To free her country Joan must leave behind everyone she has ever loved, apart from her faithful sparrow, Belami. This miniature from the 15th century, very neat (the banner corresponds exactly to the description that Joan of Arc herself will give during her trial) . Many are threatened by a woman who leads, and Joan draws wrath and suspicion from all corners, while her first taste of fame and glory leaves her vulnerable to her own powerful ambition. How did a reportedly thin, otherworldly peasant girl become a leader of professionally violent men and then a national icon?

Her image, changing over time, has included being the savior of France, an obedient daughter of the Roman Catholic Church, an early feminist, and a symbol of freedom and independence. She is portrayed in numerous cultural works, including literature, music, paintings, sculptures, and theater. the orientation of the questions aimed at achieving a guilty verdict and the thinking of that era both serve to weaken the capacity to conclude a valid medical diagnosis. Joan should have been in the hands of the church during the trial and guarded by women, [219] but instead was imprisoned by the English and guarded by male soldiers under the command of the Duke of Bedford.Joan's firm belief in the divinity of her visions strengthened her confidence, enabled her to trust herself, [307] and gave her hope during her capture and trial. The English subsidized the trial, [210] including payments to Cauchon [211] and Jean Le Maître, [212] who represented the Inquisitor of France. Joan testified that her visions had instructed her to defeat the English and crown Charles, and her success was argued to be evidence she was acting on behalf of God. Jeanne D'Arc, Maid of Orleans, Deliverer of France, Being the Story of Her Life, Her Achievements, and Her Death, As Attested on Oath and Set Forth in the Original Documents.

In seeking the answer, Chen will have faced a dilemma familiar to historical novelists: to privilege the recorded history of Joan, which shows her as the instrument of God and men, or to acknowledge the expectations of modern readers, honed by stories in which a woman can be the agent of her own life rather than the object of others. Her final condemnation began when she was found to have resumed wearing men's clothes, [311] which was taken as a sign that she had relapsed into heresy. Joan is one of the most studied people of the Middle Ages, [332] partly because her two trials provided a wealth of documents.The short "Peculiarity" note explains, first, that many actual details about (the long-ago) life of Joan of Arc are uniquely established and known, having been recorded under oath in court documents that are preserved in the National Archives of France; and, that the "mass of added particulars" here are provided by Sieur de Conte, who, the (fictional) Translator assures us, is reliable.