Joan’s Great Victory at Patay

June 18th is the anniversary of Joan’s great victory at Patay on June 18, 1429. While this was Joan’s most overwhelming victory where she annihilated an English army of a least six thousand while losing only a handful of men I have never felt that she receives proper credit for this great victory by most modern historians. Examples of what I mean can be found in the book Joan of Arc: A Military Leader published in 1999 where author Kelly Devries says that “she assisted in the French victory at the battle of Patay” and online in the wikipedia article (disclaimer: I do not consider wikipedia to be a valid historical reference) which says: “Although credited to Joan of Arc, most of the fighting took place at the vanguard of the French army and the battle was over before the main body could arrive.” To me such “criticism,” and that is what it is, would be like saying that Robert E. Lee does not deserve credit for the great victory at Chancellorsville because he was not personally present with Jackson’s flanking corps which is something no true historian would ever try to argue.

I wrote a good article last year about Joan of Arc and the Battle of Patay that relies heavily upon the words of the people present and clearly shows just how much Joan was responsible for the victory at Patay. Please read it and decide for yourself exactly how much credit Joan deserves in leading the French to their overwhelming victory at Patay.

Joan of Arc & the Battle of Patay