Desc: Saint Joan of Arc: Humble beginnings for a powerful Saint There is such an amazing scope to this teenage Saint. She was a peasant girl, daughter of a farmer. Her village of Domremy was sort of a border town. At any given time, it could be part of France, Burgundy, or the Holy Roman Empire, based on who was in charge. Her country was at war with England, the Hundred Years War, and had been since long before she was born. We have to understand that Burgundy was not just a province of France, as it is today. At that time, they were a powerful independent territory, which had sworn allegiance to England even though it was physically part of France. It was pretty well accepted that England was going to take over France, and every little district wanted to be assured that they were on the side of the winner, or face the certainty that they would be wiped out by the feared invaders, the English. Burgundy had sworn allegiance to England, which confused the situation, and made things all the worse.