Joan emerged during a severe phase of the Hundred Years' War, claiming divine guidance and supporting Charles VII's cause. Her presence accompanied the lifting of the siege of Orléans in 1429.
Captured by Burgundian forces and transferred to the English, she was tried by an ecclesiastical court at Rouen and executed in 1431. A later rehabilitation trial overturned the conviction.
Political, religious and national traditions have each reshaped Joan's meaning. The surviving trial records provide unusual evidence, but they were produced in coercive legal settings.
Why It Matters
Joan's story links warfare, belief, gender and memory while reminding us to read even detailed records critically.