1429

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political events

Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) becomes the heroine of France and changes the course of history. A 17-year-old shepherd girl from Lorraine, she has heard voices and seen visions of the Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her that since France was lost by a woman (Isabelle of Bavaria) it must be saved by a virgin. They pledged her to seek out the dauphin and deliver Orléans from the English. Having resisted the voices for 3 years, she persuades an uncle to conduct her to the sieur de Baudricourt, commander of Vaucouleurs, who laughs her off but reports her visit to his superiors. Word of the visit reaches the duke of Lorraine, who tells Yolande of Anjou, mother-in-law of the dauphin. Baudricourt receives orders from Chinon that Joan is to be conducted to the court. She is outfitted in a black jerkin, trunk hose fastened by aglets, a short black tunic, black hat, leggings with spurs, and a sword. Thus garbed, she meets with Yolande and Queen Marie at Chinon, where she is told what she must say to the dauphin.

"I tell you from my Lord that you are the true heir of France and son of the king," Joan of Arc advises the dauphin. He provides her with a small army, and she writes a letter to the English, saying, "Surrender to the Maid sent hither, by God the King of Heaven, the keys of all the good towns you have taken and laid waiste in France . . . And to you, King of England, if you do not thus, I am a chieftain of war and whenever I meet your followers in France, I will drive them out; if they will not obey, I will put them all to death." John Plantagenet, duke of Bedford, sends to London for reinforcements, strengthens his hold on Paris, visits Rouen to bind the Normans closer to England, but assigns the French regency to Philippe, duc de Burgundy, in compliance with the will of the Parisians. Joan's leadership inspires her 4,000 men to liberate Orléans April 28. She defeats the English at Jargeau June 12 and takes their commander William de la Pole, earl of Suffolk, prisoner, holding him until he is ransomed. Charles travels to Reims in company with Jean d'Orléans; crowned at Reims July 17, he will reign until 1461 as Charles VII.

Joan of Arc has a standard embroidered for her bearing the fleur-de-lys and the words Jesus Maria.

The Order of the Golden Fleece founded in Burgundy will become a Hapsburg order beginning in 1477.

commerce

London merchants organize the Grocers' Company to succeed the Pepperers Guild (see food, 1328). Henry VI will grant the company a charter to sell wholesale—vendre en gros, source of the word grocer—and manage the trade in spices (now used widely in medicine), drugs, and dyestuffs. The company will remain active for more than 300 years (see 1493).

Banker Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici dies at his native Florence September 20 at age 61, having virtually ruled the city since 1421 and made his family the richest in Italy if not in all of Europe. "I leave you with a larger business than any other in the Tuscan land," Giovanni has written, and he advises his 40-year-old son Cosimo to "be charitable to the poor," belong to the popular political party, "speak not as though giving advice," "avoid litigation," and "be careful not to attract public attention," but Cosimo has his own ideas and will multiply the family fortune many times over (see 1431).

religion

Theologian and Christian mystic Jean de Gerson dies at Lyons July 12 at age 65.

literature

Poetry: Christine de Pisan, now 65, hears in July that the siege of Orléans has been lifted and writes verses comparing Joan of Arc to such biblical heroines as Esther, Judith, and Deborah: "Ah, what honor to the feminine sex!/ Which God so loved that he showed/ A way to this great people/ By which the kingdom, once lost,/ Was recovered by a woman,/ A thing that men could not do."

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