Page 70 - Reading Success B4

Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France. She is also considered a saint of
the Roman Catholic Church. It was around 1424, when she was 12, that she told

the then-uncrowned King Charles VII that she had visions of Saints Catherine,
Margaret, and Saint Michael the Archangel. The saints told her to recover her

homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years’ War. When King
Charles VII sent her to battle, it was expected that the veteran commanders of the

army didn’t think highly of her. However, she gained their respect when she ended
the siege in only nine days. Her succeeding victories, as swift as the first one,

enabled Charles VII to claim the throne. She was only seventeen.
Two years later, a politically motivated trial convicted her of heresy . She was

burnt at the stake in Rouen. Several years after her death, on May 16, 1920, Pope
Benedict XV canonized her as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Her

birthplace is now a museum. Her life story has been portrayed in numerous films
around the world. She has remained an important figure in Western culture. Major

writers and composers have created works about her Shakespeare, Verdi,
Tchaikovsky, among others.

Main Idea

What is the main idea of this story?

a. how Joan of Arc died

b. Joan of Arc’s role in the Hundred Years’ War
c. who Joan of Arc was

d. some people who have been inspired by Joan of Arc

72_Reading Success B 4