🇫🇷 Reims Cathedral: Where Joan of Arc Crowned a King

More than just champagne—this is where France's royal destiny unfolded. 🦁 Reims: The "Chang'an" of France While known today for bubbly, Reims was the political and spiritual heart of France: 496 AD: King Clovis baptized here, founding Christian France ✝️ 31 French monarchs crowned in its cathedral to legitimize rule 1429: Joan of Arc's triumphant moment—escorting Charles VII to coronation here 🗡️ Napoleon's favorite champagne house (Moët) calls Reims home 🎭 The Divine Right "Scam" The Sainte Ampoule (holy oil vial) used to anoint kings was: Claimed to be angel-delivered, but actually a 9th-century crystal forgery 💎 Destroyed in 1793 (fragments remain in Palais du Tau museum) Wild theory: Medieval priests used pig fat + vermilion + resin to create "miraculous" oil that "revealed divine messages" at body temperature! 🔥 Joan of Arc's Tragic Triumph Real history: The peasant girl who broke England's siege of Orléans Secured Charles VII's game-changing coronation at Reims Betrayed & burned at stake a year later (age 19) 1456: Posthumously exonerated—now France's eternal heroine ⛪ The 800-Year-Old Cathedral Gothic masterpiece built in 1211 after fire destroyed its predecessor 2,300 statues, including the iconic "Smiling Angel" 😇 Pro tip: Sit in the northeast garden to ponder centuries of power plays 💭 A Poet's Epiphany "Carved balustrades still stand, / Only the crimson hue has faded." —Li Yu's words feel hauntingly apt here. History's grand narratives now whisper in stone... Who still listens? #Reims #FrenchHistory #JoanOfArc #GothicArchitecture #DivineRight