Her faith burned brighter than any battlefield pyre. Joan of Arc, a peasant girl ignited by divine visions, dared to challenge kings and rouse armies. Driven from her scorched village, she became a fiery symbol of vengeance and liberation. This was a legend she herself forged, one that would consume her as surely as the executioner’s flames.
Born Jehanne D’Arc, or ‘la Pucelle’ (the Maid), in the war-ravaged village of Domrémy, her world had been painted red with Burgundian raids. Their flames seared into her not just patriotism, but a scorching, righteous anger. Since childhood, heavenly voices clamored in her ears, at first gentle, then relentless. Archangel Michael, saints Catherine and Margaret, they didn’t just urge piety – they demanded she seize her destiny, to find the embattled Dauphin Charles and lead her nation to salvation.
A clash of iron wills echoed in the halls of power. Britain and Burgundy held Charles’s rightful crown hostage. Orléans, the key to his coronation, choked under a relentless siege. Against this stalemate, Joan was a hurricane. First scoffed at by commanders, then championed by desperate nobles, she blazed into Charles’ court, a whirlwind in armor. Her test wasn’t swordsmanship, but purity and the scrutiny of cunning strategists. They cared not if the voices were real – a maiden touched by God was the weapon France craved.
In gleaming armor astride a warhorse, she was a comet streaking across the heavens, a harbinger of holy war. Her standard, stark white, snapped in the wind. Her sword, unearthed by a prophecy, was an extension of her righteous fury. Pious to the core, she whipped her soldiers into shape, cursing and vice banished from their ranks. Her letters to the English were masterpieces of fury, demanding surrender lest they face heaven’s wrath.
Orléans was her proving ground. A novice to the battlefield, she seethed at caution, her need to strike echoing the angels’ fervor. Her defiance stung the seasoned commanders, yet the desperation was mutual. Her every victory rang like a cathedral bell, her wounds a martyr’s stigmata. Her legend burned too brightly – victory after victory, the girl became a living myth, adored and feared. But in that adoration lay the path to her doom.
Orléans was free, but Joan’s fiery spirit yearned for more. Charles, the cautious Dauphin, hesitated, his eyes on the Loire’s treacherous currents. Gold, not glory, was his obsession. But Joan would wait no longer. The Duke of Alençon, a man captivated by her fervor, yielded command. Like a vengeful storm, they ravaged English fortifications. Beaugency fell, a crumbling testament to their wrath, and the enemy scattered at Patay. Amidst the carnage, Joan’s legend ignited – a warrior maiden touched by the divine.
Charles, ever the pragmatist, saw advantage in her fame. The road to Reims was cleared, and Joan, bathed in the light of the newly crowned king, exulted. Paris, the serpent’s heart, was her next obsession. Yet Charles wavered, retreating from the Seine’s embrace, leaving a bitter taste on Joan’s tongue. Fury swirled within her. Was this to be her fate?
Then came the day she yearned for – the siege of Paris. Joan, a whirlwind of steel and righteous anger, stood at the gates, her voice a clarion call for surrender. An English arrow, a venomous sting, was their only reply, piercing her defiant flesh. Darkness closed in as they dragged her from the field, but her spirit raged. Charles, unmoved by her sacrifice, saw only losses and turned his back on her.
The tide was turning. Joan, a caged eagle, flailed against her gilded prison. Each tick of the clock chipped at her legendary status. A desperate battle at La Charité ended in failure, and the whispers at court turned harsh. Duty gnawed at her – a duty to France, a duty left unfulfilled.
The English, emboldened, descended on France like a plague. Joan, defying the king’s empty decrees, flew to the defense of Compiègne. Her presence was a beacon, but fate had other plans. Trapped, cut off, the warrior-maid was unhorsed, taken prisoner by the hated Burgundians. She fought back, even in captivity, her defiance a burning flame against the shadows.
Her trial was a farce, a twisted spectacle orchestrated by those who feared her power. The English, hungry for revenge, and the church, threatened by her claims of divine guidance, wove a web of deceit. Heresy, idolatry, witchcraft – the accusations flew like poisoned darts. Charles, indebted yet indifferent, abandoned her. Gold had bought her soul, it seemed.
Through it all, Joan clung to her truth, to those whispered voices that had lifted her from obscurity. But even she had her breaking point. The stake loomed, a monstrous promise of torment. And so, she faltered, trading defiance for a sliver of hope called life. Yet the prison of submission was more unbearable than any flame.
When they found her again in men’s garb, her fate was sealed. Her final defiance was a cry for the divine, a desperate plea from a betrayed girl. On the 30th of May, her tortured spirit, wreathed in smoke, ascended, the cries of “Jesus!” echoing against the pitiless stones.
Charles, the coward-king, did nothing. But legend, more enduring than any crown, would immortalize Joan. Jehanne la Pucelle, the Maid of Orléans, would rise from the ashes – a warrior, a martyr, a saint.
Joan of Arc’s main events during her life
1412 – Birth of a warrior
Joan is born to a farming family in the town of Domrémy. She never receives formal education or how to read and write, instead learning about religion from her mother Isabelle.
Defining moment – First vision 1424
At just 12 or 13 years old, she first claims to hear the voices of angels speaking to her. At first, the voices tell her to ‘govern’ her conduct. If she feels she had not behaved properly, the voices would admonish her. They also tell her to reject the marriage her family had arranged for her. Joan soon identifies the main voice as Michael, the archangel who led the battle against Satan in the Book of Revelation. As Joan grows older, Michael’s messages continue to advise her toward piety, but gradually grow more political. Finally, Michael and the other voices, those of St Catherine and St Margaret, tell her to travel to France and begin her mission.
Domrémy burns The territory across the river from Domrémy is Burgundian, and a raid into French territory proves a defining moment for Joan. Her family flees to Neufchateau and returns to find the enemy having burnt their town.
1428 – Journey to Vaucouleurs
In 1428 Joan’s voices tell her to travel to France and talk to the dauphin Charles. She travels to Vaucouleurs to demand an escort, beginning a series of attempts ending in success after convincing nobles that she is the fulfilment of a prophecy.
May 1428
Audience with the king Joan is granted a meeting with the Dauphin Charles, who sees value in her for his military campaign to free Orléans. Joan immediately identifies him in a room full of people and impresses him with her fervour.
6 March 1429
The sword is found After convincing the clergy and theologians of her maidenhood and her gift, Joan is allowed to lead a force to Orléans. She announces that her sword can be found in the church of Saint Catherinede-Fierbois, which it is.
April 1429 – Defining moment Siege of Orléans
Joan arrives at Orléans amid great fanfare from the citizens of the city but is met with indifference by her fellow commanders. She is determined to mount an attack as soon as possible but is told they would wait for a relief effort. She is so poorly regarded by the other generals that when a sortie takes place, she’s not told beforehand. Instead, she races out and joins the attack just in time to rally the flagging troops, ultimately claiming a fortress. This will be the first in a series of victories that would liberate Orléans and confirm her status for many as a heaven-sent hero
Charles is crowned
After swiftly clearing the Loire region of English resistance, Charles finally travels to Reims where he is crowned King Charles VII of France. The coronation fulfils another part of the prophecy of Joan’s voices.
17 July 1429 – A failed siege
Following Charles’ coronation, Joan is convinced that Paris will fall. However, the siege fails as 1,500 men fall to the English bombardment, with Joan herself wounded, having to be pulled from the battlefield under nightfall.
8 September 1429 – Capture While
leading an unsanctioned relief effort of Compiègne, Joan decides to attack the Burgundian troops surrounding the city. She is cut off by the English and pulled from her horse while trying to escape.
23 March 1430 – Trial
Needing to regain superiority, the church interrogates Joan, telling her she can abjure or face a secular court that will execute her. She retracts her statement, only to change her mind days later, stating she’d rather die than deny what she knows to be true.
9 January-24 May 1431 – Burned to death
Having recanted her abjuration, Joan is sentenced to be burned at the stake. A Dominican priest holds a cross up high enough for her to see from the flames. She calls out “Jesus!” several times as she burns to death.
30 May 1431 – Late justice
O Charles orders that Joan’s trial be investigated, a proceeding taking roughly six years to complete. Finally, in 1456, the original verdict is annulled, deciding the process had been unjust.