She led an army at 17 with no training. Then they burned her alive. #saints #history #catholic

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]She had no military training, no title, and no formal education.

[00:00:06]She was 17 years old and had grown up on a farm.

[00:00:10]She walked into a war that had lasted nearly a century, told a king what to do, and changed the outcome.

[00:00:19]Her name was Joan of Arc. Joan was born around 1412 in northeastern France.

[00:00:26]The Hundred Years War had been grinding on since before her parents were born.

[00:00:32]England occupied large parts of France, and the French throne was disputed.

[00:00:38]Most ordinary people had never known a France at peace. Starting at age 13, Joan reported hearing voices she believed came from saints.

[00:00:49]They told her to drive the English from France and to see that the rightful prince was crowned king.

[00:00:56]She told no one for years. Then, she decided she had to act. She traveled to the French court and somehow convinced military commanders to give her armor, a horse, and troops.

[00:01:10]In the spring of 1429, she led the French army to a stunning victory at Orléans, breaking a months-long English siege in just 9 days.

[00:01:23]The French soldiers called her the Maid.

[00:01:26]She was captured the following year by English allied Burgundian forces and sold to the English.

[00:01:33]They put her on trial for heresy and sorcery.

[00:01:37]The trial lasted months.

[00:01:40]She answered every question with remarkable clarity.

[00:01:44]In the end, they burned her at the stake in 1431.

[00:01:49]She was 19. A retrial 25 years later declared her innocent of every charge.

[00:01:56]In 1920, the Catholic Church canonized her as a saint.

[00:02:01]Joan of Arc remains one of the most studied and celebrated figures in all of history. A teenage girl who refused to stop believing what she heard.