“Hold the cross high, so I may see it through the flames” – these are the haunting final words uttered by our cross-dressing female patron saint of France. The notorious ‘Maid of Orléans’ – or more widely known as Joan of Arc – is perhaps one of the most controversial characters in all French history, her story, shrouded in mystery and still finds us questioning more than 600 years later. Was she merely a mentally ill young girl whose delusions led to her tragic end, or was she a true visionary who received information from the divine resulting in her becoming the prolific hero of the French nation, altering the very fabric of this nation’s history forever? On this day in History, we take a closer look, what conclusion does her story provide?
In order to better understand the events catapulted into motion by her life, we must understand the backdrop against which her story plays out. Joan of Arc (also known as Jehanne la Pucelle, Joan the maid or Jehanette, among various other possible names she bore) was born around 1412 in the village of Domrémy in Northeastern France to father, Jacques d’Arc (or so we believe he is called), a tenant farmer, and mother Isabelle Romée. Joan was born into a France that had been actively engaged in a war against England for more than 75 years at the point of he birth (this war was later known as the famous Hundred Year War). England was succeeding against France and by 1420 Charles of Valois had lost the throne to Henry V who was crowned as king of England and France, succeeded by Henry VI in 1422. At this point much of Northern France
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Scriptwriter: Nadette Koch
Video Editor & Motion Graphics: Ayasha
Voice-over Artist: Stephen Lewis: stephenvox.com
Music: Motionarray.com
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