Crowning Achievement of Joan of Arc

“Huzzah after huzzah swept the army from van to rear; and as for Joan, there where she sat her horse gazing, clothed all in white armor, dreamy, beautiful, and in her face a deep, deep joy, a joy not of earth, oh, she was not flesh, she was spirit! Her sublime mission was closing – closing in flawless triumph.”

On July 17, 1429, Joan of Arc achieved what was her greatest accomplishment in liberating France when Charles VII was crowned King of France. Many people, including historians, have a hard time understanding the strategic brilliance of Joan in focusing upon getting Charles VII crowned in the traditional way so that the people of France would view him as their legitimate King. Joan understood that to achieve the ultimate victory over England it was necessary to unite France behind one King. Unfortunately for Joan the crowning of Charles VII also marked the pinnacle of her career. But she had changed the course of history and ultimately the man she conducted to throne of France would lead France to complete victory over the English.

Joan of Arc Vindicated on This Date

Today is the 554th anniversary of Joan’s trial being overturned by the Church on July 7, 1456. After a lengthy process known as Joan’s trial of rehabilitation or nullification the Church overturned Joan's conviction and declared that she was a martyr who was wrongly executed by corrupt partisan clergy abusing a Church trial for secular purposes. In a ceremony taking place in the archbishop’s palace in Rouen, where twenty-five years before Joan had been declared a relapsed heretic and burned at the stake, in the presence of many dignitaries including Joan’s brother Jean d’Arc, a sentence was pronounced that vindicated Joan. To read the entire pronouncement please visit the blog Le Fleur de Lys too at http://lefleurdelystoo.blogspot.com/2010/07/sentence-of-rehabilitation.html

Deo Vindice!