclusion ultimately nullified the trial and the sentence. These same judges then asked that a cross be built on the square where Joan of Arc was murdered. From then on, she became a true legend, and the recognition of her accomplishments and interest in her story remains alive. The great Napoleon Bonaparte even declared Joan of Arc as a symbol of France. In 1908, Pope Pius X recognized three miracles of Joan, the healing of three nuns who, after falling ill, recovered their health by praying to Joan of Arc. Several centuries after her death, Pope Pius X beautified Joan of Arc and, in 1920, Benedict XV canonized her. She became a saint. Joan of Arc's life story is intriguing and moving. Her feats were impressive both for the people of her own time, who closely followed her outstanding trajectory, and for those that came after, who felt impressed and continued to be fascinated by the life of the peasant girl. To this day, it is incredible to think that, in the middle of the Middle Ages, a young and humble woman managed to command an army and amass remarkable achievements in the Hundred Years' War. The story of the young peasant girl, who became a warrior and a saint, continues to inspire new generations.