Joan of Arc was a French national heroine who became a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She was a simple peasant girl who rescued France in one of the darkest periods of the Hundred Years War with England. Her first great triumph was to lead a French army against the English, who had been terrorizing the city of Orleans. She has often been called the Maid of Orleans in honor of that victory. Jeanne …showed first 75 words of 616 total…

…showed last 75 words of 616 total…to death. Joan was burned at stake before a large crowd in Rouen on May 30, 1431. Because heretics could not receive a Christian burial, Joans ashes were thrown into the Seine River. In 1455, 24 years later, Joans family asked for a new trial on the charges against Joan. Pope Callistus III volunteered to do the hearing, and in 1456, he announced Joan innocent. Pope Pius X beautified her in 1909, and Pope Benedict XV declared Joan a saint in 1920.