Just a little girl, only 16 years old.
Isn't this something miraculous?
Wilding her weapons as though they weighed nothing at all.
Indeed, she seems to have been raised for just such a moment, so strong she is and resolute.
Her enemies stumble in flight before her.
Not one of them can stand up to her.
And all this she does before the gaze of the world.
She drives her foes out of France.
She recaptures castles and towns.
Never has anyone seen such formidable deeds.
Not hundreds, not thousands of men can compare with her.
Of our brave and able warriors, she is the chief captain.
Neither Hector nor Achilles can rival a prowess.
But it is God who has wrote this.
So that's a poem written in July 1429.
It will astound people to know that poem was written by a French woman, a French woman.
One of the most remarkable women, according to Tom Holland, in medieval history.
So she's often described as the first professional female writer in Western history.
Her name was Christine de Bison.
She was born in Venice, actually, so maybe I should have done, given her a little bit of a metallic.