Joan of Arc was a French peasant girl born around 1412. She is best known for her role during the Hundred Years' War between France and England. Claiming to have received visions from saints, she led French troops to several important victories, most notably the lifting of the siege of Orléans in 1429. Captured by the English in 1430, Joan was tried for heresy and burned at the stake in 1431. She was posthumously exonerated in 1456, and in 1920, she was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Joan remains a symbol of courage and faith.