Joan of Arc

In a small town near Vaucouleurs, Joan was born in Domrémy, France, the last town in the east still loyal to Charles VII.  In 1425, Joan began to have visions.  Joan once said, "When I was thirteen, I had a voice from God to help me govern myself.” The voice was of St. Michael, who, with St. Catherine and St. Margaret, told her that she had to help the King of France due to the tragic state of France.  Joan went to Robert de Baudricourt, the captain of Vaucouleurs, asking for a horse, armor, and an escort to Charles VII; however, her request was denied both times.  But, Joan was persistent, and when she went to de Baudricourt a third time, he granted her request. In February 1429, she set out and arrived eleven days later at Chinon.

In April 1429, Joan was sent to Orleans by Charles VII as a captain—not as leader of all his forces. With the help of Duke d'Alençon and Jean, the Bastard of Orléans (later Count of Dunois), Joan and her men were victorious.  This was the first militaristic triumph of Charles’s entire reign.

From 1429 to 1430, Charles and his advisers were indecisive on the next course of action.  Joan wanted to attack the English positions, specifically Paris.  In September 1429, an attack upon Paris failed.  After this, Charles VII signed a treaty with Burgundy that committed him to virtual inaction.

Right after the treaty was signed, Joan was kept inactive by the royal court, moving to the town of Compiègne in May 1430.  In a small battle, outside the town's walls against the Burgundians, Joan was captured.  The Burgundians turned Joan over to the English, who prepared to try her for heresy. Charles VII did not and could not do anything.

Joan's trial had three parts.  It was an ecclesiastical trial for heresy; her judges were Pierre Cauchon (1371–1442), the bishop of Beauvais, and Jean Lemaitre, vicar of the inquisitor of France. They were aided by a large number of theologians and lawyers who sat as a kind of consulting jury.

For almost three months, the court investigated Joan's case and questioned witnesses. The trial ended with Joan's abjuration, and she was charged with fraud and witchcraft.

Apparently, Joan differed about the nature of her abjuration, and two days after she signed it, she withdrew her previous belief.

On May 28, the third phase of her trial began. She was tried as a relapsed heretic, conviction of which meant "release" to the "secular arm," that is, she would be turned over to the English to be burned.  On May 30 1431, Joan was convicted and burned at the stake in the marketplace of Rouen (Joan of Arc, 1)