 Following Joan of Arc's death in 1431, Charles VII was said to have "felt a very bitter grief" when he heard the news, "promising to exact a terrible vengeance upon the English and women of England".However, for many years his government failed to make much headway on the battlefield, and the English held on to most of their conquests in northern France.Prior to 1449, a number of factors stood in the way of any possible review of Joan's condemnation.