Ghost of Joan of Arc in the Domremy Basilica
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A French national heroine, an inspiration to feminists, a Christian icon and a muse for some of the world's most gifted artists, writers and composers, Jeanne d'Arc achieved more in her nineteen-year life than many of us achieve by the time we retire. As a teenager, Jeanne determinedly obeyed the visions she experienced, which she believed were instructions from God, and devoted her life to liberating France from English control. Her presence spurred on French soldiers to fight to end the siege of Orleans, and her bravery and holy inspiration helped her to lead the French army to many more victories until 1423, when she was captured by English forces. She was burned at the stake for heresy under the instruction of the English regent, John of Lancaster, but the accusation was overturned some years later and she was canonised by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. Despite her global renown as a martyr, a saint and a brave fighter, there is no remaining record of her physical appearance. She is most often represented as a slight, dark-haired girl dressed in armour and bearing a sword or a standard. Those who claim to have seen her at the Bois Chenu Basilica in Domremy believe that she came back to the peaceful village on her death, to spend eternity there. The basilica was built in her honour on the site of the place where she is said to have first experienced her visions as a young girl - the location of the village's fairy tree - and was consecrated in 1926.
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