James Baquet Few people have captured the imagination of the centuries like a simple illiterate peasant girl who had visions which caused her to be executed for heresy — and canonized as a Catholic saint. I’m speaking of course of Joan of Arc (1412-1431), called the “Maid of Orleans” for her role in an English siege on that French city. The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) was a series of ongoing conflicts between England and France over the kingship of France. During one phase of the war, Joan claimed to have seen the Archangel Michael, patron of soldiers, Saint Margaret of Antioch and Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Both of the latter were female martyrs, which Joan herself was to become. Her visions instructed Joan to support the Dauphin, the French contender who became Charles VII (against another French faction, the Burgundians), and to take back France from the English, who had allied with the Burgundians. In 1428, the English besieged the city of Orleans, one of the last strongholds of those faithful to the Dauphin. If it fell, France would almost certainly fall to the English. She had had her first vision at age 13, and at 16 had importuned the local garrison commander to escort her to the faraway French Royal Court. Unconvinced, the commander did not grant her request until by a seeming miracle she predicted the outcome of an upcoming battle. Disguised as a male soldier, she arrived at the court and met the king when she was 17, and was sent to Orleans as part of a relief mission. The seven-month siege was lifted only nine days after her arrival — whether through her sound advice or simply the inspiration of her presence is not clear. After over a year with the army, Joan was captured by the Burgundians and handed over to the English, but she had turned the tide in favor of the French. In 1431, at the age of 19, she was burned at the stake as a heretic by a pro-English court. (The primary evidence of her sin was that she had worn male clothing.) The Catholic Church overturned the charges in 1456. Napoleon declared her a national symbol in 1803, and she was canonized in 1920. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. main; most important 2. made into a saint 3. military post 4. one who has a chance to become something 5. seeing something in the mind 6. accompany; guide and protect 7. people who die for their faith 8. false belief 9. foretold; “saw” the future 10. begged urgently | 