Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII (1854), Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres · public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Her story

A peasant girl from Domrémy who, guided by the voices of St Michael, St Catherine and St Margaret, convinced the future Charles VII to send her with the army to relieve the siege of Orléans in 1429. She succeeded, and Charles was crowned at Reims. She was captured, tried for heresy by a pro-English church court, and burned at the stake in Rouen at about 19.

Path to sainthood

A retrial in 1456 declared her innocent. She was beatified on 18 April 1909 by Pope Pius X and canonised on 16 May 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.

Patronages

France (secondary patron, proclaimed by Pius XI on 2 March 1922), soldiers, and women in military service.

Trivia

• Among the charges against her was wearing men's clothing.
• St Michael was one of her voices, which ties her to St Michael's Line and Mont-Saint-Michel, which never fell to the English.
• She could not read or write, but her signature ("Jehanne") survives on letters she dictated.

Sources

• Benedict XVI, General Audience on St Joan of Arc (26 Jan 2011), vatican.va
• Vatican News: St Joan of Arc
• Britannica: St Joan of Arc
• Catholic Encyclopedia: St Joan of Arc

Fact-checked on October 15, 2026 against New Advent (Catholic Encyclopedia), Vatican documents and news reports. Britannica links are given for further reading. Feast days follow the General Roman Calendar.

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