According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica Louis-Jacques Daguerre announced his invention of the daguerreotype today in 1839. This was the first commercially successful photographic format and a long way from the instant images so many of us snap these day.

However, while I’m staying in France, I’m taking us back to the Hundred Years War. On 9 January 1431 the trial of Joan of Arc began on this day in Rouen. Joan’s story began in 1415 at Domremy when she heard the voice of the angel, Saint Michael. By the end of that year, the English, led by Henry V, were only 20 miles from Paris and in 1420 Charles VI of France (who preferred the sobriquet believed but often gets lumbered with the mad because he thought he might shatter if anyone touched him) agreed to the terms of the Treaty of Tours which recognised Henry as Charles’ heir and to seal the deal handed dove this daughter Catherine of Valois in marriage. So far, not so good if you were French. Then in 1422 Henry died from dysentry and left an infant on England’s throne. Charles died the same year.

Henry VI, a baby of nine months, was the king of both England and France. Katherine of Valois’s brother had other ideas and promptly styled himself Charles VII of France. This was followed by lots of bloodshed – and I’m not going there, the French and the Burgundians all piled in and then in 1429 Joan turned up at Vacuoles and announced to the Duke of Lorraine, and anyone else who would listen her, that God had spoken to her.

The best way, it was decided, to test the 16-year-old was to send her off to Orleans to raise the siege there. She succeeded in less than a week proving to the French that God was on their side, or at least on Joan’s – something that the English might have found mildly irritating. Even more so when the French king was crowned at Rheims. By the autumn events were beginning to turn against Joan – and inevitably the French began to wonder if she was quite what she said she was- but it was May 1430 before Joan was captured by the Burgundians.

In November 1430 the English purchased her from the Burgundians for trial. The Church wanted to try her for breaking God’s laws – women had no place on the battle field, dressed in armour, winning battles. Apparently the Book of Deuteronomy had strong things to say about women wearing trousers. The clergy clearly felt that it wasn’t so much the battles as the clothing that was the problem. Nor did it hep that Joan said God had spoken to her – after all, aside from the fact that she was French – she was also a woman – and not a very wealthy one at that…obviously, if God was going to speak to anyone it wasn’t going to be a teenage female.

Joan would face several trials but the one that began on 9 January 1431 at Rouen, an important English centre in Normandy, was a heresy trial No one asked Joan anything about the matter until 21 February.

The image I have selected for this post is Joan of Arc, as street art in Sheffield, the artist is Elle Koziupa.