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Henry VI of England was claiming the throne and the English occupied Paris and all of northern France. Joan had two missions, thanks to the voices that guided her: to recover her homeland from English domination and reclaim the besieged city of Orleans; and to see the dauphin of France, Charles VII, crowned king. She left her home, without telling her parents, and appealed to the captain of the dauphin’s army, telling him of her divine mission. He initially dismissed the notion of a fifteen-year-old girl having the leadership capacity to head his forces. However, her persistence and clarity of vision ultimately convinced him, and she went on to convince the dauphin as well that she was on a mission from God meant to save him and restore France. After being examined by a board of theologians, she was given the rank of captain and allowed to lead men into battle.

She was seventeen when she led her troops to victory over the English at the battle of Orleans in May 1429. She rode in white armor and carried a banner bearing the likenesses of her three saints. It wasn’t all that unusual at that time for women to fight alongside men; indeed, throughout the Middle Ages women had, when necessary, worn armor, led armies, ridden horses, and defended castles and lands. Joan was an excellent leader. Through her self-assured confidence, her courage, and her determination, she was able to effectively command soldiers and captains alike. She organized her army of men into professional soldiers, and even required them to attend mass and go to confession. So formidable was her leadership that it was said when her troops approached, the enemy fled the battlefield. But by far her most innovative act was instilling among her people a sense of nationalism and patriotic pride: she was one of the first leaders to consider England and France as separate countries, with separate cultures and traditions that were worth fighting to preserve.

Due in great part to Joan’s leadership on the battlefield, Charles VII was crowned king of France on July 17, 1429 in Reims Cathedral. Her victory, however, was short-lived: she was captured by the Burgundians in 1430 while defending Compiegne, near Paris, and was sold to the English. The English turned her over to the court at Rouen to be tried for witchcraft and crimes against the church. Though the witchcraft charge was dismissed (on the grounds that she was a virgin), she was accused of perpetrating crimes against God by wearing men’s clothing. After a fourteenmonth trial, during which she never strayed from her insistence on the divinity of her voices and the absolute rightness of her calling, Joan was convicted and burned at the stake in the Rouen marketplace on May 30, 1431. Her last words were, “Jesus! Jesus!” She was nineteen years old.

Almost twenty-five years after her death, Pope Callixtus III reopened the case at the request of Inquisitor-General Jean Brehal and Joan’s mother Isabelle Romée. Joan was vindicated as a martyr and declared an innocent woman on July 7, 1456. It was nearly 500 years after her death that she was canonized as a saint, on May 16, 1920, by Pope Benedict XV. Joan of Arc is now recognized as the patron saint of France.

The story of a girl guided by voices to change the world has proved irresistible to storytellers and artists from the time of her death to the present day. She continues to serve as an inspiration to daring girls everywhere.

Making a Willow Whistle

YOU WILL NEED

♦ An 8″ straight, smooth, round willow twig

♦ A Swiss Army knife

♦ Water

Find a willow twig that is straight and round, without any side branches, less than an inch thick, and about 8 inches long.

Using your Swiss Army knife, cut one end of the willow twig at an angle to make the mouthpiece. Then cut just the end of the pointy tip off to make it a little blunt.

On the top side of the twig, the side opposite your angled cut, carve a small notch in the willow, starting just past the point where your angled cut ends.

Just more than halfway down, cut a ring around the twig, taking care