Jeanne d'Arc French Heroine

However, things were not so simple and soon problems arose. Political issues threatened her position. A young woman riding around leading an army and doing better than veteran military leaders could not be popular for long!

And, despite her feminine appearance in some artwork, Jeanne d'Arc had her hair cut short and wore a man's clothes. This also led to criticism.

Unfortunately, during one of her campaigns, Jeanne d'Arc was captured by the Burgundians who gave her to the English. If Charles VII had been a really good guy he could have rescued her. But, he didn't.

For five hundred years since her death people have sought to portray Jeanne d'Arc in every way imaginable. Some have said she was possessed by demons, defending the conviction of heresy. Many have suggested she was a puppet in the hands of the political leaders. But for the people, she has been an adored heroine, a martyr, and finally a saint.

Even when tortured and condemned to death by burning at the stake, she maintained her faith that she was guided by voices from God. Her beatification finally came in 1909; her canonization as a saint in 1920.

A French heroine who united France driving out the English, and a Catholic saint - that really doesn't sound much like me!

OK, well maybe because I was born and raised in Scotland I sympathize with driving out the English. And then she certainly had a lot of trouble with the Catholic Church, and at lot of the Protestants in my community had a pretty bad opinion of the Catholic Church. So she did have some things that I could relate to; being burned at the stake not so much though!

But still, why would this 15th century young French woman inspire me? Well, there's a few reasons.

• She was absolutely convinced that she had been given a mission by God
• Most people don't get missions from God! Sometimes we get inspired by good ideas, but we don't usually experience voices or visions of angels and saints. And those that do are called crazy! But Jeanne d'Arc was very clear in her mind that she had been visited by messengers from God, and that the messages they gave her were vital to her country, and that God was with her in carrying out these directions. When I was young I had a lot of difficulty believing in God and religion, but I thought to have such an experience and to know absolutely that God was real and He had given you clear direction about what to do would be so amazing.
• She led an army on horseback to victory
• Well, when I was young I thought riding into battle carrying a sword up high would be so exciting! Fighting for what you believe in is an inspiring thing. And she didn't just fight, she was victorious!
• She was just a teenage girl when she did all this
• Jeanne d'Arc wasn't a seasoned soldier, she wasn't a soldier at all. She was just a young girl when she was given her mission. She persuaded the Dauphin to give her an army, and led that army to victory when she was just a teenager!

I'm no longer a teenage girl excited to ride off into battle waving a sword, a banner, or anything else! Perhaps it's just that I'm older (and hopefully wiser) but perhaps it's also that times have changed. Today, I see the solution to problems as less amenable to physical confrontation and more in need of solutions based on mutual respect, a desire for harmony, and an understanding that we are all God's children.

Joan was inspired by God to lead the French army against the English. I have no doubt of that. She was very brave, and smart too. She persuaded the Dauphin to let her lead the army, she rallied the soldiers, and she led them to victory. Good going for anyone, let alone a young teenage girl!

She was famously captured, tried, tortured, and eventually burned at the stake. Quite a sacrifice for doing God's will. But, more than all that physical pain, she had to abandon her family, her life, and any hope of marrying and having her own children. To me, now, I understand that that was a very great sacrifice.

Being canonized as a saint is good. And no doubt it's a good thing for the Church to have reversed its judgement on her as a heretic, and to have given her the highest status of sainthood. But for Jeanne herself, does she spend eternity riding that horse into battle with her sword held high? Or worse, tied to a stake with the flames approaching? I hope not. I hope and pray that she was taken by her angels and saints and Jesus, to whom she cried out at the end, to a place in God's kingdom where there is no more of that kind of pain.

But still, it seems to me, her true happiness can only be attained by the experience of love, not just of God, but of people. She still inspires me to bravely take action guided by God. But I also think of what she could not have in her life, and to bravely seek that too, for surely God wants us to love each other as one family.

• Joan of Arc - Joan of Arc at New World Encyclopedia
• Maid of Heaven - Website dedicated to Joan of Arc by Ben D. Kennedy, author of Maid of Heaven: The Story of Saint Joan of Arc.
• Saint Joan of Arc Center -  Website of the Saint Joan of Arc Center in Albuquerque, NM, founded by Virginia Frohlick.