St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France.

She was burned at the stake on 30
May 1431, dying at about nineteen
years of age.She embodied a deep
love for the country and God - thus
scarified herself for the
freedom of France.

On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was
born to pious parents of the French
peasant class in the obscure village
of Domremy, near the province of
Lorraine. At a very early age, she was
said to have heard the voices of:
St. Michael, St. Catherine,
and St. Margaret.

At first the messages were personal
and general, but when she was 1
3-years-old, she was in her father's
garden and had visions of Saint
Michael, Saint Catherine, and
Saint Margaret, each of whom told
her to drive the English from
French territory. They also asked
that she bring the Dauphin to Reims
for his coronation.

After their messages were delivered
and the saints departed,
Joan cried, as "they were so beautiful."

When she was sixteen-years-old,
she asked her relative, Durand Lassois,
to take her to Vaucouleurs, where
she petitioned Robert de Baudricourt,
the garrison commander, for permission
to visit the French Royal Court in Chinon.

Despite Baudricourt's sarcastic response
to her request, Joan returned the following
January and left with the support of
two of Baudricourt's soldiers:
Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengy.

Jean de Metz admitted Joan had confided
in him, saying, "I must be at the
King's side ... there will be no help
if not from me. Although I would rather
have remained spinning [wool] at
my mother's side ... yet must I go
and must I do this thing, for my
Lord wills that I do so."

Continues - and has a video-story:
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=295

...
On 23 May 1430, she was captured
at Compiègne by the Burgundian
faction, a group of French nobles
allied with the English. She was
later handed over to the English[6]
and put on trial by the pro-English
bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety
of charges.[7] After Cauchon declared
her guilty she was burned at the stake
on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen
years of age.

In 1456, an inquisitorial court
authorized by Pope Callixtus
III examined the trial, debunked
the charges against her, pronounced
her innocent, and declared her a martyr.
In the 16th century she became a symbol
of the Catholic League, and in 1803 she
was declared a national symbol
of France by the decision of Napoleon
Bonaparte. She was beatified in 1909
and canonized in 1920.

Joan of Arc is one of the nine secondary
patron saints of France, along with
Saint Denis, Saint Martin of Tours,
Saint Louis, Saint Michael, Saint Rémi,
Saint Petronilla, Saint Radegund and
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.


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