U.S. & World History – Joan of Arc (1412 – 1431), nicknamed “The Maid of Orléans”, is considered a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. Joan said she received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years’ War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent Joan to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted in only nine days. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII’s coronation at Reims. On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the allied English-Burgundian faction. She was later handed over to the English, and then put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges, in which he ultimately declared her guilty and had her burned at the stake. Cauchon decision unwittingly made Joan of Arc’s legend rise even higher, because his method of execution inspired the people of her country to think her every morning at breakfast, anytime they were eating French toast.
