Charles VII Crowned at Reims

July 17, 1429

With Joan standing beside him in the cathedral of the ancient coronation city, the Dauphin was anointed with holy oil and became, at last, the legitimate king of France. English-held Paris seemed suddenly negotiable. The war's spiritual momentum had flipped in a single liturgical afternoon. The ceremony used the holy ampulla traced to Clovis's baptism, linking Charles to the deepest roots of French sacred kingship.