Joan of Arc: A Hero's Life

- Joan of Arc was born in 1412.
- At age 12, she Began hearing "voices" of three Christian saints; St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret.
- When she was 16 years old, these voices exhorted her to aid the Dauphin in capturing Reims and the French throne.
- In May 1428, she traveled to Vaucouleurs and told the captain of the garrison of her visions. Disbelieving the young peasant girl, he sent her home.
- A year later, she returned, and the captain, impressed by her piety and determination, agreed to allow her passage to the Dauphin at Chinon. Dressed in men's clothes and accompanied by six soldiers, she reached the Dauphin's castle at Chinon. Charles hid among his guards and officials, but Joan immediately picked him out and informed him of her divine mission.
- Charles had Joan questioned by theologians, who then advised him to make use of this strange and charismatic girl.
- Charles furnished her with a small army, and on April 27, 1429 she set out for Orleans. Two days later, as a French sortie distracted the English troops on the west side of Orleans, Joan entered unopposed in the eastern gate.
- She personally led the charge in several battles and was struck by an arrow. After dressing her wound, she returned to the battle, and the French won the day. On May 8, the English retreated and Orleans was back in rightful French hands.
- On July 17, Charles VII was crowned king of France, with Joan standing nearby holding up her standard: an image of Christ in judgment. After the ceremony, she knelt before Charles, and called him king for the first time.
- On September 8, the king and Joan attacked Paris. During the battle, she was wounded but continued to rally the king's troops until Charles ordered an end to the unsuccessful siege.
- In December, Charles ennobled Joan, her parents, and her brothers. On May 23 1431, she was captured and sold to the English. In March of 1431 she went on trial before church authorities in Rouen on charges of heresy.
- The charge was her rejection of church authority in favor of direct inspiration from God. After refusing to submit to the church, her sentence was read on May 24 for her to be turned over to secular authorities and executed. Reacting with horror to the pronouncement, Joan agreed to recant and was condemned instead to imprisonment. Ordered to put on women's clothes, she obeyed, but a few days later they found her dressed again in male clothing. Questioned, she told them that St. Catherine and St. Margaret had reproached her for giving in to the church against their will.
- She was found to be a "relapsed heretic" and on May 29 she was handed over to secular officials. On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc, 19 years old, was burned at the stake at the Place du Vieux-Marche in Rouen. Before the pyre was lit, she instructed a priest to hold high a crucifix for her to see and to shout out prayers loud enough to be heard above the roar of the flames.
- Joan of Arc helped turn the Hundred Years War firmly in France's favor and finally their freedom from English rule. In 1920, Joan of Arc, one of the great heroes of French history, was recognized as a Christian saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
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Why blog about Joan of Arc? When I saw the movie, Joan of Arc several years ago, I was hooked and became interested in her and how she helped saved France and became a key player in world and Christian history.