a painting depicting Joan of Arc leading the French cavalry at Patay

How Joan of Arc turned the tide in the Hundred Years’ War

Divine voices guided a young girl to lead the French against the English. Burned as a heretic in 1431, the Maid of Orléans was both shaped and destroyed by the religious fervor and politics.

Leading the French cavalry, Joan rides into a hail of arrows from the English longbowmen at Patay, shortly after liberating Orléans. Painting by Frank Craig, 1907. Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Photograph by Charles Bowman, Age Fotostock
Editor's note: This story originally published In March 2017. It has been updated with new information.
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