Joan of Arc

About Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was a peasant girl who led French armies to victory during the Hundred Years War and died a martyr at age 19. Born in Domrémy, France, to peasant farmers during English occupation, Joan was a pious girl devoted to prayer.

Around age 13, Joan began experiencing visions of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret, who told her to support King Charles VII and recover France from English domination. For several years Joan resisted, but the voices persisted, finally commanding her to go to the Dauphin (uncrowned King Charles VII).

In 1429, at age 17, Joan traveled to Chinon and convinced the skeptical Dauphin of her divine mission. After theological examination by church authorities, she was given armor and troops. Joan led French forces to lift the Siege of Orléans in May 1429—a decisive victory that turned the war's tide. She led further victories, enabling Charles VII's coronation at Reims in July 1429.

Joan's success was unprecedented: an illiterate peasant girl, claiming divine guidance, commanded armies and changed history. Her courage, military insight, and conviction inspired French troops and terrified the English, who considered her a witch.

In 1430, Joan was captured by Burgundian forces allied with England and sold to the English. She was tried by an ecclesiastical court in Rouen on charges of heresy and witchcraft. The trial was politically motivated—the English wanted to discredit Charles VII by proving his champion was a heretic and sorceress.

Joan defended herself brilliantly despite her lack of education, but the trial was rigged. She was convicted of heresy (mainly for wearing men's clothing and claiming direct divine revelation) and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431, in Rouen's marketplace. Her last word was "Jesus." She was 19 years old.

Twenty-five years later, Pope Callixtus III ordered a retrial, which declared Joan innocent and a martyr. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Joan became a national symbol of France, a patron saint of soldiers and France, and an enduring example of courage, faith, and integrity in the face of injustice.