Joan’s mother was very religious and she made sure that Joan knew the Catholic values. This had an impact on Joan for the rest of her life.

⬅ Joan was the daughter of a farmer and grew up in a small town where she watched over animals as a child.

They told Joan, with beautiful voices, that she had been chosen to drive the English out of France. She should also make sure that Charles was crowned king in the cathedral of Reims. The cathedral was in enemy land. 

Joan had seen a miracle and knew what she had to do. She didn’t know how to tell the authorities, but she got help. Dauphin Charles listened to her since the war was already a lost cause. Charles had lost his legacy and he was desperate. Joan’s sign from above could be the answer to all of his prayers.

Joan and a small group of men went to the attacked city. Thanks to the combination of Joan’s military tactics, courage, and maybe a little luck, they drove the English out of the city. The attack ended less than ten days later, on 8 May 1429.

She tried to escape several times, but she wouldn’t give up. One time she fell twenty meters straight down, but luckily she survived. She was captured again and taken to a more secure place. It all ended with Joan being sold to the English. She was then put in prison, which caused a fuss among the people.

When Joan was in the hands of the enemy, they worked quickly to criticize her in public. Many thought that she was allied with a higher power. But was it God or the devil?

They couldn’t charge her as a witch because she was a virgin. Those in charge were priests, so they wanted to put Joan in prison for being possessed by the devil. Joan had gained so much support that she was a threat to the whole religious system. This hero needed to be removed. 

Now they really wanted to get rid of her. They threatened to kill her on the spot to scare her into signing a confession of heresy. But they could only punish her with death if it happened more than once. So she was sent to jail for life while the authorities figured out what to do next. 

The church allowed women to wear men’s clothing sometimes. But the prison guards didn’t agree. King Charles VII, who supported her before, didn’t do so anymore. He thought it could damage him as a king. Joan had no allies left, and on 29 May 1431, she was sentenced to death.

She was executed the next day.

Joan was burnt three times to make sure that her body was completely destroyed. There were only ashes left, but some claimed that her heart was still beating. Her ashes were thrown in the river so that her followers wouldn’t have anything to go to. 

Today, Joan of Arc is a national hero in France. She had a lot of support from the people. What happened to her was tragic, and when she lived, she was a political target. In 1920 she became a saint. She is a legendary martyr that is still honored today, almost 600 years after her death. 

Two bishops from Orléans helped Joan to become a saint. In 1869, Felix Dupanloup (the bishop of Orléans), and eleven other bishops presented her as a candidate for becoming a saint to Pope Pius IX.

The new bishop of Orléans wanted to find out if Joan met the criteria for being a saint in 1876. She did, and the process started. She became a saint in 1920. There was a ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican with a lot of people. Her sainthood was celebrated all over the continent, and it was with joy the French president announced the sainthood.

Joan of Arc is celebrated every year on May 30th, the date of her execution. She is remembered by being on coins and is a popular motif in art and sculptures.