Joan Of Arc

Joan of Arc was a 15th century national heroine of France. Joan asserted that she had visions from God which told her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the Siege at Orleans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. The renewed French confidence outlasted her own brief career. She refused to leave the field when she was wounded during an attempt to recapture Paris that autumn Hampered by court intrigues, she led only minor companies from then onward and fell prisoner at a skirmish near Compiegne the following spring. A politically motivated trial convicted her of heresy. few days later she was sexually assaulter in prison. She resumed male attire either as a defense against molestation or, in the testimony of Jean Massieu, because her dress had been stolen and she was left with nothing else to wear. The English regent John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford had her burnt at the state in Rouen. She had been the heroine of her country at the age of 17 and died when only 19 years old.

She has remained an important figure in Western culture and many other nations. From Napoleon to the present, French politicians of all leanings have invoked her memory. The judgment was broken by the Pope and she was declared innocent and a martyr 24 years later. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized as a saint in 1920.