I had the wrong gender, the wrong background, and the wrong age. Nevertheless, I headed out to fight against arrogant generals, against the men of the church, and the English who ruled our country. Because God had said to me, "You must liberate France." My short life went by in a flash. My story sounds like it was made up, and yet it's true. Who knows what life I would have had if there wasn't a war? Maybe I would have fallen in love and watched my children grow up. But God had a different plan for me. We had been fighting the English for days.

Les Tourelles, the fort in front of Orléans, was the symbol of English rule in France. We only had to take this fortress, then Orléans would be freed. Lord, grant us victory, and stand by me through the danger. In repentance, I confess my sins. I didn't fast on Friday. I was quick-tempered. I argued with men, and I disagreed with Saint Margaret. I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. All these men led me to this point.

They believed in me, and I in them. Press forward, men! [groaning] Forward! Take Les Tourelles now! [screaming] When I was wounded, I thought, "Now it's over." A few years earlier, I hadn't known much more than my village in Lorraine. Father was head of the community. He looked after not only our family, but everyone in the village. Even during the war, for as long as I can remember. Hands off. Go inside and help your mother. But I felt more and more that I wasn't like the others.

The saints belonged to me. They were my friends. I felt safe with them. Yeah, where is the brat? Tell me. Not here. Where is she hanging around? Stubborn little mule. I've had enough. She needs a husband so we can relax. He can fight with her. She better not disobey me. Jacques, why do you want that? She is a good and devout girl, but you just want to get rid of her. She'll be happy if she's married. She's always running off to the church or off in the forest talking to herself. The whole village is gossiping about it.

I just don't know anymore. Is she mad or what? My mother had a big heart. I learned everything from her. And then, on her wedding night, Saint Margaret just ran away. She cut her hair real short, [snorts] and then she put on some men's clothing, and then she lived as a monk in a monastery. Why did she wear men's clothes? Ah. Well, she wanted to protect herself from men, and stay a virgin. Why is that? She wanted to only belong to God.

She could have become a nun, right? You and your questions. Time to go to bed. The story of Saint Margaret wouldn't leave me alone. I could trust her with all of my troubles, especially my biggest fear. So I have to go to strangers. I don't want to leave. You must simply not return the wedding vows. yes. And Father, Tell him you have to go another way, the way which is prescribed for you by God.

Tell him you are destined for something higher than marriage. Our country had been at war for nearly a hundred years. Many people had fled from the English and Burgundians who had united against France. We had nobody to protect us. Our king had hidden himself away and didn't want to fight. There were more and more raids in our area. The English were getting closer. That's why people who had to leave their villages often passed by us. I tell you they're beasts.

They've burnt down everything. They've raped our women. Everything is gone. is dead now. My sisters And our king? What's he doing, huh? The king will not abandon us. Come on. He will sit around until France's last corner is lost to the English. What kind of a king does not even try and stand up to the enemy and abandons women and children? It is said a virgin will come out of the forest and liberate France for us. You are not the only one who wants that. And let me say to you, it will happen in the end.

We pray the suffering will end soon. Yes. We pray. I could see it. I could feel it. This suffering, this misery. It made me so angry and so helpless. Everyone's just talking. But no one's doing anything. Father is always complaining. Someone just has to do something. Oh, Lord. Lord forgive me. I swore I spoke your name in vain. You must begin. You must begin and go to the king. That's insane. I can't leave home. You can't stay here any longer. You must begin and go to the king.

No, leave me alone. I'm not listening to you. Trust us. Trust in God. I'm only a lowly farm girl. I've never held a sword before. I can't lead a war. I can't even fight. God has chosen you to help the king. God wants you to liberate France. Liberate Orléans and you will see that it is true. Trust in God and everyone will believe in you. Where shall I go? Tell me now. Go to Vaucouleurs. Go to the commander. He will give you to the ones who will lead you to the king.

Shall I tell father? No, I'll just go. Tomorrow? I had considered everything for long enough. Now, my new life was about to begin. Time was limited. Northern France had already been conquered. The English besieged Orléans. If they won there, nobody would be able to stop them. First I went to Vaucouleurs. To get to the king, I needed help from the captain of Baudricourt. Captain Baudricourt, listen to me.

It is a shame that half of France has got these awful English and Burgundians occupying us. And we're just sitting around? Baudricourt! Give me men and lead me to the king. God has chosen me to liberate France and to lead him to the throne. Huh! And you want to liberate us? Everyone's heard the prophecy that a virgin will save France. And you think it's going to be you? How do you want to lead the war with the English, huh? You can tend sheep perhaps, but can you actually wield a sword, huh? I will learn. Who's that?

Oh, I feel much safer. The maiden will learn. I saw her hanging around yesterday morning. Give her to me. I know what to do with a virgin. I thought that people in the city had more brains. Look at yourselves. You have nothing left. You haven't even won a single battle. Do you want to resign yourselves to fate and be eternally oppressed by the English? God has spoken to me. Our Lord has commanded me and I will fight. While I'm alive, I won't let any living person down.

I am your only hope. Follow me or you will have lost. Ah, my God, what is this madness? Metz and Poligny were the first to take me seriously. Sometimes at any rate. Protect your head from above, attack from below. That wasn't bad just now. When? Well, basically every time. What? I want to have men's clothes. So, I heard someone here wants men's clothing? I'm serious. And I will tell you something serious.

What you're planning is blasphemy. Joan, he's right. You'll be burned at the stake as a witch. As a woman, you can't wear men's clothing. You can't do that. Yeah? I can. Joan. Joan! If someone decides that she's evil, then she'll definitely have lost. You don't need trousers for that. There are plenty of other reasons. What do you mean? Well, perhaps you know where her voices come from. Whether they are really from God.

She could have also been possessed by the devil. You don't seriously mean that. No, of course not. But others could think that. Enough women have been burnt because Satan had supposedly whispered something to them. No way. Just look at her. Could she be evil? Just looking at her won't achieve much. Doesn't matter. I am on her side no matter what. Of course I knew that a woman wasn't allowed to wear men's clothes. But I was an exception.

I needed trousers for my mission. They should show that I'm strong. That I am a soldier among soldiers. And that I could fight just as well as they could. So, cut here. No. Here. What's so good about this hair? No man will want a girl with short hair. I don't need a man. I need soldiers. No. I'm not doing it. Come on, do it. We're talking and out there Orleans has been besieged for months. The people there are practically starving.

Do it. Do it now. Very well. How do you actually know how to beat the English? There's not much to know. Hold here. Piling up as many men as possible and wear them down until they give up. Explain that to the generals on the ground who have been leading the war for 20 years. They may be more experienced than me, but I have more courage. That is something I hadn't thought about. 9 weeks had already gone by. Hardly anyone in Vaucouleurs still doubted me. I was ready. But Captain Baudricourt wouldn't let me go yet. So many people have come here because of her.

There must be something to her and her story. Be careful. What if she's some kind of a fraud? So, why did you hear her confession? Well, yeah, she's uh you know, she's quite Don't we all want it to be true? Something about her mission makes me want to believe. At last, Baudricourt gave me a horse and sword and sent a letter of recommendation to King Charles. I also received an escort, a couple soldiers. And the best thing was my two loyal companions. On the way to the king, we had to battle through enemy territory.

The English and their allies were everywhere. Charles held court in Chinon, a fortress in the west. I was not welcome there. It doesn't matter what she says. We simply cannot let some obscure little farm girl see the king. But she comes to us at an opportune moment. The prophesied virgin. The people believe in her. Have you seen how many have followed her? That may be, but if she turns out to be a fraud, we shall be to blame. So, she can't speak before the court.

Well, she doesn't have to. At the reception afterwards, only the king and her. You must be on the throne. That is God's will and he has sent me. Give me soldiers and I will defeat the English. I'm the only one that can help you. You want to be the prophesied virgin? Only I know how to fulfill it, yes. Only I know the Lord's advice. I should believe you? The saints have spoken to me. If that's true. Your highness, nothing could have stopped the English until now.

Believe me. and in just a few weeks I will lead you to the throne. He would rely on me. I was certain of that. But I had no idea how many more tests still lay ahead of me. You don't need to be afraid, my child. It was said that a virgin cannot be possessed by the devil. But that still wasn't enough for them. They wanted proof that I had actually been sent by God. Then how does one find that out? By endless weeks of questioning.

A commission of important men should test me. It was as if they wanted to crawl inside me and listen to my voices. My voices told me that God has great sympathy for the French people. They said I should go to the king and to not be afraid. If God wants to liberate France, doesn't he need soldiers for that? If we do take up weapons, we will win with God. You are a woman. How can you presume to tell us what is to be done? Your honor, Eve ate from the tree of knowledge first before she let Adam have a taste.

There are enough advisers here. Now, why should the king listen to you of all people? Because my advice is from heaven. It was exasperating. They tortured me with their questions. I was sent by God. And yet my fate lay in human hands. I had so much power in me and I was condemned to idleness. You say that you heard voices from heaven? Do you claim that God speaks to a farm girl? God speaks to whomever he wants. And how do your voices speak? In what dialect? In a more understandable dialect than yours, sir.

Let's leave off the voices for now. From heaven or hell, it's quite irrelevant. It's not. It's relevant to me. And it will bring harm to the king if she is a fraud. This is about France, not theology. If you know everything, what will happen now? I will liberate Orléans. The Dauphin is appointed king in Reims. Paris will be once more under Charles' rule and France will be free. The prophet has spoken. Perhaps you could put our minds at ease and give us some proof of your divine calling. I didn't come here to give you any signs.

Lead me to Orléans. Then I will give you the signs for which I was sent. And then I had to wait until the men had made a decision about me. It seemed that my entire life consisted of waiting. And he's letting us go. Joan! What did they say? The commission came to a good decision. What did they say exactly? You must tell me from the beginning. Okay, the following was proclaimed. The king has considered the virgin's test and nothing evil can be found in the girl.

We can go! [screaming] I went to Orléans with only a few soldiers. More and more people joined us. Some called me the angel of God. The people in the occupied city hoped for rescue. Hoped for me. The English were about to get a very clear message from me. One side's enough. Title? King of England and Duke of Bedford. You who call yourself regent of the kingdom of France, hand over to the virgin sent here by God, the king of heaven, the keys to all of the cities that you have taken.

Someone declaring war on us. Some woman. I am prepared to make peace if you leave France right now and give back everything that you have taken from us. If you don't do this, know that Have you changed anything? No. Your loyal servant would never change anything without asking you first. I never received a reply. It didn't matter to me. There were many smaller fortresses around Orléans which were occupied by the English. In a few days, we had conquered most of them. But the last bastion was also the strongest, the Les Tourelles fort.

There the battle would be decided. I was so sure that we would do it. But then I knew I was going to die. But God held out his hand to me. Joan? Joan, wake up. Drink this. Joan, drink this. I don't want that. We have to pull the arrow out of your shoulder. Oh, I've been shot. Where are they? Who? The English.

There's no point. We're retreating. Where's my banner? Give me my banner. Why are you standing around? Forward! [screaming] I sworn to heaven and to myself that I'd avenge all the suffering in France. We had done it. Thank you, dear God. Thank you. Then we went to Reims so we could finally crown Karl. I stood next to him with our banner. It was with me in the battle and suffered as much. But it should also share in the glory. It was the most wonderful day of my life.

The prophesized virgin. Your highness, we must go. I'm coming. Noble king, nothing else stands in our way. Now the English fear us. We must continue to fight until we have driven them all out of our country. We will do that. That shall be advised, highness. After the battle, it's time for the diplomats. And it'll be time for the warlords to rest, to lay their weapons down, and to polish their swords. I know that. I will not rest until all of France is free. At first, the king allowed me to continue. On the way to Paris, we were able to win back many cities. But then we ran out of luck. Before Paris, we suffered a dreadful loss.

The royal army was disbanded. Just a few soldiers followed me on my campaign from city to city. It was a hopeless fight. My voices fell silent. But I continued to fight. I managed without God's help. Get in there, prisoner. Perhaps that was the reason why I fell into enemy hands. But in prison, my strength and my voices returned. What are you staring at? My king will free me. And then God have mercy. [screaming] I'm innocent. But nobody came. Shut up in there.

We could try to buy her freedom. The English will certainly try her as a witch, but we were convinced that she wasn't. Just leave it. It has to end with this virgin in disguise and these supposed voices she hears. It's hocus pocus. Our coffers are empty. We cannot fight an internal war. Don't forget that God sent her to us. God will stand by her then. If it's only a matter of money, it can be obtained.

I just think, if France's heroine ends up being burnt at the stake, the English will humiliate us and you. That's not the issue here. I can't just abandon Joan. She brought the throne to me. We are making the right decision, your highness. Believe me. Rouen. The trial was carried out by the church there at the behest of the English. Witchcraft, superstition. I had done none of the things they accused me of, but it was only about power.

Swear on the holy gospels that you will answer all questions. You call yourself my judge. Be careful what you do, because I was sent by God and you are in great danger. Who told you that you should wear men's clothes? My voices. How do you know that your voices come from God and not from the devil? [screaming] You have tried to escape several times. It is the right of any prisoner to escape. You bore weapons and killed people. Your saints, do they hate the English? They love what God loves and hate what God hates.

You don't want to repent? I've done nothing against God or against my faith. The torture and the fear of fire weakened me. I told them what they wanted to hear. Denied my voices and wore woman's clothes again. But instead of the freedom I hoped for, the final judgment was life in prison. And my repeal didn't suit their plan. They wanted to see a witch burn. And they used any means necessary to achieve this. I would rather die than to stay in this prison.

Hey, you out there. Give me my things back. I will not submit. Not to the English, not to this court, not to these church people, not to anyone. I will live with the king in heaven, with the king in heaven.