This Day in History: Joan of Arc Is
Burned at the Stake for Heresy May 30, 1431 The gruesome execution was
carried out at Rouen in Normandy.
She was not yet 20 years old. In three short years,
Joan of Arc had gone from being an
unknown peasant girl to the "Savior of France." At the age of 16, she began hearing
voices directing her to assist the heir to the
French throne to reclaim his crown from English rule. Dressed in male armor,
she was granted audience to the Dauphin.
After weeks of theological questioning, Joan of Arc
was supplied with a small army to fight the English. After months of stunning victories,
Joan was captured by the English,
tried as a heretic for surpassing church authority
and sentenced to death. Nearly 400 years later,
the Catholic Church recognized
Joan of Arc as a Christian saint in 1920.
