Joan of Arc 8 March

Joan of Arc is a French heroine and Roman Catholic saint, she lived in France from 1412 to 1431.

She was born in 1412 Domremy, France. Born in obscurity to a peasant family, she travelled to the uncrowned Dauphin of France, advising him to reclaim his French throne and defeat the English. Legend says that she was born to auspicious signs held to be a forecast of national triumph. However, what is more certain is that her family were poor and her region had suffered from the long conflict between England and France. For her exploits and leadership, Joan of Arc and her family were granted noble status. She has also won the hearts of the French soldiers who looked up to Joan as an almost mythical leader. However a year later Joan was captured by the Burgundian forces at Compiegne and sold to the English. The English and members of the French clergy decided to put her on trial for witchcraft. In many ways, it was a show trial with the result cleverly orchestrated. The trial was a very testing experience for Joan. Initially, the trial was held in public, but her responses were much sharper than her prosecutors expected. Her answers stood a challenge to the authority of the church; Joan of Arc stated how. Joan of Arc achieved a remarkable achievement in her short life of 19 years. In particular, she embodied religious devotion with great bravery and humility, her life helped change the course of French history. She died in 1931, she was sentenced to burn at the stake.