7 Hongwu 7

emperor was less successful with Japan, whose buccaneers

ravaged the Chinese coast. Three missions went to Japan,

armed with inducements and threats, but all were unable

to curb piracy—because the Japanese authorities were

themselves helpless.

After the Hongwu emperor’s death in June 1398, he

was succeeded by his grandson, Yunwen. The Hongwu

emperor’s posthumous name is Gaodi.

Joan of Arc

(b. c. 1412, Domrémy, Bar, France—d. May 30, 1431, Rouen; canonized

May 16, 1920; feast day May 30; French national holiday, second

Sunday in May)

F

rench national heroine Joan of Arc is remembered for

leading the French army in a momentous victory at

Orléans, which repulsed an English attempt to conquer

France during the Hundred Years’ War.

Joan was a peasant girl who from an early age believed

she heard the voices of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St.

Margaret. When Joan was about 16, the voices began urg-

ing her to aid France’s Dauphin (crown prince) and to save

France from English conquest. The crown of France at the

time was in dispute between the dauphin Charles (later

Charles VII) and the Lancastrian English king Henry VI.

Henry’s armies were in alliance with those of Philip the

Good, duke of Burgundy, and were occupying much of the

northern part of the kingdom.

Dressed in men’s clothing, Joan was granted an audi-

ence with the Dauphin. Upon meeting with his court,

she immediately greeted the king, who was hidden among

his couriers. She convinced him, his advisers, and the

church authorities to support her. They mustered troops

and on April 27 set out for Orléans, which had been

besieged since October 12, 1428, and was almost totally