It was said that
she was under the influence of the Evil One. She declared to her
judges her innocence of the charge and said, "God has always been
my guide in all that I have done. The devil has never had power
over me."
Her trial was long and tiresome. At its close she was doomed to
be burned at the stake.
So in the market-place at Rouen the English soldiers fastened her
to a stake surrounded by a great pile of fagots.
A soldier put into her hands a rough cross, which he had made from
a stick that he held. She thanked him and pressed it to her bosom.
Then a good priest, standing near the stake, read to her the prayers
for the dying, and another mounted the fagots and held towards her
a crucifix, which she clasped with both hands and kissed. When
the cruel flames burst out around her, the noble girl uttered the
word "Jesus," and expired.
A statue of her now stands on the spot where she suffered.
Among all the men of her time none did nobler work than Joan. And
hence it is that we put the story of her life among the stories
of the lives of the great MEN of the Middle Ages, although she was
only a simple peasant girl.
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