only for her country, not for a
part of it. She fought not for Orleans, or Anjou, or Britanny, or
Lorraine, but for France. In fact, she made France a nation again.
Before she appeared everywhere was murder, revenge, robbery, burning of
towns, slaughter of peaceful people, wretchedness, and despair. It was
to redeem France from this ruin that Joan came, just when, in 1429, the
English were besieging Orleans. Had they taken the strong city of
Orleans, they could have overrun all southern and central France, and
would have driven the natural king of France, Charles the Dauphin, into
exile. From this ruin Joan saved her country; but if you wish to know
more exactly how matters stood, and who the people were with whom Joan
had to do, you must read what follows. If not, you can 'skip' to Chapter
III.

II

A PAGE OF HISTORY

AS you know, Edward III. had made an unjust claim to the French crown,
and, with the Black Prince, had supported it by the victories of Crecy
and Poictiers. But Edward died, and the Black Prince died, and his son,
Richard II., was the friend of France, and married a French princess.
Richard, too, was done to death, but Henry IV., who succeeded him, had
so much work on his hands in England that he left France alone. Yet
France was wretched, because when the wise Charles V. died in 1380, he
left two children, Charles the Dauphin, and his brother, Louis of
Orleans. They were only little boys, and the Dauphin became weak-minded;
moreover, they were both in the hands of their uncles. The best of these
relations, Philip, Duke of Burgundy, died in 1404. His son, John the
Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, was the enemy of his own cousin, Louis of
Orleans, brother of the Dauphin Charles, who was now king, under the
title of Charles VI. John the Fearless had Louis of Orleans murdered,
yet Paris, the capital of France, was on the side of the murderer. He
was opposed by the Count of Armagnac. Now, the two parties of Armagnac
and Burgundy divided France; the Armagnacs professing to be on the side
of Charles the Dauphin. They robbed, burned, and murdered on all sides.
Meanwhile, in England, Henry V. had succeeded to his father, and the
weakness of France gave him a chance to assert his unjust claim to its
throne. He defeated the French at Agincourt in 1415, he carried the Duke
of Orleans a prisoner to London, he took Rouen, and overran Normandy.
The French now attempted to make peace among themselves. The Duke of
Burgu