[ahrk] 
Saint (“the Maid of Orléans” ), 1412?–31, French national heroine and martyr who raised the siege of Orléans. |
| Jeanne d'Arc (zhän därk') See Joan of Arc. |
A French military leader of the fifteenth century, a national heroine who at the age of seventeen took up arms to establish the rightful king on the French throne. She claimed to have heard God speak to her in voices. These claims eventually led to her trial for heresy and her execution by burning at the stake. Joan of Arc is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.