Joan was born in France around 1412 to a peasant family. She had three bothers and one sister. Her parents were farmers, but her father did hold an official position in the town, collecting taxes. At the time of her birth, France was in the middle of the Hundred Years War, which was a time of death and upheaval. Her particular area had feudal ties that switched back and forth frequently. Around the time when she turned thirteen, she said she started having visions. She continued to say that she had visions of various saints for the rest of her life. She claimed her visions told her that she must help the prince win his battles, so she armed herself and went off to war. This was not a common thing to have happen, especially for Christian women in this time period. Eventually, she was captured. She was put on trial for her political motivations, but much was made about her scary supernatural powers. They decided to try her for heresy, threaten her with torture, and trip her up. They were actually unsuccessful, because she was very intelligent and did not submit or fall for their traps. They did actually convict on heresy, but I do not believe she was a heretic at all. They did not like her political inclinations, they did not like her courage, her outspokenness, or the fact that she was a female.

After her conviction, she agreed to sign an abjuration, which essentially said she agreed to being called a heretic but was repenting. She was never allowed to wear men's clothing as she had when she was riding to war. They shaved her head. They made her deny having her visions of saints. She was mistreated greatly in a lot of ways, including attempted rape, which may or may not have been successful, depending who you ask. The guards in her prison only gave her male clothing, so she would be forced to wear them, and then tattled on her. They refused to let her out to go to Mass, even though she was supposed to have been allowed to. When she was questioned about why she was wearing male clothing again, she explained. They asked about her visions, and she said she would not deny them again. Because of that, they decided to deem her a relapsed heretic (utterly ridiculous) and execute her. She was excommunicated from the church, tied to a stake and burned, and her body was thrown into the Seine.

Joan was beatified in 1909 by Pope Pius X, and was canonized in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. Pope Pius X declared her to be a secondary patron saint of France. Her feast day is the date of her execution, which is extremely morbid. The Church of England also views her as a "visionary" but both of these religious factions were happy to murder her for nonsense reasons to facilitate their military and political goals. Despite the fact that she is now a religious icon for a religion that threw her out and murdered her, there have been other causes for her visions put forth over the years. Epilepsy, Schizophrenia, and fungal poisoning have all been suggested. Anything is possible, but the fact of the matter is, it cannot be proven now.

In school, Joan was briefly mentioned, and we were taught she was burned at the stake for hearing voices from God (not saints) and being a witch (when it was actually a heretic). We have to love that Southern education. I know that a lot of people are struggling in this current day and age with religious oppression from so called Christians, but Christians in the Middle Ages were a whole other breed. They were particularly horrible to their own kind, which makes no sense at all. Still are, actually. I think they misunderstood some of the basic Christian tenets and went wild, weaponizing their religion against people that believed differently, worshipped differently, or who were politically different. (A lot like today.) This book was easy to read, and contained a lot of information and source material. I am glad that I took the time to learn more about her life and trials, if for no other reason than to correct my miseducation. I was happy with this book, especially since I got it for a dollar.