Essays on Joan of Arc

St. Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France. She was a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans in 1429 that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years’ War.

Joan was the daughter of a tenant farmer at Domrémy, on the borders of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine. In her mission of expelling the English and their Burgundian allies from the Valois kingdom of France, she felt herself to be guided by the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch. Joan was endowed with remarkable mental and physical courage, as well as a robust common sense, and she possessed many attributes characteristic of the female visionaries who were a noted feature of her time.

Orléans, Loire Campaign, March to Reims and Siege of Paris, Campaign against Perrinet Gressard.

After successfully leading several French military actions, she was captured, handed over to English authorities, convicted as a heretic, and burnt at the stake in 1431. Twenty-five years later, her conviction was formally overturned.

"Men are sometimes hanged for speaking the truth."
"Even though I saw the executioner and the fire, I could not say anything but what I have said."
"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter."

1412

30 May 1431

St. Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France. She was a peasant girl who, believing that she was acting under divine guidance, led the French army in a momentous victory at Orléans in 1429 that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France during the Hundred Years’ War.

Joan was the daughter of a tenant farmer at Domrémy, on the borders of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine. In her mission of expelling the English and their Burgundian allies from the Valois kingdom of France, she felt herself to be guided by the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch. Joan was endowed with remarkable mental and physical courage, as well as a robust common sense, and she possessed many attributes characteristic of the female visionaries who were a noted feature of her time.

Orléans, Loire Campaign, March to Reims and Siege of Paris, Campaign against Perrinet Gressard.

After successfully leading several French military actions, she was captured, handed over to English authorities, convicted as a heretic, and burnt at the stake in 1431. Twenty-five years later, her conviction was formally overturned.

"Men are sometimes hanged for speaking the truth."
"Even though I saw the executioner and the fire, I could not say anything but what I have said."
"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter."