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In the year 1337 the hundred-year war between England and France broke out. Due to different legal concepts regarding the succession, both kings stressed the french throne. The first battle between France and England took place at Crecy in 1346. The English had an advantage, which should decide the outcome of this battle: the welsh longbow. Its armourpiercing arrows did have a devastating effect on the french knights, who were nearly imobile because of their heavy armour. In 1356 the army of king John II. of France was completely destroyed at Poitiers. He got captured and was released three years later, after the peace of Bretigny. The French payed the ransom of three million pieces of gold and ceded some areas to England. The new king of France, Charles V., resumed the war against England in 1369 and liberated some of the occupied french territories. After his death, he was succeeded by his son Charles VI., who later suffered of a mental disease. In 1396 both parties formed a ceasefire agreement that lasted 28 years. In 1412, briefly before the hundred-year war broke out again, Joan of Arc was born in Domremy, a small village in Lorraine. Henry V. restarted the war against France in 1415 and destroyed the french army at Agincourt. The Burgundians intervened in the war on the side of the English (1416) and recognized Henry V. as the legitimate french king. The english army conquered the entire Normandy (1417). Paris was invaded by the Burdungians. The only sixteen year old Dauphin1 escaped from the city, but his mother, queen Isabeau, and the mad king Charles V., went over to the Burgundians. In the treaty of Troyes (1420) Charles VI. declared his son, the Dauphin, as illegitimate which excluded him from succession. Two years later, Charles VI. died, as well as the king of England, Henry V. At the age of 13, Joan of Arc heard for the first time the voices of those saints, who gave her the order to liberate France from the English and to lead her king, the Dauphin Charles, to his coronation to Reims. In the year 1428 the situation for the Dauphin was disastrous. The Burgundians were standing in the east and the English in the north, who had captured the entire area north of the Loire. It seemed to be only a matter of time, until France was conquered completely. On October 7th, siege of Orleans began, the key city in crossing the Loire and conquering the south of France. In December 1428 Joan left her parents' house. She told her parents she would go to an uncle in Burey-le-Petit. In fact she stayed some weeks at her uncles house. But her actual destination was Vaucouleurs. She asked the captain of the city, Robert de Baudricourt to send her to the Dauphin. He refused first, but Joan did not give up. Finally she persuaded Beaudricourt and a small detachment was set up to escort Joan to Chinon. Joan got her own horse, a sword and dressed for the first time in men's clothes. On March 1st the detachment arrived in Chinon. Joan asked the king for an audience, which was finally granted. She explained the Dauphin, that she was sent by God, who ordered her to liberate France from the English and to take the Dauphin to Reims, so that he can be crowned to the king of France. The Dauphin was sceptical and wanted her good intentions to be checked. For this purpose, she was brought to the university of Poitiers and was examined by the doctors. Some ladies also checked her virginity, because the common believe was, that a virgin could not be possessed by the devil. The checks finally resulted in a positive judgment. After that, Joan was brought to Tours, where an armour was made for her. Additionally she was given the banner with the fleur-de-lis2. The Dauphin ordered an army to be raised in Blois. With this army, Joan of Arc marched towards Orleans. Since the city was not yet completely enclosed, she succeeded in marching unnoticed into the city on April 29th. During the battles for Orleans, one english fortress after the other was captured by the French. The losses of the English were immense. Joan of Arc motivated her soldiers by her courage as she was always present on the front line and still fought after being wounded by an english arrow. On May 8th the english army retreated. OrlEans was liberated. In June the Loire campaign began. Within one week the cities of Jargeau, Meung and Beaugency were taken by the French. Finally the English army was defeated devastatingly on June 18th in the battle of Patay. At this point, Joan of Arc wanted to go to Reims as fast as possible to crown the Dauphin. She marched with her army to the city of Troyes. At first the city rejected to surrender, but after Joan prepared to take the city by storm, it surrendered combatless. Some time later Chelons and Reims capitulated also. On July 17th, the Dauphin was crowned to the king of France in the cathedral Notre-Dame. During the ceremony the father of Joan was present in Reims. It was the first time he met his daughter, after her departure in December 1428. Charles VII. gave her father an audience and granted the citizens of Domremy and Greux tax exemption for all time. After his coronation Charles VII. accepted a short term armistice suggestion of the duke of Burgundy. Joan of Arcs plan to march directly to Paris was thereby derailed. Nevertheless the attack was executed some time later, but then the enemy had had enough time to send in reinforcements. The attack was struck back under heavy losses of the French. Charles VII. extended the armistice with duke Philip of Burgundy to April 1430. As a gesture of goodwill he dismissed the main part of his army. A new army was raised not until October 1429 in Bourges. Philip of Burgundy used this armistice with Charles VII. for military purposes. In April 1430 he prepared to besiege Compiegne in order to create a passage to Paris. Joan of Arc and her army hurried to the loyal city's aid. She ordered a sortie which was succesful in the first place. But the Burgundians got the upper hand and the french army had to retreat. To prevent the burgundian army from taking the city, the commander of Compiegne pulled up the drawbridge and closed the city's gates. Joan of Arc, her brother Pierre and Jean d'Aulon were cut off from retreat. They were taken prisoner by the Burgundians. The English tried everything to get Joan of Arc from the Burgundians. After two failed attempts to escape, she was handed over for 10.000 francs, a ransom for a king. The English took her into the jurisdiction of the catholic church. The process against Joan began in Rouen on January 9th 1431. She was accused of breaking several laws of the church. The chairman was Pierre Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais. The judgment of the court was certain from the beginning. Despite the fact that Joan of Arc defended herself with extremely intelligent and fearless responses at the interrogation, she could not escape the judgment of the "Holy Inquisition". Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on May 30th 1431 at the marketplace of Rouen. Four years later, a peace treaty was formed in Arras between France and Burgundy. In 1437, Charles VII. liberated Paris and succeeded to conquer back all occupied french territories (except Calais) until 1453. The hundred-year war was at its end, France liberated. In 1450 was the beginning of the revision process, whose verdict was proclaimed in 1456 in Rouen and which declared the verdict of the first trial as "null and void".
The End
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