During her mission, Joan wore men's clothing. While on trial, she refused to wear female clothing unless she was commanded to do so by God. The one time she did wear female clothing, she was beaten and nearly raped (some sources say that she was in fact raped).
Also during her mission, Joan slept with women to retain her purity. However, she only slept with younger women, because she did not like to lie next to older women. Because of this (and a few other things such as having uncertainty to which sex she belong to), Joan is thought to have been a lesbian.
Joan of Arc was born on January 6, 1412, at about 5:30 AM in Domrémy, France. Her father's name was Jacques, and her mother's name was Isabelle de Vouthon.
Joan's siblings include a brother, the oldest of Joan's siblings, who was grown up before she was even born, a sister named Catherine who died before Joan's mission in 1429, and a brother named Jean. Joan's youngest sibling was a brother named Pierre, who was born in 1413.
Joan of Arc was very religious throughout her entire life. When she started puberty in July of 1425, she claimed to have heard voices from God or an angel. She claimed that these voices told her to go to the dauphin, the son of Charles VI, to help him reclaim the throne of France from England.
In late June or July of 1428, Joan and her family were forced to move from Domrémy to Neufchâteau in Lorraine due to an Anglo-Burgundian attack. At about that time, Joan refused to marry although her father wanted her to. She vowed virginity the first time her voices spoke to her.
Joan then went on to escape her parents and complete the mission that was requested upon her by the voices. She was aided by a man named Durand Laxart, who lived in the village of Burey-le-Petit, which was just a short distance to the southwest of Vaucouleurs. Joan then ventured to Vaucouleurs to confront Robert de Baudricourt, the man who had the power to send her to the dauphin.
When she finally spoke to Baudricourt, he decided to send her along with six companions to the king at Chinon. Her companions included Jean de Nouillonpont, Bertrand de Poulengy, Colet de Vienne, and Richard the Archer. They left for Chinon on February 13, 1429, which was the first Sunday of Lent.
Joan and her companions entered Chinon around noon on February 23. While Joan was passing over the drawbridge to meet the king, she was insulted by a guard who said, "Isn't that the Maid? Jarnidieu! (I deny God!) If I had her for a night, she wouldn't remain a maid." She then shouted back, "Ha! In God's name, you deny Him, when you are so near to death!" And within the hour, he fell into the water and drowned…
Joan was led into the hall in which she was going to meet the king by Count Louis de Bourbon. She had offered to take a test, which was to pick out the king. When the king walked in, he was wearing less fancy clothes than others. She walked up to him and said, "God give you good life, gentle King."
He than said, "It is not I who is King," and then pointed to a man more well dressed than he. "There is the king," he said.
She knew he was the true king although she had never seen him because of the counsel of her voices. She then said, "In God's name, gentle prince, it is you and none other."
From there, Joan went to Poiters. Here, she was questioned by a committee of churchmen appointed by the king. All the documents of this were lost, however. Joan also wrote a letter to the Duke of Bedford with the help of Jean Érault, for she could not read nor write. In this letter she stated for him and his men to go back to England, and if they did not do so, she would "have them all slain." This letter was dated "Tuesday of Holy Week" which was March 22, 1429.
Joan then went to Poiters and tarried there until around April 10. She didn't go directly to Orleans, but back to Chinon. Then, she went off to Tours, where the king had a suit of armor made for her, and she found her sword by the altar in the Church of Saint Catherine. She also had her standard made here.
The army's point of concentration was Blois. On April 27, Joan and her army of about ten to twelve thousand men marched to Blois.
On April 29, Joan noticed that she and her army were on the wrong side of the river. She was enraged.
Things eventually got situated. On the morning of May 4, Joan was awaken by the sounds of war. She got ready and joined the fighting, which took place at Saint-Loup. However, Saint-Loup only had an army of one hundred fifty men or so, and they only fought for three hours.
On May 6, Joan and her army rushed the English garrison at about nine AM (which was late). While in battle, Joan was insulted by the English and wounded in the foot by a caltrop while trying to plant her standard in a ditch.
Joan got up early on the morning of May 7 to hear mass. Joan then learned that the citizens of Orleans were against the captains' decision to not fight that day. They wanted her to complete her task given by God and the king. She replied with, "In God's name I will do it, and he who loves me will follow me." She then left to the Burgundy gate to cross the river and accompany those who were already fighting. However, orders were given for no one to pass through the gate. So, Joan walked through the streets and accumulated a large number of people, and the order was then lifted, for the gatekeeper was in fear of being ripped into pieces.
Joan arrived to battle at about six AM. The trumpets sounded an hour after that for an assault, and Joan planted her standard at the edge of a ditch and fought. The morning battle was unsuccessful, but Joan and her army tried again after their midday meal. During this battle, she was wounded in the neck. One man doubted success and was about to call of the attack. However, Joan requested more time. When she got it, she mounted her horse and rode off to a vineyard where she prayed for eight minutes.
After that, the fighting continued. While on a bridge Joan shouted to the English captain, "Glasdale! Glasdale! Yield! Yield to the King of Heaven! You have called me whore, but I have great pity on your soul and your men's souls!" After saying this, Joan and her men set a wooden bridge that Glasdale and about thirty of his best men were trying to cross on fire. The bridge collapsed, and they all died.
To get Charles VII crowned, Joan had to get him to Rheims. To do that, Joan and her army had to conquer Jargeau, Meung, and Beaugency.
After more fighting, Joan finally got Charles VII to Rheims. Then, at three in the morning on July 17, Charles entered the cathedral in Rheims to perform the traditional vigil before being knighted. He was later crowned, and the entire ceremony lasted until about two PM.
More fighting had to be done to reclaim France back from England. Joan and her army fought on.
During the week of Easter in 1430, Joan claimed that she began to hear warnings from Saint Margaret and Saint Catherine. They warned her that she would be taken prisoner before midsummer.
In the late afternoon of May 23, while attempting to siege Compiègne, Joan became trapped in some boggy ground. A Picard archer approached her and dragged her away from her horse. Joan was taken prisoner by a man named Guillaume de Wandonne.
Joan was to be tried immediately as a heretic and a witch. Joan was first taken to Margny and then Clairoix. Because neither place was secure enough for such a valuable prisoner, Joan was sent to Noyon. At Noyon, Joan attempted to escape. She lifted up the planked floors and descended to a lower room. However, she was caught and transferred to Beaurevoir.
Joan became very depressed after learning the King did nothing to get her back. Her inability to have friendly relationships also increased due to her own uncertainty of which sex she belonged to. One day, she jumped off the tower in which she was held. She fell at least sixty to seventy feet. She survived with a severe concussion and some bruises. She was then sent to Arras.
After that, Joan was sent to Le Crotoy and, after that, Saint-Valéry. From Saint-Valéry, she was escorted to Rouen and arrived there on December 28.
At Rouen, Joan was kept in a cell that was only thirty-two feet in diameter. Her only piece of furniture was a bed, and her feet were held in leg irons all day. She was also chained by her waist to a block of wood that was approximately five to six feet long. Joan was tortured by the guards. They would constantly tell her that she was about to be set free or that her execution was coming soon. She also received sexual threats. During one incident, a tailor fitting Joan for women's clothing touched her breast. She was enraged and boxed his ears.
Joan then began her court sessions on February 21, 1431. On May 9, Joan was shown instruments of torture, which were ready to be used with the executioner awaiting his orders. On May 12, only three voted for Joan's torture with eleven voting against.
On May 24, Joan was forced to wear female clothing, and her hair was shaved. Joan later put back on her male clothing after being beaten by her guards and nearly raped (some sources say she was in fact raped) by an English lord.
On May 30, 1431, at nine in the morning, Joan was put in a cart to be set out for the Vieux-Marché to be burned. She was escorted by the entire garrison of the castle, which was about eighty men who were armed with swords and staves. She wearing a kerchief on her head and was crying. Joan was tried as a heretic and a witch, and ten thousand people witnessed her death, which was long and painful. While being burned, she yelled, "Jesus!" and dropped her head, for she was dead.
Charles VII (who did nothing to save her in the first place) reopened Joan's case in 1456 after the English were defeated. The court vindicated her. Then, in 1909, the Roman Catholics beatified her and named her a saint in 1920 (which is also the year that women finally gained the right to vote).
