JEANNE D'ARC

When the French King Charles VI (1380-1422), who fell into madness, the state ruled by alternating the two competing factions court. They were headed by his uncle King - Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Orleans (with its close relative of the Earl of Armagnac). Using this feudal struggle, the British landed in the north of the country's 30-thousand army. In 1415, Mr.. British defeated at Agincourt (in Normandy), destroying and capturing 10 thousand. French soldiers. The British occupied the whole of northern France, in their hands was even Paris. Under the peace treaty in 1420, Mr.. France and England were declared a single kingdom. But soon the war was renewed.
Proclaimed himself king of Dauphin (heir to the throne) Karl with the remnants of the French army took refuge in the fortress of the Loire. British troops besieged the city of Orleans. His fall would open the way to the invaders to the south. Under Orleans decided the fate of France.
At this point in the court of the Dauphin appeared nobody famous peasant girl from the village Domremi (on the border of Champagne and Lorraine) - Joan of Arc. Jeanne was convinced that God and the saints urged her to save France. The Power of Faith Jeanne was so great that she managed to convince his high destiny, even royal dignitaries. She actually led the army, was directed at Orleans in order to relieve him of the blockade. May 8, 1429, Mr.. British departed from the Orleans. This was a decisive turning point in the Hundred Years' War. The French army was directed to Reims, where ancient cathedral Jeanne laid the crown on the head of Charles.
Soon, however, Joan was defeated under the walls of Paris. She captured the Burgundians and sold for 10 thousand. livres British. At the trial, which was attended by the bishops and the French, Joan was accused of heresy and witchcraft, and May 30, 1431, Mr.. burned at the stake in Rouen. King Charles VII, whom she produced the crown, only 25 years later ordered the case reopened and rehabilitate the heroine. In 19,20 g. Joan of Arc was ranked as the Catholic Church canonized.
In 1453, Mr.. the last bastion of the English in Aquitaine, Bordeaux surrendered. Hundred Years War ended. But England still retains a century port of Calais.