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"Joan of Arc (French: Jeanne d'Arc, IPA: [{7f0292}an dak]; ca. 1412[4] ? 30 May 1431), nicknamed "The Maid of Orle?ans" (French: La Pucelle d'Orle?ans), is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. She was born a peasant girl in what is now eastern France. Claiming divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII of France. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon for charges of "insubordination and heterodoxy", and was burned at the stake for heresy when she was 19 years old. Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr.[6] Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920."--Wikipedia.… (more)
User reviews
This is followed by chapters describing her meetings with Baudricourt, her introduction to Charles VII, and the assembly of the army. The book then turns to the military campaigns, raising the siege of Orleans, the Loire Campaign, the decisive Battle of Patay (the English Agincourt) and its consequences for English rule in France, the series of battles and near battles on the journey to the coronation of Charles VII at Reims, the siege of Compiegne and her capture.
The last four chapters describe Joan’s captivity, the trial – its preparations, interrogations, charges and judgement, and finally Joan’s abjuration, relapse and death.
All through the book the author presents myths and legends, side-by-side, with corresponding contemporary accounts concerning various events in Joan’s life. These comparisons are woven into the narrative and are presented as part of the temporal recitation of events. This approach allows the reader to not only untangle fact from fiction but it also provides information which allows the reader to understand the very down-to-earth reasons why Joan was able to do things like command and fight an army and lead it to multiple victories.
The grimmest section is, of course, the trial and her death. The disgusting methods and tactics of the prosecutor, Cauchon, are timeless. Change his name, modify the titles of the charges, and the account would be indistinguishable from a current news report detailing the actions of any of a dozen tyrants on today’s world stage.
I think this is an outstanding biography of probably the world’s most famous woman and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in history.