Joan of Arc

Jeanne d'Arc, also known as Joan of Arc, is the legendary heroine from the Hundred Years' War and a patron saint of France. Following her death, she was reborn as a Lesser Angel and serves as Michael's personal assistant.

She is a member of Team Reminders of the Holy Wrath for the Azazel Cup as a Knight.

Overview
"A French heroine who appeared towards the end of the Hundred Years War. She is nicknamed "the Maid of Orleans." Upon receiving a vision from God at the age of 16, she took a stand to save France. After meeting with King Charles VII, she drove the English out of Orleans. Later she was captured at Compienge and was burned at the stake in Rouen, occupied at the time by the English. Posthumously, her conviction was overturned, and later she was canonized."

- Compendium about Jeanne d'Arc

Jeanne d'Arc, also known as The Maid of Orléans, is a medieval heroine of the Kingdom of France and a Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France to Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family, at Domrémy. Her mother taught her domestic skills and religion, and she was known throughout the region for her kindness to others.

She led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, claiming divine guidance, and was indirectly responsible for the coronation of Charles VII. Joan asserted that she had visions from God that told her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. The uncrowned King Charles VII sent her to the siege at Orléans as part of a relief mission. She gained prominence when she overcame the dismissive attitude of veteran commanders and lifted the siege in only nine days. Several more swift victories led to Charles VII's coronation at Reims and settled the disputed succession to the throne.

She was captured by the Burgundians, a group of French nobles allied with the English, who sold her to the English. She was later handed over to the English and put on trial by an ecclesiastical court lead by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges, and burned at the stake when she was nineteen years old. After she died, the English raked back the coals to expose her charred body so that no one could claim she had escaped alive. The executioner, Geoffroy Thérage, later stated that he "greatly feared to be damned for he had burned a holy woman."

Twenty-four years later, on the initiative of Charles VII, Pope Callixtus III reviewed the decision of the ecclesiastical court, found her innocent, and declared her a martyr. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. She is, along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis IX, St. Radegund, St. Remigius, St. Petronilla, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Theresa of Lisieux and the Virgin Mary, one of the patron saints of France.

Joan of Arc has remained a popular figure in literature, painting, sculpture, and other cultural works since the time of her death, and many famous writers, playwrights, filmmakers, artists, and composers have created, and continue to create, cultural depictions of her.

Appearance
Jeanne appears as a beautiful young girl in her late teens, with a wondrous beauty that scarcely felt real. Her figure is described as putting the golden ratio to shame. She has long, blonde hair reaching her thighs, and amethyst-colored eyes that are completely pure.

She usually wears a white blouse with a blue-colored tie, a dark-blue blazer with the emblem of a golden cross on her left shoulder, a dark-blue short skirt with white frill, knee-high stockings, and simple black shoes.

In battle, she wears a simple white dress with golden designs of crosses and fleur-de-lyses, underneath the dress is a full-body outfit similar to that of the Exorcists, and she also wears a light-armor made out of silver-white Empyrean Steel on top. She wears a diadem-like silver-white headpiece, and silver gauntlets and knee-high armored boots.

Like all Angels and Fallen Angels and Archdaemon, she has large, feathered-wings, each with a 12-feet wingspan. In her case, she has a total of four white-feathered wings which resemble that of a dove.

Personality
Jeanne is described as a taciturn and cool older sister by others, but her natural self is a plain and quiet teenage girl. She puts order first, and will wield a sword for the sake of the rules, but fundamentally believes that being lawfully right does not mean morally right.

She is a very kind woman who greatly cares about the safety and happiness of others. Fitting for her reputation as one of the most well-known saints, she is fiercely protective of the denizens of France against the influence of Devils, Fallen Angels, and supernatural creatures. Because of her protective nature, France is known to be a sanctuary for humans from supernatural threats.

Despite what many believe, she doesn't have a single regret regarding her lifetime. She does not wish revenge or wish to be saved and it was enough for her to know the life that she lived alone. For her, the greatest desire she currently has is for others to see her simply as "Jeanne, a simple girl" rather than "Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orléans", as she doesn't want to be always seen by an unreachable saintess.

She does not believe that the Abrahamic God had forsaken her in her last moment but rather that the Lord has never forsaken a single person. There was just nothing He could have done. Praying, giving offerings, everything is an act not for oneself, but for the Lord. She believes prayer will heal the Lord's lament and sorrow. The moment her prayer began, she became separated from the world—removed from the past, the future, and reality itself. She was there not for any particular purpose, but simply to offer a prayer to God. By doing so, the course which she ought to take would come to be fixed. To her, every second of prayer is as important as every breath she takes; a day will not pass where she does not pray.

However, this saintly greatness quickly disappears when she's on the battlefield, as her bloodlust and ruthless brutality in killing men and supernatural beings, along with anyone who goes against humanity and the Heavens, is so great that even the pagan gods knew about her infamous reputation even before her rebirth. According to her, while she would never spill human blood and would never condone it, killing Devils and other supernatural creatures is fair game.

History
Jeanne was the daughter of Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée, living in Domrémy, a village which was then in the French part of the Duchy of Bar. Her parents owned about 50 acres of land and her father supplemented his farming work with a minor position as a village official, collecting taxes and heading the local watch.

They lived in an isolated patch of eastern France that remained loyal to the French crown despite being surrounded by pro-Burgundian lands. Several local raids occurred during her childhood and on one occasion her village was burned.

Visions
Jeanne claimed to have received visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination late in the Hundred Years' War. She heard the Lord’s lament that the world changed straight into hell. The Lord wept into sorrow as no one could stop it and people were not even allowed to live simply, and were compelled to become either beasts or food. Conflict never ended, and blood continued to rain incessantly and soak the land. She received a revelation from the Lord, the voice contained no glory or victory, no obligation or sense of purpose but only the Lord's laments. She caught His small, feeble murmurs that everyone else failed to hear.

She responded by throwing away her life as a simple villager and the joy of loving someone and being loved back. Furthermore, there would be no compensation. She knew she would surely be scorned by the masses of both enemies and allies alike, considering their beliefs in the church's guidelines for proper behavior in women. It was a very terrifying thing to contemplate. It was mad for a mere village girl from the countryside to leap onto the battlefield where people’s killing intent swirled about. She would not turn her back on the Lord's cries. She decided to devote her life to oppose this world’s hell to help stop the Lord’s tears and soothe Him. She clad her armour on her body, hung a sword on her waist and carried the flag. Her main blade even if she never used it in life is the blade of Saint Catherine known as Épée de Clovis.

Having been born to a peasant family, Jeanne never knew the contents of the many books of prayer. She did try hard to learn them, but it seemed that she was simply born incapable of reading or writing. The most she ever managed was learning how to sign her name. While she worried about this, in the end, she decided that she needed little more in order to pray to the Lord. As she recalled, one of her comrades who rode beside her, Gilles de Rais, once laughed and promised her that this was more than enough.

Siege of Orleans
In May 1428, Jeanne made her way to Vaucouleurs, a nearby stronghold of those loyal to Charles. Initially rejected by the local magistrate, Robert de Baudricourt, she persisted, attracting a small band of followers who believed her claims to be the virgin who (according to a popular prophecy) was destined to save France.

Jeanne promised Charles she would see him crowned king at Reims, the traditional site of French royal investiture, and asked him to give her an army to lead to Orléans, then under siege from the English. Against the advice of most of his counselors and generals, Charles granted her request, and Jeanne set off for Orléans in March of 1429 dressed in white armor and riding a white horse.

The unanointed King Charles VII sent Jeanne to the Siege of Orleans as part of a relief army. She gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later. Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII's consecration at Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved the way for the final French victory. When Baudricort relented, Jeanne cropped her hair and dressed in men’s clothes to make the 11-day journey across enemy territory to Chinon, site of the crown prince’s palace.

After sending off a defiant letter to the enemy, Jeanne led several French assaults against them, driving the Anglo-Burgundians from their bastion and forcing their retreat across the Loire River. In a private audience at his castle at Chinon, Jeanne d'Arc won the future Charles VII over by supposedly revealing information that only a messenger from God could know; the details of this conversation are unknown.

Trial of Jeanne d'Arc
On 23 May 1430, she was captured at Compiègne in the siege by the Burgundian faction, a group of French nobles allied with the English. She was later handed over to the English and put on trial by the pro-English bishop Pierre Cauchon on a variety of charges. The procedures of an Inquisitorial trial called for a preliminary investigation into the life of the suspect. This investigation consisted of the collection of any evidence about the character of the subject, including witness testimony. This could then be followed by an interrogation of the accused, in which he or she was compelled to provide testimony which could then be used against them in a subsequent trial.

The first order of business was a preliminary inquiry into Jeanne's character and habits. An examination as to her virginity was conducted some time prior to January 13, overseen by the Duchess of Bedford. The Duchess announced that Jeanne's had been found to be a virgin. At the same time, representatives of the judge were sent to Jeanne's home village of Domrémy and vicinity to inquire further into her life, her habits, and virtue, with several witnesses being interviewed.

The result of these inquiries was that nothing could be found against Joan to support any charges against her. The man who was commissioned to collect testimony, Nicolas Bailly, said that he "had found nothing concerning Jeanne that he would not have liked to find about his own sister". This angered Cauchon, who was hoping for something he could use against her. He accused Bailly of being "a traitor and a bad man" and refused to pay him his promised salary.

The Vice-Inquisitor of Northern France (Jean Lemaitre) objected to the trial at its outset, and several eyewitnesses later said he was forced to cooperate after the English threatened his life. Some of the other clergy at the trial were also threatened when they refused to cooperate, including a Dominican friar named Isambart de la Pierre. These threats, and the domination of the trial by a secular government, were violations of the Church's rules and undermined the right of the Church to conduct heresy trials without secular interference.

The trial record contains statements from Joan that the eyewitnesses later said astonished the court, since she was an illiterate peasant and yet was able to evade the theological pitfalls the tribunal had set up to entrap her. The transcript's most famous exchange is an exercise in subtlety: "Asked if she knew she was in God's grace, she answered, 'If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest creature in the world if I knew I were not in His grace.'" The question is a scholarly trap. Church doctrine held that no one could be certain of being in God's grace. If she had answered yes, then she would have been charged with heresy. If she had answered no, then she would have confessed her own guilt. The court notary Boisguillaume later testified that at the moment the court heard her reply, "Those who were interrogating her were stupefied."

Several members of the tribunal later testified that important portions of the transcript were falsified by being altered in her disfavor. Under Inquisitorial guidelines, Joan should have been confined in an ecclesiastical prison under the supervision of female guards (i.e., nuns). Instead, the English kept her in a secular prison guarded by their own soldiers. Bishop Cauchon denied Jeanne's appeals to the Council of Basel and the Pope, which should have stopped his proceeding.

The twelve articles of accusation which summarized the court's findings contradicted the court record, which had already been doctored by the judges. Under threat of immediate execution, the illiterate defendant signed an abjuration document that she did not understand. The court substituted a different abjuration in the official record.

Heresy was a capital crime only for a repeat offense; therefore, a repeat offense of "cross-dressing" was now arranged by the court, according to the eyewitnesses. Jeanne agreed to wear feminine clothing when she abjured, which created a problem. According to the later descriptions of some of the tribunal members, she had previously been wearing male clothing in prison because it gave her the ability to fasten her pants, boots and tunic together into one piece, which deterred rape by making it difficult to pull her pants off. She was evidently afraid to give up this outfit even temporarily because it was likely to be confiscated by the judge and she would thereby be left without protection.

A woman's dress offered no such protection. A few days after her abjuration, when she was forced to wear a dress, she told a tribunal member that "a great English lord had entered her prison and tried to take her by force." She resumed male attire either as a defense against molestation or, in the testimony of Jean Massieu, because her dress had been taken by the guards and she was left with nothing else to wear.

Death
After Cauchon declared her guilty, she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, dying at about nineteen years of age. It was said that many false charges were given to her though some charges were changed as the Devil wanted her for himself.

Jeanne was put to death at Place du Vieux-Marché in Rouen. Scorned by words of damnation as she was led to the pyre and feeling only slightly pained as she endured it, she had already abandoned emotions such as fear, disappointment, and regret from the outset of her battles, so she was able to walk towards her death without faltering in her steps. As she unconsciously reached for the cross that had been at her chest until they took it from her, she felt some sadness as there was nothing to support her heart. Shortly after, she was given a wooden cross fashioned by an Englishman who revered her, thanking him quietly as he knelt and wept. Her hands were tied to a wooden stake behind her, and the priest present completed the recitation of her final judgement before throwing the torch upon the pyre. As they believed that the loss of the flesh was the greatest of fears, it was the cruelest punishment that could be laid upon her.

The flames began to burn her skin, scorch her flesh, and char her bones, all while she spoke the name of the Lord and the Holy Mother against those who denounced her prayers as only a lie. She could only find such thoughts strange, believing that prayers are nothing more than prayers, no matter to whom it is prayed, that carry no intrinsic truths or falsehoods. Although she wished to tell them of the thought, she was unable to produce any sound. As she burned, she saw visions of her past, her ordinary family in her rustic village and herself, "the fool who ran away and tossed all of that aside." Having known how her journey would end from the start, she felt that she may have certainly been foolish in her actions, that she may have been able to have lived a regular life, gotten married, and lived together with her husband and child.

Had she simply shut away the voice and abandoned the lamenting soldiers, she could have had that life, but felt that it was not a mistake to have walked her path due to those she had saved. She knew from the moment she chose to take to battle that she would have such an end, and she felt that she would never come to self-derision for her choices. Her past, impossible futures, and the cruel reality before her were meaningless before her prayers, offering herself that even if all others condemned her that she would not betray herself. Rather than continue to look back on her path or crave for another future, she only wished for a silent rest.

Within the savagery, she only kept a single prayer within her heart to the very end, one unblemished by regret and filled with sincerity. As she said her final words, "...O Lord, I give myself to You...", her consciousness ended and she was released from her suffering. Although the girl's dream ended there, "the dream of La Pucelle was only just beginning."

Aftermath
After she died, the English raked back the coals to expose her charred body so that no one could claim she had escaped alive. They then burned the body twice more, to reduce it to ashes and prevent any collection of relics, and cast her remains into the Seine River. The executioner, Geoffroy Thérage, later stated that he "greatly feared to be damned for he had burned a holy woman."

Her death had also caused Gilles de Rais to go insane, turn his back on God to practice black magic and even became a Contracted Witch to the original Beelzebub himself, and commit atrocities before he was captured and hanged to death.

In 1456, an inquisitorial court authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, debunked the charges against her, pronounced her innocent, and declared her a martyr. In the 16th century she became a symbol of the Catholic League, and in 1803 she was declared a national symbol of France by the decision of Napoleon Bonaparte. She was beatified in 1909 and canonized in 1920. Joan of Arc is one of the nine secondary patron saints of France, along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis, St. Radegund, St. Rémi, St. Petronilla, St. Michael, St. Theresa of Lisieux. In 1909, Jeanne d'Arc was beatified in the famous Notre Dame cathedral in Paris by Pope Pius X. A statue inside the cathedral pays tribute to her legacy.

Alledged Relics
In 1867, a jar was found in a Paris pharmacy with the inscription "Remains found under the stake of Joan of Arc, virgin of Orleans." They consisted of a charred human rib, carbonized wood, a piece of linen and a cat femur—explained as the practice of throwing black cats onto the pyre of witches. In 2006, Philippe Charlier, a forensic scientist at Raymond Poincaré University Hospital (Garches) was authorized to study the relics. Carbon-14 tests and various spectroscopic analyses were performed, and the results determined that the remains come from an Egyptian mummy from the sixth to the third century BC.

In March 2016 a ring believed to have been worn by Joan, which had passed through the hands of several prominent people including a cardinal, a king, an aristocrat and the daughter of a British physician, was sold at auction to the Puy du Fou, a historical theme park, for £300,000. There is no conclusive proof that she owned the ring, but its unusual design closely matches Joan's own words about her ring at her trial. The Arts Council later determined the ring should not have left the United Kingdom. The purchasers appealed, including to Queen Elizabeth II, and the ring was allowed to remain in France. The ring was reportedly first passed to Cardinal Henry Beaufort, who attended Joan's trial and execution in 1431.

Rebirth
After she died, the moment she opened her eyes, she found herself sitting in front of the Four Great Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, the first of which had previously appeared to her in her visions. They then presented her three choices: One, to be reborn as an ordinary girl without having to shoulder any hardship and pain for the rest of another life that was filled with love; Two, to enter the Third Heaven with her family and fallen comrades to enjoy divine bliss and ecstasy for the rest of eternity; or Three, to be reborn as an Angel and fought alongside the Heavenly Host against the enemies of mankind and Heaven.

After rethinking her entire life until that point, she decided to choose the third question, which made the Archangels smiled, saying that because of her righteous nature, they would reward her with both the other options as well, granting her another chance at life and to be allowed to reunite with her family and comrades in the Third Heaven whenever she desires.

She then became the Guardian of France and its people as one of its saints. She later joined Michael's choir and became his personal assistant, gaining a reputation and status on-par with any other Pure Angel created by God Himself.

Abilities
TBA

Powers
TBA

Equipment
TBA

Harming, Trapping, & Banishing
TBA

Killing
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Quotes
"One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying."

- Jeanne d'Arc

"My Lord. Once more, I shall raise this flag, for this country's---no, this world's salvation. Order has gone up in flames, and so much purpose has been lost. Our future vanished in but a second. Listen to my words, brave warriors gathered here, legion of legendary heroes who retain their reason! No matter if you were sworn enemies or no matter how far your time periods apart, now you must entrust your backs to one another! My true name is Jeanne d'Arc. In the name of my lord, I shall stand as your shield! This struggle is one that has long endured through the sands of human history. But there is no need for concern, as untold fateful encounters await you. Though this entire planet has become the battlefield of the Final War of Creation, though the world has been brought to ruin, though countless formidable foes block your path, the end has still yet to be determined by anyone. Now, let us begin our fight, my fellow warriors. The curtains rise on the greatest war in history."

- Jeanne d'Arc during the Final War of Creation

"God forgive us, we have burned a saint."

- Geoffroy Thérage, Jeanne's executioner, following her execution

"Whatever thing men call great, look for it in Joan of Arc, and there you will find it."

- Mark Twain

"Kindness, Humility, Honesty, Purity, Faith — the Maid's heart carried only these things and nothing else. Whatever thing men call great, look for it in Joan of Arc, and there you will find it."

- Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc

"This girl is reasonably good-looking, and with something virile in her bearing; she speaks but little, and is remarkably prudent, in what she does say. She eats little, and drinks wine still less; manages both her horse and her arms superbly well; greatly likes the company of knights and soldiers; scorns the company of the rabble; sheds many tears; has a happy expression; so great is her strength in the endurance of fatigue that she could remain completely armed during six whole days and nights."

- Henri de Boulainvilliers

Trivia

 * Jeanne's appearance is based on Jeanne d'Arc from Fate/Grand Order.
 * Her birthday is on January 6.
 * She likes cheese platter and Pinot Noir.
 * She's talented in flag-waving and marine animal-training, especially dolphins and whales.
 * She can command the animals she has trained to a degree similiarly to that of Familiars.