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Stories offer insight on the 'Maid of Orleans'

| January 5, 2022 1:00 AM

Everyone has heard of Joan of Arc, but here is a little more information.

When in France, I visited her home. Only half the building is still standing, including her bedroom of which we were in. It has a large fireplace. But after 500 years, I am sure it has been remodeled. It is in Domrémy, France, not too far south from where my wife was from.

Arc is  the abbreviated last name of her father. She was raised on a farm and at 16 years old, she received messages from God through two angels. In 1429, her message was to liberate France from the English. She was illiterate, but kept getting these messages and on she went.

Her first goal was to get King Charles formally crowned King in the cathedral at Reims, France, which I have also visited. First, she obtained an army and attacked Orleans, France, which she had to go through to get to Reims. She was shot with an arrow, but it didn't slow her down. She was victorious, then on to Reims with King Charles for his formal crowning, which was accomplished.

Then she turned toward the English, but unfortunately, she was captured, put on trial and sentenced to death by burning at 19 years old. It seems odd that no army came to rescue her, and she was burned at the stake.

In later years, the  trial was ruled wrong and her record became clean. In 1920, she was declared a saint by the Pope.

A side note is that she didn't go by Jean d'Arc (French version). Instead, she went by the "maid," which was derived from the French word for girl.

Roger Gregory is a Vietnam veteran and business owner in Priest River.