A Girl Hears Voices

Around 1425, a 13-year-old peasant girl in rural France started hearing voices. She claimed they belonged to Saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret. Their message was specific: drive the English out of France and crown the rightful king.

What makes her story extraordinary is not the visions — plenty of medieval peasants reported divine voices. It is that the French royal court eventually believed her enough to give her armor, a horse, and men. A battered monarchy running out of options will try almost anything. Joan was that anything. She could not read, could not write, and had never held a weapon — yet a few years later she would help turn the tide of the Hundred Years' War.