Jeanne d'Arc, Maid of Orleans, Deliverer of France: Being the Story of Her Life, Her Achievements, and Her Death, as Attested on Oath and Set Forth in the Original Documents

In Short

This volume presents the primary source evidence regarding the life, military campaigns, and trial of Jeanne d’Arc. It functions as a documentary history, assembling the testimonies given under oath during her initial trial and the subsequent proceedings that examined her conduct. By bypassing secondary interpretation, the book allows the reader to encounter Jeanne’s own voice, her unwavering conviction in her divine "Voices," and the clinical, often hostile logic of her inquisitors. It has endured as an essential text because it provides an unfiltered window into a singular historical figure whose life transformed the trajectory of two nations and remains a profound study in faith and institutional power.

The Story

The narrative begins not on a battlefield, but in the quiet village of Domremy, where a young peasant girl named Jeanne hears "Voices"—revelations from Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret—that command her to save France from the English. Despite her humble origins, Jeanne manages to reach the Dauphin, Charles, and convince him of her divine mission. She is soon placed at the head of the French armies, where she displays an astonishing aptitude for military leadership. She successfully raises the siege of Orleans, a victory that turns the tide of the Hundred Years' War and leads to the coronation of Charles at Rheims.

However, the tide of fortune shifts. During her subsequent military efforts, Jeanne is captured by Burgundian forces and sold to the English, who are eager to discredit the girl who shattered their military momentum. She is moved to the castle of Rouen, where she is subjected to a grueling ecclesiastical trial. The examiners focus relentlessly on her refusal to submit her private revelations to the authority of the Church, her insistence on wearing male clothing, and her claim that she receives direct counsel from God.

Throughout the interrogation, Jeanne remains defiant yet composed. She refuses to speak of her visions to any but her King, despite the persistent threats of the stake. The proceedings are marked by a deep, systemic hostility; the judges are determined to categorize her as a heretic. Despite occasional moments of vulnerability—and even a temporary, coerced abjuration—Jeanne ultimately reasserts the validity of her mission. She is found guilty as a relapsed heretic and sentenced to death. The account concludes with her execution in the marketplace of Rouen, where she dies calling upon the name of the Virgin Mary. Years later, subsequent testimonies—included here to round out the historical record—reveal the deep impression she left on those who knew her, portraying a woman of profound piety, courage, and simplicity who, in the eyes of her contemporaries, was driven by a genuine, if controversial, spiritual fire.

How It Unfolds

The call to mission Jeanne describes her origins in Domremy and the onset of her divine revelations, which command her to leave home, support the Dauphin, and deliver France. She navigates the skepticism of those around her with a singular, quiet intensity that eventually secures her passage to the King.

The rise to command She assumes the role of a military leader, raising the siege of Orleans and guiding the French forces to a series of strategic successes. Witnesses describe her as a commander who combines fierce, skillful leadership with a devout, austere personal life.

The capture and imprisonment Following her capture, she is held in military custody before being transferred to an ecclesiastical prison in Rouen. Here, the focus shifts to the intense, repetitive interrogations led by judges who seek to trap her in theological contradictions.

The trial and final judgment The legal process culminates in a series of formal articles of accusation, focusing on her refusal to bow to the Church Militant and her continued use of male attire. She is pressured to recant, wavers under the threat of fire, but ultimately stands by her faith until her execution.

The People

Jeanne d’Arc stands at the center of this record as a figure of immense self-possession. Her primary motivation is the fulfillment of a divine mandate to save her kingdom, and she consistently refuses to compromise her internal truth for the safety of her life.

Opposing her are the inquisitors, including figures like the Bishop of Rouen, who view themselves as defenders of the Church’s order. They are motivated by the need to categorize her actions as either heresy or witchcraft, seeing her defiance of their authority as a direct threat to the stability of the religious hierarchy.

Between these forces is Charles, the King she helped to crown, whose presence in the text is defined by the weight of the kingdom’s survival and the strategic necessity of her initial acceptance. Other witnesses, such as the laborers and villagers of Domremy, provide a grounding perspective, remembering Jeanne not as a saint or a heretic, but as a pious, hardworking girl who nursed the sick and was deeply committed to her religious duties. These figures serve to contrast the complex legal machine of the trial with the simple, domestic life Jeanne left behind.

In Its Own Voice

Jeanne defends the source of her actions when questioned about her refusal to obey the human authorities demanding she reveal her secrets:

“Of my father and my mother and of what I did after taking the road to France, willingly will I swear; but of the revelations which have come to me from God, to no one will I speak or reveal them, save only to Charles my King.”

When the judges attempt to corner her regarding her refusal to submit to the Church’s absolute authority, she places her faith in a higher court:

“I believe indeed in the Church which is here below; but for my words and deeds, as I have said elsewhere, I rely on and refer me to the only God.”

What It's Really About

At its core, this book is an exploration of the collision between individual conscience and institutional authority. The central tension is not merely political but theological: to whom does a person owe their ultimate allegiance when their private experience of faith contradicts the established hierarchy of the Church?

The text invites the reader to consider the limits of legalism when confronted with a phenomenon as raw as Jeanne’s conviction. It addresses the question of whether a person can be judged by the structures of their time if they claim a authority that transcends those very structures. Beneath the surface of the trial lies a debate about truth, the nature of obedience, and the price of maintaining one’s integrity against a system that demands complete, unquestioning submission to established doctrine.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the rigor of primary source history will find this volume indispensable. Because the book consists of court transcripts and depositions, it lacks the smooth, polished narrative of a novel; however, this creates a visceral, immediate experience. You are not being told about a historical event; you are reading the very words spoken in a 15th-century courtroom.

The text does not shy away from the difficulties of its era. The interrogators’ questions are often circular and repetitive, designed to exhaust and entrap, which may feel dense to a modern reader. Furthermore, the period attitudes toward gender and religious dissent are laid bare in the judges' relentless focus on Jeanne’s choice of clothing and her "Voices."

Yet, for all its challenges, the book rewards the reader with an intimate portrait of a person who is both intensely human and seemingly beyond reach. The contrast between the cold, calculated legal language of the inquisitors and the simple, firm, and occasionally sharp answers given by a nineteen-year-old girl is haunting. What stays with you is not the politics of the Hundred Years' War, but the image of a solitary figure standing in a room full of powerful men, refusing to retreat from her own mind. It is a quiet, powerful testament to the persistence of the human spirit.