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Just three days after his triumphant coronation at Reims, King Charles VII of France departed the city on July 20, 1429, leading his army toward the Île-de-France. The march was intended to capitalize on the momentum created by his anointing, reinforcing his claim to the French throne while challenging the authority of the English and their Burgundian allies during the later stages of the Hundred Years' War.

The campaign was inspired in large part by the remarkable successes of Joan of Arc, whose victories—including the lifting of the Siege of Orléans—had cleared the path to Reims for Charles's coronation. By advancing toward Paris, Charles hoped to persuade more towns and nobles to recognize him as France's rightful king, weakening English influence in northern France.

On July 16, 1429, Joan of Arc and the French army entered the city of Rheims in a remarkable and largely peaceful victory. After a series of military successes against the English during the Hundred Years’ War, Joan helped lead the Dauphin Charles VII’s forces through hostile Burgundian territory and reached the traditional coronation city of France.

The bloodless arrival at Rheims opened the way for Charles VII to be officially crowned King of France the following day at Rheims Cathedral. This coronation was a major turning point, strengthening Charles’s legitimacy and inspiring renewed French resistance against English occupation.

On July 14, 1430, Joan of Arc, the legendary French military leader who had helped change the course of the Hundred Years’ War, was handed over by her Burgundian captors to Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais. Joan had been captured two months earlier in May 1430 during the siege of Compiègne, when she was seized by Burgundian forces allied with the English.

Cauchon, a supporter of the English cause, took responsibility for arranging Joan’s trial, which would accuse her of heresy and other religious offenses. Although he had political motivations tied to the conflict between England and France, he presented the proceedings as a religious examination. Joan was eventually transferred to Rouen, where the trial began in early 1431 under English control.

On July 14, 1429, the Dauphin Charles of Valois, the future King Charles VII of France, arrived at Châlons-en-Champagne with his army during one of the most remarkable campaigns of the Hundred Years’ War. Accompanied by Joan of Arc, whose victories had revived French hopes, the royal forces continued their march toward Reims, the traditional city of French coronations.

As the army approached Châlons, the citizens chose to open their gates willingly, welcoming the Dauphin and his troops rather than resisting them. The peaceful entry into the city demonstrated the growing support for Charles’s claim to the French throne after years of conflict, division, and English occupation.

On July 7, 1456, a retrial verdict officially cleared Joan of Arc of the charges of heresy that had led to her execution 25 years earlier. After being captured by the English and their allies in 1430, Joan was subjected to a politically motivated trial and burned at the stake in Rouen in 1431 at only 19 years old.

The new investigation, ordered by Pope Callixtus III, examined the original proceedings and found serious errors and unfairness in the trial. Witnesses were called, evidence was reviewed, and the court declared that Joan’s conviction was unjust, restoring her reputation as a faithful servant of France.

During the Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years' War, the French royal army led by Joan of Arc and Charles VII of France began its historic advance toward Reims on June 29, 1429.

This strategic march followed a series of remarkable French victories and opened the way for the Dauphin to reach Reims, the traditional coronation city of French kings. Joan’s leadership helped restore confidence among the French forces, while the campaign strengthened the idea of a united French nation under Charles VII.

Joan of Arc is not just history—

she is a symbol of how far belief can transform a human being.

This composition translates that symbol into cinematic orchestral language.

“Joan of Arc – Hymn of the Burning Faith”

Inspired by “Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

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