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This beautifully crafted medal is really like a little sterling silver
portrait! It is cast in exquisite detail and includes the saint's name in raised lettering encircling the image. This 3/4" sterling silver medal and its companion 18" stainless steel chain come in a classic
hinged jewelry box, ready to become a classic gift!
About St. Joan . . . On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class, at the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. Joan was the youngest of five children. She never learned to read or write but was skilled in sewing and spinning. Priests and former playmates recalled her love of prayer and church, her care of the sick, and her sympathy of poor wayfarers. "She was so good," it was stated, "that all the village loved her." At the age of 14 she heard voices, whom she recognized as those of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. At first the messages were personal and general. Then at last came the crowning order. In May 1428, her voices "of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret" told Joan to go to the King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom. For at that time the English king was after the throne of France, and the Duke of Burgundy, the chief rival of the French king, was siding with him and conquering more French territory. After overcoming opposition from churchmen and courtiers, the 17 year old girl was given a small army with which she raised the seige of Orleans on May 8, 1429. She then enjoyed a series of spectacular military successes, during which King Charles was able to enter Rheims and be crowned with her at his side. In May 1430, as she was attempting to relieve Compiegne, she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English when Charles and the French did nothing to save her. Once in their hands her execution was a foregone conclusion. Though they could not condemn her to death for defeating them in open warfare, they could have her sentenced as a sorceress and a heretic. After months of imprisonment, she was tried at Rouen by a tribunal presided over by the infamous Peter Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, who hoped that the English would help him to become archbishop. Through her ignorance of theological terms and lack of education, Joan was trapped into making a few damaging statements. When she refused to retract the assertion that it was the saints of God who had commanded her to do what she had done, she was condemned to death as a heretic, sorceress, and adulteress, and burned at the stake on May 30, 1431. She was 19 years old. Some 30 years later, she was exonerated of all guilt and she was ultimately canonized in 1920, making official what the people had known for centuries.
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