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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
ANNIVERSARIES
29 APRIL 1429Joan of Arc
enters Orléans
A peasant girl takes on the
might of the English armyO
rléans, April 1429: a city under siege,
exhausted after months of pressure.
The Hundred Years’ War was in full
swing, the English were in the ascendancy,
and France seemed almost past hope.
The English army had arrived outside
Orléans the previous autumn, and the siege
had dragged on through the winter. The city’s
defenders offered to turn it over to England’s
ally Burgundy, but the English commanders
said no. They wanted the city for themselves,
and were confident that its fall was only weeks
away. And although they had heard rumours
of a legendary armoured maiden riding to its
rescue, those were just peasants’ folk tales –
weren’t they?
And then the miracle happened. The
English commanders had received a bizarre
message from a teenage girl, calling herself
“the Maiden”, ordering them to “be gone, in
the name of God, or I will make you go”. And
on 28 April, rumours spread through the
English camp that the girl had appeared,
leading a relief convoy from the south, and
that supplies were even now being shipped
to the city.
At eight the following evening, Joan of Arc
entered Orléans in triumph. “She entered fully
armed, mounted on a white horse,” wrote one
chronicler, “and before her was borne her
standard, which was likewise white, and which
had two angels holding each a lily flower in her
hand; and on the pennon was painted the
Annunciation.” To the townsfolk, who had
gathered with torches to greet their saviour, it
seemed a blessing from heaven. “They felt
wholly comforted, and as if freed from siege by
the divine virtue which they had been told was
in the simple Maid, whom they regarded most
affectionately; men, women, and little chil-
dren,” continued the chronicler.
A week later, Joan led her troops in a
bloody rout of the English attackers, holding
her banner aloft even after being wounded by
an arrow. At that moment, her reputation as a
national heroine was assured.14 APRIL 1816
In Barbados, a slave, Bussa, leads a revolt
against the island’s British governors.
After just two days, he and 400 of his followers
are cornered by the colonial militia, who kill
dozens of them, including Bussa himself.ALAMY
→THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
ANNIVERSARIES
29 APRIL 1429Joan of Arc
enters Orléans
A peasant girl takes on the
might of the English armyO
rléans, April 1429: a city under siege,
exhausted after months of pressure.
The Hundred Years’ War was in full
swing, the English were in the ascendancy,
and France seemed almost past hope.
The English army had arrived outside
Orléans the previous autumn, and the siege
had dragged on through the winter. The city’s
defenders offered to turn it over to England’s
ally Burgundy, but the English commanders
said no. They wanted the city for themselves,
and were confident that its fall was only weeks
away. And although they had heard rumours
of a legendary armoured maiden riding to its
rescue, those were just peasants’ folk tales –
weren’t they?
And then the miracle happened. The
English commanders had received a bizarre
message from a teenage girl, calling herself
“the Maiden”, ordering them to “be gone, in
the name of God, or I will make you go”. And
on 28 April, rumours spread through the
English camp that the girl had appeared,
leading a relief convoy from the south, and
that supplies were even now being shipped
to the city.
At eight the following evening, Joan of Arc
entered Orléans in triumph. “She entered fully
armed, mounted on a white horse,” wrote one
chronicler, “and before her was borne her
standard, which was likewise white, and which
had two angels holding each a lily flower in her
hand; and on the pennon was painted the
Annunciation.” To the townsfolk, who had
gathered with torches to greet their saviour, it
seemed a blessing from heaven. “They felt
wholly comforted, and as if freed from siege by
the divine virtue which they had been told was
in the simple Maid, whom they regarded most
affectionately; men, women, and little chil-
dren,” continued the chronicler.
A week later, Joan led her troops in a
bloody rout of the English attackers, holding
her banner aloft even after being wounded by
an arrow. At that moment, her reputation as a
national heroine was assured.4 APRIL 1816
In Barbados, a slave, Bussa, leads a revolt
against the island’s British governors.
After just two days, he and 400 of his followers
are cornered by the colonial militia, who kill
ozens of them, including Bussa himself.ALAMY