Late Middle Ages · 1412-1431

Joan of Arc

A teenage farm girl from Domrémy says saints have told her to save France. Students follow Joan from her village to Orléans and Reims, examine her trial through the records, and discuss why so many different people have claimed her as their heroine.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 1429
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

A teenage farm girl from Domrémy says saints have told her to save France. Students follow Joan from her village to Orléans and Reims, examine her trial through the records, and discuss why so many different people have claimed her as their heroine.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Trace Joan's journey from Domrémy to Chinon, Orléans and Reims on the map.
  • Explain why the relief of Orléans and the coronation at Reims mattered in 1429.
  • Evaluate the trial of 1431 and how Joan has been remembered since.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1429

France divided

Open the map in 1429. The borders show the situation around 1400; by 1429 the English and their Burgundian allies also held Paris and much of the north. Where does that leave the Dauphin Charles, south of the Loire?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1429

A long ride

Find Domrémy in the east and Chinon on the Loire in the west. In early 1429 Joan rode more than 400 km between them, partly through enemy land. How long might that take on horseback in winter?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1429

The siege

Turn on Historical Events (Sieges) and find the Siege of Orléans. Look at the Loire river. Why was Orléans the key to the south of France?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Joan said she heard the voices of saints from about the age of 13. How did people in 1429 understand such claims, and how might we see them today?
  2. Why would a prince and his captains listen to a peasant girl of 17?
  3. At her trial Joan was accused of heresy and of wearing men's clothes. What do these charges tell us about the rules for women in her time?
  4. In 1456 a new trial declared the first verdict unjust. Why might the king of France want that?
  5. Joan has been claimed by kings, republicans, soldiers and feminists. How can one person mean so many things?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Sejong the Great, who ruled Korea in the same years. Afterwards, compare: Joan changed history without any official power. What gives a person influence when they hold no office?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.