Joan of Arc

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Twenty-two years after Joan's death, the war ended with a French victory at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, [268] and the English were expelled from all of France except Calais. At her trial, she was accused of wearing breeches, a mantle, a coat of mail, a doublet, hose joined to the doublet with twenty laces, tight boots, spurs, a breastplate, buskins, a sword, a dagger, and a lance.

Claiming to be acting under divine guidance, she became a military leader who transcended gender roles and gained recognition as a savior of France. She was viewed as a religious figure in Orléans after the siege was lifted, and an annual panegyric was pronounced there on her behalf until the 1800s. In the forward Twain's fictional Sieur Louis de Conte presents himself in the year 1492—more than 60 years after Joan of Arc's death in 1431—as writing his "Personal Recollections . She dictated another letter to the English warning them to leave France and had it tied to a bolt, which was fired by a crossbowman. She was also described as wearing furs, a golden surcoat over her armor, and sumptuous riding habits made of precious cloth.During the French Revolution, her reputation came into question because of her association with the monarchy and religion, [344] and the festival in her honor held at Orléans was suspended in 1793.

Henry V's brothers, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, had continued the English conquest of France. The novel is presented as a translation by "Jean Francois Alden" of memoirs by Sieur Louis de Conte, a fictionalized version of Joan of Arc's page Louis de Contes. At 17 she presented herself to the Dauphin’s court at Chinon, and, based on her God-sent visions, persuaded him she could save France.

Joan's execution created a political liability for Charles, implying that his consecration as the king of France had been achieved through the actions of a heretic. He summarizes the lives and deaths of many of the characters, including Joan's family and King Charles the VII. More recently, her association with the monarchy and national liberation has made her a symbol for the French far right, including the monarchist movement Action Française [356] and the National Front Party. The published book lists 11 official sources as "authorities examined in verification of the truthfulness of this narrative".

May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronation of Charles VII of France during the Hundred Years' War. Its first book publication was in two volumes, with the second part "In Court and Camp" split between Volume 1 and Volume 2. Morpurgo’s gift is to make this long-ago world of danger and heartbreak accessible without ever patronising his young readers.

As early as 1429, Orléans began holding a celebration in honor of the raising of the siege on 8 May.