Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc — page 3
INTRODUCTION M ore than six hundred years ago in the early fif teenth century the nation of France was at war with England They had been in conflict off and on for decades since 1337 over who would control much of the territory of France itself This set of conflicts was known as the Hundred Years War and it occurred toward the end of what we now call the Middle Ages the period of European history that included the era of knights and chivalry By the early 1400s France’s luck against the English seemed to have faded While France was for the most part richer larger and more populous the English often had the upper hand Their better weapons including their longbows allowed them to frequently beat back much larger French forces including the knights mounted on horseback called cavalry The newest stage in the war called the Lancastrian War began in 1415 with the English invasion of the north west coastal area of France known as Normandy England soon gained control of about one-third of French territory all of France north of the Loire River including Paris It was a time in which the French struggled for hope Even as the English seemed unstoppable hope was bound to return even if the French did not know it yet Around 1412 a baby named Joan had been born in a small village called Domrémy in the eastern countryside Her par ents Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle Romée were landowners and farmers and respected members of their village 6