This week in Christian history: Joan of Arc born, Spurgeon converted, Beecher adultery trial

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, January 06, 2019

Joan of Arc born – January 6, 1412

German artist Hermann Anton Stilke's 'Joan of Arc's Death at the Stake.' — German artist Hermann Anton Stilke's "Joan of Arc's Death at the Stake." | (Photo: Hermann Anton Stilke [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

This week marks the anniversary of what is traditionally considered to be the birthday of St. Joan of Arc, the young French woman known for her military campaign against English invaders.

As a child, Joan claimed that she heard the voices of saints telling her to take up arms on the side of France during the Hundred Years' War against the English.

“At first the messages were personal and general, but when she was 13-years-old, she was in her father's garden and had visions of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, each of whom told her to drive the English from French territory,” noted Catholic.org.

From 1429-1430, she amassed a series of victories against the English and their allies, before being captured by the Burgundians and then sold to the English, who executed her at age 19.