The heroine of Orléans
This is the incredible story of a peasant girl who followed divine guidance, led an army, and became a martyr during the Hundred Years’ War. When young Joan of Arc was led to the stake where she would be burnt alive, she cried out to heaven and asked for God’s mercy. What had she really done wrong?
Joan was much more than a simple peasant girl following divine guidance. She was a warrior, a divisive political being who could have changed the outcome of the Hundred Years’ War.
⬅ Joan’s famous white banner was decorated with lilies, a flower that is normally associated with the French monarchy, which she was fighting for.
The heretic
Tens of thousands of people gathered in the town square of Rouen to see the event. Rouen was part of Normandy and under English rule at that time. The only comfort given to Joan in the final terrifying moments of her life came from a Dominican priest. He had been asked to hold his cross so high that she could see it over the flames already licking the bottom half of her body.
Joan of Arc was just a teenager when she was executed, dressed in white, the color of purity. This is how severe the penalty for heresy was back then. She was called a heretic, but she herself claimed to have been receiving messages from angels for many years.
The formal charge against her was behaving like a “heretic” by dressing in men’s clothing. Joan had, however, already been a target for the authorities for quite a while. She had humiliated all-powerful England during the Hundred Years’ War and that couldn’t be taken lightly.
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Jeanne d'Arc brennes på bålet med en stor folkemengde rundt seg, og en engel som kommer svevende ned fra himmelen.
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