Historical Figures

Joan of Arc, heroine of the History of France

Jeanne d'Arc is certainly the most famous woman in the history of France, and a mythical personality throughout the world. Heroine, war leader and saint of the Catholic Church, she played a very important role during the Hundred Years War.

The voices of the saints and the Archangel

Daughter of Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée, Jeanne was probably born in 1412, near Domrémy in Lorraine , on the family farm. She is described by those who know her as very pious and hardworking.

The Hundred Years War opposes the Kingdom of France and that of England since 1337. Following the English conquests on French territory, the French king Charles VI is forced to disown his son (the future Charles VII), suspected of not being of him, and to make the King of England his heir. Charles VI died in 1422 and his son no longer had legitimacy.

When she was thirteen, Joan of Arc claimed to hear voices. Those of saints, Catherine and Marguerite, and that of the Archangel Michael who tell him to be pious and to liberate the kingdom of France. At sixteen, she mentions these voices to a cousin older than her who ends up taking her to meet Robert de Baudricourt, captain of Vaucouleurs, who refuses to listen to her. However, Joan of Arc's reputation growing thanks in particular to her great charisma, he finally agreed to provide her with an escort so that she could go to Chinon to meet the dolphin.

The siege of Orléans and the assault on Paris

From then on, Joan of Arc cut her hair with a bowl and dressed in masculine clothes. On February 25, 1429, she met the Dauphin Charles in Chinon and announced four events to him:the liberation of Orléans, the coronation of the king in Reims, the liberation of Paris and the liberation of the Duke of Orléans. After an investigation including in particular an interrogation by ecclesiastical authorities and the verification of her virginity (because only a virgin can hear the voices of saints), Charles sends Jeanne to Orléans with a convoy of supplies to prove herself.

His arrival in Orléans was greeted with enthusiasm by the population, while the war captains were more reserved. But his faith, his confidence and his charisma breathe new courage into the troops and, on May 8, 1429, the English raise the siege of the city. The Loire Valley is liberated and Jeanne goes back to Loches to convince the Dauphin to be crowned king.

On July 17, 1429, in Reims Cathedral, Charles VII was crowned King of France by Archbishop Renault of Chartres. In this highly symbolic place, this coronation restores to Charles VII his lost legitimacy. Joan of Arc then leads an assault on Paris, which fails.

During this period, it is difficult to know the precise role of Jeanne, kept away from important military decisions. But after the failure of the assault on Paris, she leads her own army, an independent warlord inspiring loyalty to her men who admire her charisma and courage; Jeanne will be injured several times.

The heresy trial

On May 23, 1430, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians who, in November, sold her to the English. It was then entrusted to Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais. She was accused of heresy during her trial, which lasted from February 21 to May 23, 1431. As Jeanne seemed to be a good Christian, they accused her of wearing men's clothes, of not following the Church and of listen to demon voices. On May 24, certainly under the effect of terror, Jeanne signs with a cross the abjuration of her errors and retracts two days later.

On May 30, 1431, she was burned alive in the Place du Vieux-Marché in Rouen.

In 1456, a new trial annulled the first and rehabilitated Joan of Arc, who would then be canonized and then beatified by the Catholic Church in the 20th century. Authors from the Middle Ages such as Christine de Pisan or François Villon will already praise him.