Joan of Arc Pictures

By Jone Johnson Lewis, About.com Guide

Born near the end of The Hundred Years War between the French and the English, Joan of Arc lived in a small village in an area that remained under control of the French rather than of the English, who controlled Paris and had the city of Orléans under seige. The English claimed the crown of France for the son of Henry V of England and the French claimed it for the son of Charles VI of France (the Dauphin), each of whom had died in 1422.

Joan of Arc testified at her trial that she had been visited from the age of 12 by visions and voices of three saints (Michael, Catherine and Margaret) who told her to help drive the English out and have the Dauphin crowned at the Cathedral at Reims. She finally was able to get support to go to Chinon to the Dauphin and speak with him there.

In this image, Joan of Arc is entering Chinon, depicted here already in armor, to tell the king that he was to put her in charge of France's army and then she would lead it to victory over the English.