In the fourteenth [fifteenth] century the whole english army, after ravaging the kingdom of france, was driven back like men petrified with fear; and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces collected and headed by a woman, joan of arc. why does paine most likely refer to joan of arc? to demonstrate how cowardly the british army can be to prove that the british army had been defeated in the past to enlist the aid of the french government in the fight against britain to show that the americans have god on their side just as joan of arc did