It is hard to imagine a more unlikely figure leading an army than a teenage peasant girl from a quiet village in northeastern France. But on the morning of May 30, 1431, the girl who had once rallied a nation stood in the marketplace of Rouen, surrounded by a crowd of soldiers, clerics, and curious townspeople. She wore a rough, simple gown, and her hands were bound. A stake had been planted in the ground. Around it, a pile of wood waited to be set alight. Her name was Joan. She claimed to hear the voice of God. And now, the voices that had once called her to lead were drowned out by the chants of her accusers. They called her a heretic. A sorceress. A fraud. But even as the flames began to rise, Joan of Arc held fast to what she believed. She asked for a crucifix. She called out to Jesus. And then the fire took her.
To understand why the English burned Joan of Arc, one must first understand the chaos that engulfed France during her lifetime. For nearly a century, France and England had been locked in a brutal, drawn-out conflict known as the Hundred Years’ War. What had started in 1337 as a dynastic squabble over the French throne had become something much uglier. By the early 1400s, France was fractured from within and battered from without. The English held vast swaths of northern France. The French crown, divided between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians, had lost control of Paris. Charles VI, the French king, suffered from bouts of madness. The English king, Henry V, was bold, capable, and eager to press his family’s claim. His victory at Agincourt in 1415 crippled French military prestige and gave the English momentum. The Treaty of Troyes, signed in 1420, declared Henry the heir to the French throne and disinherited the Dauphin, Charles VII. That treaty was not just a document. It was a national humiliation.
By the time Joan of Arc entered the stage, France was on its knees. Into this darkness came a girl who claimed that saints spoke to her and told her to lift the siege of Orléans and crown the true king. She was born around 1412 in Domrémy, a small village loyal to the French crown but surrounded by Burgundian sympathizers. Her parents were farmers. She was illiterate. And yet by the age of thirteen, she claimed to hear the voices of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret. They did not just comfort her. They gave her a mission. Drive out the English. Restore Charles VII to the throne. And bring France back from the brink.
Most people would have laughed her off. Many did. But Joan was persistent. She made her way to the town of Vaucouleurs and demanded an audience with Robert de Baudricourt, the local commander. She told him she had been sent by God. He sent her home. But she returned. She won over his household. She even predicted the outcome of a battle near Orléans. This time, Baudricourt listened. He gave her an escort to Chinon, where the Dauphin resided. It was there, in 1429, that Joan met Charles VII. She passed a secret test to confirm her identity and convinced a group of theologians in Poitiers that her mission was divinely inspired. She was given armor, a white banner, and command of troops. She was seventeen years old.
Her arrival changed everything. At Orléans, the French army had been pinned down for months. Morale was low. Supplies were scarce. But when Joan rode into the city, people rallied. She did not carry a sword into battle. She carried a banner with the image of Christ. Yet her courage was infectious. The French broke the siege and drove back the English. It was not just a military victory. It was a miracle. Joan followed this triumph with a string of successes. She led Charles to Reims, the traditional site of French coronations. On July 17, 1429, he was crowned king. Joan stood beside him, holding her banner high. For many, it seemed that France had found its savior.
But miracles do not last forever. In May 1430, Joan rode to defend the town of Compiègne. She was captured by Burgundian forces and sold to the English. They had no intention of treating her as a prisoner of war. They wanted to destroy her. Not just her body, but everything she represented. If she had been sent by God, then Charles VII’s kingship was legitimate. If she was a fraud or a heretic, then Charles was a usurper. Her trial, held in Rouen under the supervision of Bishop Pierre Cauchon, was never about justice. It was about discrediting her and, by extension, undoing her victories.
The charges were many. Heresy. Witchcraft. Wearing male clothing. Claiming to receive divine visions. Joan stood alone, without legal counsel. The English provided clerics who badgered her, twisted her words, and tried to trick her into confessing to crimes she did not commit. Her greatest strength became their target. Her voices. She said they came from God. They said she was lying. At one point, under pressure, she recanted. She signed a confession. For a moment, her life was spared. But she quickly withdrew her recantation. She would rather die than deny what she believed. And so, the sentence was passed.
On May 30, 1431, Joan was led into the market square of Rouen. She asked for a crucifix. An English soldier gave her one. A sympathetic priest held another aloft as she burned. Witnesses said she cried out to Jesus over and over as the flames consumed her. Her ashes were thrown into the Seine. The English wanted no relics, no shrine, no place for future generations to gather. But they could not burn away what she stood for.
Twenty-five years later, the tide had turned. Charles VII had reclaimed much of France. He requested a new trial to investigate the original proceedings. A papal inquiry, known as the nullification trial, examined testimony from over a hundred witnesses. In 1456, the Church declared Joan innocent. The original trial was branded as corrupt and politically motivated. She had died a martyr, not a heretic.
Centuries passed, but her story endured. In 1920, Pope Benedict XV declared her a saint. Today, Joan of Arc is one of the patron saints of France. Her legacy stretches far beyond the battlefield. She has been portrayed in plays, books, films, and prayers. She is a symbol of faith, courage, and the power of conviction.
Her life was short. Her death was brutal. But Joan of Arc left a mark that no sword or flame could erase. She stood at the crossroads of history and listened to a voice no one else could hear. And when the world told her to sit down, she stood up. When it told her to be quiet, she shouted. And when it told her to fear the fire, she walked into it. Not as a warrior. Not as a witch. But as a girl who believed that God had called her to save her country. And in doing so, saved her place in history.
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