Saint Joan characters

Also known as The Maid

Appears from the start

A teenage country girl from Domremy who says Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret, and the archangel Michael direct her to raise the siege of Orleans and see the Dauphin crowned. Practical, confident, and impatient with rank, she presents her mission to Baudricourt as a command to be carried out rather than a request for permission.

Appears from the start

The military captain at Vaucouleurs whose support Joan needs in order to reach the Dauphin. He initially dismisses her mission and threatens to send her back to her father, but becomes unsettled by her certainty and by the way his own soldiers accept her leadership.

Appears from the start

Baudricourt's household steward, preoccupied at first by hens that have stopped laying. He reports Joan's long wait for an audience and interprets the household's sudden good fortune as evidence that she should be taken seriously.

Appears from the start

A young soldier who believes Joan is inspired and is willing to accompany her through dangerous territory to the Dauphin. His confidence in her helps demonstrate to Baudricourt that she already commands the loyalty of fighting men.

Also known as The Dauphin

First appears in chapter 2

The uncrowned French heir, burdened by debt, an uncertain claim, and a court that has little faith in him. Timid and eager to avoid conflict, he hides among his courtiers to test Joan but is drawn to the confidence with which she treats his coronation as both possible and necessary.

First appears in chapter 2

A senior churchman and political adviser at the Dauphin's court. He is initially suspicious of Joan's claimed voices and conscious of the disorder an unauthorized visionary may cause, though he also recognizes the force of hope she brings to a demoralized cause.

First appears in chapter 2

The Dauphin's forceful principal commander and creditor, whose political power at court rests partly on the money and soldiers Charles lacks. He treats Joan's arrival as another threat to his influence and opposes spending resources on her campaign.

Also known as Gilles de Rais

First appears in chapter 2

A nobleman at the Dauphin's court whose conspicuous blue beard gives him his familiar name. He participates in the attempt to confuse Joan by letting another courtier pose as the Dauphin.

Also known as The Bastard of Orleans

First appears in chapter 3

The experienced French commander defending Orleans. He welcomes Joan's effect on morale but expects military decisions to answer to weather, supply, and professional judgment. Their first encounter tests whether her conviction can coexist with his command.

First appears in chapter 5

An English nobleman determined to preserve England's claims in France. He regards Joan's victories as a dangerous political force that turns local loyalties toward a French nation, and he seeks a lawful way to remove her without presenting the matter as simple military revenge.

First appears in chapter 5

The Bishop of Beauvais, a learned French churchman aligned with the English side. He believes Joan's private certainty against ecclesiastical authority is heretical and could fracture the universal Church, even while insisting that the case must be conducted by church law rather than vengeance.

First appears in chapter 5

An English chaplain whose fierce patriotism makes him demand punishment for Joan as an enemy and supposed witch. Less intellectually controlled than Warwick or Cauchon, he gives open voice to the hatred surrounding the proposed trial.

First appears in chapter 6

A Dominican official who directs the examination of Joan. Calm and formidable, he sees her not as a simple impostor but as a sincere person whose refusal to submit her revelations to the Church makes her more, rather than less, dangerous in his eyes.

First appears in chapter 6

A young Dominican assigned to counsel Joan during the trial. He urges her to accept the Church's guidance and later offers the human comfort available to her within a proceeding whose course he cannot control.