Since ancient times, there have been many legends about young heroes in the world, and the figures of these little heroes appear in the history textbooks of students and are admired by future generations.
Today, we are going to talk about such a young french hero, Joan of Arc (first translated Jeanne Dacques, the old translation ran Dacques, Dana Chac, etc.).
The word "holy woman" is easily reminiscent of Christianity. Joan of Arc received the title of "Holy Virgin" because she had personally experienced a miracle at a young age.
Originally, this girl was just an ordinary peasant girl, because the family situation was relatively poor, so she relied on grazing cattle to support the family like other peers. In 1424, the Anglo-French War broke out, and the war spread to Joan of Arc's hometown.
On the day of Joan of Arc's sixteenth birthday, she received a revelation from the gods.
On her birthday, Joan of Arc returned home early and met three gods on her way home: archangel Mir, Magaly the Great, and St. Galley.
The three gods said to the maiden, "Your ultimate mission in coming to earth is to expel all the British who invaded your homeland and assist Crown Prince Charles in returning to the throne." ”
Inspired by the gods, Joan of Arc was reborn. At Joan of Arc's request, she joined her father and uncle in battle and became a member of the French army. Although this girl is in the cardamom age, her military ability is even better than that of men.
On Joan of Arc's first day in the barracks, the camp commander looked down on the young girl. The commander said to Joan of Arc, "A little girl of your age, I'm afraid she doesn't even know how to wear a helmet, do you know how to kill the enemy?" ”
Joan of Arc cleverly replied, "Although I do not understand, I have a determination to win and the courage to die, and I believe that I can adapt to war in a short time." ”
The commander continued, "You are just an ordinary little girl, how can you always fight the invaders with your own strength?" ”
The maiden Joan of Arc replied, "Who said I was just a person?" Behind me, there is the motherland and the people as a support. My goal is to lead an army to break the siege of the city of Orléans and then get King Charles back on the throne! ”
The young girl's childish but unmistakable tone impressed the commander, and after hearing about the girl's origins and the miracles she had experienced, the commander felt that she was the messenger sent by heaven to save France.
So the commander ordered seven soldiers to serve as escorts, and they escorted Joan of Arc to the palace to meet Charles VII.
At first, King Charles thought the girl was joking, but Joan of Arc's generous statement made Charlie change his mind. In this way, Charlie decided to give the girl three thousand troops and let her go to the city of Orleans to complete this miracle.
After the Battle of Orléans, the maiden held a pistol in one hand and a flag in the other. The French soldiers who followed behind saw the situation and fought bravely and bravely to fight in blood. After all, no one can be left behind a little girl.
Led by Joan of Arc, the French defeated tens of thousands of British troops with three thousand men and defused the siege of Orléans in one fell swoop. When Charles heard of this, he immediately rewarded Joan of Arc, and the people worshipped him as a national hero.
From then on, Joan of Arc continued to be active on the Anglo-French battlefield, and under her command the French army repeatedly broke the English offensive and defended its territory.
In 1430, Joan of Arc's army was accidentally defeated in an encounter, and Joan of Arc, as a commander, was also reduced to a prisoner. It was the Duchy of Burgundy that captured Joan of Arc.
Since this particular captive was well known in France, the Duchy of Burgundy had no intention of disposing of her. The Duchy of Burgundy knew that the British would buy the maiden at a very high price.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before the British sent a large sum of money to the Duchy of Burgundy, which also handed over Joan of Arc to the British. For the British, Joan of Arc's influence, both militarily and religiously, was too terrible.
Therefore, in order to demoralize the French, the English Inquisition decided to sentence Joan of Arc to capital. The Government of England funded the cost of the entire trial. The entire trial lacked a fundamental basis for fairness, and Joan of Arc would be convicted no matter what.
In the end, the English convicted Joan of Arc of being a pagan witch, denigrated her to the extreme, and finally sent her to the stake. In May 1431, at the age of nineteen, Joan of Arc was set on fire in Rouen (Anglo-occupied), and the French people mourned her death.
Even after the death penalty, the British pulled out the charred charcoal and exposed Joan of Arc's charred black body to prove to the crowd that she was indeed dead, and then burned the body again, lest anyone try to collect her ashes...
In other words, after Joan of Arc's death, she became an important role in Western culture.
From Napoleon to the present day, French politicians have carried out propaganda from different angles with her great image. European writers and composers, including Shakespeare, Voltaire, Schiller, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Mark Twain, Shaw, and Brecht, have all written about her, and a large number of films, plays, and music based on her have continued to develop to this day.
Many history buffs believe that she is the heroine depicted in the famous painting "Free Guiding the People" based on the image of Joan of Arc in one hand holding a gun and the other holding a flag.
This is not the case.
The heroine who appears in Liberty Leads the People is Clara, who was active in the July Revolution in France, and Joan of Arc appears hundreds of years earlier.
Although Joan of Arc is not the heroine of the painting "Freedom Leads the People", Joan of Arc's religious and military influence on France is still enormous.
To this day, every year, people still spontaneously organize commemorative activities to commemorate this young hero who gave his life to fight against the invaders.
Resources:
["French National Hero - Joan of Arc", "Dictionary of European History"]