Jeanne d'Arc

"I don't care for what people will say. The Lord is crying over the state of the kingdom, and as His child, I will do everything to stop His tears, even if it means being accused and killed for being a 'heretical witch'!"

- Jeanne d'Arc.

Jeanne d'Arc, also known as Joan of Arc, is a heroine of France known for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, and was canonized as a Roman Catholic Saint.

Overview
Jeanne d'Arc was the heroine of France who liberated Orléans in the Hundred Years' War. She was born to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family, at Domrémy in northeast France. She considered a heroine of France for her role during the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, and was canonized as a saint.

In late April and early May of 1429, she led the effort to raise the English siege of Orléans; the English army departed the city. Jeanne then traveled with the French king, Charles VII, to Reims for his coronation at the cathedral there in July; the French army engaged in several minor skirmishes along the way. After these early successes, however, Jeanne failed to win any further major battles and was captured by Burgundian forces at Compiègne. She was sold to the English, and tried for heresy. She was burned at the stake in Rouen on May 30, 1431.

Even after her death by burning, Jeanne went to still served God and her patron, the Angel Michael, with unwavering loyalty as Heaven's main assassin and huntswoman.

Appearance
Jeanne d'Arc is a beautiful straw-blonde haired young woman with amethyst-tinted blue eyes that were described as completely pure, and a slim figure. Her hair was incredibly long, reaching down to her waist, which was tied into a braid with a blue ribbon at the end. She would normally wear equipment as a normal knight; breast plate, pauldron, armor that covers both her arms and legs and a blue undershirt.

While she didn’t have the precise and moulded beauty of a model or the kind of cuteness that made one’s heart flutter just by being nearby, she still possessed a wondrous beauty that scarcely felt real. In her battle mode, she can transform into her battle-dress with armour woven from her holy energy to enclose her. Her symbol is printed on her back with a similar shape drawn that of an angel.

Her original appearance while similar to her current one but with some differences. Her eyes were dark, were a bit wide apart and were large and prominent. She had dark hair (based on a hair of hers’ attached to the seals of one of her letters, which was subsequently lost). She also had a sweet, compelling voice.

Personality
"This girl is reasonably good-looking, and with something virile in her bearing; she speaks but little, and is remarkably prudent, in what she does say. She eats little, and drinks wine still less; manages both her horse and her arms superbly well; greatly likes the company of knights and soldiers; scorns the company of the rabble; sheds many tears; has a happy expression; so great is her strength in the endurance of fatigue that she could remain completely armed during six whole days and nights."

- De Boulainvilliers.

She does not believe that God had forsaken her in her last moment but rather that the Lord has never forsaken a single person. There was just nothing he could have done. Praying, giving offerings, everything is an act not for oneself, but for the Lord. She believes prayer will heal the Lord's laments and sorrow. The moment her prayer began, she became separated from the world—removed from the past, the future, and reality itself. She was there not for any particular purpose, but simply to offer a prayer to God. By doing so, the course which she ought to take would come to be fixed. To her, every second of prayer is as important as every breath she takes; a day will not pass where she does not pray.

Despite being ostracized, demonized, and put to death by the people she was trying to protect, Jeanne felt no ill will to those who betrayed her. Furthermore, she held no regrets about her life and did not wished she was saved from her cruel fate.

Jeanne has a talent for drawing and feels great joy whenever she brings a story to life by drawing a manga. Jeanne also has a strong desire to be an older sister which is due to her being the youngest of five siblings. She had a strange habit of comically poking Gilles de Rais in the eyes when ever he was least suspecting.

Her undying loyalty to Michael has became a insult to her as many demons like to call her Michael's Bitch. She has also been called the Blonde Devil due to her her blood lust and ruthless brutality in warfare in killing men and demons along with anyone who goes against humanity and Heaven. Her brutality was known to other pagan gods and even if she would rarely kill humans herself, that doesn't mean she wouldn't order an entire town to be massacred if they didn't surrender to her army.

Powers and Abilities
Jeanne is an accomplished commander who led many battles to victory against the superior British forces and an expert swordswoman and spear wielder, allowing her to match other warriors with nothing but the tip of her signature battle standard. She is, however, illiterate as she never learned to read or write in life, and what she knows about the modern world is limited. She is also terrible at mathematics.

It was realized that she was born with magical potential and had possessed the Witchblade when she was alive. After her ascension to Heaven, Jeanne was revealed to possess actual Holy Light power, making her very deadly to many of the evil-aligned & dark entities.

History
Jeanne d'Arc was a common farmer's daughter. Her mother taught her domestic skills and religion, and she was known throughout the region for her kindness to others. During her childhood, France was fighting a war not only against the English but also against a French splinter group from Burgundy. She claims she had received the command of God to fight.

Visions
Jeanne claimed to have received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. She heard the Lord’s lament that the world changed straight into hell. The Lord wept into sorrow as no one could stop it and people were not even allowed to live simply, and were compelled to become either beasts or food. Conflict never ended, and blood continued to rain incessantly and soak the land. She received a revelation from the Lord, the voice contained no glory or victory, no obligation or sense of purpose but only the Lord laments. She caught his small, feeble murmurs that everyone else failed to hear.

She responded by throwing away her life as a simple villager and the joy of loving someone and being loved back. Furthermore, there would be no compensation. She knew she would surely be scorned by the masses of both enemies and allies alike, considering their beliefs in the church's guidelines for proper behavior in women. It was a very terrifying thing to contemplate. It was mad for a mere village girl from the countryside to leap onto the battlefield where people’s killing intent swirled about. She would not turn her back on the Lord's cries. She decided to devote her life to oppose this world’s hell to help stop the Lord’s tears and soothe Him. She clad her Armour on her body, hung a sword on her waist and carried the flag. She fought alongside with Gilles de Rais. Her main blade even if she never used it in life is the blade of Saint Catherine.

Having been born to a peasant family, Jeanne never knew the contents of the many books of prayer. She did try hard to learn them, but it seems she was simply born incapable of reading or writing. The most she ever managed was learning how to sign her name. While she worried about this, in the end, she decided that she needed little more in order to pray to the Lord. As she recalled, one of her comrades whom rode beside her, Gilles, once laughed and promised her that this was more than enough.

Siege of Orleans
In May 1428, Joan made her way Vaucouleurs, a nearby stronghold of those loyal to Charles. Initially rejected by the local magistrate, Robert de Baudricourt, she persisted, attracting a small band of followers who believed her claims to be the virgin who (according to a popular prophecy) was destined to save France.

Joan promised Charles she would see him crowned king at Reims, the traditional site of French royal investiture, and asked him to give her an army to lead to Orléans, then under siege from the English. Against the advice of most of his counselors and generals, Charles granted her request, and Joan set off for Orléans in March of 1429 dressed in white armor and riding a white horse.

The unanointed King Charles VII sent Joan to the Siege of Orléans as part of a relief army. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's consecration at Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory. When Baudricort relented, Joan cropped her hair and dressed in men’s clothes to make the 11-day journey across enemy territory to Chinon, site of the crown prince’s palace.

After sending off a defiant letter to the enemy, Joan led several French assaults against them, driving the Anglo-Burgundians from their bastion and forcing their retreat across the Loire River. In a private audience at his castle at Chinon, Joan of Arc won the future Charles VII over by supposedly revealing information that only a messenger from God could know; the details of this conversation are unknown.

Capture and Trial
On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne by the Burgundian faction, a group of French nobles allied with the English. She was later handed over to the English and put on trial by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. The procedures of an Inquisitorial trial called for a preliminary investigation into the life of the suspect. This investigation consisted of the collection of any evidence about the character of the subject, including witness testimony. This could then be followed by an interrogation of the accused, in which he or she was compelled to provide testimony which could then be used against them in a subsequent trial.

The first order of business was a preliminary inquiry into Jeanne's character and habits. An examination as to Joan's virginity was conducted some time prior to January 13, overseen by the Duchess of Bedford. The Duchess announced that Jeanne's had been found to be a virgin. At the same time, representatives of the judge were sent to Jeanne's home village of Domrémy and vicinity to inquire further into Joan's life, her habits, and virtue, with several witnesses being interviewed.

The result of these inquiries was that nothing could be found against Joan to support any charges against her. The man who was commissioned to collect testimony, Nicolas Bailly, said that he "had found nothing concerning Joan that he would not have liked to find about his own sister". This angered Cauchon, who was hoping for something he could use against her. He accused Bailly of being "a traitor and a bad man" and refused to pay him his promised salary.

The Vice-Inquisitor of Northern France (Jean Lemaitre) objected to the trial at its outset, and several eyewitnesses later said he was forced to cooperate after the English threatened his life. Some of the other clergy at the trial were also threatened when they refused to cooperate, including a Dominican friar named Isambart de la Pierre. These threats, and the domination of the trial by a secular government, were violations of the Church's rules and undermined the right of the Church to conduct heresy trials without secular interference.

The trial record contains statements from Joan that the eyewitnesses later said astonished the court, since she was an illiterate peasant and yet was able to evade the theological pitfalls the tribunal had set up to entrap her. The transcript's most famous exchange is an exercise in subtlety: "Asked if she knew she was in God's grace, she answered, 'If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest creature in the world if I knew I were not in His grace.'" The question is a scholarly trap. Church doctrine held that no one could be certain of being in God's grace. If she had answered yes, then she would have been charged with heresy. If she had answered no, then she would have confessed her own guilt. The court notary Boisguillaume later testified that at the moment the court heard her reply, "Those who were interrogating her were stupefied."

Several members of the tribunal later testified that important portions of the transcript were falsified by being altered in her disfavor. Under Inquisitorial guidelines, Joan should have been confined in an ecclesiastical prison under the supervision of female guards (i.e., nuns). Instead, the English kept her in a secular prison guarded by their own soldiers. Bishop Cauchon denied Joan's appeals to the Council of Basel and the Pope, which should have stopped his proceeding.

The twelve articles of accusation which summarized the court's findings contradicted the court record, which had already been doctored by the judges. Under threat of immediate execution, the illiterate defendant signed an abjuration document that she did not understand. The court substituted a different abjuration in the official record.

Heresy was a capital crime only for a repeat offense; therefore, a repeat offense of "cross-dressing" was now arranged by the court, according to the eyewitnesses. Joan agreed to wear feminine clothing when she abjured, which created a problem. According to the later descriptions of some of the tribunal members, she had previously been wearing male clothing in prison because it gave her the ability to fasten her pants, boots and tunic together into one piece, which deterred rape by making it difficult to pull her pants off. She was evidently afraid to give up this outfit even temporarily because it was likely to be confiscated by the judge and she would thereby be left without protection.

A woman's dress offered no such protection. A few days after her abjuration, when she was forced to wear a dress, she told a tribunal member that "a great English lord had entered her prison and tried to take her by force." She resumed male attire either as a defense against molestation or, in the testimony of Jean Massieu, because her dress had been taken by the guards and she was left with nothing else to wear.

Eyewitnesses described the scene of the execution by burning on 30 May 1431. Tied to a tall pillar at the Vieux-Marché in Rouen, she asked two of the clergy, Fr Martin Ladvenu and Fr Isambart de la Pierre, to hold a crucifix before her. An English soldier also constructed a small cross that she put in the front of her dress.

Death
After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age. It was said that many false charges were given to her though some charges were created by the Archdemon Satanachia who wanted her for himself.

Jeanne was put to death at Place du Vieux-Marché in Rouen. Scorned by words of damnation as she was led to the pyre and feeling only slightly pained as she endured it, she had already abandoned emotions such as fear, disappointment, and regret from the outset of her battles, so she was able to walk towards her death without faltering in her steps. As she unconsciously reached for the cross that had been at her chest until they took it from her, she felt some sadness as there was nothing to support her heart. Shortly after, she was given a wooden cross fashioned by an Englishman who revered her, thanking him quietly as he knelt and wept. Her hands were tied to a wooden stake behind her, and the priest present completed the recitation of her final judgement before throwing the torch upon the pyre. As they believed that the loss of the flesh was the greatest of fears, it was the cruelest punishment that could be laid upon her.

The flames began to burn her skin, scorch her flesh, and char her bones, all while she spoke the name of the Lord and the Holy Mother against those who denounced her prayers as only a lie. She could only find such thoughts strange, believing that prayers are nothing more than prayers, no matter to whom is prayed, that carry no intrinsic truths or falsehoods. Although she wished to tell them of the thought, she was unable to produce any sound. As she burned, she saw visions of her past, her ordinary family in her rustic village and herself, "the fool who ran away and tossed all of that aside." Having known how her journey would end from the start, she felt that she may have certainly been foolish in her actions, that she may have been able to have lived a regular life, gotten married, and lived together with her husband and child.

Had she simply shut away the voice and abandoned the lamenting soldiers, she could have had that life, but felt that it was not a mistake to have walked her path due to those she had saved. She knew from the moment she chose to take to battle that she would have such an end, and she felt that she would never come to self-derision for her choices. Her past, impossible futures, and the cruel reality before her were meaningless before her prayers, offering herself that even if all other condemn her that she would not betray herself. Rather than continue to look back on her path or crave for another future, she only wished for a silent rest.

Within the savagery, she only kept a single prayer within her heart to the very end, one unblemished by regret and filled with sincerity. As she said her final words, "...O Lord, I give myself to You...", her consciousnesses ended and she was released from her suffering. Although the girl's dream ended there, "the dream of La Pucelle was only just beginning."

Aftermath
After she died, the English raked back the coals to expose her charred body so that no one could claim she had escaped alive. They then burned the body twice more, to reduce it to ashes and prevent any collection of relics, and cast her remains into the Seine River. The executioner, Geoffroy Thérage, later stated that he "greatly feared to be damned for he had burned a holy woman."

Her death had also caused Gilles de Rais to go insane, turn his back on God to practice black magic, and commit atrocities before he was captured and hanged to death. When she reached the afterlife, the Archdemon Satanachia tried to bring her to Hell but failed as the Archangel Raziel brought her to God Himself away from the demon.

In 1456, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. In the 16th century she became a symbol of the Catholic League, and in 1803 she was declared a national symbol of France by the decision of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Joan of Arc is one of the nine secondary patron saints of France, along with Saint Denis, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Louis, Saint Michael, Saint Rémi, Saint Petronilla, Saint Radegund and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. In 1909 Joan of Arc was beatified in the famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris by Pope Pius X. A statue inside the cathedral pays tribute to her legacy.

Alleged Relics
In 1867, a jar was found in a Paris pharmacy with the inscription "Remains found under the stake of Joan of Arc, virgin of Orleans." They consisted of a charred human rib, carbonized wood, a piece of linen and a cat femur—explained as the practice of throwing black cats onto the pyre of witches. In 2006, Philippe Charlier, a forensic scientist at Raymond Poincaré University Hospital (Garches) was authorized to study the relics. Carbon-14 tests and various spectroscopic analyses were performed, and the results determined that the remains come from an Egyptian mummy from the sixth to the third century BC.

Quotes

 * "One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying." - Jeanne d'Arc.


 * "Whatever thing men call great, look for it in Joan of Arc, and there you will find it." - Mark Twain.


 * "God forgive us, we have burned a saint." - Alleged words of an English soldier following Joan's execution.


 * "Jeanne’s mission was on the surface warlike, but it really had the effect of ending a century of war, and her love and charity were so broad, that they could only be matched by Him who prayed for His murderers." - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.


 * "She managed to inspire the whole army. They believed she was holy, sent to them by God." - Claire Dodin, 15th century weapons expert.


 * "She is very important to me. When my brothers would bully me about women saying that "women can't fight" or "no such thing as female armor", the usual growing up; I would always remind them about Joan of Arc. She was a light in a dark time, and still is." - A little girl.


 * "Kindness, Humility, Honesty, Purity, Faith — the Maid's heart carried only these things and nothing else. Whatever thing men call great, look for it in Joan of Arc, and there you will find it." - Mark Twain in "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Volume 2".


 * "I am not afraid... I was born to do this." - Jeanne d'Arc.


 * "While they may have their flaws, there is some good in them. Losing faith in humanity is easy. Simply hating them is even easier, but continuing to love them is extremely difficult." - Jeanne d'Arc.


 * "I leave my life in your hands, oh Lord. Make of me a good and faithful servant." - Jeanne d'Arc.


 * "That's our Father's newest prophetess. Daughter of a virtuous man of Seth's bloodline and a mother who was blessed by an angel at birth. She's destined for great things, I tell you. One day, not so far in the future, I will see her burning bright with flames. I just know it." - Uriel.


 * "Do you swear to speak the truth in answer to such questions as are put to you?"
 * "I do not know what you wish to examine me on. Perhaps you might ask such things that I would not tell."
 * "Will you swear to speak the truth upon those things which are asked you concerning the faith, which you know?"
 * "Concerning my father and my mother, and what I have done since I took the road to France, I will gladly swear to tell the truth. But concerning my revelations from God, these I have never told or revealed to anyone, save only to Charles, my King. And I will not reveal them to save my head." - Jeanne d'Arc reply to the oath.


 * "The heavens tell of God's glory. The skies proclaim His handiwork. Speech is poured forth during the day and knowledge during the night. A fire has ignited within my heart and continuously burns to remind me. This is where I meet my end. My destiny has run its course. My life's dream has reached its conclusion. Utilizing the last thing I have at my disposal, I fight to protect the path He must walk. Lord, accept my sacrifice. La Pucelle!!" - The incantation of Jeanne's suicidal attack - La Pucelle.

Trivia

 * Joan of Arc has remained a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, playwrights, filmmakers, artists, and composers have created, and continue to create, cultural depictions of her.
 * There was a rumor in Heaven that Jeanne d'Arc formed the Circle "St. Orleans" together with Marie Antoinette.
 * Jeanne d'Arc is believed to be the maid of the Maid of Lorraine prophecies.
 * There is a rumor that Jeanne d'Arc is in a secret relationship with Vlad III.

Image Sources

 * (Jeanne d'Arc asuka111.jpg) Jeanne d'Arc by asuka111
 * (Coat of Arms of Jeanne d'Arc.svg.png) Coat of arms of Joan of Arc by Jeanne d'Arc
 * (JoanRulerCS.png) Ruler's Command Seal from Fate/Apocrypha
 * (Joan of Arc miniature graded.jpg) Johan of Arc - Archives nationales (France) from Archives Nationales
 * (St joan of arc icon by theophilia d7kdah3-fullview.jpg) St. Joan of Arc icon by Theophilia
 * (Jeanne d'Arc.jpg) PejiTG by Xoctani
 * (La Pucelle.jpg) La Pucelle by jan
 * (RulerJeanneGOState4.png) Ruler Stage 4 by Takashi Takeuchi
 * (Jeanne d'Arc - Grand Order.jpg) Jeanne d'Arc- Fate/Grand Order by peeknokboorapa-go-it
 * (Jeanne d arc by amysunhee ddxhb2r-fullview.jpg) Jeanne d'Arc by AmySunHee
 * (Jeanne d arc by konburice dbhyoct-fullview.jpg) Jeanne D'arc by konburice
 * (Grand Order - Jeanne d'Arc.jpg) Fate/Grand Order - Jeanne d'Arc by anonamos701
 * (Eric-wiguna-jeanne-resize.jpg) Jeanne d'arc fate grand order by Eric Wiguna
 * (Jeanne by ragecndy da6ecqb-fullview.jpg) Jeanne by ragecndy
 * (Joan of Arc SourAcid.png) Joan of Arc by SourAcid
 * (Joan of Arc.jpg) Joan of Arc by Warmics
 * (I'm still here Only exists in you.jpg) まだここには僕がいる. 君の中にだけ存在してる by 天然みかん水
 * (Joan D'Arc.jpg) Joan D'Arc by GENZOMAN
 * (Joan of Arc GENZOMAN.jpg) Joan of Arc by GENZOMAN
 * (Joan of Arc - War Angels.jpg) Joan of Arc - War Angels.jpg by GENZOMAN
 * (ZAKUGA Joan of Arc.png) Joan of Arc by ZAKUGA
 * (Thor-odenson-005-jeanne-d-arc-alternate.jpg) Goddess of Courage - Jeanne d' Arc by Thor Odenson
 * (Jeanne d arc gbf ver by kauru00 dbf1o73-fullview.jpg) Jeanne d'Arc GBF ver by Kauru00
 * (Ingres coronation charles vii.jpg) Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
 * (Joan of Arc Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel.jpg) Joan of Arc by Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monve
 * (Roe’s “The Trial of Jeanne d’Arc” (c. 1863).jpg) The Trial of Jeanne d'Arc by Fred Roe
 * (TWMS SAG TWCMS F6126-001.jpg) The Trial of Jeanne d'Arc by Fred Roe
 * (Joan of arc interrogation.jpg) Joan of Arc is interrogated by The Cardinal of Winchester in her prison by Paul Delaroche
 * (Stilke Hermann Anton - Joan of Arc's Death at the Stake.jpg) Joan of Arc's Death at the Stake by Hermann Stilke
 * (Jeanne d'Arc burning.jpg) France seeing the burning of Jeanne d'Arc from Axis Powers: Hetalia
 * (Art xl 84.jpg) Sainte Jeanne d'Arc by Paul Antoine de la Boulaye
 * (Jeanne d'ArcDS.jpg) Design of Jeanne D'Arc from Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner