Western Civilization

free France and have the dauphin crowned king. In

February 1429, Joan made her way to the dauphin’s

court, where her sincerity and simplicity persuaded

Charles to allow her to accompany a French army to

Orleans. Apparently inspired by the faith of the peas-

ant girl, the French armies found new confidence in

themselves and liberated Orleans, changing the course

of the war. Within a few weeks, the entire Loire valley

had been freed of the English. Joan had brought the

war to a decisive turning point.

But she did not live to see the war concluded. Cap-

tured by the Burgundian allies of the English in 1430,

Joan was turned over first to the English and then to

the Inquisition on charges of witchcraft. In the fif-

teenth century, spiritual visions were thought to be

inspired either by God or the Devil. Because Joan

dressed in men’s clothing, it was relatively easy to con-

vince others that she was in league with the “prince of

darkness.” She was condemned to death as a heretic

and burned at the stake in 1431. To the end, as the

flames rose up around her, she declared “that her

voices came from God and had not deceived her.”

Twenty-five years later, a new ecclesiastical court exon-

erated her of these charges, and five centuries later, in

1920, she was made a saint of the Roman Catholic

Church (see the Film & History feature on p. 259). In

the end, Joan of Arc’s accomplishments proved decisive.

END OF THE WAR Although the war dragged on for

another two decades, defeats of English armies in Nor-

mandy and Aquitaine led to French victory. Important

to the French success was the use of the cannon, a new

weapon made possible by the invention of gunpowder.

The Chinese had invented gunpowder in the eleventh

century and devised a simple cannon by the thirteenth.

The Mongols greatly improved this technology, devel-

oping more accurate cannon and cannonballs; both

spread to the Middle East by the thirteenth century

and to Europe by the fourteenth.

The death of England’s best commanders and the

instability of the English government under King

Henry VI (1422–1461) also contributed to England’s

defeat. By 1453, the only part of France that was left

in England’s hands was the coastal town of Calais,

which remained English for another century.

Political Instability

The fourteenth century was a period of adversity for the

internal political stability of European governments.

Although government bureaucracies grew ever larger, at

the same time the question of who should control the

bureaucracies led to internal conflict and instability. Like

the lord and serf relationship, the lord and vassal rela-

tionship based on land and military service was being

replaced by a contract based on money. Especially after

the Black Death, money payments calledscutagewere

increasingly substituted for military service. Monarchs

welcomed this development because they could now hire

Joan of Arc.Pictured here in a fifteenth-century design for a

window for the cathedral of Orleans, Joan of Arc is seen in a

suit of armor entering the city. There are no known portraits

of Joan made from life.

DEA/G. Dagli Orti//Getty Images

CHRONOLOGYThe Hundred Years’ War

Outbreak of hostilities 1337

Battle of Crecy 1346

Truce 1396

War renewed by Henry V 1415

Battle of Agincourt 1415

French recovery under Joan of Arc 1429–1431

End of the war 1453

258 Chapter 11 The Later Middle Ages: Crisis and Disintegration in the Fourteenth Century

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