Joan of Arc. Volume one

1798

De Beer Eb 1798 S

Bristol: Printed by N. Biggs for T.N. Longman and Joseph Cottle

Jeanne d’Arc, Joan of Arc, or the Maid of Orléans (1412-31) was inspired by ‘visions’, and petitioned King Charles VII to go into battle for France against the English in the Hundred Years War. In early May of 1429, Joan, still only a teenager, dressed in armour and atop her horse, accompanied the French troops in a successful siege to liberate Orléans. She was instrumental in turning France’s fortune in the war. Joan was a rebel in the sense that she challenged societal convention, fought for what she believed in, and never gave up. She became a hero for the French. However, the English saw Joan as a cross-dressing witch, and after capturing her in 1430, they quickly convicted her and burnt her at the stake. Here is the first volume of Robert Southey’s epic poem on the legendary Joan.