Dates

• Existence: approximately 1412 January 6 - 1431 May 30

Biographical note

She was born at Domrémy, Lorraine, in 1412, the daughter of a peasant. When she was seventeen, while minding her father's sheep, she heard supernatural voices commanding her to take up arms and lead the French army against the English invaders of France. Accordingly, Charles VII entrusted her with an armed force, and Joan's rapid successes enabled him to be crowned at Reims. However, as Joan herself had predicted, she was captured by the Burgundians and handed over to the English. She was tried by an ecclesiastical court presided over by the bishop of Beauvais, a tool of the English, and condemned to be burnt alive at the stake as a heretic. The sentence was executed at Rouen on May 30, 1431. In 1456, the case was re-tried and Joan was declared innocent. After centuries of popular veneration she was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. In 1922, she was declared the patron of France.

(paraphrased from The Book of Saints : A Dictionary of Persons Canonized or Beatified by the Catholic Church. 5th edition. New York: Crowell, 1966.)

Alternate names

Jeanne d'Arc, The Maid of Orleans, Jeanne Rommée, La Pucelle, Jehanne Darc

Found in 1 Collection or Record: