Joan of Arc

The Hundred Years War had been raging for nearly the entirety of the
Fourteenth Century. Having employed "scorched earth" tactics against
its enemy, England had laid to waste many of the villages and much of the agricultural land in France,  financially crippling the French population.
By the time Joan of Arc is born on January 6, 1412, France had barely overcome the ravages of the Black Plague, which devastated the European Continent in the first half of the century before they were again assaulted by the dynastic Hundred Years War in which a very "Game of Thrones" battle ensued for the French throne  for the remainder of the 14th century and into the next.
England enjoyed a long series of victories over the French that lasted generations, beating down the French peoples so greatly as to reduce their population significantly not only by means of war, but through the resulting epidemics, civil wars, and famine.
It is not until 1429, nearly one hundred years since the wars inception, that France finds a glimmer of hope in a young woman named Jehanne d'Arc. (Some records show that she was also referred to as Jehanne Romee, her mother's maiden name, though at her court trail she referred to herself as Jehanne la Pucelle, or "Joan the Maid".)
Having had a vision, while alone in a field as a young twelve year old girl, Joan stated that the Saint's Catherine, Michael and Margaret appeared to tell her to held rid France of the enemy and bring the Dauphin (uncrowned King) of France, Charles, VII to Reims for his rightful coronation. For five years her vision fuels her destiny until at last,  she travels to the French garrison commander to make a military prediction that was laughed off until she was deemed to be correct. The credibility of her prediction gained her an audience with the Dauphin Charles in which she so boldly asked to travel as the leader of his Army on a relief mission  to the town of Orleans. It is said that her request was granted due in part to her courage and intelligence but also that France having tried every other tactic was out of options and thus decided to try something different.
Joan changed the way the French military met their opponent in the field thus reversing the tide of fortune in France's favor (for the first time since the war's start) and gained her the support of previous naysayers. With her standard and sword she lead her men into a series of successful battles that ultimately lead to King Charles coronation.
Her success was short lived though as she was captured by the English, tried and convicted of heresy shortly after in 1430. King Charles VII who, without her help, never would have ascended the throne, betrayed her by apathetically refusing to save her life when he could.  Joan was ultimately burned at the stake as a result. Nearly a quarter of a century later, her trial was reviewed and nullified by the Pope, claiming her trial illegal and her death unjustified. He deemed her a martyr. She has become a symbol of French national pride, and a patron saint to many including women of the armed forces.  

Happy Birthday Jehanne.