<P> Eyewitnesses described the scene of the execution by burning on 30 May 1431 . Tied to a tall pillar at the Vieux - Marché in Rouen, she asked two of the clergy, Fr Martin Ladvenu and Fr Isambart de la Pierre, to hold a crucifix before her . An English soldier also constructed a small cross that she put in the front of her dress . After she died, the English raked back the coals to expose her charred body so that no one could claim she had escaped alive . They then burned the body twice more, to reduce it to ashes and prevent any collection of relics, and cast her remains into the Seine River . The executioner, Geoffroy Thérage, later stated that he "greatly feared to be damned ." </P> <P> The Hundred Years' War continued for twenty - two years after her death . Charles VII retained legitimacy as the king of France in spite of a rival coronation held for Henry VI at Notre - Dame cathedral in Paris on 16 December 1431, the boy's tenth birthday . Before England could rebuild its military leadership and force of longbowmen lost in 1429, the country lost its alliance with Burgundy when the Treaty of Arras was signed in 1435 . The Duke of Bedford died the same year and Henry VI became the youngest king of England to rule without a regent . His weak leadership was probably the most important factor in ending the conflict . Kelly DeVries argues that Joan of Arc's aggressive use of artillery and frontal assaults influenced French tactics for the rest of the war . </P> <P> In 1452, during the posthumous investigation into her execution, the Church declared that a religious play in her honor at Orléans would allow attendees to gain an indulgence (remission of temporal punishment for sin) by making a pilgrimage to the event . </P> <P> A posthumous retrial opened after the war ended . Pope Callixtus III authorized this proceeding, also known as the "nullification trial", at the request of Inquisitor - General Jean Bréhal and Joan's mother Isabelle Romée . The purpose of the trial was to investigate whether the trial of condemnation and its verdict had been handled justly and according to canon law . Investigations started with an inquest by Guillaume Bouillé, a theologian and former rector of the University of Paris (Sorbonne). </P>

Joan of arc was thought to be a