Joan Meets the Dauphin Charles

The story is that the Dauphin decided to test her and had one of his courtiers pretend to be king.  However, Joan [who had never seen Charles] ignored the courtier and went directly to Charles.  After months of questioning Joan, and because the position of Charles VII was so desperate, he was willing to listen to her.  Because Charles’ religious advisors believed Jeanne, Charles gave her a suit of white armor, a banner and the supposed command of troops.  The banner Charles had made for her, to carry into battle, had a figure of the Virgin with a shield and two angels supporting the arms of France on one side.  The front side had the words “Jesus Maria” and a figure of God seated on clouds and holding a globe.  The 'front' of her banner is shown below.

Breaking the Siege of Orléans

In April, 1429, Jeanne set out, with her army, to relieve the siege of nearby Orléans which had begun by Thomas de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury.  Orléans is situated on the Loire River, in the present day département of Loriet, region of Centre.  After Joan disapproved of the plans that had been made for entering the city, her own plan was adopted.  In 10 days her forces routed the English and broke the siege, saving the defenders lead by Jean d’Orléans, Count de Dunois [the bastard son of Charles VII’s late uncle Louis, Duke d’Orléans] who had been considering surrender to the English.  On May 8, 1429, she inspired her forces to break the siege and enter the city [the victory is celebrated annually as the Festival of Orléans].   

Coronation of Charles VII

On July 17, 1429, Jeanne’s army triumphantly entered Reims and Charles was crowned king [with Joan standing nearby with her banner] at the cathedral, the traditional venue for the crowning of French kings. 

Following the coronation, Jeanne convinced the king that she could lead an army and take Paris.  In September, Joan was wounded near Paris.  Charles then regrouped his army and went to Bourges where he would spend the winter.  Joan remained with Charles.  In October, Joan was sent to take Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier [located in the département of Niévre, in the region of Burgundy] where she took the town with a courageous assault with a small band of men.  Joan’s army then attacked La Charité-sur-Loire [also located in the département Niévre, north of Saint-Pierre-le- Moûtier], but had to withdraw because of a lack of munitions.  Late in December, 1429, Charles issued letters patent ennobling Joan, her parents and her brothers. 

                                           Continued >>>