Joan of Arc

Saint Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc in the protocol of the parliament of Paris (1429). Drawing by Clément de Fauquembergue. Banner seems to have "IHS" Jesus monogram.
Born	Jeanne d'Arc (modern French) c. 6 January 1412 Domrémy, Duchy of Bar, Kingdom of France
Died	30 May 1431 (aged c. 19) Rouen, Normandy (then under English rule)
Cause of death	Execution

Saint Joan of Arc or The Maid of Orléans (Jeanne d'Arc,^[1][2] c. 6 January 1412 – 30 May 1431) was a national heroine of France. She is also a Catholic saint. She was a peasant girl born in the east of France. Joan said that she had visions from God. In these visions, she said that God told her to take back her home, which was then under English rule late in the Hundred Years' War. Many quick military victories made her famous. In 1430, soldiers of Burgundy captured her and gave her to her English enemies.

Joan of Arc has remained an important figure in Western civilization. Famous writers like Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, Mark Twain, and Voltaire wrote about her. She appears in video games, television, movies, songs, and dances.

1. ↑ Her name was written in a variety of ways. See Pernoud and Clin, pp. 220–221. She reportedly signed her name as "Jehanne" (see www.stjoan-center.com/Album/, parts 47 and 49; it is also noted in Pernoud and Clin).
2. ↑ Joan did not know her own age for sure. Most biographers say she was born on 6 January. All of the people who saw the trial guessed her age, too, even though several of these people were her godmothers and godfathers. The 6 January claim is from a single source: a letter from Lord Perceval de Boullainvilliers on 21 July 1429 (see Pernoud's Joan of Arc By Herself and Her Witnesses, p. 98. In here, it says: "Boulainvilliers tells of her birth in Domrémy, and it is he who gives us an exact date, which may be the true one, saying that she was born on the night of Epiphany, 6 January"). Boulainvilliers, however, was not from Domrémy. The event was probably not recorded.