St. Joan of Arc

Joan of ArcLeader of the French Army, 1412-1431

St. Joan of Arc was born at Domremy to Jacques and Isabelle d'Arc, during the Truce of Leulinghen. Receiving a mandate from God to drive the English out of France, she was escorted to King Charles VII. After gaining the approval of the Church scholars at Poitiers in March of 1429, she was granted titular command of an army which quickly lifted the siege of Orleans on May 8, 1429, captured Jargeau, Meung-sur-Loire, and Beaugency in mid-June, and defeated an English army at Patay on June 18.As a reward for her service, Charles VII granted her noble status along with her family on December 29, 1429. She returned to the field the following year, despite predicting her own defeat. Captured at Compiegne on May 23, 1430 and transferred to the English, she was placed on trial in Rouen by a selected group of pro-English clergy, many of whom nevertheless had to be coerced into voting for a guilty verdict. Convicted and executed on May 30, 1431, she was subsequently declared innocent by the Inquisition on July 7, 1456 after a lengthy re-trial process which was initiated shortly after the English were finally driven from Rouen, therebyallowing access to the documents and witnesses associated with her trial; the presiding Inquisitor, Jean Brehal, ruled that the original trial had been tainted by fraud, illegal procedures, and intimidation of both the defendant and many of the clergy who had taken part in the trial, and she was therefore described as amartyr by the Inquisitor. After the usual lengthy delay associated\r\n with the sluggish process of canonization, she was beatified on April 11, 1909 and canonized as a saint on May 16, 1920.
Links:
Catholic Encyclopedia,Joan of Arc,France