At just 17, Joan led troops to lift the Siege of Orléans, a critical turning point in the war. Her presence emboldened soldiers and revitalized French morale. Under her influence, the Dauphin (heir to the French throne), Charles VII, was crowned at Reims Cathedral, a symbolic gesture that affirmed his legitimacy.
But Joan’s meteoric rise ended in betrayal. Captured by Burgundian allies of the English, she was handed over and put on trial for heresy. In 1431, at age 19, Joan was burned at the stake in Rouen. Her martyrdom, however, galvanized French resistance and contributed to the eventual French victory.
In 1920, nearly five centuries later, she was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church—forever immortalized as the Maid of Orléans.
The Battle of Agincourt Was a Victory Against the Odds
One of the most famous battles of the war—and of all English military history—is the Battle of Agincourt, fought on October 25, 1415. King Henry V led a small, exhausted, and disease-ridden English force against a much larger French army. The French believed they would easily crush the English.
Instead, Henry V’s strategic genius and the terrain played key roles. The battlefield was narrow and muddy, hemmed in by woods. The heavily armored French knights, forced into tight columns, were slowed by the terrain and battered by English longbows. When they advanced, they were slaughtered.
English sources claimed that only a few hundred English died, while thousands of French nobles and knights were killed or captured. The victory boosted English morale and made Henry V a national hero. Shakespeare later immortalized the moment in his play Henry V, giving the world the famous “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers” speech. shutdown123