After the near obliteration of English resolve in the Loire river valley, a relief force arrived under the command of Sir John Fastolf to help reinforce Patay. If you know the battle of Agincourt from the beginning of this war, Patay was an embarrassing role reversal for the English. They were, for lack of a better word, smashed to pieces and routed. The English, as was common to their nature at the time, blamed Fastolf for the loss and used him as a scapegoat. However, Joan's perhaps greatest achievement was accomplished shortly after leaving Patay. When the army spotted the once long lost city of Reims, the tire of battle disappeared. Troyes stood as the largest obstacle, Reims not being the most defensible of cities. Outlying towns quickly took to the new French spirit, happy to see the rekindled fire in their countrymen. The Anglo-Burgundian army conditionally surrendered after a no-casualty siege, surrounded and cornered. It was not a day later when the dauphin rose as King Charles VII of France. With a new king, France had regained its sharpened blade. It was not long until Joan looked to the southwest and turned her steely gaze to Paris. A victory there would be the end of the war essentially.

• The Cathedral of Reims
• Church of the Archbishop of Canterbury
• Coronation site of Charles VII of France