History

Joan of Arc was born in 1412 towards the end of the Hundred Years War between The French and English. At the time, the French had suffered several setbacks in the war, owing largely to internal fighting among the French Royalty. At a time when the French nation was undergoing the worst time in its history and was down and battered, an illiterate peasant girl led the country to reversals in wars and the subsequent victories. This essay discusses the rise of Joan of Arc from a peasant girl to a successful military leader in the course of a little more than a year.

Joan of Arc was just an ordinary farmer girl, who, according to her, had been having visions of Angels since she was twelve years old. During these visions, she claimed that she was visited by several angels including St. Catherine, St. Margaret, Archangel Michael and Gabriel. Sometime around 1428, these visions started urging her to go to France. So in May of 1428, she approached Lord Robert de Baudricourt who initially dismissed her. However, next year, in February 1429, she went back to Baudricourt and accurately predicted the defeat of Armagnac led French army. When Baudricourt received confirmation of the defeat, he promptly arranged for Joan to be escorted to Chinon to meet Dauphin Charles.

At Chinon, Joan easily impressed Charles in a private meeting. Although it is not known for sure what transpired during the private meeting, it is believed that she convinced Charles by accurately telling him about a prayer he had made to God some time earlier. Although impressed, Charles did not immediately trust her. Instead, he sent her to be examined for her orthodoxy to the city of Poitiers where she was questioned for three weeks. At the end of the three weeks, the theologians were impressed enough by her to not only grant her approval but to earn her the reputation of another saint Catherine come down to Earth. While in Poitiers, she also dictated the first of her letters to the English warning them to go back to England. However, when the English paid no heed to her warning, she decided she had to take stronger steps.

Once the theologians had confirmed her credentials, she convinced Charles to provide her with a horse, suit of armor and weapons and to place her at the head of the army marching to free Orleans. She was also given a banner with the picture of Our Savior on a white background. Almost immediately, the French saw a complete reversal of their fortunes in the war as the English were defeated in one battle after another. Although her actual role in the war is debated, there is no doubt that she raised the morale of the soldiers. According to some eyewitness accounts, she reformed the troops by expelling prostitutes from the camp, and asking soldiers to stop swearing and start going to church. Also with her reputation as a saint spreading through the kingdom, soldiers who were earlier reluctant to serve for a lost cause began to volunteer for the campaign. However, when it comes to her a military acumen, scholars remain divided and many believe that she was nothing more than a charismatic cheerleader who raised the morale of the army. On the other hand there are those who actually credit her with sophisticated military strategizing. Whatever her impact on the French army may be, the fact remains that she saw success starting from her very first campaign.

The first French campaign under Joan took place on May 4th 1429. She waited a week to gather all the troops in the city of Orlean before launching the attack on the English-held church of Saint Loup. She led the troops over the ramparts holding only the banner and encouraged the troops by placing herself in the same dangers that the troops faced. This was the first French success in a long while with the English casualties totaling 114 dead and 40 captured.

Joans role in this war became typical of her contribution to the war. Those scholars who believe that Joans role was that of military strategists rather than just a glorified cheerleader, give the example of the next French victory when on 6th of May, the French troops attacked Bastille of Saint Jean de Blanc, against the advice of Raoul de Gaucourt, the governor of Orleans. The next morning on the 7th of May, the French attacked and captured Les Tourelles. Jean herself was wounded in this attack but the French succeeded in driving away the English from Orleans. At Orleans, the English had come closest to defeating Charles but under the leadership of Joan of Arc, the French soon recovered their lost territories which eventually led to the crowing of Charles as King Charles VII of France.

Thus, in a very short span Joan not only managed to gain audience with Charles but convinced him to place her at the head of the army and then successfully led the French armies to one victory after other. Joans rise in the French army was the direct result of her having led the French to success against the English. She was single handedly responsible for turning the tide of the Hundred Years war.