Joan of Arc was a true woman of strength and wit. In fact, she almost single-handedly led the French troops into a lot of victories. However, Joan of Arc’s downfall was almost as fast as her rise to being considered as a French heroine.
On May 23, 1430, Joan of Arc was captured. This was primarily due to her attempt to forcibly attack Margny. This offensive act was unsuccessful and she eventually retraced her steps to a place called Compeigne. Joan decided to do this only after thousands of the Burgundians in Margny launched an offensive against her and her troops. Despite this, Joan of Arc showed her strength and dignity by being the last person to run off from the battlefield. She was eventually persuaded to stand down when she was thrown off her horse by an archer from the opposing troops.
During the time of Joan’s capture, it was the custom to offer a ransom as an exchange for a war prisoner. Despite Joan’s dedication to King Charles VII, he was unable to help in her predicament. Joan tried her very best to escape on several occasions but to no avail. Finally, the English government paid the ransom for Joan from her captors. This was negotiated by Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais. This man was also the one responsible for the trial of Joan of Arc.
Joan of Arc was tried for the crime of heresy but this was not without political motivations behind it. This was because Joan was a threat to the Duke of Bedford’s ascent to French throne. There were quite a good number of irregularities and illegitimacies in the trial of the French heroine, Joan of Arc. One of the problems with the trial was that it did not have any substantial basis under the ecclesiastical law. In fact, the main person who was responsible for Joan’s trial, Bishop Pierre Cauchon, did not have enough authority to oversee or to file the case. In addition, there was a significant lack of implicating evidence against Joan of Arc. The supposed pieces of evidence were not even substantial enough to start the trial in the first place. Despite this, the trial was begun and Joan was not even allowed the right to have someone to represent her.
Joan did not fall down without a fight. She was able to voice out her side to the English partisans very intellectually. There were some testimonies that said that the hooked on phonics reviews court transcripts were modified in order to place Joan on a bad light. Those who were part of her trial and even the inquisitor himself were threatened and coerced by the English government to convict Joan of something that she was innocent about.
Since heresy was a crime that was punishable by death during the time of Joan of Arc’s trial, she was finally sentenced to die on May 30, 1431 in front of a lot of people. She was burned on a stake. The English even went as far as burning her body twice to prove to the people that she was really dead and was unable to escape.
