Today in History: Joan of Arc was Burned at the Stake

Most people only know Joan of Arc as the girl that was burned at the stake. Little is known about her life, by the average person, other than that solitary fact. Some believe that she was the girl that pretended to be a boy in order to fight in the Hundred Years War for France, though Joan was much more than that. Long before Joan was burned at the stake for heresy, which has been widely disputed as being an unnecessary action of the English at the time, she was a young girl who believed she was a messenger for God.

Joan was born in 1412 in Domremy, a small farming village in France. Her father was a tenant farmer in the village, which rests on the borders of Bar and Lorraine. When Joan was three, the war began though she would not become involved until much later. The village that Joan lived in, Domremy was in the middle of an extremely unstable environment, especially in the early 1420s. On one side of the village was the Dauphin of France and the other side was home to the Anglo-Burgundians. As if the environment was not dangerous enough, Joan began hearing voices around this time. The voices she claimed to hear were that of Christian saints. Joan said she heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Margaret, and St. Catherine.

Around the time that Joan was 16, the voices became more persistent, telling her that she needed to help the Dauphin capture Reims, which would gain back the French throne.

In 1428 Joan traveled to Vaucouleurs, to tell the captain there, of her visions. The captain did not believe the girl and told her to go home, but she would come back a few months later, in January, when the voices became stronger. When she returned the captain agreed to let her speak with the Dauphin.

Joan arrived dressed in men’s clothing with a group of six soldiers. Despite not knowing anyone in Chinon when she was forced to pick out Charles from a group of people (he was hiding in the crowd), she did so successfully. After Charles had Joan interrogated for weeks it was time to let Joan have what she wanted. She would be given an Army to fight for France.

On April 27, 1429 her Army was taken to Orleans. She came with supplies and inspired those around her that they needed to fight for their city and for France. She would lead numerous battles until May 7, when she was struck by an arrow. Instead of seeking medical care, Joan dressed the wound and went back out to fight. When she returned to the fight, the French won the battle and on May 8, the English left Orleans. Joan continued her assault on the English and for five weeks she won battle after battle over the English.

July 16 saw Joan coming to Reims. On July 17, Charles VII was crowned the King of France and Joan was there. She was proud to call him king, though she would not remain in Reims for long. On September 8, Joan attacked Paris. She urged the Parisians to surrender to the King of France, but ultimately the King would order her to stop the siege as it would prove unsuccessful. Despite that and her war wounds, Joan would trudge on, fighting several other smaller battles, until December when Charles would ennoble Joan and her immediate family.

However, in May of 1430 things would change for Joan. She snuck into Compiegne to help the town’s defense against the Burgundians. Unfortunately, Joan was captured and would later be sold to the English. This sale led to Joan’s trial before the ecclesiastical court in Rouen for charges of heresy. While Joan was charged with a number of misdeeds, her biggest fault was rejecting the authority of the church in favor of the direct word of God. Joan refused to submit to the will of the church and on May 24 the ecclesiastical court decided to turn her over to the secular court for execution. Out of fear, Joan recanted and was condemned to live life in prison, but she would not be put to death.

Days after Joan was locked up in women’s clothes, the judges entered her cell to find her dressed in male clothing once more. She informed the judges that St Catherine and St. Margaret had scolded her for giving into the will of the church when they wished her to do something else. At this point they claimed that Joan relapsed and labeled her a heretic. On May 29 she was handed over to secular officials. The very next day, May 30, a 19 year old Joan was burned at the stake at the Place du Vieux-Marche in Rouen.

Joan’s final request, prior to the pyre being lit was for a priest to hold a crucifix up to her so that she could see it. She also wanted him to shout out prayers so that she could hear the prayers over the roaring flames.

Joan of Arc was the turning point in the Hundred Years War. By 1558, all of France had been relinquished to Charles VII. However, most of it had been fully conquered by 1453. The rest was returned in 1558. As for Joan, in 1920, the Roman Catholic Church made her a Saint. The day of her death, May 30, is her feast day.

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