May 23, 1430: Joan of Arc Is Betrayed

On May 23, 1430, amid the brutal and grinding wars that had ravaged France for nearly a century, the woman who had once turned the tide of battle at Orléans found herself surrounded, outnumbered, and—most damning of all—abandoned. Joan of Arc, the teenage peasant-turned-warrior…

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May 15, 1536: The Queen Goes On Trial

On May 15, 1536, Anne Boleyn—Queen of England, second wife of Henry VIII, and mother of the future Elizabeth I—stood trial at the Tower of London. The charges were staggering: adultery, incest, and high treason. The outcome was foreordained. Condemned by a hand-picked jury…

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March 11, 1708: The Queen’s Last Veto

On March 11, 1708, Queen Anne exercised her royal prerogative in what would become the final instance of a British monarch vetoing legislation. She withheld Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, marking a historic moment in the evolving balance of power between the…

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