The Secret Trials of Joan of Arc: The Voices of Saint Michael, the Heresy of Cross-Dressing, and the Pyre of Rouen
The Maid of Orléans and the French Crisis In the early fifteenth century, during the dark, final phase of the Hundred Years' War, the Kingdom of France was in a state of absolute dissolution. The English forces controlled Paris and the northern provinces, while the French Dauphin, Charles VII, remained uncrowned and isolated in the south. In this period of despair, a young, illiterate peasant girl from the village of Domrémy entered the royal court of Chinon. Joan of Arc ( Jeanne d'Arc ), who referred to herself simply as La Pucelle (The Maid), claimed that she had been sent by the creator to lift the siege of Orléans and to lead the Dauphin to his coronation at Reims. Joan's mission was not a simple military expedition; it was a profound, spiritual intervention that altered the destiny of Europe. Supported by a small force of knights, the young girl lifted the siege of Orléans in nine days, won a series of decisive victories along the Loire, and successfully escorted ...