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The saints

St. Joan of Arc

A teenage farm girl led an army, then faced a trial rigged against her.

Feast: 30 May (date from the Roman Martyrology; not on the universal calendar) · 1412 to 1431 · The Middle Ages · Domrémy, Orléans and Rouen, France

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Medieval miniature of Joan of Arc in full armor, holding a sword and a white banner.

Unknown author. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Home / The saints / St. Joan of Arc

Domrémy, eastern France

At thirteen, a peasant girl in Domrémy began hearing voices she identified as St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret.1

They told her to help the French king in a war that had gone on for generations.1

At seventeen she convinced the king’s court to let her ride with the army to Orléans, and the siege broke.

Patron of France1; members of the military1

01St. Joan of Arc

The Maid of Orléans

Joan led troops in battle in 1429 and stood beside Charles VII at his coronation in Reims.1

The next year she was captured and sold to the English.1

02St. Joan of Arc

The trial

She was tried by a church court in Rouen that was set against her, and her plain, clever answers frustrated her judges.1

She was burned at the stake in 1431, at nineteen, calling on the name of Jesus.1

A later papal court declared her innocent, and she was canonized in 1920.1

Live it this week

Give a straight answer

Joan answered her judges simply and honestly, even when the questions were traps. This week, when someone asks what you believe, give a short, honest answer instead of dodging, and leave the rest to God.

Notes

How we know · 1 source for this page
  1. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Joan of Arc”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.