Accessibility statement

Joan of Arc - Semester 2 - HIS00152H

« Back to module search

  • Department: History
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: H
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
    • See module specification for other years: 2024-25

Module summary

Joan of Arc was born in 1412 and grew up during a time of civil war and invasion. At the age of just seventeen, she rode into battle to unite France against English domination in the Hundred Years War and in 1431, aged only nineteen, she was put on trial for heresy and sorcery by an ecclesiastical court of the Inquisition and was burned at the stake. Her story represents a virtually unique confluence of some of the key themes of medieval history. Joan had an extraordinary impact upon the military and political situation in both fifteenth-century France and England, arguably turning the tide of the Hundred Years War in favour of Charles VII. The fact that she achieved all of this as a mere peasant girl amplifies the magnitude of her achievements but also opens up other ways of looking at her story: her trial for heresy provides an important window into contemporary attitudes towards religion and gender, as Joan was effectively persecuted by the established Church for her supposedly non-conformist views on spirituality and the role of women. The first part of this module will explore the story of Joan and look in particular at the records from her trial for heresy at Rouen in 1431. The second part of the module will look at the debates surrounding her memory after her execution culminating in the testimony given by her friends and allies to rescue her reputation through the Nullification Trial from 1455 to 1456.

Related modules

Students taking this module must also take the first part in Semester 1.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2023-24

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

  • To introduce students to in depth study of a specific historical topic using primary and secondary material;
  • To enable students to explore the topic through discussion and writing; and
  • To enable students to evaluate and analyse primary sources.

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will:

  • Grasp key themes, issues and debates relevant to the topic being studied;
  • Have acquired knowledge and understanding about that topic;
  • Be able to comment on and analyse original sources;
  • Be able to relate the primary and secondary material to one another; and
  • Have acquired skills and confidence in close reading and discussion of texts and debates.

Module content

Students will attend a 3-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 2. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW). Students prepare for and participate in eight three-hour seminars in all. A one-to-one meeting between tutor and students will also be held to discuss assessments.

Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:

  1. Remembering Joan of Arc
  2. French writings on Joan of Arc (1431-1450)
  3. The Preliminary Inquiry into the Rouen Trial (1450)
  4. The Canonical Inquiry into Joan of Arc (1452)
  5. The Nullification Trial (1455-6): Joan’s family and friends
  6. The Nullification Trial (1455-6): Joan’s Military Companions
  7. The Nullification Trial (1455-6): the clerics from the Rouen Trial
  8. The legacy of Joan of Arc

Indicative assessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

For formative assessment, students submit an essay draft of 2000-words.

For summative assessment, students complete a 4000-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This comprises 100% of the overall module mark. Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period.

Indicative reassessment

Task % of module mark
Essay/coursework 100

Module feedback

Following their formative assessment task, students will receive a one-to-one meeting with the tutor to discuss the essay and their plans for the assessed essay.

Work will be returned to students with written comments in their tutorial and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to make use of their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.

For summative assessment tasks, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.

Indicative reading

For semester time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:

  • Larissa Juliet Taylor, The Virgin Warrior. The Life and Death of Joan of Arc (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009).
  • Helen Castor, Joan of Arc (London: Faber and Faber, 2015).
  • Craig Taylor, trans., Joan of Arc, La Pucelle (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006).


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University constantly explores ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary. In some instances it may be appropriate for the University to notify and consult with affected students about module changes in accordance with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.