Joan of Arc is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. Claiming divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII of France. Captured by her enemies, she was sold to the English and put on trial for charges of "insubordination and heterodoxy". She was burned at the stake for heresy when she was 19 years old. Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court examined the trial, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is one of the patron saints of France. Most of what is known today of her story comes from the detailed court records of her trials. (Summary by timothyFR)
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