April 29, 1429: Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans


Joan of Arc was born in the small French village of Domremy around 1412. She was to the daughter of minor landholders, Jacques D’Arc and Isabelle Romee. During her childhood, France was in the grip of the Hundred Year War with England. When Joan was three, the French experienced a terrible defeat at the Battle of Agincourt. On top of the war with England, France was in the middle of a succession crisis. King Charles VI experienced periodic bouts of insanity and was frequently unable to rule. In response, the court split into two factions. The Armagnacs led by the heir to the throne, Charles who wanted to press his claim to the throne, and the Burgundians led by John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, wanted to establish a regency to rule in the King’s stead. France was beginning to splinter, as the teenaged Joan took fateful trip to her father’s garden on sunny afternoon.

One day in 1425, Joan walked through her father’s garden. As she walked, ethereal voices spoke to her. They were the voices of the angels. They told her to take up arms against the English, and the win Charles back his throne. At first, she ignored the voices, but they came to her again and again. By the time she was 17, she ventured off to fulfill her destiny.

She asked the commander of a local garrison to escort her to the court of Charles. At first, he laughed her off, but he soon realized that she had been sent by God, and granted the escort. When Charles met Joan, he was greatly suspicious of her. Joan relayed her story to the Dauphine, and he became intrigued. He consulted with the best theological minds he could find, and they questioned the young peasant girl. To their surprise, Joan remained calm and composed. As Joan was being interrogated, Charles received word the city of Orleans was under siege from the English. The holy man could not say whether in fact Joan was sent by God. However, they said that sending her with an army to relieve the siege could not hurt. So Charles released Joan and his army to relieve the siege at Orleans. On April 29, Joan and her troops arrived to aid the defenders. A few days later, the French soldiers were victorious in pushing the English back.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 25, 1306: Robert the Bruce is crowned King of Scots

Image
Robert the Bruce was born in Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland on June 7, 1274. He came from a long line of claimants to the Scottish throne, being a descendant of King David I. During his childhood, he was educated in history, civics and languages. He learned a variety of local dialects, French and Latin. Robert's early life was typical of a 13th century European noble. However his young life would soon be thrown upside down with the arrival of the English in Scotland. In 1286, King Alexander III died, his crown passed to a child named Margaret, the Maid of Norway. Due to Margaret's youth, the Scottish nobles assigned Guardians of Scotland to serve as regents until she would come of age. Then in 1290, Margaret died. This created a crisis between the five remaining claimants to the throne: John Balliol, John Hastings, Floris V, Count of Holland, and Robert. The Guardians feared a civil war, so they asked Edward I, King of England to mediate the situation. The King deci...
Read more

April 28, 1788: Maryland becomes the seventh state after it ratifies the United States Constitution

Image
Before European settlement, Maryland was home to the Iroquois and Algonquin peoples. During the 16 th century, Italian explorer Giovanni de Verrazano explored the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay; and John Smith further explored it in 1608. In 1632, George Calvert, 1 st Baron Baltimore, applied to King Charles I for a royal charter for the area surrounding Chesapeake Bay. When Calvert died, his son, Cecilius Calvert, 2 nd Baron Baltimore, was granted the charter in his stead. The colony was named in honor of King Charles’s wife, Queen Henrietta Maria. Upon its establishment, the colony of Maryland was predominantly Catholic, due to the shared religion of the Queen and Calvert’s. The new colonists landed at St. Clements’s Island on March 25, 1634. St. Mary’s City was established as the colony’s capital, and would remain such until 1695. In 1649, the colonial legislature passed the Maryland Tolerance Act, which fostered the free exercise of religion throughout the colony. However, whe...
Read more

May 2, 1863: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire while returning to camp after reconnoitering during the Battle of Chancellorsville

Image
Throughout 1863, Robert E. Lee fought back against the Union advance toward Richmond. The Peninsula Campaign, was Union General George B. McClellan’s attempt to seize the Confederate capital of Richmond. Confederate President Jefferson Davis promoted his military advisor, Robert E. Lee to take command of the army and push back McClellan. Lee was able to push back McClellan at the Battle of Seven Pines; however, the battle would prove not only to be a watershed moment for Lee but also for another of his generals. During the battle, troops under the command of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson led the charge against the Union soldiers. Jackson cut a very interesting figure. He was an uncompromising hypochondriac. He would suck lemons in the heat of battle, and keep one arm lifted because he felt it kept “the blood balanced.” However even with all of quirks, he was a brilliant tactician, with an utter disregard for the lives of his soldiers. But his soldiers loved him because he brought them...
Read more