Joan of Arc at Orleans: The Maid Who Turned the War
A teenage peasant girl, claiming divine guidance, lifted a siege and turned the tide of the Hundred Years' War.
WOW Score
France was collapsing under English and Burgundian pressure when a young woman from Domremy convinced the dauphin she was sent by God to save the realm.
At Orleans, Joan inspired the demoralized French army to break the English siege in a series of bold assaults, a turning point in the war.
She later fell captive, was tried as a heretic, and burned but the movement she sparked carried France to victory.
"She could neither read nor fight like a soldier, yet an army followed her and a besieged city was freed in days."
The lifting of the Siege of Orleans revived French fortunes, led to the coronation of Charles VII, and became the spiritual heart of French national identity. Joan's martyrdom turned her into a lasting symbol of faith and resistance.
The Full Story
A Visionary in Armor
Joan's claims of heavenly voices won her an audience with Charles and a place at the army's head, an extraordinary ascent for an unlettered village girl.
The Siege Lifted
Her presence transformed the troops' morale. Within days the English bastilles around Orleans fell and the siege was broken.
From Heretic to Saint
Burned at the stake in 1431, she was rehabilitated decades later and canonized in 1920, becoming France's patron saint.