The ring of Joan of Arc (c. 1412-1431), a national heroine of France. In 1909, Pope Pius X declared Joan a saint, and on May 16, 1920, Pope Benedict XV canonized her.

The ring is made of silver, with the letters I and M engraved on the top facet, and the two side faces bearing the inscriptions IHS and MAR, both standing for Jesus Christ and Mary.

The ring is currently kept in a small reliquary—an oak casket surmounted by a simple iron cross. Inside the casket, it is set in a recess draped with red velvet.

The records of Joan’s interrogation at her 1431 trial in Rouen contain a mention of this ring. The presiding judge, Bishop Pierre Cauchon of Beauvais (in whose name the interrogation protocol was taken), asked why she so eagerly looked at this ring when she went to war. Jeanne replied that it was out of respect for her father and mother, and also because, by wearing this ring on her finger, she was touching Saint Catherine, who appeared to her.

This ring was also mentioned in the charges drawn up by Canon Jean d’Estivet, who served as prosecutor at this trial: “Further, Jeanne cast a spell on the ring, the standard, certain pieces of cloth and pennants which she habitually wore or had her men wear, and also on the sword, which she claimed to have found by revelation at Sainte-Catherine de Fierbois; she claimed that all these objects were ‘lucky.'” And she cast numerous spells and incantations over them everywhere, publicly claiming that through them she would accomplish great deeds and achieve victory over her opponents.”

According to the version accepted by all the auction house experts, the ring came into the possession of Cardinal Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, after the trial. He was also present at the trial in Rouen. The Cardinal was a very influential figure at the time, the grandson of King Edward III and the son of John of Gaunt, the founder of the House of Lancaster. He served as Lord Chancellor of England many times. He then bequeathed the ring to his illegitimate daughter, who passed it down through her descendants over the centuries, eventually ending up with the Dukes of Portland. It then changed hands several times, eventually ending up in the possession of physician James Hesson. In 2016, his son Robert put the ring up for sale.

Joan of Arc’s ring was sold at a Timeline Auctions auction in London. It fetched an astronomical record price of £297,600 (equivalent to $420,000).

According to all auctioneers, the piece matches Joan’s description of the ring entirely: it bears the inscription “Jesus Maria” and three engraved crosses. At the time of the sale, the relic was stored in an oak box, which also contained accompanying documents certifying its unconditional authenticity.

Experts also confirm that this ring was made around 1400. This ring is also unusual in that, at that time, images of saints, rather than inscriptions, were typically engraved on the flat part of rings.