Joan of Arc
Joan
of Arc, St., Jean d’Arc, known as the Maid of Orléans
(c. 1412-31), French patriot and martyr, one of the most remarkable women
of all times. Her origin is obscure, she was brought up by well-off peasants
in Domrémy, it is on the borders of Lorraine and Champagne, but
whether she was their own or adopted daughter of high birth, is not clear.
She did not receive any formal education. At the age of 13 she heard the
voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret who asked her to
rescue France from English. She came through occupied territory to the
dauphin (the future Charles VII) at Chinon and persuaded him to allow her
to join the army and liberate Orléans. She entered Orléans
with an advance guard on April 29, 1429 and by May 8 forced the English
to raise the siege.
Then she took the dauphin with an army of 12,000 through English-held
territory to be crowned Charles VII in Reims Cathedral. But then she failed
to persuade Charles VII to continue military actions. And at last she set
out on her own relieve Compiègne from the Burgundians. She was captured
(1430) and sold to the English. She was put on trial for heresy and sorcery.
She was found guilty and burnt at the stake in the market place of Rouen
on May 30, 1431.
In 1456, in order to strengthen the validity of Charles VII’s coronation,
the trial was declared irregular. She was canonized in 1920.
See: Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Joan
of Arc on Corronation of Charles VII in the Cathedral of Reims.
