Joan of Arc Burned at the Stake

Joan of Arc, also known as the Maid of Orleans and Jeanne d'Arc, lived from about 1412 to 1431. She was canonized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church in 1920. She is one of the patron saints of France, honored for her military efforts on behalf of the French dauphin against the claims to the French throne of the English king. She based her highly-unusual exploits in military leadership on visions she had received, she believed, from God.