Pope Calixtus III authorized the investigation that led to Joan of Arc’s rehabilitation trial.
After Charles VII recovered greater control of France, Joan’s family and supporters sought to challenge the 1431 condemnation. In 1452, Pope Nicholas V allowed a preliminary inquiry, and in 1455 Calixtus III authorized a formal review of the case.
The proceedings, usually called the nullification or rehabilitation trial, opened in 1455 and continued across several French cities. Witnesses described Joan’s character, religious practices, military conduct, and the circumstances of her earlier trial. The judges examined whether the original court had acted lawfully.
In 1456, the later court annulled Joan’s conviction and declared the earlier judgment invalid. This was not canonization; it was a legal and ecclesiastical reversal of the sentence imposed in Rouen.