Joan of Arc Vindicated: Martyr Cleared 25 Years On
Pope Callixtus III ordered a retrial of Joan of Arc's case in 1456, twenty-five years after English-allied Burgundian forces had burned her at the stake in Rouen. The original trial, conducted by Bishop Pierre Cauchon under English pressure, had convicted the nineteen-year-old of heresy for wearing men's clothing and claiming divine visions. The posthumous retrial examined 115 witnesses and concluded the original proceedings were tainted by political bias and procedural fraud. Joan was declared innocent and named a martyr. The vindication allowed France to reclaim her as a national hero rather than a condemned heretic, though her canonization as a saint would not come until 1920.
July 7, 1456
570 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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