Biographies & Memoirs

Chronology

BEFORE 1429: FRANCE AND ENGLAND

496

Clovis, King of the Franks, baptised by St Remigius

800

Charlemagne, King of the Franks, crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo II

1066

William, Duke of Normandy, becomes King of England

1154

Henry II, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and (by his wife) Duke of Aquitaine, becomes King of England

1200–4

Philip II Augustus, King of France, conquers Angevin and Norman lands

1258

Louis IX (St Louis) becomes suzerain of Henry III as Duke of Guyenne

1309

In the reign of Philip IV, Pope Clement V moves the papacy to Avignon

1328

Failure of direct line royal line: Philip, Count of Valois, chosen as king; he becomes King Philip VI (1328–50)

1327–77

Reign of Edward III, son of Isabella of France, in England

1337

Edward III claims throne of France

1346

English victory at Crécy

1347

The English capture Calais

1350–64

Reign of John II, King of France

1356

English victory at Poitiers

1361

Treaty of Brétigny: France surrenders sovereignty of Aquitaine to England

1369

Charles V (1364–80) reclaims Aquitaine

1377–99

Richard II, King of England, marries Isabella (1396), eldest daughter of Charles VI, King of France (1380–1422)

1407

Louis, Duke of Orléans murdered by men loyal to John, Duke of Burgundy

1413

Joan of Arc born at Domremy; death of Henry IV, King of England

1415

Henry V wins battle of Agincourt and captures Charles, Duke of Orléans

1417–19

Henry V conquers Normandy

1420

Treaty of Troyes: the Dauphin Charles disinherited in favour of Henry V (soon married to Charles’s sister Catherine) and of Henry’s heirs

1422

Deaths of Henry V and Charles VI: Henry VI, as King of England, and Henry II, as King of France, succeeds his father and grandfather

1428

Joan of Arc’s first journey to Vaucouleurs; the Earl of Salisbury in command at Orléans

1429–31: THE PUBLIC CAREER OF JOAN OF ARC

1429

Joan returns to Vaucouleurs

 

6 February: Joan visits Nancy and meets Charles II of Lorraine

 

12 February: battle of Rouvray (‘Battle of the Herrings’)

 

23 February: Joan leaves for Chinon

 

4–5 March: Joan at Ste-Catherine-de-Fierbois

 

6 March: Joan arrives at Chinon

 

c. 9 March: Joan meets Charles VII

 

21 March: Joan in Poitiers

 

29 April: Joan enters Orléans

 

4 May: Bastard of Orléans returns to Orléans; fall of St-Loup

 

6 May: the French capture Les Augustins

 

7 May: the French capture Les Tourelles

 

8 May: the English fall back on Meung

 

11–12 June: the French capture Jargeau

 

15 June: Joan at Meung-sur-Loire

 

16–17 June: the French capture Beaugency

 

18 June: battle of Patay

 

30 June: Joan travels towards Reims

 

Early July: Joan near Auxerre

 

5–11 July: Joan near Troyes

 

17 July: coronation of Charles VII at Reims

 

8 September: Joan leads attack on Paris

 

10–13 September: Joan at St-Denis

 

October and early November: Joan at St-Pierre-le-Moûtier

 

24 November: Joan leads attack on La Charité-sur-Loire

 

29 December: Joan and her family are ennobled

1430

23 May: Joan is captured at Compiègne

 

Late May–July: Joan held prisoner at Beaulieu

 

Mid-July–mid-November: Joan at Beaurevoir

1431

3 January: Joan transferred to the custody of Bishop Cauchon

 

9 January: beginning of the first trial

 

21 February: first public session of the trial

 

10–17 March: closed sessions of the trial

 

18 April: Joan admonished to recant

 

19 May: reading of the condemnation of the University of Paris

 

30 May: Joan executed

AFTER 1431: THE CAUSE OF JOAN OF ARC

1435

Treaty of Arras between Charles VII and Philip, Duke of Burgundy

1436

Paris surrenders to the French

1440

Release of Charles, Duke of Orléans, from prison in England

1449

French invasion of Normandy; capture of Rouen

1450

Charles VII authorises investigation into trial of Joan of Arc

1452

Pope Nicholas V authorises Joan of Arc’s retrial process; Cardinal d’Estouteville and the Inquisitor Jean Bréhal preside

1453

English finally driven out of Guyenne

1455

Pope Calixtus III authorises Joan’s mother, Isabelle, to appeal; 7 November: opening session of the retrial held at Notre-Dame, Paris

1456

7 July: public announcement of the judgment of the court: the original verdict is nullified

1589

End of the Valois line: Henry IV becomes first Bourbon King of France by reason of the Salic Law of inheritance

1789

Outbreak of the French Revolution

1793

Suspension of the feast of Joan of Arc in Orléans

1801

Napoleon concludes the Concordat with Pope Pius VII

1803

Napoleon allows revival of festival of Joan in Orléans

1804

Napoleon crowned Emperor of the French in Notre-Dame

1825

Charles X consecrated and crowned at Reims: the last king of France to be so

1869

Dupanloup, Bishop of Orléans, begins process of canonising Joan

1870–1

Franco-Prussian War leads to loss of part of Lorraine and creation of the Third Republic

1878–1903

Papacy of Leo XII

1894

Joan declared Venerable; Alfred Dreyfus court-martialled for forgery

1898

Founding of Action Française

1903

Formal proposal for canonisation of Joan

1909

11 April: Joan beatified by Pius X (Pope 1903–14)

1920

16 May: Joan canonised by Pope Benedict XV; Joan given a national feast day

1922–39

Papacy of Pius XI

1926

Action Française placed on the Index

1931

30 May: five hundredth anniversary of the death of Joan

1939

Pius XII (1939–58) lifts ban on Action Française

1940–4

Vichy France and Free French dispute devotion to Joan

1945

6 February: execution of Robert Brasillach

 

8 May: Feast of St Joan of Arc; VE Day

1959

As First President of the Fifth Republic, de Gaulle presides over the ceremonies at Orléans

1974

The Centre Jeanne d’Arc in Orléans founded by Régine Pernoud, with the encouragement of de Gaulle’s former minister of culture, André Malraux

1980

1 May: the first meeting of the Front National to celebrate its feast of St Joan

1989

In the bicentenary year of the French Revolution, President Mitterrand presides over the ceremonies at Orléans for the second time.

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