Joan of Arc, from an illiterate peasant girl to a French National Heroine

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Joan of Arc is a French national heroine and France’s patron saint. She was born on June 6, 1412. Her nickname was The Maid of Orleans in honor of her victory against the British. She was the daughter of prosperous peasants Jacques Darc and Isabelle de Vouthon, who were farmers, from the village of Doremy in Lorraine, close to the border of the kingdom of France.

During her childhood she tended her father’s herds in the fields and was taught religion and housekeeping skills from her mother.

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Joan was a simple, illiterate peasant girl.

She started having visions and hearing voices around the age of 13. The voices were later identified as those of St. Gabriel, St. Michael, St. Marguerite, and St. Catherine. This made her believe that God wanted France to be free from the British. The voices first told her to cut her hair, dress in a man’s uniform, and join the military. Then they told her to go to the land of France, and to raise siege in the city of Orleans, then to come to the aid of the Dauphin forces, heir to the French throne, and the kingdom of France.

She told the captain of the dauphin’s forces about the voices. Joan was given her own troops and the rank of captain. Her first triumph was to lead a French army against the English, who had invaded the city of Orleans. In May 1429 she led her troops in a victory in the Battle of Orleans.

Joan rescued France from what could have been a defeat in the Hundred Years War. Joan continued fighting the enemy along the Loine River.

King Charles VII (seventh) was crowned king on July 17, 1429. At his coronation Joan was given a place of honor next to the king. She was later ennobled for her services to the country.

Her supporters believed she was divinely inspired and supported her. But others saw her as an agent of the devil and wanted her to be tried as a witch. Despite the people who didn’t believe her she still believed that her visions were sent from God.

She was captured about May 23,1430 at Crecy by the Burgundians fighting on the English’s side. She was then sold to the English when her king did not ransom her.

She was tried by an ecclesiastical court from January to May of the next year on charges of witchcraft and heresy. During the trial much was made of her wearing men’s clothing. She was told that a woman to wear men’s clothing was a crime against God. But she kept wearing the clothing because the voices never told her to stop. This was seen as defiance and sealed her fate. Joan was sentenced to death. She was burnt at the stake in front of a large crowd on May 30, 1431. King Charles VII (seventh) made no attempt to stop her death. She was 19 years old when she died. Her courageous death made many people think they were watching the martyring of a saint. Since heretics couldn’t receive a Christian burial her ashes were thrown in the Seine River.

In 1455 her family wanted a new trial that would reconsider the charges against Joan. Pope Callistus III granted the hearing. In 1456 she was pronounced innocent.

Almost 500 years later in 1909, Joan was beatified and canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Beautification is the preliminary step in becoming a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XV (fifteenth) declared Joan a saint in 1920. Joan’s saint day is May 30th, the day of her death.

Joan of Arc made a positive difference to the world because she believed in herself and never gave up. She could have stopped believing in God knowing that she may be killed for it, but she didn’t. She kept believing, knowing that God wanted her to help France. She believed in Him enough to forget the bad things people said about her and trusted that God wanted it to turn out the way it did. We can all learn to believe in ourselves, if we learn to trust what we’re fighting for.