The Tale of the Patriotic Wife
by Jang Ji-yeon · 2026-08-25
It was the year 1430.
Yakan once again became the commander and advanced north with a large army to retake the city of Paris.
At this time, England raised its troops again, attempting to subdue France.
Yakan faced the enemy commander and defeated the English forces several times, getting closer to the city of Paris.
Just then, the leaders of the four riverside fortresses sent envoys to request rescue.
“Right now, tens of thousands of English soldiers are tightly surrounding our stronghold and have cut off our supply routes.”
“The hundreds of thousands of lives inside the fortress are like fish in a dried-up pond, so please, Commander, rescue us urgently.”
The commander gathered his troops and entered the riverside fortress to encourage the soldiers, deciding to fight the next day.
However, the English army saw that Yakan had entered the four riverside fortresses.
They gathered troops from various places to surround it even more tightly and cut off the path to rescue.
The next day, the commander led six hundred swift soldiers out of the fortress to confront the enemy forces.
At that time, the commander's main army was all far away.
What the commander brought into the four riverside fortresses was only six hundred men.
To face tens of thousands of the English with just those six hundred, how could a small army withstand a large one?
During the battle, the commander's forces were ultimately defeated and fled.
The commander, with no choice, wrapped himself in a flag and stayed behind alone to block the pursuing enemy soldiers.
The English army dared not pursue and instead retreated on their own.
The commander, seeing his soldiers enter through the city gate, hurriedly rode to the gate.
However, the city gate was firmly closed.
The commander shouted loudly to open the gate, but no one answered.
There was a reason.
The English army had suffered multiple defeats and lost countless soldiers, and their resentment was deeply felt.
They wanted to capture and kill Yakan, but there was no way to do so.
Thus, secretly, he gave a lot of gold and silk as bribes to the leaders of the four cities by the river.
He pretended to be in urgent danger and asked for help from Yak-an, then locked the door.
This was a scheme to ambush strong men outside the city and set a trap to capture Yak-an.
In an instant, they captured Yak-an and sold him to the British for a large sum of money.
The British were greatly pleased, captured Yak-an, and imprisoned him in a high tower, intending to kill him by framing him with charges.
Yak-an tried to take the opportunity to throw himself from a high place to die, but ultimately could not die.
Instead, he was discovered by the British and was trapped deep in the cave of Roaeng Fortress.
Abuse intensified day by day, and they devised all sorts of methods to kill him.
However, no matter what they did, there were no charges they could frame him with.
In the end, they tried to kill him by claiming that his extraordinary abilities were a wicked sorcery that incited foolish people.
Yak-an ultimately did not yield.
Thus, he was sent to the religious court for judgment.
The court interrogated him several times, but Yak-an remained dignified and did not back down.
“Although I am a woman, I stepped forward with nothing but a fervent love for my country.”
“I only sought to wash away the shameful insults for the sake of the country and to repel the enemy to save the people from calamity.”
“It is the responsibility of the people to awaken the nation, to inspire loyalty, and to face arrows and stones on the battlefield without flinching.”
“How can that be called a crime of sorcery? I will never comply.”
The British, unable to handle his refusal to submit, secretly devised a plan.
They moved Yak-an to another location and made new men's clothes, placing them in front of him to resemble what he usually wore.
Seeing the new clothes, Yak-an recalled the past days.
“I also wore such clothes when I met General Podarigo and the king at the castle of Bogo in the past.”
“Now, not a piece of that old appearance remains.”
Thus, she sighed alone.
The maidservant who was attending her earnestly requested.
“When you wear such clothes to meet the king, the world wishes to admire your grand demeanor just once.”
“If you would kindly wear that outfit just once, I would like to see that old appearance.”
After pleading two or three times, Yak-an, unaware that it was a scheme, donned the clothes.
Looking back at her shadow, she felt affectionate and sang and danced, lamenting her fate.
Englishmen were secretly observing this from the side.
They took this as evidence of sorcery.
Finally, they charged her with the crime of enchanting people and disturbing the religion through wicked sorcery, sending her to Roang to be executed by burning.
It was in September of 1431.
Afterward, the king of France mourned Yak-an's death without ceasing.
He called her family, granted them titles to become nobles, and provided them with compensation.
The French people also contributed their wealth to erect a shining and grand monument in the land where she died to honor her virtues.
The French citizens continue to elevate Yak-an and cherish her like a parent even to this day.
Pitiful.
The woman of the great hero was shattered like jade and buried like a pearl, solely for the sake of her people.
Having accomplished such deeds amidst the fragrant red powder of the inner chamber,
how many springs will her beautiful name be passed down?
In essence, Yak-an was a woman of a French peasant family.
From a young age, with her innate intelligence, she understood loyalty to her country and always aspired to rise up and save her nation.
However, at that time, France was foolish and mean-spirited, with customs deeply entwined with superstition.
It was not an easy task for a girl of sixteen or seventeen to gather the people's hearts and establish authority to move the entire world.
To regain national sovereignty, it was inevitable to rely on the mysterious will of the divine.
Without absurd words and miraculous sorcery, it was impossible to rally the people,
thus it was referred to as a command from God and a decree from the heavenly deity.
Indeed, where is the command of God, and where is the decree of the heavenly deity?
Therefore, the wisdom and intelligence of Yak-an can truly be called a rare hero throughout the ages.
At that time, France was entirely subdued by the British army, losing its capital, and the king had fled.
The government and local officials all surrendered to the British and bowed their heads.
The people were dispirited and their hearts turned to ashes, not knowing what patriotism or loyalty meant.
They merely took survival as the best strategy, willingly enduring shameful insults to become servants and cattle for others.
Thus, the country gradually fell into ruin, and it was said that there was no remedy left.
During that time, Yak-an alone rose up with a heart to love the country, taking his own body as a sacrifice and shouldering the responsibility to save the nation.
With one rallying call, the whole country rose like fire, without distinction between high and low.
The people's spirit was rekindled, and the once-fallen nation stood up again.
Although his body was captured by the enemy,
from that time on, the people's hearts surged even more, ultimately defeating the strong British and reviving the nation.
With civil rights greatly expanded, it has now become one of the foremost powers on Earth, and all the credit goes to Yak-an.
Is it not appropriate that the French people commemorate and revere the sacred achievements of the treaty without distinction between men and women for over five hundred years?
It is sad.
Are there perhaps heroes like the treaty and loyal women who love their country in our nation as well?