Joan of Arc
From Wikipedia
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)
Saint
Born c. 1412, Domrémy, France
Died May 30, 1431, Rouen, France
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified April 18, 1909, Notre Dame Cathedral by Pius X
Canonized May 16, 1920, St. Peter's Basilica by Benedict XV
Feast May 30
Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d'Arc in French,[1] (c. 1412 – May 30, 1431)[2] was a 15th century saint and national heroine of France. She was the only known person in history to command the entire army of a whole nation at the young age of seventeen and was executed by the English for witchcraft when she was only nineteen years old. Twenty-four years after being burned at the stake, the Vatican reviewed the French decision and she was found innocent and declared a martyr. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized as a saint in 1920.[2]
Joan asserted that she had visions from God that told her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the siege at Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. Several more swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims and settled the disputed succession to the throne.
The renewed French confidence outlasted her own brief career. She refused to leave the field when she was wounded during an attempt to recapture Paris that autumn. Hampered by court intrigues, she led only minor companies from then onward and fell prisoner at a skirmish near Compiègne the following spring. A politically motivated trial convicted her of heresy. The English regent John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford had her burnt at the stake in Rouen. She had been the heroine of her country at the age of 17 and died when only 19 years old. Some 24 years later, Pope Callixtus III reopened the case, and a new finding overturned the original conviction. Her piety to the end impressed the retrial court. Pope Benedict XV canonized her on May 16, 1920.[3]
She has remained an important figure in Western culture and many other nations. From Napoleon to the present, French politicians of all leanings have invoked her memory. Major writers and composers who have created works about her include Shakespeare, Voltaire, Schiller, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Twain, Shaw, Brecht, Anderson, Honegger, Cohen and Anouilh.

Joan of Arc