Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc turned the Hundred Years' War around in a year and was burned at nineteen. Born around 1412 at Domrémy in Lorraine to a farming family, she was illiterate and began hearing voices she identified as Michael, Catherine and Margaret at about thirteen, telling her to drive the English from France and see the dauphin crowned. France at that point had two kings. Henry VI of England held Paris and the north under the Treaty of Troyes; Charles VII held the south and had never been crowned, which left his legitimacy open. She persuaded a local captain to send her to Chinon after being refused twice, rode 350 miles through hostile territory in men's clothing, and identified Charles in a crowded room where he had disguised himself. He had her examined by theologians at Poitiers for three weeks and then let her go to Orléans, which had been besieged for six months. It was relieved in nine days. She was wounded by an arrow through the shoulder and returned to the fighting the same day. The Loire campaign followed, and Charles was crowned at Reims in July 1429 with Joan standing beside him — which was the whole of her stated mission, accomplished in five months. She was captured at Compiègne in May 1430, sold to the English, and tried at Rouen by a court of French clergy on charges of heresy that turned largely on her wearing men's clothes. She was burned in May 1431. The verdict was annulled in 1456 and she was canonised in 1920.
- Lived: 1412 CE – 1431 CE
- Nationality: French
- Roles: military_leader, religious_figure
