ABSTRACT
In 1429 the war at last took a favourable turn for the dauphin with the relief of Orl6ms, on the Loire. Not only was this fortress a key position for the defence of central and southern France, it was also the town of the captive duke Charles d'Orleans, and some held that in these circumstances the English were transgressing the rules of war in besieging it. French indignation at this action is mirrored in the decisive intervention of Joan of Arc, the symptom and at the same time the agent of French national sentiment. Joan's passionate patriotism was that of a frontierterritory; her village, Domremy, lay on the boundary of the pro-Burgundian duchy of Bar, and it had once been destroyed by Burgundian troops. Her talk was as much of 'French blood' as of the saints, and the very words of her 'voices' are characteristic: 'Go to France, you will relieve Orleans'. Joan persuaded the dauphin of his legitimacy, then played a prominent pan in the relief of Orleans. It is hard to assess her share in determining strategy and even to decide to what extent she ranked as a military commander, but her contribution for morale was great and vitally important in this turning point of the war. The English issued a proclamation against 'the captains and soldiers who have abandoned their postS, influenced by the incantations of a maid', and the letter of Charles of France announced her successes as a miracle. After the relief,Joan took part in the further victory ofPatay, then set the seal on her triumph by escorting the dauphin across France to Rheims, where he was crowned as Charles VII.
