1-626-349 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Joan of Arc examined by the Bishop of Winchester, 1431. Claiming divine inspiration, Joan of Arc persuaded Charles VII to declare himself King of France (at the time France was ruled by England under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes signed in 1420). Joan was captured by the English, tried as a heretic and executed and martyred in 1431, but Charles went on to regain all of France from the English, with the exception of Calais.