St. Joan of Arc
Patron of France, soldiers, and those falsely accused
- Feast day
- May 30
- Origin
- Lorraine, France
- Era
- 15th century
- Canonised
- 1920
About the saint
Jehanne d'Arc was born about 1412 to a farming family in Domrémy during the Hundred Years'' War. From thirteen she reported hearing the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret telling her to help the dauphin and free France.
At seventeen she persuaded Charles VII to give her troops. She lifted the siege of Orléans in nine days, won at Patay, and stood beside Charles at his coronation in Reims. Captured at Compiègne in 1430, she was sold to the English and tried by a Church court weighted against her.
She was burned at Rouen in 1431 at nineteen. A retrial in 1456 annulled the verdict and declared her innocent; she was canonized in 1920.
Works
Documented miracles
The sign at Chinon
She is said to have identified the disguised dauphin among his courtiers and told him something known only to him.
Chinon, 1429
The relief of Orléans
The siege that had held for months was broken within nine days of her arrival.
Orléans, May 1429