Portal:Saints/Selected article/June 2006

Joan of Arc, also known as Jeanne d'Arc or The Maid of Orleans or Jeanne la Pucelle (6 January 1412 – 30 May 1431), is a national heroine of France and a saint of the Catholic Church. She stated that she received visions from God, through which she helped inspire Charles VII's troops to retake most of his dynasty's former territories, which had been under English and Burgundian dominance during the Hundred Years' War. She had been sent to the siege of Orléans by the then-uncrowned King Charles VII as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the disregard of veteran commanders and ended the siege in only nine days. Several more swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims, making Charles the only one of the two claimants to be officially crowned.