Joan of Arc (1412–1431)

Saint Joan of Arc, or Jehanne d'Arc, was a war hero and is a symbol of stubborn persistence, religious faith, and goal-driven activism.

Joan of Arc was born in the village of Domremy in what is now the Lorraine in eastern France in a time of political turmoil that was the Hundred Years' War; France was in a state of civil war while simultaneously fighting the British. A product of her culture, Joan was born into a poor family in a small town and was raised Christian. Around age 12, she began to have visions of St. Michael the Archangel, the Biblical commander of Heaven's armies, and the Saints Catherine and Margaret. Joan was instructed by the angels to liberate France; specifically, her mission was to free the city of Orleans from British control with an army of the Royal Court and see that France's rightful successor (Charles VII) be crowned. Joan—teenaged and female in a male-dominated society—thus persistently beseeched local officials, eventually convincing them that she must have an audience with the king-to-be. She was brought before a number of religious authorities and officials before this was possible, and through her correct predictions and stubborn piety, was taken to Charles. In a famous test, Joan was able to pick him out of the crowd disguised as a commoner. Charles trusted Joan and placed great faith in her by sending her to the front lines with a suit of armor and what would be her signature banner (white with a world painted on it and two angels at its sides, with the words Jesus and Mary). Having gained the support of key authorities and caused much speculation, Joan became immediately recognizable on the battlefield. Though she always offered the opposition a chance to surrender, her appearance in Orleans in 1429 was enough to encourage the men on the ground, who, after many defeats by the English, miraculously turned the tide and recaptured the city.

Joan soon took on the name “La Pucelle” (the Maiden or Virgin). She continued to lead the Royal Army against the English in the Loire, suffering numerous physical wounds along the way. She was captured in June of 1430—as she had predicted. After months in prison, Joan was tried by inquisitorial procedure as a heretic and for cross-dressing, which she did to protect herself from army and prison rape. The court found her guilty of witchcraft and she was sentenced to death by burning at the stake. Members of the court that tried her later admitted that they were acting out of revenge rather than by genuine conviction of her guilt; they were also bribed. Joan was burned in Rouen and there is a cathedral in her honor there today.

Many years later, the case was appealed and she was posthumously acquitted. In 1920, she was canonized by the pope. To this day, soldiers on the battlefield invoke [Page 779]her name as a source of inspiration. Much is known about Joan of Arc's life because of extensive eyewitness accounts and posthumous descriptions that were compiled as a part of her acquittal.

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