medieval France

On 15 August 1209, Carcassonne - the supposedly impregnable stronghold of the Trencavel viscounts and shield of the Cathar heresy - surrendered to the Albigensian Crusade. The Pope called it a holy war. The map of France calls it something else.

On 8 May 1429, Joan of Arc lifted the siege of Orléans and sent the English army marching north. England had been close to winning the Hundred Years' War — they had the law, the victories, and the treaty. What they had not accounted for was the girl.