Joan of Arc: Her Story 0312214421, 1098765432

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DISTINGUISHED ENGLISH

IN

translation by

Jeremy duQuesnay Adams

from the best-selling French edition, Regine

Pernoud and Marie-Veronique Arc: Her Story appears for the edition for an

Clin's

first

As

a

young

time in an

American audience. The

Joan of Arc has fascinated readers girl in rural France,

Joan of

story of

for centuries:

Joan heard the

voices of Saints Catherine, Margaret, and Michael

dauphin was God's choice

telling her that the

for the throne of France. left

Unquestioningly, Joan

her family to lead the

army of the dauphin

against the English and defeated them, thereby

putting Charles VII on the throne. of an obscure French peasant girl

From

the image

who led

the

army

of the dauphin, to the icon of a saint burned at the stake by an English-controlled church, Joan has

been a blank

slate

on which thousands have writ-

ten their obsessions, their fears, and their hopes.

In Adams's magisterial translation, Pernoud and

Clin clear away the myths, allowing modern readers to see Joan as she was.

Adams

has added

a great deal of material not in the original French

edition, including a

new

entries to the glossary,

preface and additional

which provides

portraits

of the important historical figures that affected

Joan

as well as

synopses of the historical occur-

rences and interpretations of Joan through the

agts.Joan of Arc: Her Story absolutely thrilling

life

of a

is

an affecting and

woman who

influ-

ences us even to this day.

For a note on the authors and

trar,>

'.

,

lease see the hack fla[

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Civic Center New Books B JOAN OF ARC Pernoud, Regine, 1909her story Joan of Arc 31111018867224 :

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No 23-221

JOAN OF ARC

JOAN OF ARC HER STORY

Regine Pemoud

Marie Veronique Clin

Translated and Revised by Jeremy duQuesnay Edited by Bonnie Wheeler

St.

Martin's Press

New York

^

Adams

Joan of Arc: Her Story Copyright

© for this translation and revision, Jeremy duQuesnay Adams,

reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

reproduced

in

No

1998. All rights

book may be used or

part of this

any manner whatsoever without written permission except

brief quotations

embodied

in critical articles or reviews.

Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue,

New

in the case of

For information, address

St.

York, N.Y. 10010.

Originally published as Jeanne d'Arc, Regine

Pemoud and M.-V.

Clin (Paris: Librairie

Artheme Fayard, 1986).

ISBN 0-312-21442-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pemoud, Regine, 1909[Jean d'Arc. Enghsh]

Joan of Arc

:

her story

/

by Regine

Pemoud and Marie-Veronique

Clin

Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, cm.

p.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-312-21442-1 1.

Joan, of Arc, Saint, 1412-1431. 2. Christian

-France— Biography. I.

3.

women

saints-

France— History—Charles VII, 1422-1451.

Clin, Marie-Veronique.

II.

Title.

DC103.P378131999 944'.026'092—dc21 98-45059

[B]

CIP

Design by

Acme

First edition:

Art Inc.

Febmary, 1998

1098765432

1

;

translated

by

This revised translation is

dedicated with abiding respect to

Regine Pernoud (June 17, 1909-April22, 1998)

for her generation and more the

grande dame

of French historical writing on the Middle Ages

.

CONTENTS Foreword, by Regine Preface, by Jeremy

Pemoud

xi

duQuesnay Adams

xv

Acknowledgments, by Jeremy duQuesnay Adams Prelude, by Jeremy

xxiii

duQuesnay Adams

PART

1

I:

THE DRAMA 1

Her Story Begins

2.

Joan Meets Her Dauphin

15

3.

Joan and the Victory

33

4.

Her Dauphin Anointed King

5.

Intrigue, Frustration,

6.

Joan the Prisoner

7.

Joan's Trial and Execution at

8.

The Verdict of Rouen

9.

Joan as

9

at

Orleans at

Reims

53

and Capture

69 89

Rouen

103

139

Nullified

Memory

159

PART

II:

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS (In

Three Alphabetical Lists)

THE THREE NOBLE PRINCES 1.

Charles VII, King of France

167

2.

Henry VI, King of England (and of France?)

168

3.

Philip the

Good, Duke of Burgundy

170

.

JOAN OF ARC

VIII

THEIR SUBJECTS 4.

John,

Duke

5.

Rene

the

6.

John IV, Count of Armagnac

174

7.

Robert de Baudricourt

174 175

172

Good, Duke of Anjou

173

8.

Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester

9.

John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford

176

10.

Jacques Boucher

177

Duke

of Bourbon

1 1

Charles

12.

Jean de Brosse

177

13.

Regnault of Chartres, Archbishop of Reims

178

14.

Guillaume Desjardins

178

15.

Bertrand

Du

179

16.

John, Count of Dunois, Bastard of Orleans

180

17.

Robert de Flocques

181

Raoul de Gaucourt

183

1

I

of Alen^on

8.

I,

Guesclin

177

19.

Jacques Gelu

20.

Jean

21.

Perrinet Gressart

185

22.

"La Hire," Etienne de Vignolles

187

23.

Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France

188

24.

Isabelle of Portugal,

25.

Georges de La Tremoille

le

183

Charlier de Gerson

Duchess of Burgundy

1

84

189

190

Duke of Lorraine

26.

Charles

27.

Joan of Luxembourg

191

28.

II

(or

I)

the Bold,

191

John of Luxembourg

191

29.

Louis of Luxembourg

192

30.

Jean de Metz

193

31.

Charles,

32.

Christine de Pisan

197

33.

Bertrand de Poulengy

197

34.

Gilles de Laval,

35.

Friar Richard

36.

Arthur de Richemont

198

37.

Catherine de

200

38.

Thomas de Montacute,

39.

Thomas de

40.

John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury

202

41.

William de

203

42.

Lionel, Bastard of

,r;-^M

Duke of Orleans

Baron de Rais

193

198 198

la

Rochelle Earl of Salisbury

200 201

Scales

la Pole, Earl

of Suffolk

Wandomme

205

.

CONTENTS

IX

43.

Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick

205

44.

Poton de Xaintrailles

206

HER JUDGES AT ROUEN 45.

Jean Alespee

207

46.

William of Alnwick

207

47.

Jean Beaupere

207

48.

Boisguillaume

208

49.

Pierre

Cauchon

208

50.

Thomas de Courcelles

210

5

Guillaume Erard

211

52.

Jean d'Estivet

212

53.

Jean Graverent

212

54.

William Haiton

213

55.

Robert Jolivet

213

56.

Guillaume de La Chambre

213

57.

Martin Ladvenu

213

58.

Jean de La Fontaine

213

59.

Jean Lemaitre

214

60.

Nicolas Loiseleur

214

61.

Jean de Mailly

215

62.

Guillaume Manchon

215

63.

Jean Massieu

215

64.

Pierre

65.

Nicolas

66.

Pierre

67.

Jean de Rinel

216

68.

Raoul Roussel

217

69.

Nicolas de Venderes

217

1

Maurice

216

Midy

216 216

Miget

PART ISSUES

III:

AND IMAGES

Name

1.

Joan's

2.

Joan's Family

220 221

3.

Joan as Royal Bastard

4.

The Language of Joan of Arc and Her Contemporaries

5.

Joan's

6.

Joan's Swords

7.

Orleans

8.

The Siege of Orleans

Armor

at the

222 .

.

.

222 224 225

Time of the Siege

226 228

X

JOAN OF ARC The Tax Exemption for the of Domremy and Greux

9.

Inhabitants

230

Compiegne

10.

Joan's Capture

11.

The Abjuration Cedula

233

12.

Joan Imposters

233

13.

Trial Transcripts:

at

231

The "Book of Poitiers" and the Date of the Latin Edition of the Condemnation Trial 235

Transcript

Theater and Opera

14.

Joan of Arc

15.

Toward an Iconography of Joan of Arc

in

The

237

240

16.

Joan of Arc

17.

Beatification and Canonization

245

18.

Select Filmography

245

in Folklore:

Orleans Festivals

243

APPENDICES I.

The

II.

Chronology and

m.

Maps and

Letters of Joan of

247

Arc

265

Itinerary

275

Plans:

France around 1430

275

Vaucouleurs

276

The Route from Vaucouleurs

to

Chinon

277

Orleans during the Siege

278

From

280

the Coronation to the Defeat at Paris

Compiegne

at

the

Time of Joan's Capture

282

Joan's Itinerar\- as Prisoner

The Castle of Bouvreuil

at

281

Rouen

283

Topical Bibliography

284

Bibliography

286

Index

295

8 pages of illustrations appear

between pages 164 and

165.

FOREWORD Jeanne d'Arc

in English!

possibility only a

Witticisms in dubious taste were uttered about this

hundred years ago, when serious books about her

in

any

language numbered only a few dozen. Yet by then the Joan of Arc Chapel had been dedicated in London's

Westminster Cathedral. Joan was soon recognized across the Atlantic official capacity:

told of

that country I

When I made my

no fewer than twenty-eight

— my hosts assumed

was French, even though

truthfully)

my

I

first visit to

Roman

was

Catholic parishes dedicated to her in

that this information

made

1

an

would please me because

a point in those days of declaring (quite

indifference to Joan of Arc.

But soon

after that

documents of her

moment,

nullification trial

was imprudent enough

I

and

closing them. Since then Joan has led

made

the United States, in 1950,

in

I

me

found myself to

new

to

open the

incapable of

literally

horizons and fresh interests,

possible in part by the publication of several scholarly editions, beginning

with those of Pere Doncoeur and

of the

Yvonne Lanhers, and including the new edition

documents by Pierre Tisset and Pierre Duparc, published by the

trial

The new

Societe de I'Histoire de France.

editions of relevant

documents now

in

progress reflect refined editorial practices and techniques, combined with a

continuous desire for more exact knowledge of Joan and her contexts.

We

hope

Madeleine, and

that this I

work, on which Marie- Veronique Clin,

worked so long

which Professor Adams has competence, short

life.

may

allow

at the

Centre Jeanne d'Arc

translated, revised,

new audiences

at

my

sister

Orleans, and

and amended with expert

to gain better

understanding of Joan's

She defines the shaping significance of the subject

in history:

Her elan

reversed the course of historical events and gave a downtrodden people rekindled

hope for

their lost liberty.

This book presents what fascinating Joan of Arc.

questions at

at

every step

is

known with relative certainty about the

The

historian

in the narrative

age nineteen. Even her name

was known

to herself

and

is

to her

is

caught up

in hesitations,

dilemmas, and

recounting the deeds of this

problematic.

The person we

contemporaries as Jeanne

la

inexhaustibly

girl

call

who died

Joan of Arc

Pucelle (Joan the

lOAN OF ARC

XII

Maid). This biography

is

organized in three sections:

the narrative of her

first,

who

second, biographical information about contemporaries

life;

and

relation to her life;

third,

bore some

brief treatments of current historiographic

questions and disputes. Readers are therefore provided with precise data about places, dates, identities, difficult questions of interpretation as well as counter-

arguments

that

Part

can be resolved only with recourse to documentary evidence.

known

presents the story of one of the most surprising lives

I

from the perspective of documentary evidence. Words

history

to

"myth,"

like

"legend," and "folklore" dominate writings about Joan, though historians do not generally use such terms. If any person from the past subject

—

that

is,

one with a verifiable

founded on documents rigorously

by the most demanding historical methods

sifted

She surprised her contemporaries chronicle or

memoir from her time and

Parlement of Paris. Above

contemporary

trials

that person

is

all,

Joan of Arc. is

scarcely a

place that does not mention her. She

is

and on the pages of the register of

letters,

she underwent, the

call the nullification trial)

—

just as she surprises us; there

amply evident in public and private the

history,

an apt historical

is

we

possess the texts of two of the

first

during her

life,

the other (which

we

only decades after her death, represented in each case

No

by three authentic manuscripts bearing the signatures of notaries.

historian

legitimately uses the term "legend" in connection with such heavily attested

life

records, but since her life continued to interest succeeding ages, "legends"

developed about Joan, and her fame

—

a mixture of history

and myth

— now

extends across the globe.

This death.

We

is

not a conventional biography that

tells

documented

chose instead to write the

life

time. Staying as close as possible to the historical

are being reedited, but

on microfiche

at the

all

of which

a

life

story

of Joan as

from it

birth to

unfolded in

documents (many of which

are available for scholars to consult today

Centre Jeanne d'Arc

at

Orleans) allowed us to grasp each

event according to the best-situated witnesses and to perceive Joan in a sequence

of historically attested moments. History does not exist until told.

Our narrative

in the

thus begins with the

year 1429; from thence

we

we chose

we pose

childhood and youth

whom

is

Who was

the historical

record sustained knowledge of

condemna-

to interrogate the people of Domremy-

Joan had spent her early years. This book follows the

movement of recorded

trial.

What

until the investigation that nullified her

tion—when ecclesiastical delegates went Greux among

another:

life.

not to evoke her childhood or her youth

until the narrative's end, since history did not

that

recorded or

rumor that spread about Joan of Arc

follow her footsteps into public

Joan of Arc? To answer that question record of Joan? Therefore,

first

it is

history rather than the chronological sequence of a

life.

This structure allows our readers to focus on Joan's imprisonment and Her brilliant and brief career is a diptych: one year of combat, one year of

FOREWORD prison. Historians have not

military heroine, Joan

is

always made

XIII

this fact clear:

Prototype of the glorious

also prototype of the political prisoner, of the hostage,

and of the victim of oppression. The panel of her victories faces the equally important panel of her pain, as an isolated

ideology and murderous fanaticism. victims in our world today

—

the

list

We

human being

facing suffocating

do not add here the names of such

would be too long and

they endure are every day replaced by others yet

more

the sufferings that

horrific.

Regine Pemoud Paris,

January 1998

.

PREFACE JEREMY DUQUESNAY ADAMS

[T]he biographical shape of her book

more straightforward kind of

is

Gallic in style, as opposed to being the

among American

profile familiar

or British

writers.

The French approach demands a distinctive

point of view, an interpretation

rather than a reproduction of the life under scrutiny, in

which the biographer

must be clearly perceived as mediator between the reader and the figure portrayed.

.

.

.

Her book

is

in

essence an exegetical work.

.

.

—Jonathan Keates, in his

Casanova: The

{The

New

All attempts to account rationally for Joan of Arc's

which

try to

shape

it

to

fit

review of Lydia Flem's

Man Who Really Loved Women York Times

life

Book Review)

end no better than those

some fantastic theory. She is unique, she is

and as you read about her and think about her

life,

beyond which she eludes you, you cannot cross

you are

led

up

a mystery,

to a threshold

it."

—Katherine Anne in her

Foreword

to

Porter,

Regine Pernoud,

The Retrial of Joan of Arc

One need not be

a patriotic French nationalist, or a Christian, or a feminist to find

Joan of Arc fascinating and her treatment by the several male establishments of

command of an army at age seventeen (which War deserter Mark Twain) and was burned alive at nineteen; that she

her time an outrage. That she took

awed

Civil

was probably

illiterate

intelligentsia at

won;

that she

yet held a

massed battery of the male professional

bay for four months,

finally frustrating

was not only young and female, but

them even though they

also a peasant,

from the

far

frontier of the country she set out to save; that thanks to transcripts of her trials

JOAN OF ARC

XVI

we know more details of her short life than we do of any other human being before her time (including Plato, or Alexander of Macedon, or Julius Caesar, or Jesus Christ)

and for several centuries

abashed to confess too beautiful"

Thus,

that

—and it

is

thereafter, is extraordinary. This translator is not

he agrees with Regine

terrible

—

Pemoud in finding Joan's

story "all

to ignore.

a particular pleasure to offer the English reader a revision of

Regine Pemoud and Marie- Veronique Clin's Jeanne d'Arc. Translation always a modesty-reinforcing experience. into

my

I

soon gave up any hope of rendering

English the distinctive and famous style of Regine Pernoud that

long admired and enjoyed. Her

gift for

is

I

have

heightening the objective through the

emotive, endowing historical precision with dramatic coloration, while adhering

with ruthless fidelity to the sense of documentary evidence expected of a distinguished graduate of the Ecole des Chartes has

Pernoudian sentence

— shaped by

made her prose famous. The

the latinity of her studious Provencal child-

hood, by the deceptively casual sonorities of Dickens (which she absorbed both in

the original and in nineteenth-century French translation) and by the

conventions of French literary conversation, at once colloquial and classic

—

is

here shortened, decolorized, blunted. Abandoning any sustained effort to convey the repertory of nuances this grande

dame

of French letters

wields the slim blade of irony with particular deftness),

I

commands

(she

have been content to

transmit with occasional revisions and amplifications the historical argument of this

book, along with the extremely useful battery of data

the serious student of Joan's historical to all readers; part

II,

Images" (focusing on life,

and

I,

some of

two authors

"The Drama,"

"The Cast of Principal Characters,"

part

III,

and the Appendices (Joan's

chronological idnerary) will interest not only the general reader

go deeper

in

directed

"Issues and

letters

who

American

readers.

the seasoned historian will find a fresh approach in part

I.

The authors

structure the narrative according to the sequence of Joan's appearance

documentary record rather than the sequence of her

Most previous biographers of

Jeanne d'Arc par elle-meme Herself and Her Witnesses,

1

later

have added a short prelude sketching the larger

I

historical context for the convenience of

record.

and a

wishes to

any given direction but also the committed student of the

European Middle Ages.

Even

is

offer

the vexing questions that arise concerning her

later interpretations),

its

moment. Part

its

et ses

life

Joan, including

as reconstructed

Regine Pemoud

in the

from

temoins (1962; translated as Joan of Arc:

966), have followed the

that

herself in

By

norms of historical biography,

which the author tracks the subject chronologically from birth to death, rendering seamless the modalities of private and public identity. Here instead it is history

in

itself— as accumulation of written record— that

is

tracked. This retelling of the tale

of Joan of Arc reports her historia as contemporary inscription rather than as a reconstituted narrative, a purported chain of events.

PREFACE

XVII

This narrative strategy does not, however, register the elements of Joan's

which they were recorded

story only in the order in

Although we read Joan's history as retrospective.

We

it

in written

documents.

unfolds, our views are inescapably

read with the knowledge of her horrible death and in the

context of the nullification

trial,

a parade in

which those who knew her provide

cross-checked testimony about the ordinary quality of Joan's childhood and about the extraordinary character of her later speech and deeds. Chapter part

I

opens, for example, with an account of the

way

1

of

which the rumor of

in

Joan's mission, swiftly followed by Joan herself, reached the dauphin's court at

Chinon. The most extended report of that story

is

given through the recollections

of the duke of Alen^on, as recorded in the transcript of Joan's nullification in 1456.

trial

Such retrospective evidence must of course be regarded with suspicion.

Pernoud and Clin are inevitably

weigh

aware of

fully

their

and frequently indicate

that

documents. Alengon's account they

that historians

credit, as recalling

with basic veracity what the duke and his immediate entourage had said and

done about

rumor of Joan's mission twenty-seven years before.

that

words, Pernoud and Clin statements,

retell

some of which were

In other

Joan's story as a series of contemporary

written

down

shortly after utterance,

some later.

Partly to free this inscribed narrative from visual distraction, the authors

followed the French tradition of avoiding footnotes in part is

not self-evidently either the condemnation

trial

of 1456,

I

trial

Unless the source

of 1431 or the nullification

have taken the liberty of indicating

some other documentary

I.

it,

as

I

have

in the

case of

sources.

Regine Pemoud's discursive strategy

in this

work obviates some of

the

charges of partisanship leveled against her massive earlier work on Joan by some reviewers

who alleged that she invents a national heroine tritely Catholic in piety

and Gaullist

made

in politics.

I

for

one find such criticisms

superficial.

As she has

clear in her autobiographical memoir. Villa Paradis (1992),

evinced

little

interest in

Joan of Arc before the 1950s;

if

Pernoud

anything, she found the

subject distasteful, a sad case of the exploitive deformation of a historical figure

by

political

and religious

propaganda. In an interview

interests at

concerned primarily with recruitment

her Paris apartment on August

3,

1995, Pernoud

recalled her active dislike even as a child of processions in honor of Joan

organized either by the rightist Action Frangaise or by the Communist Party.

Pemoud's conversion

(it

does not seem too strong a word) to Joan of Arc

occurred on Christmas Eve,

1

952, in the French Archives Nationales. Her friend

Marcel Thiebault, editor of the Revue de Paris, had been pressing her for some time to write an article on Joan's nullification

him repeatedly

that her specialty

was

trial.

She had refused, reminding

the twelfth century, not the fifteenth;

occasionally, she had ventured a bit forward in time, but only in conjunction

with her work on urban statutes and the history of the bourgeoisie. Finally, as a

lOAN OF ARC

XVI

counesy

to her

good friend Thiebault, Pemoud interrupted her schedule during went

a busy holiday season and

empty Archives Nationales on

to the nearly

December 24 just to glance through Jules Quicherat's nineteenth-century edition of the nullification

trial.

Hours

later, still

perched high on a ladder

in the stacks,

she heard the janitor insist politely but firmly that he had to close the library;

everyone else had

hours ago. Clutching

left

volumes of Quicherat's

all five

cornerstone edition, she descended the ladder and called Thiebault.

Pemoud Joan's second

him

told

Vie et

too beautiful; this

trial: *it is all

began work on January

would do not an

that she

8,

article but a

whole book on

an extraordinary person." She

is

1953; by the end of the year, Hachette published her

mort de Jeanne d 'Arc

temoignages du Proces de rehabilitation, 1450-

(les

1456), which later appeared as a paperback and was last reedited in I

own

pressed her on the subject of her

answered

had never had any

that she

active, not

political

982.

1

views and potential

political sensibility, never

When

bias, she

been politically

even on the fnnge of the Resistance during World War

II

— she was

then in straitened circumstances, nursing a dying mother and a sister in poor health,

and moonlighting

the while as a substitute teacher.

all

the Centre Jeanne d'Arc at Orleans, but

So why her

As

for Gaullism,

(whom she respected as a writer) for founding

she was grateful to Andre Malraux

beyond

prolific dedication to the

that

.

.

memory

.

of Joan over the

last

four

decades? Regine Pernoud sees herself as simply another voice among the many

commitment who have been drawn

readers of diverse temperament and

compelling personality

who

burst

has recruited more partisans in the

Joan of Arc

is

upon European consciousness

in

modem

time.

world than

in her

own

to that

1429 and

not for most of us what she was, for instance, in the

nineteenth century for Jules Michelet and later for Charles Peguy. For Michelet

(1798-1874), the freethinking prophet of socialism, Joan both incarnated and in a

sense gave birth to the Patrie.

Jeanne d' Arc, which

first

He concluded

appeared

in

the introduction to his popular

1833 as part of

his

mu Iti volume ///^ro/re

de France and was published separately twenty years

later,

with

affirmation:

She loved France so much!

One can

see

it

from

.

.

.

And France,

the first

people forgot the danger facing for the first time, seized

the walls,

it

unfurled

its

touched by that love, began

it:

this ravishing

imagination and led

its flag, it

to love her.

day she appeared before Orleans. The whole

it

marched beneath

image of

the Fatherland, seen

sortied bravely

from

the eyes of the English,

who

away;

it

did not dare leave their fortifications.

Let us

remember always,

the heart of a

woman, from

she shed for us.

O

Frenchmen,

that

our Fatherland was

bom

in

her tenderness and her tears, from her blood which

this

PREFACE This effusion of high Romantic patriotism

is set

whom

commentary on Joan's judge Cauchon, the devil than of the English.

XIX by Michelet's

in sharp relief

he sees finally as an agent more of

But most astonishing

is

Michelet's excursus on the

English, a "great people" distinguished by "good and solid qualities," yet vitiated

by

"From Shakespeare

their persistent vice of pride.

Byron, their beautiful and simple

literature

to Milton,

from Milton

to

remains skeptical. Judaic, Satanic."

Peguy (1873-1914), a working-class boy from Orleans who dropped out of the Ecole Normale Superieure and published an opinionated fortnightly journal in Paris, died with a

Mame. Joan

Roman

bullet in his forehead at the Battle of the

of Arc joined Mother Eve in inspiring the pinnacles of his poetry.

A passionate the

German

socialist

who

first

rejected and then passionately reconciled with

Catholic church, Peguy saw in Joan everything good about the soul

of France. In later adaptations of these public visions, French fascism tried to enlist

Joan

in the

cause of anti-Semitism, and the Vichy government appealed to her

execution as a rallying point for resistance to the English and their

allies:

"They

Always Return to the Scene of Their Crimes," declared a poster showing Joan at the stake

surrounded by Rouen in flames, with British bombers flying

overhead. Ethnocentric nationalism, like that of Jean-Marie

Le Pen's movement,

has frequently exploited her image.

For many, Joan the Maid has other and sometimes new meanings. She

embodies

for

some

has so often limited

the fierce resistance to oppression of a working class that itself to reactive passivity,

even when savaged by bloody

anarchy serving not even some coherent exploitive interest but simply (as

in

France during the ghastly Hundred Years War) the opportunism of patriarchal violence. For others, she embodies the political prisoner,

remarks here

in her preface

—

who

—has always been with us but whose

with special sharpness in the twentieth century.

How

as

Pemoud

plight

is

seen

could Joan have had the

courage to do what she did? Where could she have found

it?

—and

there lies the

ultimate question, the final mystere of Joan of Arc.

For Regine Pernoud, Joan

Thanks

to a superbly

is

not mysterious, though she

explained as a person formed by her circumstances. Not

This translator

is

exceptional.

all

readers will agree.

not sure that he does.

Three explanations are

and monetary

is

documented dossier of authentic sources, Joan can be

in order,

regarding changes in this revision,

name forms,

units.

Limitations of space and the need to adapt this very French book have required several additions to Pernoud and Clin's original, and I

have rearranged parts of the

text, especially part II,

Characters." Several biographical sketches

—among

some omissions.

"The Cast of Principal them Philip the Good,

XX

jOAN OF ARC

Du

Arthur de Richemont, Georges de La Tremoille, Bertrand

many proponents of

Christine de Pisan, and

the English cause

added, along with elements of other sketches. Several items

dropped and several of them substantively revised. appearing

in part

I is

discussed further in parts

indicated by ^.ccoss reference at the character's

or

II

research in

titles

have been

If a historical character III,

a reduced basic bibliography of French and English

English-language

— have been

in part III

that later treatment is

appearance.

first

Guesclin,

I

have provided

including several

titles,

published since the Pernoud-Clin original. Readers with

mind should seek out

ample analytical sampling of the

the original bibliography, last

which contains an

two centuries' worth of books,

articles,

pamphlets, colloquium papers, and occasional newspaper pieces on Joan.

It is

an indispensable tool for serious research on Joan and her context.

names of non-English Europeans presents

Translating the

We

problem. of a

are quite used to reading that

a curious

Usamah ibn-Munqidh was

Muslim Syrian nobleman who wrote about contemporary

the

name

crusaders,

although scholars of Islamic studies will argue about the placement of accents

and other conventions of

transliteration.

When we move

closer in culture,

however, disagreement multiplies. Should the Byzantine emperor

who

quered Constantinople from the Franks be Michael VIII Palaiologos rendering) or Palaeologus

(the

English, alas, has reached no such consensus.

St.

One

in a

French-language

now

solution,

text;

obsolete,

was

every foreign name, so that Louis IX of France became

Lewis, and his biographer, John of Joinville. In an absolute and opposite

Shaw rendered French names and some

reaction, Margaret R. B.

standard

Modem

Comte Guillaume de

Flandre,

my

Comte

Pierre de Bretagne,

lord Imbert de Beaujeu,

of France, the good knight Baudouin d'Ibelin and his brother

Penguin translation. Chronicles of the Crusades, British

and American publishers prefer

rather than Philippe

III; it

p. 250).

would be unusual

to read

names

in

the original

Guy"

(in her

1

II

articles

III

of Spain,

as Frederick the Great.

anglicize the

names of

social rank, while leaving lesser persons'

language: thus, the Garland Medieval France:

Encyclopedia (1995) has

963

son as Philip

of King Felipe

we are just as likely to encounter Kaiser Wilhelm One current English publishing convention prefers to and other persons of top

High Constable

Most contemporary

to render St. Louis's

yet

kings, dukes,

titles in their

French forms, with the result that "Jean, Lord of Joinville"

shared a galley bound for Damietta with "the worthy the

(a purist

more usual English form)? Francophone

convention agrees that he should be Paleologue

to anglicize resolutely

recon-

on King John

II

An

and Duke John the Fearless

of Burgundy, on Jean Gerson and Jean de Joinville. This translation has striven to follow that

model, with a few exceptions that seemed inevitable. In these

pages the duke of Alengon and the bastard prince of the blood royal

who became

count of Dunois both appear as John, whereas the steward of Joan of Arc

is

Jean

PREFACE d'Aulon and is

widely read intellectual statesman

that

Jean Gerson.

was tempted

I

to call this

rather than Jeanne d' Arc; but the that using

XXI

who

wrote

in her

defense

book's peasant heroine Jeanne Dare

American public knows her

as Joan of Arc, so

any other name form seems merely eccentric. That

led,

however, to

the complicated incongruity of "Joan's" extended encounter with "the three

Jeannes"

—Jeanne de Luxembourg, Jeanne de Bethune, and Jeanne de Bar —

during her imprisonment all

at

Beaurevoir; the best solution seemed to be calling

four of them Joan.

The same general guidelines have been followed for surnames. Regnault (not Reginald) "of Chartres"

major

is

so called because he happened to

come from that

whereas Xaintrailles was the extremely obscure

city,

site

of the

bom

redoubtable Poton's origin; more important, whether Poton actually was

had already become a toponymic designation of Was Jean "de Nouillonpont" just from that minor place, or some sense his family's? In either case, that name form sounded right

there or not, "de Xaintrailles" his noble lineage.

was

it

in

to this translator's eyes

and

one envies the polyvalent neutrality of the

ears;

French de. I

offices.

also have I

am

more than

a

made compromises

medieval French

in translating

titles

and

well aware that any bailli of the Valois administration was vastly

modern American or

British bailiff, but

could serve as a translation? 'Governor,' perhaps?

I

modem

what

English

title

concluded that 'Receiver

General' rendered Receveur General better than 'Chief Tax Collector' could.

can only hope that most such institutional evolution,

titles

and language

in recognizable shape.

In addition, responding to shifts in contextual nuance, both Clin

Pernoud occasionally differed French.

I

I

crossed the inevitable gaps of time,

in their translation

have attempted to preserve the

spirit

and

of the original Latin and Old

of their quotes, and

it

is

for this

reason that some slight discrepancies in translation appear throughout the work.

Monetary kept in French.

pound (French

units other than the

When the text makes

livre circulating in

medieval France

a distinction

—

livre)

among

as in livres toumois,

of which were worth four pounds of Paris),

I

have generally been

the varieties of pound/

pounds of Tours

(five

have retained the original.

Calculations in anything like modern terms of the values of any of these units

of monetary exchange are hopelessly misleading, but some of the following descriptions

was

may

be of use to the reader. The medieval libra (Latin)/livre/pound

traditionally divided into twenty solidi or scuti/sous or ecus/shillings,

and

each of those into twelve denarii/deniers/pennies. The exchange value of the sou varied widely: Practically every province minted metal, or

supposed

one

some to

its

own

sou, in silver, base

alloy thereof In the fifteenth century, twenty sous toumois

be worth one

livre parisis.

livre tournois, but

were

twenty-four were required to equal

lOAN OF ARC

XXII

The gros toumois, monetary reform, was transactions.

The

a gold coin first

to equal

franc, a gold coin first

money of

in

1

266

as part of Saint Louis's

one standard ecu toumois

King John the Good (then a prisoner livre tournois in

minted

in

account.

minted

in

1360

in official

to

accounting

pay the ransom of

England), was supposed to be worth one

The

salut,

minted

first in

France under

Charles VI and then in England as well as France under Henry VI, was a gold coin of varying exchange value with an image of the Virgin receiving the salutation of the angel Gabriel.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS JEREMY DUQUESNAY ADAMS

I

am

deeply grateful for the astuteness of

Wheeler,

who had

with her usual energy seen edition at least as gifts

my

editor and dear spouse

the idea for this translated and revised edition, and

Bonnie

who

has

through to completion. She has in fact revised this

it

much as I have. I am grateful also for the preternatural editorial

of Gary Kuris and Charles T. Wood. Professor Wood's high expertise in

all

aspects of Joan's history, the constitutional and military histories of the French

and English monarchies, of

political religion,

and indeed of the whole context

of the European fifteenth century, has been of incalculable assistance to this project.

Whatever

Many

My

remain are entirely

infelicities

generous people have made

thanks go

of

first

all to

my

doing.

this translation

the authors,

who,

and revision possible.

after the initial kindness of

agreeing to this translation and then approving

its

substance, have been

unfailingly gracious in revising and adding key sections to the text as well as in providing

project

me with supplementary documentation.

Secretarial support for the

was provided by Helen Hunt and the Sisterfund Foundation. Judy Bland

worked long hours

speed (and despite her assurances,

at great

have been great inconvenience) to incorporate

ably and gallantly assisted thereafter by Gabriela Boldea, Franklin, and Xiaodi Zhang.

I

am

grateful to

my

University, notably William

what must

Amy Dahm,

Matthew Ervin has immeasurably aided

polishing of the text and contributed research.

at

my revisions in the growing text,

much

in the

way of

Olivia

the final

basic and sustained

colleagues in French at Southern Methodist

Beauchamp, Martine

Prieto,

and Zoe Urbanek.

Michael Flamini, Alan Bradshaw, and Jennifer Simington of St. Martin's Press, along with their collaborators, have seen this book through to publication with dispatch and finesse.

It is

finally a pleasure to

acknowledge the sound counsel

on many points of the Comte de Saulieu, a scientifically rigorous expert on historical

genealogy and an unfailingly kind friend.

PRELUDE JEREMY DUQUESNAY ADAMS Readers may hnd useful historical

a rapid sketch of

two great

shaped Joan's

crises that

moment, the Hundred Years War and the Great Schism of the Western

church.

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR A

series of destructive

wars between France and England occurred between

1337 and 1453. The conflict began with a long-standing dispute about the proper relationship

between the crown of France and several rich feudal

within that kingdom's territory. the

principalities

The problem was compounded by

the fact that

two mightiest feudal princes, the dukes of Aquitaine and Burgundy, were

also lords of territories

beyond the kingdom's boundaries, which often made

money and

them

richer in

king.

The duke of Aquitaine was

monarchy

in

military

power than

their royal suzerain, the

also king of England, the

most

French

efficient

Western Europe; the duke of Burgundy was also count of Flanders

and of a cluster of neighboring

states in the

Low

Countries and the Rhineland,

scene of some of the most vigorous and profitable activity of nascent capitalism.

Yet more serious was a succession related dynasties of France, England,

crisis that

embroiled the closely

and Burgundy. In 1328, the steady

to-son succession that had blessed the French

father-

monarchy since 996 came

to

an

JOAN OF ARC end. Charles IV, the last of three royal sons of Philip

IV (1285-1314). died

without surviving sons; thus, he ended the eldest male line of the Capetian

Upon

family.

his death,

Philip of Valois. eldest

of Valois,

who

two

nephew of Philip IV.

was able

thus

to

III

of England, whose mother was Isabella,

IV 's daughter.

would have considered Edward

Inheritance law of both countries

most

the son of that king's brother Charles

claim unbroken descent in the male line from

former Capetian kings; and Edward Philip

crown of France:

assertive cousins claimed the

direct heir to his grandfather Philip

IV

—

that

is,

had the inheritance

kingdom of France, then

question been anything other than the

the

the

in

most

populous, largest, and richest realm in Christendom. The equivalent of a French

Supreme Court decided Philip of Valois. by then

Modem War. In the

Smashing

and rejected the claims of

in favor of the Valois line

Edward's Plantagenet dynasty. Nine years

King Philip VI,

later, in

to a trial

Edward challenged

1337,

by combat.

historians generally discern four phases in the

first

phase, 1337 to 1360, the Plantagenet party

victories at sea (at Sluis. 1340)

and on land

(at

Poitiers in 1356) led to the captivity of the Valois king

Hundred Years

was triumphant.

Crecy

John

in

II

1346 and

at

(from 1350 to

1364) and the Treaty of Bretigny (1360). which awarded Aquitaine and two counties in northern France to

John's ransom

a

at

sum designed

many Frenchmen

surprisingly,

Edward to

in outright sovereignty

and

set

King

bankrupt the French treasury. Not

outside those conquered territories began to

establish links with the English king; they evolved into a Plantagenet faction

French

soil.

V

King Charles

(1364-1380). known thereafter as Charles the Wise,

began the second phase of the war, from 1360

to 1413,

concessions of the Peace of Bretigny; he recovered father

had

lost.

He

by chipping away

much

at the

of the territory his

also had to reestablish order within France, badly torn by

massive peasant uprisings that the nobility bloodily repressed. His right hand these efforts

was

the Breton knight Bertrand

tactics as well as the

assisted

by the

Du

more conventional forms of warfare. Charles

fact that the eldest

acceded

to the

son of Edward

III

—

its

own

thereafter

succession

King Henry

Wise was

the Black Prince II

—died

(1377-1399)

the outbreak after the

initiated

Wise King's death of a

the Fearless of

IV,

as the Plantagenet family

crisis.

The Valois recovery of control

Duke John

the

English throne. Richard was eventually deposed by his cousin

Henry of Lancaster, generated

in

Guesclin, a master of guerrilla

before his father, and consequently the unfortunate Richard

of

on

Burgundy and

of Orleans, a younger son of Charles

V

by Charles

fierce rivalry

V

was weakened by

between the faction

that of his first cousin

Duke Louis

and thus brother of King Charles VI

(1380-1422). In 1407, Louis of Orleans was assassinated by an agent of John

PRELUDE The royaUst Valois faction that sought revenge for his unchivalrous murder was led by Count Bernard VII of Armagnac; it took the name 'Armagnacs' from him. (The county of Armagnac lay on the border between the Fearless.

Plantagenet Aquitaine and loyalist France deep in the southern part of the

kingdom.) All

this time,

Charles VI seemed to vacillate between sanity and

madness; eventually he became known as Charles the Mad.

The

third

phase of the Hundred Years War, 1413 to 1428, lasted from the

accession of the second Lancastrian king, Henry V, to the siege of Orleans.

Henry

V

invaded France,

won an overwhelming

victory at Agincourt (1415),

and dictated the terms of the Treaty of Troyes (1420), which awarded him Charles VI's daughter Catherine and declared that their future son (Henry VI,

1422-1471; see

II,

2)

would be king of the dual monarchy of England and

France. That provision disinherited the dauphin Charles, fifth son of Charles the

Mad

and the only one

left alive in

1422

(II, 1).

The dauphin

control were badly shaken in 1419,

when John the

emissary of the dauphin on a bridge to

at

Fearless

in

some form of

was murdered by an

Montereau, where they were supposed

Some Armagnacs saw

be in a parley under truce.

Bourges

fled to

the geographical center of France. His fumbling efforts to retain

an appropriate act

that as

of revenge, but most historians believe that the dauphin later became obsessed

by

laws of chivalry.

guilt for this violation of the

The dynamic Henry (II, 9),

with

V died in

1422, but his brother, the duke of Bedford

prosecuted the war in a vigorous manner, greatly assisted by his alliance

Duke

Philip the

Good

of Burgundy

(II, 3),

with whose cry for vengeance

many of the French felt sympathy. In 1428 Bedford laid siege to Orleans to clear the way for an all-out attack on the dauphin's position at Bourges. By the late spring of 1429, English victory

At

that

moment, Joan

seemed close

the

if

not inevitable.

Maid appeared on

the scene.

To universal

astonishment, she inspired the deliverance of Orleans and led the dauphin

Charles to Reims for his anointing and coronation, which weakened decisively the claims of the boy-king

Henry VI. Even though leaders of

Burgundian alliance engineered Joan's death

at the stake in

the Anglo-

Rouen on May

30,

1431, they proved incapable of reversing the French military recovery she had started.

Four years

later the

Treaty of Arras (1435) put an end to the

Armagnac-

Burgundian feud. This fourth phase of the Hundred Years War ended with nearly complete expulsion of the English from French

How

responsible was the

Maid

soil in 1453.

for this unlikely victory?

An

old debate

continues on this point, with most professional historians (such as Edouard Perroy,

Bernard Guenee, Christopher Allmand, and Philippe Contamine)

conceding her a minor role

at best.

commanders

like

(II,

disposal were

more decisive. Most professional historians would agree that Joan

Dunois

For such historians, the military expertise of

16) and the artillery he eventually

had

at his

JOAN OF ARC

-4:

catalyzed popular support for the Valois cause, which by then had issue of national patriotism.

was

far

more decisive than

Some

that of a

role of popular resistance to the It is

As

mere

how

Joan entered the

story.

had appeared

be the ideal Christian

to

catalyst;

Vietnam War tend

important to recognize

become an

students of the period feel that Joan's role

Americans mindful of the

to this

judgment.

badly France had suffered by the time

recently as a century before, the state. Its

under an unbroken dynasty of kings

who

kingdom of France

prosperity and internal peace

dispensed justice rather than

many

oppression (as those values were generally understood) seemed to

a sign

of divine approval for the constitution and mores of the French. Yet almost the fighting of the

Hundred Years War had taken place

all

and the vast

in France,

majority of the casualties were French civilians. The ferocity of the conflict

banished the restraints of chivalric warfare, which for several centuries had sought profitable prisoners rather than mere bloodshed. Between major

campaigns, companies of mercenary soldiers made an easy and pleasurable living

had

from pillage, rapine, and the indiscriminate slaughter of a population

lost the habit

had not been so savaged since the time of the Vikings the devastation spread

five centuries before,

beyond the kingdom's borders

Germany. Those who have seen Joan of Arc conviction that

that

of self-defense under the long Capetian peace. "Fair France"

God had

into Spain, Italy,

and and

as an improbable saint, given her

sent her to lead the armies of one "Christian" nation

against another, generally have not taken into account the dimensions of the

misery suffered by the

common

people of France and some neighboring

countries because of that endless and pitiless war. For populist temper, Joan's mission

some of

a radically

now seems entirely valid in larger spiritual terms

and something of a model for

modem movements

of popular resistance to

colonial imperialism.

THE GREAT SCHISM The

other great crisis of European civilization against which Joan's

staged

drama was

was the Great Schism of the Roman Cathohc church. Between 1378 and 1417

church leadership was claimed by two popes, one residing

at

Rome and the other at

Avignon. From 1409 to 1415, there was also a third claimant. But the roots of the

problem and

its

consequences for behevers such as Joan the Maid stretched farther

backward and forward

One

in time than those dates

might suggest.

of the victories of King Philip IV of France was the humiliation of

the papacy in the person of

Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303), who died

escaping from a detachment of French troops

after

come to arrest him in Italy. who took the name Clement

Boniface's successor, an archbishop of Bordeaux

PRELUDE V, seconded Philip's major religious policies:

offensive acts,

He

annulled his predecessor's

confirmed Philip's destruction of the Knights Templar, and in

1309 moved the permanent residence of the pope from Rome to Avignon, a papal city in

on the Rhone River directly opposite the kingdom of France. Public opinion

much

of the rest of Europe was so consistently distressed, sometimes

outraged, by that surrender of the papacy's ancient role and symbolic seat that

Rome

the papacy returned to

Two

in

1376 amid general rejoicing, even

in France.

years after the return, however, a disputed election split the papacy

once more. One

line of

popes claiming exclusive legitimacy remained

thereafter; another line claiming the

same legitimacy returned

to

in

Rome

Avignon. In

1409, a church council meeting at Pisa succeeded in producing a third claimant.

This stubborn scandal was resolved only in 1415 thanks to a major alteration in the constitution of the church, the recognition of a broadly representative

General Council as finally superior to the office of pope. The restored papacy, headed by a native

committed

itself to

Roman

of ancient lineage, Martin

V

Roman

(1417-1431),

undercutting this innovation at every turn.

During the years of the schism, the Enghsh king and Parliament had supported the

Roman pope,

because the French kings supported the

at least partly

Avignonese pope. Since Scotland was determined to remain independent of Enghsh pressure, the Scots supported the Avignonese claimant; parallel situations arose

throughout Christendom. The Avignonese and Roman popes excommunicated their rivals

and

their rivals' supporters, thus

church. But

how

sacraments?

One

that

denying them the sacraments of the true

could one be sure which pope was the vaHd dispenser of the apocalyptic preacher even claimed to have been

no one had entered heaven since the Great Schism began.

Some committed

whole

of the best minds and most idealistic spirits of European society

their

hope for the reform of

to the institution of the

this

scandal and of the church as a

General Council. One such council, attended

by thousands of clerics and laymen from every province and Christendom, met

at the city

interest

group

in

of Constance on the upper Rhine between 1414

and 1417,andasecondmetatthenearby

The

shown in a vision

city of Basel

intellectual leadership of the University of Paris

between 1431 and 1437.

was overwhelmingly

in

favor of conciliar reform. Not surprisingly, the majority of that university's faculty also supported the Plantagenet claimant to the

monarch would be

likely to

on the parliamentary the

way by

have his hands so

institutions of the

crown of France:

full that

A dual

he would need to rely

two kingdoms. Edward

III

had shown

his cultivation of the English Parliament during his long

and

popular reign (1327-77); his young and insecure great-great-grandson Henry

VI

clearly

would have

to

go even further

in ruling his

the Estates-General, an institution that tended (for

Valois kings nervous.

French kingdom through

good reason)

to

make

the

JOAN OF ARC

Modem admirers democracy may

of Joan

Paris intelligentsia against the tuals, but

it is

who

also revere the tradition of representative

feel a certain conflict

easy to see

how

Maid

is

on

that score.

The merciless

fury of the

disturbing, especially to liberal intellec-

she must have represented for them a mindless

regression to the inept tyranny of monarchic absolutism, whether royal or papal.

This ambivalence makes the reactions of Jacques Gelu of Jean Gerson

(II,

20), a

consummate

General Council and the Valois cause,

all

intellectual

the

(II,

who

19) and especially

supported both the

more important

to understand.

PART

THE DRAMA ONE

CHAPTER ONE

HER STORY BEGINS The

city

of Orleans, the bridge between northern and southern France, was

sorely besieged by a large English force from October 12, 1428, to the following

May.

Its ruler,

Duke Charles of Orleans

(see Part

prisoner in England since the Battle ofAgincourt

commanded by ofDunois; to the aid

II,

his half-brother John, the

16).

had been a

Section 31),

The

city

's

defense was

Bastard of Orleans (later

to

be count

Over those seven months, reinforcements came sporadically

of both the besieged French and the besieging English. Inconclusive

skirmishing failed to English.

II,

in 1415.

By March

mask

1429, Orleans seemed ready to fall at the next serious push.

Then, in early March, eastern frontier restore his

the steady tipping of the balance in favor of the

had ridden

kingdom

to

came

the

rumor

that a

maid from

meet the Dauphin Charles

to

(II,

the kingdom's

1),

promising

to

him by saving Orleans and by working other wonders.

Joan of Arc enters the historical record; her story begins.

"They say that a maid passed by the city of Gien, a maid who presented herself to the noble dauphin to raise the siege of Orleans and to lead the dauphin to

Reims so

first

that

appearance

These

he might be anointed." This "they say" in February 1429 in the historical record

lines

scenes of Joan's drama, the Bastard, better

of the

woman we now

call

were written by one of the principal characters

known by

Joan's nullification

trial

man

title,

it:

opening

John the

the count ofDunois. His testimony

continues: "Since

I

was

the

Joan of Arc.

in the

best situated to be informed about

his later

is

from

the guardian of the city of

Orleans, being lieutenant-general once the war began,

I

sent to the king's court

10

PART

the sire de Villars,

was

later

bailiff

who was

I:

THE DRAMA

seneschal of Beaucaire, and Jamet du

Tillet,

who

of the Vermandois, for fuller information concerning this

maiden."

On key

hung

the fate of Orleans

to the south of France.

was

It

that of the entire

the key to Bourges, the stronghold of the

dauphin Charles, known contemptuously Bourges."

It

was

kingdom. Orleans was the

the key to Auxerre,

to his

opponents as "the king of

where Burgundian troops were

ready to take up arms in what might well be the final

move

stationed,

checkmate the

to

dauphin. Past Bourges ran the road to Guyenne, where the English were

where they did not need

to

behave

at

Guyenne was

like conquerors, since

home,

the core

of the fief of Aquitaine, the legacy of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and so had belonged to the kings of England, her descendants, for

more than 300

The Bastard of Orleans was defending Charles, duke of Orleans

somewhere beyond

(II,

31),

who was

the city of his half brother,

at that

Ume

being held as a prisoner

The Bastard was recovering with

the English Channel.

from the wound he had received

difficulty

in the ill-fated attack against an

English convoy bringing reinforcements to the besiegers arbalest hit

him

in the foot

were barely able

to free

almost

companions remained on the d' Albret,

—

the shaft of an

beginning of the attack; two archers

at the

him and put him back on

engagement proved disastrous

years.

his horse, after

most

for the French. Several of his battlefield

which the

—Louis de Rochechouart, Guillame

and the valiant Scotsman John Stuart of Damley, who was responsible

for the rout, because he

began the attack without waiting for the

rearguard cavalry reinforcements. This

move

arrival of French

against the handful of

enemy taunted the French for this "Day of the Herrings"

(see

III,

7)

—

the convoy

consisted mostly of herring pickled in brine desdned for the English

Lenten season. In Orleans, the defenders' morale sank

men

The English

escorting the English relief convoy collapsed in total confusion.

that

effective

further.

army

in

The count

of Clermont's reputafion had already been compromised by his delay in arriving

on the he

left

field of the Battle of the

Herrings on the pivotal twelfth of February 1429;

Orleans leading his troops in serious disorder. Several captains imitated

him, including, despite his constant readiness for better

known The

reverse the

it,

as

"La Hire"

fate of

22).

now seemed

sealed.

The Bastard, powerless

recalled the fine days of the siege of Montargis

two years

earlier.

to

With

same La Hire, he had swiftly dislodged the English, who, under the command

of their captain, Salisbury 5,

(II,

Orleans

Etienne de Vignolles,

battle,

(II,

38),

had begun

to

surround the

city.

On September

men were forced to abandon the field. Desiring come one year later to besiege Orleans, where sequence, before each of the city's gates, like so many

1427, Salisbury and his

vengeance, the same captain had

he installed in orderly bolts,

his

fortified

bastides

—temporary

fortificaUons,

usually of

wooden

HER STORY BEGINS

11

up

to block a defensive structure,

construction, connected with earthworks, set

such as a tower or gateway. They could be as small as blockhouses or grow to

have turrets and gates of their own.

Some

of the larger bastides could house

sizable garrisons of troops.

Distrust of the defender of Orleans increased.

so far as to send an embassy to the duke of Burgundy the city since

its

lord

was a

The

inhabitants had gone

(II, 3),

asking him to spare

what survived of

prisoner. This appeal to

chivalric

sentiments was their last hope; in the age of chivalry, one would never have

besieged a castle or a city whose "natural lord" was a prisoner. This popular appeal to the

enemy was

yet one further humiliation for John the Bastard,

who

substituted for his brother as defender.

At to reflect

this critical juncture in

upon

his situation.

encircled city, with

all

February 1429, John the Bastard had leisure

Immobilized by his wound, he found himself in an

but one of its exits closed up.

The

inhabitants'

immediate

concern was food. Relating the events of those days, the Journal of the Siege of Orleans records hardly anything other than the arrival of fresh provisions:

was "seven horses loaded with herring and other

day, that

foodstuffs";

One

two days

later,

nine horses came, also loaded with foodstuffs, entering by the Burgundy

Gate

at the east

end of the

city

—

Everyone remembered

cut off.

the only gate that the English besiegers

Rouen

stories of the siege of

had not

ten years before,

during which inhabitants had been reduced to eating horses, dogs, cats, and rats before finally opening the city's gates to the victors.

The

siege strategy at Orleans

English applied

powerful

allies

it

was the same

as

it

had been for Rouen. The

knew

slowly and methodically since they

—famine and discouragement—were

to

that their

be found inside the

most city.

Shortly after his arrival at the head of the English forces, Salisbury, an

experienced

man

of war, attacked the "Tourelles," those fortifications that

defended the approach

to the bridge

on the

two towers allowed whoever held them

left

bank of the Loire

River.

to close off the southern

Those

end of the

imposing, nineteen-arch stone bridge that rested on one of the midpoint islands of the

river.

The city of Orleans was itself a bridge across which the two Frances,

the north and the south,

communicated.

The people of Orleans were subject

when

to offensive

the English occupied the small villages of the

acdon from July 1428,

Beauce one

including Angerville, Toury, Janville, Artenay, and Patay.

by one of Salisbury's companions, John de

army

as

La Poule

(III,

4)

—on October

la

Pole

7, the

(II,

41)

Once Olivet was taken

—known

to the

French

people of Orleans acted on their

acceptance of the inevitable. They began to destroy their left

after the other,

own

buildings on the

bank of the Loire: the Portereau, along with the church and convent of the

Augustinians. Such self-destruction had disaster of Agincourt in 1415 the

become

practically routine. Since the

populadon of Orleans had been

living in a state

—

12 of

PART

The

alert.

this

is,

spies

become

—

often

and

a part of daily

women);

fortress testify to the

its

life:

way

that

the dispatching of messengers

coming and going of horsemen who surveyed

the

movements of mercenary

the

THE DRAMA

financial registers of the city

condition had

(that

1:

Etampes and Sully-

troops, especially toward

sur-Loire; the strengthening of the watch on the city's walls; the purchasing

of arbalest shafts and defensive yet to come.

The

old

artillery (paid for

remembered

that

it

by a

rise in taxes).

had been necessary

and English troops. This ancient collegial church had

newly

Christianity. All relics

St.

Aignan,

the city against the attacks of Attila the

who

to destroy

between French

roots in the region's

its

installed bishops of Orleans visited

of their great predecessor,

1359

in

the venerable church of Saint- Aignan, site of an early skirmish

Worse was

it

to venerate the

in earlier times

Hun. The basihca was

had defended

rebuilt in

1376

only on the orders of the wise King Charles V, well after the Peace of Bretigny,

which ended the Public

first

phase of the Hundred Years War.

memory remained

equally sensitive to attacks and alerts, some-

fimes caused by bands of mercenary troops, sometimes by the raids of English captains.

Based

in the

surrounding

territory,

they

fell like

eagles on their prey:

on Olivet, on the abbey of Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire, or on Orleans day of the "Great Fear"

commence,

in 1418,

for the English

when all were certain that the

came my way,"

siege

were then attacking both Rouen and

The English defeat at Montargis in 1427 that

itself,

—"the

the dauphin Charles had cried

gave Orleans some fleeting hope. Yet

it

first

from

moment

would soon

Paris.

his refuge at

city,

and

Bourges

to destroy the

to

make

Very quickly, inside Orleans

powered

itself,

other

that the English attacked the

Tourelles, they destroyed the twelve water mills that the city used to flour.

on the

moment of happiness

soon became necessary

suburbs once again, to accommodate refugees within the preparations for siege. At the very

as

make

its

people organized the eleven horse-

mills that replenished the city's food supply.

Hostilities

bombards

recommenced on October

that the English

had just installed

17,

1428.

One

of the three

at Saint- Jean-le-Blanc,

near the

Augustinian convent that had earlier been abandoned, caused some damage in

the city and killed "a

Chesneau." Five days

The

later,

woman named

Belle near the postern gate of

the watchtower bell sounded the alarm once more.

citizens of Orleans destroyed

one of the arches of the bridge and

the islet of Belle-Croix, on which the bridge rested.

defend the

fort of the Tourelles, to

which they

fortified

They would no longer

set fire.

The

siege progressed

with English basddes methodically set up on the principal highways: the bastide called

named Saint-Laurent near

"London" and "Paris" on

bastide,

the route to Blois; those that the English

the routes to

Chateaudun and

Paris.

Another

"Rouen," served as a connection between those two. The bastide of

Saint-Loup blocked the way to Gien

at its

crossroads with the route to

13

HER STORY BEGINS Pithiviers

—but on

blockade would never become

that side, to the east, the

complete, despite the invaders' best efforts.

Such was the

situation that the Bastard of Orleans discovered

October 25, 1428, when he arrived

He had some

buildings outside of the ramparts destroyed Saint-Gervais, Saint-Marc

came

reinforcements

his

— and had

way with

He

at his half brother's city.

undertook new strategic arrangements.

of the churches and

— Saint-Loup,

Saint-Euverte,

Some

key points.

artillery installed at

the arrival of Louis de Culant, at the head

of 200 fighting men, and Charles de Bourbon, count of Clermont

January 30. The Scotsman John Stuart came on February

"Day

on

quickly

8,

(II,

1

1),

on

but the disastrous

of the Herrings," on February 12, put an end to his hopes.

The

citizens

of Orleans sent a delegation to the duke of Burgundy. Poton de Xaintrailles (II,

44) and Pierre d'Orgui proposed to

neutrality

—

making an appeal

Good

Philip the

3) that he

(II,

the condition of guaranteeing

its

development for the Bastard but understandable on

a humiliating

the part of the inhabitants, all,

Duke

command on

take the city under his

who

felt

themselves abandoned; they were, after

to a representative of the royal

house of France, the

cousin of their natural protector, the duke of Orleans.

The negotiations

failed.

The duke of Burgundy would have been

delighted to acquire Orleans without striking a blow, but his ally Bedford, the

English regent

mighty angry birds his

(II, 9),

to cut

opposed such an acquisition vehemently:

down

the bushes so that

from the branches!" At

men fighting

alongside the English besiegers.

to little

else could get the

little

duke reestablished contact with some of

least, the

Burgundian garrison make, or what have amounted

someone

would be

"I

relief

might

How much difference did this its

departure produce?

more than a few men-at-arms

enlisted

among

It

may

the troops

paid by English captains.

The

fate

of Orleans would surely be settled in a few days, perhaps a few

hours, since a decisive offensive could be launched at any minute.

Under these circumstances, increasingly urgent reports of an unexpected rescue sent from heaven and conveyed by an

"Joan the Maid" were particularly said,

could save the

feeling that seized

city.

attractive:

unknown

The people of Orleans would

them once

the

rumor about

the

the Journal of the Siege of Orleans remarks: "It

sent by

God

to raise the siege of the city.

The

hard-pressed by necessity due to the enemies not

know whom

to

beg for remedy,

if

not

girl said to

Only divine

come

later

Maid began

was

said

.

be called

intervention, people

.

.

to explain the

to circulate.

that she

As

had been

inhabitants found themselves so

who

besieged them that they did

God Himself"

This report did not comfort the Bastard, an experienced warrior. Even the arrival of Scottish,

two contingents of reinforcement, one French and the other

had not brought him relief He

testified later that

he remained skeptical

14

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

of this purportedly heaven-sent relief until months

later,

when he

actually

met

Joan the Maid. But, because he was a pious man, he sent two trustworthy

companions

to

check on

this

unusual rumor. Since the king was

at

Chinon, the

Bastard sent Archambaut de Villars and Jamet du Tillet there, where they were also likely to

gone

to

fmd Raoul de Gaucourt

Chinon

to

(II,

18),

inform the dauphin of the

governor of Orleans,

Bastard's two envoys soon returned to Orleans to report.

about that conversation in Joan's nullification

The Bastard

all

who yearned

the people in Orleans

maiden's

arrival, that

it

testified

to learn the truth

in the

presence

concerning

this

they had seen the aforesaid maid arrive at the king's court

in the city of Chinon themselves. to receive her;

The

trial:

They returned from the king's presence, reporting publicly to me, of

who had

city's desperate condition.

They

said that the king himself had not

was deemed appropriate

she should be permitted to

come

maid wait two days before

into the king's presence, even though she

came

said again and again that she

that this

wished

to raise the siege of

had

Orleans and to lead the

noble dauphin to Reims, so that he could be anointed king, demanding constantly that she be given men, horses, and arms.

whom we

Joan of Arc (for a discussion of her name, see

Jeanne

la Pucelle,

III, 1),

here makes her entry into history.

call

CHAPTER TWO

JOAN MEETS

HER DAUPHIN This chapter tracks Joan's improbable quest from native

Domremy

in the

its

her

visible beginnings in

spring of 1428 to her enlisting the reluctant support of

Robert of Baudricourt, the captain of neighboring Vaucouleurs (see Part Section

7),

who gave her a small escort of armed men and sent her to the dauphin 's

court on February 22, 1429

(II,

1 ).

crossed hostile territory; five days

Chinon

II,

in the

Loire valley.

Two days

For

six days, that troupe

of seven gingerly

they reached the dauphin

later,

later, the

Joan farther

court at

dauphin received Joan. Moved by

the conviction she evinced for her mission to save him, his crown, the dauphin sent

's

west, to Poitiers, to

and France,

undergo an examination by a

panel of learned clergymen. Within the fortnight, she had won their approval and returned to join the dauphin 5 court.

However great

had already restored an amazing degree of hope

When

my

I

arrived at the

king; then

I

went

French cause.

town of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois,

to the

town of Chinon, where

about the hour of noon and found lodging

my

I

sent [a letter] to

king was;

I

arrived there

at a hostelry.

—Joan's testimonv The letter that Joan sent from

Joan

the doubts about her,

to the

at

her

Rouen

trial

Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois, the last stage

of her journey to Chinon, has not survived. Since her arrival on territory obedient to the dauphin, she

had no task more important than laying claim

to

what she

16

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

At Fierbois, aware

called her "mission."

that she

was no more than half a day's

journey from the dauphin's residence, she dictated a "small

company

was a royal

that escorted" her

letter to

him.

Among

the

courier, Colet de Vienne, "in

constant readiness" to deliver messages. Colet had guided his companions

through the highways and byways and had shown them where to ford the

His present assignment was to put spurs to

this last stage

of Joan's journey.

Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois was a historic and well-known

became important

to

Joan of Arc's

story.

The chapel

rivers.

site that

dates from the eighth

century, indeed earlier than that; Charles Martel, the bellicose grandfather of

Charlemagne, had left a sword there as a trophy of his victory over the Muslims

The rectory

in 732.

in

which Joan probably lodged was constructed around

1400 by Marshal Boucicaut, the hero of the disastrous crusade

to Nicopolis.

After his stay in Constantinople, where he assisted in the defense of the

Byzantine capital from the Turks, the marshal had gone on a pilgrimage to Mt.

tomb of St. Catherine. He brought back relics preserved in a

Sinai to the

reliquary, the only relics of that saint in France.

the chapel

Not long

was reconstructed: Helie de Bourdeilles, the

Tours, donated funds to build a

silver

after Joan's death,

saintly archbishop of

new Flamboyant Gothic church

that survives

today. Before his promotion to the archbishopric of Tours, while

still

of Perigueux, Bourdeilles was asked to provide an analysis of the

bishop

trial that

condemned Joan of Arc. March

The day

after Joan's arrival at Fierbois (perhaps, as tradition declares,

4, 1428),

her

company entered

little

crossroads of the Grand-Carroi.

come from? This

girl

desire to be received as these arose

Who

who seemed

by the dauphin

at

the

town of Chinon and reached the

were these strangers? Where did they

ease in men's clothes and expressed her

—from where did she come? Questions such

from the moment they dismounted onto the rim of a well

comer of the square

(a spot to this

day pointed out

There was already quite a story

to

tell.

at the

to tourists).

Of Joan

herself,

it

was

said that

she came "from the marches of Lorraine," which conveyed the notion of a frontier.

distance great

Her companions had met her not in her

away

known

in a place

shadow of Jean de

friend of St. Louis.

village of

as Vaucouleurs,

Joinville, seneschal of

Two hundred

Domremy but a short

whose name

still

evokes the

Champagne, companion and

years earlier Joinville had granted the town a

charter of municipal freedom.

The

fortress of

Vaucouleurs

(II,

7) had been

much on

the English and the French. This well-fortified strongpoint

the

on

minds of both

the banks of the

Meuse in the district of Toul, on the border between Champagne and the Barrois, allegiance to the dauphin even though

maintained

its

Burgundian

territory. In

his

nephew

the

it

was surrounded by

1428 the duke of Bedford, regent of France

young Henry VI of England

(II, 2),

(II,

9) for

decided, at the urging of his

JOAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN

17

chief captains, to rid himself of this pocket of resistance in a region where Anglo-

Burgundian garrisons had been circulating the governor of

Champagne, received

Vergy had

at his

freely.

On June 22 Antoine de Vergy,

instructions to besiege Vaucouleurs.

disposal a contingent

whose numbers we know

exactly:

796 men. The squires and auxiliary troops who would have accompanied those men-at-arms would bring the force

to a total of

2,500 combatants, reinforced by

the troops of Pierre de Trie, captain of Beauvais,

John, count of Freiburg and Neuchatel, the county of

Burgundy

The countrymen

(the

nicknamed

Patrouillart,

and by

who had come from what was known

as

Franche-Comte). of the meandering river Meuse, crowded

in the valley

with men-at-arms, were agitated. The peasants of such villages as

Domremy,

Greux, Coussey, and Burey abandoned their homes and, driving their

cattle

before them, sought refuge behind the walls of Neufchateau, the only fortified city close by;

distance.

from the ramparts, they soon saw

their harvest burning in the

At Vaucouleurs, the royal captain. Robert de Baudricourt, stubbornly

He regrouped

maintained his allegiance to the dauphin.

his

garrison and

reinforced his fortress, which had powerful defenses: probably twenty-three

towers rising from the

Meuse

to the plateau

whose escarpment served

as the

base of the fortified complex. These operations lasted most of July. Everyone

waited for Baudricourt to surrender, as four years earlier Etienne de Vignolles,

La Hire wake

(II,

had surrendered

22),

at

Vitry

—

a surrender that had brought in

its

Champagne, such

as

the capitulation of several small strongholds in

Blanzy, Larzicourt, and Heilz-L'Eveque. The surrender of Vitry-en-Perthois was

accepted by the

man who had

negotiated the Treaty of Troyes, Pierre

49);

the

kingdom, which the English

it

Yet nothing decisive happened the

Cauchon

had been a powerful signal for these fortresses of the eastern part of

(II,

rulers

at

had come

Vaucouleurs.

to

count on as a reliable shield.

A compromise was reached near

end of July. Baudricourt did not surrender, and the attackers withdrew when

he promised that he would forgo military action against the Burgundians. Thus neutralized, Vaucouleurs stayed free.

These events weighed on the minds of the

little

troupe that arrived

Grand-Carroi. They had lived through them the previous little

peasant

girl in

a red surcoat had

The

come to the attention of Baudricourt's Day (which in 1428 had fallen on May

she strode along the high walls of Vaucouleurs, asking

the lord Robert

at the

1428.

first

fellow townspeople around Ascension 13), as

summer of

was and when he would be willing

all

to receive her.

she met where

This image of

memory of Bertrand de Poulengy (II, 33), one of the two lords who soon took charge of escorting her as far as Chinon. Bertrand recounted that

her animated the

he had seen her speak to Robert de Baudricourt, the captain of Vaucouleurs; she

had said

that she

to stand fast

came

and not

to

to

him from her Lord so

make war upon

that he

would

his enemies, for the

tell

the dauphin

Lord would bring

18

PART

him help before

the next mid-Lent.

she provoked. Joan said that the

I:

THE DRAMA

Unperturbed by the laughter and the jeering

kingdom belonged

become

Lord, that his Lord wished the dauphin to the

kingdom

lead

him

be anointed. At the side of

to

man whom

sheepishly, a

king, and that he

whether his enemies wished

as a fief,

this

not to the dauphin but to his

would hold

or not. She herself

it

peasant

girl stood,

she called her uncle (actually, her

would

somewhat

first

cousin's

husband), a certain Durand Laxart. from Burey-le-Petit. Robert had advised him

home with a Two months later, in

to take the girl

slap or

two

Neufchateau with her parents,

little sister,

had shared

the lot of refugees

crowded

La Rousse

(the

Redhead),

end her impertinence.

to

July 1428. Joan

was on

the road, hastening toward

and three brothers. For some time she an inn belonging to a

in

whom Joan helped

from time

to

woman named

time with the dishes

and the cooking, along with her good friend Hauviette. Hauviette was Joan's longtime friend: her family had fled

The red surcoat of course of that winter, in 1429. the first

February

13).

the peasant girl of

at the

Domremy was

seen again in the

beginning of Lent (which began early that year; locally as Russet Sunday, fell

Robert de Baudricourt threw her out a second time.

Le Royer who with to

as well.

Sunday of Lent, known

Joan had found lodging

continued

home

at

Vaucouleurs.

at the

it

then

house of the wheelwright Henri

had become her supporter. Joan

his wife. Catherine,

proclaim that

By

on

was necessary

that she

speak

to the

dauphin

before mid-Lent, because she was bringing him help from heaven, help he

would not

get

from anyone

else.

'Time wore on

for her as for a

woman

great

with child." in the familiar metaphor from the Psalms. The pressure was so great that she took to the road one

morning with the devoted Durand Laxart

and a resident of Vaucouleurs named Jacques Alain: they purchased her a horse for twelve francs.

But they did not get

far.

Arriving

at

Saint-Nicolas-de-Sept-

Fonts. on the route to Sauvroy. Joan realized that she had been precipitous to it

was "not

castle's chapel, called

Our Lady

leave without achieving Baudricourt's approval: she declared that thus that they should depart."' and they returned to Vaucouleurs.

Early ever\' morning, this of the Vaults.

'"I

went to the

frequently saw Joan the

piety: there, she heard I

girl

Maid come

morning mass and stayed

to this

church with great

a long time afterward to pray.

saw her under the vault of this church kneeling before the statue of the blessed

Virgin, with her face said Jean le like

sometimes downcast and sometimes gazing upright." So

Fumeux. then

a

young canon of Notre-Dame-de-Vaucouleurs. who

everyone else regarded the comings and goings of

Domremy

this little

peasant of

with amazement.

One day.

a

messenger of the duke of Lorraine presented himself canning

a safe-conduct for Joan. his castle at

Duke Charles

II (II.

26) had heard rumors about her in

Nancy and wished to see her. Charles

II,

who had been hardly better

)OAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN

19

than a highwayman, had grown old and sick. Perhaps he hoped to encounter

some holy person through whom he could be

accompanied as

healed. Joan,

always by Laxart, took the road armed with the duke's safe-conduct. She was

me

brought before him: "He questioned said that

I

knew nothing about that.

I

about the recovery of his health, and

said very

but did say nonetheless that he should give for France

and

that

She was not abandoned

his wife,

would pray

I

to

God

afraid to deliver a

little

me

and some men-at-arms

his son

for the restoration of his health."

few admonitions about

Margaret of Bavaria, for a

girl

his conduct.

he had sired five bastards. In Neufchateau, which had lodged a

in fact his son-in-law,

Rene of Anjou

— a journey II,

him

(H, 5), the dauphin's brother-in-law.

a part of this trip to

that she converted into a pilgrimage, visiting shrines as

known

distant as Saint-Nicolas-du-Port. Jean de Nouillonpont (also

Metz;

suit against

The "son" Joan mentioned

Someone must have accompanied Joan during Nancy

He had

named Alison Dumay, by whom

before the Parlement of Paris, such stories were common.

was

my mission

duke about

to the

I

as Jean

de

30) accompanied her at least as far as Toul. Nouillonpont, a squire in

how at first he teased the He had confronted her near the military headquarters, asking

the household of Robert de Baudricourt, later recalled girl in the

red dress.

ironically:

"Honey, what are you doing here? Shouldn't the dauphin be thrown

out and

of us

I

all

came here

become English?" The Maid had answered, calmly to the king's

chamber

[that

is,

into royal territory] to

de Baudricourt so that he would either bring but he pays no attention to I

be

until

at the king's side

my

feet are

me

or to

my

me

or have

to

my

knees; there

is

speak to Robert

me brought to the king,

words; nevertheless,

before mid-Lent arrives, even

worn down

if it

in fact

it is

means

important that I

no one

have

recover the kingdom of France, and he will have no help,

for this

is

wills that

He

asked, "But

not I

I

would prefer

to stay

home and

I

when

walk

who can

not through me,

my

poor mother,

my proper station, but I must go and I must do it, because my Lord

do

so.

who

is

your Lord?"

And

the

Maid answered, "God."

And so I promised the Maid, by placing my hands that

if

spin wool with

to

else, neither a

king nor a duke nor the daughter of the king of Scotland, nor any other

even though

as always:

would with God's

in hers as a sign

aid lead her to the king; and

I

of good

begged her

faith,

to tell

me

she wanted to leave; she said "Better today than tomorrow, better

tomorrow than later"

A pracdcal man, the squire asked her if she expected to depart in the clothes she was wearing. She answered

that she

would prefer

to

wear men's

clothes.

He

20

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

found among his servant's clothes something hat.

Once she got back

that the

to the

to dress her in: hose, jacket,

Le Royer house, Joan would

good folk of Vaucouleurs, now sympathetic

specifically for her:

men's

suits,

hose, and

all that

and

find other apparel

had made

to her cause,

was necessary, plus

a horse

worth about sixteen francs. It

was upon her

return

from Nancy

war and astonished by the enthusiasm

that

that

Robert de Baudricourt, tired of

Joan the Maid

resigned himself to giving her permission to go to the dauphin escort had already been formed. Jean de

Metz was

to

her wake,

left in

at

Chinon. Her

accompany

her, as

was

Bertrand de Poulengy, each with a servant: Julien for Bertrand de Poulengy and a certain Jean de

Honnecourt for Jean de Metz.

Baudricourt added to their number the royal messenger Colet de Vienne,

who knew

the roads and could discern

which men-at-arms and garrisons were

loyal to the dauphin; a certain Richard Larcher

went along as well, making a

men along with this girl who already rode like a man-at-arms. (Joan's ability is not surprising: The horse was then the primary mode of

party of six riding

transport,

As

and more than once she rode her

Le Royers

a precaution, Robert de Baudricourt had visited the

accompanied by the parish his stole,

father's plowhorses.)

priest of Vaucouleurs, Jean Fournier,

who,

attired in

pronounced an exorcism over Joan. Joan may well have been busy

spinning with Catherine Le Royer (who later testified that she spun very well indeed) and quickly went up to the priest, throwing herself on her knees before

him. But Joan later told Catherine that the parish priest had done already heard her confession and

knew

perfectly well that she

ill:

was

He had a

good

Christian and did not need any exorcism. This (for Joan) pointless, indeed ridiculous scene probably took place before her first departure and bears witness to the uncertainties of the captain of Vaucouleurs, lest

the

a

took public precautions

he be dealing with a sorceress. In the end, Robert himself traveled part of

way with

little

after

the

little

group,

all

the

way up

to the

Gate of France one evening,

Russet Sunday.

What were far

who

the feelings of these travelers

who went

to

Chinon from so

away, after a journey of eleven days? Joan never stopped encouraging her

companions. They passed

their first night in the

Joinville, but after that they traveled as

much

abbey of Saint-Urbain-les-

as they could at night, in order to

avoid roaming bands of hostile Englishmen or Burgundians. Joan wanted to go

— "We would do well we could hear mass," she was saying — but would have been too nodceable. Only

to

mass

if

later

quoted as

in the friendly territory

that

of Auxerre and Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois were they able to hear mass, twice in those eleven days. In the

course of that journey, the young

men who

rode

at

her side (Jean de Metz was thirty-one, Bertrand de Poulengy thirty-seven), later declared that Joan had slept alongside them

at

every stop, keeping both her

21

)OAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN doublet and her hose closed and bound: they never

toward I

her.

"Her words put

me on

fire,

inspiring in

felt

me

any "carnal impulse"

a love for her that was,

believe, divine."

The curious clustered around her

at

Chinon, as they had

at

Vaucouleurs.

Joan had never stopped declaring to her companions that the "dauphin" (as she then called him) would receive her.

them, and her companions,

Now messengers and sergeants buzzed about

who had been

so intent

upon

had undergone a convincing

anxiety. For them, Joan

some

their goal, felt

test:

During

their eleven

days together, they had found her without fault or weakness, exemplary in piety

and

charity, inflexible in resolve. Nonetheless, the final test

lay ahead:

still

Did

her words and her predictions correspond to any reality ahead?

Despite destruction in the seventeenth century, in the Revolution, and also under the Empire, the castle of city at its feet still rises

above the

Chinon with the pointed roofs of the

city like a cliff

little

dominating the valley of the

Vienne. During the long hours that stretched between the arrival of Joan and her escort toward noon until the evening of the following day, finally admitted to the presence of the

dauphin

constant comings and goings along the precipitous road today rue Jeanne-d'Arc. "She

when

she was

in the castle itself, there

known

were

as the

was much questioned," declared Jean de Metz.

According to Bertrand de Poulengy, she was questioned by the dauphin's noble counselors,

whose perplexity was evident

if

Joan and her companions said

nothing more about their origins and their goals than what Baudricourt's squire

Nouillonpont reported will

have no help

At the

if

earlier,

including that disconcerting affirmation,

"He

not through me."

nullification trial,

Simon

Charles, a

man

of great stature and

president of the royal treasury, clearly recalled the unfolding of the subsequent events.

He may

not have been present at Chinon

returned "to the court in the to Venice,

to

arrived, but having

month of March" from his embassy

for the dauphin

he discovered what had happened. Jean de Metz told him that the

dauphin had sent his agents to question Joan

come

when Joan

in her hostelry:

do and what did she want?" Joan had

hesitated.

"What had she

She had no intention

of divulging the specifics of her mission except to the dauphin, but finally she

had answered first to raise

crown and

that hers

was a double mandate from

the

King of Heaven. She had

the siege of Orleans, then to lead Charles to

Reims

to receive his

his anointing.

The dauphin's counselors were divided

as they returned to him.

One

group, believing that the girl was mad, urged the dauphin to dismiss her without delay; the other thought that he should at the very least listen to her. that Charles until

was not convinced and did not agree

to

It is

likely

admit her to his presence

such time as he had received the message sent by Robert de Baudricourt

shortly after the

little

escort had departed; his letter confirmed the report of Joan

—

22

PART

and her companions. Without

l:

THE DRAMA

reassurance from a captain of tested loyalty,

this

the dauphin, a suspicious and mistrustful

received Joan.

He must have

reflected

upon

across an "occupied zone," fording rivers past garrisons and

enemy

man, most

still

likely

their long

would never have

and perilous journey

swollen with the melting snows,

contingents that they had carefully avoided.

The

confirmation of these difficulties by the captain of a distant and sorely tried

him

stronghold no doubt convinced interview.

One can understand

couleurs, declaring "It solicitation of

is

then

not thus

Joan should

that

be given an

at least

why Joan had earlier returned to Vauthat we should depart." Her stubborn

Robert de Baudricourt was justified because his support was

essential to her mission. "It

was

a high hour"

March then came

at six-thirty or

been seven or seven-thirty likely a

— an evening

in the

hour. Nightfall in the

thereabouts

days of

could have

in the steep access

road to the

which the Maid's name has since been given. "There were more than

three hundred knights and fifty torches," she

evening.

it

evening when Joan, her companions, and most

messenger of the dauphin came together

castle to

first

so

at that latitude,

would

later say, recalling that

The count of Vendome had been charged with introducing her to those

gathered in the castle's great

hall.

The

"three hundred knights"

may

well be an

exaggeration produced by the effect of such a spectacle on the peasant

brought for the

first

time in her

life into

girl

a vast hall where a multitude of torches

and candelabra flared, illuminating the unfamiliar forms of great lords and noble ladies.

Raoul de Gaucourt

(II,

18) expresses the contrast

between the thronging

assembly, gathered perhaps with a slight purpose of intimidation, and Joan,

whom

he called the "shepherdess"

—not a

surprising term, since

all

peasant

women were then more or less considered shepherdesses in the eyes of the great: I

was myself present

and

I

at the castle

and the

city of

saw her when she presented herself to

Chinon when the Maid

his royal majesty; she

humility and simplicity of manner, this poor

little

This

is

have been sent from

God

to bring aid to

you and

a concise statement of the contrast

message. The testimony of

later trials

showed

shepherdess. ...

say the following words to the king: "Very noble lord dauphin, I

to the

I

arrived,

I

great

heard her

have come and

kingdom."

between Joan's person and her

and other reports amplify

as does, for example, the Chronicle of Jean Chartier,

who was

that contrast in

some senses

the official historian of the court:

Then Joan, having come before customarily are

made

to a

the king,

made

the curtsies and reverences that

king as though she had been nourished

at the

and, her greeting having been delivered, said in addressing the king,

court

"God

give

23

jOAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN you

life,

know him and had

gentle King," even though she did not

many pompous

him, and there were

lords there

the king. Wherefore he replied to Joan:

"In God's name, gentle Prince,

Simon

Charles,

who

"When

the king

knew

is

is

was going

the crowd; Joan nonetheless recognized

if I

am

the king."

you and none

Chinon a

arrived at that she

it

more opulently dressed than was

"What

Pointing to one of the lords, he said: "There

little

not the king, Joan?"

To which she answered,

other."

while afterward, says simply:

come, he withdrew

to

never seen

slightly

him and made her reverence

from

to him,

speaking with him for some time. After hearing her, the king seemed radiant." Finally, the report

made by Joan

herself to Friar Jean Pasquerel, her confessor,

eliminates accessory details but recalls her

When

saw

[the king]

dauphin,

I

am

her,

own

words:

he asked Joan her name and she answered: "Gentle

Joan the Maid, and the King of Heaven commands that through

me you be anointed and crowned in the city of Reims as a lieutenant of the King of Heaven,

who

is

king, Joan said to

king of France."

him anew:

And

"I say to you,

on behalf of the Lord,

the true heir of France, and a king's son, and to

Reims, so

it."

that

the

was not

that

me to you

you are

to lead if

you

you wish

knew

in her. All

or could

know except God; and that

is

why he

of that I learned from the mouth of Joan, because

present.

thing seems

first

sent

This being understood, the king said to his courtiers that Joan had told him

had great confidence

One

He has

you can receive your coronation and consecration

a certain secret that no one

I

asked by the

after further questions

beyond doubt. Whatever circumstances caused the legend of

encounter between dauphin and maid to swell into a theatrical set piece,

Joan did not allow herself to be disconcerted by the intimidating spectacle of this great hall rustling

brightness to which she

with the whispers of high society and ablaze with a

was unaccustomed. She went

straight to the

dauphin

and calmly delivered the message for which she had crossed half the country. That message must have made a strong impression on the received

it.

Charles of Ponthieu,

whom Joan called the dauphin,

exile since the English entered Paris in 141 8.

He was now

man who

had lived as an

twenty-six. For seven

years after the death of his father, Charles VI, in 1422, he had awaited the

anointing that would

make him

king.

the dauphin Louis, died; that death

When

he was twelve, his eldest brother,

was followed two years

later

by the death of

the second dauphin, Jean, shortly after the Battle of Agincourt (October 25,

1415), which had cut huge holes in the French royal entourage.

exaggerate legitimacy

when

they say that his

—a rumor

own mother had

circulated by his enemies

Some

historians

given rise to doubts of his

—but Charles had been removed

24

PART

from succession ratified

by both

to the throne in

I:

THE DRAMA

1420 by the Treaty of Troyes, which had been

parties, including his mother.

Yet despite his youth and a series

of deceptions, defeats, and obstacles, he had never abandoned his claim. Charles,

on becoming surviving son and thus dauphin, declared himself regent of France, but he did not use this

title

The worst of them was

or act personally without the most dire consequences.

outcome of

the fateful

that conversation

on the bridge

of Montereau, where John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, had been assassinated

by his own escort under a veil of mysterious circumstances. Ten years had passed since then, but that day, September 14, 1419,

still

weighed heavily

in the

He would have no relief from that concern until the horror memory had been erased by formal reconciliation with his cousin, the duke

dauphin's decisions.

of its

of Burgundy.

What

did Joan

tell

Charles?

not

It is

known

exactly, but the chronicle of

Pierre Sala records that Guillaume Gouffier, the dauphin's chamberlain, alleged that:

The king

.

.

.

went one morning alone

silent request in prayer to

devoutly that

if it

into his oratory

Our Lord within

were true

that

he was His

and there made a humble,

his heart, in

heir,

which he begged him

descendant of the noble House

of France, and that the kingdom should in justice belong to him, might

God

and defend him, or

to protect

at the

him

very worst, allow

it

please

the grace of

escaping alive and free from imprisonment so that he might find solace in Spain or in Scotland, which were from times long past brothers-in-arms and allies of the kings of France.

If

Joan did indeed repeat to him anything

like that prayer, "a sure secret that

one knew or could know except God," as Jean Pasquerel would

no

later declare,

the impact on Charles must have been enormous. This episode resounds with significance:

It

has a place in Joan's story and in history

not seem out of proportion to anyone that can

change

life

most

who

understands that

commentators ever since

sister (III, 3), for

a place that does

it is

the small event

radically.

The speculations of contemporaries, of salacious revelation:

itself,

historians,

and of amateur

generally have involved some more dramatic

"proof

that

Joan was,

or

in fact, Charles's illegitimate half

example, or some password from a major

field

leader of a court faction; perhaps even the knowledge of

commander or

some

private vice

Charles had hoped was secret. The silent prayer that Pasquerel cited seems more plausible in that context, even though the rational

it

poses a greater credibility problem for

modern mind.

In any case, this encounter produced in Charles an immediate decision.

He

would keep Joan in the castle and would entrust her to the wife of Guillaume Bellier,

25

)OAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN

who had authority over the personnel of the royal household. The Maid would move into royal quarters, the tower of Couldray. This castle to the the bailiff of Troyes,

west of the "middle castle," the principal building of the royal

keep

built

two centuries

earlier, the

Templar imprisoned there in grim

St.

Martin.

From

he would

to

the

moment Joan took up

residence in the royal

fifteen or sixteen,

A lodging was assigned to her in the castle of Couldray, and

the to

at night,

she had

was assigned

to her

become her page:

officially

tower with Joan. All the time that she was there, during the day;

Whether that

Fair.

Joan or not, she preferred the nearby chapel

young boy of

quarters, Louis de Coutes, a service; a bit later,

lower parts of which had housed the Knights

308 on the order of King Philip the

was reported

historical event

dedicated to

1

was a superb

fortress,

women

with her;

I

lived there in that

I

was with her continually

I

remember well

that

from

moment she was in this tower of Couldray men of high rank frequently came

converse with Joan; what they did or said

saw such men

arrive,

I

went away, and

I

I

when

did not know, for always,

I

do not know who they were.

This recollection from a timid boy, just then learning the craft of arms as a

member struck

of the contingent of Raoul de Gaucourt,

him

as significant: "At that time,

saw her on her knees praying,

often

as

when it

I

completed by a

is

was with Joan

seemed

to

detail that

in that tower, I

me; nevertheless,

I

could

never hear what she was saying, even though sometimes she wept." Joan's stay in the tower of Couldray

may have been by

from whence she came and what

where

prelates, theologians,

who had remained

sort of

faithful to

Messengers went

to

person she was.

He

as the king

to

him

—were gathered.

determine

sent her to Poitiers,

and masters of the University of Paris

intellectual capital of the "king of

road.

was brief Overwhelmed

had given him, he needed

the "sign" that Joan

Poitiers

—

had become the

Bourges." The royal household took to the

Vaucouleurs and throughout that region to investigate

the authenticity of this peasant

girl.

For Joan the Maid, the moment to ride abroad had arrived. She never before

left

the countryside around her village

great part of France.

the few

She was

now

to cover over 3,000 miles

who had

prepared to ride across a

on horseback; the

last

phase

of that long journey she would ride bound hand and foot to Rouen. But she

knew

nothing about that yet; she declared,

upon

knew only

that her career

arriving at Chinon, "I shall last

For the moment, Joan delighted

one

would be

year, hardly

short.

Had

she not

more"?

in riding across friendly territory.

It

was

but a day's journey (thirty-one or thirty-seven miles, depending on the route taken) from Chinon to Poitiers, the capital city of the dukes of Aquitaine, the

preferred residence of

Queen Eleanor some 300 years

in the past, the city of

Queen Radegund

at the turn

earlier, and,

even farther

of the sixth and seventh

26

PART

amval

centuries; that

THE DRAMA

I:

with belltowers must have

at nightfall to a city bristling

been both solemn and joyous. Before her visit

from John, the duke of Alen^on

(the modifier 'fair'

would say

was much

in

Joan came

use then: one said

to find the king,

of Saint-Florent [near Saumur].

messenger came

to tell

me

had

up

to them,

was

I

God

is

first

of Chinon and

to

at the

meeting:

I

king's

in the city

who

said.

I

why

is

the next

day

I

went

to the

When I came

was. and the king answered that

"You

gathered together, the bener

The young duke of Alencon deserved

coun who

chase out the English and raise the

found Joan speaking with the king.

Joan immediately asked

blood of France

nephew" almost as we

was out on a walk hunting quail when a

duke of Alencon. Then Joan

the

cit\'

maiden had arrived

around Orleans; that

set

king in the city of Chinon.

'fair

recounted their

he was in the I

that a

later

declared herself to have been sent b\ siege the English

whom she would call "'my fair duke"

(II. 4).

nephew" j. He himself

'dear

When

Chinon. Joan had received an important

trip to Poitiers, at

are \er\-

welcome; the more

I

the

shall be."

it

the confidence the king placed in

bom

him. Close to Charles by blood, he was also close to him

in age:

he was three years younger than the dauphin. Above

he had only recently

all.

in 1406,

returned from England, where he had been a prisoner: At twent\ -three, he had

been

in captivity for five years.

been found battle at

alive

Vemeuil

by the British among the heaped-up corpses on the in 1424.

his strong constitution

Able

to

He had been imprisoned

had permitted him. against

pay only a part of the high ransom

release, he

paid in

His comrades thought he was dead, but he had

swore an oath not

full.

He was

that

to fight against the

thus a prisoner of his

in the all

field of

town of Crotoy. where

expectations, to recover.

had been a condition of

English until the

word of honor.

We

his

sum had been

can imagine that

he covered the distance that separates Saint-Florent-les-Saumur from Chinon with particular haste, once he heard word of the astonishing promise this

unknown

had made. Joan"s

girl

first

response to him must have startled the duke,

who remembered it sharply twenty-seven been

ease from that point, but she

at

still

years

had

later. In fact,

Joan seems to have

to explain herself to the dauphin,

as the next section of the duke's report testifies:

The next

bowed

came

to the king's

mass, and when she saw the king, she

deeply; and he led Joan into a chamber.

Tremoille retire.

day, Joan

[II,

And

give his

251,

and myself with him, saying

then Joan

kingdom

made

to the

The king kept

to ever>'one else that they

several requests of the king,

King of Heaven, and

of Heaven would do to him as

He had done

the lord of

among

could

others that he

that after that donation the

to his

La

King

predecessors and would bring

27

JOAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN it

back

to its original condition;

said until

it

was time

many

for dinner;

and

other things that

do not remember were

I

after dinner, the king

went

the fields, and there Joan ran about charging with a lance, and

behave

like this, carrying

walk

in

seeing Joan

I,

and running with the lance, gave her the

The duke was dazzled. Joan already had acquired

for a

gift

of a horse.

weapons

the ease with

necessary for a warrior; she clearly deserved that horse. This passage also allows us to understand for the rest of his

how

the duke of as

life,

Alengon remained struck by Joan's presence

were so many

The king concluded

others. His recollection continues:

Joan should be examined by churchmen;

that

to this task

were assigned the bishop of Castres, the king's confessor [Gerard Machet], the bishop of Senlis [Simon Bonnet,

would become so

who

in fact

in time], the bishops of

Hugues de Cambarel], Master

was not

Maguelonne and

This precious piece of evidence

Poitiers.

As

the

They asked Joan the king?

my

in

presence that she

why

told

I

formal

a

held in

trial like that

come and who made

she had

who

told her

do not remember. Joan herself

her

come

what she had

ate dinner with

to

that

to do,

me and

me that she had been thoroughly examined, and that she both knew and also

could say more than she had chosen to

The duke of Alengon concluded: "The those

not a

had come from the King of Heaven and

she had heard voices and a source of advice that

was

there

that if

clear:

She answered

and other things

Meaux, and

do not remember.

I

shows

Chinon conducted by churchmen, duke made

Poitiers [the latter,

Pierre of Versailles, later bishop of

Master Jean Morin; and many others whose names

interrogation at

yet bishop of that city but

who had been

Joan go to the

tell to

those

who

interrogated her.

king, once he had heard the report of

delegated to examine her, wished even more strongly that

city of Poitiers to

be examined once more; but

I

was not present

at the Poitiers investigation."

The duke of Alen^on's testimony sial "Poitiers Trial,"

especially since

development.

its

Many

which

is

the subject of contentious scholarly dispute,

transcript has citations to

the full transcript. See

III,

13.)

reveals the character of this controver-

been

lost.

(This in itself

and quotations from

it

a surprising

is

have survived, but not

The ever-cautious dauphin wished

to increase

both the number and the quality of those responsible for her interrogation; Poitiers,

such

men were

at

readily available.

Joan was lodged there of the Parlement of Paris,

in the

house of Master Jean Rabateau, an advocate

who had joined

the dauphin

two years

earlier.

While

28

PART

women

certain

I:

secretly kept an eye

THE DRAMA on Joan's behavior, prelates were called

together to form a tribunal of experts responsible for her interrogation. Francois Garivel, counselor of the king on the matter of feudal revenues, added several

names

to those provided

by the duke of Alen^on: Guillaume Aymeri, a

theologian of the Dominican order; Guillaume Le Marie, bachelor in theology

and canon of Poitiers; Pierre Seguin, described as a "specialist in holy scripture"; Jean Lambert, a Carmelite

friar;

Mathieu Mesnage; and, most of

all,

the

Dominican who would become dean of the Faculty of Poitiers, Seguin Seguin. Garivel

made

clear at a later date that Joan

it

had been interrogated on several

occasions and that her examination had taken about three weeks.

had asked answered

her:

"Why

would not

that she

consecrated

at

He

himself

She

did she call the king 'dauphin' and not 'king'?" call

him "king"

Reims, where she intended

until

he had been crowned and

to bring him. Garivel

had been struck

by the piety of this simple "shepherdess."

The deposition of Seguin Seguin The

instructive.

Poitiers investigation

at

the nullification

must have been

trial

is

most

lively, for Joan, interro-

gated by well-intentioned judges, probably answered freely and forthrightly. Friar Seguin,

when he recalled these moments, was an old man of around seventy

years, yet he remembered certain of her answers vividly and transmitted clearly

made upon him. He named master Regnault of Chartres, archbishop of Reims and chancellor of France (II, 13), as the cleric who presided

the impression Joan

over the king's council in this matter.

University of Paris, also in exile in Poitiers,

asked Joan

why

member of the Master Jean Lombard, who had

He named

another

she had come. "She responded in great style," said Seguin.

Joan's language always provoked admiration: "This girl spoke terribly well,"

Albert d'Ourches from the region of Vaucouleurs had said of her, adding "I

would

really like to

At

Poitiers,

have had so fine a daughter."

we

find for the first time the statement of

what one might

call Joan's "vocation," the calling that she always maintained she

As Seguin

had answered.

reports:

When she was watching over the animals, a voice revealed itself to her, which said that

God had

great pity

France [from her

on the people of France, and

home on

the frontier].

Upon

that she, Joan,

had

to

go

into

hearing that message, she began to

weep, and then the voice bade her go to Vaucouleurs, where she should find a captain

who would

bring her safely into France unto the king and that she should

have no uncertainty.

What

And

followed, according to Friar Seguin's report, has the tone of a formal

interrogation. Witness her that

so she did, going to the king's court without delay.

answer

to

Master Guillaume Aymeri: "You have said

your voice told you: 'God wishes to liberate the people of France from the

29

)OAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN calamities in which

it

now

finds

itself.' If

He wishes

to free

there

it,

is

no need

to have soldiers, and then Joan answered: 'In God's name, the soldiers will give

and

battle

God

will give the victory.'"

"Master Guillaume was quite content with

this response," Friar

Seguin

comments. Expertly trained theologians could hardly have given a better account of the delicate distinction between the action of grace and Friar Seguin

was not afraid to report that he was

in a small

its

temporal means.

way a victim of Joan's

humor, which was always sharp:

I

asked her what language her voice spoke. She answered, "Better than yours." Me,

I

spoke the dialect of Limoges; and then

answered, "Yes, better than you."

And

us to believe in her unless something

I

I

asked her

she believed in God; she

if

then said to her that

made

us think that

we

God

wouldn't want

should do

so.

I

could

not advise the king simply on her assertion that he should entrust men-at-arms to

her so that she might lead them into

something

further.

And

she answered, "In God's name,

produce signs." [This answer,

to

unless she could at least

peril,

like the

I

did not

come

me to Orleans, and I will show you the

she was given men-at-arms in such

number

sign for which

seemed good

as

then she predicted to

him and

others

who were

would happen. They did indeed happen thereafter. would be driven away and thus would be

lifted

and

to Poitiers

I

was

sent."

Then

in four points:

present four things that

First,

she said that the English

had

laid to the city of Orleans

would be

free of the English but first

the siege they

that the city of Orleans

own words.]

to her.

Then follows an exposition of Joan's mission, summarized And

him

one she gave above to Guillaume Aymeri,

Seguin reports in French rather than Latin, having remembered Joan's

"But lead

tell

she would send them an invitation to surrender. Next, she said that the king

would then be consecrated

at

Reims. Third, she said that the city of Paris would

return to the king's obedience, and [fourth] that the duke of Orleans

from England. All these things have come

Joan had persuaded the reported

all

first

to pass.

tribunal appointed to

of this to the royal council, and

would return

we

examine

her:

"We have

are of the opinion that given the

pressing necessity and peril in which the city of Orleans stands, the king might

accept her aid and send her to Orleans." The decisive step was taken. Until her arrival at Poitiers,

obscure origin

Joan had been nothing more than a surprising peasant

who had amazed

had received permission

An

the dauphin; by the

end of her stay

girl

of

there, she

to act.

advocate of the Parlement, Jean Barbin, summarized in greater detail

the impression Joan

had produced on these

clerics

and

prelates:

30

PART From

l:

THE DRAMA

same doctors who had examined her and who had asked her

the

of questions.

I

heard

it

all sorts

reported that she had answered very pnidently, as though

she had been a good clerk [the temi "clerk"' then implied educated literacy], to the point that they marveled at her responses and believed that there

something of the divine therein, given the account of her and

finally,

it

was concluded by

investigation that there faith:

and

found themselves

—

the clerks after their interrogations and their

was nothing

that given the great

nothing contrary to the Catholic

evil in her,

need

in

which both the king and the kingdom

since the king and his subjects were at that

despair and had no other hope of aid

make use

was

and her behavior;

life

if it

came

not from

God

—

moment

in

the king should

of her assistance.

This advocate then began to evoke certain older prophecies in connection

with Joan associated with the famous visionary Marie,

known

as

La Gasque

d' Avignon:

A

certain Master Erault, professor in theology,

another time from a certain Marie of Avignon, earlier, that the

mentioned

who had come to

kingdom of France would have a

would undergo numerous

She said

calamities.

suits

he had heard

at

the king's court

great deal to suffer and that

that she

concerning the desolation of the kingdom of France.

saw many

that

it

had had many visions

Among

these visions, she

of armor that had been presented to her, and Marie, frightened,

feared being ordered to put on the suits of armor, but she was told that she should

not fear because she should not bear these arms but that a maid would after her

who would carry the same arms and would free

from

enemies; and he believed firmly that this Joan was she of

its

the

come

kingdom of France

whom Marie

of Avignon had spoken.

So much for popular rumor. The official reads as follows: "In her, Joan,

decision, the conclusions of the doctors,

we fmd no evil but only good,

devorion, honesty, and simplicity."

Her

humility, virginity,

Rabateau and

hosts, Jean

his wife,

confirmed that every day after dinner and also during the night Joan prayed on her knees for a long time and that she often went into a

little

chapel in the house,

praying there for a long time.

was concluded. Jean Pasquerel,

Finally, another kind of investigarion

Joan's confessor, gives us an echo of

I

heard

women

it

to

said that Joan,

when

know what was

a virgin or corrupted.

Those who

she

it:

came

in her, if she

She was found

to

to the king's court,

was

a

man

or a

was examined by

woman, and

if

she was

be a woman, and a virgin, and a maid.

visited her for this purpose were,

from what

I

heard, the lady of

JOAN MEETS HER DAUPHIN

31

Gaucourt [Jeanne de Preuilly] and the lady of Treves [Jeanne de Mortemer, wife of Robert Le Ma9on].

Both of these Sicily,

ladies

belonged to the household of the queen of Anjou and of

Yolanda of Aragon, the mother of the king's wife, Marie of Anjou. This

of virginity has often been misunderstood.

test

interested in the history of witchcraft than

a test designed to verify that she

was Joan of Arc's

was not a

Our

age, has seen in

who

Maid" — —would have been

called herself "Joan the

was designated during her life

(III, 1)

the only

is

it

were

sorceress, since sorceresses

always suspected of having had intercourse with the devil. The reality Joan,

more

era,

simpler:

name by which she

discredited immediately

examination had shown or claimed that she was not a virgin.

A

har, she

if

the

would

have been sent home; her mission with its claims of authority and integrity would

have ended. The time, those

showed

men and women who

autonomous,

it

of virginity was above

all

a proof of sincerity. In Joan's

consecrated themselves completely to

their acceptance of the divine call

and body, without division of

Joan would have been convinced of

this

had dedicated herself to God from the moment

was an angel's voice addressing

her.

God

by remaining virgin and hence

totally at the Lord's service in heart

responsibility. that she

test

premise. She declared

that she

had understood

There was never any question of devil

worship or sorcery, nor did suspicion that she might have been involved

in

witchcraft gain currency until the twentieth century.

After she

left Poitiers,

the eyes of the French pubhc.

devotion.

It

Joan the Maid appeared to be exactly

that,

a maid, in

The initial astonishment that greeted her changed into

was expected that she would be put to the

— —

test

demanded, the hberation of Orleans by military action surrounded by a kind of respectful aura. She had

come

the test that she herself

but akeady she

was

to personify hope, the type

of hope that (according to the witnesses of her time) the distressed kingdom no longer maintained

Some

—

that

is,

the

hope of divine

assistance.

years earlier the poet Alain Chartier,

who remained faithful

to the

dauphin as his legitimate king, had composed a work mixing prose and verse, entitled

Hope. For someone with his loyalties

the year in

crown

to

speak of hope in the year 1420,

which the Treaty of Troyes deprived the dauphin of his

in favor

rights to the

of the English king, was most provocative. "This Lady Hope,"

he had written, "had a smiling and joyous face; she held her head high, her speech was indeed pleasant." For

seemed

to

embody

many

of the dauphin's supporters, Joan

Chartier's optimistic prediction.

now

CHAPTER THREE

JOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS The

of Joan 's mission was raising the siege of Orleans, which she

first test

accomplished besieged

in

nine days

city with the

of Alengon

(II,

4),

and

the

way

her rendezvous at the

to

Bastard of Orleans (see Part II, Section 16} and Duke John

a close relative of the dauphin and one of her staunchest

partisans thereafter, Joan

was equipped on the dauphin 's orders with afull-fledged

military household, heralds, banners,

Joan

On

ten nights.

and a full

suit

On May

of armor.

a delirious Orleans for the next stage of her mission, her next

left

9,

1429,

test.

Jesus-Maria,

King of England, and you, duke of Bedford the

kingdom of France, you, William de

Suffolk;

who

II,

call

41], Sir

John Talbot

[II,

la

[II,

9],

who

call yourself regent

Poule [William de

40], and you, Sir

la Pole, earl

Thomas of Scales

God, the King of Heaven, the keys and violated

in France.

to all of the

good

She has come here from God

make

who

is

cities that

to

sent here

proclaim the blood royal.

is

her,

provided that you give up France and pay for having occupied

entirely ready to

among

peace,

if

you

to

are willing to settle accounts with her.

you, archers, companions-at-arms, gentlemen, and others

before the city of Orleans, go back to your

do not do

so, wait for the

your great damage.

If

own

countries, for

word of the Maid who will come

you do not do

so,

I

from

you have taken

She

if you

39],

yourself lieutenant of the aforesaid duke of Bedford, render your

account to the King of Heaven. Surrender to the Maid,

those

[II,

of

of

am commander

And

who

are

God's sake. And visit

you briefly,

of the armies, and

34

PART in

whate\er place

whether they wish I

am

for

sent

I

THE DRAMA

I:

meet your French

shall

to or not:

and

if

from God. the King of Heaven,

body [every

last

one of you]

And

.

allies,

to chase

the true heir, will hold

have them

leave

it,

all killed.

shall

I

have mercy

never hold the kingdom of

shall

St.

Man, but King Charles :

God. the King of Heaven, wishes

for

it;

make them

you out of all of France, body

France from God. the King of Heaven, the son of 1].

shall

I

they wish to obey,

if

on them. And have no other opinion, for you

[II.

shall

I

they will not obey.

it

so and

has revealed this through the Maid, and he will enter Paris with a goodly

company.

you do not w ish to beheve

If

then wherever

we fmd you we

greater than any

terms.

made

message from God through

this

will strike

you

than you will ever

France for a thousand years,

in

know how

to achieve

w ith

all

if

you do not come

to

send the Maid more force

will

of your assaults on her and on

her good men-at-arms; and in the exchange of blows right

and make a great uproar

there,

And believe firmly that the King of Heaven

the Maid,

we

shall see

who has better

from the King of Heaven. You, duke of Bedford, the Maid prays you and

requests that you cause no

more

destruction. If

you

will settle

your account, you

can come to join her company, in which the French will achieve the finest feat ever accomplished in Christendom. in the city of Orleans;

and

if

And give

answer,

indeed you do not do

if

so,

you wish

to

make peace

be mindful soon of your

great damages.

—Written on Tuesdav of Holv Week This letter, in which Joan reveals the dynamic of her vocation, not only by the final reference to

who saw

also by a witness in

which Joan dictated

her in Poitiers and that

is

dated exactly

Tuesday (March 22) of Holy Week, 1429, but

letter.

who

reported the circumstances

This royal esquire,

Gobert Thibault,

accompanied Pierre of Versailles and Jean Erault when they arrived of Master Jean Rabateau to

fmd

at the

house

Joan:

When we arrived there. Joan came before us, and she clapped me on the shoulder, saying that she would very

much

like to

have more

men

like

me

with her.

And

then Pierre of Versailles said to Jean that they had been sent to her by the king; she answered. "I believe that you have been sent to ask said.

"Me.

I

don't

know

come; and she answered,

either "I

A

or B."

come from

And

the

me more questions," and

then he asked her

King of Heaven

why

she had

to raise the siege of

Orleans and to lead the king to Reims for his coronation and his anointing." she asked us I

shall say:

Pole],

I

if

we had paper and

ink, saying to

And

Master Jean Erault, "Write what

You, Suffort, Classidas. and La Poule [Suffolk, Glasdale. William

summon

you, by the King of Heaven, go

time, Versailles and Erault did nothing else that at Poitiers as

long as the king

made her do

so.

I

away

to

England."

And

at that

can remember, and Joan stayed

35

jOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS Gobert Thibault was,

everyone

like

else, curious to

and what she wanted; he asked Jean de Metz (II,

33) and conveys to us the admiration of

(II,

all

know who Joan was

30) and Bertrand de Poulengy

of these

men by

describing

how

they had crossed the country west of Vaucouleurs "without any obstacles" even

though

was under Burgundian control

it

—

a practical test that Joan had passed

whom

without flinching. This Gobert Thibault,

one imagines to have been a

solid man, was one of those people with a simple view of things

who admired

He analyzed the attitude of the soldiery toward Joan, women in the army were camp followers:

the purity of Joan's bearing.

time

at a

when

all

other

In the army, she

was always with

the soldiers;

heard

I

say that they had never had any desire for her; that

is to say,

certain carnal urge but never dared to let themselves that

it

was not possible

to desire her; often

many of those

go with

when

closest to her

they sometimes her,

felt

a

and they believed

they were speaking

among

themselves of the sin of the flesh and were saying things that might arouse desire, they saw her or

if

came near

her, they

were not able

suddenly their carnal impulses ceased.

sometimes

slept the night in Joan's

have, adding that they had never

felt

I

to continue

such speech and

have questioned several of those

company about

this,

any carnal desu-e when they saw

Like the members of Joan's escort from Vaucouleurs to Chinon,

by her

purity.

who

and they answered as

I

her.

all

were struck

For them, as for the general public, the clergy, and the prelates

who had examined her, Joan seemed to embody the virginal "Lady Hope." Some historians have thought that the "Letter to the EngUsh" coincided with the

end of the three-week 'Trial of Poitiers." But in Gobert Thibault's account, Joan

speaks like someone assured of success yet answers the Poitiers interrogators as she

is

speaking to strangers. She came to

of interrogation. Their

visit

stretched out in several phases. at

other times, they report, she

where

larger

spent Holy

know them well enough

was probably

Easter

weeks

part of an interrogatory process that

Sometimes they surprised her where she was hving;

was summoned

to the

house of a certain La Macee,

numbers of her questioners probably gathered.

Week and

after three

Day

It is

likely that

Joan

at Poitiers.

That very week was marked by an unusual event. In 1429 Good Friday

on the same day major

feast

if

as the feast of the Annunciation,

fell

March 25. The coincidence of two

days was the traditional occasion for a pilgrimage to Notre

Dame at Le-

Puy-en-Velay, a long-revered sanctuary. (In the nineteenth century, the eminent editor-historian, Jules Quicherat, refused to believe the records since that

some

Le Puy

copyist's error

must explain the

as villa Aniciensi\ he decided that

it

citation in the

he was certain

manuscript of the city of

must be a misspelling of the Latin name

for the city of Nancy in Lorraine.) Several of Joan's

companions went there: perhaps

the royal messenger, Colet de Vienne, or Jean de Metz, or perhaps his valet, Jean de

36

PART

l:

THE DRAMA

We do not know exactly which of the six men who came with her from

Honnecourt.

Vaucouleurs to Chinon went on that pilgrimage, but what does seem certain at least

two of them

would have been

did.

Perhaps

was Bertrand and

it

messenger

quite natural for the royal

and also happened

to

know

is that

his servant, Julien, since

who knew the routes

the lector of the Augustinian convent at Tours, Jean

Pasquerel, to join the group of pilgrims from Lorraine. Joan's mother, Isabelle, also

among them;

Romee

her surname,

completed a pilgrimage

The road from

—shows

—awarded

that she

the banks of the

to those

been much longer or much more Poitiers,

who had

who had

was

successfully

had experience of such sacred journeys.

Meuse

all

the

was long and arduous. The journey from Lorraine from

it

so well

difficult,

way to

to

Le-Puy-en-Velay

Le Puy must not have

however, than that of the pilgrims

winding route through the mountains of

to take a

Auvergne, following the valley of the Allien Medieval people readily and steadily undertook such journeys.

Even though

the sheer

number of pilgrims

had declined considerably by the fourteenth century because of recurrent warfare,

it

continued to be significant. In any case, some of these pilgrims of

1429, including Isabelle, were in contact with the Franciscan friar Jean Pasquerel.

They knew

king often stayed;

that he

was attached

to the

they recommended him

convent of Tours, where the

to Joan,

and he became her

who must have been intensely pious, had transmitted daughter; in a sense, she also chose the man who would

confessor. Joan's mother,

"her belief to her

watch over her daughter's Joan

now

spiritual life during her incredible adventure.

entered the active phase of her public drama. After returning to

Chinon from Poitiers, she was then brought for her "a harness that fitted her

Plate armor,

III, 5.)

years,

had

to

be

which

body"

that

fitted exactly to protect its

in the

is,

where the king commissioned

a suit of armor to her measure. (See

had been

in Joan's time

At Tours, Joan was lodged are

—

to Tours,

in use for less than a

hundred

wearer without restricting movement.

house of Jean Dupuy;

in that city, tourists

shown the shop of the master armorer who cut and assembled her "harness."

still

For the date of May Usts the

sum

10, 1429, the

account book of the royal treasurer Hemon Raguier

paid for that work: a hundred livres toumois. Joan herself ordered a

standard and another banner for which the account books record the payment of

twenty-four livres toumois to the painter Hauves Poulnoir. This standard was to play

an active role in the Battle of Orleans; Joan "took the standard in her hand

went

to the assault, so as to avoid

having to

kill

when

anyone." Jean Pasquerel

is

she

our

witness that in designing the standard, Joan followed an order that she said she had received from her "voices," from her "counsel":

She had asked the messengers of her

lord, that

is,

God, who appeared

to her,

what she should do, and they had told Joan to take up the standard of her Lord; and for

that reason, she

had made for herself a standard on which was painted

37

jOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS image of Our Savior,

the

was

sitting in

judgment

in the

clouds of heaven, and there

also painted an angel, holding in his hands a fleur-de-lys blessed by the

image of the Lord.

Joan ordered yet another banner, to be carried by the priests

who accompanied

image of the crucified Lord, served

the army. This banner, bearing the

as the

which Joan would summon the fighting men.

rallying point for the prayers to

Pasquerel remembered that priestly squad with approval:

Twice a day,

Once

evening and morning, Joan made

at

and she did not wish any soldiers confession, and she exhorted

When

come

to this gathering,

those

who wished

came

the time

and

to

at the

Rouen on February

five crosses

engraved on

to

behind the it.

gathering

all

sword

it

altar;

a

it,"

was

fmd

the priests were ready to hear

at

to

all

the aforesaid

if

that just after the

to

fmd

she was asked

knew that this sword,

later, in

her

"rusted, with

answered:

sword for

there, her,

and she had never seen the

and she wrote

to the

men

of

hoped it would please them that she should have

to her.

she did not know

who went

(III, 6),

startling wish:

Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois,

When

sword was

that this

it

she

there, she

good rubbing, and thereupon

of Tours

how

27, 1431,

and they sent

She said again

had not gone

any combatant, Joan expressed a

the church of that place that she that sword,

Mary. Joan was with them,

to join the priests if they

fetch her

She knew from her voices

man who went

the priests.

the soldiers to confess themselves in order to

where she had stopped on the road to Chinon. trial at

all

complete her military equipment with a sword

someone go

that

all

St.

assemble

to confess themselves.

that instrument indispensable to

She asked

hymns to

gathered, they sang antiphons and

me

It

was not very deeply buried underground,

it

would be exactly before the altar or behind

sword was found the men of that church gave

the rust fell off without effort;

it

was an armorer

it.

Joan already had a sword that Robert de Baudricourt

(II,

7)

had given her when she

departed for Chinon. Later, she would have a third sword, a prize of war taken from a Burgundian. Joan

declaring that

"it

would express a connoisseur's appreciation for this

was a good war sword, made

for giving

and taking

last

weapon,

good blows."

For her second sword, that of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois, the clergy of Tours offered her

two

sheaths,

one of vermeil velvet and the other of cloth-of-gold; she

herself ordered a sheath for

it

made of "good

strong leather."

At Tours she was allocated the military entourage necessary for any

commander. Her steward, Jean d'Aulon,

is

our chief source:

"I

was assigned

38

PART guard and lead

that post, to

her.

THE DRAMA

1:

by our lord the

king.""

he wrote. She had two

named Raymond. She

pages, Louis de Coutes (mentioned above) and another

was assigned two

heralds. Ambleville and

wearing a livery by which they could be

Guyenne. Heralds, messengers

identified, exercised an official function.

They bore messages and delivered challenges importance

from

—

The king was beginning

attack.

commanders

kings, princes, or major

to treat

with serious personal responsibihties.

was used simply

a fetish to

as

accompanied, but the

official

for designated persons

It

Joan

— and

of

enjoyed immunity high rank

like a warrior of

has sometimes been asserted that she

give courage to the

whom

soldiers

she

assignment of two heralds by the king himself

challenges that interpretation. She also had the use of several horses and later

would declare

that she

were more than that

seven.""

had had

who

five coursers, "not counting the trotters,

Coursers were war-horses, also called destriers (horses

were controlled with the

right hand); trotters served for the ever\'day

coming

and going of her entourage. This entourage would soon include her two brothers,

who seem

Pierre and Jean,

to

have joined her

at

Tours.

All the eyewitnesses report that Joan took great care in the spiritual

men

preparation of the army. She exhorted her awa}' the ribaudes (the prostitutes

who

to confess themselves: she

followed the soldiers;. She forbade pillage,

oaths, and blasphemy. The duke of Alencon related

when well,

she heard the soldiers swear and she

who would swear an

\

still

less

b\-

the French, whereas upri\er the

explains: "In the city of Blois,

many

grain and

Maid took

to the

was

many

I

\

er}

angry

like Blois.

official chronicler

my

on the Loire

was

bank of

right

restrained

a fortress

in a region

the Loire

was

of the reign of Charles

supply w agons and carts were

oxen, sheep, cows. pigs, and other edible animals.

filled

And

with

Joan the

road along with the captains straight toward Orleans from the side

of the Sologne"" (that It

at Blois.

halfway between Tours and Orleans. Tours,

controlled

"Joan became

When I saw her,

oath from time to time.

blocked by the Enghsh. Jean Chartier, the

Vn,

that

ehemently chided them, and myself as

swearing." The royal troops must have assembled

more or

drove

at

is.

along the south bank of the Loire).

Blois that Joan's banner

describes the livestock loaded onto the

was acmally

finished. Jean Chartier

wagons to supply the needs of both the people

of Orleans and the troops coming to free them. Joan"s confessor. Pasquerel. was

aware of the religious character of the army

When

Joan

left

that

was then put

Blois to go to Orleans, she had

standard, and the priests went before the army. the

Sologne assembled

many

antiphons, and they

as well.

up

in that fashion; they

On

camped

all

motion:

the priests gather around the

They marched out on

the side of

sang Veni creator spiritus along with

in the fields that night

the third day. they arrived near Orieans.

their siege along the

in

and the following day

where the English had

bank of the Loire. And the king's soldiers

came

set

so close

JOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS

39

Englishmen and Frenchmen could see one another within

to the English that

easy reach, and the soldiers of the king brought the food supplies there.

The duke of Alen9on took an

active part in these preparations.

At the

dauphin's request, he had visited the dauphin's mother-in-law, Yolanda, the

queen of Sicily, who seems

The Bastard of Orleans The king

to

have financed

this

new campaign against Orleans.

gives us a detailed description:

sent Joan in the

company of the

Chartres, at that time chancellor of France;

master of the king's household

[II,

lord archbishop of II,

13]

and the lord of Gaucourt, grand

18], to the city

been leading the convoy of victuals had come

—

of Blois, where those

to wit, the lord Gilles

34] and the lord of Boussac, marshal of France, with

[Louis de Graville, admiral of France], fortune;

and Ambroise de Lore,

22],

II,

La Hire

Reims [Regnault of

This long detour,

to the

made

whom were the lord of Culant

later provost

of Paris

banks of the Loire on the Sologne

to avoid the

[II,

[Etienne de Vignolles, soldier of

—who

with the soldiers escorted the convoy of victuals; and Joan the

army well arrayed up

who had

de Rais

all

together

Maid came

in

an

side.

English positions close to Orleans, was

chosen without Joan's knowledge. Impatient

to

engage the enemy, apparently

she was surprised to learn, as they approached the Loire, that they had in fact

bypassed Orleans; hence there would be a stormy exchange between her and the Bastard, of which he preserved a vivid recollection. This

girl,

on whose account

he had sent his companions to gather information a mere two months

was now approaching, so he went

army on

the heights of

strategist, the

Checy

to

swiftly to

earlier,

meet her and the vanguard of the

which she was leading her

troops.

A cunning

Bastard had already sent a few of his troops to cause a diversion

around one of the bastides that encircled the

city.

The Journal of the Siege of

Orleans, a priceless source of information on the rich events of these days,

comments on

"The French made a

that ruse:

sortie in great

numbers and

skirmished with the English before Saint-Loup-d' Orleans and pressed the

many were killed, wounded, and taken prisoner one place much so that the French brought back to their city one of the standards. As soon as this skirmish was over, the victuals and the that the Maid had brought all the way up to Checy entered the city."

English so hard that or the other, so

English artillery

On the bluffs

overlooking that village dominated by a handsome Gothic

church one can stand and paint anew the scene of Joan's arrival lost

no time. As the Bastard vividly remembered, she asked:

"Are you the Bastard of Orleans?" "Yes,

I

am, and

I

rejoice in your

coming."

at

Orleans. She

40

PART

THE DRAMA

you the one who gave orders

'"Are

river, so that I

I:

I

for

me

that

I

and others, including the wisest it

here,

on

this side of the

is

wiser and safer than yours. You thought that you

could fool me. and instead you fool yourself:

you from any

men around me. had given

best and safest; then Joan said to me: "In God's name,

Lord God

the counsel of Our

to

come

could not go directly to Talbot and the English?"

answered

this advice, believing

came

to

soldier to any city:

This help comes not for love of

me

It is

but from

bring you better help than ever

I

the help of the

God

Himself,

King of Heaven.

who

He

Louis and of St. Charlemagne has had pity on the city of Orleans.

St.

wanted the enemy

to

prayer of

at the

have both the body of the lord of Orleans and his

has not city."

Whatever annoyance the Bastard may have felt would soon be dispelled by what

He was worried about

was about

to

downriver

at Blois. for

happen.

it

would have

the

to sail

convoy of supplies, which was

up the Loire against the

Worse, the wind had been blowing steadily from the

east.

Dunois

"All of a sudden, and as though at that very moment, the wind

(11,

current.

16j reports:

— which had been

contrary and which had absolutely prevented the ships in which were the food supplies for the city of Orleans from favorable.

From

that

Dunois had the the river

coming upriver

moment I had good hope sails

on

—changed and became

more than ever

in her,

his ships raised swiftly

and begged Joan

from the French-controlled south bank and come

city of Orleans,

"where they deeply desired

surrounding her were ready for

battle.

her.""

before." to cross

with him into the

Joan hesitated; the soldiers

She knew them well, they had confessed

themselves, they had prayed with her; she hesitated to separate herself from

them. Meanwhile, Dunois went to fmd her chief captains:

demanded

that

on behalf of the king they would

agree that

"T

begged and

Joan herself enter

the city of Orleans, while the captains themselves with their companies to Blois,

where they could cross the Loire so

as to

come

no closer ford could be found. The captains granted

to

went

Orleans because

this request

and agreed

to cross the river at Blois."

Joan's epic at Orleans began that Friday evening, April 29, 1429.

Dunois recalled the

tale

decades

later:

As

"Joan came with me, carrying her banner,

which was white and on which was the image of Our Lord, holding

the fleur-

de-lys in his hand. [Contemporary descriptions of this banner disagree on details.]

With me and La Hire, she crossed the

river Loire,

and together we

entered into the city of Orleans."

The Journal of

the Siege gives a

more

enthusiastic descripdon of this

entrance:

And

so she entered Orleans, with the Bastard of Orieans at her

armed and mounted: afterward came other noble and

left,

ven, richly

valiant lords, squires,

jOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS captains, and men-at-arms, as well as

of Orleans

who had gone ahead

some from

of her.

From

the garrison and bourgeoisie

the city, other men-at-arms

to receive her, along with bourgeois of Orleans, carrying

making such joy

as if they

41

many

came

torches and

had seen God Himself descend among them; and not

without reason, for they had endured not being rescued and of losing

much

all their

difficulty, labor, pain,

bodies and goods. But they

and fear of felt

already

comforted, as though freed of the siege by the divine virtue that they were told resided in that simple Maid,

much to

as

women and

little

whom they regarded with And

children.

there

was

strong affection,

men

as

crowd pressing

a marvelous

touch her or the horse on which she rode.

This encounter with the crowd signals Joan's vocation just as

placed in her by the inhabitants of the long-besieged as in a vise for seven months.

heaven. With Joan

city,

it

evokes the hope

which had been caught

Here was someone who promised help from

among them, they felt already freed from the siege. Joan must

have been sure she could achieve

this feat.

She remained calm and, according

to all appearances, entirely self-possessed.

One

of those bearing torches

spurred her horse, turning

came

him

so close that her standard caught

great marvel, as did the citizens of Orleans,

to the

making great joy, and with

Renard Gate,

who accompanied

a great deal of

to the residence of

captive duke. There she

her throughout

honor they conducted her up

Jacques Boucher, then treasurer of the

who had come

with her from the Barrois.

In Orleans today, Joan's path can be followed from the at the east

of the city

all

the

way to the

Maison de Jeanne d'Arc on

The house was reconstructed

quarter

was

Boucher

(II,

close to the

toward

Notre-Dame-de-

Renard Gate and the residence of Jacques

10).

Joan spent her filled

after

city,

now known as Place Charles de World War II, during which this

leveled, with only the choir of the church of left intact,

Burgundy Gate

other end of what was the old

the square

Gaulle.

Recouvrance

fire

this a

was joyously received with her two brothers and two

other gentlemen and their valets,

the

so she

gently toward the pennant. She put out the

had long war expertise; the men-at-arms considered

as easily as if she

the city,

fire,

first

night in Orleans at Boucher's home.

The

city

was

with rumors and unfamiliar comings and goings. There followed a period

of nine days during which events transpired with improbable speed, although the days

seemed

quite long to Joan.

She had arrived quivering with seventeen years. Her

life

up

all

the ardor of her youthful sixteen or

to this point

had been a

series of tiresome

preliminaries: interminable interrogations, the fitting of armor, and assembling

42

PART

her army.

Now

she had to wait again.

day."

On

Saturday, April 30, she presented

As Louis de Coutes

herself to the Bastard of Orleans. return, she

THE DRAMA

I:

reports

was very angry because they had decided not

The Bastard, who

unwilling to engage the

to try

it,

"Upon her

an assault that

vividly recalled the defeat of the "Herrings,"

enemy

until the reinforcements

was

marshaled by the king

reached Orleans. Joan went out to survey the English positions, which

at several

places were within easy hearing distance of the city's defenders. At one such point, perhaps at the ramparts near her lodgings overlooking the

Renard Gate,

Joan indulged in a flare-up. Her page reports:

She spoke with the English on the opposite embankment,

away

in

God's name, otherwise she would drive them

out.

telling

them

go

to

One of them, named

the Bastard of Granville [from the French point of view, a "renegade" Norman],

traded insults with Joan, asking her

woman; he

called the

if

they really wanted them to surrender to a

Frenchmen who were with Joan "worthless mackerels"

[a

sexual insult].

That evening Joan confronted more of the English on the bridge of Orleans

where

it

joined the fortifications on the island of Belle-Croix. Beyond that point,

two arches had been demolished. The rampart of the Tourelles, which prevented entrance into the city by

From

there, she

way of the

was

bridge,

solidly entrenched:

spoke to Classidas [Glasdale] and to the other English in the

Tourelles and told them that they should surrender for God's sake and that their lives

would then be saved. But Glasdale and those of his company answered

in

a very ugly way, insulting her and calling her "cowherd," loudly shouting that

they would

bum her if they

ever got hold of her.

A promise which would be kept. The next

day, IVlay

did not stay home.

1

,

was a Sunday. Joan observed the Sunday

The Journal of the Siege

truce, but

records:

The people of Orleans had such great desire to see Joan the Maid that they almost broke

down

the gate of her lodging in order to see her; therefore that day she

rode on horseback throughout the squires; there

were so many

was scarcely able

of seeing her.

It

seemed a

people

city

riding that she

since her youth.

in the streets

to pass, for the

great marvel to

horseback as elegantly as she did. in every regard as if she

accompanied by many knights and

city,

And

had known how

all

that she could

in truth,

to

through which she was

people could not have their

fill

keep her seat on

she comported herself as well

be a man-at-arms following the wars

43

JOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS Meanwhile, the Bastard of Orleans had gone

meet the reinforcements,

to

and since he was commander of the defense, Joan did him the courtesy of undertaking no military action until his return.

and Tuesday, there

was

May

2 and

Two more days

on Tuesday, according

3;

to the city

May

Wednesday,

present." Finally, on

account books,

Maid and

a great procession in the city, "with Joan the

commanders

Monday

passed,

other military

of John the

4, the arrival

Bastard was announced. Joan hastened to meet him, accompanied by Jean

who reported that, army, commanded by

after they dined, the Bastard told her

d'Aulon, her steward, that a

new English

been sent

the

toward Orleans and was already

famous captain John

as close as Janville.

Fastolf,

had

Her steward then

added her reaction:

At these words, the Maid seemed

to

me

full

of joy, and she said to

Dunois these words or others like them: "Bastard, order you, as soon as you

should pass by without cut off!"

The

score, for he

lord of

know

my knowing it,

let

to act

that she should

I

will

it,

I

for if he

have your head

have no doubts on that

fearful of being kept in the dark. Yet the

was closer than she foresaw.

which the combatants returned

lord of

her know.

Provoked by the delays, Joan was

moment

me know

let

promise you that

I

my

Bastard, in God's name,

of Fastolf 's coming, to

Dunois answered

would indeed

O

A

short skirmish occurred, after

to their quarters to rest.

But not for long. Jean

d'Aulon continues:

Suddenly, the

Maid

got up from her bed, and noisily

woke me

her what she wanted she answered me, "In God's name, that

I

must go against the English, and

fortifications or Fastolf,

who

is

coming

I

don't

know

to resupply

my if I

up.

When I asked

advice has told

me

should attack their

them."

After awaking her steward and her hostess, she proceeded to heap abuse on her

page Louis de Coutes: 'Ah, awful boy! You did not

tell

me

that the

blood of

France had already been spilled!" Jacques Boucher's wife and daughter rushed to help it

arm Joan, while Louis de Coutes went

to the gate of the

he then passed direction of the

to saddle her horse.

He

brought

Boucher home; Joan ordered him to bring her standard, which

to her

through the window; she wasted no time, "running in the

Burgundy Gate." Around

the outer entry to that gate the day's

events would unfold. Louis de Coutes summarizes the opening action:

There was then an attack in that attack the

encountered

—

a skirmish

—on

the side of the Saint-Loup Gate,

and

opposing embankment was taken, and on the way there Joan

many wounded Frenchmen, which saddened her. The English were

44

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

readying themselves for an active defense when Joan suddenly arrived before

them, and as soon as the French saw Joan they began

shout and took

to raise a

the bastide and fortress.

was her

This

of war

act

first

— not

significant

terribly

nonetheless a major vitalizing victory. Joan knew

but

how important it was to reverse

had overcome the French

the discouragement that

territorially,

Her promise of

soldiery.

renewal was found in her capture of the bastide of Saint-Loup. on the old

Roman

road to which the Burgundy Gate gave access next to the church of Saint-Loup. right first

on the Loire River

to the east of the city. This event also

encounter with the cruelty of war. Her confessor, Jean Pasquerel, witnessed

who

her experience, as did her page,

wept

men who

for the

then exhorted to

God

'all

reported: ''Joan grieved mightily ... she

died without confession. She went to confession herself,

the soldiers to confess their sins publicly and to give thanks

He had

for the victory that

granted."*'

The next day was Ascension Thursday. Joan declared not

marked Joan's

make war and would

would

that "she

not even put on her armor out of respect for the feast

day, and on that day she wished to confess herself and receive the sacrament

of the Eucharist, which she did." But she took advantage of this enforced leisure to send the English her final

summons. She

sent three successive letters

we possess texts only of the first and may simply have repeated the text of the first

of demand, as was the custom, although third letters.

The second

one sent from

Poitiers.

letter

The

third letter of

Ascension Thursday

is

more

compact:

You.

O Enghsh. who have no right to this kingdom of France, the King of Heaven

orders and

commands you through me. Joan

and return

to

your countn.. and

if

the Maid, to leave your fortresses

you do not so

I

that will be perpetually

remembered. Behold what

final time; I shall write

you no

shall I

make

a

hahay [uproar]

write you for the third and

further.

Signed.

Jesus-Maria.

Joan the Maid.

Then follows

I

a postscript that

have sent you

you have kept and

I

my

is

not without wit:

letters honestly, but

you have detained

my herald named Guyenne

will send

all

dead.

messengers, for

with you. Please send him back to

you some of your men who were taken

Loup, for they are not

my

me

in the fortress of Saint-

45

JOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS

Perhaps Joan's heralds Guyenne and Ambleville had been sent to bring the second

summons.

In defiance of the laws of

war

that protected heralds,

of them had been kept prisoner. So Joan used an untraditional method her third

letter.

As Pasquerel

She took an arrow and

tells

tied the letter with a thread to the

news!" The English received the arrow with the

read

it

end of the arrow, and

lines, crying,

letter

"Read

and read

it,

calling the

and

to sigh

to

here

and having

weep abundant

King of Heaven to her aid. Later she was comforted, she

said,

she had received news from her Lord. That evening after dinner, she to get

up

earlier the next

morning than

me early

because she wished to confess to

The Friday

it,

they began to raise a great shout: "Here's news from the whore of the

Armagnacs!" At these words, Joan began

me

one

send

it:

ordered an archer to shoot that arrow to the English is

to

after the

and forbade her

to

morning, which she did.

Ascension was a day of surprises. Joan went

make

a sortie.

who was keeping

Why? The

because

commanded

had on the day of the Ascension,

I

in the

heard mass, then, as she was getting ready for combat, she

governor of Orleans, Raoul de Gaucourt,

tears,

to confession,

bumped

his eye

into the

on the gate

captains had decided not to

make

an assault that day, but Joan "was of the opinion that the soldiers should make a sortie with the

men of the city and attack the bastide of the Augustinians. Many

of the men-at-arms and the people of the city were of the same opinion." Joan

you wish

told the lord of Gaucourt: "whether

it

or not, the men-at-arms will

come and gain what they gained the other day." Joan's steward reports the events in detail; the victory

was

clearly the result of her initiative.

Joan made a sortie with her

men

"in

good array" and crossed the Loire,

always on the side of the Burgundy Gate, where, since the bastide of Saint-Loup

had been taken, there was no reason

to fear counterattack.

the left bank, toward the quarter that

is still

She led her troops

to

called Saint- Jean-le-Blanc. There

the English had erected another bastide, anchored on another small island in the Loire, the Ile-aux-Toiles.

The French troops made

and found the bastide deserted:

much

Its

a bridge of boats, crossed

it,

defenders had retired upriver, toward the

stronger bastide they had set up in the ruins of the old convent of the

Augustinians

at the

south end of the fortified bridge called the Tourelles. This

simple operation, an English withdrawal to regroup, put the French in a

dangerous position. The retreat was under way, as Jean d'Aulon reports:

As soon as the French began to return to the bastide of Saint- Jean-le-Blanc to enter the

He

[aux-Toiles], the

Maid and La Hire went to the other side of that island, with

a horse and a boat each, and

with a lance in hand.

mounted

And when

their horses as

soon as they had landed, each

they perceived that the

enemy was coming

out of

46

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

upon them,

the bastide of the Augustinians to rush

always

in front of their

led the attack

upon

the

the enem\' in such a

and

men

to protect them,

that they constrained

to return to the bastide of the Augustinians.

and those

that day.

aU

from

all

them by sheer force .

.

Ver\' bitterly

.

who

could save themselves

The

v^

w as

that night, along with the

Joan's determination had

won

taken,

to strike

withdraw

and with great it

and

killed or captured,

ithdrew to the bastide of the Tourelles

The Maid and her company won

great bastide

to

directions so that they seized

by assault quickly. The greater pan of the enem\- were

It

the bridge's foot.

it

Maid and La Hire, who were

enemy. Even one followed them, and they began

manner

diligence, they assailed that bastide

took

the

immediately couched their lances and

a great victorv' over the

and the lords and

their

at

enemy

men remained before

Maid.

an unexpected

victor)': In

covering the French

she provoked an assault and achieved the capture of an important

retreat,

fortification.

advisors

—

Once

again, however, the dauphin's longtime

the party of inertia

—reverted

commanders and

behavior. Pasquerel

to their usual

reports this development with a surprising, perhaps intentional, trace of amnesia that

manages

to avoid placing

blame on Raoul de Gaucourt or perhaps the

Bastard himself:

After dinner, a \aliant and outstanding knight whose

He

told Joan that the captains

they obser\ ed that they

\^

name

ere too fe\^ in

comparison

to the

it

furious?

Was

came

to Joan.

well fortified with

cit\' is

well while waiting for help from the king.

appropriate to the council that the soldiers

Was Joan

forget

Enghsh and that God had

granted a great fa\or alread>. adding: "Considering that the food, v,e can guard

I

and soldiers of the king had held council together and

make another

sortie

It

does not seem

tomorrow."

she simply contemptuous of this council?

The records

allow us to say only that she saw her early success as simply a step on the road to ultimate victory

and

that she cared little for the counsel of the captains.

Without delay, she gave her chaplain Pasquerel new instructions:

Get up tomorrow very early the best

than

I

you can; keep close

in the

to

morning, earlier than you did today, and do

me, for tomorrow

I

will

have

have ever done before; and tomorrow blood will leave

much

to do,

more

my body above my

breast.

Although he did not Saturday,

May 7.

fight,

Jean Pasquerel was also busy that following day,

Victory seemed close; during

had crossed the Loire

in boats to bring "bread,

all

that night, citizens of Orleans

wine, and other victuals" to the

men-at-arms holding the bastide of the Augustinians. The following morning

—

47

JOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS at

dawn, Pasquerel celebrated mass.

Tourelles, "lasted

An

was made on

assault

the fortress of the

which had been blocking the bridge since the previous October:

from morning

Convinced

sunset."

until

decisive, Pasquerel declared, "That very day,

God's name, tonight we will enter the

city

I

day would prove

that the

heard

men

It

say to the Maid: 'In

by the bridge,'" which meant

communication between the two banks of the Loire, interrupted

that

for seven

months, would finally be reestablished.

Joan moved energetically and swiftly, showing just do, but near or shortly after

above her breast, as she had foreseen. Weeping with

from the

fight,

how much

frustration, she

withdrew

and the arrow, which could not have penetrated very deeply, was

removed. Someone suggested she "apply a charm to

it,"

which she strenuously

refused to do: "I would prefer to die rather than to do something sin,

she could

midday she was wounded, apparently by an arrow

I

know

to

be a

or against the will of God." Instead, she received the usual treatment of an

application of olive oil and bacon fat to protect the

wound. She quickly returned

to the assault.

The English defense of the

fortress of the Tourelles

was

fierce

and well

organized, so the French decided to isolate the bastide by collapsing one of the

arches of the bridge on which that this decision

amount paid

it

relied for support.

was undertaken

at

The city's account book hints

Joan's suggestion:

"to a certain Jean Poitevin, a fisherman

by

was

set afire

gives the precise

who grounded

trade,

bum them

barge that was sent under the bridge of the Tourelles to

might be taken." This barge, which must have been

It

filled

a

so that they

with fagots and

tar,

beneath the arch.

Toward evening

the combatants

grew discouraged once more. The

Bastard of Orleans told Joan that he was going to give the order for the army to

withdraw into the

city.

Joan had an alternative, sensible reaction

stood better than experienced strategists what these men, since morning, needed: "Rest yourself a

little bit,

eat

who had been fighting

and drink," she advised

an instance of medieval women's mastery of the domain of food,

and serving. She urged the Bastard

was seen mounting her horse and from the mass of the men, and

to delay the

— she under-

withdrawal a

its

little

preparation longer.

retiring alone "to a vineyard a little bit

in that

She

away

vineyard she remained in prayer for the

space of a quarter of an hour," Dunois remembered.

Then came squire

the decisive episode. Joan

to the foot of the ditch.

who

carried

strength, she

when

had handed her standard over

named Le Basque. Jean d'Aulon ordered him

it

himself and Joan

ditch,

and grabbed

it.

Pulling with

all

of her

the standard in such a manner," said Jean d'Aulon, "that

she did so the others thought that she was giving them

short, all those in the

to a

Joan caught sight of her standard, saw that the squire

had entered the

"waved

to follow

army of

the

Maid rushed

some

signal. In

together and rallied themselves

48

PART

anew and with

I:

THE DRAMA

great ferocity assailed the breastwork, and shortly after this

breastwork and the bastide were taken by them and abandoned by their enemies;

and the French crossed the bridge and entered the

To report simply

enough news

that the Tourelles

city of Orleans.

had been taken would have been monumental

But the fervor of Joan's soldiers had brought the

for the day.

greatest goal: total victory and liberation of the city of Orleans.

With planks they improvised a bridge over the arches destroyed; over

it

who had

passed some of the defenders

Communication was

reestablished; the objective

had been

that

stayed in Orleans.

was won. The Journal of the

Siege reports that everyone

felt great

joy and praised Our Lord for His

they should have done so, for sunrise to sunset, feats of

arms

was so

it

gift

was said

greatly fought

that this assault,

on both sides

been performed.

that has ever

of this great victory.

that

it

which

indeed

lasted

was one of the

... All the clergy

Orleans devoutly sang Te

Deum laudamus

for this glorious divine consolation.

all

from

fairest

and the people of

humbly thanking Our Lord

and rang

And

the city bells, very

They expressed

joy in every way, giving wondrous praise to their valiant defenders, and above others to Joan the Maid. She spent that night, with the lords, captains, and

all

men-at-arms with

her, in the fields,

Tourelles, and to learn to aid or to

avenge

if

both to guard the valiantly conquered

the English on the side of Saint-Laurent

their companions. But they did not attempt

Joan was saddened because the English commander Glasdale, Classidas,

"armed from head

moved by

pity,

drowned

tljere,

wept and

to toe, fell into the Loire

for the soul of this Classidas

that

day

all

the English

would

sortie

it.

whom

she called

and was drowned. Joan,

and of the many others who

who were on

the other side of the

bridge were taken or killed." Later Joan was brought back to her lodgings to rest her wound. She ate roast beef soaked in 8,

wine

to restore her strength.

The next day was Sunday, May

a day that ranks high in the annals of Orleans and later in those of

all

France.

The Journal of the Siege of Orleans continues: The morning of

the following day, a

same year 1429,

the English

organized themselves

in battle

Sunday and

abandoned formation.

force of valiant men-of-war and citizens

the eighth day of

their bastides .

.

.

May

Therefore, the

Maid and

made a sortie from Orleans and

themselves for battle before the English, and

of this

and raising the siege

in that condition the

a great

arrayed

French and

the English were very close one to the other for the space of an entire hour

without touching.

49

JOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS

That hour when the French and the EngHsh were face to face beneath the ramparts of Orleans

This time

it

was

one of the great moments of the two national

is

the French

who were

histories.

impatient to give battle. Galvanized by

the extraordinary victories of May 6 and 7, the French had difficulty controlling their high spirits. Joan,

"The French chafed under

the Siege:

She forbade them English;

however, again intervened. According to the Journal of

if

.

.

their

obedience to the Maid on one point.

because of the honor of the holy Sunday ... to attack the

.

the English assaulted them, they could defend themselves as strongly

and bravely as they wished and they should have no fear: They would be the masters of that field."

Joan was firmly committed the time within

to the old rules of chivalry,

which

restricted

which warfare was allowed, imposing truce on Sundays and feast

days. She had difficulty achieving even this limited time-frame. At a time the organization of armies and practices of warfare

when

were swiftly changing,

Joan's point of view about honor and chivalry, in which the sword of the strong

was yoked

to the service

The Journal of

of the weak, was profoundly conservative.

the Siege continues:

"Once an hour had passed,

the

English betook themselves to the road and went away in good order toward

Meung-sur-Loire. They raised and totally abandoned the siege that they had laid to Orleans

from the twelfth day of October 1428 up

to this day."

Orleans had been liberated. The city was shaken by the shivers of joy, of

and of astonishment

exultation,

mark every

that

individual or collective

liberation.

The Maid and

the other lords and men-at-arms reentered Orleans to the great

rejoicing of the clergy and the people,

Our Lord along with well-deserved that

He had

kingdom.

.

.

who

together rendered humble thanks to

praise for the very great aid and victories

given and sent them against the English, ancient enemies of the .

That same day and the following one, the

men of the church made

a great and solemn procession along with the lords, captains, men-at-arms, and

bourgeois

who normally

lived in Orleans,

and they

all visited

the churches with

great devotion.

The compiler of

the Journal noted one reconciliation that took place that day.

The bourgeois and other citizens of Orleans had always feared the men-at-arms. Everyone knew the misdeeds of which armed men were capable when confronted with an unarmed population; these troops, mostly mercenaries recruited by captains

who did not always

in times of

in

much

peace as

maintain discipline, were as menacing

wartime. Their use by the kings and great lords caused

of the horror of what would later be called the Hundred Years War, a

conflict that

had

little

in

common

with the chivalric warfare of the twelfth and

50

PART

thirteenth centuries.

who

feared those their city

Now.

general joy. the bourgeois of Orleans no longer

in the

had been

in principle

had seemed rather

THE DRAMA

I:

their defenders but

worm

of a

like that

of the Maid, even warfare had briefly changed

Messengers swiftly took

where only a few weeks

earlier

Under

in the fruit.

the

command

to the castle of

Chinon.

Joan had exhorted the dauphin. At Orleans proof

God

could be seen of what she had affirmed: that she had been sent by reestablish the

"good

kingdom of France. The dauphin

cities." a letter to

in

face back to a world of honor.

its

highway en route

to the

whose presence

which he had

dictated a letter to

to

of his

all

add a new paragraph twice before he

to

finished because fresh messengers kept arriving:

From

the king.

Dear and well-beloved

aware of the continuous effons the

cit>'

of Orleans, for a long time

enemies of our kingdom

.

.

.

subjects,

we have made

now

we

believe that

you have been

to give ever\- possible relief to

besieged by the English, the ancient

and since we know

that

you cannot ha\ e greater

joy and consolation as loyal subjects than to hear us announce good news,

inform you that by the mercy of Our Lord, from whence

we have just newly resuppUed the in full

city of

all

referring to the

the city by the Loire, the

first

two

relief

convoys

that

May

4.

"one of the most powerful

Saint-Loup/^ had been taken. But then a

While

this letter

was being composed,

midnight a herald,

who

declared upon his

came

of the Augustinians. and aforesaid bastide.

v\

hich

And

that the

on

that also

that

commanded

hundred English fighting men

same

reach

how on

the previous

enemy,

that of

about one hour after

Fnday our men crossed

the river into Orleans by boats and besieged from the left

bastide at the end of the bridge.

to

arrived:

to us here

life that last

our action.

the second under that

fortresses of the

new messenger

there

to resist

had been able

command and

under Joan's

of the Bastard of Orleans. Charles then went on to report

Wednesday.

good things come.

Orleans powerfully twice in one week.

view and knowledge of the enemy, who were unable

The dauphin was

we

bank of

the river the

day, they gained the bastide

Saturday they attacked the rest of the

the bridge,

where there were a good

six

under two banners and the standard of Chandos

[perhaps a textual error for Classidas/Glasdale].

And

that finally, thanks to their

great prowess and valor in arms, with recognition of the grace of Our Lord, they

captured

all

of the aforesaid bastide, and

either killed or taken prisoner.

correspondents

who was at the

tol

.

.

.

all

of the English

who were

in

it

were

[The dauphin continued, exhorting his

honor the virtuous deeds and wondrous things

present reponed to us, and also the Maid,

achievement of all of these deeds.

who was

that this herald

present in person

JOAN AND THE VICTORY AT ORLEANS But

that

was not

And once

51

all:

again, before the completion of this letter, there have arrived before

who have

us two gentlemen in the greatest haste, in fuller detail than

had the herald.

and discomfited the bastide

themselves so swiftly that they

.

.

staying there,

left

certified

and confirmed

men had

After our

end of the bridge,

at the

who had been

day, the English,

.

at

last

dawn on

decamped and

it all,

Saturday taken the following

set

out to save

behind their bombards, cannons, and

artillery

and the greater part of their food supplies and baggage.

This missive, completed

at

Chinon on the night of May 9-10, 1429,

testifies to

the messengers' breathless flurry of activity as they conveyed the story of Joan's

victory to her dauphin.

On May

10, the

news from Orleans

also reached Paris,

where the Anglo-

Burgundian party held sway. The recording clerk of the Parlement, Clement de

Fauquembergue, was required by register; in addition,

his office to record all judicial cases in his

he had grown accustomed to recording daily events that he

He made

considered relevant to the concerns of Parlement.

On Tuesday,

the tenth day of

on the previous Sunday,

May,

after

it

many

the following note:

was reported and publicly

said in Paris that

skirmishes continually undertaken by force

of arms, a large number of the dauphin's

men

entered the bastide that William

Glasdale and other captains with English men-at-arms held on the [English] king's behalf, along with the tower at the end of the bridge of Orleans [the Tourelles],

from the other side of the Loire. And on

that day, the other captains

and men-at-arms who had been maintaining the siege raised their siege to

alone

was

who

combat the enemy, who had

held her banner between the two

.

.

.

in their

enemy

left

companies a maid

said.

little

of whom everyone was speaking on both sides of the Loire,

Though he had not seen her, he drew her in profile, His sketch emphasized her sword as to

all

what

forces, according to

This imaginative clerk drew in the margin of his page a

seem

these bastides and

much

sketch of that maid

at Paris as at

in a dress

as her standard.

Chinon.

and with long

Those two

details

have astonished him: a simple maid armed among men-at-arms,

distinguished herself by a standard

in sharp relief the impact of the extraordinary event that left

who

marked with the double name of Jesus-Maria.

These two contemporary testimonies, written from opposing Meanwhile, the Maid

hair.

sides, set

had just taken place.

Orleans and the residence of Jacques Boucher. Joan

of Arc was on the road again.

CHAPTER FOUR

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS Between

May

9 and. July 21, 1429, Joan

won a pitched field

18, she

battle at

won

several kinds of victories.

On June

Patay against a significant English force;

French

the English estimated their casualties at two thousand, while the

lost

miraculously few. Joan then persuaded the reluctant dauphin to march deep within

enemy

territory to

Reims

in

order to be crowned and anointed properly.

This daring feat required a high degree of military July 17, Charles the dauphin Section

1).

reproached later for doing

hard

so,

to achieve this victory,

Joan and John, chronicler: girl

bowed

rise.

From

it

(see Part

armor and holding her banner; when

she answered that since her banner had worked

deserved some of the honor.

lifted.

"She took her banner

in

(II,

16),

According

to

hand and rode

as deeply as she could before him,

went a to

Loches

to

meet the

well-informed

German

to

meet the king. The young

and the king promptly made her

the joy he expressed, one thought that he might have the Thursday before Pentecost, and she stayed near

the third day of June."

II,

entirely unconventional role in that

in full

the Bastard of Orleans

king after the siege was

They met

her king

to

On

ingenuity:

became King Charles VII of France

Joan played a major and

ceremony, standing close

and diplomatic

hugged

him

her.

until after

54

PART

The

worn

May

Nor had

to the

would

11, 1429.

She had wasted no time

the people of Orleans

a helmet and

detail that

THE DRAMA

date reported for this event and confirmed by her escort, the

Bastard, was victory.

I:

come

know

to

in Orleans savoring her

her well, since she had

armor during more than half of her brief stay with them

later

(a

prove important, when impostors presented themselves

people of Orleans).

Her deed generated an instantaneous reputation throughout Europe. Eberhard von Windecken, treasurer of the Holy

was

German

the author of the

showing a

lively interest in Joan's exploits,

The

Roman Emperor

chronicle just cited.

swiftest transmitters of the

Sigismund,

The emperor, evidently

had been sure

to

keep informed.

news of Joan's victory

Orleans were

at

probably agents representing great Italian merchant houses with branches in the

most important international markets, especially Flanders and Avignon. journal, the Venetian Antonio Morosini kept a record of

by

all

the

his firm's overseas agents. Since their business consisted in large

sales of arms

and other military equipment, these

interest in the state of the

from Bruges

letter sent

Italian

In his

news reported measure of

merchants had a vested

wars in France. One of the many exchanges was a

in the

month of May

that tells

how

a

maiden

bom on the

frontiers of Lorraine:

went

to the dauphin.

told

him

that

She wished

speak to him alone, excluding

to

all

others ... she

he should wage war vigorously, supply and stock Orleans, and

challenge the English to battle; they would certainly be victorious and the siege before the town would be raised. ...

An EngUshman named Lawrence

honest and distinguished person, seeing what so said and reported

entirely in

good

Trent, an

many pious and honorable men had wrote that "this has driven

faith in their letters,

me mad." As an eyewitness, he notes that many of the barons hold her in high esteem, as well as

many of the commoners

Her uncontested

with the masters of theology makes her seem another to

walk the

earth.

Many

knights, hearing her argue

things day after day, say that there

A httle later the same Morosini

is

some

victory ... in conversations

St.

Catherine [of Siena]

come

and discuss so many admirable

great miracle to be found here.

mentions another

letter that

he received

from his Avignon correspondent: 'This maiden said to Messire should go to Reims to bind about his head the crown of

all

le

in

Dauphin

France.

Venice that

We know

he

that

everything that she has said has come to pass, that her words are always confirmed

—she has

by the event

in truth

There was much

Bona

come

interest in

to achieve great things in this world."

Joan throughout

Visconti, wrote to Joan, insisting that the

Visconti's

own

Italy.

The duchess of Milan,

Maid come

to take

command

of

duchy. Another important personage, the royal counselor

Perceval de Boulainvilliers, a French nobleman

who had

married the daughter

55

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS of the governor of Asti, wrote a dithyrambic

Maria Visconti. According

letter to the

duke of Milan, Filippo-

to this poet, at Joan's birth at

Domremy on the night

of the Epiphany, "the sixth of January," the cocks began to crow, awakening the entire village "like heralds of a

new joy." Joan never

sheep when

lost a single

she was keeping the flocks during her childhood; for the entire period of six

days and six nights within the

last year,

she had been able to rest completely

armed, astonishing everyone with the ease by which she could support plate

armor and other heavy equipment. The poet Antonino d'Asti translated into verse modeled on the antique Latin eulogy this

which resonates with

letter,

echoes of folklore arising around Joan's exploits. Joan's achievements

became exaggerated

as

her reputation spread

Europe- wide among both partisans and enemies of the king of France. Close to the center of rumor diffusion, the Journal of the Bourgeois of Paris, the day-by-

day record of a clerk of the University of

Paris, amplifies Joan's

deeds with

mystic additions. In her earliest girlhood, as she kept the sheep, "the birds of the forests and of the fields responded to her call to eat their bread nestled in

her bosom as though they were tame." Partisan contempt for the English soldiery

emerges when the author notes siege of Orleans,

that during "that time, the

whence they chased away

the death of an English captain:

"And

the battle." This suggests that there

it

the English,"

was

Armagnacs

raised the

and the Maid foretold

he was drowned the day of

so, for

was general discussion of

the death of

Glasdale during the attack on the Tourelles. The word had flown abroad: Joan

had predicted

that

he would die "without bleeding."

These reports

attest to the extraordinary

emotional impact that the breaking

of the siege of Orleans produced. The French, universally judged to be utterly defeated,

had risen and countered the greatest miUtary

throwing them into the Loire or seventeen. She miracle.

The

was an

—and

this feat

inspired virgin

was

from

effort

of their conquerors by

credited to a

whom

young

and they wrote

to her explaining their financial difficulties. at that

of sixteen

one could expect almost any

capitouls (municipal counselors) of Toulouse soon

Montpelher, local legend declares that

girl

As

time the boulevard

hoped

for her aid,

far to the south as still

called

Bonne-

Nouvelle (Good News) was so named because of the Uberation of Orleans. The south of France was then adamantly loyalist; the sole surviving copy of the thrilling letter

the

Charles the dauphin

news of Orleans

one that kept the

is

(II, 1)

sent to

all

the

"good

cities"

of the kingdom with

from the archives of Narbonne. That "good city" was the only

original, although several other municipalities

made mention of its

arrival in their registers.

The supporters of "Armagnac"

for

the Valois claimant to the French

good reason: The dauphin was supported most

Guyenne was an

exception. That area lived under

its

crown were named solidly in the south.

famihar feudal law, whereas

the occupied zone of the northern half of France found itself under English

dominion

56 by

PART

right of conquest

with Bordeaux as

—two very

its

I:

THE DRAMA

different

modes of political dependency. Guyenne,

head, held for the king of England, since he was

its

legitimate

hereditary lord. Behind this loyalty lay the economic agenda of Bordeaux's wine

growers today.

at

a time

when

By contrast,

in

the English drank

Normandy and

more wine per

capita than

true

is

even

Enghsh conquerors had

the Ile-de-France the

already aroused resistance that can be best compared to the French resistance against

German occupation

No

in the twentieth century.

one gives a better idea of the public rumor growing up around Joan's

exploits than her chaplain, Jean Pasquerel: as

we have

"Never has anyone seen such a thing

seen in your deeds; in no book can one read of comparable feats."

Joan returned to the dauphin's company with

aura of victory. Freeing

this

Orleans as she had promised fulfilled the "sign" demanded of

manner was not triumphant, mission lay ahead of the

combat?

"I

was

end of the bridge

her.

the at

for she believed that the

How much

first to

her.

But her

most important part of her

depended on her personal contribution

to

put the scaling ladder against the bastide on the

Orleans," she later declared. She triumphed then by

courageously and emblematically exposing herself to danger, and she so

exposed herself again. Three times her personal victory at Orleans. At Loches,

it

initiative

had been the same:

It

was decisive

in the

was she who won

the

dauphin's assent to her mission.

How

should the French have exploited the liberation of Orleans?

a strategic point of view, an offensive in the direction of Chartres,

and even Paris seemed

to

make most

From

Normandy,

sense, especially with the ascendant spirit

and high morale of the French troops. The duke of Brittany sent Joan a message that, since

he could not come himself because he was "in a great

infirmity," he

was sending

his son with reinforcements.

said of her men-at-arms: "There

were an awful

lot

state of

Gobert Thibault

later

of them, for everyone

followed her." Joan's victories had galvanized the country.

The Bastard of Orleans expressed himself unequivocally:

I

remember that

after the victories of

which

blood and the captains wished the king

I

to

spoke [Orleans], the lords of royal

march

Reims; but Joan was always of the opinion consecrate the king. She argued that

that

into

Normandy and

we should go

to

not to

Reims

to

once the king was properly crowned and

consecrated the power of his adversaries would continuously diminish, and that they would finally be rendered harmless both to him and to the kingdom.

Everyone was persuaded by

That "everyone" did not include

had

to insist

describes the

on

her.

all

the king's

most intimate counselors, for Joan

this point quite forcefully in the royal council.

moment

in the

The Bastard

dauphin's chamber in the castle of Loches

when

—

57

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS

the dauphin held council with his advisors Christophe d'Harcourt, Gerard

Machet, bishop of Castres, and Robert Le Magon, chancellor of France: "The

Maid, before entering the chamber, knocked on the door and as soon as she entered she dropped to her knees and embraced the legs of the king, saying these

words or others but

come

like

them: 'Do not hold a council meeting for such a long time,

Reims

as quickly as possible to

worthy crown.'"

to receive a

At that point, Christophe d'Harcourt interrogated her. Joan intrigued him; he did not doubt that she had been led there by divine inspiration, but he was perplexed:

How

could one follow the mysterious "counsel" to which she

continuously referred?

The dauphin then posed the same question. Joan blushed

awkward confidence:

but answered with

Whenever something did not go and accede

to

well, because people

were unwilling

what she had been told by God, she would withdraw a

Him

begin to pray to God, complaining to did not easily believe her; and

when

whom

that those to

she had

made

this

to

Whenever she heard

remain always

from her voices

this

.

.

.

and

she had spoken

I

will

that voice, she again felt a great joy

in that condition

little

prayer to God, she heard

a voice that said to her: '"Fille-De [child of God], go, go, go; aid, go."

to accept

be

at

your

and desired

and when she would repeat the message

way, she exulted in a wondrous fashion, raising her eyes

toward heaven.

Joan

won the

argument, probably during those days

movements immediately campaign. Just

after

thereafter related

May

went

23, she

The duke

Saint-Florent-les-Saumur.

had been paid. His duchess was

to

at the castle

the

of Loches. Her

launching of her

meet the duke of Alengon

to

finally

had his hands

free; his

(II,

new 4) at

huge ransom

fearful of the repercussions of his political

reengagement, and she begged her husband not to fight any more. "Jeannette" little

to

Joan

you

in

—however, reassured

good health and

With

that

in better

have no

shape than he

is

fear;

I

shall bring

him back

now!"

comforting promise, the duke and duchess of Alen^on

separated once more. Joan also

her: "Lady,

is

next cited

at

Selles-en-Berry, where the duke had

gone "with a very great company." After the duke played a game with Guy

de Laval (a young lord who, with his brother Andre, had joined the royal army),

Guy wrote his mother a letter that conveys the excitement of this moment: "They say here that six

my lord the constable is coming with six hundred men-at-arms and

hundred archers and

that Jean

de La Roche

the king has never had such a great

army

is

also coming, and they say that

as the

one expected here; and never

has there been stronger will for the task that they undertake here."

This enthusiastic youth goes on to to see the dauphin's son, the future

tell

how he went to the castle at Loches

Louis XI: "He

is

a very

handsome and

58

PART

gracious lord; very well

built,

THE DRAMA

l:

very agile, and clever for a seven-year-old." Joan

also

must have seen Louis during her stay

that

childhood encounter with Joan

For

Guy de

all

there.

The prince kept the memory of

his life.

Laval, too, the encounter with Joan the

Maid was

special.

She had sent his grandmother Anne de Laval, who had been the wife of Bertrand

Du

Guesclin

modest a

15),

(II,

gift,

who had been

"a tiny ring of gold," even though she

felt that

was too

it

given the fame of that illustrious lady and of the valiant warrior

Guy

her spouse.

describes their conversation with an admiration

close to fervor:

The Maid gave armor except to Selles,

my

brother and myself a very good welcome. She was in full

and held a lance

for her head,

visited her at her lodging.

I

would soon make

me

and the chance for

drink

me

to see

white except for her head, a charger,

it

which reared up

in Paris.

and

little

tied.

She then turned

way

seemed

to hear her. ...

I

saw her dressed

him

to the cross" before the

entirely in

church down

as though he

she had come, saying, "Carry

it

before, carry

it

And then

she returned

before," speaking of her little

ax in her hand,

and her brother [Pierre or Jean?] who had come just eight days before, all

armed

was

written.

at this point

left

with

in white.

Everything was already under letter

had been

church door, which was very close: "You priests and

a procession and pray to God."

unfurled standard, which a gracious page bore; she had her

her

that she

and would not allow

fiercely at the gate of her lodging

to the

and said

entirely divine: her feats,

mounted him without any resistance,

men of the church, make the

It all

we had gone down

in

ax in her hand, mount her horse, a great black

her to mount; and so she said, "Take the street. There she

in her hand. After

She had wine brought

way on Wednesday, June

8,

the day Guy's

Joan and her brother led them along the road toward Romorantin;

her Loire campaign began.

their entrenched positions

Its

objective

was to dislodge the enemy from

on the banks of the Loire River and

north, in order to protect the rear of the

army when

it

in the plains to the

departed for Reims.

Andre de Laval were so eager to perform their first feats of arms

that they

Guy and could not

hide their impatience. Their mother (driven from Laval, she had retired to the castle

of Vitre in Brittany) had sent

letters

begging that her young sons not take part in

combat so soon. Guy registered his humiliation and distress in a letter home:

know what kind of a

letter

as a result the king has

my cousin of La Tremoille [11, 25], but of keeping me with him. Thus the Maid will

you have sent

made

a point

"I don't

to

be in front of all the English positions around Orleans, where we are going to besiege them, and the bother the I

shall

artillery

has already been provided for that purpose; this does not

Maid at all, and she says that when the king takes

go with him."

the road toward Reims,

.

59

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS Events went quickly act.

—

do whenever Joan had

as they tended to

She had already moved swiftly

liberty to

and Romorantin and then returned

to Selles

to Orleans.

Having been driven from Orleans, the remnants of the English army,

under the

command

of the earl of Suffolk

41), retreated to Jargeau.

(II,

Elsewhere, Suffolk hastened to assemble a reinforcement of troops under the

command

of John Fastolf

The dauphin entrusted

He

Alen9on.

allotted

the

600 knights

command

—

of the Loire campaign to the duke of

close to 2,000

men in total

—

which

to the army,

he sent against Jargeau first. Their number was doubled the following day when they

were joined by the companies of the Bastard of Orleans and of Rorent

dTlliers, the

captain of Chateaudun. Predictably, the captains debated whether to attack Jargeau, since they

assumed

told

them

As AIen9on recalled,

God would be leading

God was

was

"Joan, seeing that there

again,

dissent,

being outnumbered nor worry about attacking

that they should not fear

the Enghsh, for

sure that

Enghsh within were numerous. Joan was, once

that the

forced to provoke action.

that action.

directing this business, she

sheep than to expose herself to such

She said

that,

had she not been

would have preferred

watch the

to

peril."

And so they marched toward Jargeau, intending to march into the suburbs and camp there overnight, as the duke of Alen9on

Aware of this, the king's

the English

men. Seeing

came

this,

to

meet them and

They did so well

soldiers lodged in the suburbs of Jargeau.

was no posting of

from the town, the king's

Once again on

in the first encounter drove

back

Joan seized her standard, rode into the fray and found

the soldiers displaying great courage.

for that night there

later said:

soldiers

I

think

God

that

by

nightfall the king's

did indeed direct this matter,

the guard. If the English

would have been

had made a

sortie

in great peril.

the following morning, rather than letting the council run on

inconclusively,

Joan herself said premature to

me to

hour that pleases it:

"Act and

Do you

not

God know

me, "Forward, gentle duke,

to

start the attack

God

is at

that

I

She said

to

me

promised your wife

The duke of Alen9on reckoned

that

It

seemed

so rapidly, but Joan said, "Have no doubt, the

hand." She said that

will act!"

to the assault!"

later,

we must

act

when God wished

"Are you afraid, gentle duke?

to bring

you back

Joan had saved his

life

safe and

sound?"

during the attack on

Jargeau:

At one retire

point,

from

when

I

that place,

was attempting because

if I

to hold a certain position,

did not, "that machine"

Joan told

me

to

—and she showed me

—

60

PART a machine that the very spot

was

was

in the city

—

I:

THE DRAMA

"will kill you."

withdrew, and a

I

little later at

from which I had withdrawn, someone name Monseigneur du Lude

killed; that struck great fear in

me, and

after these events

I

marveled greatly

anything Joan said.

at

Alen^on then recounts Suffolk's unsuccessful effort to obtain a truce in the midst of combat.

It

was June

12, 1429. Suffolk

ended, but not before Joan

was

down

cast

—on a

by a stone

to earth

She swiftly stood up and cried has condemned the English,

was taken

prisoner.

The

assault finally

scaling ladder with her standard in her

hand

broke apart on her helmet (chapeline).

that

to the soldiers:

"Up, up

my

friends!

Our Lord

very hour they are ours; take courage!"

at this

The French immediately moved on quickly took the town of Beaugency

when

to

Meung and Beaugency. They

the English retreated into the castle.

The duke of Alengon received unexpected reinforcements commanded by constable Arthur de Richemont

(II,

36),

who was

the

then in disgrace. Richemont

had enjoyed influence with the dauphin Charles but had found himself displaced in favor

by

his

own former

ally,

now enemy, La

TremoTlle.

Was

the

campaign

going to be disrupted by these power struggles? Alengon told Joan "that

if

the

Constable came, [he] would go away." To which she remarked "that he had need of help." They had in fact just learned that "the English army was approaching,

and in its company was the lord Talbot," of whose

name must have calmed

The duke of Alengon negotiated granted

the discords in the French

camp

for a time.

Beaugency and

garrison safe-conduct. "As soon as the English had withdrawn,

its

someone from and

On

40) a seasoned warrior, the mention

the surrender of the castle of

the

company of La Hire

the king's captain, that the English to-face,

(II,

that they

came

me. He said, as did we would soon be face-

to see

that

were about one thousand men-at-arms."

June 17, the

two armies came swiftly within view of each

de Wavrin, known as the Bastard, fighting

From

22]

[II,

were coming,

in the

other.

Jean

English ranks, recalled:

every direction across the wide and ample Beauce, you could see the

English riding in handsome array. They then merged one league away from

Meung, six

fairly close to

Beaugency. The French, alerted to

their arrival,

had about

thousand combatants whose commanders were Joan the Maid, the duke of

Alen9on, the Bastard of Orleans, the marshal of La Fayette, La Hire, Poton 44],

and others; they

fell into

formation and positioned themselves on a

[II,

little

hillock, in order to disconcert the English.

The English was

halted their

march and arranged themselves

their custom, the archers

formed

in battle formation.

As

the first lines, "their stakes in front of

them." These pikes fixed in the earth were designed to hinder any cavalry charge.

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS The English

sent

two heralds

to the

French to say that

was up

it

descend and join combat. "An answer was given them by the

*Go fmd yourselves lodging, for the pleasure of

it is

61

men

to

them

to

of the Maid:

already late in the day, and tomorrow, at

God and Our Lady, we

will take a closer look at

The night of June 17-18 passed with

that challenge

one another.'"

still

in effect

and

with positions maintained. The English were in Meung, the French in

Beaugency, which was disquieted by the knowledge that English reinforce-

ments were

in the field.

The Bastard of Orleans reported that an uncertain duke

of Alen9on consulted Joan: "She answered him in a loud voice, saying,

^Everyone be sure to have good spurs!' Hearing

'What do you mean? Are we going 'No,

the English

is

it

who

to turn our

this,

those present asked Joan,

backs on them?' Joan answered,

will not defend themselves

and who will be

conquered. You will have need of good spurs as you chase after them.'

was

so, for they

many dead

won

it

we took more

it

than four thousand of them, as

as captive."

June

If the

took flight and

And

1

in the

8

was

open

to

be the greatest victory Joan would ever achieve, and she

field.

The

Battle of Patay

October 25, 1415 victory of Henry

of the Hundred Years

Patay reversed

its

participant, Jean

War

was

image of Agincourt.

a mirror

V at Agincourt decided the third phase

in favor of the Plantagenet party, then the victory of

results for the fourth

phase in favor of the Armagnacs. One

de Wavrin, described that extraordinary

vanguard, the main body of English troops was

Behind the

feat.

commanded by

Fastolf, Talbot,

and one Thomas Rameston.

A

series of accidents shattered the English array.

The vanguard gave

warning of the French approach and then assumed its position among the support

wagons and

artillery "all

along the hedges that were near Patay." Talbot then

posted himself where he thought the French would pass, "guessing that he would

be able to hold that passage

was wrong,

as

their enemies, until

whom

The

It

in front

jumped

tight formation

saw a

stag leap

know

and pursued

their positions,

from the woods and take the

into the English formation,

whereupon

it

uttered

The French had not known that their enemies were so close to them." scouts ran to inform their companies.

The engagement began before

come

together, even in a disorderly

the major units of the English force could fashion.

of troop reinforcements." But he

they could not yet see, nor did they

by luck the scouts

road toward Patay. a great cry.

until the arrival

Wavrin remarked: "The French held

The men of the vanguard saw Captain Fastolf arrive in haste and thought

"that everything

was

lost,

and

that their divisions

were

in flight. Believing this,

the captain of the vanguard took flight with his white standard and the hedge." Fastolf and his

men were

also seized by panic. "It

was

abandoned said in

my

presence," Wavrin declares, "that he should take care of himself, for the battle

was

lost." In

another unit of troops, Talbot had just been taken prisoner:

62

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

confusion had led to a rout. The Bastard of Wavrin shared the fled in the direction of

On

men were

concluded: 'Thus the French gained victory spent the night, thanking

dead; on the English side, the

Our Lord

at the

The unexpected outcome of

at

two thousand. Wavrin

place called Patay, where they

for their fine adventure.

Day

location, that battle will forever be called 'The

As soon

who

Etampes and Corbeil.

the French side, three

Burgundian chroniclers estimated the casualties

to Paris.

of Fastolf,

lot

this

as they heard about

.

.

Because of

.

its

of Patay.'"

encounter provoked panic

all

the

way

"The Day of Patay" the Parisians became

convinced (according to the Journal of the Siege of Orleans) that "the

Armagnacs were coming began

to

make

But

to assail

preparations to fortify the city defensively."

was not against

it

them, and so they reinforced the watch and

which, assembled

at

Paris that Joan intended to direct the royal army,

may have amounted

Gien,

to

some 12,000 combatants.

He

the aftermath of combat, the dauphin agreed to head for Reims. letter

of convocation to the

lay and ecclesiastical,

cities in his

who were

a letter, unfortunately lost, inviting

It is

him

remained

it

to

swear fealty

in the archives until

She proudly announced that: "by my baton,

and his company

safely,

According

I

it

these,

the

duke

to the king of France.

Toumai

was destroyed

to

in

Reims

for

World War

shall lead the gentle lord Charles

and he will be consecrated

to Perceval

Among

known that Joan herself sent

letter that she dictated invited the inhabitants of

the coronation; II.

the peers of France, both

to participate in his coronation.

of course, was the duke of Burgundy.

Another

kingdom and to

In

sent a formal

at

Reims."

de Cagny, the chronicler of the duke of Alengon,

Joan was vexed by the delay of eight days between the victory of Patay and the departure from Gien.

The dauphin did

29. "In her impatience, the

for

Maid

left

not, in fact, begin the

to

Reims was

led deep into territory under Burgundian control.

It

Auxerre, the end

until

June

her lodgings in town, staying in the fields

two days before the king departed." The march

absurdity:

march

On

a strategic

June 20,

at

of the first stage of the journey, the dauphin's party ran into a

Burgundian garrison. Delegations went back and forth between the king and the bourgeois of the town,

who

finally

provided the army with food and publicly

declared that they would give "the king such obedience as would the cities of Troyes, Chalons, and Reims." It

was

at

Troyes that Henry

V

of England had been declared regent of

France; his marriage to Catherine of France

made him

unfortunate Charles VI and of Isabeau of Bavaria

were promised the crown of France. Phal, a

little

more than

letter to the inhabitants;

as did Joan:

On

fifteen miles

(II,

the son-in-law of the

23),

and

his descendants

July 4 the French forces reached Saint-

from Troyes. Joan prudently addressed a

Charles did likewise.

He promised complete

amnesty,

63

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS Loyal Frenchmen, come before your lord Charles. Since there fault,

have no fear for your bodies, nor your goods,

not do so,

I

promise you on your

lives that

we

if

you

to

to

come

against us

—we

God; may He guard you

if

In response to these stem words, the

anxious to learn sent

back and

how

make

reputation for sanctity. Joan

water around; and

Friar Richard

would

later

and

if

you do

—no

swift reply

is

who

matter

solid peace.

I

commend

expected.

like those of Auxerre, felt.

were

Messengers were

(II,

35), a Franciscan with a

remember

his arrival with a certain

sign of the cross and tossed holy

said 'Be brave and approach,

I

becoming accustomed

The army's

good

A

men of Troyes,

"When he came toward me, he made the

irony:

a

please Him.

and

aid,

people in Reims and other places

among them

forth,

shall

it

so;

shall take all of the cities that

should belong to his holy kingdom with God's

presumes

you do

no question of

is

I

won't

fly

away!'" She was

to the rituals of exorcism.

situation

was

critical.

Their food supplies were exhausted, a

strong Burgundian garrison held the center of the city, and, as always, the French

The Bastard of

captains were divided about their preferred course of action.

Orleans

tells

And

us

how Joan

so the

intervened once again:

Maid went and entered

or nearly so: "Noble dauphin, city of Troyes,

command your

and do not waste more time

within three days either

the council of the king, saying these

way with

I

shall lead

you

come and

people to

in long councils, for in

words

besiege the

God's name,

by love or by force and

into the city of Troyes,

courage: Burgundy will be stupefied by

it."

Joan posted troops along the ditches outside the wall and strengthened them with

artillery;

"and she worked so well that night and the next day that the bishop

and townspeople, shaking and trembling, made

Simon that

their

obedience to the king."

Charles, another eyewitness to these events, adds the important detail

Joan took her standard on

this

maneuver:

A large number of foot soldiers followed her, and she ordered them to make bundles of sticks to

fill

the ditches.

They made many, and

the next

day Joan issued a

call

for the assault, giving the order to put the bundles in the ditches. Seeing this, the

inhabitants of Troyes, fearing an assault, sent to the king to negotiate their surrender.

The king reached an agreement with

the inhabitants and he entered Troyes with

great ceremony, and Joan carried her standard near him.

This processional entry into Troyes took place on Sunday, July 12, the

The

army resumed

its

march; two days

later

it

10.

On Tuesday, July

stood before Chalons-sur-Mame.

royal herald Montjoie announced himself with the dauphin's

letter,

which as

64

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

elsewhere promised amnesty. The bishop, Jean of MontbeUard, imitating his colleague Jean Leguise, bishop of Troyes, promptly presented the keys of the city to

the dauphin.

by

Little

forces approached Reims,

as the dauphin's

Uttle,

negotiations grew less lengthy and the French army's progress

The army's stop dauphin had decided anointing to

at

self-assured.

Chalons was marked by a significant event. The

inform his subjects that he was going to receive his

to

Reims by

more

inviting

them

He

to attend.

ordered the public criers to

repeat this invitation in any region that had remained faithful to him.

The people

responded, as they traditionally had, by setting out on the road to Reims: The

Though solemn,

coronation of a king was a popular celebration.

the ritual

was

not yet the closed official ceremony of later centuries.

Joan met several people on the road

them

villagers

from Domremy, for

whom

who

among

called her "Jeannette,"

the coronation held special signifi-

One of these was her cousin Jean Moreau, who would later emotionally recount that when they met Joan made him the gift of "a red dress that she was cance.

carrying." (Although dressed in male

women's five

clothes along with her as well.) Jean

men from Domremy who

Joan seems to have brought

attire,

Moreau was one of

traveled together.

a group of

To them, Joan confided,

as

Gerardin d'Epinal recalled, "that she feared nothing except treason." Joan's father

and mother, Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romee, were also present

coronation. (See

On

July 16, at the castle of Sept-Saulx, Charles the dauphin received a

deputation of the bourgeois of Reims,

obedience. This was the

Burgundian

territory

first

Cauchon

who had (II,

Reims

49),

to cries raised

full

and complete

that

same

number of

day, a

collaborated with the English

left

the city.

University of Paris, a native of

who had been one

of the Treaty of Troyes. That evening, Charles city of

him

offered

time that loyalty to the dauphin from a city in

Among them was the former rector of the Pierre

who

was so openly expressed. On

"renegade Frenchmen"

named

at the

III, 1.)

Reims

of the principal negotiators

made

his formal entry into the

by the general populace of "Noel [Christmas],

Noel!" for Christmas had been associated with coronations ever since Charle-

magne was crowned The following

in

Rome

on Christmas Day of the year 800.

day, Sunday, July 17, 1429, after swift preparations, Charles

VII was anointed according to traditional

rites.

Although most of the

coronation regalia seems to have been in the cathedral of Notre

was used France"

later

—only

(the saint

there

oil,

that

traditional elements

was kept

in the

abbey of Saint-Remi

(Reims as the place;

its

bishop as the

dauphin became the king of France, consecrated with the sacred

about his legitimate

title

were put

to rest

among

his adherents.

—and

crowned "king of

the dauphin Charles's coronation invoked the irreducible

ampoule, or holy

and the most

The

when England's young king Henry was

Dame

traditional

in Paris

in

symbol Reims)

officiant).

oil.

Doubts

65

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS Little is

changed

little

the actual ceremony. Since the

over time, this coronation

Louis in 1226.

argument

known about

On

the Turks at

Damietta

another king.

The man

would not

to "pray to

God and

to

him king

In the

until

he was crowned and anointed

— "she

Reims,

at

keep the

vigil

the cathedral on the previous evening,

while praying as

much

seemed

as

right to

compelled him."

morning the four knights known

to the

might have followed an ordo Louis was held as a prisoner by

him," according to the royal counselor Francois

to lead

as his devotion

way

St.

Egypt; the French feared they might need to crown

—had probably appeared before

him and

their

in

when

whom Joan up to this point had called the dauphin

call

where she had decided Garivel

well have resembled that of St.

historians (see Richard Jackson's

in Vive le roi) think that this ritual

probably composed during the 1250s,

said she

may

some

the other hand,

Ordo coronationis

abbey of Saint-Remi

as Guardians of the

Holy Vial made

to take possession of the precious flask of oil.

Legend affirmed that angels brought it on the occasion of the baptism of Clovis,

king of the Franks, traditionally dated 496. Custom required that a drop of it be

first

mixed with the Holy Chrism used to anoint the new king.

was

It

seems

that the

to Paris.

The four Guardians were

Culant, the lord of Graville, and

This

last figure, a rich

than military valor.

—

Holy Vial

had not removed

the only traditional coronation item that the English forces

from Reims

the

the

the marshal de Boussac, the admiral

to increase his visibiUty

—GiUes de Rais

34).

(11,

nobleman from Brittany, was not yet known for anything other

He had

taken part in the raising of the siege of Orleans and in

campaign of the Loire. Two months

Archives Nationales), Charles

VQ

later (in a charter still

preserved in the

granted

him

the right to carry the fleurs-de-lys

Holy

Vial,

which the abbot Jean Canard had

on the bordure of his coat of arms.

At

their return, escorting the

put in their charge, the four Guardians encountered a long procession of canons, bishops, and prelates surrounding the king,

who had

spent the night

at the

archbishop's palace before entering the church to the singing of psalms. The

main door of the cathedral had been thrown open;

the clatter of resounding

hooves mixed with the shouts of the crowd that had gathered cathedral, for the four knights

who

in

and around the

escorted the Holy Vial entered the church

on horseback.

The ceremony of coronation included king, the singing of the Te

Deum, and

the oath of loyalty required by the

the benediction of the royal insignia:

crown, golden spurs, scepter, and (since the beginning of the fourteenth century) the

was

"hand of justice," a second scepter sculpted

in ivory.

At the core of the

the anointing itself, the essential element considered

comparable

rite

to a

sacrament like confirmation or holy orders. The king prostrated himself on the steps of the altar, while litanies of the saints

had prostrated himself

at the

king's side,

were chanted. The archbishop, who

marked

the king with holy oil

on the

66

PART

THE DRAMA

1:

head, chest, shoulders, elbows, and wrists.

only in his shoes and a loose

shirt,

The

king, dressed until that point

then put on a tunic and a coat of

silk.

Once

anointed afresh on his hands, he pulled on gloves; the ring that was the symbol of the union between the king and his people was slipped on his finger. The

crown was taken from the

altar

and placed on the new king's head, but not before

the ten of the twelve peers of France

and

up

five ecclesiastics

to the dais

—had held

it

who were

on which was placed the throne.

the seals of the time, the

actually present

—

laymen

five

above his head as he was led from the

new king appeared

was then

It

that, as

depicted on

Three gentlemen

in royal majesty.

from Anjou who were charged with reporting the ceremony

altar

to the

queen, Marie

of Anjou, and her mother, record the scene:

And

hour that the king was consecrated and also when they had placed

at the

crown on

the

that

it

his head, every

seemed

as

man cried out:

Noel\

And the

trumpets sounded so

though the walls of the church should have crumbled. During

the aforesaid mystery, the

standard in her hand.

It

Maid was always

was fme

but also of the Maid, and

at the king's side,

to see the elegant

God knows

that

holding his

manners not only of the king

you would have wished them

well.

After the archbishop and the peers pledged homage, Joan went to kneel before the king.

The

chronicler of the Siege of Orleans captured the general emotion

of this moment: "And she evoked great pity in the

new

all

who

beheld her." Embracing

king's legs, she wept and said:

Gentle king, from

this

moment

to raise the siege of Orleans

anointing,

which shows

the pleasure of

and bring you

that

you

God

are the true king

He wished me

executed.

is

to the city of

Reims

to receive

and the one

to

your

whom

the

kingdom should belong.

Some

felt that

it

would have been more appropriate

other captains, even though this event.

all

Her enemies would

to place

Joan among the

recognized the essential part she had played in later

ask this question:

"Why was

your standard

carried to the anointing of the king in the church of Reims, rather than the

standards of the other captains?" To which she then responded: "That standard

had gone

to great pains;

it

was

fair that

it

should share the honor."

Anointing was the paramount symbol of a sovereign's capacity to unify his subjects

ceremony

at

around his body, his person. The

Reims

is

therefore quite instructive.

was Charles's wife, Marie of Anjou. Charles was

at

When

list

of those absent from the

Paramount among those absent

the

army

set off for

Reims, and

Gien, he sent her instructions to return to Bourges, since the

operation he was launching was a dangerous one. In addition, Marie was not at

67

HER DAUPHIN ANOINTED KING AT REIMS Reims because

the royal entourage judged that

it

was

the king alone

whose

coronation then mattered. Lesser importance was attached to her coronation as

queen, a ceremony that took place later

The time of such formidable

at Paris.

queens as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Blanche of Castile was over. The role of the

queen continued

to diminish until

French queen

be crowned

to

even coronation

at all

rites

were eliminated: the

would be Marie de Medicis

last

in 1610.

Another notable figure who was absent from the coronation was the

He

constable Arthur de Richemont.

should by custom have had the honor of

carrying the ceremonial sword after the benediction, but the lord of Albret was

appointed to hold

it

The chronicle of Guillaume Gruel, one of the

in his place.

constable's friends, reports that Richemont,

who had

wanted intensely

the brilliant victory of Patay,

to

so recently taken part in

accompany

the king to Reims,

"who was very

but the king had adamantly refused, despite the urging of Joan,

displeased about

it."

Guillaume adds

my

never be crowned than have

that the king declared that

lord [Arthur] in attendance."

influence on Charles VII of Richemont's

enemy La Tremoille

The powerful

is

discernible in

The dauphin's insecure court was long dominated by

this action.

rivalries

"he would rather

among such overmighty

sway of

the

factions.

There were two other noteworthy absences: Pierre Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais, one of the six ecclesiastical peers, whose absence

Anglo-Burgundian

his longtime devotion to the

duke of Burgundy the

(II, 3),

Sunday morning of

one of the

faction,

six lay peers.

is

explained by

and Phihp the Good,

Joan had written the duke on

the coronation, July 17; her letter

is

preserved in the

archives of Lille:

Jesus Maria. High and dread prince, duke of Burgundy, the

by the King of Heaven,

my

rightful

and sovereign Lord,

lasting peace with the king of France.

wage

it

to

make

a firm and

You two must pardon one another

with a sincere heart, as loyal Christians should; and war, go and

Maid calls upon you

if it

on the Saracens. Prince of Burgundy,

I

pleases you to

fully

make

pray you, supplicate,

and humbly request rather than require you, make war no more on the holy

kingdom of France. Withdraw in certain places

once and swiftly those of your men

who

are

and fortresses of the aforesaid holy kingdom. As for the gentle

king of France, he to

at

is

ready to

do with you alone. And

I

make peace with you, saving

must make known

to

his honor, if

it

has

you from the King of Heaven,

my rightful and sovereign Lord, for your good and for your honor and upon your life,

that

you

will

win no more

who wage war against the King

And

Jesus, I

battles against loyal

aforesaid holy

King of Heaven and of all the

Frenchmen and

kingdom of France earth,

that all those

are warring against

my rightful and sovereign Lord.

pray you and call upon you with hands joined not to seek any battle nor

war against

us, neither

you nor your men nor

subjects,

and believe firmly

that

68

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

no number of men

that

pity for the battle

and the bloodshed there of those who come against

three

it is

weeks since

which today, Sunday in the city of

news of

Him; and I pray God

I

will win,

wrote that you should be

the seventeenth day of this

Reims:

that herald.

you bring against us

to I

which

I

He

at the

to

month of

And

July, is taking place I

ever heard any

God; may He guard you,

will establish a

us.

anointing of the king,

have had no reply, nor have

commend you

that

and that there will be great

good peace. Written

if

it

pleases

in the aforesaid

place of Reims, on the aforesaid seventeenth day of July.

This

letter

mentality

evokes the grandeur of Joan's Christian, martial, and chivalric

at the

qualities to her

of her king and

same time

that

it

masks the increasing irrelevance of these

world and moment. The

kingdom

to

letter reveals that

Joan expected the fate

be determined by submission or by

battle.

She was

not of her king's council. She was ignorant of the swarming diplomauc activity

then under

way among French.

English, and Burgundian diplomats.

CHAPTER

FIVE

INTRIGUE, FRUSTRATION,

AND CAPTURE From mid- July 1429

to

May

23,

Charles Vll at Reims (see Part

1430—from

the days following the coronation of

Section 1) to her capture by a

II,

Burgundian force

—Joan experienced nearly constant waves ofdisillusionment. She had

at Compiegne

made Charles

king but

was forced

which Joan was naturally

accept the consequences: evasive and

to

and negotiation

suspicious, Charles preferred delay inclined.

Her

to the swift, decisive action to

loyal partisans (such as

Duke John of

Alengon; II, 4) shared her desire to make the most ofthe wave ofpatriotic enthusiasm that her triumphs

had aroused, but

the king,

murder of the duke of Burgundy 's father, Tremoille

(II,

25)

and

after the royal army in central

listened to counselors like

the archbishop of

September 1429, she was ordered

to

probably obsessed by his guilt for the

Reims

abandon

(II,

13),

who

Georges de La

resented Joan. In

the effort to take Paris; in October,

was disbanded, Joan was sent to deal with a minor bandit chief

France; after a frustrating winter, she was allowed

to lead only

mercenary band against the English and Burgundians northeast of Paris. 23, while retreating to the supposedly pro- French

outside a suddenly closed gate

a small

On May

town of Compiegne, she was

left

and promptly captured by some Burgundians

scarcely able to credit their luck: an accident or an act of treason?

Although the coronation at Reims was hastily organized,

it

undertaken with customary pomp. So that he could perform the traditional

was ritual

—

70

PART

at the

THE DRAMA

I:

nearby abbey of Saint-Marcoul-de-Corbeny of "touching for scrofula"

exercising the healing

Charles

(II, 1)

power believed to be granted the king by his coronation

did not leave the city until July 21.

The coronation produced an extraordinary perception of Joan of Arc France and beyond. Even before

Joan had taken place.

Two pamphlets had appeared at Paris

written by Jacques Gelu the opening salvo of Paris.

The

(II,

He

lost,

was

probably came from the pen of

20), a respected authority on legal and rehgious matters. Gerson,

previously the university's chancellor, well.

now

on Joan by members of the University of

assaults

other, a defense against this attack,

Jean Gerson

(as well as a treatise

19] in her favor); the first, an attack

[11.

many

in

the king's consecration, a verbal duel about

knew the reigning academic temperament

himself had been expelled from the corporation of the university

because of his pro-Valois sentiments. From July university

was recorded on

its

6,

1418, his absence from the

while attending the Council of

registers. In fact,

Constance, he learned that Paris had fallen into the hands of the Anglo-

Burgundians and refused

to return. After living for

some time

in Austria,

he

joined one of his brothers, a friar at the Celestine convent in Lyons. The pamphlet in defense of Joan,

which he probably composed

work; he died on July

his last

When

days before the anointing

the side of his old ally, Christine de Pisan

(11,3) earlier

had asked

to

compose

at

Reims.

known

(II,

whom Duke

public personality, a poet, and a historian

of Burgundy

June 1429, might have been

he supported Joan's cause, Gerson could not have

was once more on

known

12, five

in

32).

that

he

A well-

Philip the

Bold

the history of his brother "the

wise king, Charles V," Christine de Pisan never ceased to champion peace and to

defend women. Gerson had joined her in those

first

efforts.

entered Paris, Christine de Pisan retired from the

When the English had city,

convent of Poissy, where her daughter was a nun. She kept years, ceasing to write except for

some poems

all

even for any man: Her famous d'Arc, comprises

448

poem

at the

of fifty-six strophes, the Ditie de Jehanne

lines sketching Joan's story.

siege of Orleans.

Above

all,

She reminds her readers how

how

she had given proof of her

she speaks with awe about the anointing

and coronation. The cry that she had raised

at the

news of these events

known: In the year one thousand four hundred twenty and nine

the sun began to shine again.

Behold

this

woman,

.

.

to celebrate this girl

would have been considered impossible

Joan had been examined by the prelates and claim

eleven

of a sudden, she beheld an

unexpected dawn. In July 1429 she took up her pen again just achieved victories that

silent for

that are really prayers. Christine

de Pisan was then dazzled by Joan's exploits;

who had

probably to the

.

a simple shepherdess.

is

well

INTRIGUE. FRUSTRATION. more

valiant than

was ever any man

at

AND CAPTURE

Rome.

.

.

71

.

During the siege of Orleans her force

appeared.

first

.

.

.

With great triumph and power Charles was crowned

we

never have

at

Reims

.

.

.

heard

speak of so great a marvel.

poem, her

In this

as historian

final

work, Christine de Pisan once more balanced her roles

and poet. In July 1429, the writer Alain Chartier also exalted Joan

in poetic prose:

Behold her

there, she

who does

not seem to have

come from any

place in the

world, but to have been sent from heaven to raise up the head and the shoulders

of a Gaul beaten of

all

down into the

praises, of divine honors,

the light of the

lily,

French, but also of

you

all

These poets were quick

O singular virgin, worthy of all glories,

earth

you

are the greatness of the

are the brilliance,

you are the

kingdom, you are

glory, not only of the

Christians.

to praise the

contemporary historical documents

in

No

contradictory, opinions of Joan.

Maid's exploits. Commentaries and

many

genres provide multiple, often

assessments are less guarded or more

enthusiastic than these poetic voices as they record Joan's victories and

Charles's coronation as events, in Christine's words, "above

marveled

others to be

all

at."

Despite the difficult situation in which events had placed him, one

man was

methodically setting things in order to counter the disastrous effects of Joan's victories

—John, duke of Bedford, regent of France

captains,

John Talbot

John of Alen^on

at

(II,

Patay

having fled in that same his unit of troops.

arms, as

many

on July

1.

40),

had

(II, 4).

battle,

just

The

One

of his best

been made prisoner by Joan and Duke

other,

John Fastolf, suffered reproach for

although his retreat had permitted him to save

Bedford also knew

that

of them horsemen as archers,

They were an army

(II, 9).

he had

at his disposal

350 men-at-

who had just disembarked at Calais

recruited by Cardinal

Henry Beaufort

(II, 8),

bishop of Winchester and the natural uncle of the duke of Bedford (he was a bastard son of Bedford's grandfather John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster), to fight the Hussites in

Bohemia. The recruitment and supply of

this

army had been

financed by special dthes raised with papal authorization and supplemented by papal finances; uncle and nephew had decided with one mind to deflect this force from

its

intended target.

On July

15 the troops left Calais for Paris,

where

72

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

they arrived ten days later as a fresh body of reinforcements for the struggle

crowned King Charles VII of France.

against the newly

Not content with diverting for personal profit a military force that the English people beUeved had been raised for the good of Christianity, Bedford was also carrying on a wide-ranging diplomatic offensive. His brother, Henry V, had been a warrior, but

Bedford was an administrator. He had married Anne of Burgundy, Duke

Phihp's sister and (in the words of the Bourgeois of Paris) "the most agreeable lady

who was

then in France, being beautiful, young, and good." Bedford relied on this

family connection to obtain, from an ally

whom he did not always find reliable, the

guarantees that were indispensable in his effort to avert these

new

Enghsh conquest. Cleverly, he had invited the duke of Burgundy days in

Paris.

Between July 10 and

a series of festivals and spectacular

15,

demonstrations of support, with a general procession and a sermon resulted in a

threats to the

spend several

to

promise from the people of Paris that

''all

at

Notre Dame,

would be good and

loyal to

duke of Burgundy."

the regent and to the

Christine de Pisan protested:

O Paris

very

ill

advised!

Foolish and untrustworthy citizens!

The duke of Burgundy returned to with Bedford for a returned to

him

sum

at the

which he

his territory without his jewels,

of 20,000 livres and a promise that the

end of the month,

in return for

gift

left

would be

which Bedford had

promised to recruit an army. Through the agency of his herald Jarretiere (the Garter Herald), Bedford pressed the city of

London

to

send him a subsidy,

emphasizing that without the Burgundian alliance English power in France could disappear "at a single blow."

A more serious aspect of this diplomatic game involved the negotiations that

Georges de La Tremoille

25) had begun on June 30 with the court of

(II,

Burgundy. These had gone so well that the Burgundian Jean de Vimeu

left

Dijon

for Arras on July 16 in order to report the progress of these negotiations to Philip the

Good when he

arrived at

returned from Paris.

Reims while

the king

was

Anjou and her mother, Yolanda of

An embassy

led by

David de Brimeu

there; a letter bringing

Sicily,

news about

Queen Marie of

the coronation

expressed the hope that the king would conclude "a good treaty leaves."

The same

will bring Paris

letter

made

a reference to Joan:

.

.

.

ceremony before he

"She leaves no doubt

that she

under her control."

Joan was preoccupied with following up a

fruitful military offensive, the

king with negotiating. Instead of achieving a "good treaty," Charles concluded a truce of fifteen days. After just one triumphal day at Reims, the French party

found

itself in a state

of mutual misunderstanding.

INTRIGUE, FRUSTRATION,

As she had

already said, Joan feared only treason.

determine whether, exactly why, or by 10.)

III,

Some

AND CAPTURE

whom

73 It

is

difficult to

Joan was finally betrayed. (See

surmise an early shadow of treachery during the coronation

banquet. Thereafter,

all

her initiatives would have to deal with insecure or

inadequate support. At the very

Durand Laxart were returning

moment when

to

her father, mother, and "uncle"

Domremy overwhelmed

with the unexpected

glory of their "Jeannette," a time of uncertainty, of reversals, and even of final

torment was beginning for

her.

The Bastard of Orleans

sorrowful exclamation on the road between

"May

Valois:

my

serve

it

please

and

father

God my

my

creator that

my brother, who would be

so happy to see

"which

every step went before her."

The changing mood swift

La Ferte-Melon and Crepy-en-

now withdraw from

is

my

sister

to Paris. This funereal

atypically

the possibility of treason,

to cover the ninety miles

from

pace must have been torture for any warrior,

who expected to enhance the elan that the French troops

especially Joan,

and

reflected in the king's itinerary. In contrast to the

march to Reims, he now took thirty-six days

Reims

arms, and so

me again!" This remark is

how disarmed Joan was by

it

at

16) reported Joan's

mother by taking care of the flocks with

poignant;

resonates

I

(II,

shared.

"One Frenchman could have defeated ten Englishmen then," Jean Chartier wrote in his Chronicle.

Impelled toward the conquest of Paris, Joan did not

know

Charles VII already had committed himself to avoiding a battle for the

must have at

by

felt

some hope during

the

first

him

and many loved him and desired his

a true king, and the cities

Coulommiers

—

She

stages of the advance, at Vailly, then

Soissons: "The king went to Soissons, where he all,

city.

that

—Laon,

was received with

arrival."

great joy

The coronation had made

Chateau-Thierry, Crepy, Provins,

expressed their joy and their wish to recognize him.

Crepy-en-Valois he sent his envoy to Compiegne, demanding that

its

From

inhabitants

"place themselves in his obedience," to which they responded that they "were

very willing to do so." Even the city of Beauvais, whose bishop was Pierre

Cauchon

(II,

49), sang a Te

During

Deum

for the king of France.

his stay at Chateau-Thierry,

on July 31, Charles VII

request exempted in perpetuity the inhabitants of taxation. This

up

at

Joan's

Domremy and Greux from

was the Maid's only such request; the exemption was maintained

to the reign of

Louis

XVI

(III, 9).

Bedford the regent profited from Charles's unexpected delay and reinforced the defenses of Paris. Leaving the city on August 4 at the head of a

powerful army, he marched up the sent the king of France a challenge

left

bank of the Seine. Three days

later

he

from Montereau: "You seduce and abuse the

ignorant and rely upon the assistance of the superstitious and reprobate, and

even of that deranged and infamous

and

is

woman who

goes about

in

men's clothes

of dissolute conduct." Bedford proposed to take up positions in the Brie

74

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

and Ile-de-France. The English army

set out in the direction

of Senlis and halted

on August 14 near the village of Montepilloy. During these maneuvers, Bedford

named

the

duke of Burgundy governor of

Paris, so that a prince of the

blood

royal could be said to exercise political authority over the capital of France.

seemed

It

Montepilloy.

would take place

for a while that a decisive battle

The peaceful course of

crisscrosses the countryside,

Nonnette,

the

a

little

at

stream that

had become a base for Bedford's army, now

reinforced by 700 Picards sent by the duke of Burgundy.

came from Crepy-en-Valois were divided

The French troops

into "battles," of

which the

that

first,

commanded by the lord of Albret, included Joan herself, the Bastard of Orleans, and La Hire (II, 22). It was a moment of high suspense. An entire day, August 15, was spent in dust clouds

"that

under a burning sun ("such great powder," says Perceval de Cagny,

one could recognize neither French nor English"). Each side was expecting

an engagement that might prove decisive. The English in their usual fashion entrenched themselves behind rows of sharpened stakes and wagons that served

duke of Bourbon

as a rampart. Charles VII rode about the battlefield with the (II,

11) and

August

La Tremoille; Bedford

16, the

did not

show himself On

the afternoon of

English began retreating toward Paris. The Berry Herald, an

eyewitness, wrote that

they stood one facing the other, without

"all the day,

hedges or bushes, as close as the shot of a culverine, and they did not

on the evening, the king went away

to

fight.

And

Crepy and the duke of Bedford went

to

SenUs." Meanwhile, on that same August 16, Philip the Good, duke of

Burgundy, had reason

to feel in control of the situation.

by Regnault of Chartres, archbishop of Reims notables,

among them Raoul de Gaucourt (II,

duke of the west,"

as

1

8),

(II,

A French embassy

13),

came

led

and including many

as beggars to "the grand

one witness remarked, presenting him with "greater offers

of reparation than the royal majesty actually possessed." In reparation for the assassination of John the Fearless at Montereau, the king asked the duke to

accept every possible guarantee "by hostages, corporal punishments,

or

pecuniary penalties, obligation and submission to the church and to secular courts, as strongly as can be devised." All this

for

Burgundy's neutrality

in the conflict

was offered simply

in

exchange

between the French and the English.

At Arras, the English negotiated through Hugues de Lannoy, the Burgundian diplomat

who was

Burgundy

let

it

also a

member

of the royal council of England. The duke of

be understood that he would participate

in a

peace conference

proposed by Amadeus VIII of Savoy.

With the departure of the king of France, the bourgeois of Reims found themselves isolated in Burgundian

territory,

and impinging troop movements

gave them cause for worry. They appealed to Joan, disquieted

letter:

who responded

in a

AND CAPTURE

INTRIGUE, FRUSTRATION. promise and certify that

I

days.

and

I

.

.

.

However many

do not know

and date of this

to

as long as

shall live.

I

truces

may

be

made

hold to them. But

if I will

in this fashion,

if I

do hold

to

I

lasting fifteen

am

them,

And

it

not content,

be only

will

honor of the king.

to maintain the

She urged Reims

abandon you

made a truce with the duke of Burgundy,

true that the king has

it is

shall never

I

75

"keep good watch and guard the king's good city." The place

letter are significant: "written

on Friday, the

fifth

day of August,

near Provins, from a residence in the fields, on the road to Paris." This

one she sent

like the it

to the

letter,

duke of Burgundy, does not bear her signature, but

does bear the mark of Joan's personahty and intentions:

"On the road to Paris"

a challenge.

is itself

The atmosphere of misunderstanding

persisted. Joan thought only of

from the general enthusiasm and the strong army

profiting

that

had now

assembled; the king had nothing in his head but negotiations and truces.

August 17 the keys of Compiegne were brought retired.

The following

day, he

made

On August 2 1 (II,

28). After a

was signed,

this

,

whom the

Crepy, where he had

including Guillaume de Flavy,

city,

(III, 10).

embassy arrived led by John of Luxembourg

laborious negotiations, another truce of four months

time applying to

from Nogent-sur-Seine

at

defense of Compiegne depended

a Burgundian

week of

him

his formal entry through the Pierrefonds

Gate and was received by the notables of the a mercenary captain on

to

On

all

the territory

to Honfleur.

France would be allowed to take the

During

on the

right

bank of the Seine

that period, neither

cities situated

Burgundy nor

within those defined areas

nor to receive their obedience. Firmer guarantees were given orally by Charles VII,

who was engaged

in returning to the

duke of Burgundy important

cities

along the river Oise: Compiegne, Pont-Sainte-Maxence, Creil, Senlis. Bedford

could be content, having returned to Paris with an intact army, and the duke of

Burgundy was more than ever master of

the situation.

About this same time, Hugues de Lannoy drafted two memoirs Anglo-Burgundian Christmas armies,"

—

strategy.

a strong

Before the expiration of the truces

Enghsh army, "a good and

would be brought

into France.

great

More

—

outlining the

that

is,

before

power of men-at-arms and of

than ever before,

it

would be

indispensable for the English to cultivate their aUiance with the duke of Burgundy,

because without him "no good, durable exploit can proceed." After January

when

the truce ended, England

he would pay, requiring

in return

the English understood that

him

great

it

to provide the

On

2,0(X)

1

men, for

whatever would be necessary to defend

and notable authority" as well as the

maintaining alliances.

duke with

,

1430,

whom

Paris.

But

would be necessary to compensate the duke, "granting

two points would be observed at

was

to the letter

by

gift

the

of "some great lordship." These

duke of Bedford, who was expert

October 13 Philip the

Good would be

granted the

76

PART

An

THE DRAMA

on January

lieutenant generalcy of France;

counties of

I:

English gave him the

12, 1430, the

Champagne and of Brie. English alliance with the duke of Brittany was ensured by the offer

of the county of Poitou: The constable Arthur de Richemont

(II,

36) was courted

by the offer of appointment to constable in the king of England's name and by the promise of Touraine, Saintonge, Aunis,

France to

suit

now once more

offensive against Berry, retreat.

6)

Troops were sent into Guyenne

and Foix,

necessity

and La Rochelle. The partition of

English interests progressed steadily. Plans were

allies

for an

the king of France's favorite zone of

to contain the counts of

of the king. Every effort was

made

now in France" and to reverse recent French

proposed along with a

made

series of later truces that

Armagnac

(II,

to relieve "the very great

successes. All of this

were useful exercises

was

in the

implementation of the grand plan. Hugues de Lannoy, the Burgundian courtier

and chronicler, advised and Portugal, allies in

to the

that

embassies be sent to the kings of Castile, Aragon,

duke of Milan,

to Lorraine,

and above

which the enemies have great hope, and among

all to

Scotland, "the

whom they

boast that

they are very strong."

While the scaffolding for these projects was being erected in the shadows,

"When

Joan's impatience mounted, according to Perceval de Cagny:

found himself extend his

Compiegne, the Maid was deeply grieved

at

stay.

to him,

By my

banner,

men and

those of the other captains.

go see Paris from closer than the English side,

have ever seen

I

Bedford

left

the king

he wished to

She called on the duke of Alen^on and said

duke, equip your

On

that

'My

fair

want

I

to

it.'"

Senlis for Rouen.

The news he heard

from Normandy was alarming, for the province was being scoured by "partisans," (resistance fighters).

As

the chronicler tells us:

"On

the Friday

following the 26th day of August, the Maid, the duke of Alen9on, and their

company were lodged

in the city

of Saint-Denis.

And when

the king

they were lodged in the city of Saint-Denis, with great regret he the city of Senlis.

And

it

seemed

that he

Maid, of the duke of Alen^on, and of

The days

that followed

were spent

ramparts of Paris, where the population was its

came

was counseled against the

their

knew

that

as far as

will of the

company." in skirmishes. in a state

Joan examined the

of high anxiety, organizing

defense under the orders of the Burgundian Louis of Luxembourg

(II,

29),

bishop of Therouanne and chancellor of France for the English crown. The duke of Alen9on shuttled between Saint-Denis and the king, at

Compiegne: "And there

was no one of any

estate

first at

who

put the king in Paris, so long as he has nothing to do with

An

attack

was

finally

Chapelle to the north of the

it.'"

made on Thursday, September

city,

Joan, Marshal Gilles de Rais

lord of Gaucourt attacked the Saint-Honore Gate.

Senlis and then

did not say 'She will

8. (II,

Leaving La 34),

and the

The king, who had arrived the

AND CAPTURE

NTRIGUE, FRUSTRATION,

77

previous evening, was impressed by the enthusiasm of his entourage, but, as

subsequent events demonstrated, did nothing.

Clement de Fauquembergue, the clerk of the Parlement of Paris who, four months earlier, had recorded the liberation of Orleans, noted these recent activities in his register:

Thursday, the eighth day of September, feast of the Nativity of the Mother of

God. The men-at-arms of my lord Charles of Valois assembled

in great

numbers

near the wall of Paris, toward the Saint-Honore Gate, hoping to grieve and

damage

the inhabitants of the city of Paris,

by power and force of arms, and

make

a

show of attacking

Paris confused

at

Paris,

the people than

about two hours in the afternoon began to

the city of Paris

.

.

and corrupted men who raised

on both sides of the bridges, crying

were inside

more by upsetting

.

and

at that

hour there were in

their voice in all parts of the city

that everything

was

the enemies

lost, that

and that everyone should withdraw and make every

effort to

save himself.

A significant portion of the population must have hoped that the king of France would enter the

city; these

movements of panic

reveal the Parisians' indecision.

Between the Saint-Honore Gate and the Saint-Denis Gate, in a lively fashion, according to

The Maid took her standard

the attack

Cagny:

in

hand and with the

first

troops entered the ditches

toward the swine market. The assault was hard and long, and to hear the noise

inside the city fired against those outside, that they

the hour of

midday

Maid was

hit

it

was wondrous

and the explosion of the cannons and the culverines

abundance

was pressed

and

all

manner of blows

in

that those

such great

were beyond being counted. The assault lasted from about until

about the hour of nightfall. After the sun had

by a crossbow bolt

in her thigh. After she

had been

hit,

set,

the

she insisted

even more strenuously that everyone should approach the walls so that the place

would be taken; but because

it

was night and she was wounded and

arms were weary from the day-long

came

to the

Maid and

assault, the lord of

the men-at-

Gaucourt and others

against her will carried her out of the ditch, and so the

assault ended.

They took Joan

to the

camp of La

part of the previous night. find the

Chapelle, where she had prayed and rested

The following

day, despite her

wound, she went

to

duke of Alen9on, but "the duke of Bar and the duke of Clermont arrived

from the king" with the royal order

to retreat.

The duke of Alengon had

bridge in hopes of resuming the offensive; the king forced

during the night.

him

built a

to destroy

it

78

PART Then, staying

at

I:

THE DRAMA

Saint-Denis until Tuesday, September 13, Charles gave the

order to "return to the banks of the Loire, to the great displeasure of the Maid."

than ever, according to Poton de Xaintrailles the court

(II,

More

44), those "sitting in the council of

had won out over those performing exploits

in the field."

Before withdrawing, Joan went to the basilica of Saint-Denis, where as a votive offering she

hung "an

at-arms, with a sword

won

entire suit of white armor, of the sort for a

before the city of Paris"

Joan had captured in the assault

—

the

man-

sword of a prisoner

(III, 6).

Joan "feared nothing but treason," and treason was everywhere in the aftermath of the coronation. The Berry Herald reports that during her stay

Compiegne, even before

the attack

on

at

king had received John of

Paris, the

Luxembourg, "who made many promises of peace between the king and

the

duke of Burgundy, about which he did nothing besides deceive the king." Duke Philip the

message

Good

sent Charles-Pierre de Bauffremont, of

to the king "that

to Paris to

.

.

.

and

that

to

convey the

he would come

speak to his partisans; for that reason, he needed a safe-conduct.

the aforesaid duke

up

he would give him Paris

Chamy,

to Paris, the

was granted

a safe-conduct

And

from the king, but when he came

duke of Bedford and he made a stronger alliance than the one

he had made previously with the king."

Even before Charles VII returned to Gien on September 2 1 Joan realized ,

that the great apart.

army of the coronation,

The very moment of triumph

—

the anointing at

inversion of the political situation: Charles, to direct his

common

unified by a

now

hope, was drifting

Reims

—marked

an

established as king, intended

own policy. This policy slighted "exploits in the field" and remained

fixed on possible reconciliation with the duke of Burgundy, no doubt in an effort to efface the

Perceval de

memory

of Montereau, where John the Fearless had died.

Cagny judged, "He was content

had given him, without the need

at that

hour with the grace that

to undertake anything else." Yet

As

God

an awareness

now won

that Charles could be perceived as deceiving the

mass of his

to his cause, penetrates the circular letter sent out

from the royal chancery under

the date of

September

that has survived.

13.

The copy

The king

subjects,

sent to the citizens of Reims

tried to reassure his subjects.

is

the only one

He was going to "make

an inspection tour beyond the banks of the Seine," but only because a truce had

been concluded with the duke of Burgundy, and he was preparing the peace; he leads his army away, he says

it is

because leaving the army longer

if

in the field

"would have caused the total destruction of our country on this side of the Loire."

The king wished

his subjects to

be reassured:

If the

duke of Burgundy does not

hold to his promises, the king will return "with a great army."

What was

then possible? The Berry Herald writes: "With the king at

Gien, the duke of Alen^on wished to bring the

Normandy, but the

lord of

La Tremoille did not

Maid and agree."

the men-at-arms to

The chronicler of

the

AND CAPTURE

NTRIGUE, FRUSTRATION,

79

duke of Alengon adds: "And the Maid remained much annoyed leaving." Joan

would

at the

king for

never see her "fair duke" again: "[the counselors] never

wished to agree," says Perceval de Cagny, "nor to allow the Maid and the duke to

be together, and thereafter he never regained her company." Charles VII was well described by the Burgundian chronicler Georges

who

Chastellain,

time: all,

And he

envy."

his person, for

even

sketched unforgettable portraits of the principal figures of his

To Charles, he

to the

and at the

it

attributed three vices: "changeability, defiance,

added: "There were frequent and diverse changes

was

his habit

summit of

first

.

.

.

and above all

around

when one had been raised high in his company

the wheel, that then he began to be

annoyed with him,

occasion that could provide some sort of justification, he willfully

reversed that person from high to low."

This was the experience of

who were

all

public that rebellions seethed around him.

close to Charles VII;

The duke of Alengon,

it

was so

whom

he

separated from Joan for fear of what their joint enthusiasm might produce, would

one day come 16)

to ally himself with the English.

would join one of the

later revolts

The wise and faithful Dunois

(II,

of the nobility. The king's conduct even

toward his own son was capricious: Every time that the dauphin Louis (the future Louis XI)

won a victory, Charles would recall him to court immediately in order

to neutralize his power.

For the moment, Charles went in rapid succession to Selles-en-Berry and then to Montargis, savoring his victories and receiving the subjects; settling

he did the same

at

homage of

his

Loches, Vierzon, Jargeau, and Issoudun before

down around November

15 in one of his favorite residences, the castle

of Mehun-sur-Yevre. Joan, in the meantime, had been entrusted to the lord of Albret, the half

brother of La Tremoille, lieutenant general of the king in Berry. first

of

all to

Bourges, where she rested for three weeks

at the

He brought her

house of Rene de

Bouligny, the king's general counselor for finance. His wife. Marguerite

La

Touroulde, later recalled Joan's stay and her conversations, and even her bursts of laughter

when

she was asked to hallow rosaries or other devotional objects:

"Touch them yourselves," she said

good

to Marguerite;

as mine!" Marguerite attested not only to Joan's piety

than once with her to mass and to matins in general.

rooms;

at

The two women

night they shared a bed.

Friar Richard

(II,

—but

much

— she had gone more

also to her purity and her behavior

often went together to the baths and to the sweating

a "clairvoyant," Catherine de

same

"your touch will do as

35)

A

before her departure, Joan met with

little

La Rochelle

whom

(II,

37),

who had been

sent by the

Joan had met during the siege of Troyes.

Catherine claimed that every night a White Lady covered in gold appeared to her ordering her to go to the king to treasures, thanks to

tell

him

that she

would discover hidden

which he could afford armed men for

his future combats.

80

PART

Joan received

some

quiers),

Montfaucon-en-Berry

this visionary at

renamed

(later

Ville-

distance from Bourges, near Baugy. She kept vigil with Catherine

two nights

for

THE DRAMA

I:

row without seeing

in a

the

White Lady. Joan then advised

Catherine "to return to her husband, to run her household, and to nourish her children" and wrote to the king that she thought "the business of this Catherine is

nothing but folly."

One

La Tremoi'lle's, was advanced

idea, probably

to

keep Joan usefully

occupied but removed from any possible interference with royal negotiations.

had been able

In that era of insecurity, bandit chieftains in castles or donjons,

terror

among

to establish

themselves

holding merchant and warrior alike for ransom and sowing

the populace.

One

of them, Perrinet Gressart

La

(II,

21),

was already

famous

in the center of France. Installed at

services

now to the duke to Burgundy, now to Bedford, who knew how to control

Perrinet by showering

him with

Charite-sur-Loire, he sold his

favors and money.

La Tremoille was held

prisoner by Perrinet and freed himself only by paying a heavy ransom of 14,000

ecus "of good weight." Increasingly committed to act as an agent of the Enghsh cause, Perrinet proceeded to fortify

La

new

strongholds in the Nivemais. Besides

Charite, he held Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, Dompierre-sur-Besbre, and La-

Motte-Josserand, of which he called himself seigneur. His position eventually

made him

a source of concern to the Burgundians as well as to the French.

Although attacking such a person was not what Joan considered her mission

— she would have preferred

to pursue the invaders in the direction of the

Ile-de-France or Normandy, so as to dislodge them for good lesser assignment.

— she accepted

this

She was accompanied by her steward Jean d'Aulon and by

men-at-arms granted to her by the court. Following the advice of the royal council, she prepared to invade the stronghold of Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier;

halfway between Nevers and Moulins,

become

a dangerous

difficult.

way

station.

The

The expedition was under

hands of mercenaries,

in the

it

had

siege of Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier proved the

command

of Albret, with Marshal

Boussac and the count of Montpensier; the royal army's assault was repulsed.

The

retreat

was already under way when Jean d'Aulon saw

surrounded by a very small group of her her,

he asked what she was doing alone and

others.

She removed her

that she

her

At

men

sallet [flat-topped

was not alone and

that she

still

why

a

few

Maid

others. Riding

toward

she did not withdraw like the

helmet] from her head and answered

had

in her

company

fifty

thousand of

and that she would not depart from there until she had taken the

that time, despite

five

men and

the

men.

...

I

what she

said, she did not

city.

have with her more than four or

said to her directly that she should leave and retire as the others

had done; and then she said that I should bring some bundles of sticks and wicker hurdles to

make

a bridge over the

town moat so

that they could

approach

better.

AND CAPTURE

INTRIGUE. FRUSTRATION. Having

just given

me

that instruction, she cried out in a loud voice:

bundles and the hurdles, everybody, swiftly and then accomplished. at

once by her

headed north Loire. Winter

munitions cities

I

was

make

the bridge!"

entirely

came

much

city

was taken

all

resistance.

The town was taken and Joan's troops

1429.

to attempt the siege

"To the

—which was prepared

amazed, for the

assault, without finding therein very

November of

This occurred in

81

of Perrinet Gressart's capital, La Charite-sur-

early that year, and the small force

Joan sent two

at Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier.

had nearly exhausted

letters

from Moulins

to the

of Clermont and Riom, demanding their assistance in obtaining "the

necessities of war," such as powder, saltpeter, sulfur,

addressed to the citizens of Clermont

which hastened

register of the town,

is

to

A letter

and crossbow bolts.

known only from

its

mention

in the

respond with two quintals of saltpeter

and two cases of bolts. The people of Riom sent money, which arrived too however, they preserved the original of Joan's

any previous

this

letters,

awkward fashion is

(five

letter,

dated

to

late;

November 9. Unlike

one carried the signature Jehanne, written

downstrokes instead of four

plausible evidence that Joan had learned to sign her

and

its

form the double

in

n).

name and perhaps

an

This

to read

to write.

The

La

siege of

Charite,

begun on November

the hardest part of winter and with

few men

at

14,

La Charite

was unsuccessful. "In to besiege

it

.

.

.

[after]

about one month they had to Uft the siege shamefully, even without any relief

having come to the aid of the besieged, and they even lost their bombards and artillery," the

Berry Herald wrote. Another witness, Perceval de Cagny, added

an important comment: "Because the king did not raise funds to send her either supplies or

withdraw

money

to

maintain her company, [Joan] had to raise the siege and

in great displeasure."

Joan, at Jargeau for Christmas, letters

was not

likely to find consolation in the

conferring nobility that the king sent her at the end of

December

at

Mehun-sur-Yevre:

Wishing that

to give thanks for the multiple

and striking benefits of divine grandeur

have been accorded us through the agency of the Maid, Jeanne d'Ay de

Domremy

.

.

.

considering also the praiseworthy, graceful, and useful services

already rendered by the aforesaid Joan the

kingdom, which we hope

The king proceeded

to

to

Maid

pursue in the future.

in every .

.

way, to us and to our

.

ennoble her parents and her brothers; he went so far as

to grant the special favor that, for

Joan and her family, nobility would be

transmitted not only in the male line, which

King Philip the Fair (1285-1314), but

in the

was customary since

female line as well

the reign of

(III, 2).

Charles

82

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

VII, baring his administrative soul, acted like a minister of state granting a

decoration to a functionary he

is

about to send into retirement.

A somber winter was setting in for Joan. part of

She probably spent the greater

Sully-sur-Loire, in the castle belonging to the family of

at

it

La

On January 19, she was invited to a banquet by the city council of Among the guests was the man into whose house she had been

Tremoille.

Orleans.

welcomed

Poitiers, Jean Rabateau,

at

treasury, the

the procurer general of the royal

Chambre des Comptes. The municipal

one of Joan's brothers, who had been with her on invited also.

Another event during

of her campaigns, was

all

was the marriage of the daughter

that winter

who had made

of Hauves Poulnoir the painter,

registers attest that at least

Joan's standard. At the end of

January 1430, Joan wrote to the treasurer of the city of Tours, requesting the

sum of 100 ecus

to

permit the bride-to-be to buy her trousseau. The city

council, however, offered only to pay for the

which amounted

to

Good,

on January

8,

party's bread and wine,

4 livres and 10 sous.

Another wedding, but one Philip the

wedding

at the

peak of

in

high pomp, was celebrated

at

Bruges.

his glory, married Isabelle of Portugal

Duke

(II,

24)

1430. In the midst of these festivities marked by extreme luxury,

he created the Order of the Golden Fleece, a chivalric order for the Burgundian nobility,

and thus gathered knights around him on the model of the Arthurian

Round Table. campaign

Philip

that

named Hugues de Lannoy,

the

man who prepared a military

would soon be launched against the king of France,

as his

negotiator during the truces concluded with Charles VII.

On

February 15 Charles VII

where Joan rejoined him

at the

left

Mehun-sur-Yevre for Sully-sur-Loire,

beginning of March. The optimism with which

the king concluded the truces crushed the elan of the royal army, which began to

show

signs of discontent.

provocative.

He

The

attitude of the

consistently postponed the

duke of Burgundy was more than

commencement

conference that was supposed to be the goal of the truces,

demanding

that the cities of the Oise,

over without delay; in

Champagne. Yet

at the

same

of the peace all

the while

promised him as a guarantee, be handed

time, he did not hesitate to launch an offensive

the activity of royalist "partisans"

was seen everywhere.

Popular uprisings chased the Burgundian garrison from Saint-Denis and the English troops from Melun. In Paris a broad-based conspiracy of popular

bourgeois factions plotted during March: Clerks, artisans, and merchants, led

by a certain Jacques

Perdriel,

were assisted by the monks of the Carmelite

convent, where they assembled disguised as plowmen. Friar d'Allee, aborted the uprising. plotters.

There were more than 150

Under arrests

torture,

arrest of one of them,

he gave the names of fellow

and 6 public executions

April 8; others were thrown into the Seine, and

by paying a ransom.

The

some managed

in Paris

on

to avoid death

INTRIGUE. FRUSTRATION,

The

resistance

was more

lively in

83

AND CAPTURE

Compiegne. In executing the

the count of Clermont had arrived with the king's

demand

truces,

that the inhabitants

surrender to the duke of Burgundy because their city was part, along with Creil

and Pont-Sainte-Maxence, of the truce guarantees. But the people of Compiegne vehemently refused

to obey; the captain of the

French garrison, Guillaume de

Bourbon was able

Flavy, put the fortifications in a state of readiness. Charles de

only to protest to the duke of Burgundy that he could not force the city to obey.

The

inhabitants had

made

and were "resolute

their choice

and

for themselves, their children,

undergo every risk

to

be exposed to the

their infants, rather than

mercy of the duke." Joan used the month of March 1430 to prepare for war. She knew, as she

had declared

to Catherine

from the enemy "except

de La Rochelle, that there would be no

at

the inhabitants of Reims,

letters to

sensed their increasing danger: "Very dear and

well beloved friends

whom

received your

which mention

letters,

reckoning

March she wrote two

lance point." During

who

fair

wish greatly to see again, Joan the Maid has

I

that

you

fear that

you

be besieged."

will

"Know If they come

Without naming the enemies everyone had clearly in mind, she added: well that you should not be at near, shut

your gates, for

make them

all

distressed if I can confront them.

will be very direct with you: if they

fasten their spurs so fast that they will not

and get out of

there,

and very quickly

at that. I will

good and

pray

present, but pray remain

This

I

letter,

very

much

loyal. I

God

eighth, Joan dictated another.

Between those two

learned that a plot was developing in

know how

to put

to

16.

On

citizens

you are well

had

who wanted

reported to the king that in the good city of Reims there are also

faithful to him: "Believe that

and

if

it

to

has been

many wicked

the great majority of

in his grace,

at

the twenty-

dates, the king's court

Reims among

knew

more

keep you safe."

surrender to the duke of Burgundy: "Very dear and good friends,

people," but she said that the king

will

I

them on

write you nothing

March

in her style, is dated

come there,

Reims were

you have

to fight,

he would assist you in the event of any siege; and he knows very well that you

would have much

to suffer

because of the hardships that these treasonous

Burgundian adversaries have imposed on you." Both of these signature; on the originals,

handsome and firmly There letter

is,

her

now

written.

addressed to the Hussites of Bohemia in Joan's I,

letter

that Charles

16).

This

letter,

name by her chaplain, Jean

in Latin, is in line

with the

VII was working toward with the German emperor

Sigismund and with Frederick

IV,

Hussites were part of a religious the

is

however, no signature on the text of another recently discovered

Pasquerel (appendix

rapprochement

letters carry

which have been preserved, her signature

emperor had been trying

duke of Austria. Disciples of Jan Hus, the

movement with

to control

political repercussions,

which

by force for ten years. He had sought

84

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

papal approval for a crusade against them; troops raised in England, thanks to the subsidies approved for that crusade, had been deflected once they arrived at

Calais by Cardinal Henry Beaufort, the bishop of Winchester

now

king was

Good was

In contrast, Philip the

On

offensive. a

not content with a merely diplomatic

available troops. His vanguard

all

of John of Luxembourg.

By

"with his entire force."

On

Westminster on November

6,

1429.

was

men who

"a

The duke of Bedford encoun-

On two

occasions, as he claimed

this

Anglo-Burgundian operation had been carefully

Good wanted above

all to

commanded the crossings of the river Oise,

take possession of the cities

especially those that had refused

dominion, such as Creil and Compiegne. Bedford supported this goal

to protect the Ile-de-France and,

most

specifically, Paris, "heart

head of the kingdom." The duke of Burgundy began operations sixth he

at

refused to go to France "through fear of the devices of the Maid."

The planning of

his

Calais awaiting the arrival

he delivered personal threats and sent instructions drafting

coordinated. Philip the that

at

2),

tered difficulties in recruiting this contingent. letters,

the

who had been crowned Henry soon landed with 200 men and (II,

great supply of livestock and other foodstuffs."

one of his

marched under

the twenty-second, the duke himself left

April 23 Bedford

of the young English King Henry VI

in

The French

April 4, 1430, he was at Peronne, where he had given orders for

rendezvous with

command

(II, 8).

trying to shore up alliances to the east.

was

at

Noyon;

the fortress of

Goumey-sur-Aronde,

in order

and principal

in

May. By

the

to the north of

Compiegne, had surrendered without a blow. He then attacked Choisy-au-Bac, which commanded an important passage across the Aisne; he personally accomplished It

that the following day.

was not

until

May

6 that Charles VII acknowledged his error and

admitted that he had been duped by his cousin of Burgundy. The chancellor,

Regnault of Chartres,

relates: "After

he [the duke of Burgundy] had amused

himself and deceived us for a certain time through truces and otherwise, under the pretense of

peace for the

good

relief of

faith, for

he affirmed that he wished to come and to make

our poor people, who, to the displeasure of our heart, have

now suffer every day the fact of war ... he set himself with make war against us, our country, and our loyal subjects."

already suffered and certain forces to

But while the duke of Burgundy was

setting in

motion a carefully

conceived battle plan and could count on the reinforcement of the English army, Charles VII had prepared nothing. His greatest resource was Joan the Maid,

whom

he had deprived of any effective means of action.

that the

It is

news of her activity spread rapidly, producing panic

"There was a great voice and a great noise

at Paris

nevertheless true

in the Ile-de-France:

and other places hostile

to

the king about her coming," writes Perceval de Cagny. According to Perceval, at the

end of March or early

in April

Joan

left

Sully-sur-Loire with a small

company of

volunteers

Baretta as well as

composed of

85

AND CAPTURE

INTRIGUE. FRUSTRATION,

the troops of the mercenary Barthelemy

some 200 men from

The chronicler

the Italian Piedmont.

maintains that they departed without the king's knowledge and that Joan,

without taking his leave, intended to "go disport herself

war and, without

at

returning to Reims, proceeded to Lagny-sur-Marne.

This implausible scenario exaggerations, since

own

Joan take her military

it

may be one

seems more

risks

of Perceval de Cagny's habitual let

now. In the Battle of Orleans she had been a major

commander, but now

at

commanded

her departure from Sully she

Her steward Jean d'Aulon and her brother

a small band.

but she no longer had a military household, pages,

her,

and his counselors

likely that the king

or,

Pierre

above

only

accompanied

all,

the heralds

who in some sense made a mission official. She was more of a captain, like many who recruited paid troops. Joan headed for the Ile-de-France. She was

own

testimony, during Easter, which

The

city

fell that

must have been sympathetic

the English garrison.

From

to her:

that "the

against the English of Paris and elsewhere"

Geoffroy de Saint- Aubin, and "Canede,"

Melun, according

year during the

to her

week of April

22.

She had just recently driven away

went

there Joan

Enguerrand de Monstrelet affirms

at

to

men

Lagny. In his Chronicle,

of that place waged good war

—along with captains Jean Foucault,

Hugh Kennedy,

a Scotsman.

She then clashed with a band of Anglo-Burgundians commanded by a

famous mercenary, Franquet

d' Arras,

whose companions were put

to flight;

He was claimed by the bailiff of Senlis, him for what we would now call war crimes against

Franquet himself was taken prisoner.

who

intended to prosecute

humanity. Instead Joan wanted to keep him and possibly exchange him for her partisan, Jacquet Guillaume, at Paris

—which shows

who had been captured in the plot recently hatched

that she

was kept up-to-date on

of the Armagnacs in the capital.

Guillaume, his

who

When

probably was condemned and executed along with the rest of

companions, she surrendered Franquet

trial

the acts and intentions

she learned of the death of Jacquet

d' Arras to justice in Senlis.

After a

of fifteen days, he met an end appropriate, in the public's eyes, for such a

mercenary:

He was

sentenced to death as "a murderer, a

One day in Lagny a who had not

point of death

three days; "he

with the

girls

was

on

suddenly awoke.

thief,

and a

traitor."

family begged Joan to aid a newborn baby on the yet been baptized.

as black as

my

The

child had

seemed dead

coat of mail," Joan later declared. "I

for

was

my

knees before Our Lady to pray," she said, when the infant He yawned three times, received baptism, died, and was buried

in Christian earth.

Every inch of Joan's journey can be tracked up arrived

on April 24. The record goes blank

authorities

until

to Senlis,

where she

May 14, when the city Two other important

of Compiegne offered her a reception.

86

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

individuals also attended: Regnault of Chartres, the archbishop of Reims, and

Louis de Bourbon, the count of Vendome. Joan took part to assist

Choisy-au-Bac. which was under the

who was

brother of Guillaume de Flavy,

the

lord,

command

Jean de Brimeu, to

maneuver designed

of Louis de Flavy, the

defender of Compiegne. Later, a

was rebuffed due

surprise attack on Pont-l'Eveque

Burgundian

in a

to the intervention of a

whom the duke of Burgundy had entrusted

command of the city of Noyon. Some days

Brimeu was taken prisoner by Poton de

later, in

the course of an ambush,

Xaintrailles.

The troops

at

Choisy

nevertheless were forced to surrender to the powerful artillery of the duke of

On May

Burgundy.

16,

Louis de Flavy and his

men abandoned Choisy and took

refuge in Compiegne.

Two Vendome,

days

left

later,

Joan, with Regnault of Chartres and the count of

Compiegne heading toward Soissons

in

an attempt to cross the

Aisne River and surprise the Burgundians from the rear on the heights of Choisy.

Although the captain of Soissons, Guichard Boumel, allowed the Maid and the

two great

lords to enter his city, he refused entry to her men-at-arms, alleging

that the inhabitants

had no wish

to entertain soldiers.

The following

the Berry Herald, "the aforesaid lords left Senlis and the aforesaid to

Compiegne, and, unhappy

the city to the duke of

that they

Burgundy and put

she returned to

Maid went

had abandoned Soissons, Guichard sold it

Luxembourg: which he did foully and against

When

day, says

hand of

in the

my

lord John of

his honor."

Compiegne from Crepy-en-Valois, Joan and

reduced force that then accompanied her

— 300

to

400 combatants

the

—traveled

through the night across the forest and entered the city by the Pierrefonds Gate "at a secret

hour of the morning."

On

the following day she prepared a surprise

operation with Guillaume de Flavy against one of the Burgundian posts called

Margny, which was installed along the valley of Oise

to the north of the city

and

commanded by Baudot de Noyelles. The Burgundian chronicler Chastellain, who was not present at those events but who was nonetheless well informed about them, describes Joan

at that point

and provides the

final

image of her as

wamor: She mounted her horse armed

as

would

a

man, adorned with a doublet of

rich

cloth-of-gold over her breastplate; she rode a very handsome, very proud gray

courser and displayed herself in her armor and her bearing as a captain would

have done

.

.

.

and

in that array,

with her standard raised high and fluttering in

the wind, and well-accompanied by city,

The attack failed to attain but

many noble men,

she sallied forth from the

about four hours past midday.

managed

its

to reassemble,

objective.

At Margny, the defenders were dispersed

though not without losses, while John of Luxem-

INTRIGUE. FRUSTRATION,

who were

bourg and the lord of Crequi,

87

AND CAPTURE

riding about to inspect the terrain, took

warning from the tumuU and alerted their troops,

who were

lying in

Clairoix; "by force of spurs" they reached the scene of battle.

ambush

"The noise

arose

all

about and the great din of the voices crying out caused

from

all

sides and

men

at

that

to gather

assistance flowed toward the Burgundians than they

more

needed." The alarm was sounded as near as Venette, where English troops had

come to reinforce those with the duke of Burgundy, and as far as Coudun, where the duke himself then

Joan declared

and

had a

that she

marched toward Margny. had twice driven the enemy from

later that she

third time forced

them

into the

their positions

middle of the

battlefield.

Nevertheless, seeing the reinforcements arriving from Venette and Clairoix, the

French began to withdraw toward Compiegne. Fearing that they would be

overwhelmed, many of them rushed onto the bridge of boats that Guillaume de Flavy

had strung out across the Oise, and Joan, who never withdrew without protected their retreat. Perceval

events as the battle at the foot of the bridge

During

regret,

de Cagny attempted to explain the strange turn of

became

furious:

that time, the captain of the place, seeing the great multitude of

Burgundians and Englishmen ready to get on the bridge, out of fear that he would lose his position, raised the drawbridge of the city

Maid remained

outside and only a few of her

and closed the

men were

gate.

So the

with her.

Other details are etched in Chastellain's description of Joan fighting with her

back

to the wall:

The Maid, going beyond took

much

like the

the nature of

pain to save her

most

valiant

womankind, performed a great

company from

member

loss, staying

of the flock. ...

An

and

like a chief

and

behind

feat

archer, a stiff

and very harsh

man, angry that a woman of whom one had heard so much should have surpassed so

many

valiant

men

.

.

.

laid

hold of her from the side by her cloth-of-gold

doublet and pulled her from her horse

This version of the events the

main gate of the

was not

vital to the

combatants'

at

city that

flat

Compiegne

is

upon

the ground.

suspicious

had been closed but a gate

(III, 10),

since

it

was not

in the curtain wall,

which

defense of the city proper and which prematurely cut off the

retreat.

This

is

why

—though reasonable skepticism

believe that Joan's fear of betrayal

was

Chastellain's report replicates

persists

—some

fulfilled.

what Jean Glenisson has called "the

ritual

who pressed me and tender

of surrender in fifteenth-century warfare." In the midst of enemies her and demanded, each competing with the others, "Surrender to faith" (give

me your promise),

Joan cried out,

"I

have sworn and tendered

faith

88

PART

to another than you,

and

shall

I

THE DRAMA

I:

keep

my

oath."

The archer who pulled her by

her doublet threw her to the earth just as Lionel, the Bastard of Wandomme 42), presented himself to receive her "faith."

John of Luxembourg, whose prisoner she not the only one

who

joyous," Monstrelet

The Bastard was

officially

became.

(II,

a lieutenant of

Wandomme was

hastened to witness her capture: "The Bastard, more

tells us,

"than

if

he had held a king within his hand, swiftly

brought her to Margny and kept her under guard until the end of the

engagement." Not

far

from

there, at

Coudun, was Philip the Good, who hurried,

having been alerted by the "great cries and lively noise caused by the capture of the Maid." [to]

The Burgundian

remember very

chronicler Enguerrand de Monstrelet claimed "not

well, although [he]

actually said to Joan, or

was present there" what Philip the Good

what she said

Monstrelet, chronicler of the

to

him

at this

memorable moment.

House of Luxembourg, frequently

glides over

matters that might not reflect glory on that famous family. There are

some

notable gaps in his account. Not only does he not mention the sale of Joan to the English, but he also suppresses references to her trial, although he does quote

the king of England's letter to prelates and princes announcing the sentence of guilt

and Joan's execution. Monstrelet ends

his often sharply detailed recollec-

tion with this curious spurt of amnesia:

The Burgundian and English

partisans

were very joyous, more than

if

they had

taken five hundred combatants, for they did not fear or dread either captains or

any other war chief as

went

much

they had up to that day this maid.

to see her in the residence

.

.

.

The duke

where she was held and said some words

do not remember very well, although

I

was present

there.

Joan was to be a prisoner for the remaining year of her

life.

that

I

CHAPTER

SIX

JOAN THE PRISONER May 23,

Taken prisoner at Compiegne on place appointed for her

until

trial,

1430, Joan did not reach Rouen, the

Christmas Eve of that year. The seven

intervening months were filled with negotiations concerning her ransom, which

turned into a sale price

—anything but a ransom—of

1 0,000

pounds paid by

the

English crown. The primary agent of that negotiation was Pierre Cauchon,

formerly rector of the University of Paris and bishop of Beauvais (see Part Section 49) 1).

—and hence an

Single-minded and

chiefjudge of Joan

exile,

tireless,

since Beauvais

Cauchon arranged

ecclesiastical

's

trial.

hesitated to

28),

(II,

and his

hand Joan over

influence of three ladies in the

lord, to the

Duke

to

Charles VII

or free Joan. Hostile as they must have been

Luxembourg

have himself appointed

made no

to her,

III,

24])

with

may account for the

week had just passed when

voices, that

is

(II, 3),

whom Joan

thereat but that

I

St.

I

it

to

have

delay.

Joan

Duchess Isabelle of

tried several times to escape

efforts.

found myself in the moat

John's Day, that

should take

seem

spent over three months

at

the voices of Sts. Catherine and Margaret, told

be captured before

ransom

English and the Paris university faction: the

named Joan

but was chided by her 'voices' for those

Easter

effort to

her captor, John of

Philip of Burgundy

fortress of Beaurevoir (and perhaps also that of the

Burgundy

II,

had welcomed Charles VII (II,

it

had to be

so, that

favorably and that

I

Melun, and

me

that

I

my

would

should not be amazed

God would

aid me.

90

PART

Between April before

St.

revelation

and

17

John's

Day

THE DRAMA

1:

would become a prisoner

22, 1430, Joan learned she

From

(June 24).

was about and how much

it

we know what

the trial records,

that

cost her to accept what "her voices told

her":

"From

that place at

Melun, was

it

not said to you by your voices that you would

be taken?" "Yes, often and almost every day, and taken, that

not I

I

me

my

voices

it

times to

know

I

that

it

when

[if,

my

and

in prison,

was necessary

had known the hour,

if I

many

voices

I

be so; but they did

would not have gone

the hour of

was

voices said

my

there.

capture, but they

me."

tell

had ordered you

"If your voices that

well and that

the hour, and

had asked

would not

all

it

my

asked

might die quickly], without long torment

I

should take

tell

I

from Compiegne,

to sally forth

telling

you

you would be captured, what would you have done?" "If

gone

I

had known the hour and

willingly. Just the same,

I

that

I

should be captured,

would have obeyed

the

I

would not have

command

of the voices,

whatever was to happen."

"When you leave and

make

"I did not

to

make

become

left

Compiegne, had you received a voice or a revelation

to

that sortie?"

know

that

the sortie, but

I

it

would be taken that day, and I had no other command

was always

said to

me

that

it

was necessary

that

I

a prisoner."

What Joan's capture represented for her contemporaries is shown in three letters.

The

first,

his exultation

in a circular letter

from the duke of Burgundy

announcing Joan's capture

theme he developed

in a

message

to the

to the

"good

(II, 3),

cities"

expressed

of his realm, a

duke of Savoy:

By the pleasure of our blessed Creator, the woman called the Maid has been taken; and from her capture

will

be recognized the error and

mad

became

sympathetic and favorable to the deeds of this

you

news hoping

this

render

homage

conduct the

that

you

will

to our Creator,

rest of

have joy and consolation

who

who

belief of all those

woman in

it

... and

and

that

we

write

you

will

through His blessed pleasure has wished to

our enterprises on behalf of our lord the king of England and of

France and for the comfort of his good and loyal subjects.

Another

letter

—composed on May

26, three days after Joan's capture,

took place about six-thirty in the evening

—came from

which

the University of Paris,

which probably had learned the news from criers in the streets of the capital only on the twenty-fifth, the day

it

was recorded on

the register of Parlement.

—

91

JOAN THE PRISONER

No

time had been

in the

lost.

name of Jean

The

university wrote the letter to the

Graverent, the Inquisitor of France

(II,

duke of Burgundy

53), urging that Joan

be surrendered to him:

Since

all

loyal Christian princes

of extirpating

among

all

and

errors against the Faith

the simple Christian folk,

diverse errors have been

other places of this adversaries of this affection, you,

other true Catholics are held to the duty

all

and the scandal

and since

it is

sown and published

kingdom by

kingdom

.

.

in

many

cities,

woman named

a certain

such errors

good towns, and Joan,

whom

the

Maid, ... we beseech you with good

call the

most mighty prince

that follows

a matter of common repute that

.

that as

soon as

it

can be done safely and

conveniently, the aforesaid Joan be brought under our jurisdiction as a prisoner since she

strongly suspected of various crimes smacking of heresy, so as to

is

appear before us and a procurator of the Holy Inquisition.

These agents of the University of Paris, leaders of the

no time

to reflect

on the merits of

As

this case.

intellectual elite,

early as

May

needed

1429, they had

smelled heresy in Joan's victories. Once captive, she was thought guiltier than ever of

"many crimes smacking of heresy." During

year of public

life,

the

whole of Joan's second

they would be the zealous and effective instruments of a

vengeance whose bitterness outstripped even

that of the

duke of Burgundy.

A third message, from Regnault of Chartres, the archbishop of Reims (II, 13), to its inhabitants,

explained that Joan had been taken prisoner at Compiegne

because "she did not wish to pay attention to any counsel and did everything her

own pleasure." He retrospectively found faults

in her:

"She had become

at

full

of pride due to the rich garments she had begun to wear. She had not been doing

what God had conmianded her but her own

will."

already sought out, as Joan's replacement, "a

young shepherd of the mountains

whom

of the Gevaudan, this

The archbishop had

in fact

he said to be neither more nor less than the Maid"

was an unfortunate shepherd named Guillaume who believed himself to be

inspired and

would soon pay

Once more

by being drowned

in the Seine.

the voice of the "council of the court" triumphed over those

performing "exploits of the

Joan during May;

for that illusion

it

field."

was with

Regnault of Chartres had spent time with

his aid

and

that of the count of

Vendome, Louis

de Bourbon, that they had made the move toward Soissons that was checked by the treason of Guichard

Boumel. But these two great

lords

had withdrawn when

they learned of the surrender of Choisy-au-Bac. They had decided to return to the valley of the

Mame,

while Joan had, with her small troop of mercenaries

from the Piedmont, turned back toward Compiegne inhabitants and to prevent an to

imminent

siege.

dominate the entourage of Charles VII

The

(II, 1).

in

an effort to comfort

its

party of prudence continued

92

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

Now a prisoner of John of Luxembourg (II, 28), Joan was taken, with her brother Pierre, her steward Jean d' Aulon, and his brother Poton the Burgundian, to the fortress of Clairoix. Pierre Rocolle, author of

the departure

May

from Clairoix on

Jeanne prisonniere, places

26, since

May

On May

26th,

Ascension and therefore a day of truce.

25 was the feast of the

new

positions were taken

by the Burgundians around Compiegne: Philip the Good

set

up

his headquarters at

to

Margny. He had decided

to sequester his prisoner, for

he expected a heavy ransom, in the castle of Beaulieu-les-Fontaines,

which he had taken early

in 1430; its castellan

was

to

Beaulieu, to the north of Noyon. Tradition has

of that twenty-five-mile route Elincourt,

it

Wandomme

be Lionel de

42). Joan, with Jean d' Aulon and her brother Pierre,

(II,

wanted

3)

abbey of Saint-Comeille. John of Luxembourg

establish his headquarters at the

whom

(II,

was

transferred to

that she stopped in the course

of Beauvoir, near the village of

at the castle

where there was a priory dedicated

to St. Margaret; while there, she

received permission to go and kneel in veneration of the one

whose voice she

said she heard.

Today

at

Beaulieu, visitors can see the underground rooms that in the

fifteenth century constituted the

was

briefly lodged.

Isabelle of Portugal

On June (II,

into the presence of the

24),

basement quarters of the tower

6, Philip the

Good

arrived at

in

the

duke and duchess

in the elegant setting of the episcopal

survives, Pierre Rocolle argues that Isabelle

possible that the

It is

(II,

had

was sympathetic

to

young duchess influenced the choice of a more

suitable residence for the prisoner, the castle of Beaurevoir, a larger

inhabited site rather than a mere fortress

by the comings and goings of

The

61),

Burgundian cause. Although no report of the exchange between

two women

Joan.

his wife,

who had asked to see the prisoner. Joan was brought

palace near the cathedral. The bishop of Noyon, Jean de Mailly rallied to the

which Joan

Noyon with

and more

made especially dangerous for a woman

soldiers.

stay at Beaulieu-les-Fontaines

was marked by Joan's

first

attempt to

escape. This probably took place after she had returned from Noyon; the prisoner

learned that she was going to be transferred to a

much more distant site and also

separated from her steward and her brother. At her

"between two pieces of wood" I

shut

my

guard

is

in the tower; if

me!" She may have hoped

mentioned. She

trial,

said: "I

an attempted escape

was

only the porter had not seen

to liberate her

in the castle

me and

and

stopped

two companions once her guard was

shut up in the tower, but the effort failed, and her transfer to Beaurevoir probably

took place in the

No

first

fortnight of June 1430.

contemporary chronicler has

left

an account of the second meeting

Noyon between Joan and the duke of Burgundy, accompanied by the duchess, although it is known that John of Luxembourg and his wife, Joan of Bethune, at

were there as

well.

On

June 22, the University of Paris wrote once again to the

93

jOAN THE PRISONER duke of Burgundy

to

demand

he deHver the prisoner into

that

This time the university was represented by someone

who would become (II, 49), who was

known

to Joan: the bishop of Beauvais, Pierre Cauchon

in exile

from

his diocese since

Pierre

Cauchon was

at

jurisdiction.

its

well

then

Beauvais had gone over to the side of the French. Calais on

May

news of Joan's

26, the day the

capture arrived. Since he was one of the counselors and intimates of the duke

of Bedford

plans were doubtless afoot for the prisoner to be handed over

(II, 9),

as quickly as possible both to the English and the

Philip the

Good was

in

no hurry

with the joy that he had shown It

may be

two

that the

to

accede to

members of the university, but

ladies with

him

at

His attitude contrasts

this request.

when Joan was brought

Noyon

him

to

him

influenced

showing clemency. Later, Joan herself would bear witness wife of John of Luxembourg had shown her

after her capture:

when

to the

to consider

sympathy the

they met again at the castle

of Beaurevoir.

The

stages of Joan's thirty-seven-mile journey

some

Fontaines to Beaurevoir can be reconstructed with that she

paused

the future

at the castle

Napoleon

may

Quentin and

of Ham (where

would be

III,

well have seen

held).

its

from Beaulieu-lesprecision.

It is

likely

much later another famous prisoner,

She must then have passed by Saint-

admirable collegial church.

Nothing remains of the castle of Beaurevoir aside from one tower and fragments of

its

walls. In Joan's time

it

was a mighty

the domains of the family of Luxembourg since 1270,

fortress that

had belonged

to

when Joan of Beaurevoir had

married Waleran I of Luxembourg and thus founded that famous lineage. The greatgreat-grandson of Waleran

Joan of Luxembourg

(II,

I,

Guy of Luxembourg, had four children, one of whom,

27),

bom in

Joan of Arc. Her brother, John

II,

1363, played a role in the remaining story of

had three children,

ni of Luxembourg, who held Joan as his of Bethune,

who by

a

first

marriage had a daughter

was Robert of Bar, who had been

Joan of Arc was imprisoned

of the John on

own

evidently

in the

29),

and John

—her

named Joan of Bar

father

and Joan of Luxembourg, aunt

whom the prisoner's fortune depended.

She was

there, according to

The hardship of her

was

captivity

somewhat alleviated by these three other Joans. As her trial testimony later

allowed that:

queen."

(II,

tower of the keep of Beaurevoir, where

testimony, for about four months.

affirms, they offered her

of these

Louis

John IE had married Joan

killed at Agincourt.

lived three other Joans: Joan of Bar, Joan of Bethune,

her

Peter,

official prisoner.

"I

women's

clothes or the material to

make some, and Joan

would have dressed in women's clothes more willingly at the request

women than of any other woman who might be in France, except On a graver matter, she said: "The lady of Luxembourg asked my

Luxembourg

The

that

I

for

my

lord of

not be delivered to the English."

attitude of the "three Joans,"

much more

than that of John of

Luxembourg, was dictated by a careful recognition of the issues

that

were

94

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

them to choose between the conqueror and their conquered country. John

forcing

of Luxembourg was a vassal of Phihp the Good, duke of Burgundy, and his

conduct was dictated by his fealty to his

lord. Philip

had showered honors upon

him, awarding him one of the original twenty-four collars the Order of the

Golden Fleece on June

and could expect

reprisals should

who had

1430. John had sworn fealty to Philip

7,

he not conform. The ladies of Beaurevoir had

the luxury of freer judgment. John's wife

knights

was

the

VII

(II, 1)

widow of one of those French

Agincourt fighting Henry V. His aunt was a lady-in-

fallen at

waiting to Isabeau of Bavaria, queen of France to Charles

foundation of

at the

when he was bom

(II,

23),

and stood as a godmother

in 1403.

John of Luxembourg might well have found himself indecision during the

month of August 1430: He had

neither his lord nor his aunt.

solid reasons to displease

While Joan of Arc was imprisoned

—by then "very went view (she was sixty-seven) — the lady of Luxembourg

at

Beaurevoir,

ancient," in Enguerrand de Monstrelet's

herself

nephew

in a state of

who had

Philip of Brabant,

to receive the inheritance of her great-

died

at

Louvain on August

4, 1430.

The

counties of Saint-Pol and of Ligny, the lordships that had belonged to her brother

Waleran, then came to her in the absence of any other successor. Monstrelet reports that the lady of Luxembourg either in favor of John:

she gave

him

as she loved her

was most displeased by

was apparently not

activity all

contrast, the University of Paris

France would

try to rescue

demanding ever since of the university and the road

—John of Luxembourg's brother

good

graces.

where one might most expect

expended energy

Joan and so deprive

it

in its fear that the

of the opportunity

it

it.

In

king of

had been

the liberation of Orleans. Pierre Cauchon, former rector

now bishop

of Beauvais thanks to the duke of Burgundy,

from one negotiation

Joan was to remain

to the next all that

summer of

1430.

in the fortress of Beaurevoir until the

end of

1430. In the meantime the English agitated to have the prisoner

handed over tions. In

well,

around Beaurevoir, although not among

the French royal entourage at Bourges,

November

make one

nephew John of Luxembourg

this"

in their aunt Joan's

There was intense

was on

a will or promised to

a great part of her lordship after her passing; his elder brother, the

lord of Enghien,

Peter

"Inasmuch

made

to them.

Cauchon was

particularly apt at handling these negotia-

1430 he was about sixty years of age, and he had had a

both as a diplomat and as a university man.

brilliant career

He had been rector of the University

of Paris as early as 1403, and he had played a leading role throughout the troubles as a result of

which the university had taken the Burgundian side against the

Armagnacs. In 1419, when the theory of the double monarchy, which placed the

two kingdoms of France and England under the single crown of England, was being worked out privileges.

at the university,

He was one

Cauchon was conservator of

the university

of the negotiators' appointed for the Treaty of Troyes,

95

jOAN THE PRISONER and immediately

on August 21, 1420, he was made bishop of

thereafter,

Beauvais. In 1424 he received the capitulation of the town of Vitry on behalf of the king of England; the

Hire

(II,

five years later.

It is

who was

to find

not difficult to imagine what

which he had been forced

the year 1429, in

was

town had succumbed despite the defense put up by La

one of the captains

22),

living just before the

himself fighting

at

Joan's side

Cauchon must have

to flee first

felt

about

from Reims, where he

coronadon and where he had conducted the Fete-Dieu

ceremonies, then from Beauvais

when that town opened its gates to Charles

him would enable him both

VII.

The

negotiations entrusted to

that

double humiliation and to vindicate political theories dear to the heart of

the faculty of the University of Paris, and life.

Checked

in his progress

recover all

prestige if it could be

heretic

and a witch. There was another and

stimulus to his activity as a negotiator: the archbishopric of

had recently

his

shown that Joan, an instrument of the French

was nothing but a despicable

still-secret

which he maintained throughout

by Joan's dazzling campaign and by the sacring of

at

its

avenge himself for

Reims, Cauchon's favored double-monarchy theory might

Charles VII

cause,

to

Rouen

and he, driven out of his own diocese, had hopes of

fallen vacant,

obtaining the preferment as a reward for his good offices.

Cauchon spent June Philip the this

from which he sent the

in Paris,

"to see that

woman is given to the reverend father in God, my lord the bishop of Beauvais."

Cauchon then went to Calais, where the anointed king of

England

who

the

still

duke of Bedford was with Henry VI (H,

hoped

to

be offered, with the understanding

that

2),

also to be anointed king of France.

The conditions for the prisoner's purchase then were set: was

university's letter to

Good and John of Luxembourg quoted earlier, begging them

it

A ransom of 6,000 pounds

might be raised as high as 10,000

pounds, following the rules of normal commercial exchange. In addition, Lionel de

Wandomme, the man who had captured Joan, was granted a pension of 300 pounds. Reaching Compiegne on June 27, Cauchon again wrote

to Philip the

Good and

to

John of Luxembourg detailing new conditions, although the duke of Burgundy had still

not answered his previous

Cauchon conversafion

first

was waiting

letters.

Compiegne on

left

July 7 and on the fourteenth had a

Good and then with John of Luxembourg, who neighboring room for the results of the first encounter.

with Philip the

in a

Apparently, Cauchon was persuasive;

Luxembourg

left for

Beaurevoir.

shortly

thereafter,

he and Joan of

We do not know the details of the conversation

between the bishop and the lady of Luxembourg with the prisoner, but that

Cauchon did not obtain Joan's

other hand,

it

may be

true that

transfer to his authority at that time.

Cauchon's

visit

the reason

seems

On

the

drove Joan of Arc to her second

effort to escape.

"What was

it

you jumped from the tower of Beaurevoir?'

96

PART "I

had heard

that all the people of

would be subjected after

to fire

Compiegne beyond

and sword, and

the age of seven

preferred to die rather than to live

I

such a destruction of good people, and that was one of the reasons

jumped; and the other was I

THE DRAMA

I:

would have preferred

enemies.

.

.

.

After

desire to eat, and

I

that

I

knew

from the tower,

was so wounded I

God

be

in the

was

in that

had comfort from

myself and ask pardon from

I

had been sold

I

to die rather than to

I fell

drink; but nevertheless,

that

for

jump

St.

for having

to the

why

I

Enghsh, and

hands of the English,

my

two or three days without

that

Catherine,

I

could neither eat nor

who told me to confess

jumped and

that without fail the

people of Compiegne would have help before the feast of St. Martin in the winter.

And

so

I

began

Since the feast of

to return to health;

Martin

St.

falls

began

I

and soon

on November

must have been attempted well before

was beginning

Military action

to eat

returned to Rouen, where he met once

I

was healed."

11, the "leap of

Beaurevoir"

that date. to

resume

at the

more with

end of

July.

Cauchon

the duke of Bedford and his

nephew, the young king. While the bishop was busy raising a tax voted by the Estates of lay

Normandy

Compiegne,

siege to

Luxembourg

for the king of England, the still

duke of Burgundy decided

to

held by French partisans; he put John of

in charge of that siege

on August

15.

But

was not a

it

military

operation that decided the fate of Joan of Arc. At the beginning of September, the lady of

Luxembourg got ready

Beaurevoir by

late

to leave for

Avignon. She probably had

left

August, since her advanced age would have required her to

travel in short stages.

Upon

arrival in the papal city

on September

10, 1430, she

drew up her will. She died on September 18. John of Luxembourg, no longer subject to his aunt's influence,

now

fell

under the sway of his brother Louis,

bishop of Therouanne and a partisan of the English. in 1436,

Named archbishop of Rouen

Louis died in England as bishop of Ely in 1443.

Compiegne was

to

besiegers. On October 24, a who had come to reinforce the John of Luxembourg fell back on Noyon and

be liberated from

its

decisive assault was made by Marshal Boussac,

pro-French garrison and citizenry. left

Compiegne "shamefully," according

bards and

artillery.

On

to Monstrelet,

abandoning

the following Saturday, October 28, the

around Compiegne surrendered

little

his

bom-

fortresses

John of Luxembourg returned

to the French.

Beaurevoir, where thereafter his decisions would be law. Joan could

to

fmd

reassurance about the fate of "her good friends of Compiegne," but, ever more certain of her fate, she

St.

Catherine told

God would

aid

would declare

me

me

later:

almost every day that

I

should not try to

and also the people of Compiegne.

And

I

jump and

said that

if

that

God

97

JOAN THE PRISONER aided those of Compiegne,

myself would wish to be down

I

Catherine said to me, "Without any

I

would not

you must accept

there.

And

this willingly

so

St.

and you

you have seen the king of the English." And I answered

will not be delivered until her, "Truly

fault

like to see

him; and

would

I

rather die than be put in the

hands of the English."

For 153 days "Pierre Cauchon took leave of the king, our lord, to do his business, as

much

or to

and

my

at

many

in the city of Calais as in

lord John of

Luxembourg

trips to

my

in Flanders, to the siege before

Compiegne,

Beaurevoir in the matter of Joan called the Maid." For those services the

receiver general of

toumois. The

Normandy,

Pierre Surreau, paid

from the

receipt dates

last

him

amassed the remaining 5,000 pounds

sum of 765 livres By October 24, the Thomas Blount, had

the

day of September.

day of the liberation of Compiegne, the English treasurer,

Arc.

duke of Burgundy

lord the

that

were necessary for the

sale of

Joan of

Cauchon probably departed from the castle of Beaurevoir around that time. Philip the

Good's receiver general of finances, Jean de Pressy, may have

accompanied Cauchon. His presence at Arras,

where Joan also appears

on November

2;

mentioned several times subsequently

is

in the records. Philip the

Joan arrived a week

later.

parting gift that she had earlier requested

two gold crowns

was

arrived there

it is

humble

from the bourgeois of Toumai, twenty-

"to use for her necessities." Tradition alleges that a

painted her portrait in that city; but that "Arras"

Good

In Arras she received the

more

likely, as

Scotsman

Pere Doncoeur argues,

a scribal error for Reims; the portrait (see

III,

15)

was most

likely executed there, at the coronation.

On December 6 Maid to

10,000 hvres toumois

sum

John of Luxembourg was paid for the transfer of Joan the

the English; a receipt of Jean Bruyse, a squire, attests that he received "the [for]

Joan,

who

is

called the Maid, a prisoner of war." This

was dehvered to him by the Norman receiver general, Pierre Surreau. The

On with extreme amazement "We note November 21, it sent a letter to Pierre Cauchon: that the delivery of this woman popularly known as the Maid is long postponed to

University of Paris had done everything possible to speed up the negotiations:

the prejudice of the Faith

Rumor

carried

and of ecclesiastical jurisdiction."

news of Joan's

sale far afield.

A

letter

dated

November

24, recorded in the journal of the merchant Niccolo Morosini and sent

from the

family firm's Bruges branch to Venice by a well-informed observer, makes this clear: "It is certain that the

in that negotiadon

prisoner, directly,

my

Maid was

lord John of

was paid 10,000 crowns Morosini,

who had

left

Rouen

to the king of

(II,

28),

England and

who had made

to deliver her to the English." Yet

Bruges on December

recorded in his Journal: "One heard the duke of Burgundy, and

sent to

Luxembourg

first that

many men

15,

her

more

wrote to Venice as

the lady had been in the hands of

said that the English

would buy her

for

98

PART

I:

THE DFL\MA

money, but at thai news Charles sent them an embassy to never consent to such a deal: to those

men whom

of their

The sUght tremor

if

they persisted, he would give similar treatment

he held hostage."

in a

rumor of this passage

for the suggestion that Charles VII

here there

is

no claim

(11.

1

)

pre\ ent her deliver} to the enemy.

No

made any

is

the sole piece of evidence

made any effort on Joan's

attempted

that he himself

king offered a ransom or

them that he would

alert

to

behalf.

Even

ransom Joan, but only

to

documentary' evidence suggests that the

whatsoever

effort

to free

Joan of Arc.

.\lthough the English government was active, and spared neither time nor

money, the king of France seemed stricken w

ransom for Joan. Only

the hint

m Morosinrs 7(9^^/72^/ suggests he had any interest

in the matter. .\nd in the university's letter to

woman

they fear "that this adversaries

be delivered or

and to

John of Luxembourg we read

lost, for

all

said that

it is

of the King of England] are doing

[i.e..

accomplish and apply to that end

and what

complete inertia in regard to a

ith

the

power

in their

all

that

some of

their understanding by extraordinar\

to

means

worse by money or ransom." These are the only allusions, remote

is

any effort the king of France might be making

indirect, to

whom he owed

to save the girl

crown.

his

But need we be surprised? Contemporar>- accounts of Charles VII suggest that he was w eak in character and of a changeable temperament: "There

were frequent and

di\ erse

changes

when one had been raised high began

that then he

to

all

in his

around

his person, for

company even

be annoyed with him. and.

to the

it

was

his habit

.

.

.

summit of the wheel,

at the first

occasion that could

provide some sort of justification, he willfully reversed that person from high to low."

The

historian

MI

Georges Chastellain.

to

w hom we

o\\ e this portrait,

adds

the fruit all he could suck"

from such

abusive treatment. Moreover, the king was verv careful to foster his

own fame

that Charles

funhemiore ""savored

all

at ever\' possible opportunity: After recovering the

kingdom from

he had innumerable medals struck on which he Victorious."

It

may

be. after

all.

Joan

—

whom

to

"Charles the

he owed them

Joan was always a challenge

once he had

made him king of France, he was

—put out of

the way.

argues that there are several explanations for Charles's First.

called

that contrar\ to all expectations,

received that crown and sacring that to see

is

the English,

to

not sorry

Bonnie Wheeler

abandonment of Joan.

Charles VII: they were never cozy or

comfortable companions, and his abandonment of Joan was a gradual process that

culminated

at

Compiegne but began

Next, once captured. Joan the king did not that Charles

MI

tr>

at least

may have become

a serious public liability,

to arrange to relieve her troops or to rescue her.

and thus

It

may

be

feared that he and his legitimate rulership would be tainted by

Joan's failure to take Pans and by her capture left

from the time of his coronation.

her susceptible, in the eyes of some

— such

at

Compiegne.

for these events

as readers of Christine de Pisan's

—

Ditie de Jeanne d'Arc

—

jOAN THE PRISONER

99

was a

false prophet. Furthermore,

to charges that she

which

window of opportunity in Joan was very narrow: Once she was the

and

officially suspected of heresy,

it

was possible

in the

for Charles VII to rescue

custody of ecclesiastical authorities

no transfer back

to the secular

arm would

have been possible. In addition, within the context of chivalric society and

was an anomaly.

chivalric ransom, Joan

impossible to gauge the impact of

It is

her birth status (although she and her family had recently been ennobled) on the issue of ransom by Charles VII or any of Joan's noble and well-endowed friends, for (again as

Wheeler argues) there was no

legal or social context

upon which

Joan could naturally depend, no noble blood relations whose shifting political

made

allegiances and ample resources enterprise and class

Joan's capture.

ransom so

attractive a

common

commitment.

There were envious persons at

chivalric

in Charles's

entourage

Most notable among these was

who was

Regnault de Chartres,

who might

rejoice

the archbishop of Rheims,

hand-in-glove with LaTremoille and who, as

the head of the delegation that had presented itself to the duke of Burgundy at

Arras exactly one month after the sacring, had (without Joan's knowledge)

signed the truces that betrayed Joan's goals. Events had revealed the folly of these policies; might the archbishop have borne Joan a grudge because he had

been forced

to recognize that

Reference exists to a insinuates that

letter

"God had

he had been duped

in those negotiations?

he had written to his diocesans in which he

suffered that Joan the

Maid be taken because she had

puffed herself up with pride and because of the rich garments which she had taken

it

upon herself

commanded was

her, but

to wear,

and because she had not done what God had

had done her own

finally converted to her

view

later,

will."

But

when

it

this

archbishop of Reims

again became apparent that

only the use of armed force would be effective.

As

far

away

of the duke of Burgundy, produced astonishment

Maid had become

La Broquiere, an

intimate

when he confirmed

that the

as Constantinople, Bertrandon de

a prisoner of the English. People there refused to believe him.

Morosini's informant reports that in the month of August:

damsel had been imprisoned with many damsels

guard, but since she could not be so well guarded that

them

as

He pleased,

molested

"It is said that that

in a fortress

God

under very strong could not do with

she escaped and returned to her people without having been

in her person."

The

belief that Joan could not have

her power was too great, and

been captured or kept

God would

help her to escape

in captivity

—was

almost

universal. In regions that adhered to the French cause, the clergy ordered prayers for her liberation:

At Embrun

three prayers besought the

in the Alps, the

diocese of Jacques Gelu

Lord "that the Maid kept

in the prisons

(II,

19),

of the enemies

may be freed without evil, and that she may complete entirely the work that You

100

PART

have entrusted

to her."

At Tours,

at

I:

THE DRAMA

Meaux, and

at

Orleans, Hturgical hours were

celebrated with these prayers of intention.

Joan probably

left

Arras about

November

A

15.

local tradition there

claims that she was imprisoned in one of the turrets that rose above the Ronville Gate. the

On

the twenty-first, in a letter addressed "to the

King of France and of England,"

Most Excellent

Prince,

the faculty of the University of Paris

"We have recently heard that into your power has now been delivered this woman called the Maid, at which we greatly rejoice, confident that by your good command this woman will be sent to justice to repair the great wickedness exulted:

and scandals

that

have arisen notoriously

in this

kingdom on her account,

to the

great prejudice of the divine honor of our holy Faith and of all your good people."

The professors demanded

that the prisoner

be entrusted to their hands and that

was denied by

the bishop of Beauvais judge her at Paris. This latter request

the

English king. Joan's transfer from Arras to Le Crotoy took place about the same time, the middle of November; it was then that the transfer money was to be

exchanged. The principal stages of that journey, approximately sixty-two miles,

no doubt included the is

likely that

Lucheux and then

castle of

Joan was also brought to the castle

Riquier, the provost and grand chaplain, in

many

Michel the

other abbeys of the

—

the abbot,

monks

Hugues

came

Norman region Cuillerel,

the abbey of Saint-Riquier.

at

Drugy.

— such

as

had embraced the Burgundian cause, but

did not uniformly share his sentiments. Surrounded by her armed

the estuary of the first

Somme

Beyond

time.

Joan must have reached

on the following day. There, she would have seen the it

lay England.

Negotiations about the disposition of the prisoner Pierre

of Saint-

passed by. As

Fecamp and Mont-Saint-

escort, after passing through the great forest of Crecy,

sea for the

Two monks

to greet her as she

It

Cauchon was

made

rapid progress.

December, obtaining from the duke of

active during

Bedford an agreement about the place where the prisoner would be judged and then ensuring the conditions of due process acceptable to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, for the trial

had

to take place in a safe location

and be correct

in

procedure.

To serve

as Joan's

judge within the requirements of technical propriety,

Cauchon should have arranged

for the trial to take place

somewhere

in the

diocese of Beauvais, since the prisoner's capture on the right bank of the Oise

might have validated his jurisdictional competence. According

to the rules of

by the bishop of his

tribunals of the Inquisition, a person

must be judged

or her birthplace or in the diocese in

which the crime of heresy was committed.

But since Compiegne was surrendered to

either

in the diocese of Beauvais,

the king of France, Bedford decided

place at Rouen, the

Norman

capital,

and Beauvais had

that the trial

would take

where English power had been securely

estabhshed for twelve years. Cauchon, as bishop of Beauvais, had no right to

101

JOAN THE PRISONER act as a judge in

authorities of

Rouen

circumvent the chapter of

Rouen, but Bedford had previously asked the ecclesiastical

Cauchon a "commission of territory"

to grant

rule.

A

Rouen and obtained by an

immediately surged into action.

He

act dated

December

28, 1430.

is

assistants.

The

three

in juridical matters

men must have

end of January 1431. In the meantime, men-at-arms

left

named Gerard

successively visited

couleurs, and Toul; the results of their query

to

The envoy, whose

not recorded, went to Chaumont, where both Nicolas Bailly, a notary,

and a clerk competent

fifty

Cauchon

sent an agent to Lorraine charged with

gathering information about Joan's childhood and youth.

name

in order to

delegation of venue was formally requested by the

at

Petit

became

his

Domremy, Vau-

would not reach Rouen before the

Cauchon's request, an escort of some

with him to ensure Joan's final transfer from Le Crotoy

Rouen. This group was composed of two "furnished lances," or ten men-at-

arms with twenty-five archers and the men necessary

to take care of the

baggage

and the transport of the transfer ransom, which must have been paid around

December

15.

This

last stage

of the journey must have taken place swiftly.

In Pierre Rocolle's reconstruction of her itinerary, Joan led in a boat that the

mounts

from Le Crotoy

Somme

—

traces in

to Saint- Valery-sur-Somme, following the

its

—

the bulk of the troop

crossed the

There was probably a halt

town of Eu,

Somme by the bridge

at

Abbeville,

horsemen on boats would have been

at Saint- Valery

and perhaps also

fifteen miles away, if the crossing of the estuary

itinerary thereafter probably followed for

some time

was

in the little

swift. Joan's

the route of the ancient

Roman road through Arques and Bosc-le-Hard. Without having to pass the city of

through

Rouen, the escort reached the castle of Bouvreuil, constructed

thirteenth century

Beauchamp,

by King Philip

the earl of

Warwick

II

was Christmas Eve, 1430.

in the

Augustus and now the residence of Richard

(II,

Henry VI. It

channel

estuary at high tide, while the knights and their

since the transport of fifty horses and difficult.

must have been

43), guardian of the

young English king

CHAPTER SEVEN

JOAN'S TRIAL

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN This chapter reports the extraordinary record of Joan

's

trial

by an inquisitorial

court composed of dozens of professional experts directed by the hostile

presiding judge, Pierre Cauchon (see Part the

end of May 1431, they against

girl,

would

later

whom

make

they

Section 49).

and entrap

tried to confuse

this

had not formulated a charge

this trial

easy to

finally confused by her judges

Church Militant on

II,

'

nullify.

until

barely literate peasant

—a procedural flaw that

She stood them off until the very end,

decision that she

the matter of wearing

From January 9

had refused

to

submit

to the

men 's clothes. Joan had agreed to sign

a document abjuring her "voices" on the understanding that she would be transferred to an ecclesiastical prison in the custody of

remain her

in

women, rather than

a military prison guarded by hostile English soldiers

virginity.

Betrayed on

this

who

point by Cauchon, she resumed

was thus declared a 'relapsed heretic, and was burned at the stake '

marketplace at Rouen on

She was nineteen years

It

took

five

conviction.

May

30, 1431.

Her ashes were

clothes,

in the

public

scattered to the wind.

old.

months to complete the proceedings

The proceedings, from January 9

into three phases:

threatened

men 's

to

May

that

culminated

in Joan's

30, 1431, can be separated

from January 9 through March 26, the "proces

the judge's investigations before the official trial in court;

d' office," or

from March 26

—

104

PART

through

May

l:

THE DRAMA

24. the "ordinary" trial that culminated in Joan's recantation, or

"abjuration": and finally, on

The tower

in

May

May

28 and

w hich Joan was held was

29. the brief relapse

still

standing

nineteenth century. Several witnesses said that the that enclosed a "vast

first

certain: WTiat is

is

to modifv' their

and

cell

views of the layout,

of her detention.

site

neighboring wings probably rose above three indenta-

its

tions in the thickness of the wall foundation.

window, no doubt provided with with which

it is

today called the Joan of Arc Tower represents the

heavily restored remains of the ancient keep, not the

Her

fields;

story looking toward the exterior of the

Recent excavations ha\e led scholars

but one thing

beginning of the

at the

Crowned Tower, one of seven

lower court" in the fortress of Bouvreuil, faced the

thought that Joan's cell was on the fortress.

trial.

One of them corresponds

second would have been the

bars: a

to the

latrine

towers of that type were equipped: and the third space must have

all

communicated

directly with the staircase;

it

probably gave access to some sort

of tunnel that permitted anyone standing there to hear what was said in the prisoner's cell without being seen.

Such

been exercised through the flooring

that separated the cell

on the story above, was the primary responsibility of

who was

assisted

which also could have

surveillance,

from

a royal squire.

Cauchon

(II.

visitor

castle.

the lowest rank, those

modem

Beauchamp

They were

who

French has come

to

mean

in quite a

La Pierre, at

her

a

trial.

that he

(II.

a

word

that in

'abusers.' "I

saw her

in the prison

of the castle of

dark room, chained and with leg irons." declared Isambart de at

Rouen and an

certain Pierre Daron, lieutenant of the bailiff of

saw her

and the

Englishmen of "

French houssepaillers,

Dominican of the convent of Saint-Jacques

A

vigilant

43). the earl of Warwick

assisted in their jobs by "five

are called in

Joan was spared no humiliation.

Rouen,

would be

who was not authorized in advance and in person by Pierre

49) or by Richard

governor of the

John Grey,

by two other Englishmen. John Berwoit and William Talbot.

All three had been required to swear on the Bible that they

and forbid any

counterpart

its

assessor

Rouen, recalled

"in a tower of the castle, with leg irons attached to a large piece

of wood: she had several English guards." The most complete details were given

by the usher Jean Massieu ing the prisoner tribunal met.

(II.

63).

whose

from the place where she was detained

She was, he

said, in the

two

accompany-

to the place

where the

hands of "five Englishmen," of whom three

spent the night in her cell and two outside that at night she slept with ver>' tightly to

responsibilities included

it

at the

pairs of irons

know

for certain

legs, attached

by a chain

door.

on her

"And

I

another chain that was connected to the foot of her bed.

anchored by a large piece of wood

five or six feet

itself

long. The whole contrapfion

was fastened by a key." Joan thus wore leg irons during the day, and this fetter a

at

night her jailers attached to

chain that connected the foot of her bed to a piece of wood that she could

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

JOAN'S TRIAL

not possibly have moved. Massieu

back irons

to

testified:

"Whenever

she was always in leg irons." She could not,

it,

from her prison

to the hall of

I

led her ft'om her cell or

have walked in leg

in fact,

judgment without

105

assistance.

From

her

first

appearance before the tribunal, Joan complained "of being held and chained and in these iron hobbles."

Cauchon had taken even stronger precautions: Fearing that Joan

might escape, he had a certain Etienne Casdlle forge an iron cage

in

which she could

have been kept standing upright "fastened by the neck, the hands, and the

The

feet."

cage does not seem to have been used. Physical restraint, however, must have seemed inconsequential compared to the mental torture to which Joan had to submit: the

mockery of the guards,

the hostile shouts, the obscenities

appeared in the courtyard of the

How

whenever she

could she have preserved her virginity and

remained "Joan the Maid"? According (II,

insults

castle.

in these conditions

Guillaume Manchon

and

62), the

young

to the principal notary of the trial,

feared "that at night her guardians

girl

would do her some violence," and "one or two times she complained

to the

bishop of Beauvais, to the subinquisitor, and to Master Nicolas Loiseleur

[II,

60] that one of the guards had wished to violate her."

Someone seems inquests were

still

to

have intervened on her behalf. At Rouen, while several

under way in her

home

country, she had to undergo once

that

examination of virginity to which she had already been subjected

this

time

it

more

at Poitiers;

was conducted under the auspices of Anne of Burgundy, duchess of

Bedford. The examination took place before January 13, 1431, since the duchess

and her husband

examined

her,

left

Rouen on

Anne Bavon,

Burgundy may

is

that date.

The name of one of

known. Joan's

virginity

was duly

the matrons attested.

who

Anne of

well have forbidden Joan's guards to molest her.

The ambiguity of Joan's prison at Rouen. Pierre for heresy, so this

situation

Cauchon and

had

to

was evident from her

first

days in the

the University of Paris intended to try her

be a church

trial.

According

to

normal canon-law

procedure, Joan should have been detained in an ecclesiastical prison, guarded

by women; and thus she would have received moderately humane treatment. Yet throughout the

by

soldiers.

trial

Joan was treated as a prisoner of war, chained and guarded

To disguise

duke of Bedford

(II,

9)

this legal inconsistency, the

had recourse

bishop of Beauvais and the

The lock of

to a legal fiction:

the door of

her prison cell was secured by three keys, of which one was to be kept by

Cardinal Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester

during the

trial's entirety,

Cauchon himself or 52),

the

and the two others were

to

promotor (prosecutor, more or

and by the vice-inquisitor, who was

Inquisitor of France

(II, 8),

(II,

to

who was

to

be present

be held by the judges, less),

Jean d'Estivet

(II,

be designated by Jean Graverent, the

53). Since all three

were

clerics, the fiction

could be

maintained that she was entirely subject to ecclesiasfical custody. This procedural trick had no more validity than the prohibition that Cauchon tried to

106

PART

impose on Joan during her to leave

THE DRAMA

appearance before the tribunal:

without our permission the prison

castle of

But

first

I:

cell that

"We

forbid you

has been assigned you in the

Rouen, under the penalty of being convicted of the crime of heresy."

this did not fool the prisoner,

prohibition:

were

if I

offended or violated ambiguity:

Was

who immediately replied: "I do not accept that no one would blame me for having either

to escape,

my

Her drama and her

faith.**

now turned on

life

that

she a prisoner of war or an alleged heretic?

Joan reveals here as elsewhere that she considered herself an archetypal political prisoner

and

— persecuted because she threatened and annoyed her captors This accusation of heresy — and not deliberate

their ideology

a

heretic.

permitted her judges also to impugn the king of France: Since he

owed Joan

crown, the legitimacy of his authority would be thoroughly tainted

found

guilty.

bom when

the faculty of the

University of Paris, in a densely argued dossier written by one of

defended the

Petit,

political assassination of

John the Fearless. This was the extolled political assassination.

on Joan's

first

members.

Louis of Orleans by his cousin

time since antiquit>' that intellectuals had

What was

Burgundy

was

fIL 3)

the impact of this intellectual climate

manipulating both ideological

skillful at

and the more turbulent sectors of public opinion. He knew how

the support of the university professors

High Boucherie.

on one hand and on the other

the masters of the Paris butchers* guild,

disposal practically an

army of cutlers and

skinners, and

the Parisian revolt led by the eloquent skinner

controlled the city for tlve months

put an end to

Among

Simon Caboche and

the

supporters

m

at their

who had already joined They

in 1413.

the lethal blades that they, as

the

Burgundian faction

introduced a program of social reform, which finally bourgeoisie so nervous that they called

to gain

that of the

who had

Simon Caboche

armed with

Caboche and

butchers, had a right to own.

who

its

trial?

Philip of theor\-

she were

This conflation of ideology with politics and religion was already

well estabhshed in Pans. Joan had not yet been

Jean

if

his

made

Pans

in

the wealthier

the troops of the .Axmagnac faction,

his revolt.

of that revolt

was an

faction

intellectual

entrenched in the University of Paris. Caboche's quasi-revolutionar\' coup had

seemed

to

them

key element

a convenient

in their

way

to take

grand scheme

to

power

in the capital,

win master}- of the

and

entire

this

was

a

kingdom, as

eventually of the Universal Church.

The Catholic church was then deeply divided by 1415: see "Prelude"*). To bind that

empowering

rift,

the Great

Schism

( 1

378-

the Paris intellectuals strongly supported

the institution of the General

Council so

that

it

would

act as cornier

of the church along with the papacy, in a situation loosely parallel to the

w ay

that the kingdom of England was ruled by Parliament and the crown. The English

Parliament had assumed increasing power during the reigns of the

last

four

JOAN'S TRIAL Plantagenet kings— Edward

I

(1327-1377), and Richard

II

AND EXECUTION

107

AT ROUEN

(1272-1307), Edward

II

(1307-1327), Edward

III

(1377-1399); the Lancastrian kings Henry IV

3- 1 422) were even more beholden to Parliament. ( 1 400- 1413) and Henry V ( 1 4 1

The University of Paris

intellectuals probably

hoped

to

make

the French

national assembly, the Estates-General, as powerful as the English Parliament

had become.

VI (II,

If

France became part of a dual monarchy reigned over by Henry

a boy-king likely to stay

2),

the French part of his

weak even after he had outgrown his regency,

kingdom might become a realm ruled by

General, which the Paris intelligentsia thought

and

the Great Councils (Constance, Basel,

largest

could control. Since they saw

it

dominant

their successors) as the

group of university professors must have

institution of their future church, this

dreamed of

the Estates-

mastery over Western Christendom as well as

their eventual

its

and most populous constituent kingdom, France. The eventual success

of their plan seemed inevitable to them. The Treaty of Troyes, which Cauchon,

had indefatigably negotiated,

the former rector of the University of Paris,

established a

new polity founded on feudal conquests and justified by the clergy.

But Joan of Arc, a peasant

girl

structure by her victories in

from nowhere, endangered

war and her

sacramental anointing of Charles VII's coronation

For the University of Paris, Joan's

this

trial

new, progressive

on the

crucial insistence

traditional

(II, 1).

was

also a chance to claim the

prestige of the Universal Church, even before the General Council had achieved maturity.

ended

Although by now Pope Martin

in Joan's youth, in

1415

V was the sole pope—the Great Schism

—and although he upheld papal

supporters of conciliar supremacy,

it

was not yet

authority against

clear that he could contain the

challenge to papal power of the General Councils. Even before the great councils

of Constance and Basel, the University of Paris had exercised decisive influence over the whole church by dominating the periodic councils called of the Avignon popes.

By

at the

behest

the adroit exploitation of highly visible heresy trials,

might not the university regain the effective regency of Christendom

that

it

had

enjoyed in the days of the Avignon papacy? The leaders of the Council of

Constance had profited greatly of Jan

Hus

(at least in the short

as a heretic in 1415: to

Cauchon and

a precedent for the case of this ignorant girl

run) from their condemnation

others, that

must have seemed

whose insolence would

surely be

easy to crush.

The exemplary virginity test,

trial

on which

that faction

counted began badly. The

which could have convicted the Maid of falsehood, had turned

to

her advantage. The inquest into her habits and virtue that was undertaken in her

homeland

failed to

produce compelling evidence against

gated twelve or fifteen witnesses at

Domremy and

her.

Having

in five or six

interro-

neighboring

parishes, Cauchon's representative Nicolas Bailly "had found nothing about

Joan that he would not wish

to find

about his

own

sister."

An exchange

of

108

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

among the investigators confirmed this impression. Although the bailiff of Chaumont abused them as "treacherous Armagnacs." the investigators information

brought back nothing that could be used as a heresy charge against Joan.

As

fmd no grounds on which

a consequence, the judges could

formulate an accusation. In his punctilious analysis of the condemnation the

to

trial,

modem scholar Pierre Tisset argues that, through a striking procedural flaw.

Joan was condemned only on the basis of the interrogation to which she was subjected

Rouen. Nothing was proven against

at

words alone,

13

were interpreted by her enemies,

Cauchon erected

).

The

most

the

(II.

59).

who

more

by saying

He

trial.

much

that "as

to

Joan of

trial

(see

.Arc.

friar

the

of the convent of Rouen. Jean

trial,

Lemaitre had responded to Cauchon's

for the serenity of his conscience as for a

he did not wish to be involved in

this present

alleged that he did not have the authority, because his jurisdiction

extended only over the

cities

of the dioceses of Rouen, and "this

launched on borrowed territory"

—

borrowed from Rouen,

of Beauvais on what had been declared his

Cauchon

fiction.

was condemned.

should have been the chief of the two judges required in

certain conduct of the

affair."

monument

lasting

Dominican

a properly conducted inquisitorial invitation

that she

the basis of her

Cauchon and Bedford faced were aggravated by

difficulties that

reticence of the vice-inquisitor, a

Lemaitre

was on

it

by preserving so carefully her words and the minutes of her

Ironically, III.

as they

her:

protocol, and he

insisted

on preserving

demanded

Lemaitre's presence.

It

trial

is.

had been

by the bishop

own jurisdiction by means

of a legal

element of inquisitorial judicial

this

that Jean Graverent. as Inquisitor of France, require

was only on Februan.-

been completed and the

that

trial's

22. after the preliminaries

second session was

beginning, that

had

Lemaitre

appeared. Despite the care Cauchon took to respect the forms of an inquisitorial trial,

it

began with several

irregularities:

The

inquisitor

was absent:

the

information" prejudicial to Joan's religious conformity was

"preliminar}'

anonymous, from undisclosed sources: and no formal charges were brought against

prisoner.

the

phenomenon"

Tisset

for this trial to

argues

that

it

was an

"entirely

exceptional

have been based exclusively on the interrogation

of the accused without anyone, including the accused herself, knowing what

charge was being brought against her.

Although Cauchon had assembled an imposing preside alone, except on those

him.

occasions when he could

tribunal, he

tended to

get the inquisitor to join

He wrote letter after official letter and made a special appeal to the cathedral

chapter of Rouen, which the king of England had informed of the change of

venue

in a

"Commission of

Territor\'" permitting the

exercise jurisdiction at Rouen. In one

demand

letter.

Cauchon

bishop of Beauvais to

explicitly

mentioned the

of the Universit>' of Paris that he be appointed to conduct the

terms of this

last

document underscore

the trial's political nature:

trial.

The

"Our intention

JOAN'S TRIAL

is to

AND EXECUTION

109

AT ROUEN

recover the aforesaid Joan and get her back under our control on one or

another of the charges regarding our Faith

if it

should happen that she should

not be convicted or attainted with the charge of heresy."

The

public session of the

first

On

day of Lent.

that

was held on Ash Wednesday,

trial

Wednesday, February 21, 1431, about 8 o'clock

morning, Joan found herself facing forty-four imposing persons day's transcript.

the first

Among them

in the

listed in that

were nine doctors of theology, four doctors of

canon law, one doctor of "both laws"

(the civil

—a holder of — seven bachelors of

and the canon)

degree of J.U.D. (Juris Ultriusque Doctor) from Bologna

the

theology, eleven licentiates in canon law and four in civil law, as well as the

promotor, Jean d'Estivet. Contrary to the traditional procedures of the Inquisition,

Joan stood alone, without a lawyer to represent her. Her detention does not

seem to have weakened her will or resistance, of which Cauchon became aware from the

first

formality,

when

know about what you wish will ask

she resisted the swearing of an oath: "I do not

to interrogate

me," she answered, "and perhaps you

me things that I will not tell you." This was followed by a new and more

urgent exhortation by the bishop:

"Swear

to tell the truth

concerning whatever will be asked you that has to do

with the Catholic faith and with anything else that you know."

"About

my

road to

come to France,

father and mother, and everything that I

anything about the revelations

my

visions that

I

have done since

shall willingly swear; but never

made

to

me by God

And even if you wish to cut my head off, from

1

must keep them

I

have

I

took the

I

said or revealed

except to Charles,

my

will not reveal them, because

king.

know

I

secret."

This line of questioning persisted, and Joan continued to answer in this vein in successive encounters. Finally, Joan, on her knees with her two hands on the missal, swore to

tell

the truth about whatever

would be asked her concerning

matters of religious belief

Then had I

to begin

was bom,

I

the interrogation proper began. Every detained or accused person

by stating name, forename, and social

was

class: "In the

country where

called Jeannette, and in France Jeanne [Joan]. ...

was

I

bom

Domremy-Greux; the main church is in Greux. My named Jacques Dare, and my mother Isabelle." She then named her

in a village that is called

father is

godfathers, godmothers, and the priest Jean Minet

she gave her age: "as best as

I

can

tell,

who had baptized her; finally,

around nineteen years."

Another obstacle arose. The bishop instmcted her to say the Pater Noster (Our Father) to

to

which Joan answered: "Hear

you willingly." Joan's wish

me

in confession

and

that the bishop hear her confession

I

will say

—

it

evidently

110

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

not in conformity with the customs of an inquisitorial it

invoked Cauchon in his priestly

role,

—was

which required him

much importance

sacrament of penance as

trial

clever, in that to

accord the

as did Joan. Despite the bishop's

insistence, she refused to recite this basic Christian prayer unless he agreed to

hear her confession. She then spoke about the fashion in which she was held in prison by "five Englishmen of the lowest rank." She was instructed to appear the following day at the

On

same

hour.

the following day she appeared for the second time.

day's exchange regarding the oath yesterday;

it

was reenacted:

"I

should be enough for you. You are burdening

consented, nevertheless, "to

Jean Beaupere

(II,

tell

47),

the truth

The previous

gave you that oath

me

too much." Joan

on any points touching the Faith."

one of the assessors, was put

in

charge of the

Cauchon, he had been rector of the University of Paris

interrogation. Like

(in

1412 and 1413); he achieved the confirmation of the university's privileges from the

queen of England and the duke of Gloucester

sent

him

to

Troyes to

1420. Subsequently

assist

named

Cauchon during

in 1422; the university

had

the negotiations for the treaty of

a canon of Rouen, Beaupere continued to act as an

English agent and later was sent as the official ambassador of the king of England to the

Council of Basel, where he arrived on

execution. In 1435, King

pounds "for

his

28, 1431, just before Joan's

Henry VI awarded him an annual payment of 100

good services

collected benefices

May

in

France and

at the

—becoming canon not only

Sens, Paris, Beauvais, Laon, Autun, and Lisieux

at

Council of Basel." Beaupere

Rouen but

—

also at Besangon,

despite the fact that he could

not physically celebrate mass: His right hand had been crippled during an

encounter with brigands.

Beaupere asked Joan questions about her youth, about what she called her "voices," and about her activities between the time she her arrival at Chinon.

He

left

Vaucouleurs and

asked her hardly anything about her exploits

at

and Patay but concentrated on Saint-Denis, "the skirmish before the

Orleans city of

Paris":

"Was

that not a feast

Joan answered,

"Was

that well

"Move on

day?"

"I think

it

was

a feast day."

done?"

with your questioning."

This line of interrogation swiftly reviewed her activities, concentrating only

on the attack she led on September Virgin Mary,

when Joan had

8,

1429, the feast of the Nativity of the

tried to take the

Saint-Honore Gate

at Paris.

After lengthy questioning, Joan was instructed to appear the next day, on Saturday, February 24.

JOAN'S TRIAL

A

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN among the once come

surprise awaited her, for

who had more

Loiseleur,

than

was

assessors

111

the priest Nicolas

to visit her in her prison cell,

Meuse

pretending that he was Joan's fellow countryman from the banks of the

and her fellow prisoner. As a he

won

priest,

her confidence, he did so.

he had offered to hear her confession; once It

was revealed much

later in the trial that

Guillaume Manchon, one of the assigned notaries, along with Boisguillaume

(II,

48) ("and other witnesses,"

hide near the nook that opened onto Joan's

was saying or confessing

From

to the aforesaid Loiseleur."

in her refusal to

demanded

assessors eventually in

added), was ordered to

order to overhear what "she

cell, in

the beginning of the interrogation, Joan grew increasingly restive

and more stubborn

answered

Manchon

his assistant

annoyance

at

swear oaths. Cauchon with several other

that she

swear another oath, because Joan had

one point: "Let

me

speak."

The usher Jean Massieu

reported later that in these interrogations, which generally lasted from 8 to 11

o'clock in the morning, all at

once, so that

'Fair sirs, ask

am

me

was standard for several judges

"many times she one

said to those

after the other.'" In

ready to swear to

trial," the

it

who were

what

shall

I

minutes carry a significant addition: "But

everything that

I

interrogating her:

any case, when she finally

the truth concerning

tell

ask their questions

to

said: "I

know about

this

shall not ever say

I

know."

Throughout her interrogation, Joan placed herself in a dangerous position by claiming

to

be in communication with the world beyond, to which she

referred by the general designation of her "voice" or "voices."

asked

if

She was clear

When

about her sense of the supernatural character of her mission.

Beaupere

her voice had forbidden her to say anything about what would be asked

of her, she reserved the right to answer

later.

Joan countered the question "Did

he forbid you to make his revelations known?" by asking: "If the voice forbade

me

to,

me say about it?" She added, "Know for certain men who have forbidden it!" She insisted on the distance

what would you have

that these are not

between the world with which she claimed

to

surrounded her: "I have greater fear of failing that displeases

them than

my

king

Easter,

me many

knew

though

question:

at this it

things for the advantage of

moment, even

would be joyous

"Do

I

have to

tell

if

as a result

to feast!"

that

my

you

I

had

which

I

dearly wish

from wine

to fast

my

until

will escape

from prison?" To which

you that?"

would not know how

interrogator to ask the

I

king,

last night,

Her bravado provoked a devious

Her speech was often eloquent. When she grace of God,

which

have of answering you." Her tone, never that of an

"Has your voice revealed

she responded:

that

voices in saying something

sometimes amused, even blustering: "This

ecstatic or a mystic, is

voices told

I

communicate and

my

to

said: "If

it

were not for the

do anything," Joan provoked the

famous question: "Do you know

if

you

are in the grace

112

PART

of God?" Her answer: "If

God keep me knew

that

there, for

was not

I

I

I

am

THE DRAMA

I:

may God

not,

would be

me

put

most sorrowful

the

And if I am, may woman in the world if I

there.

grace of God." The notary Boisguillaume later

in the

declared, in the nullification

who were

of 1455-1456, that "Those

trial

interrogating her were stupefied." Joan's answer here echoes a prayer found in

Was Joan inspired by that prayer? Or could

three fifteenth-century manuscripts.

her response, sublime in latter is

more

simplicity, have influenced

its

composition? The

its

would hardly have been so astonished

likely, for the assessors

if

Joan had merely repeated a familiar formula.

The notary asked

that the questioning stop at that point. Stenographers

had written the questions along with Joan's answers later amplified and translated into Latin

in French; their record

But from

(III, 13).

this point

was

forward,

Joan's repUes were recorded in indirect discourse, rather than in the direct

quotations recorded until her simple, sublime reply. For instance: "She said that if

she had been in sin, she thinks that the voice

she wished that everyone could hear

it

Cauchon and

speculate that

two contradictory outcomes: they wanted

associates wanted

transcript, but they did not

want Joan

to

to her,

and

Why was this change

as well as herself"

Some

in record-keeping technique made?

would not have come

his

to preserve the

seem so persuasive, and the force of her

personaUty could be muted in indirect discourse. Their worried reaction to her replies

is

attested even

more

strikingly

French stenographic record. One replies

began

by the presence of several erasures

be recorded in indirect discourse. Hereafter,

to

when

such erasure occurs at this point,

we have

the transcript's indirect discourse to the direct discourse that

in the

Joan's

converted

reasonable to

it is

assume was actually spoken. Impressed as they seem

remained

hostile.

Domremy. The

Jean Beaupere

inquest

had assumed

Some so,

moved

to "tell

to

him

had "received her mission

own

inquest had said so, her

at the

and she had needed

Joan's reply, the tribunal

had probably revealed

at the village

of the witnesses

at

to the question of the Fairy Tree

villagers thought that Joan

most of her fellow Fairy Tree."

made

have been

to

him

to the contrary."

others call

it

the Tree of the Fairies; near

people sick with fever drink their health. I've seen people

or not

is

at the

Through

It's

at that

do

a tree called the Tree of the Ladies; it is

a spring. I've heard

spring and go

that myself, but

a big tree called a beech

—from

it

I

it

said that

there to get water to regain

don't

comes

know

the

if

they get well

maypole

that

say belongs to Monseigneur Pierre de Bourlemont, a knight. Sometimes to

walk around there with the other

the

girls,

image of Our Lady of Domremy.

and from

that tree

I

made

I've seen these garlands

people I

used

garlands for

hung on

that

brother

line of questioning Joan evokes a village feast:

Close to the village of Domremy, there

at

the

this

JOAN'S TRIAL

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

branches of the tree by young

there. ...

She continued with it

I

know

don't

danced around

if I

might have danced with the children, but

I

see

and sometimes

a description of the Bois

from the door of my

was not

father's house,

afraid to admit that she

from the neighborhood of

that tree after the

sang more than

I

it's

and

from

saints

whom

age of reason;

danced.

only half a league away"). She that

would come a maid who would do noble it."

on the following Tuesday, February 27.

names of the

I

left

Chesnu, the Oak Grove ("You could

and

This rich Une of questioning terminates set

did that along with the

had been asked about prophecies claiming

that grove

things; "but," she said, "I never believed

was

I

sometimes we took them away with us afterward and sometimes we

others;

them

girls,

113

at this point.

On

that day,

A

new

direction

Joan revealed the

she said she received revelations:

St.

Catherine

Margaret. Jean Beaupere directed the interrogation on this topic as well.

St.

Having asked, apparently

casually, if Joan

were fasting during the current Lent,

he resumed questioning about the voices: "Had Joan heard that voice

last

Saturday?"

"I did not I

understand the voice very well, and

can repeat to you

"What did "It told

until

the voice

me

that

I

returned to

I

tell

I

did not understand anything that

my room

[cell]."

you when you returned

your room?"

to

should answer you bravely."

Beaupere persisted a little later. Joan then named who would return thereafter in her statements as specific members

the voice of an angel?"

"Is

it

the

two

saints

of the invisible entourage that she claimed for herself: Margaret. Although there

names was

whom

are the ones to

St.

is

refers,

it is

her

Margaret was probably

on behalf of

women

It

was

Margaret of Antioch,

and whose

Domremy.

two

who was

Catherine patron of

St.

statue,

Insistent questioning

as

I

was directed toward

the

whom, on that same Tuesday, Joan added St. Michael who came first. She became insistent on

St.

Michael

whom I saw before my eyes, and he was not alone

but was well accompanied by angels of heaven. ...

my body as well

who was widely invoked

which Joan probably saw,

saints, to

was, she said,

that point: "It

St.

in childbirth

the church at

apparitions of those

Michael.

St.

and also patron of the parish of Maxey-sur-Meuse, near Domremy;

girls

is still in

St.

saints with these

probable that her

Catherine of Alexandria, a popular medieval saint

young St.

Joan

Catherine and

St.

about which

lively contention

see you; and

when

they

left

I

saw them with the eyes of

me I wept and wished that they

would have taken me with them." Also during the

that interrogation session,

"Book of Poitiers":

"If

Joan mentioned for the

you have doubts about

that,

first

time

send to Poitiers, where

114 I

PART

THE DRAMA

1:

have already been examined." The Poitiers investigation must have dealt with

may

Joan's apparitions, and there she

named

the

saints

whom

from

well have given testimony in which she

followed that line of questioning up to the told

me

you enough about

it:

The

she claimed revelations.

they are

moment when Joan answered:

Catherine and

St.

St.

came

trial: "I

into France only at

"I've

Margaret, and believe

would maintain

or not as you wish." She then restated with force what she

throughout the

interrogation

God's command. ...

would

I

have preferred to have been torn apart by four horses than to have come into France without God's permission. the

Lord

I

.

.

everything was done

.

have never acted except

at

God's command."

the term "France" referred to the core of the

at the

(In

kingdom, not

its

seems

"Is

to

periphery.)

which Joan

"The clothes

to

wear men's clothes?"

are a small matter, the least of

up men's clothes on the advice of this world. did

I

at

have attached no importance:

God who commanded you

it

of

medieval French,

In the course of that interrogation appeared a question to first

command

I

things:

all

and

did not take

I

neither put on these clothes nor

do anything except by the commandment of God and

his angels."

Other questions about her mode of dress provoked only repetitions of these answers: She had done nothing that was not by the

commandment

of God.

Probably not even Cauchon could then have guessed the importance that her

mode

come

of dress would

The judges then

him

permitting

come

to her

"Was

for the first time?"

She would

didn't see any." to

have

about her revelations

tried to surprise her into telling

regarding the king of France:

you saw him

assume.

to

there an angel

"By

St.

on the head of your king when

Mary!

know and

don't

I

faith in

said: she

made

certainly

king received,

later allude to a "sign" that the

what she

I

clear that the sign

had

"from the clerks."

The question investigation.

led her

back

to the encounter at

Asked how she knew

a

Chinon and

to the Poitiers

sword could be found buried

in the

church

of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois, Joan retold the startling story about "that rusted

sword with

five crosses

engraved on

She knew from her voices

man who went

that this

behind the it.

it

and they sent

altar;

it

she did not

She said again a

sword was

to find the aforesaid

the church of that place that she that sword,

it":

sword for

hoped

to her.

It

it

there, her,

and she had never seen the

and she wrote

would please them

to the

men

that she should

of

have

was not very deeply buried underground,

know if it would be exactly before the altar or behind

that just after the

good rubbing, and thereupon

sword was found the men of that church gave

the rust fell off without effort.

JOAN'S TRIAL

"Had she had anyone kind, and this

I

(III,

115

bless it?" "I never requested a benediction of any

would not know how

marvelous sword

standard,

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

do

to

that."

The judges dropped

6) and they passed swiftly

the subject of

to the description

of the

which provoked another of Joan's famous responses: "Would you

prefer your standard or your sword?" "I

standard to

my

when we went

sword."

A

little later: "I

to the assault, to avoid

would

prefer,

carried

having to

my

kill

maybe

standard in

anyone.

I

my

forty times,

my own

hand

have never killed

anyone." The session closed with questions referring briefly to her military exploits at Orleans and at Jargeau.

The for

tribunal

more public

Cauchon

convened again on Thursday and Saturday, March

The Thursday session may have been

interrogation.

He opened

himself.

Armagnac

"As

far as

declared. This university,

were

still

I

know,

"Who

is

who had

who

is at

Rome," Joan

taken for so long the side of the Avignon pontiff and

far from reconciled with the pope

him

at the

at

Rome,

who

Martin V; they would soon

Council of Basel, which would meet for the

time two months after Joan's death. Joan gave no more than a dilatory reply

about her letter from the count of Armagnac. Since this heavily on her correspondence, Joan's

was

that

the true pope?"

unambiguous answer might well have offended the men of the

raise an antipope against first

A letter was read stating that

believe in the lord pope

I

3,

directed by

had written the Maid on the question

(II, 6),

had long divided Christendom:

and

with a confusing point that was a lively

preoccupation for university professors: the pope. John, the count of

1

read.

She acknowledged

first

trial

session concentrated

ultimatum to the English

that text, with the exception of a

few

at

Orleans

details.

She

provoked her judges: "Before seven years are over, the English will suffer more severe losses than they did at Orleans, and they will lose everything in France

and

this will

be accomplished through a great victory that

God

.

.

.

will send the

French." In striving to establish precisely (which she refused to do) the day, the

hour, and the year of that victory, the interrogators wanted to

had said

to her

know what

she

English guard, John Grey, concerning the winter feast of

Martin. Her guards filled their classic

trial role,

and

their daily reports

St.

were used

in preparing the interrogations.

After a brief digression, the interview returned to the saints to attributed her voices:

She revealed nothing useful about

was amused when asked

if

the saints

had

hair: "That's

their

whom Joan

appearance and

an important point!"

Cauchon persisted: "Did St. Margaret speak the language of the English?" "How should she speak English, since she

The

transcript

shows

that

is

not of the English party?"

Cauchon repeatedly

tried to

confound Joan

with questions about sorcery. Joan would be answering questions about the events at Reims, for example,

when

the interrogators

would suddenly return

to

:

116

PART

Domremy.

the Fairy Tree and the spring at

mandrake?"

at all,"

"My

adding

something done

it is

"What have you done with your

Or:

have a mandrake and

"I don't

heard that

insisted: "I

THE DRAMA

I:

I

And

never had one!"

to get

money, but

voices have never said anything to

me

since they

don't beUeve

I

it

about that." Joan's

voices had nothing to say about the judges' preoccupation with mandrakes,

good-luck rings, or popular magic formulae. Witness her robust humor in the interrogation session of

"What

did

St.

March

Michael look

*'Do you think that

1

like

when he appeared

God doesn't have

to

you?

.

.

.

Was he naked?"

the wherewithal to give

him clothes?"

"Did he have hair?" •"Why would

it

have been cut off?"

"Did he have a scale?" "I don't

know anything about

that. I

have great joy when

see him.""

I

A frustrated Cauchon returned from that exchange to the "king's sign": told

you

you would not drag

that

symbolism of

the royal

that out of

crown was

raised.

my

mouth.

Go

Almost taking the

specified that, in addition to the crown the king had received

many

have

offensive, Joan at

had waited, he would have had a crown a thousand times questioning would return

"I

ask him!" The

Reims,

"if

richer."

he

The

times to that crown.

The session on the following Saturday was longer and touched on diverse subjects I

—

first

know and

of

all,

on the

will not

saints

who appeared

answer anything

to her: "I

else." Jean

have told you what

Beaupere, directing the

interrogation that day, raised the question of the fate awaiting Joan:

"Did you know through a revelation

that

"That has nothing to do with your

you would escape?"

trial;

me

do you want

to

speak against

myself?"

"Have your voices

told

you something about that?"

"Yes, indeed, they have told

me that I would be delivered, but I do not know

the day or the hour, and they said that

Did her idea of deUverance here afteriife,

or

was Joan

attire:

"I've

at Poitiers,"

Poitiers

should bravely maintain a good face."

refer to the spiritual deliverance of death

the warrior thinking of escape?

prisoner imagined that she

Changing

I

It is

least

and the

Ukely that Joan the

would be exonerated and hberated by her judges.

his tactics.

Beaupere questioned her again about her male

answered you about

that already."

thus proving that the theologians

She added:

who

and whose king "found nothing but good

Joan wearing men's clothes without finding

it

"It

was written down

originally questioned her at

in her"

had raised the issue of

an offense. This point,

first

raised

JOAN'S TRIAL in early

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

117

March, steadily assumes greater significance: Lacking any other solid

charge, her judges eventually

would

rely

on her cross-dressing as the

visible

basis for the accusation of heresy.

The judges returned badges adopted sprinkle

in

to questions

of sorcery, asking about the pennons or

the French army by the Maid and her followers: "Did anyone

them with holy water?

.

.

.

Did anyone carry these cloths

a church in any kind of procession, so as to

More

supposedly restored to

who

Lagny,

life at

lived long

La Rochelle

questions concerning Catherine de

an

altar or

make badges of them?"

were questions about the infant

insidious

to

enough

(II,

whom to

Joan had

be baptized, and

37). In both cases,

Joan

responded with clear simplicity, as she did when asked about her jump from the tower at Beaurevoir. Her reply was memorable: soul to

God

"I

would prefer to surrender

my

than to be in the hands of the English."

These sessions of public interrogation had now lasted eleven days. Eight days

later,

on Saturday, March

10, Pierre

Cauchon himself entered her

cell

accompanied by three individuals who had already appeared several times

among the assessors: Nicolas Midy (II, 65), Gerard Feuillet, and Master Jean de La Fontaine (II, 58), who had from time to time been designated by Cauchon to take his place during interrogation.

The same

who accompanied Joan from

Jean Massieu,

by Jean Secard, a canon of Rouen and an

role

was played by

the usher

her cell to the courtroom, and also ecclesiastical lawyer

who

appears

infrequently in the hearing reports.

Midy and Gerard Feuillet were among the

Nicolas

six professors sent

the University of Paris as special envoys to follow the

escorted to

Rouen by Jean de Rinel

(II,

trial;

by

they had been

67), an agent of the king of

England and

husband of Pierre Cauchon's niece, Guillemette Bidault. Jean de La Fontaine, also a

member of the university,

a master of arts and licentiate in canon law,

not officially part of that delegation.

conscientious man: certain reticence.

He conducted

According

Manchon, Jean warned Joan pope and

Cauchon must have recognized

him

a

his interrogations with rigor, but also with a

to the later testimony of the notary that, if

to the Council, she

in

was

Guillaume

she did not declare her submission to the

would put herself

"in great danger."

When

the

bishop heard of that sympathetic admonition, he "was strongly annoyed."

Weighing the danger of Cauchon's displeasure, Jean de La Fontaine discreetly.

entirely

He conducted no

from the

During

transcript

left

Rouen

interrogation session thereafter and disappears

on March 28.

that first interrogation

behind closed doors, Jean de La Fontaine

began by questioning Joan about the circumstances of her capture and about the warnings that her voices might have given her

hour that

I

nevertheless,

was going I

to

be taken,

I

at that point: "If

I

had known the

would never have gone

would have obeyed the command of

my

willingly;

voices, whatever

118

PART

happened."

THE DRAMA

I:

And she recalled ''that it had always been

said that she

must be taken

prisoner/'

She was asked for precise figures on the horses and money

at

She also spoke again of the "king's sign," a symbolic royal crown

would return several and

to please her

March. that

On March

which

the king

was summarized

times.

1

It

was

became

that

her disposal. to

which she

for her an image, almost a parable, that

seemed

richer in her responses to questioning throughout

she had alluded to a crown "a thousand times richer" than

had received

in Article 5

at his anointing.

Her fmal thought on

this point

of the accusation drawn up by the promotor, Jean

1

d'Estivet:

An

angel gave the sign to her king

would say nothing about

of God.

As

received

came by

it

to the

crown,

in person

the

St.

it

and had handed

commandment

Catherine and

chamber of her no goldsmith

king. ...

As

world

in the

it

March

to

to St.

Catherine that she

the crown, the angel

.

St.

to the king in Joan's presence

it

.

.

who were

Margaret,

for the crown,

who knows how

it

to

—

in his

had

the aid

who had

The angel

before her king and

There were man\- other angels

made

company

with the angel even in the

was brought

make one

from.

God. and there

is

so beautiful and so rich.

Joan remarked that the crown

these details

"'will

have a good

came out during

the interrogation session

13, in the course of which Joan uttered another famous reply.

Jean de La Fontaine asked.

God

him

be well guarded.

The majority of of

bringing

God ... He came

of

In reply to another question,

odor," provided that

Joan had sworn

had been given to the archbishop of Reims,

reverence, bowing before him.

and also

.

would have the whole kingdom of France with

that he

promised the king

.

.

this sign. ... In

When

"Why you. rather than another?" she said, "It pleased

do so through a simple maiden,

to

humble

the king's enemies."

Joan's symbolic language about the angel and the crown has disconcerted historians.

These symbols, richer

in

meaning than mere

abstract formulations,

were standard instruments of exchange and communication the spirit of the late age of medieval heraldry. Heraldry

is

entirely in line with

a language of

encoded

signs and colors, the rules of which were not yet frozen. Joan herself provided a key to her symbolic narrative in this figure; the

command

crown

when

that the king received

was her coming

at

God's

to establish him in his kingly power. At that time symbolic memories

were deep, preserved for example to signify the sale of a field, with

The University of Paris,

thought expressed

in

in the

image of a clump of earth handed over

any written act serving only as a memorandum.

But long before Joan's generation favor.

she later declared that she saw her mission

this

symbolic mentality was out of intellectual

like universities today, preferred

modes of logical

the language of deduction, definition, and analysis.

)OANS TRIAL AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

119

The record reveals when Joan was next questioned and by whom, but her

now took

interrogation

March

Monday,

10;

thirteenth;

place behind closed doors.

continued on Saturday,

morning and afternoon; Tuesday, the

the twelfth, in the

Wednesday, the fourteenth,

It

morning and afternoon; Thursday,

in the

the fifteenth; and Saturday, the sixteenth, also in the

morning and afternoon.

Jean de La Fontaine was the inquisitor. Various university professors, including Pierre

Cauchon

more precise information on

himself, returned to get

points on Saturday,

March

24.

several

The bishop returned on Palm Sunday, March

25,

along with Jean Beaupere, Nicolas Midy, and two others whose names recur frequently in the transcript: Pierre Maurice and It is

Thomas de

Courcelles

(II,

noted that they tried to convince Joan to stop wearing men's clothes

issue that surfaces increasingly

—under

the pretext that she

permitted to hear mass or receive the Eucharist on Easter

if

50).

— an

would not be

she persisted in

wearing them.

During the

part of the

first

which was now

trial,

at

an end, no regular

accusation was found with which to charge her; none of the inquests

had launched

in

January and February provided material useful for proceeding

Her

against her.

returning, over

dilemma

interrogators'

and over again,

to the

answers she had given during the

trial

began.

(Nothing

terminology corresponds to

24, but their doggedness did

this

in

tion are

compared

On Monday, March

26, the

Anglo-American court procedure or

Roman law distinction between the preliminary

"of instruction" and the subsequent "ordinary"

judgment and sentencing.)

filial

March

but estabhsh a clear sense of Joan's attitudes.

"ordinary"

trial

revealed by their insistence on

is

preliminary interrogations of February 21 to little

Cauchon

When

trial,

normally followed by

Joan's answers to the preliminary interroga-

to those in the "ordinary trial," her

piety can be clarified and both her earthy

views on such matters as

pragmatism and her closeness

to

the spirit world can be glimpsed.

Jean de La Fontaine asked Joan about leaving her village, about her father, it,

if I

and about her mother. She

replied: "Since

it

was God who commanded

had a hundred fathers and a hundred mothers, or if I had been the daughter

of a king,

I

would have

to this point,

left."

which had

first

She would arisen

insist,

when

the interrogation returned

on the afternoon of Monday, March

12, that

she "obeyed her father and her mother in everything, except in regard to the suit that she

had

in the city

of Toul on the issue of marriage."

It

seems

that

Joan had

rejected a betrothal arranged by her parents, and she had to defend herself in a

breach-of-promise suit in the ecclesiastical court of her diocese

claimed that "she had not made any this trial at

dreamed

man any

promise." Nothing

is

at Toul.

She

known about

Toul except that Joan's cause succeeded. Her father frequently

Joan would go away with men-at-arms; he found

this

prospect terrifying. She explained herself in this fashion: "I heard from

my

that his daughter

120

PART

mother

that

my

fear for

my

daughter would

and

if

father

you do not do

The

had said

it, I

my

to

come

will

THE DRAMA

1:

brothers, 'Truly, if

to happen,

"I did not to assist

common

with her usual

it

do

it

thought that what

wish that you would drown

I

I

her,

drown her myself.'" from the tower of Beaurevoir;

interrogators then returned to her leap

Joan explained

I

sense:

my body

out of despair, but in the hope of saving

many good men who were

And

in need.

after the

and of going

jump

I

went

to

confession and asked pardon of the Lord."

"Was any penance imposed on you because of that?" "I

bore part of the penance in the damage

Elsewhere Franquet

in the

d' Arras, the

I

did myself by falling!"

course of these repetitive interrogations Joan mentions

mercenary captain she had handed over to justice

at

Lagny

of the previous year (1430). She experienced no qualms of conscience

in April

about his subsequent execution, for he was a

Her common sense emerges

rapist, a traitor,

and a murderer.

in her response to the questions about a certain

hackney she was accused of stealing, but which she insisted she had bought from the bishop of Senlis: In any case,

Of

far greater

spirituality.

it

was "worthless

importance to Joan's judges

is

mount," she declared.

as a

the question of her otherworldly

During the interrogation of Tuesday morning, March

14,

Joan had

explained her relationship with her voices:

St.

Catherine told

me

that

I

would have

help; and

deliverance from prison or deliverance when

may suddenly one or the

arise

other.

through which

But most often

great victory, and then

my

paradise."

my

voices

tell

me

that

you

will

come

I

do not know

to

will

have to suffer worse, but

I

will be

think that

it

will be

will be delivered

by a

finally to the

I

I

suffer in

kingdom of

fail. I call this

my imprisonment.

defer in this as in everything

Our Lord.

However hard she was pressed her confidences

transcended her

later on,

about her voices than

own

desires to

to give the

word another

her brought her beyond herself. saved, she answered:

Joan would never go further

this

declaration,

acknowledge the destiny

began to foresee her fate despite herself

wished

that

I

if this

Some upheaval

voices say that simply and absolutely, without

martyrdom because of the pain and hardship that I

do not know

can be delivered, but

a

if

I

face judgment.

voices say, "Take everything serenely, do not shrink

from your martyrdom; from

And my

I

I

when

in

in

which she

that awaited her.

She

she mentioned martyrdom. She

interpretation, but the caution her voices gave

When

she was asked

if

she was sure of being

JOAN'S TRIAL "I believe firmly

firmly as

what

my

were already

if I

AND EXECUTION

AT ROUEN

voices have told me, that

that

is,

I

121 be saved, as

shall

there."

"After that revelation, do you believe yourself incapable of committing

mortal sins?" "I

know

"That

"And

The

nothing about

but in everything

I

defer to God."

a very weighty response."

is

hold

I

that,

also a great treasure."

it

interrogation closed on that statement;

La Fontaine's decision

to leave

Rouen

it

may

well have influenced Jean de

after trying to counsel Joan.

During her imprisonment, Joan said she counted almost daily on the assistance of her voices "and indeed

dead were

it

had great need of it." Again:

I

me

not for the voice that comforts

March

unshakable. In the session of Wednesday,

"I

would be

every day." Her faith was 28, she reports without

apparent embarrassment a prayer that also reflects this quality. The recorder and transcribers never converted

they simply

left it

Very sweet God,

You

regarding

my

in

into indirect discourse or translated

I

clothes, the

should answer these

command

that I

about the manner in which I should drop it.

On March often

I

I

beg You,

men

if

You

of the church.

received, but

I

do not

university intellectuals,

trial."

know

I

know

well,

anything

this surprising

Christian people;

was made of

Little

about such

spirits, as a tribunal

someone of heresy because of

of the

a belief in

Cauchon was doubtless certain that he had ensnared Joan when

the question of the

Church Militant

arose.

On March

15 Jean de

La Fontaine

had opened the interrogation by asking:

"If

it

should happen that you have done something against the Faith, would you

defer to the determination of our holy mother the church, to

whom

you should

indeed defer in such matters?"

"Let afterward is

my if

answers be seen and examined by clerics and

there

is

anything that

is

to

maintain

church]."

it

let

them

tell

me

against the Christian faith. ... If there

anything evil against the Christian faith that

wish

this

Whatever skepticism her judges, mostly

may have had

Inquisition they could hardly accuse angels. However,

love me, that

made

come unseen among

have seen them among Christian people."

admission during the "ordinary

into Latin;

On that, may it please You to instruct me.

12 toward the end of the morning session, Joan

confidence about angels: "They often

it

it:

honor of Your Holy Passion,

me how

reveal to

it

in French, just as Joan said

God

has ordered,

I

would not

and would be very upset to come out as opposed

to [the

122

PART

Either La Fontaine or one of the two

Midy and Gerard

Feuillet,

THE DRAMA

I:

members of the university then present, Nicolas

undertook

to explain to the

accused the difference

between the Church Triumphant and the Church Mihtant. Put simply, the Church Mihtant was the Catholic church on earth; the Church Triumphant was the church in heaven; the

Church Suffering was those of its members

was not familiar with these you anything this

was a key

abstract categories,

else for the present."

question, the judges

17,

of judges:

to

it

more than twenty times

"It is

my

sense that

it is

all

Why

it.

do you make

When asked if she "Bring me before our

difficulties

pope, she rephed:

lord the pope, and

everything that

When

I

required to

On

tell

about

the

I shall

By then, Jean de La Fontaine, still

present, however,

as

March

26,

Cauchon knew

we have

seen,

new

Church

had ceased to interrogate

public session took place,

made an appeal

advice on the brief drawn up by tht promotor. The

first

was Nicolas de Venderes

this point

to the

that he

on Tuesday, March 27, when, "in the room

course of which Pierre Cauchon

himself on

being one

truth to the

answer him on

had grounds for a valid accusation: inadequate submission

He was

its

whole

should answer."

the "ordinary" process began on

next to the great hall of the castle of Rouen," a in the

thereafter.

one, God's and the church's, and that there

felt

Joan.

that

indefatigably. This question of

and the same thing?"

Militant.

answer

Joan had an answer that should have removed any hesitation on the part

should be no difficulty about

finally

"I shall not

Having now understood by her reluctance

would return

Joan's submission to the church was raised

March

who

in purgatory. Joan,

answered simply:

(II,

to the assessors for their

of the assessors to express 69), a

canon of Rouen,

licensed in canon law; he was punctual at the following sessions, in which he

played an active

role. It

was necessary

in his

eyes for the accused to swear

another oath. If she refused, she should be excommunicated. La Fontaine agreed with this advice; the majority of the other assessors demanded that Joan be read the articles

drawn up by

the

promotor before being declared excommunicate.

Some of them, such as the Benedictine Pierre Miget, prior of Longueville (II, 66), who eventually would vote that she be handed over to the secular arm of justice, declared that, regarding the articles to

one could not require

The seventy

that she

which Joan was unable to respond,

answer yes or no as was customary.

articles of the brief

from the verbose and sometimes vulgar

pen of Jean d'Estivet were read to Joan on March 27 and 28. The brief expanded

on most of the questions asked Joan but was barely connected she had given during the hearings. Article the habit of carrying a

mandrake

have a prosperous fortune

mandrake of

that type

in

in

to the

answers

example, says: "Joan often had

her bosom, hoping through this talisman to

wealth and temporal things, affirming that a

had force and

energetic reply: "That article about the level of distortion appears in a

7, for

effect."

The

transcript contained Joan's

mandrake she denied entirely." The same

subsequent

article dealing

with the young

man

—

JOANS TRIAL AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN who

took Joan to court

prosecuting that as

123

Toul on a complaint of marriage refusal: "In

at

she went frequently to Toul, and exposed on that occasion,

suit,

were, everything she had."

it

The

brief

marked by such twisting of evidence.

is

reproached for having suit);

worn male

attire (a "short,

In Article 13, Joan

is

reduced, and dissolute" man's

Joan's categorical reply, which appears in the French minutes of the

trial,

was

omitted from the Latin transcript. In the brief, men's clothes were accorded a place

of increasing importance. The costume that Joan had considered entirely reasonable

—

had the inhabitants of Vaucouleurs, her companions on the

as

the king, even the bishops of the investigation of Poitiers

obsession for these judges. blackmail. Since Holy

mass

if she

On March

15, they

had gone as

—a long

wear

mass

far as to try a

form of

agreed to put away men's clothes. She offered a counterproposal: "Have

a long dress touching the ground, without a train,

to

journey,

a point of

Week was approaching, they offered Joan the chance to hear

going to mass." Or then: "Give

go

first

—became

skirt

in."

me

made

for

me and give it to me for

a dress of the sort that a bourgeois girl

—and

with something like a woman's hood

This offer produced no

I

will take

would

them

to

result.

Several of the articles fraudulendy contradicted Joan's explicit declarations.

For example. Article 56: "Joan frequentiy bragged of having two counselors,

who came

she called 'Counselors of the Fountain,'

The judges were

to her after she

whom

was capmred."

also determined to associate Joan with Catherine de

La Rochelle.

That connection somehow led them to the conclusion that "Joan would escape from prison with the aid of the Devil

if

she were not well guarded."

response to the brief does concede that "to

this article

The

transcript of her

Joan responded that she would

hold to what she had already said, and as for the 'Counselors of the Fountain,' she did not

know what

that was." Again,

charged with having ordered melted

wax to be poured on the heads of little children

by

in order to practice "divinations

always in the same hne of thought, she was

charm." Unperturbed, she denied these

this

To

alleged acts of divination and returned to her previous answers. brief,

though

it

was fraudulent on many

18 were later added.

Church

The

last

points, the responses

the text of the

Joan made on April

of these articles insisted on her submission to the

Militant:

"So long

as she [the church] does not

and what

I

I

have said

to

call

impossible

in this trial

me from God,

for

I

is

that

I

command something

revoke the deeds

against the

anything."

impossible to do

have done and the words

concerning the visions and revelations that were given will not revoke

them

made me do and has commanded and may for the sake of any

I

man

alive,

commandment

yet

command,

and should the church wish

that

what Our Lord has

for anything;

was given me by God,

I

I

shall not fail to

that

I

do

do something

would not do

it

for

"

124

PART "If the

somehow

Church Militant

diabolic,

"In that case,

THE DRAMA

I:

tells

you

would you defer I

your revelations are illusions or

that

to the

church?"

would defer as always

God, whose command

to

I

have

always obeyed, and I know w ell that what is contained in this trial comes through

God's command, and what God's command.

It

I

have affirmed

would be impossible

Church Militant command me

the

to

in this process that

me

for

do otherw ise.

I

have done by

And

contrar\-.

would not defer

I

command

of the world, other than our Lord, whose good

"Do you

do the

to

I

believe that you are subject to the church of

to

should

any

man

have always done.'"

God

that

is

on earth,

that is to say, to our lord the pope, to the cardinals, archbishops, bishops,

and

*

other prelates of the church? "Yes. so long as

Our Lord

"Have you received Church

Militant,

"I shall is at

the

God

1

.

is

is first

served."

command from your

on eanh. nor

not answ er anvthing that

to

voices not to submit to the

her judgment?""

comes

into

my head, but what I do answer

command of my voices: they do not command me not to obey the church.

being

On March 3

which

the

first

Joan

v.

served.

as interrogated once

more behind closed doors in the hall where

she was held prisoner: this interrogation bore more sharply than usual on obedience to the church.

hear mass.

New

Year

at that

period began on Apnl

year; thereafter, the acts of the

2 to April

7,

Day

Joan must have spent that Easter

were devoted

to

trial

are dated 143

1

.

in prison 1,

without being able to

on \\hich Easter also

fell that

The following days, from Apnl

draw ing up twehe anicles extracted from the seventy

previous ones; according to inquisitorial procedure, these were to be sent to the doctors and prelates called in for consultation.

It

was necessary

to

submit both the

charges and the resume of the hearings to doctors unin\ oh ed in the process so that they could pronounce the degree of the accused's

number of assessors, among whom were as

two English

prelates:

marriage of Henry later

Dominican who had appeared frequently

The next Joan's

cell.

the doctors

manner

1

present was Friar Isambart de in the interrogation sessions

Joan"s

sick,

and Cauchon thought

and masters would come

trial,

La

Pierre, a

behind closed

interrogation session took place on Wednesday, April 18. in

She was

who

who would

0.

visited that

day

it

appropriate to assure her

to see her in a friendly

testified later

Tiphaine, the duchess of Bedford's in

1419. and Richard Prati.

to visit her in her illness, so as to console

the doctors

The group included a certain

William Haiton (IL 54), one of the tw o negotiators of the

V to Catherine of France in

become bishop of Chichester. Also

doors since March

guilt.

delegates of the University of Pans, as well

recalled:

own

and

to

and charitable

comfort

her.""

during the nullification

physician,

who

'"that

Two

trial.

of

Jean

ser\ed as an assessor

lOAN'S TRIAL

When Joan was

ill,

the judges ordered

by one named d'Estivet. In

Chambre

[II,

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN me

his presence,

56], a master of medicine,

to visit her,

and

that she

me

that a carp

had eaten some of

it,

was brought

I

I

took her pulse in

asked her what she

I

to her

felt

and where

had been sent her by the bishop of Beauvais,

and

that she thought

Estivet reproached her, saying that

saying: "It's you, slut,

and

Master Guillaume de La

and several others,

order to discern the cause of her illness, and she hurt. She told

that of

125

it

what she said was

caused her false;

illness.

Then

he called her a

slut,

who ate a shad and other things that have made you sick";

she answered that that was not so, and they exchanged lots of insulting words.

Afterward, wishing to learn more about Joan's illness,

who were

The carp

to

there that she

which Joan

had vomited a great

I

no indication ill,

it

that Joan,

whose

constitution

men

said by the

attributed her illness raises questions about

might have been accidentally or deliberately poisoned.

fallen

heard

deal.

whether she

Up to this point,

was exceptionally

robust,

there

is

had ever

despite wounds, injuries, fatigue and the often stressful conditions of

her expeditions, campaigns, and imprisonment. Estivet's fury at her implication that she

was poisoned seems excessive.

Is

it

found a more expeditious way of terminating doctor

summoned

to

possible that Pierre this

Cauchon had

disappointing trial?

examine Joan, Guillaume de La Chambre,

The other

testified in the

nullification trial to the powerful English reaction:

As

to her illness, the cardinal of

sent

me

to find out about

Desjardins

[11,

14], a

told us that Joan

was

it.

I

England

[11,

8]

and the

earl of

Warwick

[H, 43]

appeared before them, with Master Guillaume

master in medicine, and other doctors, and the earl of Warwick sick,

according to what had been reported to him, and that he

had had us summoned to take care of her, because more than anything the king did not wish her to die a natural death.

in the

world

The king considered her very

precious and had bought her dearly, and he did not wish her to die except at the

hands of justice and he wished that she should be burned.

went

her with care, that she got well.

I

Desjardins again and the others.

We

feverish,

We did so much, visiting

to see her along with

Master Guillaume

palpated her on the right side and found her

and thus we decided to bleed her; when the matter was reported to the

of Warwick, he said, "Be careful with the bleeding, because she kill herself."

is

earl

wily and might

She was bled nevertheless, which relieved her immediately; once she

was so cured, a certain Master Jean d'Estivet arrived. He exchanged insulting words with Joan and called her a whore and a that she took fever again

and

fell

slut;

Joan was very

irritated,

so

much

so

sick once more.

Discordant voices were making themselves heard. Fortunately for Cauchon, the University of Paris, which had been consulted on April 12, agreed entirely with

—

126

PART and adopted

his conclusions

of the assessors

all

I:

THE DRAMA drawn up by

the articles

Estivet.

—Zanon de Castiglione. bishop of Lisieux;

A large

group

Philibert de Montjeu,

bishop of Coutances; and Gilles de Duremort. abbot of Fecamp, and his chaplain, Jean de Bouesgue.

king of England

—

of

all

whom

appear

abbots of Jumieges and Cormeilles, Nicolas Le

demanded

account books of the

in the

also approved this inquest without reservation.

that the

be conducted

trial

in the

However, the

Roux and Guillaume Bonnel,

presence of the University of Paris,

so that Joan might be better instructed and that the articles be read to her in

French, explaining clearly the danger that she incurred. Eleven lawyers of the jurisdiction of

Rouen

also expressed reservations, and three of the assessors

Pierre Minier. Jean Pigache. and Richard du Grouchet

—protested

that Joan's

revelations should not be interpreted in so negative a fashion. Yet another. Raoul

Le Sauvage, thought

that the question should be submitted to the

News sometimes

Holy See.

traveled so slowly in medieval Europe that the people of

Rouen were not yet aware that Pope Martin V had died on February 20. Worse news was

for their part}' for

many

Then

(11,

50), a pohtical ally of

there

after

IV.

who had been opposed

was

many

of the assessors

at

Joan's

Thomas

trial.

the scarcely veiled hostility of the cathedral chapter of

an early meeting on April 13, the canons had taken refuge in the

pretext that they were not

modem

on March 3 of Eugenius

years to the guiding spirits of the Council of Basel, especially to

de Courcelles

Rouen;

the accession

numerous enough

to

undertake valid deliberations: In

terms, they claimed they lacked a quorum.

On

the following day they

reached agreement that the twelve articles should be read to Joan in French and

be better informed on everything concerning submission

that she should

Church

Militant.

It

may be

entirety,

was preserved

who

from

formally opposed the

trial in

in the trial transcript. Several other clerics of

Rouen,

the bishop of Avranches, Jean de Saint- Avit, its

to the

significant that neither this letter nor the letter

such as Jean Lohier and Master Nicolas de Houppeville (who was thrown in prison for his position), vehemently opposed the

trial.

Unanimity had not been achieved in the case of Joan the Maid. left in the

the

way

Church

of a charge?

Militant, but she

two religious

seemed

partisans

had

Joan was charged with lack of submission

just

was charged with

if

Pierre

was

clear:

way

to

(II,

in the

1).

comply with these

The meeting of April 18 was devoted

that in her

to

modify her

attitude

on

the wearing of men's clothes, but

Joan must be formally condemned

he did not find a

warning"

—

a thin basis for condemnation. Nevertheless, the wish of the English

both dishonor and discredit for Charles VII task

to

been advised by Jean de La Fontaine and

—one of them Isambart de La

that subject. Second, Joan this

First,

What was

to

in a

Cauchon would

state.

fail in his

instructions.

what was called "charitable

vocabulary of the Inquisition. There also

weakened

way that would entail

may have been hope

Joan could be led to make some compromising

JOAN'S TRIAL

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

127

Statement, but this did not occur. Joan thanked the bishop for what he had said "for her salvation" and added: "It

have, that

ask to

I

am in

seems

to

me,

in

great danger of death; and if such

view of the sickness that

I

God's pleasure for me,

I

is

make confession and receive the sacrament of the Eucharist and be buried

in consecrated ground."

Taking advantage of her request, the bishop proceeded:

"Since you ask that the church give you the sacrament of the Eucharist, do you

wish to submit yourself to the Church Militant? In that case,

you

we promise

to give

that sacrament."

"Whatever happens,

will not

I

do or say anything other than what

I

am

a good Christian, and well baptized, and

Christian. ...

As

to

said before.

would wish

to aid

God,

"I

if

hope

love Him,

I

serve

Him,

and support the church with

"Do you want us good health

I

to plan a fine

you are not

that the

all

I

am

my

a

I

I

have

shall die as a

good

good

Christian,

and

I

power."

and worthy procession

you back

to bring

to

in that state?"

church and Catholic people will pray for me."

Joan seems to have regained her strength when the second "charitable warning"

was issued on Wednesday, bachelor in theology

May

at the

2. In that

session Master Jean de Chatillon, a

Cauchon and

University of Paris and a friend of

Beaupere, led the interrogation. Regarding the Church Militant, Joan answered their questions unequivocally: "I believe fully in the

that the

Church Militant cannot

what I have done,

And when I

will

I

rely entirely

church here below.

err or fail; but as far as

what

believe

have said and

I

on God, who has made me do what I have done."

they spoke to her of the pope, she answered: "Bring

answer

I

me

to

him and

to him."

Eight days later Jean Massieu went once again to

fmd

Joan.

He

led her

not into the hall of judgment but into the great tower of the castle. Joan found

Cauchon and some assessors

herself face to face with

whom

seen several times: Jean de Chatillon, Guillaume Erard

she had already 51),

(II,

Andre

Marguerie, Nicolas de Venderes, the Englishman William Haiton, Nicolas Loiseleur, Aubert Morel (an advocate at the court of Rouen), and the Benedictine

monk Jean Dacier, abbot of Saint-Comeille at Compiegne. There were also two men Joan did not know. Mangier Leparmentier, the executioner, and his assistant.

members

She was threatened with

make

apart and

and

if I

should

made me

say

it

else,

tell

torture:

Joan declared, "Truly,

the soul leave the body,

you something, afterward

I I

if

will not tell shall

you

pull

my

you anything

always say that you

by force."

They were

clearly not ready for that response.

suspend the proceedings and get approval for

Cauchon decided

this latest initiative

to

from a larger

128

PART

On the following

group.

of

whom

Saturday, he assembled in his house a dozen assessors,

only three declared that

the torture, so as to

Thomas de

THE DRAMA

I:

"know

it

seemed

to

them "expedient"

Courcelles, and Nicolas Loiseleur.

perceived the

It

seems

wisdom of Raoul Roussel's suggestion

assessors to be asked for advice, he declared that he that a process as well

conducted as

this

to put

Joan to

They were Aubert Morel,

the truth about her lies":

Cauchon

that

(II,

The

68):

was opposed

finally

of the

first

to torture "so

one not run the risk of calumny."

The major local event of the following day is not mentioned in the official

On

Joan was not directly involved.

transcripts;

Beauchamp,

earl of

Warwick, gave a banquet

to

principal characters in Joan's story. His account

purchases

made

sufficient.

At the end of

sumptuous

Richard

13,

which he invited many of the

book dedicates two pages

to the

page that was usually

for that feast rather than the single that

May

Sunday,

repast, the guests decided to visit the

place where Joan was being held prisoner. She saw entering her cell John of

Luxembourg Humphrey,

(II,

earl

28);

his

brother, Louis

himself, accompanied by a Burgundian knight

encounter,

29), bishop of

(II,

Therouanne;

of Stafford; the intimates of the castle; and the earl of Warwick

whom she knew from a previous

Aimond de Macy. The account book

also expressly mentions

among

the guests Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais, and Jean de Mailly, bishop of

Noyon

(II,

Those two judged

61).

nullification trial,

Aimond de Macy

it

inopportune to

visit the prisoner. In the

reported the scene:

[John of Luxembourg] addressed Joan, saying to her, "Joan, a

ransom

for

you provided

that

you

I

have come to pay

are willing to promise that

take up arms against us again." She answered, "In God's name,

me, for I know well

that

you have neither the power nor the

you

you

will to

will never

are

do

mocking

And

this."

she repeated that several times, because the count persisted in saying so; and she said then, "I think after

my

know

well that these English will have

me

dead, because they

death they will win the kingdom of France. But were there a

hundred thousand Godons more than there are

at present,

they will not have the

kingdom." [Godon was a current slang term for the English, who

seemed constantly

to repeat the expletive

Goddamn.]

to

French ears

At these words, the earl

of Stafford was enraged, and pulled his dirk halfway out of its scabbard to strike her with

it,

but the earl of

Warwick prevented him.

Aimond de Macy himself reports in the castle

there.

He

that

he

first

saw Joan when she was

in prison

of Beaurevoir, and that he had conversed with her several times

admits: "I tried several times, playing with her, to touch her breasts,

trying to place

me away with

my hands all

on her chest, which Joan would not

her strength.

her words as in her deeds."

suffer, but

Joan was indeed an honest woman,

as

pushed

much

in

Aimond saw her once again at the castle of Le Crotoy,

JOAN'S TRIAL

129

church of Amiens, Nicolas de

that the chancellor of the

and he reported Queuville, had

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

come several times to celebrate mass in the prison,

much good

of Joan." The Burgundian knight prolonged his stay

was present

a

trial

at

said

Rouen; he

during the "abjuration of Saint-Ouen."

little later,

During the dinner of the

"He

and:

May

13,

Warwick

told the bishop of Beauvais that

had gone on too long. Cauchon received another important communi-

cation on the following day,

when

a letter to announce that after

provoked by the

had

him

numerous consultations and serious deliberations

of Jean Beaupere, Nicolas Midy, and Jacques de Touraine,

visit

who had communicated Estivet, they

the rector of the University of Paris sent

finally

to

them the twelve

articles

drawn up on the

reached "unanimous consensus" that

it

brief of

was time

to act

so that "the unjust and scandalous demoralization of the people" provoked by

"a

woman by

the

name of Joan who

is

called the

Maid" would

cease. This

statement was followed by commentary on the twelve articles, which clearly

declared her an apostate, a

hastened on Saturday,

May

liar,

a schismatic, and a heretic. Pierre

19, to

convoke the assessors once again

Cauchon

in order to

consider the conclusions of these venerable masters of the faculties of theology

and canon law of "our Mother, the University of Paris." Once again, on the following Wednesday, Joan was given the formal admonition of the Inquisition

and answered

I

wish

own

in her

fashion:

to maintain the

this trial. If

I

manner

in

which

I

have always spoken and behaved in

were already judged and saw the

ready and the executioners ready to light the

would nevertheless not say anything

fire, I

what

She made

I

have said

this

fire

fire,

other.

lit,

and the bundles of sticks

and even I

if I

were within the

would maintain unto death

in this trial.

response to Pierre Maurice

(II,

64), a

young master

fresh out of

school with a license in theology, one of the brightest lights of his generation,

who reported it twenty-seven years later. This rejoinder made an impression on him. He went to Joan's prison when she had just learned what death she was to die.

When

she cried out, "Master Pierre, where will

I

be

this

evening?" he

responded: "Have you not good hope in God?"

On

Thursday,

May

24, after the feast of Pentecost,

Cauchon organized

a spectacle designed to impress the prisoner. In the cemetery of the

abbey of

Saint-Ouen, several platforms were set up, one for Joan and the others for the assessors

who were

present under the presidency of Cardinal Henry Beaufort,

bishop of Winchester. Louis of Luxembourg; Jean de Mailly, bishop of Noyon;

and William Alnwick, bishop of Norwich, private secretary and keeper of the privy seal to Henry

V and Henry VI, were there as well,

along with the abbots

of Fecamp, Cormeilles, Jumieges, Saint-Ouen, Le Bec-Hellouin, Mortemer,

130

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

and Preaux. Guillaume Erard, canon of Rouen and a master of the University

whom

of Paris

England would charge

the king of

to represent the royal

preached a solemn

interests four years later at the negotiations of Arras,

sermon

Several witnesses later interrogated in the nullification

at Joan.

Isambart and Martin Ladvenu

in particular Friar at the

(II,

57), another

trial,

Dominican

convent of Rouen, recollected certain passages. Ladvenu reported that

"O Royal House of France! You have never known a monster until now! But now behold yourself dishonored in placing your trust in this woman, this magician, heretical and superstitious." At this Joan interrupted him, crying out: "Do not speak of my king, he is a good Christian." Jean Massieu, the usher, who was at Joan's side on the same platform and so the preacher had cried out:

was well sign

situated to report the scene, reported that the preacher gave

meaning "Make her be

addressed Joan

"Look all

at

silent."

my

His sermon completed, Guillaume Erard

who many

lords the judges, to

times have

summoned you

to the clergy,

were not good

have answered you on

first

of

to say

and

Rome

all, I

to

that point: of all the

works

To a

any

fault,

appeal.

it is

that

I

As

my

to

words and deeds,

mine and no one

to the

it

I

to the church, I let

a report

whom, and

God

to

have done them on God's

my king nor any other. If there

else's."

further question, she persisted in replying: "I appeal to

father the pope."

things that, as

have done,

our holy father, the sovereign pontiff, to

orders and charge no one else with them, neither is

many

to support."

answer you. Regarding the matter of submission

"I shall

submit

to

our holy mother the church, explaining to you and

remonstrating that in your words and deeds there were

be sent to

a

directly:

your words and deeds

seemed

him

God and

our holy

to

There are many instances of inquisitorial trials in which the appeal

pope was enough

to interrupt the process, but that did not

happen

here.

Three times Guillaume Erard repeated his exhortation, while Jean

Massieu handed Joan a cedula, a legal

of parchment designed to be attached to a

slip

document. Someone had written a

urged her to sign "a great

it.

murmur

At that moment,

arose

among

as

letter

of abjuration on this

present; at one

[Bishop Cauchon] say: 'You will have to pay for

Joan of the

peril that

cedula and

I

saw

was threatening

her,

and

I

that.'

At

point,

that time,

I

I

later,

heard

warned

instructed her about signing this

clearly that she did not understand this document."

To Joan's appeal impossible to go

Massieu

Massieu reported a quarter-century

who were

those

slip;

to the pope,

find our lord the

the cedula explained to her

no other response was given than

pope

at

met with the same

testimony of Massieu, Joan demanded

"It is

such a distance." Her request to have reaction.

According

to the

that the document be inspected by the

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

JOAN'S TRIAL clerks

now,"

and

—

days by

Guillaume Erard answered: "Do

that they should give her counsel;

presumably he meant for her to sign

it

—"otherwise you

will

it

end your

fire."

Aimond de Macy, who was at the castle,

She

who

first

pulled from his sleeve a

drew a

circle;

however

present, asserted

secretary of the king of England, Laurence Calot, often

sign.

131

little

that

was

it

the

among Warwick's guests

cedula and handed

it

Joan to

to

Laurence Calot held her hand and made her draw

a cross on the document.

What was on

that slip of

parchment? The cedula was said

to contain a

promise that Joan would no longer wear men's clothes. According to the testimony of Guillaume Manchon,

been aware of the meaning of

drawn

cross that she had just

signed her

name on

who

in his capacity as notary should

Joan laughed.

this scene,

in place of a signature

several letters,

We may

ask

(we have seen

have

if

the

that she

from the end of 1429) might not have been

a reference to the cross that she had sometimes put on military messages, as a previously agreed signal indicating that

consider

it

null

whoever received

that letter should

and void.

All of this occurred in a strange confusion:

The bishop of Beauvais was

reproached by the Englishmen present for not having condemned Joan, while Jean Massieu read her the report of eyewitnesses,

letter

was

of abjuration. That

six or eight lines long,

letter,

according to the later

whereas

in the trial transcript

the cedula of abjuration consists of forty-seven printed lines in the French

As Jean Massieu declared

translation (forty-four in the Latin text).

in the

nullification trial:

was given

to

me

in that letter

it

was noted

It

to read to her,

and

I

read

that in future she

men's clothes, nor would she cut her hair not

remember anymore; and I know well

and no more, and of the

trial,

I

know

because what

in the record,

and

I

to Joan,

short,

that

absolutely that

that [the

it

it

and

I

remember well

that

would neither carry arms, nor wear and many other things

that

I

do

cedula contained about eight lines

was not

registered in the transcript

read her was different from that which was inserted

one he read her]

is

the one Joan signed.

This scene surprised everybody. "The English were indignant with the bishop of Beauvais, the doctors, and the assessors of the

trial

because Joan had not been

convicted and condemned and handed over to execution." Their attitude was threatening:

"The king has spent

his

money

very badly on you." Specific

punishments meted out to reformed heretics seem to have varied, but the normal period of imprisonment was three years;

might well have expected

to

if

punished as a reformed heretic, Joan

be freed eventually and to return to Domremy.

eyewitness, Jean Pave, master of royal appeals, said:

An

132

PART

I

heard

men

I:

THE DRAMA when

say that after that sermon,

to the bishop

and

the earl of

to the doctors, saying that

it

Warwick complained

would go badly

because Joan would escape them, one among them answered: worry;

we

for the king

"My Lord, do not

will catch her again."

The conclusion of

this

episode

is

tellingly related

by the notary Guillaume

Manchon: As we were leaving the preaching at Saint-Ouen, after the abjuration of the Maid, Loiseleur said to her, "Joan, you have spent the day well and, please God, you

have saved your soul." She asked, "Well, as to church, [arrange to] take

me

into your prison so that

where you found

had

her."

I

some of you men of

Which

is

why

the

be no longer in the hands

my lord of Beauvais answered,

of these Englishmen." To which to

that,

"Take her back

she was brought back to the castle she

left.

Only those who had relapsed errors returned to

them

—

that

is,

those

who having once

—could be condemned

to

abjured their

death by a tribunal of the

Inquisition and delivered for death "to the secular arm." Despite his earlier loss

of hope that he would find a proper charge, Cauchon had succeeded only in

making men's clothes the symbol of Joan's

refusal to submit to the church.

The

cedula containing a promise no longer to wear men's clothes became the

game to make Joan relapse. What were the exact circumstances that constrained Joan

instrument of a

the following Sunday, three days later, Joan once

reclaimed male garments

exposed

to further

when

she was

more wore male

attire:

By

She

returned to the secular prison and

abuse by her English guards. Martin Ladvenu affirms that

"someone approached her secretly

have heard from Joan's

at night; I

that an English lord entered her cell

and

tried to take her

gives a slightly different version: Having returned to

Thursday

to relapse?

after Pentecost, at the

moment when

she

women's

woke up

the following Sunday, Trinity Sunday, she could not

own mouth

by force." Jean Massieu clothes on the

in the

morning of

fmd her women's

clothes

because the English guards had taken these away from her after throwing her a sack in which were exclusively men's clothes; and so "she dressed herself in the

men's clothes which they had thrown her." For whatever reason, Cauchon learned on Sunday,

May

27, that Joan had

resumed wearing men's

Wasting no time, he arrived the following morning

at the prison,

clothes.

accompanied

by the vice-inquisitor, Jean Lemaitre, and several assessors.

Joan was dressed

in

men's clothes,

that

is,

a tunic, a cape, and a short robe and

other men's clothes, a costume that on our orders she had previously put aside,

JOAN'S TRIAL

AND EXECUTION

133

AT ROUEN

and had taken on women's clothes. And so we interrogated her and

for

own

what reason she had once more assumed men's clothes: Joan declared;

will,**

''I

took

again because

it

convenient than to have women's clothes because

me was

wear them again because what was promised I

my

on

it

was more lawful and

it

am

I

leam when

to

'i did

with men;

began

I

to

not observed, to wit that

should go to mass and receive the body of Christ and be freed from these irons.

... to

I

would

rather die than stay in these irons; but

mass, and

prison and

could be freed of these irons, and

if I

if I

could have a

woman

to help

me

if I

me

permitted for

if it is

could be put

to

decent

in a

[her expression, avoir femme,

written on the minutes but not on the official transcript of the

go

is

would be

trial], I

good and do what the church wishes." "Since Thursday, have you heard the voices of

Catherine and

St.

St.

Margaret?" [Cauchon asked.] "Yes.**

"What have they

told

you?"

"God has expressed through sorrow

at the

Catherine and

St.

strong treason to which

revocation to save

my

life,

and said

In the margin, the recorder noted:

that

St.

Margaret His great

and making a

I

consented

I

was damning myself to save

"A deadly

in abjuring

my

life."

reply."

After saying explicitly that her voices had told her what was to happen at the

to

cemetery

my

deny

at

Saint-Ouen that Thursday, she added:

apparitions, that

is,

that they

were

St.

"I did not say or intend

Catherine and

Margaret."

St.

"That being understood," adds the 1431 transcript, "we removed ourselves from her, to

proceed according to right and reason."

Two

witnesses later attested that on leaving this encounter, Cauchon

spoke cheerfully to several Englishmen, including Warwick himself in the court of the castle: "Farewell,

On Wednesday, May

make good

30, early in the morning,

Ladvenu,

whom

assistant,

Jean Toutmouille, went to Joan's

has

us a

left

I

It is

that

who waited

two Dominicans. Martin

cell. In the transcript

trial,

and his

Toutmouille

report:

Joan was abandoned to secular judgment and dehvered

found myself

,

done."

she had already seen sitting as an assessor in the

moving

The day

cheer.

in the

morning

in the prison

the bishop of Beauvais had sent to to true contrition

was

to hear her confession,

And when

to die that day,

be burned,

whom

her of her coming death and to induce her

and penance, and also

did very carefully and charitably. the death that she

tell

to

with Friar Martin Ladvenu,

which Ladvenu

he announced to the poor

woman

which her judges had ordered, and when

she had understood and heard the hard and cruel death that was coming, she began to cry out sorrowfully

and pitiably

to tear

and pull her

hair.

"Alas! that they treat

134

PART

me

men

which

of the church, not by

me

out for

my

as miserably as

it

wrongs and grievances

great

body, clean and whole, which was never

consumed and reduced

be beheaded seven times than

ecclesiastical prison to

THE DRAMA

my

so horribly and cruelly that

corrupted, should be today to

I:

I

to

be burned

to ashes!

submitted myself, and

if I

enemies and adversaries,

has.

Ah!

that they

I

Ah!

like that! Alas! If

protest before

it

I

I

would prefer

had been

in

an

had been guarded by

would not have turned

God, the Great Judge, the

have done me." She then made marvelous

complaint in that place of the oppression and violences that had been done to her

by the jailers and by the others they had made enter against

in prison

After these complaints, the bishop arrived, to

"Bishop,

I

Joan, take

He began

die because of you."

you

patiently,

it

whom she

her.

said immediately:

to remonstrate with her, saying:

you have not held

will die because

to

"Ah,

what you

promised us and because you return to your first witchcraft." And the poor Maid

answered him: "Alas!

me

handed

If

you had put

over to

would not have happened

caretakers, this

before God." That being done,

The usher Jean Massieu, who had

how Martin Ladvenu heard the Eucharist.

me

in the prison of a

church court and

the hands of competent and agreeable ecclesiastical

I

to

me. That

is

why I complain

of you

went outside and heard no more.

also been sent

by the bishop of Beauvais, told

Joan's confession, after which she asked to receive

The Dominican was perplexed: Should he give communion

excommunicate? He

sent

someone

surprising response: ''Let

to ask the bishop of Beauvais,

them give her

to an

who made this

the sacrament of the Eucharist and

anything she asks." Massieu himself went to find a stole and a candle, so that the sacrament could be given her with dignity.

Joan was then led to the Old Marketplace, where, as for the spectacle the Saint-Ouen cemetery, several platforms

a final orafion, this one delivered

The invesdgation of her

had been

29, to bring

and

clothes,

had to endure

by Nicolas Midy. relapse had been

Beauchamp, having established on Monday resumed men's

set up, for she

managed with

dispatch.

the twenty-eighth that Joan had

quickly convoked the assessors

for the next day.

May

them up to date on this sign of insubordinadon to the Church Militant

to deliberate

assessors, to

what should be done. He was able

whom

to

convene forty-two

he posed the question of what to do with Joan, given the

manner in which she had returned to her errors.

In the course of this final session,

anew

thirty-nine of the assessors declared that the cedula should be read to her

and should be explained that she should be

to her.

abandoned

Only three of the assessors were of the opinion to secular justice without further effort:

Gastinel, Nicolas de Venderes, and a certain Jean Pinchon,

awarded posts archdeacon

at

at

as

canon

at

the cathedrals of Paris

Denis

who had been

and Rouen while

still

Jouy-en-Josas. This was perhaps an unexpected, but merely

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

JOAN'S TRIAL

135

formal obstacle, since the assessors had only a consultative voice, whereas

Cauchon was

name

the judge along with the vice-inquisitor, Jean Lemaitre,

does not appear in the records for this fmal session.

and made preparations for the resolution of In haste,

Cauchon

this

whose

Cauchon moved ahead

overlong

trial.

flouted the procedural rules of an inquisitorial

trial.

Laurent, the bailiff of Rouen, later recalled that in a similar case, a malefactor

condemned by

mob"

—

that

ecclesiastical justice to the hall in

is,

had been brought

which the

secular sentence could be pronounced.

This was

a secular court. directly to be

burned

The sentence was pronounced justice.

Immediately

had the chance ado and led her

to

I,

to

— so

that a regular

the sentence of

Cauchon simply delivered Joan

prepared in the Old Marketplace:

as though Joan

after that sentence, she

and before the baihff or

what he called "the

Cauchon did not obtain

a serious irregularity.

at the stake

to

heard cases

bailiff

whom

it

had been abandoned

was put

in the

to secular

hands of the baihff,

belonged to pronounce such a sentence,

pronounce one, the executioner seized Joan without further

to the place

where the wood had been prepared and she was

burned.

All of this took place in the presence of a large

number of armed men: 800,

according to Jean Massieu. Massieu was not always exact in his estimates, and this

number may be exaggerated, but

it is

not improbably large since, besides

the regular garrison of the castle, a considerable

number of men-at-arms must

have been assembled for a planned attack on Louviers. Guesdon captures an

atmosphere of haste among a mass of soldiery supervising the scene and surrounding the scaffold, ready to contain the crowd:

While Joan was making her devotions and pious lamentations,

I

was strongly

pressed by the English, and indeed, by one of their captains, to leave her in their

hands so as

to

make her

die

more quickly; they

said to me,

comfort her on the scaffold: "Priest, are you going to dinner?"

let

whose

office

was

to

us get done in time for

And impatiently, without any form or indication of judgment, they sent

her to the

fire,

saying to the master of the work:

"Do your job." And

brought and attached to the stake, continuing to praise lamenting devoutly; the

last

word she

God and the

so she was

saints while

cried in a high voice as she died was:

"Jesus!"

This haste, this crush of the crowd, these hundreds of English men-at-arms, this

—

executioner

his

name was Geoffroy Therage

high voice lamented and invoked God.

"With great devotion, Joan asked

to

One

—

all

for

one young

gesture of sympathy

girl

is

who

in a

mentioned:

have the cross, and hearing

that,

an

136

PART

I:

THE DFLAMA

Englishman who was present there made her a of a

which he handed

stick,

and she took

her,

it

one

little

in

wood from

devoutly and kissed

it,

God, our redeemer, who had suffered on the

a pious lamentation to

which cross she had the sign and representation, and she put

the

end

making

cross, of

that cross in her

bosom, between her flesh and her garments." Hearing that request. Friar Isambart de La Pierre went

to

fmd

in the

nearby church of Saint-Laurent a cross "to hold elevated right above her eyes

up

moment

to the

God hung And he attested that Joan,

of death, so that the cross on which

could be continually before her sight."

during His

life

"being already

surrounded by the flame, never ceased up to the end to proclaim and to profess in a

high voice the holy name of Jesus, imploring and invoking without cease

the aid of the saints of paradise, and again,

her

spirit

she was

and

letting her

head

fervent in the faith of

fall,

which

she uttered the

is

more, while surrendering

name of Jesus

as a sign that

God."

These cries in the Old Marketplace, which she uttered in a high and strong

who were there, above the crackling flame amid the moved many who were present, including some of the English.

voice, according to those

noise of crowd,

Several witnesses in the retrial of 1456

remembered

the tears of Louis of

Luxembourg, bishop of Therouanne, who was entirely devoted to the English cause. The executioner who had been called to torture her in the dungeon in Rouen, Mangier Leparmentier, !

said:

and especially

"Once

in the fire, she cried out

more than

in her last breath, she cried with a strong voice,

six times, 'Jesus

'

'Jesus!' so that

everyone present could hear

it;

almost

all

wept with

pity."

Isambart reported an event that marked Joan's fellowship with the martyrs according to the sensibility of medieval Christianity:

One

of the Englishmen, a soldier

that with his

moment he

own hand he would

did

it

who

detested her exceptionally and had sworn

bring a bundle of sticks to Joan's stake, at the

and heard Joan crying the name of Jesus

in her last

moment,

stood struck with stupor as though in an ecstasy and had to be led to a tavern near the Old Marketplace, so that with the help of some drink he could regain his strength.

And having had a meal

with a

friar

of the order of Friars Preachers,

who was

this

Enghshman confessed through the mouth of that

that

he had sinned gravely and that he repented what he had done against Joan,

friar

also English

whom he now took to be a holy woman; for as it seemed to him, this Englishman had himself seen,

at the

from her and take

same day came

moment that Joan gave up her spirit, a white dove emerge

flight

to

toward France.

And

the executioner, after lunch

a convent of Friars Preachers and told

me

on

that

as well as Friar

Martin Ladvenu that he was damned because he had burned a holy woman.

JOAN'S TRIAL Pierre Cusquel,

work

at the castle,

who had

AND EXECUTION AT ROUEN

137

seen her several times because he did masonry

had not been present "because

my heart could not have stood

it

and would have suffered from pity for Joan," but he recounted:

it

said that Master Jean Tressart, secretary to the king of England,

from Joan's execution, lamentably in that place, said:

'We

afflicted

are all lost, for

when

have heard

coming back

and moaning over what he had seen

it is

burned,' and that he thought 'that her soul

"I

good and holy person

a

was

in the

was

that

hands of God, and

that,

she was in the midst of the flames, she had continuously called upon the

name of the Lord

One

Jesus.'"

of the assessors, Jean Alespee

(II,

45), a

one of the agents of the king of England when that

canon of Rouen who was

city

had surrendered

to the

English in 1419, wept abundantly, according to the witnesses, and said: "I wish that

my

that

no

soul were

where

believe this

I

Warwick ordered her ashes relics

Massieu

(II,

could be claimed

63)

tells us: "I

to

later.

heard

it

woman's

be collected and thrown into the Seine so

Even

in the fire

and reduced

so,

rumors began

to spread, as Jean

said by Jean Fleury, a clerk of the bailiff

the recorder, that the executioner told

burned

soul is."

him

that although her

to ashes, her heart

remained

and

body had been

intact

and

full

of

blood, and he was told to gather the ashes and everything that remained of her

and

to

throw them in the Seine, which he did." According

executioner affirmed

that:

"despite the

oil,

the sulfur, and the carbon that he had

applied to the entrails and the heart of Joan, he in

still

could not make them

any way, nor could he reduce her entrails and her heart

was

as astonished as if

to Friar Isambart, the

by a confirmed miracle."

to ashes, at

bum

which he

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE VERDICT OF

ROUEN NULLIFIED Joan 's condemnation and death at Rouen seemed for about a year to strengthen the English cause in France.

A number of military victories led to the coronation

of the boy-King Henry VI (see Part

II,

Section 2) at Paris. But after the spring

of 1432, French forces (often commanded by Joan 's former companions-in-

arms) won as often as they put an end

Burgundy

By December 1435, when

long estrangement between Charles VII

to the

(II, 3),

lost.

the

French

and diplomacy. Paris fell to

trial for

Joan.

It

(II,

1)

and

Philip of

definitely reclaimed the initiative in both warfare

the

French

in

1436;

in

1438, Charles VII reclaimed

control of the church in France. In 1449, he called for the

new

the Treaty of Arras

opened at Paris

in

pope

to authorize

a

November 1455 under the presidency of

Guillaume d'Estouteville, the papal legate who was also a cousin of King Charles. 7,

Moving

in

December

to

Rouen,

it

concluded

1456, after lengthy interrogation of 115 witnesses,

its

deliberations on July

many of whom had been

involved in the trial that condemned Joan in 1431. Thatformer trial was declared to

have been procedurally flawed from

In the days that attitude of Pierre in the city at the

its

inception

and was

therefore nullified.

followed the burning of Joan at the stake

Cauchon suggests

anxiety.

in

Rouen, the

Heated discussions had taken place

convent of Saint-Jacques (home of Friar Isambart de La Pierre

and Friar Martin Ladvenu insisted that those

[II,

57]),

provoked by Friar Pierre Bosquier,

who had judged Joan had done

ill.

In retribution,

who

Cauchon

140

PART

sentenced him to ten months following year.

On

June

on bread and water,

in prison

Venderes

Nicolas Loiseleur

cedula;

until Easter of the

1431 the bishop convoked several of the assessors,

7,

his faithful intimates: Nicolas de

abjuration

THE DRAMA

I:

who had drawn up the who had tried to extract

69),

(II,

60),

(II,

confidences from Joan by passing himself off as a fellow countryman and then

had attended a session of the undergoing

torture; Pierre

Thomas de Courcelles

graduate;

64), the

(II,

(II,

which he had voted

the course of

trial in

Maurice

50), to

young and

whom would

for her

brilliant university

be entrusted the task

of translating and putting in order the notarial minutes kept daily during the (see

13) so as to

III.

compose an

of that position to remove his

authentic record of

name from

torture); a graduate of the university

Reims,

who had

left that city

the

it

trial

would take advantage

who had

of those

named Jacques Le Camus,

when

swiftly

list

(he

it

voted for

a

welcomed Charles VII

canon of (II, 1)

and

was later compensated for his losses by the king of England (II, 2), who granted him the benefice of the church of La Trinite at Falaise (Cauchon had summoned him

for the hearing

on Joan's relapse, and he had been

in her

company

at the

prison on the morning of the execution); and the friars Martin Ladvenu and Jean

Toutmouille. Cauchon also

Manchon his task,

(II,

summoned

62), but he refused to

come: Since the

trial

moved by

he

later revealed,

Joan's execution: "I never

way, but for a month thereafter

was terminated, so was

I

Guillaume Manchon had been powerfully

weep

for

much

was not able

of anything that

to find

have, so that

I

the assessors to agree that Joan

them declared

She understood and knev, apparitions

my

missal,

which

could pray for Joan."

Cauchon wished voices. All of

comes

any peace. With part of

money I was paid for my work during the trial, I bought a little

I still

Guillaume

trial,

he said; anything he could add would have no legal standing. According

to the confidences

the

the notary of the

coming

that she

to her of

her, for if these voices

that she

w hich

had done

had formally denied her

so:

had been tricked b> them. she had

had promised

made mention

that she

prison, she clearly learned the contrary.

It

.

.

.

The voices and

in the trial

had deceived

would be delivered and released from

was true

that she

had been deceived. Since

they had deceived her so, she believed that they were no longer good voices or good things. "I

do not wish

to

add any further

faith to these voices."

Nicolas Loiseleur went so far as to say that she had begged "with the greatest contrition of heart the indulgence of the English and the Burgundians because as she herself

avowed, she had caused them

to

be killed and put

to flight,

and

caused them so much loss." It

June

was evidently not coincidental

7, for

that this information

was recorded on

on the following day the king of England addressed a

letter

about

141

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED Joan, a masterpiece of

its

kind, to the

emperor

as well as to the kings, dukes,

and other princes of all Christendom. After having "seduced the populace," Joan brought "into our hands and our power by an act of divine clemency.

was

finally

We

had nevertheless no manner of intention

suffered or to deliver that

avenge the wrongs

to

we had

woman immediately to secular justice so that she might

be thereby punished." Handed over to the ecclesiastical authority in response to a request of the prelate in

whose diocese she had been taken

judged guilty of numerous crimes against the

judge upon earth." Finally she abjured her errors, but "the

up again

was

in pestilential flames; so that she

prisoner, she

finally

fire

of her pride flared

abandoned

to the secular

power." At that moment, she "confessed without any ambiguity that the

who

she affirmed had

many

was

and of "not recognizing any

faith

spirits

times appeared to her were evidently wicked and

She confessed herself to have been tricked and deceived by them."

deceptive

Cauchon's drama of the previous evening was thus necessary. Without delay, he had

"letters

of guarantee" given to him on June 12 by Henry VI, and received the

same for Louis of Luxembourg 61):

"On

the king's

(U, 29)

word of honor,

and Jean de Mailly, the bishop of Noyon

if it

(11,

should happen that anyone of the persons

who were engaged in the trial should be sued on account of this trial or its consequences, we shall aid and defend them and we shall see that these persons are aided and defended in any legal action at our own cost and expenses." Three weeks June 28 another

after his first circular letter, the king of

letter in

more or

same terms

less the

counts, and other nobles and to the cities of his

them

to

make known

kingdom of France,"

to the public "through preaching

mocked

inviting

and public sermons and

otherwise" the "truth" of the story of Joan the Maid, and

recognized that her "voices" had

England issued on

"to the prelates, dukes,

how

she had finally

her. Finally, the University

of Paris

wrote in similar language to the pope and the College of Cardinals. In

all

ordered in the

the occupied parts of the

Graverent, the Inquisitor of France

procession

at

kingdom, sermons and processions

name of King Henry VI took (II,

place, notably at Paris,

solemn sermon and public

53), arranged a

Saint-Martin-des-Champs on July

where Jean

The Journal of a Bourgeois

4.

of Paris, composed by a pro-Burgundian clerk of the university, summarizes that sermon, which depicted Joan's

life as "full

of fire and blood [causing] the murder

of Christians, until she herself was burned." Elsewhere, the Bourgeois of Paris

Rouen without "Many people said here and

described the stake at

disguising the differing reactions

aroused:

there that she

had been sacrificed for her true prince. Others said

who had protected

her for so long had done

she did well or

she was burned on that day!"

ill,

ill.

So

was a martyr and

that she

its

register that:

"On the

had

was not and

that

he

said the people, but, whether

Clement de Fauquembergue, conscientious inevitably mentions in

it

that she

registrar

of Parlement,

30th day of May 143 1 Joan ,

who

142

PART

I:

THE DRAMA

who had been taken as she made a sortie from the city men of my lord John of Luxembourg, was thoroughly

called herself the Maid,

of Compiegne by the

burned

in the city of

pronounced the sentence

The

My

Rouen.

lord Pierre Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais,

an ecclesiastical

in

would be

trial transcript

trial."

and edited

translated

in the following

months under the direction of Thomas de Courcelles. Pierre Cauchon waited with some nervousness for his nomination to the archbishopric of Rouen; his

disappointment must have been keen when he received, in the month of January 1432, an offer of the bishopric of Lisieux instead. Louis of Luxembourg finally attained the coveted to leave

Norman

archbishopric in 1436 while he hurriedly prepared

France for refuge in England, where he received the bishopric of Ely.

There he would die in 1443.

The

military offensive

resumed soon

after Joan's death, a fact that

some

people regarded as more than a coincidence. "Since the English are generally a superstitious lot," the prior of the Benedictine priory of Saint-Michel near

Rouen, Thomas Marie, declared magical about Joan [and] to Louviers,

.

.

.

later,

"they believed that there was something

impatient after her burning, they went to lay siege

being of the opinion that so long as she lived they would never

An

achieve glory nor success in acts of war."

English campaign to besiege

Louviers began immediately after Joan's death. The earl of Warwick

(II,

43)

when he went there in the first days of June and soon after June 2 Henry VFs secretary Laurence Calot (who had taken

ordered necessary food supplies 1432,

from his sleeve the cedula of abjuration that he had forced Joan to sign by holding her hand), ordered the treasurer to transfer the sums necessary to underwrite the siege.

A French campaign had already been launched in Normandy in December

1429, under the

command

of

La Hire

(II,

22),

who had been named

general of that province. The Bastard of Orleans

moment

precisely at the

of Joan's

trial

in

16) had gone

(II,

March

captain

to join

him

1431. In spite of that

constelladon of military power, the French effort was inadequate, and on

October 28, 1431, Louviers surrendered. In the meanfime, on June 30, fresh English troops debarked

at

Calais and entered service in Normandy.

King Charles VII suffered another setback. On July 2 law,

of

King Rene of Anjou,

Duke Charles

whom

he had hoped to see receive the inheritance

of Lorraine (who had asked Joan to visit

in January 1431;

[II,

26]),

his brother-in-

him and who died

was vanquished and taken prisoner during the

bloody Battle of Bulgneville. Yet another royal defeat occurred between Beauvais and Savignies (II,

13) mobilized his

in

Champagne. For

this battle,

Regnault of Chartres

famous Shepherd of the Gevaudan, Guillaume, who he

claimed "would do neither more nor

less than

easily took the shepherd-boy prisoner.

Joan the Maid," but Warwick

The French troops

shock of that defeat. Far worse, Poton de Xaintrailles

(II,

scattered in the

44) was also captured

143

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED in the rout,

By

which was called with some derision 'The Battle of the Shepherd.'

the end of July 1431, the king of France might well have concluded that

the fortunes of

war had turned against him.

The English

felt

fortune surge on their side once more, and they chose a

dramatic symbol to reassert their prestige in France. considered to discredit Charles's anointing propitious to oppose

VI, therefore,

ceremony,

at

at

If

was

Joan's execution

Reims, then the time seemed

him with another duly consecrated king of France. Henry

was brought

to France; his anointing

once royal and popular,

at

Notre

was

the occasion for a great

Dame

A

of Paris.

stately

procession of the earl of Warwick and his household brought the nine-year-old

king up the Seine toward the capital. This procession, which began between the Saint-Denis Gate and the suburb of tical

La Chapelle,

surely included the ecclesias-

peers assigned to carry out this coronation: Louis of Luxembourg, Pierre

Cauchon, Jean de Mailly, the "cardinal of England" Henry Beaufort William Alnwick, bishop of Norwich

(II,

46),

(II,

8),

and also the bishops of Paris and

of Evreux. Also in attendance were the regent of France and his wife,

Burgundy, as well as some of the numerous English lords

who had

Anne of

established

themselves in France, such as Humphrey, earl of Stafford. The procession, organized according to the established traditions, was preceded by minstrels, by heralds and pursuivants-of-arms, and by squires bearing the insignia of royal

majesty: an ermine mantle and the sword of justice.

by archers, the unfortunate six

little

It

included also, surrounded

shepherd Guillaume,

who had been

months previously and who would soon be stitched

and thrown

captured

into a sack of leather

in the Seine.

At the entry

to the

suburb of La Chapelle, the town counselors and the

Provost of the Merchants took up a canopy of blue cloth embroidered with

golden fleurs-de-lys to carry above the

solemn

entry,

little

which brought Henry, riding

king's head for the length of the

his white hackney, across the city

past the walls of the Chatelet overlooking the Seine and the palace of the Ile-

de-la-Cite up to the palace of the Tournelles, residence of the duke of Bedford (II,

9),

who lodged Henry

there during his stay.

According

Parisian guilds assembled in formal array, each of

which

to

custom, the

—master

drapers,

master grocers, master moneychangers, goldsmiths, merchants of hides and

and master butchers along the route,

—prepared

mimes amused

furs,

canopy part of the way. At

intervals

the entourage by enacting short scenes

from the

to carry the

mystery plays, as the traditional staging of royal entries required. At the cemetery of the Innocents, a hunting tableau had been mounted, while

at the

Chatelet a pageant presented a child the age of Henry VI seated on a throne,

with two crowns cleverly balanced above his head. The procession passed the palace of Saint-Pol,

home to the dowager queen,

Isabeau of Bavaria

(II,

Journal of a Bourgeois of Paris notes that "when the young Henry

.

.

23). .

The

passed

—

144

PART

the place

where she

lived,

THE DRAMA

I:

he raised his hat and saluted her and she bowed toward

him humbly, then turned away weeping." He was her grandson,

the child of her

daughter Catherine.

Henry's coronation took place

December

16, 1431.

by the English on

The

Dame

Notre

at

traditional coronation regalia

their earlier

had been brought there

withdrawal from Reims

Missing was the Holy Vial of Reims and

its

of Paris on Sunday,

—with one

exception.

some

sacred coronation ointment;

therefore considered this coronation a travesty, although traditional ritual

otherwise scrupulously observed. The feast that followed, of the palace

—

the great hall surviving beneath the floor in

the Palace of the Ile-de-la-Cite

Even though

—

contributed

the Bourgeois of Paris

little

to the

was

at the ''marble table"

what

new

is still

called

king's popularity.

was profoundly committed

to the English

cause, his lack of pleasure in English cuisine marks a persistent cultural divide:

"Nobody found anything

to praise in the meal; the greater part of the meats,

especially those destined for the

common

people, had been cooked on the

previous Thursday, which seemed strange to the French." Even the sick in the

Hotel Dieu, for

whom

in revenge, cutpurses

part of ever>^ feast

was reserved, found

and other pickpockets sought

inedible.

it

As

if

profit at the feast, stealing

with ease from any number of firmly fastened belt clasps. The joust the following

morning also proved disappointing, so poorly staged remarked

that

that the

any inhabitant of the city would have spent more

daughter than the English had spent to crown their king. the coronation music; the Bourgeois

ously."

Bourgeois of Paris

judged

The theme came from the Psalms:

"I

that

it

to

marry

successful

his

was

was played "quite melodi-

have sent mine angel." The English

effort to construct the coronation as a prestigious

entirely successful.

More

symbol was therefore not

Henry soon returned toward Rouen down

the valley of the

who

Seine under the protection of his mentor, the earl of Warwick,

hastened

with his entire household to Calais and crossed over to England.

The following Ricarville with a

and the

year, 1432, brought reversals for both the English

French causes. Around February

3, in

a daring coup, a French mercenary

mere hundred companions seized the

the castle of Bouvreuil that one year earlier

castle of

had been home

Rouen

to

named

itself

Joan of Arc,

Bedford, and the earl of Warwick. The English reinforced the garrison to repel the coup, but only a

few of the English troops, commanded by the

Arundel, succeeded in finding refuge that

in a strong

chamber

in

earl of

one of the towers

overlooked the town. From that tower, on the following morning, Arundel

harangued the confused crowd: an arrow carelessly shot by one of Ricarville's partisans killed an infant in the crowd, at

which point the massed populace

The

front of the fortress rallied to the English.

lowered

in a basket into the

moat. Gathering

to besiege the castle, directing against

it

all

earl of

in

Arundel had himself

his available forces, he turned

the fire of a

bombard. Ricarville

145

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED surrendered after several days, and he and

all his

men were beheaded

Old

in the

Marketplace.

On

February 20, however, the Bastard of Orleans

thanks to an Orleans fish merchant to the townspeople,

wagons

and

who

who

city.

and shad

salt

then succeeded in blocking the drawbridge with his

Englishmen mounting guard

while French partisans killed the

gates of the

16) retook Chartres,

(11,

pretended he was delivering

The bishop Jean de Fetigny,

the populace, and a part of the garrison

who had

then proceeded to the cathedral to hear the sermon of the Jacobin friar

engineered the

plot,

Six months

and

that

the

later,

other

at the

evening Chartres returned to French

duke of Bedford was constrained

rule.

to raise the siege

of Lagny, an important fortress that could block convoys between Paris and

Champagne. Bedford returned as to confess himself."

His most precious ally and the

succeeded in smoothing

day of August

to the capital for the feast

Three months

later,

sister

difficulties

on November

of Philip the

15, "so

14, 1432, his wife died.

Good

(II, 3),

she had often

troubhng the Anglo-Burgundian alliance.

Although Bedford expressed profound

grief,

he wasted no time in remarrying.

In early 1434, he chose the seventeen-year-old daughter of the count of SaintPol, Jacqueline of

Luxembourg,

as his bride.

young

In the meantime, the French court witnessed a palace revolt. Three

men

—Jean de Bueil Prigent de Coetivy, and

Pierre de Breze

—conspired with

Yolanda of Sicily and her daughter Marie of Anjou, queen of France, against

Georges de La Tremoille castle of

sword

thrust into

An

La Tremoille "s

wound. He was

court just at the

attack

His

fat belly

did not

at

Chinon

but caused only a

kill

affairs.

new involvement came just

in time.

One

year later a strong English

would be directed against Mont-Saint-Michel.

to plant his

Sir

Thomas

banner of

own hands and

cast

it

lilies

was able

monks then aroused

the

(II,

to

breach the town walls.

days

later Scales

townspeople took refuge

townsmen

He

quartered with leopards on one of the

into a ditch. Eight

assault, so violent that the

Scales

under his command, lacked the sustained military

ramparts, but Louis d'Estouteville, the defender of the Mount, ripped

disorder.

from the

moment that Arthur de Richemont (IL 36) recovered favor with a new active phase in Charles's

39), with impressive artillery

his

in the

earlier), yet the

briefly imprisoned before being expelled

drive to reach the monastery proper but

managed

on him took place

La Tremoille's displacement signaled

conduct of the kingdom's

offensive

25).

Couldray (where Joan had been received four years

superficial

the king.

(II,

in the

to resist the attackers,

The two bombards the English had to abandon can

off with

it

a

new

itself.

The

mounted

abbey

who soon

fled in

be seen

Mont-

still

at

Saint-Michel. Mont-Saint-Michel had proven impregnable. For a short time the

EngUsh went

to

fortify

d'Estouteville dislodged

the

islet

them and

of Tombelaine and held on there until also took Granville

up the

coast.

146

PART In that

same

THE DRAMA

Norman Bessin (the region around Bayeux) Bedford, who levied 344,000 livres in taxes

year, 1434, the

demands of

revolted against the

upon

l:

Normandy. That province had been increasingly exploited

the Estates of

by mercenary troops, who have

word "brigand," from

left to the

French and English languages the

The rowdy

the brigandine, the type of helmet they wore.

troops, inadequately controlled by poorly supervised captains, turned into

shameless pillagers and extortioners. The chronicler Thomas Basin provides a terrifying description of this period of insecurity in

Normandy. Here and there

peasants got together, striving to escape either from the English or from the brigands.

The duke of Alen9on

the siege of Avranches but

An

with the aid of Jean de Bueil, undertook

(II, 4),

was forced

to

abandon

that effort after a

expedition of the earl of Arundel in the region of the

La Hire and Poton de

few days.

Caux was stopped by

Xaintrailles and cut to pieces near Gerberoy; Arundel,

badly wounded, subsequently died in captivity

at

Beauvais.

moment

in

1435 to stage a mystery play

The

city of

Orleans chose that

featuring the story of Joan's military exploits there. All the bourgeoisie were

mobilized, and stages were set up

at

every gate of the

city.

A

magnificent

performance of The Mystery of the Siege of Orleans ensued, the manuscript of

which survives

(III,

14).

The town account books record

companions, Gilles de Rais

(II,

34), took part in this

huge

All this while, diplomatic offensives continued.

prisoner at Dijon, to

which policy

that

one of Joan's

theatrical production.

Rene of Anjou

(II, 5),

a

was well placed to pursue reconciliation with Philip the Good,

his mother, Yolanda,

duke of Burgundy

felt little

chronicler Olivier de

around his heart."

was strongly committed. For

his part, the

personal sympathy for the regent Bedford; as his

La Marche wrote, "French blood boiled in his stomach and

On

January 16, 1435, peace negotiations began

The French and Burgundian

at

Nevers.

delegates separated after three weeks, promising

to rejoin at Arras.

On August 5,

1435, in the abbey of Saint- Vaast at Arras, a solemn session

brought together French, Burgundian, and English delegates, but to their cost, English

envoys quickly abandoned the conference.

Word

later

arrived of the

death on September 12 of the duke of Bedford in the castle of Rouen, which had

been Joan's prison. The death of Isabeau of Bavaria followed on the twentyfourth. In the

meantime, on September 21, the Treaty of Arras between France

and Burgundy was concluded. The ambassador of Charles VII, Master Jean Tudert,

made

public and formal restitution as dictated by contemporary codes

He

bent his knee before the duke of Burgundy in his king's name.

of honor:

From

his side, the

duke forswore revenge for the murder of

his father at

Montereau. The treaty was definitively sealed on October 28 and ratified at Tours

by Charles VII on December

1

0. Civil

war thus ceremonially ended, and the

fissure that had divided France closed. Armagnacs and Burgundians had come

147

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED

together in the "good, solid peace that lasts a long time" that Joan of Arc had so desired.

One more

year,

and "the English would

Constable Richemont

(II,

forfeit

more than they ever had

one of Joan's predictions.

in France," again fulfilling

On

April 17, 1436,

36) entered Paris. His campaign had begun with the

taking of Meulan, then of Pontoise, in February 1436. Thereafter, the French

enjoyed control over the principal water routes from Meulan on the Seine to

Lagny on

the

Marne. Caught between those two

strategic

points,

Paris

experienced a steadily worsening famine, and Louis of Luxembourg, the

governor chosen by Bedford before his death, alienated himself from the

populace with his pride and

insensitivity.

Two

thousand English troops sent as

reinforcements were cut to pieces on the plain of Saint-Denis on April

6.

With

the help of the Bastard of Orleans and the Burgundian captain Villiers de I'lsle-

Adam, Arthur de Richemont undertook by resistance within the

city.

The

the siege,

which

this

time was helped

regular troops entered the city by the Gate of

Saint-Jacques on the Left Bank.

While the English cried treason,

within range. In the

it

was recorded

and footstools

Paris threw furniture, chests,

name of

at the

that the bourgeoisie of

English troops

who passed

the king, the constable promised amnesty to

"renegade" Frenchman. The English took refuge in the fortress of SaintAntoine, but soon, pressed by hunger, they requested a parley and were authorized safe-conduct from the

As

city.

Boats on the Seine took them to Rouen.

they passed, the crowd shouted, "After the fox!" and

"By

the tail!"

The king,

however, did not enter the reconquered capital city until a year

November

12, 1437.

Even then,

to the

later,

on

disappointment of Parisians, Charles VII

stayed there only three weeks.

Yet another epilogue to Joan's story was the return of Charles of Orleans in

1440

(II,

31), after twenty-five years spent in English prisons. "I should

taken enough Englishmen to have

him back," Joan had

said at her

considered the return of this duke part of her mission.

coincidence

that, in

July of that

arrived at Orleans. After the death of her herself in financial difficulty.

news and

invited her to

It

same 1440, Joan's mother,

is

trial,

have

for she

probably no

Isabelle

Romee,

husband and her eldest son, she found

The bourgeoisie of Orleans were moved by

come live with them. We find notices

in the

that

town account

books thereafter of the 48 sous per month she received. The town also assumed the expenses of the doctor

who

visited her

when

she was

ill.

She took up

residence near the collegiate church (now restored) of Saint-Pierre-le-Puellier,

which became her parish. Isabelle was joined

Orleans by her son Pierre, once

He brought his wife and his son Jean. Under the we find a record of the gift to him by the duke of Orleans of the island Loire known today as Ile-aux-Boeufs.

held as a prisoner with Joan. date 1443, in the

in

148

PART

A year earlier,

some of

named Claude

adventuress

THE DRAMA

I:

had been deceived by an

the people of Orleans

(III, 12),

who

pretended that she was Joan escaped

from English prisons. As the Chronicle of the dean of Saint-Thiebault of Metz

many were

reported, she dissembled so well "that in the

region of the

deceived." She appeared

Meuse and was received by Elizabeth of Gorlitz,

—

a

first

member

the one called

of the family of Luxembourg.

It

seems

—managed

to

convince the city of Orleans to forward him 12

Jean or Petit- Jean

francs under the pretext that he wished

that Joan's third brother

come

''to

see his sister." This false Joan

married a lord Robert des Armoises and arranged to be received

at

Orleans

itself,

where on July 28, 1439, the town account books mention the reception staged

The Bourgeois of

for her.

Paris relates in his Journal

how

the impostor

was

the city's palace.

There are records of two other

adventuresses who, in these troubled times,

knew how to exploit public credulity

publicly

unmasked

at

and present themselves as Joan, since so many did not wish

to believe that the

English had imprisoned and executed her. In 1449 the out: the recovery

most decisive epilogue to Joan of Arc's military story was played

of Normandy. The episode began with the capture of the castle of

Fougeres by Francois de Surienne, an Aragonese mercenary in the service of the English. This action violated the truce concluded between France and England five

years earUer,

when on May

28, 1444,

King Henry VI was betrothed

princess Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Rene of

That marriage, hailed across Europe as a

two kingdoms, took place

at

Nancy

first

in

coronation of the young queen took place

The coup

a year after the betrothal.

had

at

at

now commanded

French

Anjou and niece of Queen Marie.

step toward a final peace

between the

February of the following year, and the at

Westminster on

May 28,

1445, exactly

Fougeres threatened that peace. Charles

hand a reorganized army equipped with powerful

of England

to the

unruly vassals.

On

artillery,

whereas the king

July 17, 1449, the

Normandy

offensive began. The French had already entered Pont de TArche using a

French mercenary, Robert de Flocques

(II,

17),

was on

the

way

Vn

to capture

ruse.

A

Conches

when, thanks to the connivance of a resident of Vemeuil whose mill was built against the rampart, he took that

Beginning

in

town

as well.

August, Charles VII established his headquarters in

Louviers and directed the military response in person.

townspeople of Rouen were the

Norman

capital

When he

in revolt against the English,

and made

his

solemn entry

English governor, Somerset, arranged his

own

learned that the

he marched toward

on November

safe departure

10, 1449.

The

upon delivery of

hostages and of several fortified towns, including Caudebec and Honfleur. Retreating toward Caen, Somerset tried to rally the English forces, but they then controlled no

more than

The arrival effort (he

a

few islands of

territory in

Normandy.

of the new English army assembled by Henry VI

had pawned

his

crown jewels

to

meet

its

in a

supreme

expenses) provoked a

new

—

149

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED French offensive. The EngHsh force debarked of

Thomas

who promptly

Kyriel,

manded by

in

Cherbourg under the command

drove the French counteroffensive, com-

the count of Clermont, into retreat.

French fortunes revived when

Arthur de Richemont appeared with 1,500 men-at-arms. The result was a decisive victory for the French at

Formigny on April

15, 1450.

All the while, Joan's story continued to unfold. Shortly after his entry into

Rouen, Charles VII decided

to

show

his gratitude.

He must have

heard

people from Rouen recall Joan's execution, and he undoubtedly had brought to

him

the

On

records kept in the archbishop's palace.

trial

February

15, 1450,

he

open a new

dictated to his counselor Guillaume Bouille a letter destined to

chapter for our understanding of Joan of Arc:

As

heretofore Joan the

Maid was taken and

seized by our ancient enemies and

adversaries the English and brought to the city of Rouen, against

caused

to take place a certain trial

and abuses, so much so

that,

they

who had been chosen and

by certain persons

given this task by them, in the process of which they falsifications

whom

made and committed many

by means of

this trial

and the great

hatred that our enemies have against her, they caused her death iniquitously and against reason, very cruelly indeed; for this reason

of the aforesaid carried out.

trial,

and the manner according

to

we wish

which

before us and the this

the truth

was conducted and

We command you, instruct you, and expressly enjoin you to inquire

and inform yourself well and diligently on what was

on

it

know

to

said;

and

that

you bring

men of our council the information that you will have gathered

event under a closed seal ... for

we

give you power, commission, and

special instruction by these presents to carry this out.

Given

at

Rouen, the 15th

day of February, the Year of Grace 1449 [New Style, 1450].

Guillaume Bouille went

to

work

rapidly, launching an inquest that revealed

The

"the truth of the aforesaid process" carried on nineteen years earlier.

testimony of the notary of the

was heard

all

Dominican

day on March

friars

trial

4,

of condemnation, Guillaume Manchon,

and then that of

of the convent of Saint-Jacques testified, two of

Isambart de La Pierre and Martin Ladvenu stake and

played

two of

at best

six other witnesses.

whom — Guillaume

Four

whom

—had accompanied Joan

Duval and Jean Toutmouille

accessory roles in that event. The usher Jean Massieu

to the

—had

(II,

63)

gave testimony as well, and by a stroke of improbable luck Master Jean

Beaupere

(II,

47),

who had

interrogations, arrived in visited

Rouen was

a

as the investigation began.

He

frequently

to collect the revenues of his canonry, although he lived

of the time in retirement inquest

often been Cauchon's aide during Joan's

town

judgment

at

Besan^on. The primary revelation of

that Joan's trial

had been arbitrary

most

this first

in nature, for

she

—

150 was

PART a prisoner of

war

l:

THE DRAMA

initially treated as a political prisoner

been charged with heresy and condemned Nevertheless, since she had been

who had

then

to death.

condemned by

a tribunal of the

Inquisition, Joan could be cleared of the crime of heresy only by the church itself.

To appreciate

happened

this juridical

in Christian

law

paradox

fully,

one must understand what had

two decades between the time when the

in the

ideology constructed by the masters of the University of Paris had inspired the political trial at it

Rouen and

the time of that ideology's collapse.

By

1450,

was clear to the Christian world that the University of Paris no longer held Having experienced serious

"the keys to Christendom."

internal divisions

through most of the fourteenth century when the popes resided in Avignon, the church

had been deeply shaken by the Great Schism. (See "Prelude.")

Between 1378 and 1417, when Pope Martin V was

elected,

Some

three popes claimed the triple-tiered papal tiara at once. at

Rome, while

their rivals at

University of Paris,

Avignon were supported by

of them resided

the professors of the

who tended

to

consider fmal church authority the

councils

—a

kind of parliamentary government

of periodic

prerogative

two and sometimes

substituted for the single person of the pope, the successor of Peter. These doctrinal and institutional disputes mingled with problems of a financial nature, such as the collation of benefices. Clerical vacancies attributed to the

war and the Black Death caused benefices which occurred among

A

number of

after July 1431,

to accumulate, several

the judges at Joan's

these judges

and they soon

came together again

at the

won from Pope Eugenius IV

the pope's role in the collation of benefices and annulling

on which the that

Roman

examples of

trial.

Council of Basel

decrees abolishing

some of the

stipends

Curia depended for revenue. Faced with the demands of

assembly regarding papal prerogatives, Eugenius IV decided

to transfer the

council to Ferrara, then to Florence, where in 1439 a delegation from the

Roman

Byzantine emperor came to proclaim the union of the Greek and churches at the

— a union no more popular

in the East than the

union declared

Second Council of Lyons had been. As a consequence, the

council

who

stayed behind at

elected in his place a layman,

Basel deposed Eugenius IV

Amadeus

VIII,

in

Thomas de Courcelles, an active

last

acquired for himself a cardinal's hat.

of the antipopes.

Antipope Felix had to abdicate ten years

John, count of Dunois

(II,

16).

fathers of the

duke of Savoy. Choosing the name

of Felix V, he would be the

negotiators who persuaded him to do so was

1274

open rebellion and

promoter of

this election,

in

later, in

1449; and

among

the

a featured player in Joan's history

Meanwhile, King Charles VII had unilaterally

adopted a series of measures voted by the assembly of the clergy of France,

which he had convoked

at

Bourges

in 1438. This tentative establishment of a

significantly independent French national church

is

generally

known

as the

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges.

Among

pope levied on the parishes and dioceses. from the pope, and

it

other reforms,

It

it

151 abolished taxes the

also withdrew collations of benefices

affirmed as superior to the pope's authority the authority

of a council instructed to meet every ten years. The papacy never accepted the

Pragmatic Sanction, and Louis XI had to abolish

it

upon

his succession to the

throne in 1461.

Despite disorder and resentment of the papal claim of control over the spiritual life

of the Christian people, the papacy manifested

surprising vigor during the Jubilee of 1450,

upon Rome, prelates

its

force with

when crowds of pilgrims descended

their piety presenting a striking contrast to the assemblies of

and university professors convoked

Pope Nicholas

V,

who had

sent to France his legate

at

Basel or elsewhere. At that point.

decided to rebuild the ancient church of

St. Peter,

Guillaume d'Estouteville, one of the chief supporters

of Pope Eugenius IV during his stormy pontificate. Guillaume was the brother of Louis d'Estouteville, the energetic defender of Mont-Saint-Michel; he was also a close relative of

the sister of the at

Tours

months

later.

king

King Charles VII

"Wise King," Charles

in

V.

—

grandmother had been

his maternal

Once

accredited as papal legate by the

February 1452, Guillaume d'Estouteville went to Rouen two

Normandy was by

then fully liberated and the campaign of

Guyenne was well under way, commanded by

the

man no

longer called Bastard

of Orleans but rather count of Dunois, supported by the artillery reorganized by the brothers Jean and Gaspard Bureau.

Norman, Jean Brehal,

The

was then a

Inquisitor of France

prior of the convent of Saint-Jacques at Paris.

Guillaume

d'Estouteville fully understood that even after the exhausting series of wars and the factional division the French people had suffered

was sent be

as the representative of papal authority

settled: the trial

of Joan. That

trial

—

the people to

—one question

still

whom

he

needed

to

was now a symbol of complex

cultural

fissures in search of closure: of the internal fractures of a riven France, of

national splits enervated by English invasion, and of religious and civil

power

struggles sustained by the University of Paris.

The officially

session of the investigation into Joan's

first

by Guillaume d'Estouteville and Jean Brehal

whose population, according

was opened

trial

of Rouen,

in the city

to the register of the parishes,

had dropped from

14,992 to 5,976 under English occupation. After studying the transcript of the

condemnation

trial,

Estouteville and Brehal

—

assisted

by two

Italian prelates

expert in canon law, Paul Pontanus and Theodore de Leliis, both

—drew up a model of interrogation.

the legate's staff

The

first

members of

interrogatory

consisted of twelve articles corresponding to the twelve articles on which Joan

had been condemned. Five witnesses appeared on

Manchon, 66),

the notary; Martin Ladvenu; Isambart de

one of the judges of the

first trial;

May La

2 and

3:

Guillaume

Pierre; Pierre

Miget

(II,

and a bourgeois of Rouen, Pierre Cusquel,

.

152

PART

1:

THE DRAMA

a master of masonry. Their testimony quickly

made

clear that the twelve

it

questions inadequately represented the conditions under which Joan's

trial

had

developed. The interrogatory was expanded on

May 4 into twenty-seven articles,

which

whole process of interrogation.

thereafter served as the basis for the

Witnesses were asked to confirm or deny the truth of each of these

articles.

THE TWENTY'SEVEN ARTICLES 1

That because she had come with the aid of the most Christian King of France

and fought with the army against the English, Joan was pursued by a mortal hatred and was hated by the English, and that they sought her death by every

means. 2.

And

so

As Joan had

it

was and

inflicted

that is the truth.

numerous defeats on

the said English in the war, they

way

greatly feared her, and therefore sought by every

death and so

3.

it

to put an

was and

That

in

end

possible to deliver her to

to her days so that she could harm them no longer.

And

that is the truth.

order to give this an appearance of virtue, they brought her to this city

of Rouen, then held in the tyrannical power of the English; and that they

imprisoned her in the castle and caused to be brought against her a false prosecution for heresy, and this under fear and pressure.

And

so

it

was and

that

is

the truth.

4.

That neither judges, confessors, or consultants, nor the promoter and others

intervening in the threats

made

trial,

against

dared to exercise free judgment because of the severe

them by

the terrorizing English; but that they

to suit their actions to their fear

and

and even the

to avoid grave perils

to the pressure of the peril

And

of death.

EngHsh

so

it

if

were forced they wished

was and

that is the

truth.

5.

That the notaries recording

same

fear

faithfully set

down

their account.

And

6.

this trial,

because the English caused them the

and directed threats against them, could not report the the true version of Joan's replies

so

it

was and

That the notaries, prevented by

to

fear,

were expressly forbidden in

to insert in their

her favor. Instead, that they

omit favorable remarks and insert statements held against

her that she never said.

7.

writing and editing

that is the truth.

account words pronounced by Joan which seemed

were constrained

when

truth or

And

so

it

was and

that

is

the truth.

That because of these same fears and terrors nobody could be found to advise

Joan, or conduct her case for her, or instruct her, or direct her, or protect her.

.

153

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED Moreover those who sometimes put in some positive words

for her suffered very

great danger to their lives, for the English sought to throw

them

rebels, or to deliver

to

some other form of death. And

them so

it

in the river as

was and

that is

the truth.

8.

That they kept Joan

and

in a secular prison,

anyone

that they forbade

to

speak

her feet fettered with irons and chains;

to her so that she

might not be able

defend herself in any way, and that they even placed English guards over

And 9.

so

was and

it

that is the truth.

That Joan was a

girl

of nineteen or so, simple and ignorant of the law and of

judicial procedure; that alone, without direction or advice, she

enough

or clever

to

her.

to

defend herself in such a

was not capable

And

difficult case.

so

it

was and

that is the truth.

That the English, desiring her death, went by night to her prison. Pretending

10.

be inspired by some revelations, they exhorted her not to submit to the

to

judgment of the Church

if

she wished to escape death.

And

so

it

was and

that is

the truth.

That

1 1

in order to trap her in her

own

words, the examiners plied her with

and questions, and

difficult, insidious interrogations

that for the greater part

of

the time they interrogated her about things that she did not in the least

understand.

And

so

it

was and

That they wore her out with their long interrogations and examinations, so

12.

when

that

she was finally exhausted they could seize on

in her replies.

And

That often,

13.

so

it

in court

was and

and elsewhere, Joan affirmed

all

and

that if anything in her

wished

to retract

that

it is

14.

That

it

and

also, in court all

to

words or deeds diverged from obey the judgment of the

And

so

it

was and

and elsewhere, Joan often affirmed that she submitted

it

was and

that

is

the truth; and that she

there had been anything in her that

15.

that faith she herself

clerics.

her acts to the judgment of the Church and of our Holy Father

the Pope; and so

so

that she submitted herself

the truth.

herself and

And

some unfortunate word

that is the truth.

her acts to the judgment the Church and of our Holy Father the Pope;

and

if

that is the truth.

it

was and

was

would have been sorry

in opposition to the Catholic faith.

that is the truth.

That although her words of submission

to her both in the court

to the

Church were often repeated

and elsewhere, the English and those

who

favored their

cause did not permit but rather forbade them to be inserted or written in the acts or in the record of the so-called

trial.

And

that they

caused them to be written

.

154

PART down

THE DRAMA

I:

another form, although this was a perversion of the truth.

in

And

so

it

was

and

that

is

the truth.

16.

That

if

Joan ever affirmed that she would not submit to the judgment of our

Holy Mother the Church, even the Church previous

17. In

And

article.

any case

in

so

it

was and

which

it

might appear

Militant,

was not proved by

it

the

that is the truth.

that

Joan said something implying her

nonsubmission to the Church, the promoter says

that she did not understand

what the Church was, and that she did not understand by this term the community of the

and understood the Church of which her

believed

but

faithful,

who had

interrogators spoke to consist of those ecclesiastics there present,

embraced the English cause. And so 1

8.

favor and even case,

many

in

that is the truth.

French, was translated into Latin

things having been suppressed that told in Joan's

more having been added,

and therefore

and substantial 9.

was and

That the alleged report, originally written

with no great accuracy,

1

it

in defiance of truth, that prejudiced her

that the said record disagrees with

And

points.

so

it

was and

that

is

its

original in

numerous

the truth.

That, the preceding truths having been recognized, the said

trial

and sentence

does not deserve the name of a judgment and sentence, since there can be no real

judgment where the judges, consultants, and assessors

exercise judgment.

And

so

it

was and

20. That, for the preceding reasons, the alleged record vitiated, corrupt,

and neither perfectly nor

defective that no faith can be put in

it.

are too fearful to

that is the truth.

And

is in

many

parts untrue,

faithfully written; that

so

it

was and

it is

also so

that is the truth.

2 1 That the preceding and other points being weighed, the case and the sentence are both null and

most

unjust, since they

were conducted and passed without

due observance of legal formalities by judges who were not the

and who had no jurisdiction and

that

is

in

such a case or over such a person.

rightful

And

so

ones

it

was

the truth.

22. That moreover, the said trial

and sentence are both

null

and tainted with

manifest injustice for the additional reason that on so grave a charge Joan was given no

facilities for

defending herself Furthermore, that defense

exists as a natural right,

And

so

it

was and

23. That although

that

it

was is

totally

itself,

which

denied her by manifold and insidious means.

the truth.

was abundantly apparent

to the

judges that Joan had

submitted to the judgment and decisions of Our Holy Mother the Church, and that she

Our

was so

faithful a Catholic that she

was allowed

to receive the

body of

Lord, nevertheless, out of their excessive zeal for the English, or not wishing

155

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED to extricate

themselves out of fear and pressure, they most unjustly condemned

her as a heretic to the pains of the

fire.

And

so

was and

it

that is the truth.

from the secular judge, the English,

24. That without any further sentences

inspired by rage against her, immediately led her to the stake under a large escort

And

of armed men.

so

it

was and

25. That Joan continuously,

that is the truth.

and notably

a saintly and Catholic manner,

moment of her death, behaved

at the

recommending her

manner

Jesus aloud even with her last breath in such a present,

and

God and

soul to as to

and even from her English enemies, effusions of

draw from

tears.

And

in

invoking all

so

those it

was

that is the truth.

26. That the English perpetrated and caused to be perpetrated against Joan each

and

the preceding acts, in deed and against the law,

all

who

because they had a lively fear of Joan, Christian king of France. so that the

They hated her and pursued her with a mighty hatred

most Christian king might be discredited

of the aid of a

woman

and

that they are

commonly

throughout the kingdom of France.

The twenty-seven

articles

freedom

to act; Joan's lack of

of inquisitorial

trials;

so

for having availed himself

was and

it

that is the truth.

were and are of public fame and popular

said

and known

And

so

it

in the diocese of

was and

Rouen and

that is the truth.

addressed the bias of the former

EngUsh had declared toward

that the

And

so utterly damned.

27. That each and all the preceding facts report,

by means of pressure,

supported the party of the most

trial;

the hatred

the accused; the judges' and notaries' lack of

an advocate, in violation of well-estabUshed custom

the conditions of Joan's imprisonment; her real sentiments,

notably concerning submission to the pope and to the church; and the discrepancies

between the Latin and French texts (the notary Guillaume Manchon brought forward the minutes in French that he himself

had

written).

The questionnaire presented

to

various witnesses also addressed the degree of the judges' competence, the

circumstances of Joan's execution along with last

moments, and

finally the root

discredit Charles VII

cause of the whole

Most of

the witnesses

protagonists had died:

at

at the

the English desire to

8, the

anniversary of the deliverance of

were judges

in the first trial, but the principal

Cauchon had died suddenly on December

being bled by his barber-surgeon. Nicolas

sermon

affair,

Joan's attitude in her

and the French cause.

The inquest resumed on May Orleans.

its irregularities,

Midy

(II,

65),

14, 1442,

who had

while

delivered the

Old Marketplace on the morning of Joan's death, died

as a leper

about the same time, long after he delivered a sermon before the young King

Henry VI during

his entry into Paris in

December 1431. The body of Jean

—

156

PART

d'Estivet

As

(II,

to the vice-inquisitor, Jean

appear in any

drew up

a

it

THE DRAMA

had been found

52), the promotor,

role in the trial,

I:

Lemaitre

in a

who had

59),

(II,

sewer on October 20, 1438.

remains unclear whether he was

known text after

Summarium, or

played only a small alive, but

still

he

fails to

1452. After the inquest was complete, Jean Brehal

digest of the affair, which, according to customary

procedure, had to be presented to ecclesiastical tribunals and to specialists doctors in canon law, and theologians

jurists,

judgment on the

case. This

—who

would have

was ordinary procedure, and one

to

to pass

which Cauchon

himself had adhered, although the text he submitted deviates in major instances

from Joan's actual testimony. About the Summarium, the questions were simple:

Ought the

the

same conclusions be drawn from Joan's answers

Rouen judges? Most

anyone manage

simply,

was Joan of Arc

make her look

to

were drawn by

a heretic? Finally,

A long

like a heretic?

as

how

did

series of consultations

ensued both inside France and outside. The Summarium was even sent to a theologian

at the

University of Vienna, Leonhard of Brixenthal.

Guillaume d'Estouteville was named archbishop of Rouen Jean Brehal resumed the task of the nullification

make

the decision. After traveling to

Calixtus

III

authorizing the

new

trial

all

Only the pope could

trial.

Rome, Jean Brehal obtained from Pope

(who had succeeded Nicholas

Three commissioners,

in 1453.

V

on April

8,

1455) a rescript

with the close family of Joan acting as plaintiffs.

whom

of

had been partisans of Charles VII, were

appointed to keep track of the affair in the pope's name: Jean Juvenal des Ursins, archbishop of Reims; Guillaume Chartier, bishop of Paris; and Richard Olivier, bishop of Coutances.

Paris:

On November 7, 1455, a moving ceremony took place at Notre Dame of An old woman Joan's mother, Isabelle Romee surrounded by a group

—

—

of the inhabitants of Orleans prelates appointed

who accompanied

her,

advanced toward the three

by the Holy See. She spoke "with

and

pitiable plaints

mournful supplications" echoed by the crowd:

I

had a daughter,

bom in legitimate marriage, whom I fortified worthily with the

sacraments of baptism and confirmation and raised in the fear of God and respect for the tradition of the church, as

much

as her age

and the simplicity of her

condition permitted, so well that, having grown up in the middle of the fields

and of the pastures, she went frequently

to

church and every month, after due

confession, received the sacrament of the Eucharist despite her young age and

gave herself to fasting and

to prayer with great devotion

and fervor, on account

of the necessities then so grave in which the people found themselves and with

which she sympathized with betrayed her

innocence

in a trial

all

her heart; nevertheless

concerning the Faith, and

in a perfidious, violent,

.

and iniquitous

.

.

.

.

.

certain enemies

.

.

.

without any aid given to her

trial,

without shadow of right

157

THE VERDICT OF ROUEN NULLIFIED .

.

.

condemned her

they

most cruelly by

Joan's next

trial

Under

was about

—gave

to begin.

the direction of the papal delegates, witnesses in the previous

inquests as well as others in all

damnable and criminal fashion and made her die

in a

fire.

summoned

for this occasion

abolition" (that

is,

1

amnesty guaranteed by the king). They

they had played in the condemnation it.

—

Sessions were public. The tribunal

15 were interrogated

do so being guaranteed by

depositions, their liberty to

trial

and

"letters

of

testified to the parts

in the events that

accompanied

moved from Paris, where the first

sessions

took place on November 17, to Rouen, where they were heard between

December 12 and 20

in the Great Hall of the archbishop's palace.

15, 1455, in the archbishop's palace,

Simon

On December

Chapitault, licentiate in canon law,

was appointed prosecutor, and Guillaume Manchon, who had been clerk of the court during the condemnation

required to submit

were shocking

if

all

was

trial,

among

identified

the spectators

and

documents regarding that first trial to the court. The results

not unexpected, since

Manchon

testified that

many

were made (especially by Nicolas Loiseleur and Guillaume Colles) accurate record of Joan's statements.

Then an inquest took place

attempts

to alter the

in Joan's

home

country, starting on January 28, 1456. Finally, at an inquest at Orleans, between

February 22 and March 16, an enthusiastic crowd came forward to testify. Joan's family was represented by procurators of

whom

its

advocate, Pierre Mangier, and by various

was Guillaume Prevosteau. Two

the principal

clerks

appointed to record the oral testimony, Denis Lecomte and Francois Ferrebouc, put their signatures, as was customary, to each page of the authentic transcript,

which was drawn up

in three copies, all of

Duparc's 1988 Latin and French trial

for

as a

critical edition

demonstrates, the nullification

whole contains a treasure trove of information

beyond

its

eyewitness testimony about Joan's

of bishops, clerics, and lawyers century customary,

secular,

"How

can

who

we judge

for the cultural historian,

life, it

contains the reflections

delve into knotty issues about fifteenth-

and canon law as well as into secular and

and reactions

ecclesiastical attitudes as:

which have been preserved. As Pierre

to a multitude of

such complex questions

a claim of mystical experience?" and

"Can

truth

be

discovered through torture and fear?"

A different image of Joan emerges in nuance, trial

each with

—frequently

its

local accent.

from

this

group of testimonials, rich

Alongside the judges of the condemnation

struck by a degree of amnesia

— we

see marching past Joan's

old companions-in-arms or companions of youth, princes of royal blood like

Dunois or the duke of Alen^on, and the simple bourgeois of Orleans. They create a vivid portrait of the

Maid

that

verbal responses to her judges.

matches the image that emerges from Joan's

158

PART

On July 7,

I:

THE DRAMA

1456, the nullity of the

first trial

Great Hall of the archiepiscopal palace of Rouen:

was solemnly declared

its

in the

annulment was symbolized

Many ceremonies followed, many cities of France, Orleans among them.

by tearing a copy of the transcript before the crowd. first in

the

Old Marketplace, then

in

on July 27

Orleans celebrated

its

who had launched

the initial inquest, and Jean Brehal,

affair

from beginning

festival

to end. finally

in the presence of

Guillaume Bouille,

who had managed

drawing up the Recollectio

the

that refuted the

accusations point by point according to the depositions of witnesses. Isabelle later,

Romee was

present in the crowd

on November 28, 1458, probably

at

Orleans; she died two years

in the little village of Sandillon.

CHAPTER NINE

JOAN AS MEMORY It is

only in the detailed testimony of the nullification trial of 1455-56 that

can recover Joan 's childhood and youth. Especially valuable for

this inquiry is

the testimony gathered at Domremy in January and February 1456.

among whom Joan had grown up

before she

left

we

The peasants

on her mission twenty-seven

years previously gave a striking picture of her and (unconsciously) of themselves

and of

the culture that

formed them. Most surprising

is

Joan 's apparent

ordinariness before she answered her call to save France: she was "just like

everyone

else, "

the norm.

neighbors

except that she was more charitable

and more "willing" than

The character of the popular religion that produced her and her is

significant for the study of the history

and sociology of religion as

well as of politics.

The transcript of the nullmcation trial makes the early years Maid accessible for us across the span of more than five centuries.

On

the

morning of January 28, 1456,

church of Domremy, four inhabitants gathered in a the priest invited

all

in the priest's residence of the

officials established

crowd

temporary residence while the

in the village square.

who had known Joan

the

of Joan the

Maid

to

On

the previous

come

Sunday

before the tribunal

of the church to give depositions and recount their memories. The officials responsible for the inquest included Master

Simon

cause of revision of the inquisitorial process,

from

Paris;

promotor of the for that purpose

Master Reginald Chichery, dean of the church of Notre-Dame

Vaucouleurs; a canon of the cathedral

young

Chapitault,

who had come

scribe of the

same

cathedral,

at

Toul

named Wautrin

Dominique Dominici.

at

Thierry; and a

160

PART Joan had

left

Domremy

would have been around

THE

I:

DRA^VIA

Had

twenty-seven years before.

Many

forty-four.

she lived, she

of the witnesses about to be

interrogated were that old or ''thereabouts.'" as they said in those days.

They had

reached an age when people begin to value childhood memories. Having seen her live through sixteen or seventeen years in their midst. Joan's neighbors that they could trust their

Jean Moreau. a

memories.

plowman who

seventy, provided one of the

Beatrice: the

widow

as godfather

Remi. and he

St.

widow

resided in the hamlet of Greux. aged about

most detailed depositions. He saw

and grow up; he was present dedicated to

felt

listed the

when

who

bom

she was baptized in the church

godmothers: the wife of Etienne Royer.

Estellin (they both li\ed at

of Tiercelin of Viteau.

""Jeannette"

Domremy): and

Jeannette,

He knew

her father,

lived at Xeufchateau.

Jacques Dare, and her mother. "Isabellette." well: both of them farmers like himself, but at

Domremy. They were

reputation. Jeannette

— almost

all

and farmers of good

faithful Catholics,

the inhabitants of

Domremy

loved her. Yes,

she was well and fittingly raised in the faith and had good morals. She belief as well as

little girls

of her age could. She was

corresponding to what one could hope for

''of

in a girl-child

knew her

honest conversation,"

of her estate, her parents

being "not too rich." She used to be seen going to help the plow team and

sometimes watching the animals spinning and

go

all

the

way

and she also did "women's work,

the rest."

all

What struck Jean Moreau often to church";

in the fields,

when

about Joan was her piet\': ''She went willingly and

she heard the bell ringing,

to "the village

and

to the

if

she was in the fields, she would

church" to hear mass. Jean Moreau spoke

of the hermitage of Notre-Dame-de-Bermont. where Jeannette went willingly,

almost every Saturday afternoon. (Colin, son of Jean Colin, of Greux. added last

this

detail; he was one of Jeannette's companions and with his comrades often teased

her about her piety.) Another comrade, then a cultivator often

accompanied

her:

"Many

when

times

I

at

Burey. Michel Lebuin,

was young.

I

went with her on

pilgrimages to the hermitage of Notre-Dame-de-Bermont. She w ent almost e\ery

Saturday to that hermitage and there

lit

candles."

At the age of forty-four, as old as Joan would have been this interrogation,

She went

Colin declared with a touch of pride.

to confession

"I

at the

time of

was her companion."

during the Easter season and other solemn feast days to

the parish priest, Messire

Guillaume Front. He had died, but one of

his

colleagues, the parish priest of Roncessey, near Neufchateau, Etienne de Sionne, attested that Front

good and simple

had often said

girl,

to

him: '"Jeannette. called the Maid, was a

pious, well raised, fearing

God. such

as

the village; she confessed her sins often,' and he said that if Joan

had no equal

in

had any money

of her own, she would give some to her parish priest to have masses said. This priest said that every

day when he celebrated mass, she was there."

JOAN AS MEMORY Jean Colin concurred.

He had

161

often heard Messire Front say of Joan that

"he had no better parishioner."

From the confidences of her closest friends, Mengette and Hauviette, we hear the same echo: She led a simple

life,

marked only by the

astonished, even disconcerted, her group. Hauviette,

of a peasant of

who had become

Domremy, Gerard de Syonne, was happy

of her friend: "From

piety that

to

the wife

evoke the memory

my youth I knew Joan the Maid, who was bom at Domremy

of Jacques Dare and Isabellette, spouses, honest farmers and true Catholics of

good

reputation.

friend,

I

went

know

I

to the

She adds

it

because often

I

was

in Joan's

company, and being her

house of her father."

that

Joan was a

little

according to what they said." There

is

older than she: "three or four years, a contradiction here, because she had

declared to the clerk that she herself was "forty-five years old or thereabout."

Because of the grandeur of her

life

and deeds, even today some hold a

ludicrous hypothesis that Joan must have had noble blood, that she

"Bastard of Orleans." Hauviette's testimony

have been

is

was a

cited as evidence that Joan could

bom earlier than is usually asserted (see III,

3),

and proponents of the

royal- Joan hypothesis propose a birthdate before 1407, the date of the death of

Louis of Orleans.

He

is

the father they provide for Joan, ignoring the beginning

of Hauviette's deposition, which established, like

all

the

others,

parentage. Hauviette's memories are perfectly simple: "Joan

humble, and sweet places,

she went often and willingly to church and to holy

girl;

and often she was ashamed of what men said when she went so devotedly

to church.

She kept herself busy

spun, and sometimes

—

I

saw her

"Like the others."

almost irritating in like

Joan's

was a good,

everybody

its

like other

young

she did housework and

girls,

— she watched over her

From one

father's flocks."

deposition to the other, this phrase recurs,

monotony: She was just like everybody, she did everything

else, and,

except for her notable piety, she rarely distinguished

herself from her group. For example, she loved to hear the church bells sound.

"When that

I

I

did not ring Compline, Joan caught up with

and chided me, saying

had not done well." These are the words of Perrin Drappier, the

churchwarden of

Domremy

annoyance when he forgot

more

me

faithful.

to ring the bells.

Her neighbors

same Drappier

—he was then about

sixty

—who

She promised him

also noted her charity.

"She gave

recalled Joan's little gifts

lots

reported. Mengette also recalled Joan's charity.

to

be

of alms," the

Her house was

almost next door to the house of Joan's father, and she often spun in her company or did other housework with her. Michel Lebuin reported the same: "She willingly gave for the love of

God

everything she could have." Isabellette, the

wife of Gerard of Epinal, went even farther: "She willingly gave alms and

welcomed the poor; she wanted to could sleep in her bed."

sleep under the

A plowman who

was

chimney shelf so that forty-four

the poor

when he gave

his

162

PART

THE DFIAMA

I:

deposition, Simonin Musnier, had suffered

care of the sick and gave alms to the poor; child,

was

I

In these testimonies, Joan

She went often and

.

She

saw

that myself, for

when

I

time, sometimes, she

No word

recurs

and

.

.

.

to holy places.

She worked

.

.

She went often and

.

willingly

and took care of many

girl

who

it

watched over the animals while spinning.

more frequently

which reinforce one

in these depositions,

another and produce a portrait of a young

them to

a

comfort me."

responsibilities, spun, did housework, went to help with the harvests, and when

was

was

willingly took care of the animals of her father's house.

She confessed herself willingly.

.

to

I

health in childhood: "She took

also associated with the term "willingly":

is

willingly to church

willingly to church .

came

sick myself, and Joan

ill

girl

taking joy in daily labor. That this

bore such a destiny could be so accessible to others, and remain like

the point

where no one suspected her

secret calling,

astonishing aspect of the testimony from the people of

"Popular religion" in the fifteenth century of superstitions,

stupidities,

little ritual

is

perhaps the most

Domremy.

often imagined as a tissue

and small devilries practiced by the

wretched, ignorant peasants in their naivete. That view

by this testimony from Domremy. Although

from this testimony an

is

it

abstract definition of the

is

thoroughly challenged

would be impossible

to extract

Church Militant (any more than

could be done from Joan herself), these peasants are precise in their manner of expressing themselves, of judging and of remembering her. The essential

elements of their "belief

—

prayer, the Eucharist and other sacraments, and

particularly frequent confession

Christian

life.

The depositions

—were

reflect

the essential

components of

how natural and consistent with authentic

piety they found love and respect for others, a willingness to strangers,

and a joyously active daily

The questionnaire prepared points that are

still

their

welcome and help

life.

for the interrogation at

Domremy

touched

capable of startling historians: the Fairy Tree, for example,

or those dances "near the fountain." Joan had recalled those

moments when

youth of the countryside met under the tree to sing and dance.

It is

the

striking to

same description from each of these peasants who reported without embarrassment the legends of the Fairy Tree and the merrymaking carried on year after year by the young people of the country. They formed from see

more or

less the

such ancient folklore a culture very

much

their

own and transmitted it from one

generadon to the next. Joan's godfather reported with pleasure what he had heard about this Fairy Tree:

I

heard

to

tell

often that

women

go dance there beneath

and the enchantresses who are called

that tree, but, according to

what they

fairies

used

say, ever since

JOAN AS MEMORY the Gospel of St. John

was read

our time, on the Sunday

when

when

in these parts, they at the Introit

do not go there anymore. In

of the mass Laetare Jerusalem

young men of Domremy go out

sung, the young girls and

they eat there and

163

come back

they

to that tree

is

and often

they go to the fountain at Rains and

while walking about and singing they drink the water of this fountain and play

roundabout and pick flowers.

Joan's godmother Beatrice added, "It's a very beautiful tree." Another witness,

Gerardin of Epinal, said, "That tree in the spring

branches are spread very wide;

There

is

no

A plowman her,

of her age or a

little

its

branches touch the ground."

older than she, Jean Waterin, reported that "I

saw Jeannette the Maid, and

and with her and the other

spoke with God,

"I

to

my

in

girls I

together, Joan

seemed

it

But he added: little

and

her companions been able to learn of Joan's amazing secret?

when we were playing

a

its

as beautiful as lilies

hint of devil worship or sorcery in their testimony.

What had often

leaves and

its

is

was

youth

I

drove her father's plow with

in the field

and

in the

would go away from us a

meadow. Often little

and often

me."

and the others,

we made fun of her." She began to share

confidence about her mission with another companion, Michel Lebuin,

and he kept a vivid recollection of those conversations.

accompanied her

to

He had

often

Notre-Dame-de-Bermont and had often seen her go

to

confession:

Once, Joan herself told me, on the eve of Saint John the Baptist, that there was a maid, between Coussey and Vaucouleurs,

who

before a year was out would

have the king of France anointed, and in the year that came the king was crowned at

Reims.

And

I

don't

This confidence, given on

know anything

St.

else.

John's Eve, no doubt thanks to the excitement of

midsummer celebration, had remained fixed in his memory. the "Burgundian" of Domremy, Gerardin of Epinal, of whom

the bonfires of that

There was also Joan

said, "I

would have been delighted

if

he had had his head cut off!" But she

quickly added, "If that had pleased God!" She had said to

"Compere,

if

you weren't for the Burgundians,

thought," Gerardin reported, "that

it

I

would

tell

him one

day,

you something."

"I

concerned some friend she wanted to

marry." Pro-Burgundian though he was, he nevertheless joined others, including

Michel Lebuin,

to

meet Joan and the royal entourage for the coronation; the four

peasants had joined her at Chalons.

The dominant impression one absorbs from these

Domremy and Greux

is

interrogations

from

one of clear transparency, the same transparency found

in the recorded words, the actions,

and the person of "Jeannette."

Among

all

164

PART

THE DRAMA

I:

these limpid creatures, she had a particular limpidity, a clear reflection of that invisible

world with which she

herself in touch. Prophets of the

felt

Old

Testament thought themselves the mere bearers of God's word, transmitting

what had been dictated

to them.

Joan became a heroine of this biblical type, and

from the existing record we can sense

that her prophetic character

came from

her belief that she transmitted the message of her voices without adding or deleting. "I tell

you nothing that I take in my head," she kept saying to her judges.

Throughout her

trial,

she indicates that she feared above

exceed what her

all to

voices had dictated, to be an insufficiently faithful instrument. This fidelity was in her

view also reflected in her dedicated chastity, a vehicle

that the Spirit

might

use to transmit what came to her from elsewhere. ("I asked that they send

back

to

God, whence

came," she had

I

Her holiness

said.)

They matched the median

the judgment of her intimates and fellow townspeople: level of

human

uprightness: "There

Of what inhabitants of

was

virtue, their spirit

and they knew how

upright,

was nothing but good

than simply a ritual

accorded to baptism

—witness

to appreciate

in her."

did this popular religion consist?

Domremy

me

best refracted by

is

The importance

is striking.

For them,

it

that the

was more

the importance of the godfathers or godmothers.

my commere,'" referring to the fact that they were both godmothers of a boy named Nicolas. "I am a good Christian One

of the witnesses says of Joan, "She

was

and well baptized," Joan herself protested. The only deed of her active year that

was then or later regarded

as miraculous

was the episode

said that she restored to life a child everyone thought

him the

baptized.

To be baptized was

to

become

at

was dead,

"member of the

a

community of beings who acknowledged themselves

blood of Christ.

Good

Lagny, where

Christians were those

as

it

was

in order to get

church," part of

redeemed by the

who remained

faithful to their

baptism. Their sense of the demands of baptism inspired their behavior, their respect for their neighbors, their daily ethics, their recourse to the sacraments

of the church

—without neglecting

in the hardest of times, they

was

beautiful, because

it

the joys that their daily lives offered. Thus,

would dance around the Fairy Tree because the

had inspired legends, and because

it

was

tree

part of their

natural setting.

This same

mood

been among them just

to Joan, that girl

who had

everyone else and did everything willingly

until she

inspired

like

them

to

presented the most striking proof of her

pay homage

faith,

crying out "Jesus!" in the flames

before the dumbstruck crowd in the Old Marketplace of Rouen.

>^^smm-

C7,

Wn w^mm^l

«ii Mffitm % CS^*^j*«^ vl)'#*

and

to assure himself a

refuge while he conducted raids elsewhere in the

Nivemais. La Charite had a natural strategic importance;

where

was then one of

It

the Loire could be crossed

few places

the

when

the nver

encouraged by the lax

their

own during his campaigns around Sancerre.

Gres-

to spread out

san became the head of a band of

soldiers, hiring

whoever could afford theoL holding for ransom,

and amassing

fortune to the detriment of the peasants. this

way

wished

to

be freed as soon as possible, fearing that

he might be delivered directly to the English. Charite. he uTOte to his brother, to Jean

in the

Nivemais

Gressarts

duke of Burgundy, whose

letter.

Once

La Tremoille

free.

expressed his gratitude for the fashion in which

he had been treated and lavished Perrinet" s wife. Huguette de

La

Conol.

Tremoille. Perrinet Gressart

upon

gifts

In arresting

knew

perfectly

his

well that he was not pleasing the duke of Bur-

He

gundy and demanded

as well.

letters in

interests he

that

La Tremoille

sign

person pardoning Gressart.

Gressan continued

where he specialized in ransoms. But he remained loyal to the

day of

them to hasten his deliverance and to comply with

on

campaigned

the

command of the duke of who allowed his

Burgundian adventurers

men and women

On

December 30. 1425. Gressart and Francois de Surienne made La Tremoille sign an agreement to pay a ransom of 14.000 ecus *^of good weight" La TremoiUe signed because he his capture.

de Vecel. and to the marshal of France begging

Burgundy. John the Fearless,

to

accompanied by the marshal of Burgundy and other officers of the ducal house.

He was

Gressarts career began in Picardy.

them out

when he was passing through La Charite. even though La Tremoille had a safe-conduct and was

From La

was swollen.

the

marching one day

to lead the bandit's life,

in the direction

English-occu-

when the attacks of the Armagnacs against the duchy became increas-

pied territor> and the next day toward Burgundy.

ingly serious. Gressart blocked thenL

English before Montargis and the French

consistently served. In 1420.

himself up

at

Paray-le-Monial

at the

setting

head of a

Just

when La Hire had

regrouped

at

to relax his grip

on the

Gien. Bedford promised Gressart a

company paid for by the duke. With another of his

reinforcement of "Englishmen from England"

companions, he defended the Charolais.

TDepanmental .Archives of the Cote -d" Or. B

The adventurer Perrinet Gressart made himself a lord thanks to his profitable dependency on

reinforcements, fearing he would alienate the

the duke of Burgundy: he did business exclusively

duke of Burgundy. That fear did noL however,

with the duke or his chancellor. Nicolas Rollin.

prevent

Since payment

came from

the

duke of Burgundy

however. Gressart chafed

in his role

as keeper of the pantry to Philip the

Good and

irregularly,

became an agent of John, duke of Bedford,

the

11916). But Gressan dechned to accept these

him from accepting goods offered by the The bandit thus found himself linked to Henrv VI of England by feudal bond: Gressart rendered him the homage of a vassal.

English.

.At

the time of the siege of Orleans. Perrinet

pan of

Nivemais on

English regent for France. Bedford enjoyed using

Gressart occupied a

him as a pawn in the game with Burgundy. It was in Burgundys interest for Gressan to guard La

behalf of the Enghsh: they held Saint-Pierre-le-

Charite in the duke's name: the duke did not wish

mont. the principal point of passage over the Loire

too powerful so close to home.

between Decize and Nevers: Pass\. on the route

the English to

t>e

.MoiJtier

and numerous

the

castles, including

Rose-

—

—

187

THEIR SUBJECTS between La Charite and Versy; Dompierre-sur-

the king of England.

Still,

Nievre; and La Motte-Josserand in the valley of

himself against delays

in

the Nohain,

from which Gressart could threaten

when

This deployment changed

amiies achieved their

the French

But for the

first victories.

Burgundy had

English,

remain neutral. The

to

counselors of Charles VII busily began to sign

engaged

truces. Auxerre,

in truce negotiations,

thus escaped attack during the

march toward

Reims. The Burgundians adopted a comparable position;

more

conciliatory than they had been

no obstacle

previously, they posed

making

troops

their

way

to the royal

On the

to the coronation.

following day, truces that were supposed to

newly validated king of France

no way

in

B

Cote-d'Or,

silver coins

1660).

more with

Thereafter, Gressart dealt no

the

duke of Burgundy but directly with the king of

He was made

France.

Nevers and began to

an officer of the count of

rid the

country of pillagers,

although he himself had been one, and he called

upon Charles VII endeavor. sart

The

last

help

for

in

this

altruistic

documentary mention of Gres-

appears in September 1438; he probably died

about then.

was evident

Perrinet Gressart's talent

last

Christmas were signed. This agreement with

on the

a guard

headed his way (Departmental Archives of the

king to profit from these victories against the

the

Armagnacs and placed

or the

convoys of wine vats and kegs of

Gien.

until

Gressart protected

payment by Burgundy

dians,

in his

by turns the English, the Burgun-

ability to resist

and the Armagnacs for twelve years.

implied a rupture of the good relations between

Neither the French nor the Burgundians managed

Burgundy and England. The Burgundians were

to profit

anxious; they had seen the royal armies marching

de Wavrin, the Burgundian chronicler, draws a

about the frontier of their duchy, taking strategi-

flattering portrait of him:

cally important locations that

Compiegne and

is,

on the Creil

line of the

—

that

Oise

from

Perrinet Gressart

commanded

waged

was wise, prudent, and

even Normandy was a secure fortress for the

knowing how

English any longer.

tion.

Gressart feared losing

maneuver: 'This of

my

lord de

it.

city

La Charite when Joan

He knew

the reason for that

was besieged

La Tremoille"

at the

I

man of great enterprises,

a

conduct himself

in every situa-

many campaigns and honorable

with him on

enterprises" (Wavrin, vol.

1, p.

264).

(Gressart, Lettres, in

22. "LA

B

HIRE."

ETIENNE

DE VIGNOLLES

More important, the king had

to protect Berry, constantly threatened

by the

incursions of the mercenary and his troops.

The

Bourbonnais, a territory of the count of Clermont,

was menaced

to

myself, author of this present work, was

1918). Evidently, the latter had not forgiven his

capture and ransom.

as well.

La Tremoille and Clermont

Etienne de Vignolles was one of Joan's most reliable military supporters. Better

known

the traditional French

interest in Gressart's disappear-

epithet appears to reflect a character

ance.

Finally,

La Charite happened

means "anger."

strategic site along the Loire,

be a

and the commerce

of that river valley remained active despite occa-

In

by mercenary

"La

pack of playing cards. His

common

to

as

Hire," his image survives as the Jack-of-Hearts in

had a

sional disruptions

lived,

request

the Departmental Archives of the Cote-d'Or, 1

"As long as he

strong war against King

Charles more than any other of his estate; for he

Picardy. Clearly, Paris might change sides; not

of Arc laid siege to

and cunning. Jean

his military skill

We know

that he

trait:

Hire

was violent and

easily inflamed; the English, in mockery, called

him "Holy Ire of God" or "Gracious Ire of God" but only at a safe distance.

attacks.

Bom

view of the inspiration Joan of Arc had

at

Prechaq-les-Bains in Gascony and

man whose childhood was

given the Armagnacs to reconquer territory, the

a

Burgundian position would be gravely weakened

Hundred Years War, he developed

a

once Charles VII exploited his victories by aban-

independence and a

He seemed

doning his policy of truce-making. Peace between VII was concluded on

Gressart and Charles

November 22,

1435; the king granted Gressart the

places he held and

Charite for

life,

named him

captain of

La

with a payment of 400 livres per

little

taste for arms.

concerned with the

emotional sides of

completed

life

at the Battle

need for

intellectual, spiritual, or

(F Rousseau, 1968). He

his first military

constable Armagnac.

disrupted by the

We

service under the

do not know

of Agincourt

in 1415.

if

he was

From

1418,

year to be levied on the revenues of La Charite

with his faithful companion Poton de Xaintrailles,

and Cosne. The further sum of 2,000 golden saluts

he rallied to the dauphin Charles. His

would be paid him within three months; 8,000 saluts would be paid by Burgundy, whose duke

was retaking

paid

him an

additional

1

,000 saluts, due him from

first

the castle of Coucy, after

adopted as his motto,

"I

a duke, nor even a count:

exploit

which he

am neither a prince, nor I am the lord of Coucy"

188

PART

II:

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

[Roi ne suis ni prince, ni due. ni comte aussi: je suis sire

du Coucy]. The following

cham-

some of his who promptly became

him by

beraiaid betrayed

year, a

Burgundian prisoners,

freeing

masters of the castle once more. But this loss did

Vn employed

not lessen his prestige, and Charles

his "vahant captain" in other expeditions.

La Hire and Poton went on the

Vermandois and the Laonnois. then

raine,

where they fought

in the

in

leg

fireplace leg

Bauge

(

)

rest

of his

in that

he nevertheless

life,

1428.

"there

arrived in Orleans, to support aid, and assist

many noble

lords, knights, captains

de Vignolles.

and vahant

known

men

as

it.

— and Etienne

La Hire, of great

renov'. n.

of war in his company" (Journal

du siege d' Orleans). His movements

made him

Charles VII

mandy. WTien Joan of

La Hire was ransom to

to the

resume

Burgundians. which permitted him a mercenary in the king's pay.

life as

Having

sun. ived cold, epidemics,

the

reconquest of the southwest and died on Januan^

The

1442.

11.

mercenan.

remembered: "May you do for

La Hire u hat you would vou.

if

bloody

favorite prayer of this

is still

La Hire

like

to

do for

vou were La Hire and La Hire were God."

ISABEAU OF BAVARIA.

23.

QUEEN OF FRANCE

king the loss of the fort of the

Isabeau of Bavaria

and w ar subsidies. The pay instructions of Pierre

d>"namic figure

de Fontenil. the treasurer of Chinon.

the

in

and many

Montauban during

fell ill at

Tourelles and then of requesting reinforcements

importance

Vn

a prisoner at Dourdan. Charles

took responsibility/ for part of the payment of his

had earher assumed the burden of

to the

.N'or-

perished at the stake.

to the

Journal of the Siege of Orleans. This captain of

announcing

captain general of

.-Vrc

in the years

1428 and 1429 can be followed thanks

the \ ermandois

his

to

language and thereafter cursed only "on

wounds. La Hire

mercenai}.

October 25.

was also thanks

contact with Joan that he changed his famously

continued his career as an adventurer and a

On Monday.

deposition of master

trial, It

operations to free Orleans and the Loire \alley.

an inn. The

had collapsed on him. Crippled the

for

Compaign).

Pierre

Lor-

in 1421. In that year, his at

pany" (Nullification

to

com-

his baton." This %aliant captain participated in all

pay of the cardinal

was broken while he was asleep

La Hire went

others of his

in

of Bar. Etienne de Vignolles appears in the records again at

many

confession, and so did

\'ulgar

wage war

to

She exened some moral influence over him: "at her instigation and her request

the

attest to his

"To

eyes of Charles VII:

Etieime de Vignolles. 100 ecus of gold and 825 hvres toumois. which according

to the

command

and order of the king w ere given and dehvered various times and in various places.

at

(ca.

1370-1435) was a

who strove to impose herself upon

pubUc consciousness and

quite often suc-

ceeded. She was the wife of Charles \T and

mother of

his children, including Charles V'll: in

her capacity as mother she became the nexus of

many convergent

interests.

Isabeau was the daughter of Stephen

To Xain-

II.

and Etienne de VgnoUes. called La Hire,

duke of Bavaria, and Taddea \lsconti. At fourteen

much on their estates as on the payment of fiftv nine pages to the sum of 512 livres toumois"

king Charles \T (July 17. 1385). Charles had been

trailles

as

(Chambre des Comptes

2342. fol.42. cited by

fr.

Orleans.

sminen

at their first

feasts in

Valletde Viriville). .•\t

she met and. quite soon

La Hire remained

active.

On

with Jacques de Chabannes. he

benefit of a

pursued the English back to the rampart of Saint-

From

February

3.

Laurent. But after the

"Day of the Herrings." I. 3). La Hire was "in

Saturday. Februan. 12 (see

profound

grief."

He

resented the orders of the

W

arrival in Paris.

She so

that he married her without

mamage the

married the young

meeting and ga\ e magnificent

honor of her

affected Charles

after,

contract or dowr>.

beginning their marriage was

troubled by Charles's mental unrest (recently

diagnosed by R. C. Famiglieni as schizophrenic in

nature).

Isabeau was well acquainted with

On

July

1402.

Charles

count of Clermont, which required him to wait for

political

the count" s arrival before attacking. This strategy

granted her power, along with whatever counse-

gave the English time to regroup and to organize

lors she

their defense, so that

Poton and La Hire were able

only to protect the French

La Hire continued

to travel

back and forth

to procure

from the king. He may have been

at

funds

Chinon when

Joan arrived. In any case, he was among the

who

first

"achieved the faith to beheve in her" and

became one of Joans most

1.

might choose, to conduct the business of

government

in his absence.

She chose Louis, duke

of Orleans, as lieutenant general of the realm, an

retreat.

between Orleans and Chinon

intrigue.

faithful

companions.

appointment that not only deeply infuriated John the Fearless, that

ame

duke of Burgundy (who had

until

held the reins of government), but that

also later returned to haunt the

monarchy and

Isabeau herself Although she had been quite acceptable as regent the

first

time Charles

M

189

THEIR SUBJECTS became incapacitated (1403), san nature of her politics

24. ISABELLE OF PORTUGAL. DUCHESS OF

the intensely parti-

made Isabeau unaccept-

BURGUNDY

At the same time, various tensions

able thereafter.

and encounters among the princes of the blood

made them equally To solve

this

undesirable choices as regent.

apparent impasse, a set of royal

Scholars have speculated, supportably, that Isa-

attempted to persuade her

of Portugal

belle

ordinances were issued in April, 1403, which

husband, Philip the Good, not to hand Joan of Arc

consigned the actual business of government to

over to the English

"the advice, deliberation and counsel" of the

ameliorate the conditions of her captivity.

queen, the princes, other

members of

Philip the

system was reissued as a perpetual edict on

heir

December 26, 1407,

month

a

after a

bodyguard of

Isabeau seems to have given only cursory support to Louis of Orleans until late 1404 or 1405, and she stood firmly against the duke of

Burgundy

he rescued her from the exile

until

imposed on her by the Armagnacs party) in 1417.

from 1409

(the Orleanist

She did everything

in her

power

surviving son would replace the king

when he was

under the effects of his malady and thus retain

power within

Duke Charles

dauphin to be prisoners of the Armagnacs

was

the Bold,

the daughter of

King John of Portugal

(1385-1433: he began the systematic exploration brother Prince Henry the Navigator) and his

queen, Philippa of Lancaster (daughter of King

Edward

and Queen Philippa of England).

III

was bom

Isabelle

at

Evora

on Febru-

in Portugal

ary 21, 1397.

A marriage to Henry V of England had been projected for Isabelle, but after Henry chose

Catherine of France (daughter of Charles VI and of Charles VII) instead, negotiations for her

marriage to Philip the

Good

began. The Flemish

painter Jan van

Eyck was one of

on that mission,

in the course of

a

She played an integral

Philip's

envoys

famous

which he painted

now

portrait of Isabelle,

unfortunately

role in the lost.

Philip and Isabelle were married on January

negotiations that led to the Treaty of Troyes 10, 1430, at Bruges, the capital of Flanders,

(1420), which disenfranchised her son, the future

Charles VII. In 1435,

changed

when

Philip the

Good

his allegiance (effectively dissolving the

Treaty of Troyes), the followers of Henry VI

found

it

which ship.

necessary to create a

to

new precedent upon

deny the legitimacy of Charles's king-

They found

rich fodder for such redirected

fiaistrations in the political career

Bavaria

— most

of Isabeau of

especially as they touched on

Louis of Orleans. Thus, in the antidauphin Paris of 1422-1429, a probably groundless charge of adultery by Isabeau

became

a

weapon

partisans. In effect, the Treaty of to

for English

Troyes was said

splendid ceremonial celebration.

in the

murder of John the Fearless

but rather for the "fact" that he was not the son of his royal father. Instead he

been the product of an

affair

was rumored

to

have

between Isabeau and

It

amid

was on

that

occasion that Philip founded the Order of the

Golden Fleece.

whom

Isabelle bore three sons,

two of

died shortly after birth, but the surviving

child, Charles,

would

live to

duke of Burgundy (dying

be the dashing

Nancy

at

Described as "beautiful, grave,

in

adroit,

last

1477).

and pru-

dent," Isabelle was, like her husband, a great

patron of intellectual and artistic activity

Burgundian

court.

She seems

Eleanor of Poitiers, a

known book

the first

de

to

member

at the

have dictated to

of her entourage,

of etiquette, Les honneurs

la cour.

have disinherited Charles VII not for his

involvement

Duke

in Paris,

she and John the Fearless formed a rival governin Troyes.

tried to

of the West African coast, organized by his

sister

1418, assuming the king and

rate,

of Burgundy and mother of his

the nuclear royal family.

In January

ment

Good

the intellectual and daring

time to see that her eldest

until that

any

at

or,

Isabelle of Portugal, the third wife of

the royal

family, the constable, and the chancellor. This

John the Fearless assassinated Louis of Orleans.

—

Isabelle's diplomatic efforts

successful.

She had

a

hand

in the

were extremely Peace of Arras

(1435) and four years later negotiated a treaty

between England and Burgundy. She achieved the liberation of Charles of Orleans

and arranged his

Louis of Orleans. The English party succeeded in

marriage to Marie of Cleves (whose family she

using these rumors to undercut the legitimacy of

had assisted

Charles VII; until very recently most scholars

Holy Roman Emperor and other

shared the opinion of Isabeau's grandson, Louis

duchess of Burgundy she continued to encourage

XI,

who

called her "a great

whore" (Lewis,

in

marriage negotiations with the rulers).

While

p.

the scientific explorations of her uncle Prince

Isabeau of Bavaria died alone (1435), isolated

husband's crusade plans; one favorite project of

Henry.

114).

in the Hotel Saint-Pol in Paris

where she stayed from

the time of Charles VI's death in 1422.

hers

She made great

was

efforts

to

assist

her

the collaborafion of the Portuguese fleet

with the Burgundian land army. Besides these

190

PART

II:

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

foreign projects. Philip enlisted Isabelle's politi-

domestic administration. In 1434.

cal talents in

for instance, he left

Burgundy

her hands

in

when

later (1466), still out

of favor. In an attempt to

recoup his influence. La Tremoille joined the unsuccessful aristocratic revolt called the Prague-

he went to Flanders for an extended stay in the

rie in

northern territories.

involvement, perhaps as repayment for the large

Isabelle died at the ripe old age of seventy-

sums La Tremoille had

Bom in

four at the Flemish castle of Aire on September 17,

1

47

1

.

She had

retired to that part of Flanders

winter of 1456-1465/7, ten years before the

in the

death of her husband, perhaps partly because her

son Charles the Bold resented her influence

at the

court but certainly because of her pious desire for the contemplative

life.

Philip consented to her

1440. Charles did not punish

385

1

for that

him before 1433.

lent

Guy VI de La Tremoille and

to

Marie de Sully (heiress

Craon

him

to the important fief of

as well as to the strategic castle of Sully

the Loire),

on

Georges was the thirteenth of that

name of

noble lineage to bear the

the fief of

Tremoille in Poitou. Direct descendants of Count

William

of Poitou (who was also duke of

III

withdrawal despite the great assistance she had

Aquitaine) and thus distant kinsmen of the Plan-

matters political, diplomatic, and

tagenet and Valois descendants of Eleanor of

rendered him

in

courtly during the previous quarter century of

Aquitaine, the

their marriage.

world. Georges 's father

Isabelle

was buried

astery at Dijon, the

at the

Carthusian mon-

Burgundian

capital.

Bold of Burgundy, the mighty

court, they

GEORGES DE TREMOILLE

LA

Georges de La Tremoille had for two years been grand chamberlain of France and the dauphin's fthat

is,

manager

in

negotiations

involving

instant dislike to her, he

resolute

enemy

at court.

soon became her most

He

that

would serve

clearest instance

was

his

interests.

The

when

she was sent to

avenge his honor against Perrinet Gressart and then spent two months Loire.

It is

at his castle

of Sully-sur-

generally supposed that

La Tremoille

must have influenced Charles VII's refusal to assist or rescue Joan

startling

once she was

Appointed master of waterways and forests of

captured by the English

Georges de La Tremoille retained at the

countess

Auvergne, a great lady

Duke John

II

French court for two years

when he died

heirs

right,

and of

widow of

left

A

no male

his influ-

after Joan's

in the

Queen Marie and her mother, Yolanda of Sicily (always in conflict with La Tremoille), made King Charles realize that La Tremoille's growing unpopularity had finally rendered him more of a than an asset. Briefly held prisoner at

La Tremoille paid them a ransom of 6,000 gold ecus and then was banished from court in 1453, making way for his longtime his enemies.

He died thirteen years

summer

of 1416; by

marrying his widow shortly thereafter, Georges de La Tremoille improved his sons, Louis de

own

status.

Their

La Tremoille and Georges de

Craon, both served as hereditary chamberlains of

Burgundy but retained

the family tradition of

maintaining loyalty to the French king (by then, Charles's son Louis XI). Louis

II

de La Tremoille

(1460-1525), Georges's grandson, was one of the

commanders of the armies of Kings Louis I. He became one

XII, Charles VIII, and Francis

of the prime movers of the Valois attempt to

men and

that imperial enterprise.

Arthur de Richemont.

own

John of Berry

arts,

master

rival,

October

of Berry, King Charles's uncle.

1433 by three young gentlemen inspired by

Chinon by

in

of Boulogne

in her

death, until an attempted assassination in June

liability

Agincourt

at

1415 but soon regained his freedom. In 1416 he

leading

captured by Burgundian forces.

ence

NicopoHs (1396).

set out to restrain

his control of her activity in

the winter of 1429-1430,

to the royal

King Charles VI.

France by Charles VI in 1413, Georges was

major patron of the

Joan's aggressive impulses and to manipulate her

ways

to

to

Bur-

gundy). Whether or not La Tremoille took an

in

were loyal also

married Joan,

representative

of the Valois dukes of

Always close

dauphin's household and his primary

of the

in the

his uncle Guil-

As a young man, Georges served Duke John Fearless of Burgundy as chamberlain.

the

Burgundy

first

principality.

Both died on the crusade

When Joan arrived at Chinon to meet the dauphin,

lieutenant general for

Guy and

laume were both chamberlains of Duke Philip the

that

25.

La Tremoilles had risen high

Italy,

recruiting

raising funds for

Nothing could have been further from the instincts of his grandfather Georges.

as he

was corpulent, Georges's

As cautious

strategy for saving

Charles VII was to make peace with Philip the

Good

of Burgundy and then hire foreign merce-

naries to fight the English. Joan of Arc thus struck at

the

heart

of his

policy

and his personal

ambition, as did the dashing Constable Arthur de

Richemont.

;

.

191

THEIR SUBJECTS

CHARLES II (OR I) THE BOLD. DUKE OF LORRAINE

27.

26.

generally believed that Joan of Luxembourg,

It is

Charles I

—

the

this

(some scholars

II

him

refer to

as Charles

usage excludes the tenth-century duke of

same name) had Joan brought

Nancy

to

but

did not receive her as Robert de Baudricourt did.

He

later

gave her a

sum

horse (Jean Morel's deposition) on which she

Nancy

to

together with her niece-in-law, Joan of Bethune, did nearly everything in their

Vaucouleurs

end of

at the

power

to prevent

John of Luxembourg from handing the Maid over to the Plantagenet party.

Joan of Luxembourg was the

of four francs to pay for

her trip (Durand Laxart's deposition) and a black

returned from

JOAN OF

LUXEMBOURG

sister

of Count

Waleran. The chronicler Monstrelet described her as "very ancient" in 1430. That year she

was

at

Beaurevoir "where Messire John of Luxembourg, her nephew, governed." She had just inherited the

February 1429. (Both of these depositions are to lordships of her brother as the nearest heir of

be found in the nullification proceedings.)

bom

Charles was

was

his reign

little

in

1365 and died

in

1

Ligny and of

more than one long-drawn-out

war. After taking part in an expedition against

Tunis, he helped drive the Turks back in Hungary.

who had checked

This prince,

was countess of "And because she loved her so dearly" she willed him the bulk

Philip of Brabant and hence

143

the attempts of

nephew

St. Pol.

[John]

of her estate, which aggravated his older brother

was the sister of Saint Luxembourg and godmother of Charles

the lord of Enghien. Joan

Peter of

Louis of Orleans to establish himself on the

VII.

Rhine, was a feudal vassal of the Anglo-Burgun-

13, 1430.

She died

Boulogne-sur-Mer on October

at

dian power.

Lorraine was a duchy of the Holy

Empire and Charles therefore owed

Roman

28. JOHN OF LUXEMBOURG

his allegiance

primarily to the Emperor. However, he also held

some domains from

Annoyed

Crown

the

at his failure to

of France.

be consistently loyal to

Joan of Arc was captured

Wandomme,

the Plantagenet cause in those domains, the high

bastard of

court of Parlement at Paris banished Charles,

Luxembourg,

declaring his lordship of that city forfeit. Philip

(See chapter

the

Good

intervened on his behalf. In

1416,

Charles followed the Burgundian armies into

and replaced Bernard of Armagnac as

Paris

constable of that stripped

Nancy.

him of

city.

Consequently Charles VII

his honors

and consigned him to

He married Margaret of Bavaria, who bore

Joan's remonstrance to

him was most

May

of Nancy, whose mother sold vegetables in a shop

On

collegiate

January

the house she

was

church of Saint

1425, he granted Alison

2,

living in, together with

its

furnishings and plate (both gold and silver). At his death, Alison

was dragged into

a public square

and murdered by the mob. In

Rene of Anjou,

who succeeded him

as

titular

king of

duke of Lorraine

in

—most 'les II

improbably

and

le castle

that she

grounds

at

—Joan

engaged Nancy.

Sicily,

1431

The dubious Chronique de Lorraine that

On

October 26, badly

his artillery to retreat

with his troops. It is important to remember that Luxembourg had the option of selling Joan to the

English or delivering her to Charles VII for a

John of Luxembourg, lord of Beaurevoir and count of Ligny, was devoted

Burgundy

(as

to the

duke of

count of Ligny, he took part in a

tournament of the Knights of the Golden Fleece 1431) and also in the pay of the king of

England, receiving the as counselor to

sum of 500 pounds

Henry VI. Moreover,

a year

his older

brother Louis, a cardinal in the English church,

was chancellor of England and thus

sat

on the

king's council. Governor of Arras in 1414, John

Luxembourg vigorously attacked the partisans Valois. He won Senlis in 1418; was wounded at Mons-en-Vimeu (1421); made many expeditions into Picardy and Hainault; was put in of

1420 Charles's daughter Isabelle of Lor-

raine married

she was surrendered. Luxembourg then aban-

wounded, he abandoned

in

Georges.

whom

5, p. 88).

Guillaume de Flavy.

near the ducal palace and whose father was a

precentor of the

the

John of

doned the siege of Compiegne, well defended by

likely

passion for his mistress, Alison

at his

Compiegne by

ransom.

him only daughters. aimed

to

at

a vassal of

states

was armed by in a

tournament

of the

charge of the siege of Guise by Bedford in 1424; led an

French district

Anglo-Burgundian expedition against the forts of the

Argonne; and ravaged the

of Beauvais. In August 1419,

at the

head

192

PART

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

II:

of an embassy, he went to Compiegne, bringing

tation of Pierre

Charles VI false promises of peace.

available in

The very evening John wrote

to

captured,

May

25

at Paris,

failed

Louis of Luxembourg, bishop of Ther-

ouanne and chancellor of Henry VI, was the

Joan remained his prisoner for four

to

deliver

prisoner to

Anglo-

the

At Beaurevoir Joan was well received by the count's aunt, Joan of Luxembourg, and by his wife,

Joan of Bethune.

may be

It

that

Joan of Luxem-

bourg, godmother of Charles VII, implored her

nephew not to

sell

delivered Joan to

Maid

to the

Luxembourg was elected dean of the church

May

31,

bishop's palace.

He espoused

Bedford issued in

to the nobility of Picardy.

Normandy. Present

coronation of Henry VI

18, 1430.

for Joan

a simple payment, not a "ransom," which

is

retired

to

at

at

the

Notre Dame, he was

the executor of the will of Isabeau of Bavaria.

On

was

a price

He was when

charge of preparing the defenses of Paris

Bedford

The sum of money Luxembourg took

the interests of the

English entirely and responded to the call that

Joan to the English. Luxembourg

Avignon, where she died on September

1414, and resided at

times before 1430, living in the arch-

at

them

as soon as his aunt left for

sold the

bishop of Beauvais.

of Beauvais on

Rouen

Burgundians immediately.

who

brother of John of Luxembourg,

we can only wonder why he

his

The

Trial of Jeanne D'Arc.

who

months. John of Luxembourg surely informed the king of England, and

Barrett's translated edition.

P.

of Joan's

inform his elder brother,

received the letter on capture.

Maid was

the

Champions's biographical notice

W.

April 7, 1432, King Henry ordered his

treasurer general in

Normandy, John Stanlawe,

to

Louis of Luxembourg, his chancellor in

paid to liberate rather than trade a prisoner. John of

pay

Luxembourg hesitated for four months before hand-

France,

ing over Joan.

expenses which in the cause of our service he has

Pierre time.

Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais,

On May

26,

1430 a

letter

lost

no

from the University

of Paris demanding that Joan be handed over to the Inquisition arrived at Beaurevoir; instigated that

On July

letter.

Cauchon probably

14 the university sent

to

1

,000 livres "to help him support the great

had, and has, to pay." In 1422 he

embassy the

that

went from France

young Henry VI's accession

Dame

Notre

livres

toumois for continuing the war, and 10,000 of

to take steps to

amount was earmarked

Cauchon went twice for judgment

bishop by the pope, decided on January 13, 1430,

to see the prisoner

and

tried to

by the university on reUgious charges.

Luxembourg eventually acquiesced;

thus,

the

urge him to accept the nomination.

Louis of Luxembourg was strongly allied with

for Joan's "ransom."

convince John of Luxembourg to deliver the Maid

Bedford; he was, in will,

and

de Saint Pol, then seventeen, to Bedford. Their union irritated Philip the

the alienation

the

towns of Picardy,

tried to shield

them from the

pillaging of de Flavy and the French captains.

He

executor of Bedford's

of Bedford's duchess Anne,

Louis arranged the marriage of his niece, Jacqueline

Normandy.

The paid protector of

fact, the

after the death

English paid for Joan with funds from conquered

John of Luxembourg

Good, contributing not a

England. During the Parisian insurrection against the English in 1436, Louis of

Luxembourg took

refuge in the Bastille, where he

He had

abandon

was besieged by

his property to the

Richemont.

in reprisal, continued to ravage the country about

conquerors and was transported to Rouen

(In

1436,

La Hire took

httle to

between the duke of Burgundy and

refused to sign the Treaty of Arras in 1435 and,

Soissons and Laon.

He

the chapter of

Therouanne had been named arch-

the

that

to aid

of Rouen, which, on the news that

the bishop of

4

London

to the throne.

was favorably looked upon by

demand for the prisoner's delivery. On August Estates of Normandy voted a tax of 120,000

a new

was head of the

to

Seine.

On

to

down

the

January 15, 1437, as he journeyed to

possession of Soissons.) In 1437 he reached an

England, the chapter of Rouen had a mass said for

agreement with Charles of Orleans. This

his

hardened Burgundian partisan died

at the

battle-

chateau

of

of Guise in 1440.

voyage and reminded him of Bedford's legacies

to the

churches of Rouen.

Rouen on October

cardinal by to

29.

LOUIS OF

He was named archbishop was later made

24, 1426, and

Eugene IV (1440).

When he finally went

England he became bishop of Ely but kept

all

his

prerogatives as archbishop of Rouen. Raoul Rous-

LUXEMBOURG

sel,

who

replaced him, was one of his intimates.

Louis of Luxembourg did not lack the means of

Louis of Luxembourg was a high churchman of

whom

indemnifying himself for his losses. Henry VI gave ,000 marks from the Exchequer

admirers of

him

Joan tend to see as less unsympathetic than Pierre

and

Cauchon, although he was

resided in his see, which he administered through a

the

Anglo-Burgundian party

at least

complicit in the

Maid's downfall. The following entry

is

an adap-

a pension of 1,(X)0

procurer.

1

livres.

Louis of Luxembourg rarely

He lived splendidly in his manors, moving

—

193

THEIR SUBJECTS He was

with a great train of baggage and horses.

appointed an ambassador to Charles VII by Henry

VI

in

December, 1442. Louis died on September

1443, in his castle of Hatfield. Pasquier de the executor of his will. His heart

and

body was buried

his

in a

was

1

Rouen

magnificent tomb in

While charged with the defense of

Paris,

Louis of Luxembourg, then bishop of Ther-

—who,

the Journal d'un Bourgeois de

was a "full-blooded man"

Paris assures us,

—had

brought from Saint Denis the Maid's armor and negotiated her sale to the English. at

her

trial

He was

present

and her abjuration. According

to the

testimony of Andre Marguerie, he wept for Joan:

something of a surprise, since he was one of those

whom

Charles

is

an important figure in the history

of French literature, traditionally given the epithet "Prince of Poets." This

Perceval de

Cagny denounced

as authors

prince began

Valois

composing moral verse when he was a boy often, added love poetry

Ely Cathedral.

ouanne

a prisoner of that day's victors.

8,

Vaux was

sent to

French army. For twenty-five years he remained

and continued

in his youth,

writing both types of lyric verse during and after his quarter century of captivity.

Formerly consid-

ered an author of obsolescent charm, the love poets, he

the courtly

is

now

forerunner of writers

sophisticated

of

last

seen as a

such as

Baudelaire. Although he and Joan never met, the

mere

fact of his existence as the legitimate lord of

duchy remained a factor

his strategically crucial

of prime diplomatic and polifical importance both during and long after her mission.

Henry

V, king of England, fully appreciated

of Joan's death. the importance of this captive, and a clause in his will specified that "in

30.

liberty." In

Jean de Metz was one of the Maid's earliest

companions.

He was

known

also

as Jean de

Nouillonpont, after a village located on the right

bank of the Othain,

in the

Montmedy in Lorraine. Upon the Maid's arrival 21, 1429 Jean de

arrondissement of

prisoner; the youngest of the family, the count of

Vertus,

would

die a

little later.

Their half brother,

the future count of Dunois, John, the Bastard of

became head of the family

Charles was

France on April

Metz received from Guillaume

first

Castle. In 1421 he

Charrier, receiver-general of the king, 100 livres

and and the Maid's while

in

That grant was followed by another 200 "the Maid's expenses" and

himself armor. the

He was

Maid's retinue

Chinon.

quartered with the rest of

house of Jacques

the

at

Boucher, the treasurer of Orleans. In March 1444, Charles VII ennobled him "in consideration of the laudable and very

welcome

services

which he

rendered us in our wars and elsewhere." Gobert

in

May

was

transferred

1422 he was

By

letter patent

of May 27, 1422, his guards

were paid 20

shillings a day.

ment found

this

funds and put his guard up for aucfion. William

de the

la Pole, fourth earl

man

and

first

Orleans and

at

Patay

—won

ing the guard fee, which

his

assignment so

was one of

the transcript describes

him

as a

at that trial;

nobleman about

the bidding and paid

15 shillings, 4 pence per day for the guard of that prisoner.

gave testimony

duke of Suffolk

defeated by Joan and the royal army at

the

friends. Jean himself

The English govern-

expense too heavy for public

Thibault (by then the king's equerry as well as

nullification trial, said that Jean

from Ponte-

Northampton,

Bolingbroke. In 1430

at

judge of the city of Blois), testifying

at

in France.

held prisoner in Windsor

he was finally transferred to London.

livres for

125 livres to buy

his

England, Charles of Orleans joined his

fract to the castle of Fotheringay in

for his expenses

legiti-

brother John, count of Angouleme, already a

Orleans, in

no case should the

mate chief of the Armagnac party be given

JEAN DE METZ

ended

The duke paid

his

attractive.

own expenses, includwas what made the Charles of Orleans

his captivity with a stay at the castle of

Wingfield between 1435 and 1440.

sixty-seven years old residing at Vaucouleurs.

The duke continued to direct his affairs from

He had his jewels sold to pay the ransom many of his companions in misfortune. He managed his own revenues in order to prepare for his eventual release and recommended to his

prison.

of

31.

CHARLES. DUKE OF

ORLEANS

appointed officers an exact regimen of procedures

While Joan was raising the siege of Orleans,

its

and economy measures. For these

duke, Charles, was a prisoner in England where

principally

he had been since he was

general,

left for

dead

of Agincourt (October 25, 1415). twenty-four.

He had

at the Battle

He was

then

fought courageously, with

the energy of despair, in the vanguard of the

upon

his chancellor

who were

the Bastard.

The

tasks,

he relied

and his treasurer

placed under the direction of

chancellor, Raoul de Gaucourt,

and the treasurer general, Jacques Boucher,

trav-

eled occasionally to England, but regular contact

194

PART

between the

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

II:

and his

px)et-prince

was main-

city

From

on a

of Percival de Boulainvilliers to the

letter

duke of Milan, but

tained through a squire. the beginning of his captivity, and

it is

not certain that the

poem

ever reached Charles in England.

therefore from the beginning of the resumption of

Charles of Orleans, habitually prolix, rarely

between France and England, the duke

speaks of Joan of Arc, at least in the manuscripts

hostilities

of Orleans attempted to reduce the damage that the

movement of armies

tion.

Since

troops

all

on the popula-

inflicted

lived

off the

combat

also to reduce his

he

land,

instructed that provisions be purchased.

He

strove

for the sake of the cities of

duchy and especially of

its

capital, Orleans.

Orleans should have been spared by the EngUsh, since

lord

its

was

their prisoner, but

by then the

chivalric rules of previous centuries

From 1424

into disuse.

make

1426 the

to

had

city

fallen

accounts

frequent mention of the issuance of truces.

For example:

we

possess. However,

when Joan

Orleans on June 20, 1429

—

returned to

after the victories of

Meung, Beaugency, and Patay

Jargeau,

duke had a

—

the

of garments in the colors of

gift

Orleans prepared to thank the Maid for her services.

Ages

was common usage

It

Middle

in the

with one's

to offer gifts of clothing

own

arms, sometimes called one's livery, as thanks.

The accounts of

the city of Orleans record the

payment: "To Jaquet Compaing, for half an

two green

purchased

textiles

to

make

ell

of

the nettles

for the Maid's dresses, 36 sous of Paris." This instruction for this expenditure

Further receipts of a loan aforesaid city for

own

its

made by

business.

the

is

dated June 16,

1429. For the date of September 30, 1429,

we

One of read:

them

to establish Pierre

Framberge, previ-

ously procurator of the city by the hands of

Guillaume Garbot,

Oudin du Loich,

Charles, duke of Orleans and of Valois, count

as tutor of the infants of

for the

of Blois and of Beaumont and lord of Coucy,

sum of 100 ecus of to

old gold ... to borrow from

my

him

men

commend you

granted to him by the inhabitants of the

for paying

1

of

We

our accounts, greetings and affection.

de La Tremoille certain sums

lord

our friends and faithful ones, the

to deliver to

gold

3 ecus of old

of the weight of 64 to the mark, which by our

aforesaid city of Orleans, and of the counties

beloved and faithful treasurer general of Blois and of Dunois to guarantee the

Jacques Boucher was paid and dehvered in cessation of war against the duke of Bur-

month of June of the previous year to Jean

the

gundy within the aforesaid

counties.

and Jean Bourgeois, the

Lhuillier. merchant,

Numerous

my

other loans are mentioned: '"For

lords the deans and chapters of the church of

Sainte-Croix

.

from Jacques Boucher

.

.

.

.

.

also

because of cessation of hostilities toward the duke of Burgundy or toward the king of England." early treaty

between Charles and Burgundy was

signed on July 17, 1427, ratified

at

London, but

by Duke John of Bedford, so

resumed and Orleans was forced

Once

An

to

was not

it

hostilities

defend

itself.

tabard that the to

men

robe and a

of our council had

made

be delivered to Joan the Maid when she

shall

be

in

our aforesaid city of Orleans;

having consideration for the good and laudable and pleasant services that the

done us

in

Maid has

confronting the English, the

ancient enemies of

my

lord the king

and of

ourself.

again, Charles oversaw the preparations

closely.

He had

fortresses,

and

inventories taken in his castles, cities to

arbalests, shafts,

suburbs leveled.

keep exact account of

powder, and cannon. Watches

were reorganized,

fortifications consolidated,

The enemy could then

The city was ready to defend itself, which

and

It

is

until

favor the

it

would

long after the event of the immense

It is

did

him

in delivering the capital

that

of

also uncertain whether he had any

simultaneous knowledge of her trial

do know

shortly

at

after Joan's

Rouen.

did send Charles a Latin

poem

We

capture at

Compiegne, Antonio Astesano, a Pavian

is explicit:

The duke of Orleans

has had a robe and a man's tabard

Joan for the liberation of the

made

city. Its

to

thank

end provides

further details:

To

wit, to the aforesaid Jean Lhuillier, for

ells

unclear whether Charles of Orleans

Maid

his duchy.

This document

attack:

be required to do for seven months.

knew

tailor residing at Orleans, for a

scholar,

about Joan, based

the aforesaid robe

ecus of gold per

was made

ell,

at the price

of 4

8 ecus of gold; for the

lining of the same, 2 ecus of gold; ell

two

of fine vermeil Brussels cloth of which

of deep-green cloth to

tabard, 2 ecus of gold;

make

and

and for an

the aforesaid

to the aforesaid

Jean Bourgeois for the fashioning of the aforesaid robe and tabard and for white satin, scarlet,

and other materials,

1

ecu of gold.

195

THElRSUBjECTS These instructions were issued

September 1429. The

the last day of

cloth

is

a

handsome

same name, and the was made of

silk.

made

fabric

Orleans on

fine Brussels

in the city

of the

scarlet cloth (called "sandal")

These were expensive gar1929 by the French

ments, reconstructed in

Harmand

scholar Adrian

at

documented

in a fully

suggested possible masters for the

treatise that

and tabard. In those days

tailoring of Joan's robe

male vestments stopped

was worn so

at the

The tabard

knee.

Arras conference, but his request for

the

to

— upon payment, be of heavy — was once more, and he had

liberation

ransom

to

a

sure,

rejected yet

Wingfield

to return to his prison at

May

in

1436.

But the duchess of Burgundy, Isabelle of Portugal,

became sympathetic

to the duke's plight.

Abetted

by the cardinal of Winchester, one of the most

members of the royal council at Lonmade the poet's liberation her personal

influential

don, she project.

Five years passed before she realized her

as to be recognized by soldiers of

own company and to weaken the sun's blinding reflections. Harmand concluded, after a

constable Richemont put his sword to

detailed study of her costume, coiffure, shoes, and

service of the victorious Charles VII; the Bastard,

one's

During

goal.

Xaintrailles,

begun by Joan; and

formed, must have reached a height of approxi-

fortresses

mately 1.58 meters

was

because the

vened

80 centimeters

definitive

The account books

offer interesting infor-

mation. For example, the nettle leaf was, during those years, one of the

emblems of

the family of

Orleans; as for the deep-green color, that the Orleans family

had

at the

some argue

imprisonment of

grief over the

One

chief.

their legitimate

detail in the reconstruction of these

garments for Joan of Arc

missing: the source of

is

must have bordered both the tabard

the fur that

and the robe.

The duke of Orleans

also

showed himself

king's

lieutenant

Orleanais,

general for the

war

in

the

who was paid an annual pension. In command of Romorantin and of

and

cities

little,

to the royal

1439

in

domain. Paris

at

Orleans.

On

at the

desired truce, however, several

occasion,

this

peace between the two kingdoms was

end of 1439 diplomatic

conferences began to arrange

months

The much-

it.

was not concluded

unfil

later.

Negotiations resumed

at

Gravelines in Feb-

ruary 1440; this time the duke's liberation was

guaranteed.

The ransom,

ecus of gold

—an immense sum— was then

established at 120,000 paid.

Remarkably enough, several years previously the duke of Burgundy had offered it

generous to his half brother, the Bastard, the

by

little

were restored

demanded, and

time adopted

dark-green or verdigris livery to express their

the

liberated in 1437; the Estates General con-

length of her robe in fine Brussels cloth measured [2 feet, 7 7/16 inches]."

work in

and Gaucourt continued the work

military equipment, that "Joan of Arc, of well-

proportioned limbs, strong, beautiful, and well-

[5 feet, 2 inches]

much changed: The

that period

from

to

pay a fourth of

his personal revenue; the then-dauphin,

Charles, and other lords offered themselves as

guarantors of the

The prince was then

rest.

on his word of honor paid,

and

that the balance

twenty-five

after

set free

would be

Charles of

years

1439 he received

Orleans returned to France. The duke and duchess

Blois for services rendered, and received as a gift

of Burgundy received him

the county of Dunois, with the right to carry the

months

title

of count. The Bastard exercised

full

ducal

later,

on November

their daughter,

at

Gravelines. Eight

16, 1440,

Marie of Cleves.

On

he married

January 24,

authority in the estates of Orleans and of Tours as

1441, accompanied by his wife, Charles

well as

solemn entry into the

Calais,

diplomatic conferences

at the

at Arras,

When

and Gravelines.

In 1435

hope for the captive was revived.

Twenty years

after Charles's capture at the Battle

that the

the

made

his

capital of his duchy.

happy news arrived

duke had disembarked

prayers were recited in

all

at

Orleans

at Calais,

public

the parish churches of

of Agincourt. the English began to feel the effects

the city. Yet again an appeal to the population of

of the defeat of Orleans and of their progressive

Orleans requested "2,000 ecus of gold to equip

expulsion from France. The Treaty of Arras

my

between the king of France and the duke of

person and without delay to carry them to the duke

Burgundy; the death of Bedford, the regent; the

at Calais" (Morchoasne: for December 30, 1429). The procurators organized processions to beg

marriage of the count of Charolais. son of Philip the

Good,

to the

daughter of Charies VII; the siege

of Calais, personally undertaken by of Burgundy the conflict

—

Duke

Philip

"that

go

in

He might wish to accord peace and give

good deliverance

to

my

lord of Orleans."

The

these changed the conditions of

people of Orleans celebrated the return of their

and presaged the end of the Hundred

duke with enthusiasm. The king of France autho-

all

Years War. Although

still

a prisoner, Charles of

Orleans became the mediator between France and England.

God

lord the treasurer, with the prayer to

He accompanied

the English delegation

rized the city council to levy a tax of 2,000 livres,

and then another of 4.000 ecus,

to

pay for the

celebration (Morchoasne: letter of Charles VII,

196

PART

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

ll:

December 21,1 440). The populace staged several mystery plays, the principal one being David and

much

Goliath, then tled

The Moral

food were

up

set

and another

in fashion,

Virtues.

Two

trestles

enti-

loaded with

two

the crossroads, and

at

fountains ran with claret and milk. Lute players

and fiddlers appeared

the

in

A

streets.

covered in cloth-of-gold augmented by six

dais

ells

of

and

On August 24,

in 1440.

1440, the procurators

called for a voice vote to authorize the loan of

my

6,000 livres to "subvene the ransom of

by a

the duke." Finally,

December

dated the

sacrifices

letter

given

lord

Saumur

at

1441, the king acknowledged

6,

of the people of Orleans and

authorized them to tax themselves 4,000 livres, to aid their

duke "as much

matter of his

in the

sandal and fringed with silk was prepared to

ransom as to sustain his estate." This sum was also

receive the duke and the duchess; church bells

delivered to Jacques Boucher.

Aignan and

rang; and relics of St.

patron saints of the

city,

St.

Euverte, the

were borne

in a thanks-

giving procession throughout the

The

city.

city

Charles of Orleans spent the life at

Blois,

last part

where he had succeeded

ing Charles VII with Philip the

of his

in reconcil-

Good. He had also

offered Charles of Orleans a bowl containing

served as intermediary between the duke of

4,000 ecus of gold as well as a silver table service

Burgundy and Charles of Bourbon and between

(more valuable than 2 1 he

left

1

marks

when

in weight)

Charles VII and his son the dauphin Louis.

Orleans for Blois. The silver service had

been engraved with

his

arms and with those of the

After sixteen years of marriage, the duchess

Marie gave

named Marie. mount

birth to a daughter,

duchess on the order of the treasurer general

Then

Jacques Boucher.

the throne of France as Louis XII; his godfather

The duke of Orleans was

finally free, but

it

immediately became necessary to find the money for the balance of his ransom.

Once more

treasurer general, assisted by Etienne

Le

a counselor of the duke, set about satisfying his

master's debt. Charles had already the

duchy while a prisoner, by

1437. Philip the the ransom,

Good had

gifts

letters

of April

2,

offered to pay part of

and Charles VII,

considerable

pawned part of

in his turn,

had made

from the royal revenues.

to letters patent preserved at Orleans

According

was a

son, Louis, destined to

was King Louis XI.

A third child,

After his release, Charles did not speak of Joan, while the

honoring her

May

8.

good city of Orleans never ceased

memory

in the

annual celebration of

(After 1435 the city paid the expense of

the celebration.)

Orleans

The

may be

indifference of Charles of

surprising

century mind. In this regard,

to

giving to Pierre d'Arc hereditary

favor and contemplation of his

Maid." Charles of Orleans died

cousin

Duke Charles of Orleans because of

twentieth-

title

to the Ile-

aux-Boeufs on July 29, 1443, which was done "in

and dated April 20, 1440, the king took into

and charges of his beloved

the

we cannot ignore his

consideration:

the great expenses

Anne, became

abbess of Fontevraud.

the

Fuselier,

there

returning from the

at

sister,

Joan the

Amboise while

Assembly of Tours during

the

night of January 4 and 5, 1465, at the advanced

war on account of which he and the count

age of sixty-nine. His body, carried to Blois, was

of Angouleme, his brother, were for long

buried in the Church of the Holy Savior. Pierre de

prisoners in England. Wishing because of

Bourbon, the fiance of little Marie and the famed

the

that to

come

to his aid, [the king] gives

and

provides to him for one year, beginning on

October

1,

1440, and finishing on the last day

of September 1441,

from the

salt tax

all

the profits

and the

salt

and dues

warehouses

established in the duchies of Orleans and of Valois, the counties of Blois and of

lord of Beaujeu, led the funeral cortege. After

came

to

—

him

forty-

three gentlemen, five priests, thirteen choristers,

and the organist finances,

—then

the chancellor general of

accompanied by the

valets, apothecaries,

treasurers, minters,

and barbers.

Marie of Cleves, Charles's widow, wore a

Dunois

and other lands and lordships belonging

the household of the dead prince

long robe of fine black cloth-of-gold and a hood

himself and to his brother throughout the

and long mantle furred with lynx and black lamb

kingdom.

bordered by otter and a piping of white ermine.

Nurses accompanied the children of the houseMarie, aged seven, was dressed in

Orders went out to the granary keepers of the

hold; the

duchies, counties, and lordships of Charles of

a mantle and robe of black

Orleans's domains to hand over to Boucher the

Valois, aged

money coming from

pages, was dressed in black cloth lined in black

the salt tax. Charles VII

authorized the city of Orleans to tax itself 3,000 livres so as to

pay part of the ransom. These

were recorded

in the city

account books

letters

in

1438

little

two and

Rouen

a half,

cloth; Louis de

accompanied by two

came little The household of

lamb. Finally, in her nurse's arms,

Anne, only a few months the

duchess,

old.

her ladies-in-waiting,

washer-

197

THEIRSUBJECTS women, and chambermaids Cleves established

memory his

followed. Marie of

Orieans an annual mass in

at

of her husband and

made

diverse gifts in

name. Louis XII showed Charles's mother

respect and

upon her death had her reburied with

her husband at the convent of the Celestines

at

City of Ladies), a Utopian sketch of a world for

women, based on later historical

vertus

classical

(Book of the Three

women

advice on

which they

and

biblical as well as

exemplars; and the Livre des trois

how

cope with the world

the Fearless of Burgundy

had Louis assassinated

CHRISTINE DE PISAN

32.

in

lived.

and young John

In 1405 Louis of Orieans

Paris.

which offered

Virtues),

to

Pisan, the situation

became overt foes; John For Christine de

in 1407.

seemed more than

tragic.

Personally and through her writings, she lobbied

woman

Joan of Arc was not the only

France to

in

challenge the increasingly rigid gender roles that

shaped women's

European

lives in late-medieval

de Pisan lived

society. Christine

French

at the

court for the greater part of six decades, although

she was neither French in origin nor a child of the international

European nobility with access

to

those high circles. Her father, a Bolognese doctor-

named Tommaso de Pizzano (suggestcame to France

astrologer

ing remote ancestors from Pisa), invitation of

at the

King Charles the Wise

Queen

Duke John of

Isabeau,

French kingdom. Her remarkably

A

Livre des faits d'armes et de la chevalerie

of Feats of Arms and of Chivalry), which

at

who won

grief,

he died ten years

good post

To

Christine's

leaving her

with three children and her mother, by then a

widow,

to

support.

remarried, an

de Pisan never

Christine

uncommonly independent

decision

Christine pointed out, the practice or abuse of

write

and

the age of thirty, Christine began to

poems on

false.

By

love, courtly

allegorical structure,

issues as well. Like

began

complex

in their

to address political

Dante nearly a century before,

she proposed a world monarchy to solve the internal

problems of a Christendom

determined to destroy

She also composed

itself

a

expounding the ideals of

work

in this period

that

seemed

by internecine wars.

long

Agincourt

at

the premature death of

in

October 1415, and

Dauphin Louis

Decem-

close to despair.

Some

time thereafter, she retired

where her

to a convent (Poissy, northwest of Paris,

daughter had long been a nun, site),

is

most

the

likely

where she wrote a book of contemplation on life

and death, perhaps

after her son's

death in 1425.

Christine

greeted

the

news of Joan's

incredible victory at Orleans with joy. That

seeming miracle inspired her

last

poem, one of

her greatest, the Ditie de Jehanne d'Arc, which it

is

generally assumed she wrote immediately

after the coronation of Charles

1429.

It

VII

Reims

at

the year; however. Charity

Cannon

Willard, an

authority on Christine de Pisan's

Much

of her

prefers the estimated death date of 1430.

was sponsored by Duke Louis son

life

interesting to note that Joan's other lectual partisan, Jean Gerson,

to appoint her

in

used to be asserted that she died within

poem

chivalry.

duke refused

in

ber of that year, brought Christine and others

didactic

of Orleans. In 1404, the

a basic social and

The death or capture of so many of the men of her circle

and exploitive, true

her mid-thirties (around 1399), her

love poems, often lengthy and

—

moral assumption with which Joan the Maid

Christian

at that time.

Around

(Book

became

would have agreed endrely.

later,

court thanks to that marriage.

enduring

a

and

studious

she married a young French notary Castel,

pen

one of the foremost manuals on the subject. As

her parents, Christine grew up in the court. At

named Etienne du

politics

morality over the next seven years, including the

daughter, encouraged in her intellectual tastes by

sixteen,

end the

prolific

produced major theoretical works on

chivalry affected everyone Christine's birth in or about 1364.

to

conflict in order to maintain the integrity of the

as

resident expert in astrology a few years after

Berry, and the

young dauphin, Louis of Guyenne,

and work,

prime

It

is

intel-

had been a sup-

porter of Christine at court.

Jean du Castel to a post he was seeking, so Christine de Pisan looked for patronage else-

33

where. The aged duke Philip the Bold of Bur-

gundy commissioned her

to write a

biography of

BERTRAND DE POULENGY

his late father, Charles the Wise. This ambitious

undertaking, Christine de Pisan's

first

prose work,

Bertrand de Poulengy, a friend of Gobert Thi-

appeared within the year and was a huge success.

bault, the king's

About

who

that time, she finished

two of her most

strikingly original works: the Citedes

dames (The

judge

at Blois,

escorted Joan to Chinon.

for his armor,

and

in

was

the squire

The dauphin paid

Orleans he was quartered

—

198

PART

with the rest of Joan's

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHAR.ACTERS

II:

part\'

the house of

at

He

After Joan's

he

execution,

fought the

much

English in the west of France as

Jacques Boucher.

Toul during the nullification

testified at

as

La

Tremoille's policy allowed, but gradually grew

By

process in 1455. The transcript described him as

tired of military life.

noble, a royal equerry, sixty-eight years old or

he withdrew to his Breton estates and began to

thereabouts. In his testimony he stated that as a

young man he had known Joan"s

who

parents,

were "good workers": he had visited

their house.

Bertrand described Joan as a good, devout young

woman,

good as

"as

a saint," and affirmed that she

at

Vaucouleurs

and with Jean de Metz got her some arms and

Then they were off to find the dauphin, in company of Bertrand's servant Julien, Jean de

armor. the

Metz and his the archer,

squander one of Europe's largest fortunes. Avid

company of

for pleasure, he sought the

mists,

alche-

magicians, necromancers, and mounte-

banks as well as of more standard courtiers, on

whom

he spent

at least 2(X).(XX)

ecus in less than

eight years. His bodyguard seems to have been a

tended her father's cattle and horses.

Poulengy encountered Joan

1435. at age thirty-two.

servant Jean de Honnecourt. Richard

and Colet de Vienne the roval

courier.

chilling

gang of cutthroats. He was passionate

about the theater and

made

his rural castles the

scene of endless dramatic performances. His relatives finalh obtained a royal decree blocking

further expenditure, and

rumors of

his perverse

behavior brought him before an inquisitorial court presided over by the bishop of Nantes and other dignitaries.

34.

It is

to

GILLES DE LAVAL. BARON DE RAIS

He was executed

outside the city on

October 26. 1440.

35.

an improbable fact that Gilles de Rais seems

ERIAR RICHARD

have been a sincere and ardent supporter

''follower"

Friar Richard

would seem the more accurate word

of Joan of Arc during her brief period of militar>

command and after. It

more disparate Joan's

a

champion of her memory

there-

would be difficult to find tw o personalities

trials

any period. The transcripts of

in

make her

a figure of unique docu-

mentary significance; the transcript of Gilles's

own trial at Nantes, the capital of Brittany, in 1440

was

a Franciscan illuminatus dis-

trusted by respectable theologians,

who

certainly

contributed to Joan's discredit. Driven from Paris at the

end of April 1429 for preaching

Antichrist

was about

world would end

to

that the

be revealed and that the

in the following

year (1430). he

surfaces in the record in July 1429 at Troyes.

There he preached secrets of

God and

that

Joan was privy to the

the saints,

and could penetrate

on charges of witchcraft and related perversions is

sensational in

its

own

any Gilles sexually

right.

abused and then murdered perhaps as many as

1

Bom in by burning

was sequestered Poitiers,

after

at

Nantes

strangulation

(a

in

favor

1440 not

accorded to the peasant Joan of Arc), Gilles de Rais (or de Retz) was one of the richest

men

in

Vn.

In

from Troyes

March 1431

months before Joan's execution

killer.

1404 and executed

later expelled

partisan of Charles

French folklore has associated him with

Bluebeard, the wife

Richard was

Monstrelet asserts that Friar

50

children at his castle of Tiffauges in southeastern Brittany.

city's defenses.

in

—

as a

—two

Friar Richard

the Franciscan convent of

deprived of permission to preach by

agents of the

local

bishop,

the

Inquisitor of

France, and the Parlement. All factions seem to

have agreed that the good

friar

was

as heretical as

he was unstable.

He was the son of Gilles de Laval (who when the boy was eleven) and of Marie de

Europe. died

Craon.

At sixteen he married Catherine de

Thouars, adding to his great inherited wealth her

ARTHUR DE RICHEMONT

36.

important Poitevin dowry. In 1427 he declared

himself a partisan of the dauphin Charles, as befitted a great-nephew of Bertrand

Du

After Joan of Arc, no one contributed more to

Guesclin;

saving France at the end of the Hundred Years

he adhered to the military advice of Joan of Arc

War than the Breton prince who died in 1458 as Duke Arthur 111 of Brittany. He was most widely known throughout his long and active life as Arthur de Richemont: His eldest brother, Duke John V, had awarded him the county of Richmond in England, an ancestral legacy, when he was

with an ardor and consistency

uncommon

in the

entourage of Georges de La Tremoille (his cousin

and early patron

at court); in

accompanied Joan and Charles coronation, he

Charles VII.

July 1429 Gilles to

Reims. At the

was made marshal of France by

He was

then twenty-five years old.

seven or eight years old. Arthur derived

little

199

THEIR SUB)ECTS benefit ft"om that territory, of which he lost control

when he

left the

become

Plantagenet party to

a

Valois partisan in 1424.

Bom

at the

posed the fulsome Chronicle of Arthur III, Duke of Brittany after Richemont's death, reported that

ducal castle of Succinio on the

south coast of Brittany on August 24,

1393,

Joan was displeased

battles of

Brittany and Joan, daughter of King Charles the

1429.

queen of England.

later

(Widowed, she married King Henry IV

Richemont's exclu-

enthusiastically and effectively at her side at the

Arthur was the third son of Duke John IV of

Bad of Navarre and

at

sion from "her king's" coronation; he had fought

Meung, Beaugency, and Patay

After the

in

of La Tremoille in

fall

June

1433,

in 1403.)

Arthur de Richemont worked tirelessly for the

Short but vigorous,

endowed with facial features made him look eternally sullen (Charles VII called him "Old Lip" since he seemed always to

expulsion of the English and the reform of the

that

French army. He had a hand

be curling his scrapper.

He

lip in a pout),

Arthur was a

bom

fought for both the Valois and the

Arma-

Plantagenet sides, beginning as an ardent

gnac partisan

when he was

in the Treaty of Arras

between Charles VII and Philip the Good of

Burgundy (September 1435). On April

13, 1436,

he entered Paris and formally reestablished there the

main

institutions of the royal

govemment: a

seventeen.

Parlement favorable to Charles, the Chambre des

Raised to military maturity by his great-uncles

Comptes, and a royal council. To Richemont's

in 1410,

Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy and Duke John II of Berry, he became the close friend and companion-in-arms of the dauphin Louis of Guyenne, heir of King Charles VI and elder brother

and the Parisians'

of England,

thereafter,

By

it is

not surprising that Arthur joined the

Plantagenet party after being captured

(October 25, 1415). But Arthur slowly:

He remained

at

made

Agincourt

the change

a prisoner in England for

nearly five years after Agincourt;

it

was only during

the negotiations for the Treaty of Troyes (October

1420) that he appeared on the side of Henry V. After the deaths of Henry V of England and Charles VI of

France in August and October 1422, respectively,

Richemont stayed of Burgundy,

She was the

widow of

sister

to

Margaret

Good and

of Anne of Burgundy, wife of Duke John of Bedford, regent of France for the infant

Henry VI. Despite

those connections, Richemont switched to the Valois side after his brother-in-law Bedford refused

him a much-desired command (June

Queen

1424).

Yolanda, the dauphin Charles's mother-in-law, had

him appointed constable mander) of France

Eager

in

March

(chief military

Richemont was

by factionalism

in effect

at

to

Charles's

June

1433

denied access to the

king because of Georges de La Tremoille, whose rise to

VII,

power Richemont had

who

exiled

assisted. Charles

never liked Richemont personally,

him from court

in

1428. In July 1429

Charles excluded him from the coronation

Reims, where his office entitled him

sword of

Formigny

Caen and of Cherbourg

state in front

at

to carry the

of the king (see

p. 67).

Guillaume Gruel, a loyal follower who com-

decisive Battle of

at the

1450 and

in April

in

at the

surrender of

Some Normandy with his nephew

June and August.

of his most effective campaigning in

was undertaken

in collaboration

Duke

of Brittany. In September 1457,

Francis

I

after the death of a II,

second childless nephew, Duke

Arthur became duke, but he reigned

dying the day after Christmas, 1458.

briefly,

Duke Arthur

III

of Brittany's most durable

achievement was his collaboration with Charles VII

the redesign of the French army. For

in

centuries a loose, poorly disciplined rallying of

feudal

commanded by

levies

their

self-serving freebooters, the

hereditary

commanded by

lords and of mercenary bands

army was rapidly

turned into a standing force of paid professional soldiers living in regular garrisons

manded by

new constable was end-

From September 1427

court.

com-

1425.

to galvanize all available forces to

attack the English, the lessly fmstrated

Richemont was present

the former dauphin Louis.

both of Duke Philip the

autumn of 1441, Richemont had

the

Nine years later Normandy was reclaimed as well.

loyal to the Plantagenet party

1423

he preferred the chateaux of the Loire.

cleared the Ile-de-France of English partisans.

Peter

partly because of his marriage in

Charles visited the

most of the Valois kings

for only three weeks; like

of Charles VII. Since his mother had married King Henry FV

distress,

ancient but recently disloyal capital a year later

officers

his constable. This interests

rebellion

new model

and offended the

Richemont seems

to

down

noblemen including men

enemy Georges de La greater

gusto, in

he

innovations.

In

as diverse as his

led

ally,

and

Tremoille. the

their

1439-

nephew mutual

With even

new compagnies

rounding up and execufing "the

Flayers" and other bands of mercenaries,

whom

many;

the Praguerie, an uprising of

John of Alen9on, Joan's

d'ordonnance

threatened the

sensibilities of

have enjoyed punishing

against these

1440, he put

and com-

chosen directly by the king or

many of

had long fought alongside the constable's

newly disciplined troops.

200

PART

Lucky fortunate

in war,

in

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

ll:

Arthur de Richemont was less His long marriage to

marriage.

city.

While he was

window, the stone of a

at the

cannon from the aforesaid

city struck the

window

Margaret of Burgundy, widow of his closest

where the

earl was, at the noise of

which blow he

youthful friend, Louis of Guyenne, ended without

pulled back; nevertheless, he was

wounded most

surviving children in February 1442. In August of

grievously and mortally and had a large part of his

that year he married his

Jeanne

d' Albret,

daughter of

companion-in-arms Charles

later

but she died just over two years

without issue. His third wife,

who

d' Albret,

later,

again

survived him,

face carried

away by

it."

came

Salisbury's death

soon after the beginning of the siege the English

whose

laid to Orleans,

lord,

Charles of Orleans,

was a prisoner across the Channel. Many viewed

was Catherine of Luxembourg, daughter of Peter

Salisbury's death as the judgment of God, feeling

of Luxembourg, count of Saint-Pol and

that the earl should

the second wife of John of Bedford,

became

for the second time

in-law:

The conjugal network of

sister

who

of

thus

Richemont's brotherthe fifteenth-

its

have spared a

city deprived of

legitimate chief and defender.

of Normandy reports that when

in

had assembled his troops

at

The Chronicle 1428 Salisbury Chartres

and

century European ruling class was tightly woven.

informed them of his intention

The only surviving child of Duke Arthur III of Brittany was his natural daughter, Jacqueline, who was legitimized in 1443 and married to one

Orleans, "a magician," Master Jean de

of her father's squires.

bury, and elder son of John de Montacute, third

warned him

earl,

by

Meung,

"watch his head."

to

Thomas de Montacute, his wife

fourth earl of Salis-

Maud, was bom

in 1388. After

lands had been forfeited for his

father's

his

to lay siege to

them to Thomas, who extended them by marrying Eleanor, fourth daughter of Thomas Holland, earl of Kent. He was restored to the remaining dignities held by his father in 1421 and was generally treason, the king returned a portion of

CATHERINE DE ROCHELLE

37.

LA

"most subtle and expert and

considered the Catherine de La Rochelle, like her sometime

companion vagabond

Friar Richard,

was a member of

who

lunatic fringe

the

did Joan no good.

fortunate of

all

the captains in England."

part early in the third phase of the

War.

Made

He took

Hundred Years

a knight of the Order of the Garter in

Catherine claimed to have access to "the high

1414, in the following year he fought in France

Lord God" when the Eucharist was

Joan decided that Catherine was talking nonsense

with Henry V at Agincourt, then at the sieges of Caen (1417), Rouen (August 1 -September 1, 141 8), and Harfleur (January 4-March 12, 1419).

and should go home

In

secrets of Our

celebrated at mass. After a few conversations,

to attend to her family.

Normandy,

April

in

1419, he was

named

Catherine later reciprocated by testifying to the

lieutenant general of the king, and with this

would have

promotion came such possessions as Neubourg,

ecclesiastical court at Paris that "Joan

her prison by the aid of the devil

left

not been well guarded."

The record

if

she had

indicates that

Catherine also denounced the city of Tours and inhabitants

enough

its

worried the city council

gave him

the

council

royal

to

convey

letters

all

in

of the possessions of

VI,

France, later

Duke John V

Henry

V,

and following him the duke of

Bedford acting for Henry VI, distributed

to the

English captains the lands of the Armagnacs in

defending that city's reputation.

this

fashion.

In

awarded by Henry

THOMAS

DE MONTACUTE. EARL OF 38.

name of Henry

of Brittany situated outside John's duchy.

that they paid an Augustinian friar famil-

with

iar

—which

Perche, and Longwy. In the

John of Bedford, Henry's regent

Normandy, many lands were

V himself: He gave to his "dear

cousin" William de

la Pole, earl

of Suffolk, the

domains of Bricquebec and Hambye, which had

SALISBURY

belonged to the deceased Foulques Paynel, and thus deprived Foulques 's widow, Jeanne, of them.

The

earl

that

Joan would

of Salisbury began the siege of Orleans raise.

The Burgundian chronicler

Another companion of Henry V, Lancelot de L'Isle, received the lordship

of Nohant; Henry castle of

Enguerrand de Monstrelet reported Salisbury's

FitzHugh received from the king the

death as the earl surveyed the city of Orleans on

L'Aigle and the donjon of Chambois. The duchy

October 27, 1428, from the height of the

of Alen^on became the apanage of Bedford.

the Tourelles:

"He

fort carefully to

fort

of

studied the land around that

imagine

how

he could take that

Many

other fiefs were distributed in Normandy,

Picardy, and the

Beauce

as well as in Paris,

where

201

THEIR SUB)ECTS mansions of the Marais were parceled out

the

among Bedford, Warwick,

Stafford, and others.

Salisbury helped implement the Treaty of

Troyes; he was

November

1419) and

6,

Melun (ended on December 1,

the siege of

at

at Paris

October 12

on October 27, "the count

away

Salebris [Salisbury] passed

Meung de

city of

The Journal of

laid siege to Orleans.

the Siege reports that,

at

night in the

Loire; at his death, the English

maintaining the siege were powerfully amazed

1420; and then at the battlefield of Bauge (March

and doleful." Mortally wounded, the English

where he took the place of the duke of

captain had been transported to the city of Meung,

21, 1421),

Clarence,

who had been

he became governor of

won

killed there. Thereafter,

Champagne and of

Brie,

the Battle of Cravant, and in the following

year took part under Bedford's

command

in the

He returned to England to seek many great festivals, orna-

Battle of Vemeuil.

reinforcements "in

mented with great

some

riches."

said that he

It is

part in a plot with Gloucester

had

and Bedford

Good, who had been paying

against Philip the

where he died November

Bisham

at his father's side.

bore a daughter, Alice,

granddaughter of Geoffrey, by

He

issue.

(Dugdale, Baronage, vol.

title

on the continent, Salisbury did not forget his

own

wife,

married Robert

whom

he had no

named John 652). He had no

also left a natural son

Cobham. Although busy expanding sions

wife, Eleanor,

first

who

was Alice, the daughter of Thomas Chaucer and

male descendants, so

English domains or his

His

Neville. His second wife (her second marriage)

court to Gloucester's wife, the beautiful Eleanor his posses-

The body was

3.

returned to England and buried in his priory of

A

earl of Salisbury.

appears in Harley

1, p.

his son-in-law

assumed the

portrait of Salisbury

MS 4826.

who had

considerable wealth. In at the

1

428 Salisbury again crossed the Channel

39.

THOMAS

DE SCALES

head of an army, having signed an indenture

on March 24, 1428

Westminster, before

at

mem-

Thomas de

Scales, the seventh

Lord Scales, was

to

one of Bedford's lieutenants and, from November

France, he organized his army for a six-month

1428, of equal authority with Suffolk and Talbot.

bers of the royal council.

campaign

starting

When

he returned

Bom

from June 30, 1428.

The indenture was

peculiarity

a

of the

—

one

about the year 1399 (he was twenty-

in 1420),

Enghsh army in a sense, a military service contract, the name of which came from a document not unlike the two sides of a zipper: The text

Robert,

was written twice on a piece of parchment,

wife),

fifth

Thomas was

Lord Scales, by

younger son of

the

either Joan (his first

daughter of William, lord Bardolf; or

Elizabeth (his second wife). Succeeding his older

the

brother Robert to the lordship of Scales (1420),

two pieces of which were then separated follow-

he also took up his brother's active part in the war.

ing a zigzag line, each of which was to be handed

of each piece could be established by bringing the

In 1422 Thomas crossed to Normandy with a company of men-at-arms and served under John, duke of Bedford. He was captain of Vermeuil with

two halves of

a salary of 2,461 livres (1423).

to

each of the contracting parties. The authenticity

the

parchment together, each con-

tracting party having signed the half that

handed

number of

fighting

detailed, indicating

men, the

soldiers' equip-

ment, and the payment due men-at-war; they established the

number and type of combatants,

the destination of their service, the pay,

various obligations.

They

and

also established the

compensations soldiers could claim and,

finally,

the term of their enlistment. Enlistments could last

forty days,

sometimes a

sometimes two years, or "as king."

Wage

often

for

a

retinue," a

it

third of a year, shall please the

deposits were paid in advance, most

The English indenture

trimester.

corresponded loosely

to

the French "letter of

document much

fully a contract, in that

it

less precise

and not

did not set the length of

made Knight of the Garter While captain of

St.

Thomas performed with

(1425).

Jacques of Beuvron,

great credit in the siege

of Pontorson (1427) and defeated an attack

on him by the baron de Coulonce

at

made

Bas-Courtils,

between Pontorson and Avranches, as he was covering the siege and bringing supplies to War-

wick (April

17, 1427). In her letter

1429, Joan refers to

Thomas

lieutenants: after being

as

of March 22,

one of Bedford's

promoted

to the

rank of

Suffolk and Talbot (November), he was the king's lieutenant in the Orleanais

(December

16, 1428).

In this position, he received 3.0(X) livres to lead

an army against Orleans.

He was

taken prisoner while attempting to

give aid at Orleans and quickly ransomed; he

service.

new army, Salisbury took RamMeung, Beaugency, and Jargeau and on

With bouillet,

He campaigned

with Fastolf and others in retaking the fortresses of Maine (1424-1425); he was subsequently

to his counterpart.

These documents were the

was

this

was

again defeated in the unsuccessful attempt to relieve

Beaugency

in

June 1429 and taken pris-

202

PART

oner again

at

II:

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS Thomas was

Patay (June 18).

John Talbot began

a

his warrior's career early;

command to fight When Henry

captain with men-at-arms at Louviers (order of

he received from Henrv' IV the

September 1430). Subsequently he was one of the

the

Welsh between 1404 and 1407.

V

father. Talbot was imprisoned in Tower of London, but he soon left it to serve

commanders

sent by Bedford to aid John V.

duke

of Brittany, against the duke of Alen^on (1431). In

1433 he was captain of Danfort and of Saini-

L6

(1435).

in

He was made

1434 and, two years

Normandy

seneschal of

later,

captain of Rouen. In

Arundel and he were besieged

1435,

Avranches; later that year he assisted

Mont-Saint-Michel and

of both

in the sieges

Saint-Denis.

Rouen and

Early in 1436 he defeated La Hire near

continued to fight with Talbot

Normandy

after Paris

in

defense of

in

had again fallen into French

succeeded his

the

V

Scales probably remained in France until the English possessions

were

lost.

Afterward he

As

a

prominent citizen of Norfolk,

he had frequent contact with the Paston family.

Thomas de

Scales was murdered while being

down

transported

the

Thames

after his surrender

''cousin." Talbot later followed his

and Rouen, briefly returned

name of Lancaster

(July 18, 1460).

By

to

England, then

appeared back on the continent under Henr>' VI.

He took for

part in the Battle of Vemeuil.

him

which won

Order of the Garter. He then became

the

lieutenant of the king in Ireland for a second term.

this

to France,

and during

period of service he achieved his greatest

renown.

He took

part in the Battle of Montargis lost

by Warwick, then retaking of Le

in the

Mans

capture of Laval, the

in 1428. the siege of Orleans,

and the Battle of Patay, where he was taken

When

prisoner.

he was freed in 1433, Bedford

in the

covered him with honors, appointing him lieuten-

his wife

ant general of the king and of the regent for

of London, which he had been defending

Emma,

him

called

returned to the family seat at Scales Hall. Middleton. Norfolk.

at that

master to France, took part in the sieges of Caen

But Bedford sent him back

hands.

where

as the king's lieutenant in Ireland,

time the crown faced endless difficulties. Henr\-

daughter of Sir Simon Whalesburgh

military affairs in the Ile-de-France and in the

(probably of Cornwall), he had two children, a son

regions between the Seine, the Oise. and the

(who died

a minor) and a daughter. Elizabeth (his

heiress). Elizabeth married first Henr>'

Bourchier

and second Anthony Woodville, who through her

was called Lord Scales and afterward

inheritance

Somme. He

received the county of Clermont-en-

Beauvaisis and was

named

awarded him

a revenue of

300 gold

became the Earl Rivers (his sister was married to Edward IV) immortalized in Shakespeare's Rich-

Bedford died on September

ard

VII and Philip the Good.

III.

captain of Saint-

Germain-en-Laye and of Poissy; the regent

14,

Treaty of Arras was concluded between Charles

Talbot

delayed

JOHN TALBOT. EARL OF SHREWSBURY earl of

Shrewsbury, was one of the

high commanders of the English army.

1373

at

Bom

in

Blechmore, the second son of Richard

earl

of

Willoughby take

Ivr>'

failed to stop the

advance of the French armies.

He tried John Talbot,

He

England's defeat.

defended Normandy and helped the

40.

But

saluts.

1435. and the

in vain to save

and Pontoise although he

Meaux and made himself

master of Harfleur, but Pontoise was

lost the

following year, 1441. After suffering another reversal in the siege of Dieppe, he

withdrew

to

where he served as governor. He again

Talbot of Goodrich Castle in the Welsh Marches,

Ireland,

fourth Baron Talbot, John Talbot served his king

crossed the Channel upon the capitulation of

for

more than

hand

at the

sixty years,

dying with weapons

in

age of eighty. His family, originally

from the Caux

district

in

Normandy, went

to

Rouen

in

1449, only to be taken hostage by

Charles VIL

who

restored his liberty the follow-

ing year. Lieutenant general of Henr>

Guyenne, Talbot promptly reduced

Talbot acquired financial security through his

to his control, but his military career

Maud Neville, his first wife, who bore him three children, including two sons who would

end

marriage to

perish in

1450

at

the

Battle of

during the Wars of the Roses.

By

at the battle

VI

in

that province

England with the William the Conqueror. John

reached

its

of Castillon, where the aged

warrior died with his son John.

Northampton

Venerated by the English, Talbot earned

second wife,

respect from the French side as well "because he

his

Margaret Beauchamp (eldest daughter of Richard

made war honorably." His name

Beauchamp,

edly in the documents from the siege of Orleans.

ters

earl of

Warwick), he had two daugh-

and three sons, of whom the

eldest, John,

killed at his side at Castillon in 1453.

was

is

cited repeat-

He brought reinforcements on December

1

;

on

the thirtieth, he set up his headquarters at the

203

THEIR SUBJECTS Normandy on May

bastide of Saint-Laurent and later reorganized

admiral of

the bastide of Saint-Loup. His letter of retinue

of Pontorson

in June,

Avranches

August.

on January 28,

for the siege of Orleans, signed

in

19, 1419, captain

and captain of Mantes and

1429, authorized him to recruit forty-eight men-

Suffolk began his diplomatic career as

at-arms and a hundred archers. After the siege

guarantor of the truce with France (June 27,

Meung and Beaugency. At Patay,

he defended

would have preferred

to confront the

rather than to obey Fastolf,

he

French

who commanded

charge of rine

retreat.

Although Talbot owned extensive lands

in

France as well as England, he strove his whole life

1420) and served at the siege of Melun that

autumn. He was one of the commanders

enhance his inheritances

to

of his

those

particularly

wife's

in

England,

family,

the

Berkeleys, whose male heirs he despoiled. His

to

1421)

and was

appointed one of the conservators of the truce with Brittany (February 10).

and imprisoned

He was

Bauge on April

at

3,

captured 1421, and

(May

received the Order of the Garter

3) as

successor to Thomas, duke of Clarence.

death of Henry

After the

desire to rise into the upper ranks of the barony

was evident: The Talbots sought always

England (February

to

left in

Normandy when Henry V took Cathe-

V,

Bedford

appointed Suffolk guardian of the Contentin, the

extend their influence through their friendship

castle of Saint-L6,

and the town of Coutances

with the king.

(October 10, 1422).

Two

This model of honor and chivalry, Talbot,

"watchdog of England," ture in the

is

portrayed in a minia-

Shrewsbury Book, one of the most

26, 1424) he

years later (September

was made governor of Chartres and

October captured Senonches, Nogent-le-

in

Rotrou, and Rochefort.

A

month

later

well-known illuminated manuscripts of the 15th

Paris, attending the festivities held

century.

Good. From

Paris,

he was in

by Philip the

Bedford sent him

to

attempt a

reconciliation between Gloucester and the

duke

of Brabant.

41.

WILLIAM DE LA POLE. EARL OF SUFFOLK (AND HIS BROTHER JOHN)

In 1425 he

was appointed lieutenant gen-

Caen, the Contentin, and Lower Nor-

eral of

mandy, and constable of Salisbury's army. In

May

of the same year, he was detached from his

post as constable to oversee the siege of Mont-

William de Suffolk,

and

la Pole, fourth earl

first

duke of

formed for a time, along with John Talbot

Saint-Michel by land and sea. In early 1426 Suffolk was making raiding forays into Brittany

and Thomas de Scales, the English military

as far as Rennes.

De

he resigned his

command

play a major role both in the peace that ended the

earl of Warwick.

Around this time he was created

Hundred Year's War and

earl of

triumvirate in France.

la

Pole would go on to

in the

broader field of

William, the second son of Michael de Pole, second earl of Suffolk

was

siege of Harfleur),

Cotton

Henry

(who died before

as a very

bom on October

year's warfare.

26) and joined

16, 1396,

He entered the campaigns of young man. He served in the

1

served under Salisbury in the campaign that led to the siege of Orleans; in

home to recuperate the wounds he received during

year, he

the siege of Harfleur. His elder brother, the third

Saint-L6.

,

was

became

slain at Agincourt,

earl

of Suffolk

and thus William

when only

nineteen.

Suffolk served in the expedition of 1417 with thirty

men-at-arms and ninety archers, and

1418 was employed

He was

in the

in

sion and direction the siege of Orleans progressed

Hambye and

1429 Orleans and the French cause seemed

same

doomed. Then Joan of Arc made her entrance on

summer

Humphrey of Gloucester

1418, and that

at the siege

fell in

sudden death, Suffolk

him as commander of the English troops France (November 1428). Under his supervi-

quite satisfactorily, so well in fact that in February

12,

served under

After Salisbury's

replaced

recovery of Contentin.

granted the lordships of

(Bedford's brother)

September of the same

was commissioned captain general of

in

Briquebec on March

When Cherbourg

to the

He laid siege to Vendome (May Warwick before Montargis (July ). The latter siege was raised by the French after only two months. In the summer of 1428 Suffolk

la

French campaign of 1 4 1 5 from which he was sent

earl,

Normandy

Dreux.

the

in Suffolk.

V

in

Suffolk was quite active in the following

English politics.

at

Almost immediately afterward

October, he went to join

the king as he besieged Rouen.

the stage.

The

of Cherbourg.

He was appointed

fell

back

siege

was raised

to Jargeau.

in

May, and Suffolk

He was besieged in that town

by Joan and the duke of Alen^on and was forced

204

PART on June 12

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

11:

—

day for his

both the reconciliation of Philip the Good, duke

was taken

of Burgundy, to the French crown and the death

him and a third brother, Alexander, Suffolk was the prisoner of the count

of the regent, John of Lancaster, duke of Bedford.

to surrender

a fatal

family; his brother, Sir John de la Pole,

prisoner with

was

slain.

of Dunois; to obtain his freedom, he was forced to sell his lordship of

Briquebec

for his

ransom of 20,000

brother

Thomas

to raise

and

livres,

money

to give his

command of

Caen and the Contentin (March 15, 1430). In July he laid siege to the castle of Aumale and captured it,

and afterward took part

was

fell

swoop

face of English

the

entirely reconstructed. For a time

Humphrey of Gloucester and

the pro-war party

enjoyed a revived power base. Suffolk quickly took up the lead in opposing Gloucester, and thus

as a hostage.

Suffolk was reappointed to the

piegne.

At one politics

in the siege

of

Com-

These engagements mark the end of

around his

the remainder of his life revolved

For a time war

rivalry with the king's uncle.

threatened to sweep folk

was appointed

away

spirit

the English, and Suf-

to return to

France

in

Decem-

ber 1435. Richard, duke of York, was to have the

command, but he and Suffolk did

Suffolk's active participation in the war; although

chief

he remained captain of Avranches (from 1432)

to

and was captain of the

Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury, were commis-

of Tombelaine

islet

(appointed 1436 for a two-year term) and of

Regneville (mentioned as such for

1436 and

in

November

10,

England.

was occupied with the

He

sat in

the royal council on both at the

end of

sioned to negotiate for peace; these negotiations

1442

In

it

result.

was planned

that

on the meeting of

November 10 and

28,

month he was formally

that

managed

Suffolk

to thwart this

(It is not known whether Charles of who had been released in 1440, had any

VI's hand.

November

influence on this selection.)

was about

time that he

this

match (which was

posed Margaret of Anjou as a candidate for Henry

Orleans,

It

Henry VI should

Gloucester's pet project). Instead, Suffolk pro-

admitted as a council member, taking his oath on 30.

not cross

1436. Suffolk, York, and

marry a daughter of the count of Armagnac, but

Suffolk's later life

1431;

May

until

had no practical

1438), he exercised his authority

through lieutenants.

politics of

France

It

would, however,

married the widowed countess of Salisbury

seem that Orleans suggested Suffolk should be the

Thomas Chaucer). This him toward connec-

chief ambassador in negotiating this match. But

tions with the Beauforts. His long association

responsible of Henry's advisors after Cardinal

daughter of

(Alice,

marriage

with war

may have in

France seems to have moved him,

later life at least,

cultivated

own

inclined

in

toward peace. Suffolk was a

man who wrote

Suffolk,

may

regarded widely as the most

Beaufort, could see only the dangers to himself

and

to his policies of

such a position.

Under Suffolk's influence negotiations

verse in French for his

pleasure. His inclination toward peace

who was

peace continued through 1446, with

The government,

for

little

tangible

nevertheless,

passed

have been strengthened through his friendship

result.

with the captive Charles of Orleans. (He had

wholesale into Suffolk's hands. The king was

guard Charles

completely alienated from his uncle Gloucester,

purchased,

at auction, the right to

who made

on July 21, 1432.) In 1432, Suffolk

was created steward of the

royal household, a position of considerable influ-

ence, and

was

striving actively for peace

Hugues de Lannoy came

to

when

England as Philip the

Good's ambassador. Charles of Orleans and Suffolk

met with Lannoy and

his

colleagues

at

London house, and it is apparent that Suffolk made use of Charles of Orleans to accelerate the peace process. The negotiations Suffolk's

had progressed so

congress

far

by 1435

that a general

was arranged, and Suffolk was

appointed one of the chief English representatives after Cardinal Beaufort. Suffolk

and the majority

of the English delegation arrived

at

Arras for the

congress on July 25. (Beaufort arrived length,

it

became apparent

later.)

that the English

not prepared to yield to the

At

were

demands of

the

French; they withdrew from the talks on September

6.

Hot on the heels of

their

withdrawal came

attacks.

Suffolk the object of repeated open

To Suffolk and

the queen, the complete

overthrow of Humphrey's power seemed of para-

mount importance. On December ment was summoned to meet Suffolkian abbey of Bury ter arrived

after

the

St.

14, a parlia-

at

pro-

the

Edmunds. Glouces-

on February eighteenth (eight days parliament's

immediately arrested.

convocation)

He

and was

died five days

later,

presumably from natural causes accelerated by the shock of imprisonment.

Suffolk's fortunes

would soon change. After

peace had been achieved, he was embroiled in scandal.

Those who opposed him

said that he

had

sold England to the French. In just four years, after traversing a

maze of treason accusations and

imprisonment, a compromise between the two parties

was reached and Suffolk was banished

a term of five years.

On

his

way

for

across the

Channel, he was accosted by a ship called Nicho-

205

THEIR SUBIECTS las

On May

of the Tower.

taken out in a

"one of the lewdest

men on

sword and cut off

his

a

knave of Ireland,

board," took a rusty

head with half a dozen

body was taken

strokes. His

1450, Suffolk was

2,

and

boat,

little

and thrown

to land

upon the beach near Dover. Henry VI ordered body removed and buried

succeeded by his son John de

counselor to

company of Henry

claim

V named Warwick

The dying Henry

friends.

his

son's mentor and protector.

bom

Richard Beauchamp was Worcestershire in

1

Salwarp,

at

382 (January 25 or 28), the son

Beauchamp (who died

of Thomas de

la Pole.

V; he served as a

in the king's efforts to assert his

France and became one of the king's best

his

He was

Wingfield.

at

career in the

in

1401

)

and

Margaret, daughter of William, Lord Ferrers of

Groby. At eighteen Richard was made a knight of

LIONEL. BASTARD

42.

the

WANDOMME

OF

Order of the Bath; he received the Order of the

He had conducted a pilgrim-

Garter in about 1 4 1 6.

age to the Holy Land in 1408. Passing through

The Bastard of Wandomme. tured Joan at

man who

cap-

Paris,

a follower of

John

banquet

the

Compiegne, was

of Luxembourg. That coup was his most

He

rable deed.

memo-

appears in the historical record

some seven years

earlier in a tournament,

where

he was received by Charles VI, in his

destinies soon

as a squire at the siege of

Beaumont-en-Argonne. he

commanded

When

he captured Joan,

men-at-arms

a contingent of six

and sixty-two yeomen; on the following day (May 24,

1430) he was awarded 277 livres for

signal service.

The Bastard appears

who

a courageous fighter

finally

to

had

this

have been

abandon

to

him

his military career after a splintered lance left

with a crippled arm.

V,

by the time he returned

sword and

a

that year.

Venice for Jaffa,

at

to

complete his

pilgrimage to Jerusalem. England had a

mounted French

knight. In April 1428 the Bastard

who gave

November of

Beauchamp embarked

Henry

Luxembourg

in

equipped with a fifteen-day pass

he fought on foot with a battle-ax against a

served

honor

to

new king,

London. Their

became linked. Warwick placed his

his talents in Henry's service

and

helped arrange the marriage of his sovereign to Catherine of France, daughter of Charles VI.

managing

Efficient at

master's affairs, he

his

He

could also manage his own.

married one of the

richest heiresses of England, Elizabeth Berkeley,

with

whom

he had three daughters.

One

of them,

Margaret, married the famous warrior John Tal-

Warwick married

bot. After Elizabeth's death,

another heiress, Isabel Despenser, with

whom

he

had a son and a daughter.

43. RICHARD BEAUCHAMP. EARL OF

Beauchamp prosecuted

In France Richard

the

WARWICK

war

for the

commanded

the

young Henry VI. In 1427, he

army

at

Montargis, a city that

long preserved a "banner of Warwick." During

Among

the

Enghsh

lords Joan of

Arc encountered,

one of the most important was her

Beauchamp, 1430,

earl

of Warwick.

jailer,

Richard

On December

23,

when Joan was delivered to Rouen as prisoner

of the captain of the castle and of the

city,

ing fortress built by Philip

V

surrendered to Henry

which

a third of

its

palace."

Augustus. The city had 1419, after a siege in

population perished. Besides an

enormous indemnity, construction of a

II

in

the conqueror

new

demanded

immediately, but the

construction lasted several years; Henry

never to see

it

"new

castle to serve as his

Work was begun completed.

It

the

was

V

was

in this extension of

Bouvreuil Castle that Joan would be imprisoned; the

tower called today the Tower of Joan of Arc

donjon of the older

castle.

captaincy since 1427. Sir

is

Warwick had held

Thomas Malory,

the its

later

frequently

war preparations, and

The jailer

relationship between the

certainly

a

his

military

where she

Warwick's ultimate

authority.

Bedford paid the

judges of Rouen, but Warwick did so as well. intervened

when Joan was

He

attacked in her cell by

the soldiers guarding her, and he also intervened

when

she

fell

lest

ill,

she die of a disease before

she could be condemned.

We know household. The

from the account book of

Joan never appeared her judges,

invited

his

Beauchamp Household Book, that at

including

On May

invited.

built

Maid and her

prisoner at Bouvreuil,

VI presided over

Beauchamp

make

succes-

underwent interrogation, and thus was under

author of the Morte Darthur, reputedly ser\'ed under

Descended from an old Anglo-Norman

settle his family's

remains poorly understood, but Joan was

Warwick.

family, Richard

between

traveled

to seek funds,

sion problems.

she found

herself lodged in the castle of Bouvreuil, the impos-

he

years

these

England and the continent

Warwick's Pierre

table,

whereas

Cauchon, were

13, 1431, the protector

a great banquet, to

of Henry

which he

Cauchon. the bishop of Therouanne, the

Burgundian knight Aimond de Macy, and

—

206

PART

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

ll:

Stafford, the chancellor of England. This docu-

ment

also records that

two months

sizes

the

Warwick. This

fact

Margaret.

On November

empha-

Dieppe; several days

difference between the

class

direction of Talbot's wife. Warwick's daughter

at the

was a guest

death, Poton de Xaintrailles castle as a prisoner of

after Joan's

lowly

family

Poton was taken to Richard Beauchamp's

Paris to take part in the coronation

left for

Henn VL

14 later

but Poton was

Dieppe when

shepherdess and the noble captain of war

of

Xaintrailles took his place at that lordly table, as

they returned on Januan,- 14. For that date, the

Joan never

account books

did.

Richard Beauchamp died

at

Rouen

in 1439.

His remains were carried to England and buried chapel in his city of Warwick. His

in the castle

who

son-in-law Richard Neville,

Warwick upon direct

male

Beauchamp's

the death of

heir, is

known

took the name last

in English histor>- as

company could rendezvous

XA N T R A

I

Montreuil. and they arrived 23.

L L E S their

li\

ing

Poton de Xaintrailles

along with La Hire "because of their valor."

according to Martial d"Auvergne. In 1424. Poton took part in the struggle in

We

him

find

later

on the Armagnac

alongside Joan of Arc against the

enemies of the kingdom. Eventually, he would

become

prisoner

a

of the

the Battle of the list

made

those

the following

Bouvreuil:

earl of

He was

11, 1431.

A

day places him among at the table

Warwick,

"Poton prisoner

of Richard

in the castle of

cum

to England.

had re\olted

at the

head of a

then

made him

course of what

in the

called the Insurrection of bailiff

men

is

now

Normandy. Charles VII

new

of Bourges. The

position, however, did not keep

him from holding

for ransom, just like his friends Robert de

La

Hire, or Pierre de Breze. That

was

"great abundance of beasts, both beasts with

horns and those with wool, with a great quantity of prisoners of diverse station." The king cited

Poton de Xaintrailles specifically when he com-

manded

1

scutifero":

Poton the prisoner with one esquire (M.-V. Clin-

the

mercenan.

bands

to

cease

their

misdeeds.

his capture at

Shepherd on August

who took their meals

Beauchamp.

English:

Rouen upon

brought, like Joan, to

reasonable to suppose that he

it is

how. according to Jean Chartier. he acquired a

Hainaut against the English, under the banner of

side, fighting

at

Calais on Januar>'

appears again in 1435

Flocques,

Burgundy.

at

The embarkation took place on February 9. books from

He

was made captain by Charles VII

(or Saintrailles)

On

band of mercenaries suppressing the peasants

Another of the adventurers w ho made craft of warfare,

17.

lose track of Poton in the account

x'.ho

from the

Abbeville, where

January 21 Warwick and his entourage were

was brought over

POTON DE

at

they arrived on the evening of Januar>

that date, but

44.

four extra horses acquired for

list

Poton, his squire, and two valets, so that the entire

We

"the Kingmaker."

still at

The dauphin,

the future Louis XI. recog-

nized in Xaintrailles a congenial companion and a

man

able both to

command and

to ser\e.

Louis

made him an esquire and brought him on his 1444 German campaign. Despite that elevation Poton continued to rape, pillage, and

among

the troops

steal,

and he was

who surrounded Metz. (Louis German emperor against the

Meyer, Le registre des comptes de Richard Beau-

was aiding

champ, comte de Warwick, 14 mars 1431-1415

rebellion of the Swiss cantons and then turned

mars 1432

against

[thesis.

Ecole des Hautes Etudes en

Sciences Sociales. 1981]). Xantraille's imprison-

ment forms a

stark contrast to that of Joan:

received like John of Luxembourg, nobility of

He was

with the

England and young King Henry VI,

the great dining hall

in

of the castle under the

him

the

in

Alsace and Lorraine.) After that

manner of life. He Normandy and was

expedition. Poton changed his

was

active in the recover}' of

at the king's side

into

during the solemn royal entry

Rouen on November

10. 1449.

earning the

sreat sword.

HER JUDGES AT ROUEN With the exception of William of Alnwick and numbers 46 and 49 the folPierre Cauchon

pions biographical sketches presented

lowing entries are adaptations of Pierre Cham-

D'Arc.

—

—

in

W.

P.

Barren's translated edition The Trial of Jeanne

207

HER JUDGES AT ROUEN

JEAN ALESPEE

45.

While bishop of Norwich, he was appointed confessor to the young King Henry VI. In 1425,

bom

Jean Alespee,

1357, the son of Pierre

in

Alespee, was licentiate in

of canon law

at

Paris

civil

law and bachelor

and canon of Rouen

He was

cathedral from 1412.

treasurer of the

diocese of Rouen under Archbishop Louis d'Har-

Henry recommended William the

of Ely.

bishopric

Holy See

to the

relentless persecutor of the Lollards; at least

were forced

120

Lol lardy and sentenced to

to abjure

some even

various punishments,

for

Norwich he was a

In

to death.

court (1412-1413) and later Louis's vicar-general

After his translation to Lincoln, William

along with his close friend Nicolas de Venderes

influenced the academic foundations of Henry VI

who made

(1415-1422), possessions. V, he

Thanks

to the

an inventory of his

and contributed

nomination of Henry

Lincoln Cathedral.

was concurrently canon of the cathedrals of

Evreux and Bayeux and of the collegiate church of Andelys as well as pastor of a rural church. died

Rouen

at

August

seventh year, after having been

home

at the

construction

of the

Alespee was related

for

him

legate

to

who

in

charge of

cathedral's

library.

to the distinguished families

Guillaume

d' Estouteville, the

papal

timid,

intellectually

insecure

bom in the diocese of Nevers.

Jean Beaupere was

Master of Arts

c.

1

397, he completed the lengthy

1419 and

course in theology by

university

received his licentia in theology at the end of that

A man

year.

of considerable importance, he was

rector of the University of Paris in both 1412 and

and served as chancellor

1413

absence. In 1415 Pierre

initiated the nullification trial.

Jean Alespee appears to have been an especially

JEAN BEAUPERE

47.

some time

of Estouteville and Mallet de Graville, and hence

kinsman

and was interred near the west door of Lincoln Cathedral.

seventy-

his

in ill

man and a lover of books.

In 1424, his colleagues placed

the

1449,

He

of Pierre Miget, prior of Longueville.

Jean Alespee was a rich

He died on December 5,

of Jean Marcel on

reportedly

1434,

16,

home

at the

among

the

Burgundian envoys

On July

man,

Gerson's

in

Cauchon and he were

30, 1420, Jean

at

Constance.

Beaupere received a

tending to follow the opinions of his theological

papal appointment as canon of Notre

Dame

mentors; he was, not surprisingly for an ambitious

Paris in place of Jean Charreton; at

first,

man

colleagues protested this intmsion.

in his situation,

an English partisan.

How-

ever, Jean Riquier, a witness at the nullification

reported that Alespee wept freely at the

trial,

burning of Joan of Arc and said publicly: "I wish that

my

soul were where

I

of

to the architectural restoration

believe this

woman's

On

of his

June 27,

1420, he took possession of the canonicate of

Eustache de Laitre

at

Beauvais; in 1419 he was

sent to Troyes with Pierre

Cauchon

to advise

Charles VI. In 1422 he went on an embassy to the

queen of England and the duke of Gloucester

soul is."

to

obtain confirmation of the university's privileges. In 1423, en route

46.

WILLIAM OF ALNWICK

him

One of

between Paris and Beauvais, he

was attacked by brigands who robbed him and left for dead.

He

lost the

use of his right hand in

this attack

and thus could not occupy his bene-

out the coronation at Paris of Henry VI, and one

fices, since

he was no longer able to consecrate

of the assessors present, under the presidency of

the

Cardinal Henry Beaufort,

function

the ecclesiastical peers assigned to carry

at

Pierre Cauchon's

rhetorical spectacle in the cemetery of the

of Saint-Ouen, William Alnwick

(d.

abbey

1449) was an

important ecclesiastical figure in the England of

both Henry

V

and Henry VI.

1436) and later of Lincoln (1436-1449).

He

studied at Cambridge, where he earned a doctor-

William was

later a

monk of St. Albans

and became a confidant of Henry V; he speedily

as

a

priest.

Nevertheless,

Martin

V

granted him confirmation of the post he held as

canon of the cathedrals of Besan9on, Sens,

Paris,

and Beauvais, as well as for the archdiaconate of Salins

William was bishop of Norwich (1426-

ate in law.

eucharisdc Host and therefore could not

(March 1424). Nominated canon of Rouen

cathedral on September 6, 1430, by

Henry VI, he

received, on April 2, 1431, an honorarium of livres

from the English crown.

cellarer at Sens,

In

30

1432 he was

canon of Besan^on,

Paris,

Laon,

and Rouen, and chaplain of the Brie. He also

obtained a reputation for erudition and piety.

He

sought to become a canon of Autun cathedral,

was consecrated bishop of Norwich on August

1

8,

pastor of Saint-Jean-en-Greve and sacristan of

1426,

at

Canterbury and was installed on Decem-

Saint-Merry

ber 22 of the same year. At that time he was

dral,

appointed keeper of the privy

outrageous

seal.

among

at Paris,

and canon of Lisieux cathe-

other offices.

pluralist.

He

was, in short, an

208

PART

He

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

II:

Rouen on May

1431, for the

ducted with English financial support, recogniz-

Council of Basel, where he arrived on November

ing the documents that were presented to him, and

2,

left

28,

1431. At Basel he played an important role,

having been commissioned to convince the pope

was necessary

that the papal presence

some of

setting forth at least

the questionable

methods of Nicolas Loiseleur and Jean

d'Estivet.

there, a

commission that he undertook with determination and

The council

zeal.

Philip the

Good

him

sent

in 1432.

as

ambassador

CAUCHON

PIERRE

49.

to

Strongly pro-conciliar

Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais and Joan of

and antipapal, he was disavowed by the chapter

Pierre

of Rouen in 1438 and had to prove his orthodoxy

Arc's tireless persecutor, was

When

to retain his canonicate there.

the city

near Reims.

Was he from

bom

about 1371

a family of vineyard

returned to French domination he took pains to

owners, as Jean Juvenal des Ursins says, or had

present himself as a loyal Frenchman. Beaupere

he descended from a noble family that settled in

He

resided most often at Besan9on in the Empire.

Beaupere was very active

was

tion trial; his voice tractable.

He was

in the

condemna-

once authoritative and

at

sent to Paris to discover the

He

opinion of the university.

Reims

after the affair of the

fourteenth

died there in either 1462 or 1463.

testified in

1452

at

Templars

in the early

century? The question cannot be

answered with certitude. relatives linking Pierre

We can nevertheless find

Cauchon

de Rinel,

to Jean

Henry VI. Husband of

the future secretary of

Cauchon's niece Guillemette Bidault, Rinel was and

the time of the preliminary nullification investi-

his nephew-in-law,

gations and stood firm in his opinion that Joan's

men worked

voices had "natural causes" arising from the

England. Cauchon studied

malice inherent in the nature of women.

Paris,

these two

all their lives

together for the glory of the king of

where he was

one the students who voted

University of

at the

licenfiate in

law (1398) and

to ignore the orders

of Pope Benedict XIII; he was a sixth-year student

BOISGUILLAUME

48.

in

theology in 1403. Cauchon became rector of

the University of Paris after a brilliant

Guillaume Colles, known more commonly as

member

career.

As

academic

rector he craved a benefice

from the

of the Colles de Bois-

chapter of Reims, even though he already had a

guillaume family, was a notary of the ecclesiasti-

canonicate and a prebendary in Chalons, and

Boisguillaume, a

cal

court

Rouen and

of

condemnation

pastoral duties in the parish church of Egriselles

cited as pastor of Notre-Dame-

took the matter of refusing obedience to Benedict

at

located within the diocese of Sens. In 1406 he

trial.

In 1421 he

de-La-Ronde

the

recorder

a

is

(a benefice at the disposition

name Guillaume

king of England). The

of the Colles

appears as a signature on a writ of excommunica-

The following

and rhetorical

skills,

he was part of the large embassy to Italy (charged

He was the notary at the inquisitorial

with ending the Great Schism) that called upon

of Jean Seguent, which was conducted by

Benedict XIII to renounce the papacy. In compen-

tion in 1424. trial

XIII before the Parlement of Paris. year, thanks to his juridical

Jean Graverent between July and November

sation for his service in this matter he

1430, and signed the act by which the clergy of

the major chaplaincy of Saint Etienne at Toulouse

Rouen assembled

in

archbishop's chapel

the

declared vacant the benefices of their brothers

who lived in territory still

He

loyal to the dauphin.

in 1408.

He was

later

named canon

was granted

at

Reims and

then the bishop's deputy (in the same diocese) in 1410, and canon at Beauvais (Register of the 1410), although

also appears in records pertaining to an inventory

Cathedral Chapter: June 28,

of the king's property that was requested from the

technically he should not have been allowed to

court of Rouen, at least ostensibly, by Henry VI.

combine these two functions. (The

He was

later pastor

of Notre

Dame

near Bernay,

ecclesiastical benefices

was one of

"under sentence of excommunication, aggravated

sores of the church at that time.

and further aggravated

gaps

example

to our

.

.

.

obstinate and a bad

mother the church." His property

was ordered sold so

that the

money might be used

parish of Saint-Nicolas. nullification trial and,

at

He was

Rouen

in

the

a witness at the

on December

18,

1456,

gave a description of the notarial procedures the earlier

trial,

testifying that

The manpower

by the devastafion of the Black Death

caused many vacancies clerics

up of

the running

in

benefices;

maneuvered themselves

skillful

into these assign-

ments and then did not exercise the concomitant

for the benefit of his absolution.

Guillaume Colles lived

left

piling

it

in

had been con-

responsibilifies

and funcfions.) In 1412 he was

one of the reformers charged with overseverity

in

regard to the excesses of the Armagnacs.

Vidame (temporal

lord) of the church at

Reims, Pierre Cauchon attached himself

to the

209

HER JUDGES AT ROUEN duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. At

Paris,

where he was among the intimates of the ducal

became

court, he

mob

a plotter of the Cabochian revolt

Cauchon helped persuade

(1413).

wreck the Hotels of

to attack the Bastille,

Guyenne and of

the Parisian

Artois, break into the

chambers

of the dauphin, and seize his officers. Shortly thereafter opinion shifted,

and the

hall of the Paris

On September

to

be removed to Geneva, even though he had been

appointed by the pope. Cauchon was equally successful in gaining the regent's confidence.

Fully supported by the University of Paris, Cau-

chon represented

it

at the

court of

Pope Martin

V

while also acting as envoy of the king of England.

He was bishop

of Beauvais for nine years. In

Bedford's confidence, an executor of the will of

27,

Charles VI, and counselor of King Henry VI of

Armagnac made

his entry into

England, the bishop received an annual pension

the capital and banished Cauchon.

The duke of

of 100 livres toumois (Paris, B.N.

Burgundy then

with radical

61: the accounts of Pierre Surreau); he

was

butchers' guild

1413, the count of

leveled.

sent

prelate

this

revolutionary sentiments to the Council of Con-

guardian of the privy seal

stance (1415), where he defended the theses of

chancellor.

Jean

Petit, the

Burgundian who made himself the

champion of tyrannicide

in order to justify the

master of requests for the govern-

V

ment of Henry

(1418), he petitioned for the

provostship of Lille (vacant

On

de Montreuil).

this

after the liberation

20882,

fol.

was

also

absence of the

of Orleans, Joan

of Arc led the dauphin to Reims. Several weeks before the anointing, Cauchon visited Reims,

assassination of Louis of Orleans.

Named

1429

In

in the

fr.

death of Jean

at the

occasion the university

where he reconciled the chapter and the bishop on the subject of the cardinalate and carried the

Blessed Sacrament during the Corpus Christi procession on

May

Leaving the

26.

city for his

asked the pope to grant Cauchon the right to unite

diocese of Beauvais, he had to seek refuge at

several incompatible benefices, arguing that his

Rouen when

courage and his works for the greater good of the

English and the Burgundians (August 1429). The

He

the people of Beauvais expelled the

then

English indemnified him for the loss of his

became archdeacon of Reims, canon of Chartres

revenues and placed him in charge of special

archdeacon), and chaplain of

missions in England, Paris, and elsewhere. The

church were worthy of such high reward.

and Chalons the

(later

duke of Burgundy

He

at Dijon.

also held, in

the diocese of Bayeux, the benefice of St. Clair:

All of which

(when added

and benefices) gave him

prebendaries,

cates,

to his other canoni-

approximately 2,000 livres a year. In 1419 he was a referendary of

Pope Martin

V, for

whom he had

campaigned, and then conservator of the

privi-

trial

of Joan of Arc was one such mission. Bedford

then tried to have

spiritual

abandoned the

Thanks

Armagnacs and an interest

in

Henry V took The Burgundians was no way to avoid the

the Burgundians,

French

politics.

reclaimed Paris; there

ensuing massacre. (Tanguy du Chatel saved the

dauphin then by taking him

dead of

night.)

to

On August

Vincennes 1420,

21,

whom

he would serve

He

of Paris.

Good

It

was through

VI,

Cauchon under-

tribunal of the Inquisition in

Rouen, a sympathetic

city in pro-English France,

invoking thereby his

rights as bishop of Beauvais, the territory in

which

and then

Beaurevoir to deal with

to the castle of

who

to

Compiegne

held Joan prisoner.

After several months of effort, he succeeded in

launching her

received his

to

peer of the kingdom.

name of Henry

John of Luxembourg,

the favor of Philip the

that

In the

took to purchase Joan and have her judged by a

in the

— who himself came attend Cauchon's — he was made an

investiture

most

of the council,

Pierre

bishopric on the recommendation of the University

lived for the

hall

He went

duke of Burgundy,

faithfully.

Cauchon

Joan had been captured.

Cauchon was named bishop and count of Beauvais under the protection of the

effort.

Rouen, near the grand

of which he was a member.

to that

and the growing discord between the

treaty

and

Bedford, wishing to manipulate both parties,

part at

disinheriting the dauphin Charles.

The

of Rouen were opposed to him,

clergy

trial.

After Joan's death,

coronation of Henry VI 143

1,

as the chronicler

Cauchon took part in on December

at Paris

Now

fully in the service of

Henry

V

the 16,

Enguerrand de Monstrelet

confirms:

ecclesiastical

the English party, he followed

be

to

content with the bishopric of Lisieux (1432).

leges of the University of Paris. In this capacity,

Troyes, where he prepared the text of the treaty

in matters

and temporal, but Cauchon had

he was with his niece's husband Jean de Rinel

at

Cauchon named archbishop of

Rouen, which he had administered

There was with him from the nation of

to Paris,

England IHenry's] uncle, the cardinal of

where he fought with the cathedral chapter and

Winchester, and the cardinal of York, the

with Bishop Courtecuisse. At the instigation of

duke of Bedford, and the rich duke of York,

John, duke of Bedford, he arranged for the bishop

the earls of

Warwick, Salisbury, and Suffolk,

210

PART

were the bishop

there

named my

of Therouanne

Cauchon died suddenly, while he was being

and squires of the

as well as noble knights

House of France, and

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

II:

shaved,

lord Louis of

residence in Rouen, on

at his

Luxembourg; of Beauvais, Master Pierre

final collapse

Cauchon; of Noyon, Master Jean de Mailly

body was carried in

(Monstrelet, vol.

1,

December

18, 1442, at the height of his honors, before the

by

chap. 109).

state to Lisieux,

accompanied

and executor, Nicolas Caval, canon

his friend

of Rouen.

of the English cause. Cauchon's

He was

interred near the altar in the

Bedford had arranged for the peers of France

magnificent Chapel of the Virgin, which he had

favorable to his king to take part in the anointing,

rebuilt

and the bishop was

remarkable

solemn banquet

at the

that

followed the mass and the ceremony: "And on the side of the

chamber of Parlement

aforesaid

cardinal

Pierre

at that table, the

of Winchester and Master

Cauchon. bishop of Beauvais, and Master

and decorated

adversary for

As bishop of Lisieux. Cauchon took possesmanor of the Hotel Saint-Claude or

sion of the

Hotel de Lisieux clergy.

at

He

Rouen, which displeased the

continued to serve as a general

envoy of Henry VI, going

to Calais in

1433

at the

this foolish error; but at heart.

During Joan's nullification

always they

trial,

He

Cauchon's

left as heirs

nephew, Jean Bidault, canon of Reims and

his

Lisieux, and Jeanne Bidault, wife of Jean de

of Henry VI,

secretary

Rinel,

duke of Orleans. Serving as the queen of

great-grandnephews,

at the

inheritance,

whose name

end of the Treaty of Troyes. His

appears

Cauchon

trial in

..."

family had to answer for his acts.

time of the negotiations for the liberation of the

England's chancellor in France,

a brief allusion to his

"And although they held your lord, that was because the lord

were your servants

chap. 109).

It is

who

connection:

this

bishop was in

Rouen

made only

venel des Ursins,

predecessor and did not mention Joan's

dance as peers of France" (Monstrelet,

1,

expense.

succeeded him as bishop of Beauvais, Jean Jou-

Jean de Mailly, bishop of Noyon, were in attenvol.

own

at his

note that the Frenchman

to

wished

while negotiating their

to avoid

polemics and wrote

attended the Council of Basel as a deputy of

to the

Thomas de Courcelles, Jean Beaupere, and Nicolas

intermediary of the procurator, Jean de Gouvis, to

That same

said that Joan the Maid, despite her Christian,

England

in

1435; there he joined

Loiseleur, his associates in Joan's

year he was present

at the

trial.

Council of Arras, where

judges of the nullification

disclaim any responsibility:

pure, and flawless

life,

trial,

"We

was

through the

have heard

it

the victim of the

who did

he sustained the exclusive right of Henry VI to the

hatred of the English,

crown of France. Upon Bedford's death (Septem-

having caused them great damage

ber 14, 1435), which was followed swiftly by the

having served well the king of France." The heirs

death of the archbishop of Rouen, Louis of

made it clear they wished to live tranquilly in their large house on the rue de la Cayne. The trial was

Luxembourg was named

the ecclesiastical head

of Normandy, in which post he was supported by

none of their concern, they

Cauchon. The two associates appear again

all little

at Paris

in

war and for

insisted, "for

children or not yet

own

not forgive her for

bom

we were

at that

fime."

when the troops of Charles VII took the city. Cauchon was nearly captured in the Bastille Saint Antoine, and both men were forced to flee, Luxembourg to England and Cauchon to Rouen. In that same year Cauchon was charged with calling together at Caen the Three Estates of Normandy and with informing them of the king

Thus, Cauchon's

of England's intention to found a university

at

Joan the Maid and her supporters embodied

years he fulfilled numerous

everything from which he wished to save his

in 1436,

Caen. In his

last

remain

in the

rejected

In the

him

country.

go

but two).

On July

29, 1437, he gave

1990s some French scholars have

as a sincere

somewhat

(including the conferences of Calais and Grave-

name

good graces of the new government, absolutely.

taken a more sympathetic look at Cauchon, seeing

diplomatic missions relative to the English peace

lines, to

him

family, hard-pressed to

is

and educated

cleric with high if

rigid professional standards, for

How

whom

far this effort at rehabilitation will

difficult to foresee at this juncture

(May

1998).

a receipt to the treasurer-general of Normandy for

770

livres, the

balance of a

a trip from Paris to

service

(B.N.

fr.

Rouen

sum of 2, 77

26,063).

Cauchon was commissioned trips to Calais

and

to

1

in the

In to

England

1439 and 1440

50.

THOMAS

DE

COURCELLES

undertake several to treat for

between the two kingdoms and liberation of the

livres for

king of England's

duke of Orleans.

to

peace

seek the

Thomas de Courcelles was bom at Amiens in 1393. A zealous university man and rector of the faculty of law in 1426, he taught theology at Paris

1

HER JUDGES AT ROUEN for

many

on October 23, 1469,

years; he died

Dame

dean of the chapter of Notre

Rector of the university

he went

in 1430.

where he spoke

for peace

"proposed so many fine and solemn words

seemed

God were

as if an angel of

from 1433

the Council of Basel

in

and

that

it

speaking, and

many were moved

of those present

to tears."

At

Thomas

to 1438,

at the nullification

remarked on information.

embarrassed

less

tive editing

minutes.

him

was involved

He was

unsuccessfully.

who

later in life

by his participation

and afterward, during the defini-

of that

documents, he sup-

trial's

little

part in the trial;

less fiercely hostile to

its

transcript

shows

Joan than Cauchon or

Guillaume Erard. (See below.)

in several papal elections, usually

delegated by the council

and was among

to vote in the next papal election

those

key

name wherever it figured in the French He tried to give the impression that he

French church. He remained

despite the plague that ravaged Basel. Courcelles

to recall

pressed his

had taken

post in 1433.

tombstone failed

his

Thomas de Courcelles was doubt-

in the first trial,

de Courcelles shone as one of the lights of the at his

proceedings, this doctor whose

eloquence was praised by his contemporaries and

of Paris.

of Rome. In 1435 he was

this capacity to the court

sent to Arras,

as

211

GUILLAUME ERARD

51.

declared Pope Eugenius IV (1431-

1447) an apostate in July 1439.

He was

the fathers of Basel to the Diet of

election of a

new pope and

in

sent by for the

December made an

address before the antipope Felix ally resulted in the

Mainz

V

that eventu-

promotion of many

to the

rank

of cardinal. In 1440 he discoursed eloquently before Charles VII

at

Bourges on the Gallican

constitution of the French church.

On

July 18.

Guillaume Erard, a native of the diocese of Langres, was a master of

arts,

a bachelor

and

doctor of theology, and became rector of the university

on February 26, 1421. He was procuFrench Nafion

rator of the

was

Paris in 1426 and

in the University

of

communication with

in

Jean Graverent. the Inquisitor, on the subject of

who had appealed

heretics

the

to

pope.

He

1442, at Saint-Magloire. he preached before the

received his degree as licentiate and then as

people a solemn sermon that put an end to the

master of theology in 1428. Erard taught

troubles of the university, announcing that the

from September, 1428,

king "had liberally reconfirmed and given anew

Dyeree, Pierre Le Mire, Jean Gravestain, and

to our

On

mother the University

all

her privileges."

Dame

of Paris where he was received as

canon on September

1 1

That chapter already

.

same time

at Paris

as Pierre

Guillaume Adelie. In an interesting

July 17. 1447. he returned to the chapter of

Notre

at the

document from December

1430, Erard was engaged in a suit against Geoffroy

le

Normant before

the Parlement of Paris.

Guillaume de Courcelles.

Erard testified that he had been ordained "master

named chancellor in 1 425 in place of Jean Gerson.

of grammarians of the College of Navarre." In

counted

in its ranks

to as doctor of

1429 Erard had been sent to Champagne by the

law and archdeacon of Josas through the king's

king of England, along with Pierre Cauchon;

and Jean de Courcelles. referred

who had been canon

favor,

the latter

was

a brother of

Courcelles was

Lyons

at

in

who were

the ambassadors

of April

of Charles VII states that

was entrusted with sions. Courcelles

Nicolas

August 1447, among

employ himself

Ama-

negotiating for

8,

1448, the confessor

Thomas de to

Rome

in

that

preaching"

—

serve as Erard's substitute. This cates that Erard then had an

30

livres,

it

rather than to

document

indi-

income of more than

and that he was a canon of Laon

cathedral and canon and sacristan of Langres

commis-

cathedral. Erard also alluded to a journey he had

to be near

made to Basel. He was at Paris in September 143 among the regent masters, and on January 25,

V (1447-1455) and took the title of papal named dean of Notre

1432, he presided

at Paris

of Paris. In 1450 he spoke against the

for the licentiate,

when Thomas de Courcelles

founding of a university

at

Caen.

By

that time he

had accumulated many benefices.

The

role that he enjoyed in the

he came out

in

prelate

future, this cleric "very

enjoyed the

full

later put

minutes of the

trial,

where

him

in

first

rank. Nicolas Loiseleur

was Erard's

abbot of Cormeilles, dean of the faculty of law,

well

took action against him for "at the

last licentiate

with a promising

examination (1432) he opened the

list

is

solemn and excellent,"

confidence of Pierre Cauchon,

trial

received

over the examination

pupil at Paris in 1431-1432. Guillaume Bonnel,

favor of torturing Joan,

known. This young

who

le

Courcelles

the pope's verbal

journeyed

archdeacon. In 1458 he was

Dame

was Erard's

Geoffroy

duty, not his. to teach children "and he ought to

deus, duke of Savoy's renunciation of the papal office. In a letter

Normant protested

since July 23, 1446;

Thomas. Thomas de

charge of translating the

into Latin. Questioned in

1456

ates

Erard In

of

which the master had given him." is

licenti-

In

called the vice-chancellor of Notre

1433

Dame.

August he lodged a complaint with the Parle-

ment of

Paris in the

name of

the

university.

212

PART

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

II:

protesting a royal ordinance on the repurchase of the rental

income of the churches and colleges

Guillaume Erard

Paris.

among

time

is

mentioned for the

moved

for a while to

whom

sioned judges of Joan of Arc,

demned

he con-

on the day of her abjuration.

violently

last

September

the regent masters in

1433; he then

in

JEAN D'ESTIVET

52.

Normandy.

Erard entered the chapter of Rouen on July 17,

1432. Later he visited Paris to "further the

of the Church."

liberties

Grand Caux

he

in 1433,

Named

archdeacon of

fulfilled in turn the posts

Jean d'Estivet, called Benedicite, promoter-gen-

Beauvais and Bayeux cathedrals, being named

of chancellor, precentor, and vicar-general of

canon of the

Rouen cathedral. On February named professor of theology at

He

canon

Paris and m.ade

the

Notre

at

1434, he

7,

was

the University of

Dame cathedral on

recommendation of the bishop of

Jacques de Chatelier, a worldly prelate

Paris,

of Bedford and Philip the

Good

of Burgundy.

Erard was the executor of the will of Hugues des

to the

Intimately connected with Cauchon, he was

one of Joan's most rancorous judges.

He

her in prison, talking to her as

she were a

prostitute. Entirely

if

devoted to the English, Jean

Guillaume Manchon, he sent the Twelve Articles

went so

friend of Louis of

laume Erard went

far as to

produce

name

go

to

in

Luxembourg, Guil-

England

to

in Louis's

and Jean de Rinel

swear fealty

to

as bishop of Ely.

to Arras with

1435 to

to

Henry

Raoul Roussel

treat for peace;

there Erard responded very dryly to the

were completely

to Paris without seeing that they

corrected.

He

read

session of March 27, and

at the

is

the author of the

list it

Rouen

after her abjuration.

The

recorders,

manner. Boisguillaume placed a great deal of

on him

in his tesfimony at Joan's

responsibility

much

nullification proceedings:

"And he believed

God,

On November

ended miserably: he was found dead

1436, Erard presided

12,

at

an

public affairs and the

coming of

Normandy.

In

certain English

1437 he was named

whom

he paid for their work, detested his overbearing

while

assembly of prelates "for a certain need touching

of charges

was he who

ordered Joan to be taken back to the castle of

applauded discourse of Thomas de Courcelles.

lords" to

insulted

tending to be another prisoner. According to

at

appeals to the pope.

charged Erard

law paid

Notre Dame, and

chapter. This conflict

Henry VI

that clerical students of

University of Paris.

at the

promotion of the wealthy Jean

1434.

in

succeeded in alienating him from the

A

from the dthes

d'Estivet entered Joan's cell, like Loiseleur, pre-

Alespee to a canonicate finally

April 25, 1437. Pierre

16, 1430.

Rouen on Cauchon exempted him at

He was

Rouen

Orges, archbishop of

opposed

church on January

latter

obtained a canonical prebend

who was

elevated to that rank through the favor of the duke

was canon of

eral of the diocese of Beauvais,

at the

end of

sewer outside the Rouen gate" for the

end of the wicked

—

in a certain

a favorite topos

in Christian hagiogra-

phy. In Estivet's case, however, this unattractive

chaplain to King Henry VI and received an annual

accident seems actually to have happened

income of 20 pounds

October 20, 1438,

dered to the crown.

sterling for services ren-

From

then on Erard lived in

England; the canons of Rouen commissioned him to reconfirm or reclaim the legacies

church by Henry

V

and Bedford.

made

in fact;

it

was long

—on

interpreted

by the populace as divine retribution for Estivet's conduct during Joan's

trial.

to their

Named dean

of

the cathedral in place of the late Gilles Des-

champs, Erard did not succeed

that

punished him, for he

his life,

JEAN GRAVERENT

53.

in taking posses-

sion of this dignity, which he had gladly accepted

Jean Graverent, a Dominican and the Grand

and which shows how much hope the canons

Inquisitor of France,

supposed influence with the

reposed in his English court. leaving great

He

sums

silver

chalice

to

chapter.

Rouen and

favor of appealing to the pope the question of Jean

He bequeathed

likewise a legacy of 40 livres to the University of Paris.

The executor of

his will

was

at a

council held there, where he gave an opinion in

community, and an enameled

the

referred to in 1413 as

1439.

died in England in to the cathedral of

to the college of the

was

master of theology of Paris and was present

the rigorous

Petit's

defense of tyrannicide.

He succeeded

Jacques Suzay as Inquisitor in 1425. 16, 1429, as prior

On August

of the Jacobin convent in Paris,

Jean Graverent took the oath of loyalty to the

Pasquier de Vaux, bishop of Evreux.

English government before the Parlement of

As pro-English as his patron Louis of Luxembourg, forceful and unscrupulous in all his

a burgess of Saint L6,

dealings, Erard appears in the transcript of the

on March

condemnation

trial

as

one of the most impas-

Paris.

seems

He

to

directed the

4,

trial

of Jean Le Couvreur,

which was

still

under way

1431; thus this Dominican,

who

have been an adherent of the Burgundian

213

HER lUDGES AT ROUEN could not take part in the

party,

Arc.

On

sermon

of Joan of

trial

July 4, 1431, Jean Graverent preached a in Paris,

accusing Friar Richard of being

"beau pere," that

is,

the mentor, of four suspect

23, 1436,

the Three

Jolivet

at

the bishop

call

together

Caen and to take

part

of establishing a university there.

was buried

Rouen

at

in the

church of

Saint Michel in July 1444.

the Breton Perrinaik, and her maidservant.

WILLIAM HAITON

54.

Norman Estates

in the project

female visionaries: Joan, Catherine de La Rochelle,

King Henry VI ordered him,

of Lisieux, and the earl of Suffolk to

GUILLAUME DE

56.

LA

CHAMBRE

William Haiton was an Englishman and a bachelor of theology as well as secretary of requests to

the English king.

He was ambassador to the court

of France in 1419 to arrange the marriage of

Henry

V

member of the he

He was

with the princess Catherine. English council

lost his position as secretary

In 1445 he appears in

Calendar of Patent

in

a

1431; however,

on March

1,

1433.

volume IV of Henry VI's

Rolls.

the elder, physician to

Queen

Isabeau,

who at one

point testified that the dauphin Charles

was not

son of King Charles VI. Guillaume the

the

younger was awarded

his licentiate in

medicine

from the University of Paris on March

6,

1430.

Immediately thereafter he began teaching as a

Fecamp and

member of that faculty and was still a regent master in November 1452. In 1430, the year he earned his license, Guillaume sold to the Norman

his

colleague in the king's council, voiced the same trial

bom

about 1403, the son of Guillaume de La Chambre

William Haiton and

Gilles de Duremort, abbot of

opinions during Joan's

Guillaume de La Chambre the younger was

and execution.

Nation of the University of Paris a house on the rue Galande that he

ROBERT JOLIVET

55.

An Norman Benedictine, a bachelor of law in 1416, who became abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel in 141 1. He Robert Jolivet of Montpichon was a

fled his abbey,

which remained

faithful to Charles

VII, and took refuge with the English about 1419.

He went on

owned

in

common

with his

brother Jean.

trial,

assiduous judge

at the

condemnation

Guillaume de La Chambre visited Joan as a

physician and was present

at

He

her execution.

testified at the nullification trial that his vote

was

forced upon him by the bishop of Beauvais. His

testimony was entirely favorable to the Maid.

various missions for Bedford and

became his chancellor and keeper of his privy seal in 1423. On May 27, 1428, Jolivet was Bedford's

MARTIN LADVENU

57.

representative at the foundation of the Carmelite

convent

in

Rouen.

Martin Ladvenu, a Dominican from the Jacobin

Extremely devoted

Henry VI,

this

monk

diplomacy and even

to the

government of

played an important role in in military matters, inspect-

He was a He was

ing troops and visiting fortresses.

member

of

all

convent

spiritual

in

1425 to

was her confessor and

advisor during her imprisonment at

Rouen.

of the important councils.

commissioned by the king of England

Rouen, was among those who sought

at

to enlighten Joan, since he

Very

little is

known about Ladvenu. He was in

Paris at the time of the

trial

of Gilles Deschamps,

recover the abbey, which he had fortified admira-

one of Joan's judges. The following year at Neufcha-

bly before his departure. Between April and June

tel

1428 Robert Jolivet was

at Paris

in matters

coming of Salisbury and

the English

awaiting the

army

"to

he lectured a sorceress, Jeanne Vancril, suspect

advise and conclude where he would be sent." In

cation

November he went

at

to

Mantes

about the siege of Orleans. 1430, Jolivet

is

cited

as

to see

Bedford

On September

12,

of faith.

He was

described in 1452, in the

transcript of the preliminary sessions of the nuUifitrial,

as a friar of the convent of the Jacobins

Rouen, "special confessor and advisor to Joan the

Maid

in her last days."

chancellor with the

considerable salary of 800 livres a year. Not surprisingly, he resided at his king better.

Rouen

On November

Henry ordered the payment of ten lancers and thirty

in

order to serve

16,

JEAN DE LA FONTAINE

wages of

the

Jean de La Fontaine, a clerk of the diocese of

mounted archers who had

Bayeux described in 1403 as master of arts and student in law, was promoter of the University

the

escorted Jolivet (along with the abbot of Fecamp) to Paris

58.

1431, King

where he had been summoned.

On

July

of Paris in 1421 and was sent to the duke of

214

PART

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

II:

Bedford and King Henry VI

1422 to have the

in

won

university's privileges confirmed; he

law

his

convinced of the

little

regularity (at least

trial's

according to the testimony of Nicolas de Houppe-

in 1424. In 1427, with Guil-

ville).

Lemaitre certainly hesitated to approve the

laume Colles, Guillaume Manchon, and Robert

trial's

procedures and took the precaution of

Guerould, he edited Cauchon's carefully pre-

protecting himself by hiding behind the Inquisitor

licentiate in

pared transaction between the archbishop and the chapter of

Rouen.

who proclaimed

It

was Jean de La Fontaine

Charles VII's confirmation of

On December to the

as an assistant counselor at

the trial

and given by Pierre Cauchon the respon-

sibility

of questioning Joan, La Fontaine advised

1443, however, he

7,

people on the occasion of the

of Raoul

election

Rouen

the university's privileges in 1436.

Commissioned

General.

preached

—Roussel

Roussel as archbishop of

was one of Joan's most pro-

English judges and successor to the like-minded cardinal of

Luxembourg.

her to submit to the Church Militant. According to the testimony of

NICOLAS LOISELEUR

60.

Manchon and Jean Massieu,

he had to flee Rouen when he was being threat-

ened by Cauchon, who evidently thought him too helpful to the accused.

He was

Nicolas de Houppeville, to

also a friend of

whom

he passed a

was in prison. There is also La Fontaine cited as lieutenant general of Jean Salvain, the bailiff of Rouen in 1432, as well as a Jacques de La Fontaine, letter

while the

latter

a Guillaume de

bachelor of law, secretary, and intimate friend of

who was on March

the pope, in

27, 1429, occupied

exchanging his canonicate of Beauvais.

bom

Nicolas Loiseleur was

and was master of arts

commence

Chartres in 1390

at

at Paris in

1403.

He did not

his studies as bachelor of theology

October 1431. Already a canon of Chartres

until

cathedral in 1421, he

was made a canon of Rouen,

replacing Martin Ravenot,

many

took

who had remained

dauphin Charles. Loiseleur under-

faithful to the

delicate missions for the

Rouen chap-

going to Paris, for example, to take part in

ter,

various

On

trials.

July

8,

1429, he was sent as a

delegate by the chapter to negotiate an embassy to

59.

JEAN LEMAlTRE

Rome. He was, without doubt, very highly

regarded by Bedford's government.

A deputy to the Council of Basel with Midy Jean Lemaitre (Lemaistre or Le Maistre),

a

Dominican and a bachelor of theology from some

was vicar of

university other than Paris,

Inquisitor of France in the diocese of

Rouen from

Rouen

to Paris "for the liberties of the church."

He did not attend that council

before 1435, when,

along with the university and the clergy of Charles

Domini-

VII, he maintained the preeminence of the general

Rouen, where he was a noted

council over the pope. This was no longer the

He was still living at the time of the first made at Rouen for Joan's nullificaHe preached a sermon in January 1452.

opinion of the English government or of the

1424. In 1431 he

can convent preacher.

the

and Beaupere, Nicolas Loiseleur went from

at

is listed

as prior of the

investigations

chapter of Rouen, which attempted to recall

tion

trial.

ambassador.

It is

probable that he was dead by 1455. At any

England, where Henry VI secretly supported

he was not consulted or cited

Eugenius

rate,

of the nullification

He

in the

course

him

trial.

has been represented by later historians

as acting under threat

from Pierre Cauchon and

even as speaking out about the irregularities of the first trial.

In fact, he

was

less zealous than Jean

Graverent, the Grand Inquisitor of France,

time detained

at

Coutances by another

ordered Lemaitre to join Joan's at Paris against

his

trial

at that

trial,

who

and preached

Joan's memory. Lemaitre reserved

critically

Pierre Bosquier,

of Joan's sentence.

On

who spoke

April 24, 1431,

IV. In

1439 the Council of Basel sent Mainz;

papal court

de

la

in a

at

Chaine

Rome. He

lived at

his sister

cierges. Pierre

Thomasse were

Cauchon was

He seems

to

have

been a timid man, entirely devoted to Cauchon but

in the

rue

Cannes),

the con-

a frequent visitor.

Loiseleur died at Basel sometime after 1442 and before the nullification proceedings.

An

intimate friend of Cauchon's, Nicolas

Loiseleur was similarly linked to Nicolas Midy,

one of Joan's

bitterest

opponents; he played a

confessor

at the trial."

Rouen,

house of which his brother-in-law Pierre Le

Marie and

ment

labors and diligences in having been present and

1440 he was

(the present-day place des

particularly odious role in the

having assisted

in

deprived of his benefice as canon of Rouen by the

Jean Lemaitre received from the English governa gratuity of 20 gold saluts "for his pains,

its

rather badly received in

to the Imperial Diet at

opinion on the matter of torture, but he

condemned the monk

He was

—although

this

trial,

that of false

was, admittedly, com-

pletely in accordance with inquisitorial procedure

(Eymeric, Directorium Inquisitorium, 1

585]

p.

466, col.

2,

[Rome,

cautela nova). Boisguillaume

—

215

HER JUDGES AT ROUEN assures us, nonetheless, that he wept while wit-

nessing her death.

by Pius

II

{De

He

mentioned as a Norman

is

gestis Basilei concilii, in the

Opera

of the diocese in 1440; in 1453 he was in charge

9,

1456.

On September

omnia, [Basil, 1551]).

21,

1436; a canon of

Vitefleur since October 31,

principal

members of

the English king's council

and a committed Burgundian.

He was

Parlement (1401), master of petitions

the

at

Hotel du Roi (1418), and president of the in 1424.

He became dean

of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris and was

Noyon as bishop by Martin V on July 1425. The following year he was asked,

called to 20,

along with Louis of Luxembourg, to pacify the dispute concerning heretical witchcraft between the bishop of Paris and Jean Graverent, the Inquisitor.

From 1424 on we

find

him

at

present at the sessions of the Exchequer. Pierre

Cauchon accompanied

Paris

and were present

the

He and

young king

Dame

Notre

at

appointment of the brothers of that company.

commission of October 1445 indicates chon was authorized

of the nullification

(He was

trial.

at the

bom

alleged, however, that he

the minutes of the earlier trial and testified before

them

and declared

that

JEAN MASSIEU

63.

time

about

nafion

trial.

On

October

Rouen recognized

had been

was, nevertheless, present

welcomed Charles VII in

the

to Charles VII the

of the Peace of Arras.

at the

sum

that

11,

1430, the city of

a debt of 7 livres and 10 sous,

he evidently had loaned to the

was syndic of the

He

on vellum.

known

to

Noyon.

embassy

He

city.

Rouen

called the dean of la Chretiente of

tion

means

in

he

that

priests of the diocesan jurisdic-

as the deanery of la Chretiente.

On

1431, Jean Massieu was fined for

February

3,

receiving

money

that

happy conclusion

died on February 14,

1472, leaving to his church his Bible, a manu-

and a

testified

the English.

he remembered nothing

1435 he took part

script

He

1456.

Cauchon and

1431: according to Quicherat this

In 1443 Mailly

announced

1452, and

to

as

abjuration scene and at the burning of the Maid.

In

1450,

in

prudently, blaming

a

He

living outside the

Manchon appears

of the king."

among the witnesses at Joan's condemnation trial. He delivered to the judges of the nullification trial

is

it.

to receive the revenues "of

which the pastors are absent and jurisdiction

present at only one session of the condemnation

about

A

Man-

Jean Massieu served as usher during the condem-

Jean de Mailly was not very old

trial

that

curacies situated within the diocese of Rouen, of

Rouen,

ceremonies.

He

Louis of Luxembourg; archbishop of Rouen; and

Henry VI's coronation

ecclesiastical peers at

1396.)

Evreux; promoter of the ecclesiastical court of

premier chaplain of the notaries by election and

a licentiate in law, a councilor of

chamber of accounts

is

Rouen; pastor of

cited as notary of the court of

Jean de Mailly, bishop of Noyon, was one of the

Rouen,

at

some of Manchon's endowments. He

listed

JEAN DE MAILLY

Guillaume de

1440,

La Madeleine

Croiseinare, bailiff of

61.

He died on December

of taxes and disbursements.

He was above all else a diplomat

made many

trips to

jurisdiction.

Massieu

Basel on the business of the

"liberties of the church"; in

to locate a malefactor.

financier.

cemetery of the cathedral,

in the

exempt from the bishop's

1434 he was sent there

At one point Jean Massieu

and Thomas Milton, chaplain of the lord of

Fauquembergue, were charged with displaying

62.

GUILLAUME

bad manners. Massieu, then

MANCHON

duct.

Guillaume Manchon, the recorder of Joan's

trial

He

is

referred to as a canon and pastor of

Saint Cande-le-Vieux in a

and notary of the ecclesiastical court of Rouen,

Cauchon's endowing the

was a canon of Rouen and Evreux cathedrals and

rist

pastor of Saint-Martin-de-Vitefleur and later of

with 300 livres (1450).

—perhaps

la

Chretiente in the

la

Calende of the deanery of

Rouen

diocese.

Court promoter from

1437 to 1443, he

the

document of

tion trial

Corpus Christi celebrations

on December

in that transcript as

age.

Pierre

Holy Eucha-

cult of the

Jean Massieu was a witness

Saint-Nicolas of Rouen; he was also the almoner

of the Confrerie de

priest of the parish of

Saint-Maclou, was later prosecuted for miscon-

He denounced

17, 1455.

at the nullifica-

He

approximately

is

described

fifty

years of

the English for their hatred of

prosecuted Jean Massieu for bad manners. As

Joan and accused Pierre Cauchon of extreme

court promoter he visited the abbeys and priories

docility

toward them.

216

PART

THE CAST OF PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS

II:

PIERRE MAURICE

64.

while he was away

Pierre

Maurice won

among

place

first

candidates

for the theological license at the University of

was

Paris in Januarv' 1429 and

year.

On

Januar\

2,

among

first

May

taking the master's degree on

those

23 of the same

1430, a letter of Henr>' VI

In

Midy should

at the council,

receive his disbursements as

if

he were present.)

1433 Midy became rector of the University of

Louvain. Sometime around 1434 he contracted leprosy and had to resign

all

his

commissions and

his canonicate, although he retained their reve-

Midy was

nues.

still

living

on November

8,

1438.

to a canonicaie in the cathedral of

A convinced partisan of the Anglo-Burgun-

Rouen, which an Englishman named Heton had

dian cause (in 1416 he had debated with the

resigned in his favor.

Norman Nation

named him

This young theologian was already strongly

at the universit> in

propositions of Jean Petitj,

favor of the

Midy was

a fanatic

government; he had obtained

supporter of the University of Paris, where he

from Henr> VI the benefice of Saint-Sebastien-

served as rector. His leprosy was interpreted from

He was

an early date as a sign of divine punishment for

tied to the English

de-Preaux

diocese of Lisieux.

in the

pastor of Yerville and exchanged that benefice for

his role in Joan's trial, since

that of the chapel of Saint Pierre in the cathedral

author of the Twelve Articles that formed a

he had been the

of Rouen: he was, in addition, pastor of Paluel and

summar\' of Joan's "doctrine"' and he was one of

also chaplain of the chapel of Saint Mathurin at

Bedford's confidants.

the cathedral.

On

June

1430, he was chosen by

5,

name

the canons to speak in their

nies celebrating the entr>' of

cathedral.

He was

at the

ceremo-

Henry VI

into the

also elected (on

December

Beaufort on behalf of

to plead with Cardinal

Louis of Luxembourg's candidacy for the vacant archbishopric of Rouen. in

He was

further delegated

1431 to accompany Pasquier de Vaux, ambas-

He went

PIERRE MIGET

66.

3j

Pierre Miget or

Muguet. a Benedictine and doctor

of theology, was prior of Longueville-Giffard.

won

his

licentiate

at

became regent master

Paris in

He

1413 and then

in theology. In

1414

at the

to

Council of Paris he showed himself a zealous

Basel in 1434 as ambassador of Henry VI and the

partisan of the Burgundian cause, sustaining the

following year to England

propositions of Jean Petit. Henr>-

sador of the English king, to Rome.

council of Basil.

ber

5,

order of the

at the

Named vicar-general on DecemThe

thirty-

owned

at his

1436, he died shortly afterward.

two precious manuscripts

that he

death were willed to the library of the chapter of

Rouen; among them were a Terence, a

Virgil, a

Vegetius, and a beautiful breviar\' that

was pur-

him

seems

active in the fer\'or in

trial

to

who

in

1434 entrusted

to

him

the

listed together

among

the masters of the faculty

of theology from 1421 on.

Rouen was

Miget's

permanent residence

at

the Hotel de Longueville, near the

gates of the archbishop's palace. Miget

was very

He

assiduous and not inclined toward Joan.

attempting to enlighten Joan.

He

administration of his diocese; the two are also

Pierre

and displayed a great deal of

restored to

have been strongly linked to Jean

Beaupere,

chased by Louis of Luxembourg. This highly educated theologian was very

V

the revenues of his benefice in 1420.

testified as a witness at the nullification trial in

1452: In his testimony he claimed to have wept at

65.

NICOLAS MIDY

Joan's execution, of which he had been one of the supporters, and funher testified that the sentence

Nicolas Midy, a Paris licentiate 1424, was

named canon

of

in

Rouen

theology

in

cathedral by

Henry VI on April 21, 1431, and was

installed

there eleven days before Joan's execution at the stake.

On

June

1 1

the

canons accorded him

remission of the right of annates, as they had

rendered against the Maid was unjust. ously accused the bishop of Beauvais,

He

had so strongly favored only twenty years and

is

of the

seri-

whom

he

earlier,

thus a prime instance of the dubiety of much trial

testimony.

in

the case of Jean Beaupere, "by special grace,

67.

because of the services he had rendered the church." Nicolas

upon

Midy

JEAN DE RINEL

greeted King Henry VI

his entry into Paris in

December

1431, as a

representative of the University of Paris.

He was

Jean de Rinel was the notary of the Grand Council

and secretary

to the

sent to the Council of Basel in 1432. (Out of

Jeanne Bidault,

regard for the regent, the duke of Bedford, the

of

chapter of

Rouen decided on May

12, 1432, that

king of England. His wife was

sister

of Jean Bidault, archdeacon

Auge and the cathedral of Lisieux, canon of Rouen and nephew of Pierre Cauchon. Jean de

217

HER JUDGES AT ROUEN Rinel was present

Rouen

chapter of

a dinner offered

at

in 1413.

He

by the

signed two orders

of the duke of Bedford, one in 1424 and another

On May

in 1428.

from Jean

25, 1437, he received a prebend

On September

Beauvais cathedral.

was described 4

to

Pierre

He

yeomen who were also

accompanied

Cauchon.

England.

make from

Vire to

meet Richard Venables and other men-

at-arms and Savigny.

1434. he

3.

and received

300

abbey of

at the

his uncle-in-law.

1439 when he went

in

He had been

to

in the king's service for

VII died

at first

200 and

later

as archbishop of

Rouen

he took the oath of fealty to Charles

when that monarch entered Rouen. Roussel December 31. 1452. Roussel was among the most zealous of the

condemnation

trial's

judges and actively adhered

opinion of the University of Paris and the

to the

theologians.

He was most

likely present at the

preliminary investigations of the nullification process. trial to

As a strict legalist, he considered the first

have been well conducted; he had advised

Cauchon torture,

house was situated on the rue de

repute.

at

Luxembourg

in 1444. but

twenty-four years in 1443 and received ten gold

Chaine

of

French party (1435. 1438). He succeeded the cardinal of

nobles to consecrate to pious work. His great la

salar\'

Roussel was twice ambassador to the

livres.

his regular salary in the course

he was about to

trip

Savigny

as the king's secretan.

day as

livres a

of a

canon of

d'Estivet, the procurator, as

English king with a

that

lest

it

was

essential

employ

not to

bring the proceedings into bad

it

Rouen, the present-day rue des Carmes.

69.

RAOUL ROUSSEL

68.

Raoul Roussel.

bom

at

Saultchevreuil

Villedieu. licentiate in law in 1416.

the faculty of law at Paris to Januar\'

near

was dean of

from November 1417

1419 and was elected canon of Rouen

cathedral in 1420.

A staunch defender of canoni-

cal prerogatives, he

following year and

was elected

made

treasurer the

a deputy to the regent.

the duke of Bedford, in order to obtain permission to

proceed with the election of an archbishop. In

NICOLAS DE VENDERES

Nicolas de Venderes. lord of Beaussere. was

bom

about 1372. Licentiate in law. he swore fidelity to Henn.' V.

He was received as a canon in the Rouen in 1422 and was made archEu. He was one of the first Norman

cathedral of

deacon of

ecclesiastics to adhere to the English govern-

ment

—

city of

The

name appears in a treaty between the Rouen and Henr\' V fjanuan.' 13. 1419). his

vicar of Archbishop Louis d'Harcourt with a

1424 Raoul Roussel was sent by Bedford on a

salary of 120 livres

mission to Bedford's brother Humphrey, duke of

vacante (1429-1431), he was nearly elected

(1412-1422) and vicar sede

Gloucester, to pacify the quarrel between the

archbishop of Rouen after the death of Louis

and the duke of Brabant. Roussel even

d'Harcourt (having received the votes of a major-

latter

performed military missions

at times, since in

August. 1428 in the capacitv' of master of tions,

peti-

he gave a receipt to Pierre Surreau. receiver-

general of Normandy, for an inspection of fortresses in lower

Normandy. On November

7.

1429. his procurator declared to the chapter of

Notre

Dame

of Paris that he would accept the

canonicate of the late Jean Gerson.

remained

who had

faithful to the Valois cause.

Canon of Coutances cathedral, vicar-general at Rouen during the archiepiscopal vacancy ( 1 429- 1 443 ), counselor, master of petitions of the

ity )

and for a while he was treated as such. Nicolas

de Venderes was also the pastor of Gisors. at

Rouen on August

1.

Nicolas Caval. and Jean

among las's

Mahommet.

Joan's judges, were

will (Archives

de

He died

1438. Andre Marguerie,

la

all

priest, also

executors of Nico-

Seine Inferieure G.

2089). Venderes acquitted himself with zeal at the

Maid's

trial:

He was

a friend of Pierre Cauchon,

and judged as did his masters

Twelve

Articles. Like

in the

matter of the

Raoul Roussel

at

of Joan's relapse, he contended that the lasted too long.

the time trial

had

PART ISSUES

AND IMAGES THREE

The following sketches

represent a small but representative selection from

and times of Joan of Arc. Some

life

we have

and ample stock of issues and images

the diverse

inherited

from the

provide us with factual clarification about

—

how complex and incapable of many of the issues associated resolution on the basis of our present knowledge matters concerning Joan. Others reveal to us

—

with Joan remain. There are other, equally knotty issues debated by historians.

What, for example, was the content and trial

see

—

the Poitiers

—and why did

the record of that trial disappear?

Wood, "Joan of Arc's Mission and

Poitiers.") flee

trial

Was

marriage?

the Lost

What was 5,

the

1429?

way prompted by

message Joan brought

How

(On

first

this

Record of Her Interrogation

Joan's "mission" to France in any

Chinon on March

consequence of Joan's

political

can, and may,

communication represented by Joan's "voices"?

to the

we Is

at

a desire to

dauphin Charles

at

assess the physics of

Joan the

last

medieval

Catholic or the forerunner of Protestantism? Perhaps the most thoroughly

analyzed but persistently complicated issue of Joan's ordinary

life is

the matter

of her cross-dressing, for which see Valerie R. Hotchkiss, Clothes

Make

Man: Female Cross Dressing

by Susan

in

Medieval Europe and

articles

the

Schibanoff and Steven Weiskopf in Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc.

The

latter

literature, folklore,

section of this part concerns Joan's afterlife in history,

and

art.

making from her own time

She

is

a potent, vibrant, and teasing source of image-

to ours.

Those images have been adoring

as well as

deprecating, sentimental as well as harsh, and romanticized as well as taut.

of

all,

they continue to fascinate.

Most

220

PART

)OAN'S

1.

III

NAME

my

"In

me

country, people called

me

they called

Jeanne when

Joan answered during the

condemnation

and forename (nomen

et

into France."

session of the

first

when asked

trial

Jeannette, but

came

I

to state her

name

cognomen).

As

a general rule, in the fifteenth centur>',

first

time in the opening documents

of the nullification

named

Pope Calixtus

In 1455

trial.

III

her brothers "Pierre and Jean Dare, and

their sister

quondam [once known

Johanna

as]

Dare." The archbishop of Reims also mentioned the

Joan herself never heard the name "Jeanne d' Arc."

name "Joan of

Historians encounter the

Arc" for the

Dare family, "Isabelle Dare, Pierre and Jean

quondam

Dare, mother and brothers defunctae

Jeannae Dare, vulgariter dictae

la

Pucelle [of the

people used only forenames, adding a place name

deceased former Joan Dare, popularly called the

(of residence or of origin) and only occasionally

Maid]." Also in the family's petition one reads,

surnames. Joan's mother. Isabelle.

"Ysabellis Dare, mater

Romee

belle

is

called Isa-

surname given her

in the texts, a

because she had completed a pilgrimage. Joan

added

were called by the

that girls in her region

name of

their mother. Nevertheless she called

La

herself "Jeanne la Pucelle" (Joan the Maid).

quondam Johannae

of the deceased Joan, popularly called the Maid].

The expression "Maid of Orleans" great biography of Joan, that of

appeared in 1630 with the

this epithet, declaring chastity the sign of her

la

The

22, 1429, at Poitiers, this

is

way

the

she

addressed the regent Bedford and his lieutenants:

"Surrender to the Maid, .

.

and believe firmly

.

Maid

will send the

yet

who

sent here

is

that the

more

by God

King of Heaven

force."

On May

5,

made

title

Edmond

its

first

Richer,

Histoire de Jeanne,

Pucelle d' Orleans.

mission.

March

first

appearance in the sixteenth century. The

Pucelle was her chosen surname: she gloried in

In the letter she dictated to the English on

vul-

mother

gariter dictae la Pucelle" [Isabelle Dare,

Simeon Luce,

historians Quicherat,

Champion wrote

Ayroles, and

the patronymic of

Joan's father and brothers as "d'Arc." In his translation of the

condemnation trial, Pierre Tisset

followed the form "d'Arc." In his translation of the nullification process, Pierre

Duparc also used

what had become the conventional usage.

The

1429, in an ultimatum to the English, her scribe

original texts, however, use an extraor-

wrote as she dictated: "The king of heaven warns

dinary variety of forms: "Dare" or "d'Arc," but

and commands you through me, Joan the Maid."

also

In letters to the inhabitants of

Toumai on

June 22, 1429, to those of Troyes on July 4

same

year,

and

to

Burgundy, on July

Philip the

1429, she consistently

17,

called herself Joan the Maid.

Reims

in

in the

Good, duke of

The

inhabitants of

August 1429 and the count of Armagnac

"Day," "Dai," "Darx," "Dare,"

"Dars,"

"Tare," "Tard," or "Dart." In Joan's time, no

standard form seems to have existed. Never in the fifteenth

century do

find

an apostrophe.

Modem

spelling intro-

duced d' with the connotation of

local origin or

ten as

unbroken words.

on the twenty-second of that month also knew her

membership

by

d'Alen^on," "due

that designation. All three surviving letters

we

"Dalebret," "Dalen9on," and "Dolon" were writ-

in the nobility. d'

Thus,

we

find "due

Armagnac," and so on

for

signed by Joan's hand are signed "Jehanne." The

princely personages, whereas the forms "Jean

men

d'Aulon,"

of the

Armagnac

party, the bourgeois of

Orleans, and her companions at arms as Joan the Maid.

To her enemies,

all

knew

that

her

was her

the

duke of Burgundy, she was "the one they

call the

Maid";

was "Jehanne

to her worst

whom

enemy, Cauchon, she

they call the Maid"; and to

"Guillaume

origin.

Scholarship on the family of the

name. The duke of Bedford called her the Pucelle.

To

"Jean d'Auvergne,"

d'Estivet," and the like indicate merely local

two directions

in

Maid takes

which Joan receives

either a

popular or an aristocratic origin and designation. In chapter 2 of his Traite

des armes que

sommaire

tant

du nom

naissance et la parente de

the University of Paris, she

was "mulier quae

et

Johannam

woman who

Pucelle d' Orleans et de sesfreres,fait en octobre

se

nominabat"

[the

called

1612

herself Joan].

Whether they sided with

the

Armagnacs or

the Burgundians, the chroniclers of the time never

used "Joan of Arc"

—not

Jean Chartier, nor

et

on the

la

revu en 1628

Name

[Summary Treatise

as

la

Much

and the Arms as on the Birth and

Kinship of the Maid of Orleans and of Her Brothers,

Done

in

October 1612 and Revised in

William Caxton, nor the anonymous author of the

1628], Charles du Lys wrote that "the very arms

Journal of the Siege of Orleans, nor Antonio

of the parents and other descendants of the

bow (arc in we might

Morosini, nor Georges Chastellain. To Christine

aforesaid Jacques Dare, carried a

de Pisan and Francois Villon, she was "the Maid,"

French) with three arrows.

"Joan the good Lorrainer," "the Maid of France,"

note that Joan's collateral descendants simply

or "the

Maid of God."

," . .

although

wrote Dare without an apostrophe. Bouquet

(in

ISSUES

"Faut-il ecrire

Dare ou

J.

J.

AND IMAGES

d'Arc?" Travaux de

221

)OAN'S FAMILY

2.

I'Academie de Rouen, 1865) pointed out that "[Charles du Lys] an enlightened man, petitioning

Described during Joan's nullification

Louis XIII so as to obtain permission to join the

"honest husbandmen," "good Catholics," people

arms of the eldest branch of that family never neglects in the Treatise justify his request

own name Du

—

Lys;

not legitimately

Some

do

— such

own, to

to separate the particle of his

if

put an apostrophe in

to his

—composed

he did not one single time

Dare that is because he could Baron de Coston

as the

des armoiries"

et

of "honest demeanor according to their station," Joan's parents belonged to the peasant class and

were neither

in

—

attribute

to

he was required to promulgate decrees of the village

prisoners,

the family without giving his

own?

was

It

them arms marked with

the custom, especially of the

Valois kings, to award coats of arms with the fleur-de-lys of the royal house figuring

where

mon

Punning arms

in the blazoning.

"arc" for a family

some-

(a gold

was

normally the products of a

the weights

form Dare has no reason

word

'A re. is

to

act

found constitute firm proof

Joan's parents had about twenty hectares

(roughly

fields

—

either

would be written de

1

Georges

listed as Petrus

their

in reserve.

Despite

income, they were able to

one and a half mowings (of straw,

in other fields

of the village belong-

two masses every year during

Isabelle

"week

the

Romee's background

known. She was the daughter of

a

is

well

modest family

of Vouthon, a neighboring village that belonged

the case in

to the

343 of a Pierre Dare, canon of Troyes, who

was

and had some money

of the Fountains" for the intentions of the family.

Ambasianus. Jacques d'Arc would have been

was

four

house and their

their

Jacques Dare and his wife, Isabelle, paid the

celebrate

would be written de Ambasia or

written in Latin de Arco, as

were

— and

ing to the church; in return, the priest agreed to

particle de.

Estiveto,

thirty acres)

plowland or meadow

modesty of

for the right to

de Estoutevilla, Guillaume Destivet

d' Amboise

of land in the village, of

fifty acres)

presumably)

Thus, Guillaume Destouteville was written in Latin

had lodged

with Robert de Baudricourt.

area.

the place in Latin

would have been preceded by the

Domremy

villagers of

their proctor in a suit they

parish priest of Domremy an annual rent of 2 gros

to the

contrary. If the patronymic indicated a place

name of

in the village but

receive and lodge travelers passing through the

The Latin texts in which this latter

of origin, the

and measures used

(March 31, 1427) the

named him

the

be broken down

It

also the production of bread and wine. In another

furniture, In our opinion, without any further proof, the

and dues.

to collect taxes, rents,

were woodland. They owned

Doncoeur concluded:

c?

and

which twelve hectares (nearly

later imagination.

In Nouvelles Litteraires 1198 (1950), Pere

into

the watch day and night, to guard

also his responsibility to supervise not only

named "Dare") were uncom-

before a family was ennobled; they were

and of higher authorities, to

council

would give her family a noble

But why would Charles VII have ennobled

village of Domremy. In that capacity,

doyen of the

command

origin.

rich nor poor.

From an act of October 7, 1423, when Joan was eleven, we know that Jacques Dare, a native

Joan's father a coat of arms "azure charged with or in fess," which

as

of nearby Ceffonds, had been chosen to serve as

so."

"Origines ethimologiques et signification des

noms propres

trial

duchy of Bar, a dependency of the crown of

France. Isabelle's brother Jean de Vouthon was a

de Arco.

1416 he moved

roofer; around

to

nearby Ser-

maise. Their sister Aveline had a daughter, Jeanne

As

to the apostrophe,

which

to

some conveys

de Vauseul (Joan's

first

cousin),

an aristocratic connotation, the contrary conclusion

Durand Laxart

of the Moniteur du soir in

brothers, Henri de Vouthon,

proper cited:

way

"The

form Dare

to spell the

1

866 on the subject of the

name of Joan's

father can be

preferable to any other, as

it

conforms

most closely to etymological rules and to the popular origin of a

young woman who made

it

famous by

her courage and her patriotism!"

One

condemnation

Orleans, Joan's father's Tart,

no doubt

in

name

trial, is

3).

who later married

Another of

became

Isabelle's

the parish

Jean Dare,

known

as Petit-Jean, fled with

his sister to Neufchateau,

accompanied her

to

France, and was lodged at the house of Jacques

Boucher

at

Orleans.

He was ennobled

in

Decem-

ber 1429. Perplexingly, he claimed to recognize

interesting note: In the French tran-

script of her

I,

priest at Sermaise.

result of all this research then is that the is

(.see

preserved

at

written Jacques

an effort to record the harsh

plosive dentality of the Lorraine dialect.

his sister in the person of

Metz

in

Claude des Armoises

at

1436 and demanded gratuities from the

city of Orleans. Later

when he was

provost of

Vaucouleurs, he worked for the nullification of the verdict against his sister, appeared at

Rouen

222 and

PART and formed a commission

Paris,

evidence from their native

He was

witnesses.

bailiff

district

and

to

get

to

produce

of the Vermandois and

III

Queen

teenth century. According to this theory.

VL was

Isabeau of Ba\aria. wife of Charles

the

mistress of Louis of Orleans, her brother-in-law,

captain of Chartres and was discharged from the

by

whom she had a girl who was hidden from birth

provostship of Vaucouleurs in 1468.

at

Domremy

Another brother.

to seek his

France." fought along with her

"in

sister

went

Pierre,

at

Orleans, lived in the same house with her in that city,

accompanied her

to

Reims, and was enno-

He was

bled with the rest of the family.

captured

with the Dare family. Louis was

November

assassinated on

23. 1407.

At her

Joan would therefore had to have been

twenty-four, not nineteen as she affirmed. Isa-

beau. however, delivered on a son. Philip,

who

November

have had to be conceived

au\-Bouefs

was accused by her enemies of being.

in 1443.

days.

10. 1407,

died the same day. Jean would

w ith Joan at Compiegne. He declared, as did Jean. Metz (1436): he received many gifts from the king, the cit\- of Orleans, and Duke Charles, among them the Ilethat he recognized his sister at

trial,

at least

in the inter\ening 13

Even if physiologically possible,

that

would

certainly have indicated an extreme indecency of

woman

haste even for a

Those who argue

Several families have claimed descent from

as profligate as Isabeau

for Joan's royal bastardy

Joan"s brothers. Jean du Lys (the ancestor claimed

by default accuse her of perjury. During the

by the Charles du Lys mentioned abo\e) was the

condemnation

uho moved

son of Joan's brother Pierre,

to

Orleans. Tradition maintains that Joan's eldest

brother Jacquemin died without issue, although

some have

tried to establish the contran.'. In the

nineteenth centurs'.

the

Braux and Bouteiller

families attempted to prove their descent from

trial,

Joan swore on the gospels,

u hen asked her place of birth and the names of her parents, that she was bom at Domremy and that "her father was named Jacques Dare and her mother Isabelle." At the belle

Romee demanded

set aside in favor

be

nullification trial. Isa-

that the

Rouen sentence

of her "daughter

bom

in

The

legitimate marriage." All the evidence given in

skepticism of Georges Marante. president of the

that lengthy trial, including the depositions of

Jacquemin. as did Henri Morel

Lorraine Genealogical Society '"For thirt> years

I

in

is

1927.

noteworthy:

worked closely with Colonel

godparents and neighbors,

bom

at

Domremy

Paul de Haldat du Lys on a register of the nobilit\

Romee. Yet amateur

of Ligny-en-Barrois. At the end of his

these people

colonel confided to his research, the

life,

the

deeper he w ent

me that the

more he doubted

in

his kinship to

—

testifies that

historians

still

insist that all

as well as Charles VII, the

Alen^on. Dunois. Bertrand de Poulengy

duke of

—

carried

out an intricate plot to disguise Joan's authentic royal parents. This thesis lacks credible

the Maid."

Joan was

of Jacques Dare and Isabelle

documen-

tation.

lOAN AS ROYAL BASTARD

3.

On

4. THE LANGUAGE OF JOAN OF ARC AND HER

CONTEMPORARIES

a regular and well-publicized basis, authors

announce "newly discovered documents" proving either

that

Joan of Arc was the illegitimate

daughter of Isabeau of Bavaria and Louis of Orleans,

and consequently the half

sister

of

When

Seguin Seguin. one of her judges

iers,

asked Joan

she

answered.

in

at Poit-

what language her voice spoke,

"Better than

yours!"

Seguin

Charles VII (the "bastardizers"). or that she

explained later that he spoke the Limousin dialect

escaped the stake thanks to a conspiracy of Pierre

with a pronounced accent, evidently considered

Cauchon. the duke of Bedford, and the

inferior to the

Warwick, who put someone

eari of

else in her place (the

Even from

"survivalists").

Such authors repeat one another unimaginatively.

Some

recite

pseudodemonstrations from

the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: others disinter the allegations of Pierre Caze. subprefect

of Bergerac.

French of Sts. Catherine. Margaret,

and Michael.

who published

in

1

805 the

first

book

claiming that Joan of Arc was the illegitimate

we can

sions that the

thesis of Joan's

bastardy has enjoyed currency since the nine-

the testimony of the nullification

glean certain characteristic expres-

Maid employed. Jean

Pasquerel. her

confessor, reported her response to Glasdale's

speech: "Glasidas. rends-ti, rends-ti, au roi du ciell" [Glasidas. surrender, surrender to the

of Heaven!]

March

daughter of Isabeau of Bavaria.

Although firmly refuted, the

trial,

We

also

16. 1430. to the

pronounced^ or y

know from

King

her letter of

people of Reims that she

as ch. because the clerk, having

misunderstood her word "joyeux." wrote "choy-

ISSUES

eux." Then taking note of Joan's accent, he struck it

out and wrote

it

The

correctly.

tion of hers repeated

expression

favorite interjec-

by Aimond de Macy and by

nom

Colette, wife of Millet, "en

De," was an

from Lorraine.

of people

typical

Dunois, a native of the Orleanais, was given to saying

"fille

De,"

that

wrong." Edward

in Latin; in

ster in the

1

(1327-1377) required

III

be conducted

trials

in

363 a parliament opened

English language for the

next king, Richard

that

English and then registered at

first

Westmintime.

The

spoke English but also

II,

understood French well. The decisive change was

completed under the Lancastrian dynasty, whose

"daughter of God."

is,

223

AND IMAGES

Joan spoke basic French, but with a strong

members spoke only English. The group that took

Lorraine accent that survives to our day. In the

longest to adopt English for their official business

dialect of Lorraine, an

of words, and e

is

often added at the end

is

/

pronounced closed. According

Marot's Jeanne

to Pierre

the territory of the

in

French kingdom or the Empire, was French

customs and

language;

in

Romance speech was

its

marked by influences from Champagne its

and

institutions

From

were

as

La

pen-

vie quotidienne

guerre de Cent Ans en France et en

la

Angleterre, the dialect of the Fran^ais proper, that is,

By

own

then France and England each had

V

ordered that the

define itself thereby. Henry

Treaty of Troyes be translated into English so that it

might be known

in

England; he and Salisbury

addressed the burgesses of London in English to

a

In

their victories

letter

and

to request subsidies.

Henry VI, Bedford used

to

that

language, thoroughly seasoned, however, with

French words,

his

attribute

to

defeats to the

intervention of the Maid:

the inhabitants of Paris and the Ile-de-France,

And

speech soon extended to the entire royal adminis-

the

tration. In

spoken

everyday business, the langiied'oil was

in the north of

France

Alle thing there prospered for you,

tyme of

hand,

God knoweth by what

persone of

God assoille

— —preserved

Brittany, Gascony,

south. Certain regions

Basque country

their

there in grete

region around Boulogne and Calais. In the

widely spoken were the Limousin {lemosi) and

nombre, caused

They were popular

disciple and

lyme of the Feende, called the

The which strooke and discomfiture

sorcerie.

king's language, the Fran^ais of Paris.

bre of youre people.

Latin

administrative

in

in the fourteenth

and

fif-

official,

London and

the

unifying language

From

fourteenth century.

the

Norman

the

Conquest into the fourteenth century, the Anglo-

Norman

dialect

peculiar

form of French enjoyed social and

cultural

was widely spoken, and

preeminence

that

the English of the

until

capital city finally replaced

teenth century.

it

by the

late four-

As Philippe Contamine

tells us,

somewhere between 1300 and 1324, the anonymous author of the Cursor mundi proclaimed, "I have drawn up in the

this

book so

that

it

could be read

English language and through love of the

English people of England.

everyone his

own

In such military las

In England, the dialect of

... Let

in grete partie the

nom-

and

teenth centuries.

Midlands became the

thei

Pucelle, that used fals enchauntements and

nought oonly lessed

documents

and of

hadde of a

doubte that

ments. Latin was an official language, as was the

continued to dominate

in grete partie,

unlevefulle

tongues, used only occasionally in formal docu-

juridical

whom

seemeth, a greet

it

as y trowe, of lakke of sadde beleve,

south of France, the dialects of langue d'oc most

the Provencal (prouensaF).

cousin of Salisbury,

strook upon your peuple that was assembled

languages; Flemish was spoken in Flanders and in the

At the

[forgive all his sins], there felle,

by the hand of God, as

and

own distinct

advis.

after the adventure fallen to the

my

(including that of Lorraine and the official dialect

til

the siege of Orleans taken in

whiche tyme,

in several dialects

of Paris) and the langue d'oc was spoken in the

in

its

at least in part to

prevailed in the upper strata of society, and that

the

it

1422.

in

language, and each wished

announce

its art."

the fourteenth century, according to

Philippe Contamine in

dant

in

documents only

in their administrative

bonne Lorraine a

la

Domre'my, "Domremy, that borderland of the upper Meuse, whether

were the brewers of London, who began using

us leave

language, that would do no one

varied,

documents

as indentures,

formu-

depending on whether they were

written in England by an English scribe or in

France by a French secretary

much

langue employee dans

guerre de

la

who

as he could understand. les

transcribed as

According

to

La

documents anglais de

France au moment du siege

d' Orleans (Bullefin de la Societe Historique et

Archeologique de

1'

Orleanais, 1982), respect for

the national language grew, in part, because facilitated "the relations of the

the conquered populations treated carefully. ies

It

it

conquerors with

whose

self-respect

it

allowed the use of functionar-

and scribes from the country without requiring

come from beyond the Channel." That why we find a certain number of French scribes

that they is

in the

English army. While in France, the English

—

224

PART adopt French

to

tried

by

bit

documents and usually had

A

military

in

bit

their

111

names

tran-

to

may

of armor that

piece

belonged

Joan

is

have

well

the bassinet (shallow helmet)

Museum

scribed in a French form. John of Pothe, for

now

displayed in the Metropolitan

example, became Jehan Avothe and then Jean

New

York.

Abote. The descendants of the companions of

Perigord collection and was formerly kept as a

William the Conqueror also had translated, as

was

the case with William, Alex-

who became La Poule and

ander, and John Pole,

de

names

their

It

comes from

votive object in the church of Saint-Pierre-du-

Martroi

Orleans. Bassinets at that time were

at

considered "defenses"

pendent of the

la Poule.

Marie-Veronique Clin-Meyer,

Le

in

registre

in

the Dino-Talleyrand-

—

that

protecfions inde-

is,

of a suit of armor. The term

rest

"harness" designated the diverse garments of war;

be more precise, one spoke about armor "of the

de comptes de Richard Beauchamp, comte de

to

Warwick, 14 mars 1431-15 mars 1432, provides

head" or "of the arm." Every piece was indepen-

other example of the mixture of French, English,

dent, as attested in the account

and Anglo-Norman as

armorers, from

appears in the language

it

used by the manager of the household of Warwick at

Rouen

in

the account

books impart precious information on

Amboise, the "head defense" was a mail gorget

on the people

Madame

find such phrases as "Venerunt

damicella,

1

hamess, an arm hamess, a gauntlet,

and so on. In the inventory of the castle of

and 1432. His daily notations

1

received at the table of Richard Beauchamp.

[Madame

Talbot

1

We

Talbot

marchaunts

scutifero; 2

came with one female

ville"

attendant

and one esquire; two merchants of the

city]

and

"Item expense: un panyer makerelles, 4 sole

empta ... 50 crevey" [and so

there

were bought

one basket of mackerels and four soles

.

.

.

and

with a "gilded border." According to

(collar)

in Paris, this

bassinet:

The "gilded border" could correspond

either to the decorative trimmings around Joan's

bassinet or to the rows of brass rings that

between the color of the brass and the blue of the gorget

—

for steel items of that sort

The

recorded in the condemnation

most

common

is

and her speech

trial.

She

is

is

disarming is direct,

reported in the nullification in

made up

border of the mail gorget. The contrast

the

time.

trial,

descripdon applied to a

I'Armee

In addition, Joan's limpid skills as an orator

deserve note. She

Musee de

Jean-Pierre Reverseau, director of the

given a bluish cast

fifty crawfish].

Her speech

books of the

were ordered sepa-

in

143

linguistic coexistence as well as

cum

rately: a leg

whom pieces

were generally

—was much admired

at the

another head protecdon, was the

sallet,

item of armament.

It

was

fitted

with a small movable visor, a slighdy accentuated

her straightforwardness:

neck cover, and, on the

grammar

paratactic, her

from the

effect

that of under-

a capeline, a steel hat equipped with a wide brim,

her

manner unabashed. The

is

when

frequently used

stated eloquence.

top, a crest that stood out

Joan made use also of

rest of the helmet.

scaling fortificadons. But

her contemporaries remarked that she often went

about with her head bare, which was hardly

ARMOR

JOAN'S

5.

surprising since military

commanders of high

rank often wore a simple hood or a hat rather than After the inquest at Poitiers, Charles VII commis-

a helmet.

Joan also wore a military garment of Orien-

sioned a suit of armor for Joan at the same time that

he

set

up a military household for

accounts of the treasurer

Hemon

the purchase of that suit of

"100

livres

her.

The

Reguier refer to

armor

April 1429:

in

toumois were paid and delivered by

tal

origin,

made of

(usually of steel)

used

rectangular metal

the jaseran,

in the fourteenth century.

hrigandine, an armed vest

plates

which was widely She also wore a

made of a great number heads

the aforesaid treasurer to the master armorer for

of small plates of metal joined by

a complete harness for the aforesaid Maid." With

of which formed a kind of geometric design. The

this harness,

Joan was then equipped

in the

same

fashion as the men-at-arms of her era. Jean Chartier reported that she was "armed as quickly as possible with a complete harness such as

have suited a knight

was bom

would

who was part of the army and

in the king's court."

She was equipped,

moreover, like knights of a certain rank: 100 livres

toumois was a significant sum.

It

has been

estimated that the purchase of a complete set of military equipment corresponded to

wages

for a man-at-arms.

two years'

right

the

arm was protected

left,

more

in a lighter fashion than

so that a sword or lance could be wielded

freely.

contrast,

horse's

rivets, the

The armor of

was folded back reins.

the

left

arm, by

to assist in holding the

Jean-Pierre.

Reverseau,

in

his

Armement au temps de Jeanne d'Arc from the Orieans Conference of November 1984, informs us that these pieces of armor were omamented with "tensely elongated" decorations responding to the aesthetic ideal of the

dme, which subordi-

nated funcdon to late Gothic style.

ISSUES

In the fifteenth century, the greatest armorers

hidden behind the

were Milanese, whose work spread from one

Fierbois:

to the other. Christine de Pisan

Tours or

end of Europe

described on several occasions the harness that

King Charles

Many

V

had made for himself

details describing the

manufacture of

Milanese armor can be found

armory

the Datini

Milan.

in

this

of

in the archives

all

wore

leather and laced

sallet.

up

found

ately thereafter they

it,

covered with

all

rust."

how

knew

she

the

sword would be found there and recorded

this

reply:

That sword was

in front, or then a brigandine,

They fought with

hammer

pike, or with a

to break

five

never seen the

Les armes et

la vie (Paris,

it

announced

there,

and she had to find the

A

recent

the altar or behind

Souzy, a Paris antiquarian. In the inventory of ancient arms at the castle of Amboise in 1499,

to her. It

was not very

it.

She said again

that just

sword was found the men of the

after the

we

altar;

know if it would be exactly before

she did not

of 1996 by Pierre de

in the spring

it

deeply buried underground, behind the

was

rediscovery

would please them that she should have that

sword, and they sent

1982) that

"every twenty years, Joan of Arc's suit of armor rediscovered."

was

man who went

men of the church of that place that she hoped

Reverseau

Jean-Pierre

question.

in

bearing

aforesaid sword for her, and she wrote to the

Whether Joan's armor survives remains an unresolved

in the earth, rusted,

engraved crosses; she knew from her

voices that this sword

a halberd or a

up the harnesses

of their opponents.

is

at

to find a sword,

church of Sainte-Cathe-

in the

Joan's inquisitors asked

most foot soldiers

was

that while she

Chinon she sent men

which was found

and protected their limbs by harness and their

observed

at

garment of cloth quilted together with

a jacket, a

head by a

of Sainte-Catherine-de-

altar

"She said also

rine-de-Fierbois behind the altar; and immedi-

firm.

Infantrymen armed with two-edged swords, archers, and in general

225

AND IMAGES

church gave

it

a

good rubbing, and thereupon

find this entry under cote 31: "harness of the

the rust fell off without effort;

Maid, equipped with cloth covering, with a pair

armorer of Tours

of gauntlets, with outfitting for the head including

their part, the

it

was an

who went to find it; for men of the church of Sainte.

.

.

the edge, the inside

Catherine-de-Fierbois gave her a sheath, as

lined with a double thickness of crimson satin."

did the people of Tours; she had therefore

on

a gorget of mail, gilded

was

That

this

from

certain, but her

far

two sheaths, one of vermeil velvet and the

equipment could have been

other of cloth-of-gold, and she herself had

armor Joan wore

in fact the

is

The chroniclers and witnesses

so described.

nullification trial agreed their depositions, her

on further

details.

all

for the aforesaid Maid, her

armor

fitted to

her aforesaid body."

of the city hall of Albi,

who saw

lord

own The

of

registrar

her, testified that

Guy and Andre de

Laval

saw her on horseback near Romoranfin "armed entirely in white, except for the head, a little

ax

in

her hand, seated on a great black courser."

was wearing but the sword

.

.

.

that she

"The sword

had taken from a Burgun-

also that she had a fourth taken

We know

from yet another

Burgundian, along with the armor she offered to Saint-Denis.

Asked where

that fourth

sword was,

she rephed "that she had offered in the abbey of

Saint-Denis a sword and further, she

SWORD

that she

dian" was the third one Joan possessed.

is

JOAN'S

leather, very strong.

had taken from a Burgundian.

no point

the

6.

heavy

had

suit

"Joan went armed in white iron, entirely from

head to foot." Moreover,

that she

affirm that

body the aforesaid

made

in

When she was captured, it was not that sword

In

page Louis de Coutes, the

duke of Alen^on, and Jean d'Aulon "for the safety of her

one made

at the

and

was reported

in

some arms." Pressed

as explaining that "there

seeking to find out what she did with

sword found

at

Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois

that has nothing to

do with

the trial

and

that

she will not answer on that point for now."

From

the text of Joan's

set, 2.52),

gave her

condemnation

trial (Tis-

we know that Robert de Baudricourt a sword when she left Vaucouleurs:

"Also, she confessed that after her departure from the aforesaid

town of Vaucouleurs she was

men's clothes, carrying

a

sword

that

in

Robert de

Beyond these,

the

duke of Burgundy (surprisingly

enough) had sent her a dagger

after the liberation

of Orleans, and "the city of Clermont had

made

her the gift of two swords and one dagger."

Some claimed

that

witnesses in the nullificadon

trial

one day she broke her sword on the

woman at Auxerre or at Saint-Denis, but

Baudricourt had given her, without any other arm,

back of a

accompanied by a knight, a

Louis de Coutes contradicted them explicitly

servants."

She

later

squire,

and four

sent for a second

sword

his deposifion:

"She did not wish

women

to

in

be

—

226

PART

III

with the army, and once, near Chateau-Thiern'.

ceremonial entries into his city were also impor-

having noticed a wanton woman, she chased

tant festival

with her sword drawn, but she did not

her.

hit her.

limiting herself to counseling her with gentleness

and charity not

to be

found again

in the

company

A

at

Dijon, on which are

set

up fountains spouting

wine, milk, or perfumed water

Orleans relied on

From

sword now kept

curtains and garlands of flowers

from windows: they

of men-at-arms, or she herself. Joan, would take

measures against her."

days for the people of Orleans. They

hung carpets and

crossroads.

at the

duke for protection.

its

the middle of the fourteenth century,

had been

situation

its

1358 the English

difficult. In

engraved the names of Charles VII and of Vau-

commander Robert Knowles surrounded

couleurs with the arms of France and of Orleans,

and provoked a panic. In 1367 the troops of the

often cited as a relic of Joan of Arc, but

Black Prince had terrorized the populace: the

is

Doncoeur (1.227

in the Collection of the

Jeanne dArc) argues that

sword was proba-

this

bly engraved in the sixteenth century by

of the Catholic League

—an

Centre

members

association of reli-

gious fanatics opposed to the danger they per-

ceived in a Protestant king

— who

had great

reverence for Joan. For an analysis of Joan's Fierbois sword and

importance, see Bonnie

its

the city

collegial churches and chapels of the suburbs

outside the walls had been torn down: and

had suffered from

buildings

including

this

many

onslaught,

church of Saint-Euverte

the

destroyed by the Vikings in the ninth century,

was reconstructed but destroyed

when

again in 1428. city.

it

1358 and

in

the English laid siege to the

The troubles seemed

at their

worst in 1380,

Wheeler. "Joan of Arc's Sword in the Stone," in

thanks to the campaign of the duke of Bucking-

Fresh Verdicts on Joan of Arc.

ham. The people of Orleans turned toward Louis as their natural protector. to their defense,

7.

ORLEANS AT THE TIME OF THE SIEGE

fortress

When

commune

and the

The ramparts and regular

They attended

as the account

maintenance:

its

closely

books of the

attest.

five gates

underwent

Gate of Burgundy,

the

English troops caught sight of Orleans on

through which ran the road to Gien; the Paris

found themselves before

Gate, situated close to the Hotel-Dieu (the central

October

12, 1428, they

one of the most beautiful

of the kingdom, a

cities

hospital),

which would be walled up

strong place surrounded by ramparts reinforced

moment of the

by towers constructed

as a pedestrian

Site of the

regular intervals.

at

ancient

Gallo-Roman

Cenabum Aurehanense, to which of Avenum had been added in became

century, Orleans in 1345

duchy erected

as an

Philip's death in 1375. the

domain;

in

the fourteenth

Boucher,

the capital of a

Upon

St.

Catherine Gate on the docks, connecting with the bridgehead. Each gate was flanked by two towers protected by a portcullis and connected through a

was made an

drawbridge with an open rampart that served as a

1392

it

the

in favor of Louis,

upon their rights and

in obtaining a charter

of

liberties,

which they were allowed in a

where Joan would be housed and

through which ran the road to Blois: and the

younger

the people of Orleans insisted

twelve-man council

Renard Gate,

to Paris: the

near which was situated the residence of Jacques

brother of King Charles VI. This time, however,

virtue of

passageway: the Bemier Gate,

which guarded the route

duchy was joined again

apanage for the second time,

succeeded

the

at

would ser\e only

the old suburb

apanage by Philip VI of Valois

for his second son. Philip.

to the royal

city of

siege of 1428 and

to elect

by a

first line

how

to

itself fortified

wooden

situated

staircase

on the

outside of the tower had to be climbed.

The bridge over

make himself

and protected

access to several of the towers over this circle of ramparts, a

two-phase election.

Louis of Orleans knew

of defense,

by a parapet of earth and by palisades. To gain

the right (north)

the Loire

bank of the

was protected on

river (the south side

popular. In 1393 he gave a brilliant festival in

of the city) by the tower of the Chatelet and on the

celebration of the birth of his son to which he

left

(south)

invited the procurators of his capital city. Flat-

les.

This consisted of two towers, one with

tered magistrates arrived, bearing as a gift the

appreciative populace

fourteen measures of tripe"

"several all in

from

geese and

a great sack, as

Lemaire quotes the account book of the Orleans in his Histoire d' Orleans.

It

city of

was on

that

itself

The bridge began

and the rue de

work, the Tourel-

at the rue

flat

des Hostelleries

Pone-Sainte-Catherine: at that

La Motte-aux-Poissonniers:

was named

for the chapel

Antoine-du-Pont.

it

had

time divided

an island, the downriver half of which was

of the Porcupine, with which he decorated several

The duke's

la

nineteen irregular arches and

as

city.

fortified

sides and the other round, constructed in the river

occasion that Louis of Orleans created the Order

of the ranking magistrates of the

bank by a

known

the upriver half

and asylum of Saint-

—

SSUES

The preoccupation of the citizens of Orleans with their defense

is

reflected in instructions for

expenditures from the fortress account books,

which mention payments for work completed for upkeep of the ramparts and the bridge: "To the

the

aforesaid Gillet for

work spent

two days' worth of carpentry

in restoring

227

AND IMAGES

two wooden stairways,

procurators of Orleans busied themselves with offensive

armament

The account books

as well.

of the fortress (as in the account book of Jean Hilaire,

CC

550) are

full

of information on the

purchase of bombards and cannons and on their

and for lead and gunpowder

positioning, preparation:

one for the tower facing the Hegron Field, the other near the St. Flo

Tower ...

To Jean Chomart ...

of 5

at the rate

4 deniers per man per day, amounting

sous,

The city was equally bridge to which Jean

The

citizens

To Jean Volant,

Mahy

.

.

.

for silver provided for eleven

days of the work of carpenters and four days

has the key, 14 sous."

were also anxious about the watch

who were busy

of masons,

in

non of Montargis

troubled time; expense instructions taken

this

pre-

for having shifted the cannons' positions.

attentive to the security

bridge: "a lock for the portcullis of the

its

who

pared the gun carriages for the cannons, and

sous, 8 deniers parisis."

of

for seventeen days'

worth of the work of carpenters

to 10

in the

placing the can-

tower of the vergers

...

from the account book of Jacques Deloynes, (CC

of Saint-Sanson. To Jean Savore

549) for the years 1425-1427 assign "to Bernard

having spent eight days in pulverizing can-

Josselin, responsibility for the

non powder. ... To Jacques Boucher,

watch of Saint-

Pierre-Empont for the month of April," and: "To Jacquet

my lord of Orleans,

trea-

for the purchase

on

of 200 pounds of cannon powder bought by

day of April, for inspecting the

him for the needs ofthe city, each one of them

le Prestre,

Friday, the 27th

surer of

for

for expenses undertaken

security of the city, inspecting the grain stocks the quantities of wheat, or for the persons

followed him: that

is

worth 21 ecus of gold.

and

who

to say, eight procurators,

The

city

government also bought crossbow

shafts

eight bourgeois, eight notaries, and eight ser-

and hired Colin the Lorrainer, a renowned

geants."

leryman, to take charge of the city's defense.

Thought was given even

to lodging for the

Fran^oise Michaud-Frejaville, in "Une cite face

watchmen: "To Jacquet Champon, the 24th day

aux

of May, for the purchase of a bed equipped with

d' Orleans a

a feather blanket, a cushion,

and a

quilt

...

to

New

provide sleeping for two bourgeois in the

artil-

crises: les

forteresse

remparts de

la fidelite

de Louis

Charles VII d'apres les Comptes de

de

la

ville

1391-1427"

d' Orleans,

(Orleans Conference, Oct. 1979) analyzed the

accounts and concluded that a garrison of about

Tower." Repairs became more frequent as time went

book

on, and during the 1428 siege, the account

of the fortress

(CC 550) shows

200 men was regularly stationed Orleans kept

that the mainte-

nance of the ramparts became a daily concern:

Orleans in

at

those days.

shafts

its

arsenal

with crossbow

and gunpowder above the meeting

hall of

the councillors. All lent their hands to the defense

To Jean Boudeau,

for

850 pounds of iron

requisitioned for the city forge.

ofthe

... To

city; the guilds

strengthened the ditches and

One problem

the palisades.

arose:

The members

Humbert Fran9ois, mason,

for four days of

of the University of Orleans, typically enough,

which he spent

in securing the

declared themselves exempt from these expenses.

his craft,

ironwork ofthe floor oftheBemier Gate.

To Jean Chomart,

the aforesaid 16th

.

.

.

day of

April, for silver provided for the purchase of

a toise [roughly six and a half feet] of .

.

.

Charles VII had to send

letters patent

them

all

.

.

Moreover, the people of Orleans did not hesitate to destroy the suburbs.

placed on the barrier ofthe rampart

of the Bemier Gate. carpenter, for

... To Jean

two days of

his

make gun

Coust,

tides

major

cities.

Paris in

honor of

These bastides, connected by

their pali-

sades and fortified ramparts, effectively isolated