ing out against an English siege. In a des-
perate situation, and with little realistic
hope of success, the dauphin agreed. In
just nine days, however, Joan led the
French to victory at Orléans. She was re-
warded with co-command of an army,
with which she defeated the English at the
Battle of Patay. She then marched to Re-
ims, where she witnessed the coronation
of the dauphin as Charles VII of France
on July 17, 1429.
After the coronation, Joan continued
to lead the French against the scattered
enemy troops in northern France. At the
town of Compiègne, she was captured by
a company of Burgundians and then sold
to the English. The English governor in
France, Duke Henry of Bedford, put her
on trial for religious heresy. Her impas-
sioned defense proved futile, as the En-
glish and Bishop Cauchon of Beauvais, an
ally of England who presided at the trial,
were determined to see her dead. She was
convicted and burned at the stake in
Rouen on May 30, 1431.
Joan’s inspired leadership of the de-
moralized French army proved a turning
point in the Hundred Years’ War. By the
Treaty of Arras in 1435, the Burgundians
ended their alliance with the English, who
lost Rouen in 1449 and their last strong-
hold at Calais in 1558. Under the succes-
sors of Charles VII, a unified French king-
dom emerged that would develop by the
end of the Renaissance into the largest and
wealthiest realm in Europe.
Joanna of Castile .............................
(1479–1555)
Queen of Castile and Leon whose life was
troubled by the recurring bouts of insan-
ity and extreme behavior that earned her
the nickname of “Joan the Mad.” She was
born in Toledo, the daughter of Ferdinand
II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, who
united these two kingdoms to establish the
monarchy of Spain. In 1496 Joanna mar-
ried Philip the Handsome, son of Emperor
Maximilian I. After the death of her
brother John, her elder sister Queen Isa-
bella of Portugal, and nephew Miguel of
Asturias, she was the eldest surviving
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and as
such was officially recognized by the Span-
ish Cortes (parliament) as the heir to the
throne of Castile in 1502. The death of
Queen Isabella in 1504 brought Joanna
the formal right to this title, but her claim
was clouded by the ambitions of her hus-
band and of her father Ferdinand, who
maintained that she had been made a pris-
oner by Philip. Her husband’s death of ty-
phoid fever in 1506 left her in a deranged
state of mind, under which she allowed
Ferdinand to rule with her as co-regent.
Ferdinand took advantage of the situation
to imprison Joanna in the castle of
Tordesillas, where she remained. In 1516,
on Ferdinand’s death, her son Charles be-
came co-regent. The nobles of Spain did
not take to Charles, however, and revolted
against the foreign governors he sent to
rule over them in the Revolt of the Comu-
neros in 1520. Kept prisoner at Tordesillas,
Joanna was unable to summon the rebels
to her side, and after the revolt was put
down she was confined to an isolated
room, where she remained until her death
in 1555.Jones, Inigo .....................................
(1573–1652)
English architect who introduced the
building styles of the Italian Renaissance
to his native country. Jones was born in
London, the son of a Catholic cloth-
worker. Sometime in the late sixteenth cen-
tury, he traveled to Italy, and lived for a
time in Venice. He also spent time at theJoanna of Castile