Joan of Arc is a historical superstar, a peasant who rose above her rank and gender to help free France from foreign occupation. Claiming to be acting under the orders of saints and angels, she became a symbol of national freedom. But how did a near-illiterate teenage girl win the hearts and minds of soldiers and citizens alike? What was behind her angelic visions? And why was she abandoned to a brutal fate at the age of just nineteen?

This is a Short History of Joan of Arc.

Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Kathryn Harrison, author of Joan of Arc, A Life Transfigured. 

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