May 30, 1431
1431-05-30 09:00 UTC
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Joan of Arc is executed at Rouen
Condemned for heresy at nineteen, Joan of Arc is burned in the market square of Rouen.Source ↗
What happened in this minute
Joan was captured at Compiègne, sold to the English and tried by a court under Bishop Pierre Cauchon. The surviving trial transcript records a teenager with no legal training answering theologians for months.
She was executed in the Old Market Square on the morning of 30 May 1431. A rehabilitation trial twenty-five years later annulled the verdict; she was canonised in 1920.
The morning timestamp follows the trial record; the precise minute is not preserved.
Questions and answers
- Why was Joan of Arc executed?
- She was convicted of heresy by an English-aligned church court in Rouen, with the charge resting largely on her claim of divine voices and her wearing of male dress.
- Was the verdict overturned?
- Yes. A rehabilitation trial in 1456 annulled the conviction, and she was canonised by the Catholic Church in 1920.
- How precise is the recorded time?
- The execution took place on the morning of 30 May 1431. The minute shown is an approximate morning UTC marker.