Joan of Arc
Carly Crocker
It is remarkable to have the bravery to fight in a war for your country, but it shows astonishing courage to fight for the Lord. Joan of Arc was asked by God to battle in the Hundred Years War and eventually had to fight for her own life because of it. Saint Joan of Arc was born in Domremy, France on 6 January, 1412. Jacques d'Arc, Joan's father, was a small peasant farmer and her mother was Isabelle d'Arc. Joan was believed to be the youngest of a family of five. She never learned to read or write but was skilled in sewing and spinning. As a pious child, grave beyond her years, she often knelt in the church absorbed in prayer, and loved the poor tenderly. When Joan was twelve, she indicated she could hear and see saints and angels. She believed some of these visions were of St.
Catherine, St. Margaret, the Archangel Michael, Angel Gabriel, and sometimes large groups of angels. The crown of France during Joan's time was in dispute between the dauphin, Charles and the English king, Henry VI. Henry's armies were occupying much of the northern part of the kingdom with the Burgundians. In May 1428 Joan traveled to Vaucouleurs, where she asked for permission to join the dauphin and his cause. She and her visions were promptly dismissed, and the 16-year-old Joan went home. The next year, she returned. That April, the dauphin provided Joan with several military men and she carried a banner with Jesus's name written on it. On May 4, led by Joan, the French captured the fortress of Saint Loup, and the next day Joan led a march to a second fortress called Saint Jean le Blanc. She led a charge against the English...