Joan of Arc - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google 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 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. Joan’s Journey to Orléans In May 1428, Joan made her way 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 for 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. Downfall 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, even 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 Compiégne. 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. Joan of Arc: From Witch to Saint 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, at the age of 19, Joan was taken to the old market place of Rouen and burned at the stake. 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 and becoming the patron saint of France. Tags On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in... - tribunedigital-chicagotribune On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in...

May 30, 1997 On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen, France, at the age of 19. In 1539 the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto landed in Florida. In 1672 Pyotr Alekseyevich, who became Russia's Peter I (Peter the Great), was born in Moscow. In 1868 the first formal observance of Memorial Day took place. In 1911 the first Indianapolis 500-mile race was won by Ray Harroun. In 1926 three carloads of vigilantes burned Al Capone's Maple Inn brothel near the Chicago suburb of Forest View. In 1937 an attempt by strikers to shut the Republic Steel Corp. plant in South Chicago led to a battle between strikers and police. (Sixteen people were killed and 90 were wounded.) In 1958 unidentified soldiers killed in World War II and the Korean War were interred at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1961 dictator Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic was assassinated. In 1972 three Japanese gunmen attacked Lod International Airport near Tel Aviv, killing 25 people and injuring 76. (The dead included two of the terrorists.) In 1982 Spain became the 16th member-nation of NATO. In 1984 five people, including an American journalist, were killed when a bomb exploded at a press conference at the Nicaraguan jungle headquarters of rebel leader Eden Pastora Gomez. (Pastora was taken into custody the next day when he arrived in Costa Rica for medical treatment.) In 1996 England's Prince Andrew and the former Sarah Ferguson were granted an uncontested decree ending their 10-year marriage. MORE: Joan of Arc: Facts & Biography Joan of Arc: Facts & Biography By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | July 18, 2013 05:30pm ET MORE Joan of Arc is the modern-day name of a teenage woman who, driven by voices she heard, fought to drive the English out of France and crown Charles VII as the French king.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres painted 'Joan of Arc on Coronation of Charles VII in the Cathedral of Reims' in 1854. The painting is in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Credit: Public domain Although we know her as Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d'Arc in French, she called herself Jehanne la Pucelle, or Joan the Maid. She is also known as the "Maid of Orléans." Pucelle means “maid” and also signifies that she was a virgin, an important distinction given that her society held female virginity before marriage in high regard. Her military career lasted from between April 1429, when she left with troops to help raise the siege of Orléans, and May 1430 when she was captured by troops loyal to John of Luxembourg. She was subsequently handed over to forces loyal to English King Henry VI and after a trial she was condemned and burned at the stake in May 1431. At her trial, Joan said that she thought her age was 19.

She lived at a time when France was divided among Charles VII, who ruled south of the Loire River; Henry VI, the English boy-king who ruled much of northern France; and the Duchy of Burgundy, which controlled a rump of territory and was allied with the English. The father of Henry VI had defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, a defeat that eventually led Charles VII’s father to agree to a treaty that allowed the French crown to pass to the English after his death. Charles VII refused to recognize this treaty and continued resistance albeit as an uncrowned ruler. Although Joan’s military career was brief, and scholars debate the degree of control she had over the campaigns she was in, she raised French morale and her time in action was one that saw a recovery in French military fortunes, which ultimately allowed Charles VII to be crowned King of France. Her reputation was such that the English, led in France by the regent John, Duke of Bedford, blamed their defeats on her alleged supernatural powers. “A disciple and limb of the Fiend, called the Pucelle, that used false enchantment and sorcery,” is how he described her in a report.

To Joan and her supporters, her mission of driving the English out of France and crowning Charles was one that was called upon her by God. “I am sent here in God’s name, the King of Heaven, to drive you body for body out of all France...” she said in a challenge written down and sent to the English before she went into battle at Orléans. Modern-day medical doctors have speculated that she may have suffered from a medical condition, such as schizophrenia or a form of epilepsy, which made her hear voices. Many statues of Joan of Arc have been erected, including this one in Orléans, France. Credit: Alexander Demyanenko Shutterstock A world where children fought children She was born in the village of Domrémy (now called Domrémy-la-Pucelle in her honor) in either 1412 or 1413. At the time she lived, it was a settlement on the border between France and the Holy Roman Empire. It was also a place of conflicting loyalties. While the people of the village were generally loyal to Charles VII, many of the nearby territories were loyal to the Duchy of Burgundy, which was allied with the English.

As Joan said at her trial, the place where she grew up was one where children literally fought children, some of them coming back “wounded and blooded.” Her mother’s name was Isabelle Romee, and there are conflicting accounts as to the spelling of her father’s name. Researcher Nora Heimann notes in her book "Joan of Arc in French Art and Culture" (Ashgate Publishing, 2005) that her father’s name has been recorded with various spellings, including “Jacob d’Arc,” “Jaqes d’Arc,” “Jacques Tarc” and “Jacques Darc.” While the last name “Arc” is what she is called today Joan didn’t use that name on campaign, preferring to be called “la Pucelle.” She started hearing voices at the age of 13, recounting at her trial that the first time she heard them was in her family’s garden. “The voice came from the right, from the direction of the church, and was accompanied by a bright light,” she said. The ringing of church bells would sometimes trigger them.

In 1428, her village was attacked by Anglo-Burgundian forces and her family fled, returning after the attack was over. After this, she left home for the last time, going to Vaucouleurs and eventually persuading a reluctant local official named Robert de Baudricourt to give her an escort to take her to see Charles VII at his castle at Chinon. Siobhan Nash-Marshall, now a professor at Manhattanville College, writes in her book "Joan of Arc: A Spiritual Biography" (Crossroad Publishing, 1999) that the journey was more than 300 miles (480 kilometers), taking them through territory controlled by the enemy and bandits. Traveling by night, avoiding towns, and at times going through the wilderness they reached the castle. Persuading Charles One of history’s great mysteries is how a teenage girl hearing voices and claiming to be on a mission from God persuaded Charles VII (at the time in his 20s) to give her soldiers and send her to help raise the siege of Orléans. “We will never know what happened at Chinon.

It is one the abiding mysteries of history,” writes Marina Warner, a professor at the University of Essex, in her book "Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism" (Oxford University Press, 2013). Warner notes that at her trial, Joan asked not to be pressed on what happened at Chinon, and when questioned said that Charles received a sign, of some form, to signify that her story was true. “Go boldly! For when you stand before the king, he will have a sign [that will make him] receive you and believe in you,” her voices told her. After her meeting with Charles, she was sent to Poitiers to be questioned about her experiences, and subsequently was given a squire, a page and some soldiers and sent with a force to relieve Orléans. Warner points out that, contrary to popular belief, Joan was not in command of this force. Rather, the force was led by the Count of Dunois. Ignoring Joan’s advice, the count sneaked around the English fortifications, trying to get his force, loaded with equipment and provisions, into Orléans without a major battle.

“This infuriated Joan, who was clearly eager to get on with her mission,” Nash-Marshall writes. Joan succeeded in making a believer out of the count when he found his force stranded beside a riverbank, unable to bring supplies to Orléans across barges because the wind was against him. She told the count that “I am bringing you better help than ever you got from any soldier or any city. It is the help of the King of Heaven.” The count later claimed that at that moment the wind changed direction, allowing his force and supplies to cross into Orléans. Nash-Marshall points out that, when in Orléans, she provided a morale boost to the civilians and soldiers there. Even though the French now outnumbered their besiegers, their commanders were reluctant to attack the Anglo-Burgundian forces until more help arrived. Joan pressed for an assault, and eventually an attack was launched against the most isolated of the enemy fortifications to the east. Joan provided another boost during the battle, when she “arrived at the scene, it is claimed, a roar went up among the French troops, who redoubled their efforts and won the day with ease,” writes Nash-Marshall.

With French confidence growing, the soldiers attacked one besieging fort after another, eventually breaking the siege of the city. Nash-Marshall points out that the morale boost Joan gave cannot be underestimated. “French morale was so low before Joan appeared that the [French] even lost those battles in which they outnumbered the Anglo-Burgundians on a massive scale. More often than not, they simply preferred to stay off the battlefield.” A king crowned With Orléans saved, and subsequent French campaigns succeeding in liberating towns on the Loire River, Joan was now in a position to fulfill a major part of her God-given mission — the crowning of Charles VII as King of France. French kings were crowned at Reims, a city that at the time was under control of the Anglo-Burgundians. Despite it being behind enemy lines, Joan begged Charles to go, and the king eventually set off with a party that encountered surprisingly little resistance, actually gaining the support of several towns held by the enemy on the way. When they arrived in Reims, they held the ceremony as quickly as possible, with Charles being knighted, anointed and crowned as best as could be done under the circumstances.

Joan said at her trial that she embraced the newly crowned king at his knees and said “gentle king, now is executed the will of God, who wished that the siege of Orléans should be lifted, and that you should be brought into this city of Reims to receive your holy consecration, thus showing that you are a true king, and he to whom the kingdom of France should belong.” The ceremony took place on July 17, 1429, and, although Joan didn’t know it, this would represent the height of her military achievements. An aggressive Joan and a diplomatic king With momentum on the newly crowned king’s side, there was pressure on him to march on Paris, the capital of France, and reclaim it. Joan, along with other commanders, pushed for this, but the king was hesitant. Nash-Marshall pointed out that the king actually agreed to a 15-day truce with his enemies, a mere ruse, as it turned out, to give them time to fortify Paris. When the attack on Paris finally happened, the king was hesitant to commit the bulk of his forces to it and it ultimately failed. Furthermore, it happened on Sept.

8, the birthday of the Virgin Mary, something that hurt Joan’s image as no fighting was supposed to take place on this holy day. Joan’s ambitions to drive the English out of the rest of France only went downhill from there. The king made a truce with the Burgundians, the allies of the English, which was to last until Christmas. Furthermore, before winter set in, Charles VII disbanded his army. Never again would Joan’s efforts receive support from the king, who appeared more determined to pursue diplomacy and consolidate his gains. On Dec. 29, Joan and her family were ennobled; something which Nash-Marshall points out gave her the right to attack the English without the king’s permission. “Charles' gesture was a courteous but unmistakable farewell,” Nash-Marshall writes. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake at this site, Joan d'Arc Square, in Rouen, France. Credit: Katarzyna Mazurowska Shutterstock Capture, trial and execution Without the backing of the king, Joan was unable to launch any more major attacks.

In May 1430, an Anglo-Burgundian force laid siege to the town of Compiègne and Joan, with no more than a few hundred men, rushed to its aid. Her voices had told her a few months before that she would soon be captured by the English but she went to the town’s defense anyways. The Anglo-Burgundian force was far larger than her own and she tried to aid the town’s defenders by launching hit-and-run attacks to keep the enemy off balance. On May 23 one of these attacks failed, the enemy having sufficient warning to give chase to her much smaller force. Although most of her soldiers managed to escape back to the town walls, Joan herself was captured by troops loyal to John, the Duke of Luxembourg. This marked the end of her military career and the beginning of her captivity. Although Joan had sympathizers among the Duke’s family, and John was originally reluctant to hand her over to the English, he was eventually paid 10,000 livres to turn her over, an immense amount of money at the time.

Pierre Cauchon, a bishop who supported the English and pushed for her arrest, remarked that although it was a king’s ransom “certainly the capture of this woman in no way resembles the capture of a king, or princes, or other persons of high rank.” When Joan learned she was to be turned over to the English, she threw herself off a tower, apparently in an attempt to commit suicide. She survived her attempt and was brought to Rouen to face trial. The verdict was never in doubt. “Her side saw her as a holy virgin, her enemies as a polluted sorceress,” Warner said. She was interrogated thoroughly, the Anglo-Burgundians tried to discredit her by questioning her virginity and linking her to magic. Even her wearing of men’s clothes was used against her, her prosecutors claiming that it was against the natural order of things. [ Related: Medieval Justice Not So Medieval ] Her trial and interrogations went on through the first four months of 1431. During that time Charles VII, the French king whom she had helped crown, made no attempt to get her back through ransom or prisoner exchange.

“This suggests, hard as it may seem, that Charles and his advisers were disillusioned enough to tolerate her condemnation as a heretic,” Warner writes. On May 30, 1431, she was led to the stake. “When Joan of Arc went to the stake, she wore over her shaven head a tall mitre like a dunce’s cap. On the cap, the words of her crimes were inscribed in Latin, for her shame and the dread of the onlookers,” writes Nash-Marshall. In a nutshell she was labelled “heretical, relapsed, apostate and idolatrous.” As the fire was lit, and spread, she uttered her last words, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus,” she said, repeating Christ’s name several times before her death. Canonization In the century to follow, the English lost control over their remaining French territories. Calais, the last English territory in France, fell in 1558. Joan’s name was formally rehabilitated in an inquiry during the 1450s, and in 1920 she was made a saint of the Catholic Church. The New York Times reported that her canonization ceremony at St.

Peter’s Basilica in Rome attracted “60,000 to 70,000 persons” and “was the greatest and most impressive function performed in the historic basilica not only by the present Pontiff but for several centuries past.” Joan of Arc: 1431 Joan of Arc Photo Archive Joan of Arc, a devout saint of God, was burned at the stake in May of 1431 on charges of heresy. After a long trial that lasted over a year, three major indictments were made against her. The first of these was that she used magic because she claimed to hear voices from St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine. It was these voices which told her to dress as a boy and fight for the French in the Hundred Years War against the English. The charge against her stated that the voices were actually demons instead of saints. They accused her of being linked to the devil. Back to Hundred Years War Chronology The second indictment affirmed what was actually true--that she was headstrong in speaking out for her faith. The reason this was a crime is because she acted inappropriately as a woman in the church in her time.

She dressed as a boy, fought in war, took communion as a male, all of which horrified the judges and people of her time. Courtesy of Natural Bridges The third set of accusations reflects Joan of Arc's pure obedience to God. It was said, "'she does not submit herself to the judgment of the Church Militant, or to that of living men, but to God alone,' whom, [the University of Paris] said, she claimed to know through her diabolical voices." On these charges, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in the Old Market Place of Rouen, near the church of Saint-Sauveur. She was only 18 or 19 years old, and her death was a powerful witness of her commitment to God. When her sentence was to be carried out, she asked to face the cross from the church, and to hold a small, wooden cross until she died. While her body was burning, she kept repeating the name of Jesus over and over to give her strength.

"...in giving up the ghost and bowing her head, [she] uttered the name of Jesus as a sign that she was fervent in the faith of God." Sources: Barstow, Anne Llewllyn, Joan of Arc--Heretic, Mystic, Shaman. (Lewiston/Queenston; The Edwin Mellen Press, 1986) p. 83. Hyarns, Edward, translator, Joan of Arc: by Herself and Her Witnesses. (New York; Stein and Day Publishers, 1966) p. 232. Edited by: Nathan L. Seldomridge Researched by: Jill E. Luckow Written by: Erica E. Olson December 14, 1996 Joan of Arc | Article about Joan of Arc by The Free Dictionary Joan of Arc | Article about Joan of Arc by The Free Dictionary Related to Joan of Arc: Jeanne d'Arc Joan of Arc, Fr. Jeanne D'Arc (zhän därk), 1412?–31, French saint and national heroine, called the Maid of Orléans; daughter of a farmer of Domrémy on the border of Champagne and Lorraine.

Inspiration and Leadership At a young age she began to hear "voices"—those of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. When she was about 16, the voices exhorted her to bear aid to the dauphin, later King Charles VII Charles VII (Charles the Well Served), 1403–61, king of France (1422–61), son and successor of Charles VI. His reign saw the end of the Hundred Years War. Although excluded from the throne by the Treaty of Troyes, Charles took the royal title after his father's death ..... Click the link for more information. , then kept from the throne by the English in the Hundred Years War Hundred Years War, 1337–1453, conflict between England and France. Causes Its basic cause was a dynastic quarrel that originated when the conquest of England by William of Normandy created a state lying on both sides of the English Channel. In the 14th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. .

Joan won the aid of Robert de Baudricourt, captain of the dauphin's forces in Vaucouleurs, in obtaining an interview with the dauphin. She made the journey in male attire, with six companions. Meeting the dauphin at Chinon castle, she conquered his skepticism as to her divine mission. She was examined by theologians at Poitiers, and afterward she was furnished with troops by Charles. Her leadership provided spirit and morale more than military prowess. In May, 1429, she succeeded in raising the siege of Orléans, and in June she took other English posts on the Loire and defeated the English at Patay. After considerable persuasion the dauphin agreed to be crowned at Reims; Joan stood near him at his coronation. This was the pinnacle of her fortunes. Capture and Martyrdom In Sept., 1429, Joan unsuccessfully besieged Paris. The following spring she went to relieve Compiègne, but she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English, who were eager to destroy her influence by putting her to death. Charles VII made no attempt to secure her freedom.

In order to escape responsibility, the English turned her over to the ecclesiastical court at Rouen. She was tried for heresy and witchcraft before Pierre Cauchon Cauchon, Pierre , d. 1442, bishop of Beauvais, France, president of the ecclesiastic court that convicted (1431) Joan of Arc at Rouen. His violent partisanship for the English made a fair trial impossible. ..... Click the link for more information. and other French clerics who supported the English. Probably her most serious crime was the claim of direct inspiration from God; in the eyes of the court this refusal to accept the church hierarchy constituted heresy. Throughout the lengthy trial and imprisonment she bravely fought her inquisitors. Only at the end of the trial, when Joan was sentenced to be turned over to a secular court, did she recant. She was condemned to life imprisonment. Shortly afterward, however, she retracted her abjuration, was turned over to the secular court as a relapsed heretic, and was burned at the stake (May 30, 1431) in Rouen.

Charles VII made tardy recognition of her services by a rehabilitation trial in 1456 that annulled the proceedings of the original trial. Joan was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920 (feast: May 30). Her career lent itself to numerous legends, and she has been represented in many paintings and statues. In literature and music she appears notably, though not always accurately, in works by many eminent writers and composers. Bibliography Among her biographies, the best known is that of J. Michelet (tr. 1957). See also biographies by A. Lang (1908) and V. Sackville-West (1936); translations of the trial records by W. P. Barrett (1932 ed.) and W. S. Scott (1950); R. Pernoud, The Retrial of Joan of Arc (tr. 1955) and Joan of Arc by Herself and Her Witnesses (tr. 1966); C. W. Lightbody, The Judgements of Joan (1961); H.

Guillemin, Joan, Maid of Orleans (1973); M. Gordon, Joan of Arc (2000); H. Castor, Joan of Arc: A History (2015). Joan of Arc. Courtesy Fortean Picture Library. Joan of Arc (1412-1431) (religion, spiritualism, and occult) In the countryside of Domremy, France, Joan of Arc was known as Jeanette, with the surname of Arc or Romée. She's also mentioned in contemporary documents as Jeanne, commonly called la Poucelle, the Maid. She was born on January 6, 1412 to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle de Vouthon, two devout Catholics. Her two brothers were Pierre and Jean du Lys. Her father owned horses and cattle and was the head man of his village of Domremy. Joan was very pious and, while the other girls her age were dancing, she chose to attend church. When Joan was thirteen, she was in her father's garden when she heard a voice she believed came from God.

During the next five years she heard voices two or three times a week and was able to distinguish those of Saints Catherine, Margaret, and Michael. They even appeared to her, wearing crowns. She was determined to remain a virgin and lead a godly life. The Hundred Years War between France and England, over who should rule France, was in full swing. The dauphin Charles, son of Charles VI, battled the English, who had control of large portions of the country. Joan's voices told her to help the dauphin and to see that he was crowned king of France. In May 1428, Robert de Baudricourt, commandant at Vaucouleurs, about twelve miles from Domremy, was approached by Joan. She was accompanied by Durand Lassois, a relative on her mother's side. Joan told Baudricourt that she had been sent by God to place the dauphin on the throne, and she would like to speak with him. The commandant sent her home again. In July 1428 the village of Domremy was threatened by the English and the inhabitants retreated to Neufchâteau.

It was October before they were able to return, only to find the village burned to the ground. The English, meanwhile, had laid siege to Orléans. When news of this reached Domremy, Joan again set out to see the dauphin. Again, at Vaucouleurs, she encountered Robert de Baudricourt. She also met a young squire, Jean de Metz, in whom she confided. He lent her men's clothes. Baudricourt finally authorized her departure for Chinon, where Charles had his court. The people of Vaucouleurs bought her a horse and she was given a sword. Louis de Bourbon, count of Vendôme, presented her to the dauphin, who talked with her for two hours. According to Jean Pasquerel, her confessor, she told him, "I am God's messenger, sent to tell you that you are the true heir to France and the king's son." Charles had her interrogated by a commission, presided over by the archbishop of Riems, who found her honest and ruled in her favor. Joan then assured Charles that she would raise the siege of Orléans and have him crowned.

In a suit of "white armor" Joan, accompanied by Gilles de Rais, led an army of 4,000 men, and on the night of April 28, they entered Orléans. On May 5, they stormed the bastille and captured the Tourelles. On May 8, they held the first thanksgiving procession, which was the origin of what has become the great Festival of Orléans. Joan went on to Troy, and then Reims, by July 14. Two days later Charles was crowned King Charles VII of France, with Joan standing beside him. On December 29, 1429, Joan was ennobled and her village exempt from taxation. The following May, Joan attempted to raise the siege of Compiègne. She and her forces made a sortie against the Burgundian camp, and in the process, Joan was taken prisoner by the Duke of Burgundy, an English ally. He handed her over to the Bishop of Beauvais, also an English ally.

On January 3, 1431, Joan was passed on to Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, an ambitious man who hoped to obtain the vacant see of Rouen. She was to be tried by tribunal, which had been selected by Cauchon and consisted of ten Burgundian theologians, twenty-two canons of Rouen (all in the hands of the English), and some monks of different orders. Interrogation began on February 21. Judgement was to be based on seventy different points, including charges that she was a diviner, prophetess, sorceress, witch, and conjurer of evil spirits. Eventually these charges were dropped to twelve. Her judges were of the opinion that her visions were worthless and denied her the gift of prophecy. They censured her for dressing in masculine clothing and for "sinful pride" and for believing that she was responsible only to God and not to the Church, which the judges represented. This last was the charge that most incensed her accusers. On May 23 Joan was taken to the cemetery of Saint-Ouen and sentenced to be burned at the pyre unless she submitted.

Tired and worn out, Joan signed what was presented to her and was returned to her cell to serve out a sentence of life imprisonment. She was given a woman's dress, but she either did not put it on or else she returned to her men's clothing, for on May 27 Cauchon found her so dressed and declared her to have relapsed. He handed her over to the English secular arm. On May 30 she was made to appear in the Old Market Square of Rouen, although she had again been dressed as a woman. There she was burned. Joan was not executed for witchcraft, but for being a relapsed heretic. It has been said that throughout Joan of Arc's capture and imprisonment, Charles made no attempt to assist her or obtain her release. In fact, on December 15, 1430, upon hearing the news that Joan had fallen into the hands of the duke of Burgundy, Charles sent an embassy to Philippe le Bon, saying that if there was nothing that could be offered to set Joan free, then Charles would exact vengeance for her upon Philippe's men that he held captive.

There is correspondence that states, "The English wished to burn her (Joan) as a heretic, in spite of the Dauphin of France who tried to bring threatening forces against the English." But Charles's attempts seemed half-hearted. Finally, in 1450, he instituted a preliminary inquiry into her trial and execution, but it was not fully followed through. It wasn't till June 16, 1456 that the judgement was annulled by Pope Calixtus III. Joan was finally beatified in 1909 and canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. Joan of Arc. When Joan was about 12 years old, she began hearing voices that she believed were sent by God. She was later burned at the stake by the British after being ruled a heretic. Courtesy Fortean Picture Library. Joan of Arc (1412–1431) (religion, spiritualism, and occult) In the countryside of Domremy, France, she was known as Jeanette, with the surname of Arc or Romee. She is also mentioned in contemporary documents as Jeanne, commonly called la Poucelle, the Maid.

She was born on January 6, 1412, to Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle de Vouthon, two devout Catholics. Her two brothers were Pierre and Jean du Lys. Her father owned horses and cattle and was the head man of his village of Domremy. Joan was very pious; while the other girls her age were dancing, she chose to attend church. When Joan was thirteen, she was in her father’s garden when she clairaudiently heard a voice she believed came from God. During the next five years she continued to exhibit this mediumistic ability, hearing spirit voices two or three times per week, and claimed to be able to distinguish between Saints Catherine, Margaret and Michael. They even appeared to her clairvoyantly, wearing crowns. She determined to remain a virgin and lead a godly life. The Hundred Years War between France and England, over who should rule France, was in full swing. The dauphin Charles, son of Charles VI, battled the English who had control of large portions of the country. Joan’s spirit voices told her to help the dauphin and get him crowned King of France.

In May 1428, Robert de Baudricourt, commandant at Vaucouleurs, about twelve miles from Domremy, was approached by Joan. She was accompanied by Durand Lassois, a relative on her mother’s side. Joan told Baudricourt that she had been sent by God to place the dauphin on the throne, and she would like to speak with him. The commandant sent her home again. In July 1428, the village of Domremy was threatened by the English and the inhabitants retreated to Neufchâteau. It was October before they were able to return, only to find the village burned to the ground. The English, meanwhile, had laid siege to Orléans. When news of this reached Domremy, Joan again set out to see the dauphin. Again, at Vaucouleurs, she encountered Robert de Baudricourt. She also met a young squire, Jean de Metz, in whom she confided. De Metz lent her men’s clothes. Baudricourt finally authorized her departure for Chinon, where Charles had his court.

The people of Vaucouleurs bought her a horse and she was given a sword. Louis de Bourbon, count of Vendôme, presented Joan to the dauphin, who talked with her for two hours. According to Jean Pasquerel, her confessor, she told him, “I am God’s messenger, sent to tell you that you are the true heir to France and the king’s son.” Charles had her interrogated by a commission presided over by the Archbishop of Riems, who found her honest and ruled in her favor. Joan then assured Charles that she would raise the siege of Orléans and have him crowned. In a suit of “white armor,” Joan, accompanied by Gilles de Rais, led 4,000 men and on the night of April 28 entered Orléans. On May 5, they stormed the Bastille and captured the Tourelles. On May 8 the first thanksgiving procession was held, the origin of what has become the great Festival of Orléans. Joan went on to Troy and then Reims by July 14. Two days later Charles was crowned King Charles VII of France, with Joan standing beside him.

On December 29, 1429, Joan was ennobled and her village exempt from taxation. The following May, Joan attempted to raise the siege of Compiègne. She and her forces made a sortie against the Burgundian camp. Joan got cut off and was taken prisoner by the Duke of Burgundy, an English ally. He handed her over to the Bishop of Beauvais, also an English ally. On January 3, 1431, Joan was passed on to Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, an ambitious man who hoped to obtain the vacant see of Rouen. She was to be tried by tribunal, which had been selected by Cauchon and consisted of 10 Burgundian theologians, 22 canons of Rouen (all in the hands of the English), and some monks of different orders. Interrogation began on February 21. Judgement was to be based on seventy different points, including charges that she indulged in divination, had prophetic dreams, was a sorceress, witch, and conjurer of evil spirits. Eventually these charges were dropped to twelve.

Her judges were of the opinion that her visions were worthless and denied her the gift of prophecy. They censured her for dressing in masculine clothing and for “sinful pride” and believing that she was responsible only to God and not to the church which the judges represented. This last was the charge that most incensed her accusers. On May 23, Joan was taken to the cemetery of Saint-Ouen and sentenced to be burned at the pyre unless she submitted. Tired and worn out, Joan signed what was presented to her and was returned to her cell to serve life imprisonment. A woman’s dress was given to her but she either did not put it on or else she returned to her men’s clothing, for on May 27, Cauchon found her so dressed and declared her to have relapsed. He handed her over to the English secular arm. On May 30 she was made to appear in the Old Market Square of Rouen, though she had again been dressed as a woman. There she was burned for being a relapsed heretic. It has been said that throughout Joan of Arc’s capture and imprisonment, Charles made no attempt to assist her or obtain her release.

In fact on December 15, 1430, hearing the news that Joan had fallen into the hands of the Duke of Burgundy, Charles sent an embassy to Philippe le Bon saying that if there was nothing that could be offered to set Joan free, then Charles would exact vengeance for her upon Philippe’s men that he held captive. There is correspondence that states, “The English wished to burn her [Joan] as a heretic, in spite of the Dauphin of France who tried to bring threatening forces against the English.” But Charles’s attempts seemed half-hearted. Finally in 1450, he instituted a preliminary inquiry into her trial and execution, but it was not fully followed through. It wasn’t till June 16, 1456 that the judgement was annulled by Pope Calixtus III. Joan was eventually beatified in 1909 and then canonized by Pope Benedict XV, in 1920.

Sources: Joan of Arc martyred - May 30, 1431 - HISTORY.com Joan of Arc martyred Publisher A+E Networks At Rouen in English-controlled Normandy, Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the savior of France, is burned at the stake for heresy. Joan was born in 1412, the daughter of a tenant farmer at Domremy, on the borders of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine. In 1415, the Hundred Years War between England and France entered a crucial phase when the young King Henry V of England invaded France and won a series of decisive victories against the forces of King Charles VI. By the time of Henry’s death in August 1422, the English and their French-Burgundian allies controlled Aquitaine and most of northern France, including Paris. Charles VI, long incapacitated, died one month later, and his son, Charles, regent from 1418, prepared to take the throne. However, Reims, the traditional city of French coronation, was held by the Anglo-Burgundians, and the Dauphin (heir apparent to the French throne) remained uncrowned.

Meanwhile, King Henry VI of England, the infant son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois, the daughter of Charles VI, was proclaimed king of France by the English. Joan’s village of Domremy lay on the frontier between the France of the Dauphin and that of the Anglo-Burgundians. In the midst of this unstable environment, Joan began hearing “voices” of three Christian saints—St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret. When she was about 16, these voices exhorted her to aid the Dauphin in capturing Reims and therefore the French throne. In May 1428, she traveled to Vaucouleurs, a stronghold of the Dauphin, and told the captain of the garrison of her visions. Disbelieving the young peasant girl, he sent her home. In January 1429, she returned, and the captain, impressed by her piety and determination, agreed to allow her passage to the Dauphin at Chinon. Dressed in men’s clothes and accompanied by six soldiers, she reached the Dauphin’s castle at Chinon in February 1429 and was granted an audience.

Charles hid himself among his courtiers, but Joan immediately picked him out and informed him of her divine mission. For several weeks, Charles had Joan questioned by theologians at Poitiers, who concluded that, given his desperate straits, the Dauphin would be well-advised to make use of this strange and charismatic girl. Charles furnished her with a small army, and on April 27, 1429, she set out for Orleans, besieged by the English since October 1428. On April 29, as a French sortie distracted the English troops on the west side of Orleans, Joan entered unopposed by its eastern gate. She brought greatly needed supplies and reinforcements and inspired the French to a passionate resistance. She personally led the charge in several battles and on May 7 was struck by an arrow. After quickly dressing her wound, she returned to the fight, and the French won the day. On May 8, the English retreated from Orleans. During the next five weeks, Joan and the French commanders led the French into a string of stunning victories over the English. On July 16, the royal army reached Reims, which opened its gates to Joan and the Dauphin.

The next day, Charles VII was crowned king of France, with Joan standing nearby holding up her standard: an image of Christ in judgment. After the ceremony, she knelt before Charles, joyously calling him king for the first time. On September 8, the king and Joan attacked Paris. During the battle, Joan carried her standard up to the earthworks and called on the Parisians to surrender the city to the king of France. She was wounded but continued to rally the king’s troops until Charles ordered an end to the unsuccessful siege. That year, she led several more small campaigns, capturing the town of Saint-Pierre-le-Moitier. In December, Charles ennobled Joan, her parents, and her brothers. In May 1430, the Burgundians laid siege to Compiegne, and Joan stole into the town under the cover of darkness to aid in its defense. On May 23, while leading a sortie against the Burgundians, she was captured. The Burgundians sold her to the English, and in March 1431 she went on trial before ecclesiastical authorities in Rouen on charges of heresy.

Her most serious crime, according to the tribunal, was her rejection of church authority in favor of direct inspiration from God. After refusing to submit to the church, her sentence was read on May 24: She was to be turned over to secular authorities and executed. Reacting with horror to the pronouncement, Joan agreed to recant and was condemned instead to perpetual imprisonment. Ordered to put on women’s clothes, she obeyed, but a few days later the judges went to her cell and found her dressed again in male attire. Questioned, she told them that St. Catherine and St. Margaret had reproached her for giving in to the church against their will. She was found to be a relapsed heretic and on May 29 ordered handed over to secular officials. On May 30, Joan, 19 years old, was burned at the stake at the Place du Vieux-Marche in Rouen. Before the pyre was lit, she instructed a priest to hold high a crucifix for her to see and to shout out prayers loud enough to be heard above the roar of the flames. As a source of military inspiration, Joan of Arc helped turn the Hundred Years War firmly in France’s favor.

By 1453, Charles VII had reconquered all of France except for Calais, which the English relinquished in 1558. In 1920, Joan of Arc, one of the great heroes of French history, was recognized as a Christian saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Her feast day is May 30. Related Videos Leonard Cohen – Joan of Arc Lyrics | Genius Lyrics More on Genius About “Joan of Arc” Saint Joan Of Arc was born at Domremy in Champagne, France, in 1412, and died at Rouen, 1431, at the age of 19. She heard voices of the Saints of God, that told her to go to the King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom. She was condemned to death as a heretic, sorceress, and adulteress, and burned at the stake on 1431. Her ashes were thrown into the Seine. She was ultimately canonized in 1920. Although she never married, this ong’s working title was “The Marriage of joan Of Arc”.

The picture bellow fits well with the song, though it is not really Saint Joan of Arc. It illustrates the back cover of the album. Cohen describes it: A mexican religious picture called “Anima Sola”, the lonely spirit of the lonely soul. It is the triumph of the spirit over matter, the spirit being that beautiful woman breaking out of the chains and the fire and prison. Leonard said in 1974 that this song was about “a German singer he used to know” – meaning Nico , which he described as “ … a woman that has haunted me for a long time” and as “a brave woman”. Hidden This page is accessible to Verified artists on the song Locked This song has been locked and is considered "done." You need 600 IQ to add annotations to locked songs. "Joan of Arc" Track Info

Question: Who was burned at the stake, age 19, in Rouen in 1431?
Answer: Joan of Arc