Joan of Arc Biography

Joan of Arc was a French heroine and Roman Catholic saint, whose victories in the Hundred Years' War paved the way for the crowning of Charles VII of France. Joan was born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romilly in Domremy in north-eastern France in around 1412. At around the age of 12, Joan is said to have had a vision of three saints, who told her to drive out the English who had invaded France after the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and bring the dauphin Charles VII back to At 16, she attempted to obtain permission to visit the French court, but was denied. She then went on to make a prediction about a military outcome at a battle near Orléans, which was confirmed by a local garrison commander, and when her prediction came true, she was granted permission to visit the French court. Joan impressed Charles VII while at court, and she requested to be allowed to travel with the army to relieve the under siege Orléans. Joan instructed Charles VII that she had been sent by God to lead the army. Despite her being an illiterate farm girl, the French army had suffered many devastating and humiliating defeats, and Charles seemed to have exhausted all other rational options. She arrived at the siege of Orléans in 1429, and began aiding the French army in a much more militarily aggressive campaign, and she was granted co-commander of the French army, leading the army to several victories over the English. The victories led to a truce with England, and the dauphin was crowned, fulfilling Joan's prophecy. The truce with England did not last long, and the English attacked the city of Compagnie in 1430. Joan was captured whilst attempting to defeat the English, and was sold to the English government by the Duke of Burgundy. She was put on trial for heresy in 1431, and was found guilty and sentenced to death. She was burned at the stake, then her ashes were cast into the river Seine. She was just 19. She was retrialed posthumously in 1456, and found not guilty, and was made a saint by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.