Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was born around 1412 in Domrémy, a village in northeastern France caught between Burgundian and English pressure. From childhood she reported visions of saints instructing her to support Charles VII and drive the English from French territory. At seventeen she traveled to Chinon, convinced the dauphin to grant her command, and cut her hair to ride with soldiers as La Pucelle—the Maid of Orléans.

Her arrival transformed a demoralized campaign. In 1429 she led troops that broke the English siege of Orléans, then pushed through the Loire in a rapid series of victories culminating in Charles's coronation at Reims. Captured at Compiègne in 1430, she was sold to the English, tried for heresy by a pro-English ecclesiastical court at Rouen, and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431, at age nineteen.

A retrial ordered by Charles VII in 1456 declared her innocent. Beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920, Joan became a symbol of French unity and resistance. Her trial records preserve one of the most detailed medieval interrogations, and her story continues to raise questions about faith, gender, and political legitimacy.

1412 — Birth in Domrémy. Joan was born to peasant farmers in a border region contested by France, Burgundy, and England during the Hundred Years' War.

1429 — Mission to Chinon. After reporting divine visions, she gained an audience with the dauphin Charles and received armor, a household, and military authority.

1429 — Victory at Orléans. French troops under her influence lifted a critical siege and followed with victories at Patay and along the Loire.

1430 — Capture at Compiègne. She was taken prisoner by Burgundian allies of England during a sortie from the town of Compiégne.

1431 — Trial and Execution. Convicted of heresy at Rouen, she was burned at the stake; a later church inquiry declared the verdict unjust.

1. 1412

   Birth in Domrémy

   Joan was born to peasant farmers in a border region contested by France, Burgundy, and England during the Hundred Years' War.

2. 1429

   Mission to Chinon

   After reporting divine visions, she gained an audience with the dauphin Charles and received armor, a household, and military authority.

3. 1429

   Victory at Orléans

   French troops under her influence lifted a critical siege and followed with victories at Patay and along the Loire.

4. 1430

   Capture at Compiègne

   She was taken prisoner by Burgundian allies of England during a sortie from the town of Compiégne.

5. 1431

   Trial and Execution

   Convicted of heresy at Rouen, she was burned at the stake; a later church inquiry declared the verdict unjust.

Joan of Arc gave the Valois monarchy a decisive psychological and military turning point in the Hundred Years' War. Her canonization and place in French civic memory made her an enduring emblem of patriotism, while historians study her trial as a window into medieval law, politics, and popular religion.

Joan of Arc gave the Valois monarchy a decisive psychological and military turning point in the Hundred Years' War. Her canonization and place in French civic memory made her an enduring emblem of patriotism, while historians study her trial as a window into medieval law, politics, and popular religion. Trial and Execution (1431) remains a defining moment in Joan of Arc's enduring reputation.