Women 5 of the Best

Joan of Arc
 



Born
6 January, c. 1412[1]Domrémy, 



 

 
Joan of Arc        nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" (French: La Pucelle d'Orléans), is considered a heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. 
 
Joan was the daughter of Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romée[23] in Domrémy, a village which was then in the French part of the duchy of Bar.[24] Joan's parents owned about 50 acres (20 hectares) of land and her father supplemented his farming work with a minor position as a village official, 
 
She later testified that she experienced her first vision in 1425 at the age of 13, when she was in her "father's garden"[26] and saw visions of figures she identified as Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, who told her to drive out the English and bring the Dauphin to Reims for his coronation
 
 

 
In 1418, Paris was taken by the Burgundians, who massacred the Count of Armagnac and about 2,500 of his followers.[16] The future French king,Charles VII, assumed the title of Dauphin – the heir to the throne – at the age of fourteen, after all four of his older brothers had died in succession.[1
 
 
 
 
 
"... the Maiden lets you know that here, in eight days, she has chased the English out of all the places they held on the river Loire by attack or other means: they are dead or prisoners or discouraged in battle. 
 
The sudden victory at Orléans also led to many proposals for further offensive action. Joan persuaded Charles VII to allow her to accompany the army with Duke John II of Alençon, and she gained royal permission for her plan to recapture nearby bridges along the Loire as a prelude to an advance on Reims and the coronation of Charles VII. 
 

 
Joan Arc song
CBBC: Horrible Histories - Joan of Arc Song - YouTube
 
 
 
 
Boudica



Died
circa AD 60 or 61, Britannia



 
Boudica was a striking looking woman. - "She was very tall, the glance of her eye most fierce; her voice harsh. A great mass of the reddest hair fell down to her hips. Her appearance was terrifying
 

 
Boudica's husband Prasutagus was ruler of the Iceni tribe. He ruled as a nominally independent ally of Rome and left his kingdom       when he died  Boudica was flogged, her daughters were raped, and Roman financiers called in their loans.
 
 
 

 
 
In 60 or 61 AD, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paullinus was leading a campaign in North Wales, the Iceni rebelled. Members of other tribes joined them
 

The Iceni warriors managed to destroy Camulodunum (Colchester) they also defeated the Roman IX Legion.
Hearing the news, Paullinus rushed back from Wales and set about evacuating Londinium (London). He guessed (correctly) that it would be the Britons next target.
Boudicca and her army destroyed Londinium and then attacked Verulamium (St Albans), destroying that city too.
Some people believe that more than 70,000 people were killed in the attacks on Camulodunum, 

 

The Roman army in Britain regrouped in the Midlands and finally defeated the Britons in the Battle of Watling Street.

 
 
Roman cavalry was released which promptly encircled the enemy and began their slaughter from the rear. Seemingly mad with blood lust, Tacitus records that 80,000 Britons; men, women and children, were killed. The Roman losses amounted to 400 dead with a slightly larger number wounded.
 
Boudica was not killed in the battle but took poison rather than be taken alive by the Romans.
 

Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Victorian poet, wrote a poe(continued)