Which war was joan of arc in

Who was Joan of Arc? Joan of Arc, a peasant girl living in medieval France, believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England.

After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in , at the age of Continue reading from History. The struggle involved several generations of English and French claimants to the crown and actually occupied a period of more than years. The rebels torched castles, churches and towns. Meanwhile, unpaid foreign soldiers of fortune spread their own waves of terror as they pillaged the land.

In , the struggle wracked the church with rival claimants to the papacy at Avignon and Rome, the former backed by France and the latter by England. Religious and political authority alike were in confusion. Henry V then invaded France, in violation of a previously signed treaty, and seized the port of Harfleur.

His army reduced by disease, he retreated toward Calais. Continued defeat and economic deterioration had left France in a state of passive denial that bordered upon political and military despair.

The most powerful duchy in France at the time was that of Burgundy, occupying most of the eastern region. When the dauphin, son of the mentally ill King Charles VI, had met with John of Burgundy to plan an alliance against the English, the dauphin rashly accused the Burgundian of treason because of his earlier inaction against the invaders.

That treacherous act only drove the Burgundians to ally with England. The dauphin, a brooding, irresolute man like his father, was reluctant to act any further; his attempt at diplomacy had failed, and his military strategy was threatened by the new enemy alliance.

Besides, he was afraid of horses. France was reduced to the area south of the Loire, then called Armagnac. On October 22, Charles VI also died.

None of his relatives appeared at his funeral, but the Duke of Bedford did. Although the dauphin made a counterclaim to the French throne, he was paralyzed by his unwillingness to assert real leadership and his jealousy of any noble who did.

What remained of France was saved by the Loire River. The English could not cross it without first reducing all French strongholds on its low, sandy shores. Of all nations, France was first to give rise to a popular image apart from the king. In the s, folk literature and ballads spoke of Mre France — Mother France, beloved, merciful and long-suffering. But that was hardly preparation for the extraordinary resurgence in morale that would be set in motion by a teenage girl.

Lorraine, watered by the Meuse flowing to the Rhine in northeastern France, remained loyal to the dauphin though separated from his sovereignty by some miles of Burgundian territory. The garrison at Vaucouleurs defended the region. The Burgundians, preoccupied in the southwest, had left Lorraine relatively undisturbed by war. Its Ardennes hills and forest were of minor value, but they provided an advantage to its defenders. Their home boasted a glass window. There were five children, two boys and three girls.

One of the girls, Jeanette — known in English as Joan — was born on January 6, Usually they were preceded, she said, by a great light.

She claimed they were the voices of Saints Margaret and Catherine, queens of France, and Archangel Michael, commander of the heavenly host. They promised nothing more. In many respects, though, she seemed a rather ordinary girl — the tomboy next door, the always-adoring younger sister one had to defend, the neighborhood girl never unfriendly but preoccupied, whose glance one sought to catch.

She was called by the French la Pucelle — literally, the virgin. Approaching her uncle, an ex-sergeant named Durand Laxhart, as her voices directed her, she told him that he should bring her to the commander of Vaucouleurs, de Baudricourt. She must have expected that her uncle, whose war stories she had heard, would aid her. How much she explained to him is unclear, but she was taken to de Baudricourt and told him of the voices she had not dared to mention to her parents.

She asked for horses and an escort to go across Burgundian territory to aid the dauphin, whom she wished to see crowned king of France. Although she told de Baudricourt that her voices had assured her that he would aid her, the flabbergasted commander at first told Joan to go home. She did so, narrowly escaping an unsuccessful Burgundian raid on the walled town.

When she returned to Vaucouleurs toward the end of Lent in , de Baudricourt changed his mind and granted her wish. Perhaps he reasoned that the rewards would be great if she was somehow successful, but her loss would be of small concern. Dressed in male attire — because, as she would explain, she feared rape — the Maid, accompanied by a knight, his squire and her two brothers, crossed Burgundy.

The dauphin had already received a letter dictated by Joan. The dauphin refused to see Joan immediately, but had her quizzed for almost a month by officials and churchmen. Once she was accepted by her interviewers, she was sent to the dauphin, who, changing clothes with one of his officials and hiding in a crowd, waited to see if the Maid would be aware of the trick.

She immediately walked directly to him, respectful but annoyed at such games. She has a virile bearing, speaks little, shows an admirable prudence in all her words. Try This! Explore More. Read this next. Women Heroes. The Women's Suffrage Movement Getting the right to vote didn't come easy for women. Here's how they got it done. Joan of Arc, a peasant girl living in medieval France, believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England.

After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in , at the age of A peace treaty in disinherited the French crown prince, Charles of Valois, amid accusations of his illegitimacy, and King Henry V was made ruler of both England and France.

His son, Henry VI, succeeded him in At the age of 13, Joan began to hear voices, which she determined had been sent by God to give her a mission of overwhelming importance: to save France by expelling its enemies, and to install Charles as its rightful king. As part of this divine mission, Joan took a vow of chastity. At the age of 16, after her father attempted to arrange a marriage for her, she successfully convinced a local court that she should not be forced to accept the match.

In May , Joan made her way to Vaucouleurs, a nearby stronghold of those loyal to Charles. Initially rejected by the local magistrate, Robert de Baudricourt, she persisted, attracting a small band of followers who believed her claims to be the virgin who according to a popular prophecy was destined to save France.

After sending off a defiant letter to the enemy, Joan led several French assaults against them, driving the Anglo-Burgundians from their bastion and forcing their retreat across the Loire River.

She and her followers escorted Charles across enemy territory to Reims, taking towns that resisted by force and enabling his coronation as King Charles VII in July