Joan of Arc  and the power of Fearlessness

A very long time ago, in 1412, 80 years before Christopher Columbus discovered America, a girl was  born in a village in northwestern France called Domremy.

               The proud parents, Jacques D’Arc and his wife Isabelle, named her Jeanne, or Joan as she is known in English. She was to become one of the most famous women who ever lived.

        Joan was bright and witty girl known for her gentleness and kindness. She was a great help to her family. She learned how to sew and to spin thread, but she never learned how to read or write.

       Joan was a very religious girl. She was often found deep in prayer in the church at Domremy. Joan had much to pray for, because her country was being turned to ruins in a great war with England that came to be called the Hundred Years’ War.

Henry VI, the king of England claimed that he was the rightful ruler of France. He had the support of the French duke of Burgundy. But others claimed the crown for the French dauphin, Charles. The dauphin was the son of the French king, Charles VI, and heir to his throne.

     Several times when Joan was growing up, she heard the sounds of battle raging near her little town. The English and their allies, the Burgundians, tried to defeat the supporters of the dauphin in northwestern France, but they never succeeded. 

           When Joan was about 13, a very strange thing happened to her. She began to hear the voices of Saint Michael, Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine, the saints whose statues stood in the church at Domremy. Joan did not like to talk about the voices or what they told her, but she was convinced they were real.

         When she was about 16, the voices told her to help Charles defeat the English and claim the crown of France.

         

Joan knew nothing about warfare, but she had faith in her voices and was a fearless young woman. She says goodbye to her family and friends, and began her journey to the nearby town of Vaucouleurs to see the French commander there.

                  At first the commander laughed at Joan and sent her back home. But voices urged her to try again and she returned to Vaucouleurs. Finally the commander sent her to see the dauphin.  

Charles was impressed by this fearless young woman who announced that she was sent by God to defeat the English and make him king. .But he wondered if she might be imagining her voices, or making up her story entirely.

               Charles had Joan questioned by the wisest church officials he could find They found no fault with her religious beliefs and could not shake her belief in her voices or in her mission.

             At last Charles gave Joan a force of French soldiers. She led them to the city of Orleans, which was completely surrounded by the English.

           The fall of Orleans could have been a great victory for the English, but Joan never doubted the outcome of the battle. The French soldiers took heart at the sight of this young woman in armor, standing fearlessly in the heart of the battle and urging her troops to victory. In contest after contest, enemy strongholds fell to joan and soon the English were forced to retreat from Orleans.

Now Joan began to capture the English-held towns that stood in the path of her goal, the city of Reims, where all the French kings for a long time had been crowned.

             The English were terrified by this girl in armor. She seemed to know more about making war than their finest generals and seemed to have  no fear at all. One by one the towns surrendered to Joan.

          Finally the road to Reims was clear. Charles marched into the city at the head of a victorious army. The next day he was crowned Charles VII,  king of France.

       Joan urged Charles to continue the fight to free his country but he was a cautious man and put off fighting.

        After months of waiting, Joan set out with a small force, but she found no more great victories. At the town of Compiegne she was captured by Burgundians and sold to the English. She was charged with being a witch.

              Joan stood up fearlessly to the charges brought against her, especially the charge that her voices were false. Finally she was sentenced to death.

           Joan did not live to see her 20^th birthday, but her fearlessness gave the French courage to continue their struggle. In time they forced the English to give up their claims and return to England. Today Joan of Arc is honored as one of the great heroines of France.