Joan of Arc - Maid of Orleans Documentary

france 1429 a young maiden who claims to be a messenger from god is brought forth at the royal castle of shino the heir to the french throne charles the duffer fearful of assassination hides amongst his courtiers but when the young girl enters the hall she throws herself at his knees proclaiming god give you a happy life sweet king is the girl an agent of the devil sent to lead the french astray or has this child from lorraine been sent to fulfill the prophecy that an armored maiden would rise to rescue france from the grip of the english invaders [Music] before we begin a quick word from our sponsors bubble the world's number one language learning app ever wanted to learn a new language but find the prospect daunting then bubble is a learning tool for you as it prepares you for real-world conversations you will encounter whether you're traveling visiting another country on business or simply planning a vacation for example we've been learning french france [Music] click the link in the video description to sign up today and get 50 off bubble for six months for a limited time only [Music] the woman known to history as joan of arc was born on approximately the 6th of january 1412 in the small village of dom remy in the northeast of central france her parents jacques dach and isabel rame were farmers who owned a moderate portion of land about 50 acres and jacques was also a minor village official involved in local tax collection as well as being a member of the village watch and although joan was not taught to read or write her pious mother instilled her with a deep affection for the catholic church and its teachings joan was born in the midst of the hundred years war a conflict which had ravaged france for over 70 years at the time of her birth and a conflict which would become inextricably intertwined with the life of joan not only would the hundred years war shape joan of arc but she would greatly shape the outcome of the war and become one of the most iconic figures of the conflict the origins of the hundred years war lay in the death of king charles iv of france who died without a male heir in 1328 and his appointment to philip count of valois honshu and maine as his successor philip was a great grandson of saint louis ix and was the king's first cousin and the french nobility quickly acknowledged philip as the rightful king of france however philip's claim to the throne was contested as charles iv sister isabella was queen of england and mother of edward iii thus making edward charles's closest male relative but the french nobles did not want to see the king of england ascend to the french throne furthermore france claimed salic law an ancient frankish law code that excluded claimants to the throne if their claim was through a woman to argue that edward's case was illegitimate based as it was on his mother isabella in 1328 edward iii was only 15 years old and england was effectively ruled by his mother and her lover roger mortimer the two were focused on securing control of a country riven by noble revolts after isabella and mortimer had deposed and killed edward ii in 1327 therefore edward iii's claim was not pressed upon charles's death and philip vi was able to ascend to the throne securely however in 1330 edward iii overthrew isabella and mortimer and took personal control of england and although the early years of his personal rule were dominated by his campaigns against the scots tensions with the french king soon arose beginning in 1334 when philip made an alliance with king david of scotland and they reached ahead on the 24th of may 1337 when philip announced the seizure of gascony from the english gascony was a province in the southwestern corner of france and was the last remaining english-owned territory on the continent following the decline of henry ii anjavin empire which once made up the whole of western france edward responded in october 1337 by asserting his claim to the throne of france and thus began the hundred years war a series of conflicts that would last 106 years between two kingdoms whose fates had been intertwined in many ways since the norman conquest of england in 1066 but france would suffer terribly during this period and it is this suffering of ordinary french peasants that would ultimately lead to the rise of a peasant girl who would change french fortunes when the country was on its knees the opening phase of the war saw substantial english success with edward iii leading his armies to a crushing naval victory at sly's in 1340 and then on land at cressi in 1346 the traditional french tactics of heavy cavalry charges being destroyed by the english longbow furthermore the english king's eldest son edward the black prince won another victory at poitiers capturing the french king jean ii in the process and in 1360 the english and french signed the treaty of britigny giving the english king possession of the duchy of aquitaine a vast territory equivalent to approximately one third of france's land area the next 20 years however saw a steady decline in english fortunes as edward iii and the black prince became increasingly crippled by illness and the new king of france the cunning and intelligent charles v set about reviving france and regaining the territory lost to the english in the 1360 treaty after rebuilding the french monarch's army and restoring financial control charles utilized tactics of scorched earth and guerrilla raids to gradually push the english out of aquitaine avoiding open battle and encouraging the aquitanian peoples to rebel against their english overlords indeed by the time of edward iii's death in 1377 the english had lost all the territory they had gained since the start of the conflict with the exception of calais and charles v died three years later leaving the war in stalemate english ascendancy having been toppled yet france unable to completely expel their enemy from the continent edward iii and charles v was succeeded by underage rulers richard ii of england and charles vi of france and a piece was agreed between the rulers in 1389 at the truce of loylingham the war now entered a lull for about 25 years as england and france suffered significant internal unrest in england richard ii soon antagonized the english nobility with the elevation of his despised favorites michael delapoll and robert de vere causing the formation of the lord's appellant in 1387 a group of nobles who forced the execution of these favorites and bolstered the power of parliament it was richard's harsh reprisal to this ten years later in what historians label the tyranny that led to his downfall from the english throne as richard had the lord's appellant executed imprisoned for life or exiled and removed all restraints to his power and this led to henry of bolingbroke a grandson of edward iii through john of gaunt and a member of the lancastrian house to return from his exile in france and overthrow richard in august of 1399 richard received virtually no support from the nobility due to the unpopularity of his tyrannical rule and bollingbroke was crowned as henry iv on the 13th of october henry iv's 14-year reign was dominated by internal rebellions such as an uprising in wales led by owen glendauer which was joined by harry hotspur the first earl of northumberland and thus the english did not launch a concerted campaign into france during his reign indeed the turmoil seen in england since the ascension of richard ii was matched by the internal unrest in france following the 1389 truce of loylingham in july 1392 the french king charles vi suffered a bout of insanity whilst riding through a forest slaying four of his entourage and from here onwards the king suffered repeated episodes of severe mental illness during his reign at times forgetting his name or the fact that he was king and at one point became convinced that he was made of glass and that he would shatter if he came into contact with another person having this unstable king on the throne opened france up to factional intrigue as ambitious nobles vied to exercise influence over the regency council and the country as a whole two nobles in particular rose to prominence in the early 15th century john the fearless duke of burgundy and a cousin of the king and louis duke of olio and brother to the king and the two were opposed to each other in virtually every important policy matter with the duke of olya supportive of the avignon pope and fiercely opposed to the english whilst burgundy supported the roman pope and favored reconciliation rather than war with the english in the first decade of the 15th century louis of oglio was the dominant influence on the regency council however in 1407 the tensions between the burgundians and orleanists exploded when louis was murdered on the streets of paris a brutal crime that john the fearless publicly claimed as his own doing as a result france descended into civil war with louis of arleon's son charles forming an alliance with his father-in-law the count of armagnac who assembled an anti-burgundian league which became known as the armagnac party whilst the armagnacs were supported by the majority of royal officials and nobles outside of john's territories the burgundians drew their strength from the parisian bourgeoisie and academics and in 1408 john took control of paris promising reform and lowering the high taxes imposed by louis evolian however he was forced to leave the city in august 1413 when the parisians appealed to the armagnacs against john's brutal suppression of political opponents and the armagnac forces reclaimed paris led by the heir to the french throne charles the sixth son the delphi louis the france that joan of arc was born into in 1412 was thus divided and lacking strong leadership and the country's troubles were about to get far worse as a new english king ascended to the throne in 1413 henry v who rapidly united his country under his kingship and set about resuming the hundred years war by reclaiming his right to the throne of france in august of 1415 henry of england sailed for france where he laid siege to and captured the port town of arfleur in northern france though in doing so his army was struck by dysentery which killed or invalidated about four thousand of his twelve thousand strong army nevertheless the english army marched east towards calais and were met on their march by a much larger french force in the village of agincourt resulting in one of the most famous battles in medieval history as henry's troops won a crushing victory over the french inflicting thousands of casualties including many major nobles and members of the royal household with prominent armagnacs and burgundians falling side by side on the field of battle the effects of agincourt were devastating for france instead of uniting the noble factions the shocking defeat sent france spiraling even deeper into civil war whilst an emboldened henry v used his opponents chaos to launch another campaign in normandy in 1417 this time the king did not seek battle but conquest and over the next three years the english strategically subdued the major towns and cities of normandy through siege warfare so that by 1420 henry was the master of the entire province indeed in this year henry signed the treaty of trois this affirmed english supremacy in the war by proclaiming henry v as heir to the french throne to ascend upon the death of charles vi and by allowing henry to marry charles's daughter catherine of valois meanwhile as the english conquered normandy and claimed the french throne the french civil war increased in intensity with the burgundians retaking paris on the 29th of may 1418 leading to the death of the count of armagnac but despite this incident it appeared that the relentless progress of henry through normandy in 1418 to 19 could have led to a reconciliation between the factions against a common english enemy however this hope was crushed when john of burgundy was murdered at a meeting with the duffer charles who was part of the armagnac party and his entourage on the 10th of september 1419 this brutal act ensured that there could be no reconciliation between the burgundians and armagnacs for john the fearless's son philip the new 23 year old duke of burgundy the betrayal and murder of his father led him to finally do what the begundians had considered for many years join an alliance with king henry of england thus in the aforementioned treaty of tua the burgundians promised to support henry's claim to the throne in return for henry's help in conquering armagnac controlled territory following the treaty henry and philip of burgundy continued the conquest of northern france so that by 1422 most of france north of the river loire was under henry's control whilst paris was under anglo-burgundian occupation and so at this point in 1422 the delphi charles and his armagnac supporters appeared to be in dire straits and from his court in bush the darfur attempted to shore up his support in southern france though the 19 year old lacked the military and leadership talents of his english adversary however the delphi's cause received a boost when henry the fifth contracted dysentery whilst besieging the town of moore and died on the 31st of august 1422 at the age of just 35. two months later on the 21st of october charles the sixth of france also died leaving henry's infant son just nine months old as henry vi of england and henry ii of france and henry v brother john duke of bedford was made a region to france to rule on his infant nephew's behalf the default now proclaimed himself as charles vii however english ascendancy did not immediately die with its king as bedford was an extremely capable soldier and ruler and on the 17th of august 1424 he comprehensively defeated a franco scottish force loyal to the duffer at the battle of vernoy in normandy though the english were outnumbered almost two to one and an initial cavalry charge broke through the english arches the menatars had stood their ground and were able to break the enemy line when the archers regrouped and helped overwhelm the french and the scots with this decisive victory bedford had once again crushed the hopes of the armagnacs and in 1424 it seemed clearer than ever the two francis had emerged one in the north loyal to the english and burgundians ruled from the norman capital avroa by bedford who forbid any of henry vi subjects from referring to the duffer as king or to the armagnacs as french and one in the south presided over by charles in bush who was desperate for an inspirational military leader to whom his supporters could rally charles himself was not skilled enough militarily nor charismatic enough to perform this role and he was too valuable for his life to be risked in battle as the last surviving son of charles vii in the summer of 1428 the english began an offensive along the loire river south of which lay the territories loyal to the duffer and on october 12th thomas montague fourth earl of salisbury began the siege of olya a strategically important city on the north bank of the loire which if taken would allow the english to make a decisive push into armagnac territory and break the stalemate of the war which had persisted for the previous five years however just over two weeks after the siege began on the 27th of october salisbury died after being struck by debris from a french cannon shot and his death was disastrous for the english who lost a talented and respected commander early on in the important siege and his replacement was the less able earl of suffolk the english were too few to form a stranglehold around the large town and their bombardment did little damage against the extensive fortifications of oleo thus as winter arrived in early 1429 the situation at the siege of olya mirrored that in the country as a whole a nutritional stalemate between implacable foes both of whom after the deaths of their monarchs lacked an inspirational leader to rally them it was in these dark winter months when the fate of france hung in the balance and the darfur had even made plans to retreat to the far south east of orly or fell that a band of six armed men arrived at the castle of shino on the 23rd of february and with them rode a girl who was dressed as a boy with her hair cut short and this girl's name was joan who insisted that she had been told by god to deliver france from her misery and win back the country for the duffer since the age of 13 joan of arc had seen and heard voices of heavenly beings which she took to be saints such as michael and catherine amongst others and these visions and voices told her to take up actions against the english and drive them out of france and install the dofa to the throne by the spring of 1428 the 16 year old asked her uncle to take her to the town of vokula a defenist stronghold where she asked the town garrison commander robert de bodacourt for an armed escort so that she could travel to the french court at china to cancel the duffer and convince him of her god-given message to lead the armies of france against the english and crown charles as king of france at reims a city in northern france whose cathedral had been the site of every coronation since the first frankish king clovis body court rejected her but she returned again in january 1429 determined to relieve the besieged city of olio and convinced several soldiers to help her proclaiming that she must be at the king's side there will be no help if not from me i would rather have remained spinning wool at my mother's side yet i must go and do this thing for my lord will that i do so she was then given a second meeting with body court at which she predicted that the delfa's forces would lose a military confrontation with the english near the town of fluffrey north of olio where the french attempted to intercept a supply column destined for the english forces besieging orlio afterward had reached the garrison commander at vokula of the dire situation for the french at leon in the winter of early 1429 body court agreed to grant jone an escort to the royal court to chino and she then traveled through hostile territory which was controlled by burgundian troops disguised as a man wearing men's clothing and with her dark hair cut short there had been widespread rumors and prophecies for years that an armored maiden would rise from the lorraine region of france which is where joan was born and rescue the country from the english invaders whether joan used this to her advantage no one knows but these rumors certainly helped her to convince those in french court of her legitimacy joan then arrived at the castle of china on the 23rd of february 1429 the dauphin had heard all about jones prediction and so sought to test her by disguising himself as one of his entourage upon entering the chamber joan threw herself at charles's feet despite never having met him before holding him tightly around his knees crying god give you a happy life sweet king yet charles and his advisors viewed joan with a high degree of caution as this extraordinary girl could in their view just as easily be an agent of evil sent by satan to lead france to her ruin as an agent of god joan was inspected and questioned by theologians clergymen and members of the dofanz court and even sent south to poitiers to be questioned by the greatest gathering of theologians in armagnac france and after weeks of investigation she was found to be devout pious and virtuous and above all certain of the message god had sent her and the daupha was advised by his theologians that the girl should be allowed to lead a force to relieve the siege at olion as she insisted and should she succeed they argued this would be a vindication of her claims of divine intervention and france would truly have been delivered a heavenly agent to lead them to victory before setting off for orleans on the 22nd of march joan dictated a letter to the english enemy warning bedford or as she labeled him you who call yourself region to the kingdom of france that she had been sent by god to read the english from france and in this letter she styled herself as the maid thus joan of arc would become known to posterity as the maid of orleans joan labelled herself as the maid because the french word for maid purcell comes from the latin word puella which connotes a chaste virgin and emphasizing her virginity greatly enhanced jones saintliness and divine purity at that time as joan prepared to travel to aurelia the dofanz court mobilized its propaganda machine to ensure that every region of france that armagnac diplomacy could reach was informed of this heavenly savior with secretary searching through ancient manuscripts to find prophecies of jones coming to legitimize her claims charles's mother-in-law yolanda of aragon had been assembling and supplying a relief force to send to aurelia which joan was to join she was crafted a full suit of armor from the dofan's master armorer and a painter was commissioned to design banners for the maid which depicted a golden fleur-de-lis across a white field with plenty of religious imagery then on the morning of the 26th of april 1429 joan rode with the relief force northeast towards aurelia this small army which was comprised of a few thousand soldiers set off between the 27th and 28th of april carrying supplies for the city the entourage resembled a religious procession rather than an armed force with joan at its head who sent messages to the english garrison surrounding aurelia ordering them in the name of god to be gone or i will make you go joan had wanted to approach all er through english held territory from the north but the convoy's commander marshall john de bros decided against such a move and instead approached the city from the south without informing joan upon discovering that she had been deceived joan was livid and immediately ordered an attack on the nearest english positions but was eventually forced to accept that the resupply of the city was the more pressing concern and she then accompanied the supplies into the city under the cover of darkness by boat on the evening of the 29th of april where she helped to raise morale by parading through the streets and distributing provisions over the coming days joan had heated exchanges with the other french military leaders about the plan of action and after the city's commander john of donor left to gather reinforcements joan proceeded to inspect the english fortifications while simultaneously shouting at the enemy soldiers as well as one of the commanders of the english forces at the terrell william glasdale that they should surrender to god an action which was met with considerable scorn and insult from the english troops on the third of may dunwas returned with his reinforcements which entered the city from the north and molested due to their numbers and the next ain't noise led an attack on one of the english bastille in order to secure the safe passage of another supply convoy and although joan was not informed of the attack as she was sleeping when it began she soon joined the successful assault during which joan did not spill any english blood but rather rode with the troops carrying her banner rallying them to fight two days later the french defenders resolved to concentrate their efforts on the main bulk of the english forces on the south bank of the river around the fortifications known as the terrell if joan could drive the english out of this stronghold then the siege of orleans would be raised thus when dawn came on the 6th of may joan took confession and attended mass with her soldiers and joan her men as well as the people of orleans were immensely hopeful and confident of victory but they truly believed that god was with them in their mission to liberate france from english rule crossing the loire jones and a french military leader known as lair led a fierce cavalry charge that pushed back the enemy and allowed the french to capture a key component of the tyrell an english fortress built around the monastery of le augusta after a full day of bloody combat allowing the remaining english forces to be surrounded by french soldiers the next day the 7th of august the french renewed their assault on the terrell although the initial attacks broke against formidable english defenses and as the armagnac troops began to tire joan herself was hit by an english arrow between her neck and shoulder and at the sight of their divine leader wounded the french began to falter however the injury was a flesh wound and joan defiantly raised her banner and pressed forwards towards the walls of the fortress rallying her men who began to climb the scaling ladders to the ramparts the english were gripped with fear at the rejuvenated french advance and their situation worsened when the english captain william gladsdale lost his footing and fell fully armoured into the river and drowned causing panic to spread amongst the surrounded english and by the end of the day the tyrell was captured by the armagnac forces the english lost nearly 1 000 killed and 600 captured troops during the fighting and now that the terrell at the end of the bridge to only all was in french hands the city could be resupplied with ease from the south meaning that any continuation of the siege was pointless and as joan and her army re-entered the city on the evening of the 7th of may they were greeted by jubilant crowds and the ringing of church bells in celebration at the miraculous victory that the maid had secured just days after arriving at the siege of orleans although the english grip on all your had been broken their army remained in the fields surrounding the town thus on the 8th of may joan and her captains led their army outside all er to face the english who appeared to be preparing for battle however after about an hour during which the two armies faced one another in anticipation the english commanders gave the orders to withdraw and their forces left orlia officially ending the six-month siege jones actions at the siege of orleans secured her fame throughout france and indeed europe and although her arrival at the siege coincidentally coincided with a change in french tactics in which they took the offensive against the english there is little doubt the jones arrival and presence at oleop had a considerable effect on all concerned both lifting the french morale and inspiring the town's population soldiers and commanders to greater endeavors jones victory at orleans was so vital for armagnac morale not just because of the town's strategic importance or the damage caused to english morale but because it was widely seen as proof that god was on the side of the darfur's cause and that the maid joan of arc was indeed an agent of god thus as they were certain that god's will was now in their favor the french felt that triumph over the english was inevitable and this rallied the nobles and commoners alike to the dhofas side the next problem which faced joan and the french was that the bridge connecting orlean to the south bank of the loire had been destroyed during the fighting and they would have to secure other crossing points across the river in order to aid their advance northwards as well as prevent any english advance south jones aim was now to clear the remaining english strongholds along the loia river to allow the french to travel north in order to reach rings where jones mission to oversee the anointing and crowning of the darfur charles as charles vii of france could be completed as only through a coronation at rheem's cathedral could charles's claim to kingship achieve legitimacy indeed the english had taken and fortified three bridges across the loire achiago ming siloa and the french now resolved to retake them this culminated in joan winning her first offensive victories and in the french winning a string of victories against the previously dominant english forces after a month of preparations for the campaign during which the maid of orleans was able to develop her skills on horseback and wielding weapons of war the french set out for the english stronghold of jaco ten miles upstream from aliyah and joan was joined on this campaign by capable military leaders such as john o'donois commander of the french defenses at olio la an extremely talented military leader whose real name was atien de vino and rarely for 15th century military leaders in france was not a noble but he was one of jones's strongest supporters and admirers also present was the young duke of alensa a royal prince whose father had been killed at agincourt and who became good friends with joan alexa was technically in command of the campaign however it was jones conviction charisma and semi-divine status that drove and inspired the army on the 11th of june 1429 the french laid siege to the earl of suffolk's forces at chargo pushing back the english troops to behind the town's walls and the next day joan led an assault on the town where just as at aulia she was knocked down by an english projectile this time a rock thrown at her head but again she recovered and rallied her troops to victory with the french capturing the earl of suffolk and forcing the garrison to capitulate three days later on the 15th of june the french laid siege to two more english positions with crossings over the loire river at mung tsulua and beaujonsie and these both fell on the 18th of june as the english forces withdrew to the north they had initially been bolstered by the arrival of reinforcements from paris under sir john fast off however when combined with the men from the garrisons of mung and bojonsi under lord talbot the english had approximately 3 000 troops compared to the dolphinists approximately 8 000 these were bad odds for the english although they had achieved greatness with even worse odds in the past at crassy poitiers and agincourt consequently the fact that they were outnumbered combined with the fear-invoking reputation of any army led by joan of arc prompted the english commanders to withdraw towards the north but joan was determined to follow them and so the english were closely pursued by the armagnac forces until the french caught up with the english near the village of pate the ensuing battle saw the english attempt to deploy the same static tactics they used at cressy and agincourt forming up their arches behind sharpened stakes in order to mow down the advancing french talbot also attempted to lay a trap for the enemy by moving troops into a tree line at the side of a road down which the opposition were approaching but the english failed to complete their preparations in time and thus the charging french soldiers were not met with the intended hail of arrows and so were able to storm the confused english lines and route the entirety of the english army resulting in the largest defeat the english had suffered in france in decades losing nearly 500 troops out of an army of 5 000 and after the battle but talbot himself was captured but sir john faustov managed to flee the field and return home where he was used as a scapegoat for the defeat pate had dire consequences for the english as the majority of their forces in central france had been destroyed and defeated meaning that they were now unable to put up any kind of serious defense against the french over the coming months furthermore joan and her army had now pushed the dolphins kingdom across the loire and into english france and all this had been achieved in just seven weeks from joan's arrival at olio following the battle of pate joan was determined to take charles deep into enemy territory to reims where he could be officially crowned as the king of france despite the city being under anglo burgundy in control and on the 29th of june the delfa and his court led by joan and her army left bush and travelled north indeed charles was concerned about the safety of the journey and thus had mustered the largest army he could twelve thousand troops to escort him to reims the size of the french army along with jones hallowed reputation ensured that the doh fire met little resistance on the march although the town of tua was initially unwilling to submit to the armagnacs relenting after days of negotiation and threats from joan and charles and on the 16th of july the inhabitants of shalom a town just 25 miles south of reims wrote to the city that they had decided to receive charles as their sovereign and that the people of rheems should do the same later on the 16th of july charles and joan rode through the gates of reems to a jubilant reception and the next day the default was crowned as charles vii of france in the cathedral and anointed with the sacred oil of clovis whilst jones stood near to him throughout the ceremony holding her white banner and after the ceremony joan knelt at charles's feet and said noble king god's will is done two months later joan and the french forces would attempt to take paris by besieging it however this proved to be unsuccessful as the parisians refused to abandon their loyalty to the region to france and joan led a failed assault on the walls of the city between the porch saree and the ponza denis on the 8th of september when she was wounded in the thigh by a crossbow and left lying in the open until nightfall and although the dolphinist calls remained in the ascendancy with high morale following charles's coronation this setback outside paris shattered the maid of orleans legend of invincibility after a short truce between the english and the french hostilities resumed in may of 1430 in which joan was involved in the defense of a town west of reims known as campaign from a joint english burgundy in siege when on the 24th of may joan took part in an attempted attack on the burgundian camp on the northern outskirts of the town however the attack was discovered by the enemy leading to the french attempting to flee but the gates of campaign were then closed either in panic or as an act of betrayal before joan could enter the city and in the fighting she was pulled from a horse by an archer and taken into captivity the maid was taken to the burgundian castle of bourevoir and after several escape attempts one of which involved joan jumping 70 feet from a tower into a muddy moat she was transferred to aras where the burgundians and the english came to an agreement to exchange her for a pro-burgundian nobleman and to the sum of ten thousand liftrenwa which was one of the currencies used in france during the time and so now that she was in english hands joan was taken to raw which was the duke of bedford's headquarters where she was then locked in an octagonal cell in chains with only a small archer slit to allow light into her chambers joan was then placed on trial for heresy in a church called by both french collaborators loyal to the english and pro-english burgundian clerics and lawyers led by bishop pierre cuscio this was because the english did not want to place her on trial themselves because it would have been seen as a propaganda coup for charles vii's cause therefore having french and burgundians oversee her trial was preferable from the 9th of january until the 29th of may 1431 joan was subjected to carefully constructed cross-examinations which were intended to expose her as a witch and acolyte of the devil instead of the saint and servant of god she claimed to be indeed if the prosecutors were successful in proving jones heresy it would also prove that charles vii had claimed the french throne aided by the forces of darkness which would therefore invalidate his legitimacy the subject of the trial of joan of arc and the numerous cross-examinations she was placed under is a complex and lengthy subject but essentially over the course of 15 sessions or hearings from the 21st of february 1431 to the 17th of march joan was interrogated about her visions the voices she reported to hear and later her cross-dressing as a man an accident was deeply shocking in 15th century europe true to jones character she conducted herself with intelligence and composure throughout the hearings but at one point during the third session was asked a trick question do you know whether or not you are in god's grace this was a trap as if joan had said no she would in effect have been admitting she was a sinner but if she had said yes she would have been claiming to know god's will which was seen as an equally abominable sin her answer goes to illustrate the clarity of mind which joan possessed truly remarkable considering that she was an illiterate daughter of a french peasant if i am not in god's grace she replied may god put me there and if i am may god so keep me i should be the saddest creature in the world if i knew i were not in his grace time and again joan answered questions in such a way that outwitted her prosecutors which is also remarkable to say the least considering that she was being interrogated by men who were far better educated than herself in law theology and politics however corsair was a skilled interrogator and gradually he extracted more and more information from joan including stories of visions that she had never previously divulged one such vision was that at chino after meeting charles vii angels had delivered a golden crown that only joan could see to the king and this was a damning claim in koshon's eyes as he was an expert theologian and knew that it was widely accepted within the church that angels or saints did not take physical form staying instead in the spiritual realm whilst demons and devils could manipulate physical objects to tempt a would-be sinner joan was highly capable and steadfast in her own defense but she could not know the complexities of theological thinking at the time and she was steadily and remorselessly questioned on numerous occasions in order to extract as much damning information from her as possible bishop koshold then switched attack and questioned joan about her cross-dressing in men's clothes when she had travelled through france in disguise to meet the dophir charms joan had also continued to wear men's clothes and cut her hair short during her campaign and kasha asked her if god had commanded her to wear men's clothes which is forbidden in the bible and joan reacted by saying what concerns this dress is a small thing less than nothing this was not true in the eyes of the court as the book of deuteronomy in the old testament of the bible clearly forbade men to wear women's clothes and vice versa this was important to jones interrogators as how they would argue could joan have been a divine agent of god if the bible clearly forbade cross-dressing this as well as jones other evidence regarding her visions was enough in the court's eyes to condemn the maid of orleans and joan was taken on the 24th of may 1431 to the scaffold next to the church of singapore in rural normandy where her sentence was to be read to her and then she would be burned alive at the stake as a heretic joan had time and again stated that god would deliver her from her captors but now facing a terrible agonizing death she retracted her claims of visions and submitted to the authority of the holy mother church she then signed a pre-written confession and recant it which meant that joan was admitting everything she'd said and done over the previous years had not been inspired by divine intervention but instead had been entirely of her own doing thus meaning that god was not on france's side and that charles vii's coronation was null and void koshal then read out a different sentence in which joan was to spend the rest of her life in prison rather than being burned and she was taken back to her cell and took off her male clothing in exchange for a dress this should have been the end of a story but four days later cushion was informed that joan had once again put on male clothing which in effect made her confession null and void joan appeared highly confused when questioned by cushion and it was later suggested that after she had put on women's clothes she'd been assaulted or raped in her cell by the guards which is a distinct possibility above all joan was in a state of despair given that she recounted and in her eyes abandoned god she also claimed that god had visited her and told her that she had damned her soul to save her life and she also stated that she only recanted to save herself from the fire these statements were fatal in cashon's eyes and he immediately ordered her execution joan of arc was then tied to a stake on a tall pier and burned alive in rua on the 30th of may 1431 aged just 19. she died crying the name of jesus and after her body had been reduced to a charred corpse her remains were burnt twice more to prevent her remains being collected as relics her ashes were then thrown into the river's end after joan's death charles vii of france gradually retook the north of the country and the english were further weakened both by charles resolving his differences with philip duke of burgundy in 1435 resulting in them forming an alliance against the english and the death of the duke of bedford in the same year this was despite henry vi of england being crowned king of france himself aged just 10 years old in 1431 but without the duke of bedford to lead his forces england's hopes of maintaining its french territories were in effect non-existent they would never again have the unity or power to undertake large-scale campaigns in france as the infighting over the english crown in the war of the roses kept their attention firmly on domestic affairs the english crown would maintain its claim over france until the peace of amio in 1802 and its last bastion in the country calais fell to the french during the reign of mary the first over 100 years after jones death france had snatched victory from the jewels of defeat in the hundred years war and the undoubtable spark that lit the fire of french resistance against their enemies and the dofan's cause was at its lowest ebb and the anglo-burgundian supremacy seemed assured was a peasant girl from dom remy known as joan of arc 25 years after her execution a posthumous retrial was held in which joan was found not guilty of heresy by the papacy and in 1920 nearly 500 years after her death she was made a saint but regardless of whether joan of arc's visions actually took place there is little doubt that without her the french attempts to relieve the siege at aulian may very well have failed and with it possibly french hopes of winning the hundred years war no one can deny that for a teenage peasant girl to rise to the prominence that joan did and to be one of the crucial factors in the turning of french fortunes in the hundred years war is a truly amazing feat at her continued fame and iconic status throughout the world is testament to her achievements in life and joan is undoubtedly the most famous and influential figure to emerge from the entire conflict whether joan really did receive divine messages and visions is a matter of debate indeed her life is still widely debated and argued over today but whatever the truth of her claims joan of arc was a truly inspirational and brave young woman who did extraordinary things in a time when female power largely revolved around the formation of marriages and the production of male heirs rather than the bold independent political and military leadership that joan displayed furthermore the few medieval exceptions to this in western europe such as eleanor of aquitaine or isabella of france were nobles and queens rather than ordinary peasants like joan it is one of history's greatest wonders that an illiterate french peasant girl played such a major role in the outcome of one of the longest hardest-fought and bloodiest wars in medieval european history and it is hard not to feel a great sense of admiration along with a tinge of sadness that such a young medieval woman could achieve so much in such a short space of time and yet still suffer such an agonizing and terrible death what do you think of joan of arc was she a mere peasant girl and religious heretic who interfered in matters which should not have concerned her or was she an inspirational miracle worker who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and set her country on the path to salvation in the hundred years war please let us know in the comments section and in the meantime thank you very much for watching [Music] you

Channel: The People Profiles

Views: 148,183

Keywords: Biography, History, Historical, Educational, The People Profiles, Biography channel, the biography channel

Id: MUrWWQxYiOI

Length: 47min 47sec (2867 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 22 2020