Joan of Arc. 2008

“I am afraid nothing but betraying”

JOAN OF ARC – national heroine of France, one of the commanders of the French troops in the Hundred Years’ War. Years of life 1412-1431.

 The only victim in the history of the Inquisition, which the Roman Church justified and canonized the saints. Her personality, talent of combat leader, patriotism, personal bravery, and finally sacrificial death made from Orlean maiden the saint in the national conscious of France.

Orlean maiden believed that she was called to fulfill the prophecy about the maid-liberator, freeing France from the English invaders. When in 1430, near Compiegne, Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians, the king did not take any measures to release her. Joan of Arc was handed over to the British and, having condemned for heresy, was burned at the stake. Subsequently, she was rehabilitated and canonized by the Catholic Church.

Centuries pass, but each generation again and again turns to the history of the girl from Domremy. Appeals to join the eternal moral values. For if history is the teacher of life, and then the epic of Joan of Arc is one of her great lessons.