Joan of Arc Biography

Joan of Arc was a female born in a peasant family during the medieval period in France. She believed that God had chosen her to lead the long-run battle that was going between France and England at that period. Therefore, she managed to even convince then battling crowned Prince Charles of Violis to allow her to lead France’s military forces to the City of Orleans that was completely laid siege to by the England military. But without being trained in any military operations, the French came out as an enthusiastic winner under her divine guidance. Joan of Arc became the heroic figure for the momentous Victory that the French achieved over England and their other allies like Burgundians. 

As a result of this victory, the prince crowned King Charles VII and then Joan was captured a year later of the conquest by the anglo-Burgundians for trying witchcraft and Heresy and thus was burned in 1431v at stakes when she was just 19 years of age. Much later, on 16th May 1920, she was already given the title of “Maid of Orleans”, which means she was beatified as a saint of Roman Catholic beliefs that is after 500 years of her death. She is still remembered as Saint Joan of Arc, the face of French Nationality and Unity. 

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Historical Backdrop

During the period she was born in France, a long-lasting battle was already fought between France and England on who would be the next heir of France that is termed the Hundred years’ war. It all started when deciding the next heir of France, and since then, the two countries are entangled in a civil war. In this long-running war, the northern part of France became the lawless frontier under the captivity of Marauding armies in the 15th century. 

Early Life

Jeanne D. Arc, which means Joan of Arc in English, was born in the year 1412 in a village of Domremy situated in the northeastern regions of France to a tenant farmer. Though she was never trained in formal education or did not know how to read and write but under the guidance of her spiritual mother named Isabelle Romee, she was embedded with a deep trust and profound love for Catholic churches and their teachings. While she was growing up, France was torn apart in a heated collision with England over the next heir of France. All this time, France was embroiled in massive conflicts with England, the latter always enjoying the upper hand over the former country. 

A peace treaty was finally signed between the two countries in 1940 that took away the crown from Prince Charles of Valois after being accused of illegal activity against his country’s law. Finally, King Henry V was crowned as the king of both England and France. In 1422, his son, Prince Henry VI, was declared the heir of the throne as his father’s next successor. England later in the years occupied many of the France regions, including a huge portion of northern France that also included Joan’s village and allies of France led by the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. Thus, many peasants and workers were forced to flee from their homes as they were threatened by the invasion of the army of England.

When she was just 13 years of age, she used to hear voices that she believed were sent by God. The voices dictated her to accomplish a tough mission of rescuing France from the captivity of its enemy countries that included England. Also, from its allies and establish Prince Charles to his rightful throne. To dedicate herself to the divine mission, she vowed purity. It was the main reason when her father arranged marriage. When she was 16, she successfully convinced the court to accept her plea not to take the man as her match.    

Meeting with Dauphin

When she was young, that is, in the year 1428, the voices from the god that she believed in instructed her to go to Vaucouleurs. There the commander-in-chief of the French army and a wholehearted supporter of Prince Charles, Robert de Bauricourt, was residing. She went and came in contact with him to plead to accept her in the army to serve what has been destined for her, but he refused. Later in the year 1429, as she gained the confidence and support of the people in the nearby village, he reluctantly accepted her plea. He provided her with a horse and several soldiers to escort her to the palace of Prince Charles. Once on her first step towards her mission, she chopped off her hair and dressed like a man on her entire travelling duration of 11 days through the territory of Chinon, which was the enemy territory to reach the court of Prince Charles.

When she reached the court of the prince, Charles was hesitant in recognising the peasant girl without any army background or training to be a part of the French troop to fight against England. Still, he agreed to have a private meeting with her once she correctly recognised Prince Charles, whom she had never seen before and who was dressed all incognito with other court members at a single chance. She quickly convinced Prince Charles to give her an opportunity to serve in the army. She did it by correctly revealing the details of his prayer that he offered God to save France, which is otherwise impossible for anyone to know. But as he was still unsure of her identity, she was sent for a thorough examination by the topmost theologists of his court. They soon submitted the report to the court. The report stated that there was nothing suspicious of her as she has come out as a sign of humility, self-restrained and too strong- believer of her religion.       

Battle of Pearland

Finally, the Prince of Violins accepted Joan, who was just 17 years old, to be part of the French army and provided her with the armour and a horse to proceed towards Orleans under siege by the English army. Soon a series of battles were fought between the two troops from 4 to 7th of May, 1492, where Joan was severely injured and suffered multiple wounds, but she bravely came back to the battlefield to encourage the army for a final attack on the English army. Finally, the French army took the fortification over the English army. Soon the French military, under the guidance of Joan, invaded the English regions by the middle of June, and in doing so, they were immensely successful and were perceived very well. 

Although Charles was clear about the intention of Joan by then and had accepted her as a big part of the mission, she did not gain the complete confidence of Charles. She, because of her foresightedness, kept pursuing Prince Charles to hurry for the coronation ceremony. But he and his advisors were defensive and more cautious. But at last, Prince Charles took the position as King of France, and on 18th July of 1429, he was crowned as King Charles VII in a massive coronation Ceremony where Joan was offered a visible position next to the king in his court. 

Capture and Her Trial

Soon after he reclaimed the position as a king of Violins, he ordered Joan to confront the assaults made by the Burgundian army in Compiegne, who were allied with England. But in an unfortunate event, Joan was thrown out of her horse’s back and fell outside the town’s gate that she could not manage to cross. She was soon kept under captivity by the Burgundian army. As England perceived her as a valuable asset and a big prize, France finally took her from the Burgundian army in exchange for 10,000 francs. 

But as Charles VII never had his complete faith in her and was always reluctant to rescue her from captivity, he did not put any effort to bring Joan back to France. As her actions were seen as against the morals of the English army’s occupation, they handed her over to the officials of the English church, where she was accused of 70 charges. The gravest of all were practising witchcraft, heresy and portrayed herself as a man.

Her trial started in public, but as she began getting into an argument with her accusers, the trial was soon taken in private. She was kept in prisons with the nuns of the church as a guard, but she was also under the captivity of the soldiers. She was interrogated by the tribunal several times and threatened with physical assaults. But she remains firmly on her stand to be innocent, keeping her humility intact. It is said that there is no evidence of an assault on her as she tied herself tightly with multiple cords over her army uniform to safeguard herself. As they could not break her, they finally came up with a sinful accusation of her military clothes being used by her to portray herself as a man in front of the people that is against the religious teachings.  

Joan of Arc Death

Finally, she was declared guilty of heresy by the church officials on 29th May 1431. Later as a form of death sentence, she was taken in the marketplace of Rouen on the 30th morning. That is, the following day, she was burned alive at the stake in front of a huge crowd of 10,00 people, as estimated. She died when she was just 19 years of age. 

Legacy of Jeanne d’Arc

Even after her death, the conflict continued between England and France for another 22 years. But King Charles VII was able to hold on to his position and finally ordered an investigation on the death of Joan. Finally, they came up with the investigation report on Joan of Arc in the year 1456, stating not guilty and was therefore declared as a martyr. Later, after 500 years of her death, she was idolised as a saint on May 20, 1920. She is considered the symbol of the saint in France.

Joan of Arc Summary

Joan of Arc was born in a very poor family of a peasant at the period when both England and France were embroiled in a civil war that started with the claiming of the throne of France. Though she did not know how to read and write, she found a profound love and faith in her catholic beliefs through her mother’s teachings. Her belief was that she was sent by God on a mission to free France from the war and help prince Charles to reclaim the throne that belonged to him. 

Thus she became a vital part of the warfighting for France but was later captured by the Burgundian army and was kept in captivity and handed over to the English army. Her trial ran for several months in front of the church officials, where she defended herself as innocent. She was kept in captivity with nuns as guards and also with English soldiers, and later, she was burned at stake for being guilty of heresy.