Joan of Arc was actually born as Jehanne D'arc she referred to herself only as “Jehanne la Pucelle” (“Joan the Maid”) and initially testified that she didn’t know her last name.
Joan allegedly first heard the voice of god at age 12. When Joan was 16 she left home in order to answer the call of god who informed her that she was to assist the future king in recapturing French territory form its English invaders.
She was the youngest person in history to have ever commanded the armies of a nation, she was only 17 years old at the time. Yet she never actually fought in any battle. During her battles she was wounded twice, once in the chest with an arrow and once in the thigh after being hit by a crossbow. It is said in several contemporary sources that she predicted both of these injuries prior to their happening.
In modern times she has been diagnosed by various doctors and scholars as suffering from one of numerous neurological and psychiatric condition that trigger hallucinations or delusions, including migraines, bipolar disorder and brain lesions, to name just a few. Yet another theory holds that she contracted bovine tuberculosis, which can cause seizures and dementia, from drinking unpasteurized milk and tending cattle as a young girl.
She Crowned King Charles VII at his coronation ceremony after being told to by the voice of god she allegedly heard.
In 1431 she was put on trial for heresy by her English captures. The English supposedly threatened to torture Joan if she did not deny the voices she had been hearing. She eventually abjured and gave in to the wishes of the judge. But her resumption of male military clothing was labeled a relapse into heresy and the reason for her execution. The reason for the relapse? Men's clothing deterred rape.
On May 30th 1431 Joan was burned at the stake. She was only 19 years old at the time.
In 1920 the Catholic church canonized her and made her into Saint by the same church that burned her at the stake centuries earlier.
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