Answer:
Joan of Arc is the national saint of France. Her memorial day at the Roman Catholic Church is celebrated on May 30. Joan was a peasant girl without education and could neither read nor write. At the age of twelve, she is said to have begun to hear heavenly voices, including from saints, who urged her to save the motherland.
The Hundred Years War was coming to an end and almost all of France was controlled by England. The English king Henry V settled in Paris and claimed the French throne against the French successor. At that time, Joan was visiting the king at his court in Bourges. It is not known what the two were talking about, but after the conversation Joan had been appointed commander of the French army. The English troops were driven away from, among others, Orleans and Patay, after which Charles VII could be crowned in Reims. Joan had achieved her goal and wanted to return to her hometown. However, the king persuaded her to take command of a new army, which would liberate Paris.
In 1430, Joan was captured by the Burgundians when she tried to rescue the besieged city of Compiegne north of Paris with a small army. The Burgundians mistreated her and then sold her to the English, who, during an inquisition process, sentenced her to death for witchcraft.
