Daily Curiosity

Middle Ages · Question

In what year did Joan of Arc help lift the siege of Orléans?

Answer

1429

The story behind the answer

Joan of Arc reached besieged Orléans in late April and, defying cautious French commanders, led bold attacks on the English fortifications. Her presence electrified the garrison and townspeople; after a string of victories, the English abandoned the siege on May 8, 1429. Since the blockade had begun in October 1428, her nine-day campaign decisively ended it the following spring.

A teenage peasant claiming divine guidance, Joan transformed French morale in the Hundred Years’ War. The relief of Orléans—hailed as the “Miracle of Orléans”—reversed years of English momentum and cleared the path for Charles VII’s coronation at Reims that summer. Though captured the next year and executed soon after, her intervention at Orléans became the emblematic turning point of French resistance.

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