Joan of Arc first heard in early teens some fellow dead Saints talking at the bottom of her garden advising her to save France, etc.
Her parents - who seemed to have been rather open minded - let her get on with it and off she went to try and convince slightly less open minded military men that she was up to snuff. After some persisting she did manage to convince them and was taken to the King whom she impressed.
Her background had to be checked as it needed to be established that the King, his army and France were under divine protection as per her visions, rather that following the ranting of a witch. Her credential as a pure maiden of Christian virtue having been confirmed (hence the insistence on her virginity), she went off to war.
She is likely to have been a standard bearer rather than an active combatant.
As we all know, she was captured by the English and burned at the stake after being tried for heresy.
Interestingly, the heresy bit was because she dressed as a boy. In Deuteronomy 22:5 it says: 'The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for all who do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.'
She was retried 15 years after her death and found innocent.
She was only canonised in 1920.
Siobhan means Joan and her middle name is also Joan after her grand-mother. Siobhan is now a primary school teacher as well as a green activist and all round nice person. She also makes very good wedding cakes.
The slogan on her standard comes from a badge she wore at an event. The dragon comes from Saint George's chapel in Worcester cathedral. The decorative edge is based on a pattern on a coat in Cologne's medieval room, and a similar form of it is around Saint Nicholas (here is one I did earlier), which Siobhan picked up for me in Worcester.
She has since cut her hair and donated it to a charity making wigs for kids.
4x6 inches