Joan of Arc

French writer Charles Desnoyer provides a striking interpretation of the life of Joan of Arc, who singlehandedly saves the French state at the cost of her own life. Joan leaves her native village over the objections of her father to see King Charles VII, who has yet to be crowned. She convinces the monarch to back her God-given visions and, with an army at her side, defeats the invading English and allows the king to be anointed as the true ruler of France. But Joan is betrayed through the treachery of French noblemen, and is condemned as a heretic by the forces of King Henry VI. She declines to recant, and is ultimately burned at the stake, thereby creating a martyr who will inspire the French forces to their ultimate victory.