The Fearsome Maid of Orleans Personally Led Her Armies Into Bloody Combat
Endowed with remarkable mental and physical courage, Joan of Arc led her men in a whirlwind campaign against the English besiegers of Orleans. She lifted the siege in nine days, and put the English to flight. It was a momentous victory that repulsed an English attempt to conquer France. Then Joan, now known as “The Maid of Orleans”, convinced the Dauphin to crown himself king of France. She was then sent on various military expeditions, and in one of them in 1430, she was thrown off her horse and captured by the Burgundians.
Joan’s captors kept her for several months, then sold to the English, who were eager to get their hands on the girl who had caused them so much trouble. Although she had saved her country, she was now abandoned by her countrymen to fend for herself. The English and their French collaborators accused her of heresy and witchcraft, and locked her in a dark and filthy cell to await trial. Manacled to her bed with chains, she was incessantly harassed by her inquisitors at all hours of day and night in an effort to break her will and spirit.