Joan was a simple peasant girl who was raised in a Catholic home as the youngest of five children. Her mother was very religious and had a big influence on Joan's life. Joan never learned to read or write, but was skilled in spinning and sewing. She was also always very strong and healthy. At the age of thirteen, Joan began to have holy visions and hear the voices of saints she identified as St. Margaret, St. Catherine, and St. Michael.Her voices convinced her to vow to remain a virgin.

When Joan was seventeen years old, the voices revealed her divine mission. Joan was told that she had been chosen to lead the French army into

The trial took place in Rouen Castle where Joan was also held prisoner and guarded by English soldiers. Joan complained about this and requested to be placed in a church prison where she could have women to attend to her needs. They tried everything they could think of to break her. She was treated very badly. She was kept in an iron cage and chained by her neck, hands and feet. She was made to endure mental torment and insults by the guards. Throughout her ordeal Joan was treated as a prisoner of war and refused the decent treatment that she would have had in a Church prison.

An army was assembled to lift the siege of Orleans and Joan rode with them. She was not a military commander, but acted more as a moral leader. Joan imposed strict rules and required her troops to go to confession and leave prostitutes behind. She traveled with the army and was there to inspire the troops with confidence for victory. After inviting the English to surrender, she developed the plan that was used to free the city of Orleans from the English. She was actually wounded in the battle, but returned to inspire her troops to a great victory.

The University of Paris reviewed the articles of accusation. The theological faculty decided that Joan was the instrument of the Devil and approved them. The university's law school agreed but only if Joan continued to insist that her voices came from God, and she could be proven to be of sound mind. The university wrote letters to the Pope and the Cardinals praising the procedure and stating that it had been conducted in a fair, just, and holy manner (Michelet 100).

To accomplish their goals, the English used Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais. He was an ambitious man with no scruples who could be relied upon to use his authority to ensure the outcome of the trial favored the English position . Cauchon negotiated a sale price for Joan of 10,000 pounds, which was paid by the English crown. The English always intended to burn Joan, and money was used to make sure it would happen. The English paid all of the expenses of the judges and gave letters guaranteeing protection from consequences to Cauchon and other officials who participated in the trial. Cauchon then had himself appointed the chief judge for Joan's ecclesiastical trial.

On May 29, 1431 the court declared Joan to be a heretic and ordered her to be burned at the stake. The sentence was carried out the next day (Thurston). The authorities had wanted many witnesses to Joan's death, and it is believed that the spectacle was attended by as many as 10,000 people. Her death, at the age of nineteen, was the ultimate retaliation for her defeat of the English armies at Patay (Lucie-Smith). It also served to invalidate her claims that Charles was the true king of France, supported by God. She and her voices had been condemned and rejected by the Church that she loved (Michelet 119). Her death was meant to demonstrate the falseness of her claims. However, Joan's death at the stake caused great sympathy to be felt for her. Many people believed that she had not been fairly treated (Lucie-Smith 1-3). Her bravery and behavior in the face of the horror of being burned alive caused even her greatest enemies to shed tears (Thurston).

There were nine interrogation sessions conducted behind the closed doors of the prison. The legal experts, after a review of the transcripts, were not impressed with these proceedings. There were criticisms that the proper procedures were not followed, sessions were held in secret, and the judges were not free to express their own opinions. They also felt that it was unfair to expect an uneducated peasant girl to answer the questions she was being asked without the benefit of a lawyer (Michelet 85-86). However the theologians saw things differently. A thorough review of the transcripts by them resulted in seventy propositions of Joan's crimes. These were extracted from the answers she had

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