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diff --git a/2553.txt b/2553.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b1f30c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/2553.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10194 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jeanne d'Arc, by Mrs.(Margaret) Oliphant + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Jeanne d'Arc + Her Life And Death + +Author: Mrs.(Margaret) Oliphant + +Release Date: March 28, 2006 [EBook #2553] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JEANNE D'ARC *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers + + + + + +JEANNE D'ARC, HER LIFE AND DEATH + + +by Mrs. Oliphant + + +Author of "Makers of Florence," "Makers of Venice," etc. + + + + +TO + +COUSIN ANNIE (MRS. HARRY COGHILL) + +THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED IN LOVE OF OUR COMMON HEROINE AND IN REMEMBRANCE +OF LONG AND FAITHFUL AFFECTION AND FRIENDSHIP + + + PREPARER'S NOTE + + The original book for this text was published as a volume in a + series "Heroes of the Nations," edited by Evelyn Abbot, M.H., + Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and published by G.P. Putnam's + Sons _The Knickerbocker Press_ in 1896. The title material + includes the note: + + FACTA DUCIS VIVENT, OPEROSAQUE + GLORIA RERUM--OVID, IN LIVIAM, 265. + THE HERO'S DEEDS AND HARD-WON + FAME SHALL LIVE. + + + +CONTENTS: + +CHAPTER I -- FRANCE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 1412-1423. + +CHAPTER II -- DOMREMY AND VAUCOULEURS. 1424-1429. + +CHAPTER III -- BEFORE THE KING. FEB.-APRIL, 1429. + +CHAPTER IV -- THE RELIEF OF ORLEANS. MAY 1-8, 1429. + +CHAPTER V -- THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIRE. JUNE, JULY, 1429. + +CHAPTER VI -- THE CORONATION. JULY 17, 1429. + +CHAPTER VII -- THE SECOND PERIOD. 1429-1430. + +CHAPTER VIII -- DEFEAT AND DISCOURAGEMENT. AUTUMN, 1429. + +CHAPTER IX -- COMPIEGNE. 1430. + +CHAPTER X -- THE CAPTIVE. MAY, 1430-JAN., 1431. + +CHAPTER XI -- THE JUDGES. 1431. + +CHAPTER XII -- BEFORE THE TRIAL. LENT, 1431. + +CHAPTER XIII -- THE PUBLIC EXAMINATION. FEBRUARY, 1431. + +CHAPTER XIV --THE EXAMINATION IN PRISON. LENT, 1431. + +CHAPTER XV -- RE-EXAMINATION. MARCH-MAY, 1431. + +CHAPTER XVI -- THE ABJURATION. MAY 24, 1431. + +CHAPTER XVIII -- THE SACRIFICE. MAY 31, 1431. + +CHAPTER XVIII -- AFTER. + + + + +JEANNE D'ARC + + + +CHAPTER I -- FRANCE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 1412-1423. + +It is no small effort for the mind, even of the most well-informed, how +much more of those whose exact knowledge is not great (which is the +case with most readers, and alas! with most writers also), to transport +itself out of this nineteenth century which we know so thoroughly, and +which has trained us in all our present habits and modes of thought, +into the fifteenth, four hundred years back in time, and worlds apart +in every custom and action of life. What is there indeed the same in +the two ages? Nothing but the man and the woman, the living agents in +spheres so different; nothing but love and grief, the affections and +the sufferings by which humanity is ruled and of which it is capable. +Everything else is changed: the customs of life, and its methods, and +even its motives, the ruling principles of its continuance. Peace and +mutual consideration, the policy which even in its selfish developments +is so far good that it enables men to live together, making existence +possible,--scarcely existed in those days. The highest ideal was that of +war, war no doubt sometimes for good ends, to redress wrongs, to avenge +injuries, to make crooked things straight--but yet always war, implying +a state of affairs in which the last thing that men thought of was +the golden rule, and the highest attainment to be looked for was the +position of a protector, doer of justice, deliverer of the oppressed. +Our aim now that no one should be oppressed, that every man should +have justice as by the order of nature, was a thing unthought of. What +individual help did feebly for the sufferer then, the laws do for us +now, without fear or favour: which is a much greater thing to say +than that the organisation of modern life, the mechanical helps, the +comforts, the easements of the modern world, had no existence in those +days. We are often told that the poorest peasant in our own time has +aids to existence that had not been dreamt of for princes in the Middle +Ages. Thirty years ago the world was mostly of opinion that the balance +was entirely on our side, and that in everything we were so much better +off than our fathers, that comparison was impossible. Since then there +have been many revolutions of opinion, and we think it is now the +general conclusion of wise men, that one period has little to boast +itself of against another, that one form of civilisation replaces +another without improving upon it, at least to the extent which appears +on the surface. But yet the general prevalence of peace, interrupted +only by occasional wars, even when we recognise a certain large +and terrible utility in war itself, must always make a difference +incalculable between the condition of the nations now, and then. + +It is difficult, indeed, to imagine any concatenation of affairs which +could reduce a country now to the condition in which France was in the +beginning of the fifteenth century. A strong and splendid kingdom, to +which in early ages one great man had given the force and supremacy of +a united nation, had fallen into a disintegration which seems almost +incredible when regarded in the light of that warm flame of nationality +which now illumines, almost above all others, the French nation. But +Frenchmen were not Frenchmen, they were Burgundians, Armagnacs, Bretons, +Provencaux five hundred years ago. The interests of one part of the +kingdom were not those of the other. Unity had no existence. Princes of +the same family were more furious enemies to each other, at the head of +their respective fiefs and provinces, than the traditional foes of their +race; and instead of meeting an invader with a united force of patriotic +resistance, one or more of these subordinate rulers was sure to side +with the invader and to execute greater atrocities against his own flesh +and blood than anything the alien could do. + +When Charles VII. of France began, nominally, his reign, his uncles and +cousins, his nearest kinsmen, were as determinedly his opponents, as was +Henry V. of England, whose frank object was to take the crown from his +head. The country was torn in pieces with different causes and cries. +The English were but little farther off from the Parisian than was the +Burgundian, and the English king was only a trifle less French than +were the members of the royal family of France. These circumstances are +little taken into consideration in face of the general history, in which +a careless reader sees nothing but the two nations pitted against each +other as they might be now, the French united in one strong and distinct +nationality, the three kingdoms of Great Britain all welded into one. +In the beginning of the fifteenth century the Scots fought on the French +side, against their intimate enemy of England, and if there had been any +unity in Ireland, the Irish would have done the same. The advantages +and disadvantages of subdivision were in full play. The Scots fought +furiously against the English--and when the latter won, as was usually +the case, the Scots contingent, whatever bounty might be shown to the +French, was always exterminated. On the other side the Burgundians, the +Armagnacs, and Royalists met each other almost more fiercely than the +latter encountered the English. Each country was convulsed by struggles +of its own, and fiercely sought its kindred foes in the ranks of its +more honest and natural enemy. + +When we add to these strange circumstances the facts that the French +King, Charles VI., was mad, and incapable of any real share either in +the internal government of his country or in resistance to its invader: +that his only son, the Dauphin, was no more than a foolish boy, led by +incompetent councillors, and even of doubtful legitimacy, regarded with +hesitation and uncertainty by many, everybody being willing to believe +the worst of his mother, especially after the treaty of Troyes in which +she virtually gave him up: that the King's brothers or cousins at the +head of their respective fiefs were all seeking their own advantage, and +that some of them, especially the Duke of Burgundy, had cruel wrongs +to avenge: it will be more easily understood that France had reached a +period of depression and apparent despair which no principle of national +elasticity or new spring of national impulse was present to amend. The +extraordinary aspect of whole districts in so strong and populous a +country, which disowned the native monarch, and of towns and castles +innumerable which were held by the native nobility in the name of +a foreign king, could scarcely have been possible under other +circumstances. Everything was out of joint. It is said to be +characteristic of the nation that it is unable to play publicly (as +we say) a losing game; but it is equally characteristic of the race +to forget its humiliations as if they had never been, and to come out +intact when the fortune of war changes, more French than ever, almost +unabashed and wholly uninjured, by the catastrophe which had seemed +fatal. + +If we had any right to theorise on such a subject--which is a thing the +French themselves above all other men love to do,--we should be disposed +to say, that wars and revolutions, legislation and politics, are things +which go on over the head of France, so to speak--boilings on the +surface, with which the great personality of the nation if such a word +may be used, has little to do, and cares but little for; while she +herself, the great race, neither giddy nor fickle, but unusually +obstinate, tenacious, and sober, narrow even in the unwavering pursuit +of a certain kind of well-being congenial to her--goes steadily on, +less susceptible to temporary humiliation than many peoples much less +excitable on the surface, and always coming back into sight when the +commotion is over, acquisitive, money-making, profit-loving, uninjured +in any essential particular by the most terrific of convulsions. This of +course is to be said more or less of every country, the strain of +common life being always, thank God, too strong for every temporary +commotion--but it is true in a special way of France:--witness the +extraordinary manner in which in our own time, and under our own eyes, +that wonderful country righted herself after the tremendous misfortunes +of the Franco-German war, in which for a moment not only her prestige, +her honour, but her money and credit seemed to be lost. + +It seems rather a paradox to point attention to the extraordinary +tenacity of this basis of French character, the steady prudence and +solidity which in the end always triumph over the light heart and light +head, the excitability and often rash and dangerous _elan_, which are +popularly supposed to be the chief distinguishing features of France--at +the very moment of beginning such a fairy tale, such a wonderful +embodiment of the visionary and ideal, as is the story of Jeanne d'Arc. +To call it a fairy tale is, however, disrespectful: it is an angelic +revelation, a vision made into flesh and blood, the dream of a woman's +fancy, more ethereal, more impossible than that of any man--even a +poet:--for the man, even in his most uncontrolled imaginations, carries +with him a certain practical limitation of what can be--whereas +the woman at her highest is absolute, and disregards all bounds of +possibility. The Maid of Orleans, the Virgin of France, is the sole +being of her kind who has ever attained full expression in this world. +She can neither be classified, as her countrymen love to classify, nor +traced to any system of evolution as we all attempt to do nowadays. She +is the impossible verified and attained. She is the thing in every race, +in every form of humanity, which the dreaming girl, the visionary maid, +held in at every turn by innumerable restrictions, her feet bound, her +actions restrained, not only by outward force, but by the law of her +nature, more effectual still,--has desired to be. That voiceless poet, +to whom what can be is nothing, but only what should be if miracle could +be attained to fulfil her trance and rapture of desire--is held by no +conditions, modified by no circumstances; and miracle is all around her, +the most credible, the most real of powers, the very air she breathers. +Jeanne of France is the very flower of this passion of the imagination. +She is altogether impossible from beginning to end of her, inexplicable, +alone, with neither rival nor even second in the one sole ineffable +path: yet all true as one of the oaks in her wood, as one of the flowers +in her garden, simple, actual, made of the flesh and blood which are +common to us all. + +And she is all the more real because it is France, impure, the country +of light loves and immodest passions, where all that is sensual comes to +the surface, and the courtesan is the queen of ignoble fancy, that has +brought forth this most perfect embodiment of purity among the nations. +This is of itself one of those miracles which captivate the mind and +charm the imagination, the living paradox in which the soul delights. +How did she come out of that stolid peasant race, out of that distracted +and ignoble age, out of riot and license and the fierce thirst for gain, +and failure of every noble faculty? Who can tell? By the grace of God, +by the inspiration of heaven, the only origins in which the student of +nature, which is over nature, can put any trust. No evolution, no system +of development, can explain Jeanne. There is but one of her and no more +in all the astonished world. + +With the permission of the reader I will retain her natural and +beautiful name. To translate it into Joan seems quite unnecessary. +Though she is the finest emblem to the world in general of that noble, +fearless, and spotless Virginity which is one of the finest inspirations +of the mediaeval mind, yet she is inherently French, though France +scarcely was in her time: and national, though as yet there were rather +the elements of a nation than any indivisible People in that great +country. Was not she herself one of the strongest and purest threads +of gold to draw that broken race together and bind it irrevocably, +beneficially, into one? + +It is curious that it should have been from the farthest edge of French +territory that this national deliverer came. It is a commonplace that +a Borderer should be a more hot partisan of his own country against the +other from which but a line divides him in fact, and scarcely so much +in race--than the calmer inhabitant of the midland country who knows no +such press of constant antagonism; and Jeanne is another example of this +well known fact. It is even a question still languidly discussed whether +Jeanne and her family were actually on one side of the line or the +other. "Il faut opter," says M. Blaze de Bury, one of her latest +biographers, as if the peasant household of 1412 had inhabited an +Alsatian cottage in 1872. When the line is drawn so closely, it is +difficult to determine, but Jeanne herself does not ever seem to have +entertained a moment's doubt on the subject, and she after all is the +best authority. Perhaps Villon was thinking more of his rhyme than of +absolute fact when he spoke of "Jeanne la bonne Lorraine." She was born +on the 5th of January, 1412, in the village of Domremy, on the banks +of the Meuse, one of those little grey hamlets, with its little church +tower, and remains of a little chateau on the soft elevation of a mound +not sufficient for the name of hill--which are scattered everywhere +through those level countries, like places which have never been built, +which have grown out of the soil, of undecipherable antiquity--perhaps, +one feels, only a hundred, perhaps a thousand years old--yet always +inhabitable in all the ages, with the same names lingering about, the +same surroundings, the same mild rural occupations, simple plenty and +bare want mingling together with as little difference of level as exists +in the sweeping lines of the landscape round. + +The life was calm in so humble a corner which offered nothing to +the invader or marauder of the time, but yet was so much within the +universal conditions of war that the next-door neighbour, so to speak, +the adjacent village of Maxey, held for the Burgundian and English +alliance, while little Domremy was for the King. And once at least when +Jeanne was a girl at home, the family were startled in their quiet by +the swoop of an armed party of Burgundians, and had to gather up +babies and what portable property they might have, and flee across the +frontier, where the good Lorrainers received and sheltered them, till +they could go back to their village, sacked and pillaged and devastated +in the meantime by the passing storm. Thus even in their humility and +inoffensiveness the Domremy villagers knew what war and its miseries +were, and the recollection would no doubt be vivid among the children, +of that half terrible, half exhilarating adventure, the fright and +excitement of personal participation in the troubles, of which, night +and day, from one quarter or another, they must have heard. + +Domremy had originally belonged(1) to the Abbey of St. Remy at +Rheims--the ancient church of which, in its great antiquity, is still an +interest and a wonder even in comparison with the amazing splendour of +the cathedral of that place, so rich and ornate, which draws the eyes of +the visitor to itself, and its greater associations. It is possible that +this ancient connection with Rheims may have brought the great ceremony +for which it is ever memorable, the consecration of the kings of France, +more distinctly before the musing vision of the village girl; but I +doubt whether such chance associations are ever much to be relied upon. +The village was on the high-road to Germany; it must have been therefore +in the way of news, and of many rumours of what was going on in the +centres of national life, more than many towns of importance. Feudal +bands, a rustic Seigneur with his little troop, going out for their +forty days' service, or returning home after it, must have passed along +the banks of the lazy Meuse many days during the fighting season, and +indeed throughout the year, for garrison duty would be as necessary in +winter as in summer; or a wandering pair of friars who had seen strange +sights must have passed with their wallets from the neighbouring +convents, collecting the day's provision, and leaving news and +gossip behind, such as flowed to these monastic hostelries from all +quarters--tales of battles, and anecdotes of the Court, and dreadful +stories of English atrocities, to stir the village and rouse ever +generous sentiment and stirring of national indignation. They are said +by Michelet to have been no man's vassals, these outlying hamlets of +Champagne; the men were not called upon to follow their lord's banner +at a day's notice, as were the sons of other villages. There is no +appearance even of a lord at all upon this piece of Church land, which +was, we are told, directly held under the King, and would only therefore +be touched by a general levy _en masse_--not even perhaps by that, +so far off were they, and so near the frontier, where a reluctant +man-at-arms could without difficulty make his escape, as the unwilling +conscript sometimes does now. + +There would seem to have been no one of more importance in Domremy than +Jacques d'Arc himself and his wife, respectable peasants, with a little +money, a considerable rural property in flocks and herds and pastures, +and a good reputation among their kind. He had three sons working with +their father in the peaceful routine of the fields; and two daughters, +of whom some authorities indicate Jeanne as the younger, and some as the +elder. The cottage interior, however, appears more clearly to us than +the outward aspect of the family life. The daughters were not, like the +children of poorer peasants, brought up to the rude outdoor labours +of the little farm. Painters have represented Jeanne as keeping her +father's sheep, and even the early witnesses say the same; but it is +contradicted by herself, who ought to know best--(except in taking her +turn to herd them into a place of safety on an alarm). If she followed +the flocks to the fields, it must have been, she says, in her childhood, +and she has no recollection of it. Hers was a more sheltered and safer +lot. The girls were brought up by their mother indoors in all the +labours of housewifery, but also in the delicate art of needlework, +so much more exquisite in those days than now. Perhaps Isabeau, the +mistress of the house, was of convent training, perhaps some ancient +privilege in respect to the manufacture of ornaments for the altar, and +church vestments, was still retained by the tenants of what had been +Church lands. At all events this, and other kindred works of the needle, +seems to have been the chief occupation to which Jeanne was brought up. + +The education of this humble house seems to have come entirely from the +mother. It was natural that the children should not know A from B, as +Jeanne afterward said; but no one did, probably, in the village nor even +on much higher levels than that occupied by the family of Jacques d'Arc. +But the children at their mother's knee learned the Credo, they +learned the simple universal prayers which are common to the wisest and +simplest, which no great savant or poet could improve, and no child fail +to understand: "Our Father, which art in Heaven," and that "Hail, Mary, +full of grace," which the world in that day put next. These were the +alphabet of life to the little Champagnards in their rough woollen +frocks and clattering sabots; and when the house had been set in +order,--a house not without comfort, with its big wooden presses full of +linen, and the _pot au feu_ hung over the cheerful fire,--came the +real work, perhaps embroideries for the Church, perhaps only good stout +shirts made of flax spun by their own hands for the father and the boys, +and the fine distinctive coif of the village for the women. "Asked if +she had learned any art or trade, said: Yes, that her mother had taught +her to sew and spin, and so well, that she did not think any woman in +Rouen could teach her anything." When the lady in the ballad makes her +conditions with the peasant woman who is to bring up her boy, her "gay +goss hawk," and have him trained in the use of sword and lance, she +undertakes to teach the "turtle-doo," the woman child substituted for +him, "to lay gold with her hand." No doubt Isabeau's child learned +this difficult and dainty art, and how to do the beautiful and delicate +embroidery which fills the treasuries of the old churches. + +And while they sat by the table in the window, with their shining silks +and gold thread, the mother made the quiet hours go by with tale and +legend--of the saints first of all--and stories from Scripture, quaintly +interpreted into the costume and manners of their own time, as one +may still hear them in the primitive corners of Italy: mingled with +incidents of the war, of the wounded man tended in the village, and the +victors all flushed with triumph, and the defeated with trailing arms +and bowed heads, riding for their lives: perhaps little epics and +tragedies of the young knight riding by to do his devoir with his +handful of followers all spruce and gay, and the battered and diminished +remnant that would come back. And then the Black Burgundians, the +horrible English ogres, whose names would make the children shudder! No +_God-den_(2) had got so far as Domremy; there was no personal knowledge +to soften the picture of the invader. He was unspeakable as the Turk to +the imagination of the French peasant, diabolical as every invader is. + +This was the earliest training of the little maid before whom so strange +and so great a fortune lay. _Autre personne que sadite mere ne lui +apprint_--any lore whatsoever; and she so little--yet everything that +was wanted--her prayers, her belief, the happiness of serving God, and +also man; for when any one was sick in the village, either a little +child with the measles, or a wounded soldier from the wars, Isabeau's +modest child--no doubt the mother too--was always ready to help. It +must have been a family _de bien_, in the simple phrase of the country, +helpful, serviceable, with charity and aid for all. An honest labourer, +who came to speak for Jeanne at the second trial, held long after her +death, gave his incontestable evidence to this. "I was then a child," he +said, "and it was she who nursed me in my illness." They were all more +or less devout in those days, when faith was without question, and the +routine of church ceremonial was followed as a matter of course; but few +so much as Jeanne, whose chief pleasure it was to say her prayers in the +little dark church, where perhaps in the morning sunshine, as she made +her early devotions, there would blaze out upon her from a window, a +Holy Michael in shining armour, transfixing the dragon with his spear, +or a St. Margaret dominating the same emblem of evil with her cross in +her hand. So, at least, the historians conjecture, anxious to find out +some reason for her visions; and there is nothing in the suggestion +which is unpleasing. The little country church was in the gift of St. +Remy, and some benefactor of the rural cure might well have given +a painted window to make glad the hearts of the simple people. St. +Margaret was no warrior-saint, but she overcame the dragon with her +cross, and was thus a kind of sister spirit to the great archangel. + +Sitting much of her time at or outside the cottage door with her +needlework, in itself an occupation so apt to encourage musing and +dreams, the bells were one of Jeanne's great pleasures. We know a +traveller, of the calmest English temperament and sobriety of Protestant +fancy, to whom the midday Angelus always brings, he says, a touching +reminder--which he never neglects wherever he may be--to uncover the +head and lift up the heart; how much more the devout peasant girl softly +startled in the midst of her dreaming by that call to prayer. She was so +fond of those bells that she bribed the careless bell-ringer with simple +presents to be more attentive to his duty. From the garden where she sat +with her work, the cloudy foliage of the _bois de chene_, the oak +wood, where were legends of fairies and a magic well, to which her +imagination, better inspired, seems to have given no great heed, filled +up the prospect on one side. At a later period, her accusers attempted +to make out that she had been a devotee of these nameless woodland +spirits, but in vain. No doubt she was one of the procession on the holy +day once a year, when the cure of the parish went out through the wood +to the Fairies' Well to say his mass, and exorcise what evil enchantment +might be there. But Jeanne's imagination was not of the kind to require +such stimulus. The saints were enough for her; and indeed they supplied +to a great extent the fairy tales of the age, though it was not of love +and fame and living happy ever after, but of sacrifice and suffering and +valorous martyrdom that their glory was made up. + +We hear of the woods, the fields, the cottages, the little church and +its bells, the garden where she sat and sewed, the mother's stories, +the morning mass, in this quiet preface of the little maiden's life; but +nothing of the highroad with its wayfarers, the convoys of provisions +for the war, the fighting men that were coming and going. Yet these, +too, must have filled a large part in the village life, and it +is evident that a strong impression of the pity of it all, of the +distraction of the country and all the cruelties and miseries of which +she could not but hear, must have early begun to work in Jeanne's being, +and that while she kept silence the fire burned in her heart. The love +of God, and that love of country which has nothing to say to political +patriotism but translates itself in an ardent longing and desire to do +"some excelling thing" for the benefit and glory of that country, and +to heal its wounds--were the two principles of her life. We have not the +slightest indication how much or how little of this latter sentiment was +shared by the simple community about her; unless from the fact that +the Domremy children fought with those of Maxey, their disaffected +neighbours, to the occasional effusion of blood. We do not know even +of any volunteer from the village, or enthusiasm for the King.(3) The +district was voiceless, the little clusters of cottages fully occupied +in getting their own bread, and probably like most other village +societies, disposed to treat any military impulse among their sons as +mere vagabondism and love of adventure and idleness. + +Nothing, so far as anyone knows, came near the most unlikely volunteer +of all, to lead her thoughts to that art of war of which she knew +nothing, and of which her little experience could only have shown her +the horrors and miseries, the sufferings of wounded fugitives and the +ruin of sacked houses. Of all people in the world, the little daughter +of a peasant was the last who could have been expected to respond to the +appeal of the wretched country. She had three brothers who might have +served the King, and there was no doubt many a stout clodhopper +about, of that kind which in every country is the fittest material for +fighting, and "food for powder." But to none of these did the call come. +Every detail goes to increase the profound impression of peacefulness +which fills the atmosphere--the slow river floating by, the roofs +clustered together, the church bells tinkling their continual summons, +the girl with her work at the cottage door in the shadow of the apple +trees. To pack the little knapsack of a brother or a lover, and to +convoy him weeping a little way on his road to the army, coming back to +the silent church to pray there, with the soft natural tears which the +uses of common life must soon dry--that is all that imagination could +have demanded of Jeanne. She was even too young for any interposition +of the lover, too undeveloped, the French historians tell us with their +astonishing frankness, to the end of her short life, to have been moved +by any such thought. She might have poured forth a song, a prayer, a +rude but sweet lament for her country, out of the still bosom of that +rustic existence. Such things have been, the trouble of the age forcing +an utterance from the very depths of its inarticulate life. But it was +not for this that Jeanne d'Arc was born. + + (1) Mr. Andrew Lang informs me that the real proprietor was + a certain "Dame d'Orgevillier." "On Jeanne's side of the + burn," he adds, with a picturesque touch of realism, "the + people were probably _free_ as attached to the Royal + Chatellenie of Vancouleurs, as described below." + + (2) This was probably not the God-dam of later French, a + reflection of the supposed prevalent English oath, but most + likely merely the God-den or good-day, the common + salutation. + + (3) Domremy was split, Mr. Lang says, by the burn, and + Jeanne's side were probably King's men. We have it on her + own word that there was but one Burgundian in the village, + but that might mean on her side. + + + +CHAPTER II -- DOMREMY AND VAUCOULEURS. 1424-1429. + +In the year 1424, the year in which, after the battle of Agincourt, +France was delivered over to Henry V., an extraordinary event occurred +in the life of this little French peasant. We have not the same horror +of that treaty, naturally, as have the French. Henry V. is a favourite +of our history, probably not so much for his own merit as because of +that master-magician, Shakespeare, who of his supreme good pleasure, in +the exercise of that voluntary preference, which even God himself seems +to show to some men, has made of that monarch one of the best beloved of +our hearts. Dear to us as he is, in Eastcheap as at Agincourt, and +more in the former than the latter, even our sense of the disgraceful +character of that bargain, _le traite infame_ of Troyes, by which Queen +Isabeau betrayed her son, and gave her daughter and her country to the +invader, is softened a little by our high estimation of the hero. But +this is simple national prejudice; regarded from the French side, or +even by the impartial judgment of general humanity, it was an infamous +treaty, and one which might well make the blood boil in French veins. + +We look at it at present, however, through the atmosphere of the +nineteenth century, when France is all French, and when the royal house +of England has no longer any French connection. If George III., much +more George II., on the basis of his kingdom of Hanover, had attempted +to make himself master of a large portion of Germany, the situation +would have been more like that of Henry V. in France than anything we +can think of now. It is true the kings of England were no longer dukes +of Normandy--but they had been so within the memory of man: and that +noble duchy was a hereditary appanage of the family of the Conqueror; +while to other portions of France they had the link of temporary +possession and inheritance through French wives and mothers; added to +which is the fact that Jean sans Peur of Burgundy, thirsting to avenge +his father's blood upon the Dauphin, would have been probably a more +dangerous usurper than Henry, and that the actual sovereign, the +unfortunate, mad Charles VI., was in no condition to maintain his own +rights. + +There is little evidence, however, that this treaty, or anything so +distinct in detail, had made much impression on the outlying borders of +France. What was known there, was only that the English were victorious, +that the rightful King of France was still uncrowned and unacknowledged, +and that the country was oppressed and humiliated under the foot of the +invader. The fact that the new King was not yet the Lord's anointed, and +had never received the seal of God, as it were, to his commission, was +a fact which struck the imagination of the village as of much more +importance than many greater things--being at once more visible and +matter-of-fact, and of more mystical and spiritual efficacy than any +other circumstance in the dreadful tale. + +Jeanne was in the garden as usual, seated, as we should say in Scotland, +at "her seam," not quite thirteen, a child in all the innocence of +infancy, yet full of dreams, confused no doubt and vague, with those +impulses and wonderings--impatient of trouble, yearning to give +help--which tremble on the chaos of a young soul like the first +lightening of dawn upon the earth. It was summer, and afternoon, the +time of dreams. It would be easy in the employment of legitimate fancy +to heighten the picturesqueness of that quiet scene--the little girl +with her favourite bells, the birds picking up the crumbs of brown +bread at her feet. She was thinking of nothing, most likely, in a vague +suspense of musing, the wonder of youth, the awakening of thought, as +yet come to little definite in her child's heart--looking up from her +work to note some passing change of the sky, a something in the air +which was new to her. All at once between her and the church there shone +a light on the right hand, unlike anything she had ever seen before; and +out of it came a voice equally unknown and wonderful. What did the voice +say? Only the simplest words, words fit for a child, no maxim or mandate +above her faculties--"_Jeanne, sois bonne et sage enfant; va souvent +a l'eglise._" Jeanne, be good! What more could an archangel, what +less could the peasant mother within doors, say? The little girl was +frightened, but soon composed herself. The voice could be nothing +but sacred and blessed which spoke thus. It would not appear that she +mentioned it to anyone. It is such a secret as a child, in that wavering +between the real and unreal, the world not realised of childhood, would +keep, in mingled shyness and awe, uncertain, rapt in the atmosphere of +vision, within her own heart. + +It is curious how often this wonderful scene has been repeated in +France, never connected with so high a mission, but yet embracing the +same circumstances, the same situation, the same semi-angelic nature of +the woman-child. The little Bernadette of Lourdes is almost of our own +day; she, too is one who puts the scorner to silence. What her visions +and her voices were, who can say? The last historian of them is not +a man credulous of good or moved towards the ideal; yet he is silent, +except in a wondering impression of the sacred and the true, before the +little Bearnaise in her sabots; and, notwithstanding the many sordid +results that have followed and all that sad machinery of expected +miracle through which even, repulsive as it must always be, a something +breaks forth from time to time which no man can define and account +for except in ways more incredible than miracle--so is the rest of the +world. Why has this logical, sceptical, doubting country, so able to +quench with an epigram, or blow away with a breath of ridicule the +finest vision--become the special sphere and birthplace of these +spotless infant-saints? This is one of the wonders which nobody attempts +to account for. Yet Bernadette is as Jeanne, though there are more than +four hundred years between. + +After what intervals the vision returned we are not told, nor in what +circumstances. It seems to have come chiefly out-of-doors, in the +silence and freedom of the fields or garden. Presently the heavenly +radiance shaped itself into some semblance of forms and figures, one +of which, clearer than the others, was like a man, but with wings and +a crown on his head and the air "_d'un vrai prud' homme_"; a noble +apparition before whom at first the little maid trembled, but whose +majestic, honest regard soon gave her confidence. He bade her once more +to be good, and that God would help her; then he told her the sad +story of her own suffering country, _la pitie qui estoit au royaume de +France_. Was it the pity of heaven that the archangel reported to the +little trembling girl, or only that which woke with the word in her own +childish soul? He has chosen the small things of this world to confound +the great. Jeanne's young heart was full of pity already, and of +yearning over the helpless mother-country which had no champion to stand +for her. "She had great doubts at first whether it was St. Michael, but +afterwards when he had instructed her and shown her many things, she +believed firmly that it was he." + +It was this warrior-angel who opened the matter to her, and disclosed +her mission. "Jeanne," he said, "you must go to the help of the King of +France; and it is you who shall give him back his kingdom." Like a still +greater Maid, trembling, casting in her mind what this might mean, she +replied, confused, as if that simple detail were all: "Messire, I am +only a poor girl; I cannot ride or lead armed men." The vision took +no notice of this plea. He became minute in his directions, indicating +exactly what she was to do. "Go to Messire de Baudricourt, captain of +Vaucouleurs, and he will take you to the King. St. Catherine and +St. Margaret will come and help you." Jeanne was overwhelmed by this +exactness, by the sensation of receiving direct orders. She cried, +weeping and helpless, terrified to the bottom of her soul--What was she +that she should do this? a little girl, able to guide nothing but her +needle or her distaff, to lend her simple aid in nursing a sick child. +But behind all her fright and hesitation, her heart was filled with the +emotion thus suggested to her--the immeasurable _pitie que estoit au +royaume de France_. Her heart became heavy with this burden. By degrees +it came about that she could think of nothing else; and her little +life was confused by expectations and recollections of the celestial +visitant, who might arrive upon her at any moment, in the midst perhaps +of some innocent play, or when she sat sewing in the garden before her +father's humble door. + +After a while the _vrai prud' homme_ came seldom; other figures more +like herself, soft forms of women, white and shining, with golden +circlets and ornaments, appeared to her in the great halo of the light; +they bowed their heads, naming themselves, as to a sister spirit, +Catherine, and the other Margaret. Their voices were sweet and soft +with a sound that made you weep. They were both martyrs, encouraging and +strengthening the little martyr that was to be. "A lady is there in the +heavens who loves thee": Virgil could not say more to rouse the flagging +strength of Dante. When these gentle figures disappeared, the little +maid wept in an anguish of tenderness, longing if only they would take +her with them. It is curious that though she describes in this vague +rapture the appearance of her visitors, it is always as "_mes voix_" +that she names them--the sight must always have been more imperfect than +the message. Their outlines and their lovely faces might shine uncertain +in the excess of light; but the words were always plain. The pity for +France that was in their hearts spread itself into the silent rural +atmosphere, touching every sensitive chord in the nature of little +Jeanne. It was as if her mother lay dying there before her eyes. + +Curious to think how little anyone could have suspected such meetings as +these, in the cottage hard by, where the weary ploughmen from the fields +would come clamping in for their meal, and Dame Isabeau would call +to the child, even sharply perhaps now and then, to leave that +all-absorbing needlework and come in and help, as Martha called Mary +fourteen hundred years before; and where the priest, mumbling his mass +of a cold morning in the little church, would smile indulgent on the +faithful little worshipper when it was done, sure of seeing Jeanne there +whoever might be absent. She was a shy girl, blushing and drooping her +head when a stranger spoke to her, red and shame-faced when they laughed +at her in the village as a _devote_ before her time; but with nothing +else to blush about in all her simple record. + +Neither to her parents, nor to the cure when she made her confession, +does she seem to have communicated these strange experiences, though +they had lasted for some time before she felt impelled to act upon +them, and could keep silence no longer. She was but thirteen when the +revelations began and she was seventeen when at last she set forth to +fulfil her mission. She had no guidance from her voices, she herself +says, as to whether she should tell or not tell what had been +communicated to her; and no doubt was kept back by her shyness, and by +the dreamy confusion of childhood between the real and unreal. One +would have thought that a life in which these visions were of constant +recurrence would have been rapt altogether out of wholesome use and +wont, and all practical service. But this does not seem for a moment to +have been the case. Jeanne was no hysterical girl, living with her head +in a mist, abstracted from the world. She had all the enthusiasms even +of youthful friendship, other girls surrounding her with the intimacy of +the village, paying her visits, staying all night, sharing her room and +her bed. She was ready to be sent for by any poor woman that needed help +or nursing, she was always industrious at her needle; one would love +to know if perhaps in the _Tresor_ at Rheims there was some stole or +maniple with flowers on it, wrought by her hands. But the _Tresor_ at +Rheims is nowadays rather vulgar if truth must be told, and the bottles +and vases for the consecration of Charles X., that _pauvre sire_, are +more thought of than relics of an earlier age. + +At length, however, one does not know how, the secret of her double life +came out. No doubt long brooding over these voices, long intercourse +with such celestial visitors, and the mission continually pressed upon +her--meaningless to the child at first, a thing only to shed terrified +tears over and wonder at--ripened her intelligence so that she came at +last to perceive that it was practicable, a thing to be done, a +charge to be obeyed. She had this before her, as a girl in ordinary +circumstances has the new developments of life to think of, and how +to be a wife and mother. And the news brought by every passer-by would +prove doubly interesting, doubly important to Jeanne, in her daily +growing comprehension of what she was called upon to do. As she felt the +current more and more catching her feet, sweeping her on, overcoming all +resistance in her own mind, she must have been more and more anxious to +know what was going on in the distracted world, more and more touched by +that great pity which had awakened her soul. And all these reports were +of a nature to increase that pity till it became overwhelming. The +tales she would hear of the English must have been tales of cruelty +and horror; not so many years ago what tales did not we hear of German +ferocity in the French villages, perhaps not true at all, yet making +their impression always; and it was more probable in that age that every +such story should be true. Then the compassion which no one can help +feeling for a young man deprived of his rights, his inheritance taken +from him, his very life in danger, threatened by the stranger and +usurper, was deepened in every particular by the fact that it was the +King, the very impersonation of France, appointed by God as the head of +the country, who was in danger. Everything that Jeanne heard would help +to swell the stream. + +Thus she must have come step by step--this extraordinary, impossible +suggestion once sown in her dreaming soul--to perceive a kind of +miraculous reasonableness in it, to see its necessity, and how +everything pointed towards such a deliverance. It would have seemed +natural to believe that the prophecies of the countryside which promised +a virgin from an oak grove, a maiden from Lorraine, to deliver France, +might have affected her mind, did we not have it from her own voice +that she had never heard that prophecy(1); but the word of the blessed +Michael, so often repeated, was more than an old wife's tale; and the +child's alarm would seem to have died away as she came to her full +growth. And Jeanne was no ethereal spirit lost in visions, but a +robust and capable peasant girl, fearing little, and full of sense and +determination, as well as of an inspiration so far above the level of +the crowd. We hear with wonder afterwards that she had the making of a +great general in her untutored female soul,--which is perhaps the most +wonderful thing in her career,--and saw with the eye of an experienced +and able soldier, as even Dunois did not always see it, the fit order +of an attack, the best arrangement of the forces at her command. This I +honestly avow is to me the most incredible point in the story. I am not +disturbed by the apparition of the saints; there is in them an ineffable +appropriateness and fitness against which the imagination, at least, +has not a word to say. The wonder is not, to the natural mind, that such +interpositions of heaven come, but that they come so seldom. But that +Jacques d'Arc's daughter, the little girl over her sewing, whose only +fault was that she went to church too often, should have the genius of a +soldier, is too bewildering for words to say. A poet, yes, an inspiring +influence leading on to miraculous victory; but a general, skilful +with the rude artillery of the time, divining the better way in +strategy,--this is a wonder beyond the reach of our faculties; yet +according to Alencon, Dunois, and other military authorities, it was +true. + +We have little means of finding out how it was that Jeanne's long +musings came at last to a point at which they could be hidden no longer, +nor what it was which induced her at last to select the confidant she +did. No doubt she must have been considering and weighing the matter for +a long time before she fixed upon the man who was her relation, yet +did not belong to Domremy, and was safer than a townsman for the +extraordinary revelations she had to make. One of her neighbours, her +gossip, Gerard of Epinal, to whose child she was godmother, had perhaps +at one moment seemed to her a likely helper. But he belonged to the +opposite party. "If you were not a Burgundian," she said to him once, +"there is something I might tell you." The honest fellow took this to +mean that she had some thought of marriage, the most likely and natural +supposition. It was at this moment, when her heart was burning with +her great secret, the voices urging her on day by day, and her power of +self-constraint almost at an end, that Providence sent Durand Laxart, +her uncle by marriage, to Domremy on some family visit. She would seem +to have taken advantage of the opportunity with eagerness, asking him +privately to take her home with him, and to explain to her father and +mother that he wanted her to take care of his wife. No doubt the girl, +devoured with so many thoughts, would have the air of requiring "a +change" as we say, and that the mother would be very ready to accept for +her an invitation which might bring back the brightness to her child. +Laxart was a peasant like the rest, a _prud' homme_ well thought of +among his people. He lived in Burey le Petit, near to Vaucouleurs, the +chief place of the district, and Jeanne already knew that it was to the +captain of Vaucouleurs that she was to address herself. Thus she secured +her object in the simplest and most natural way. + +Yet the reader cannot but hold his breath at the thought of what that +amazing revelation must have been to the homely, rustic soul, her +companion, communicated as they went along the common road in the common +daylight. "She said to the witness that she must go to France to the +Dauphin, to make him to be crowned King." It must have been as if a +thunderbolt had fallen at his feet when the girl whom he had known in +every development of her little life, thus suddenly disclosed to him her +secret purpose and determination. All her simple excellence the good +man knew, and that she was no fantastic chatterer, but truly _une bonne +douce fille_, bold in nothing but kindness, with nothing to blush for +but the fault of going too often to church. "Did you never hear that +France should be made desolate by a woman and restored by a maid?" she +said; and this would seem to have been an unanswerable argument. He had, +henceforth, nothing to do but to promote her purpose as best he could in +every way. + +It would not seem at all unlikely to this good man that the Archangel +Michael, if Jeanne's revelation to him went so far, should have named +Robert de Baudricourt, the chief of the district, captain of the town +and its forces, the principal personage in all the neighbourhood, as +the person to whom Jeanne's purpose was to be revealed, but rather a +guarantee of St. Michael himself, familiar with good society; and the +Seigneur must have been more or less in good intelligence with his +people, not too alarming to be referred to, even on so insignificant +a subject as the vagaries of a country girl--though these by this +time must have begun to seem something more than vagaries to the +half-convinced peasant. And it was no doubt a great relief to his mind +thus to put the decision of the question into the hands of a man better +informed than himself. Laxart proceeded to Vaucouleurs upon his mission, +shyly yet with confidence. He would seem to have had a preliminary +interview with Baudricourt before introducing Jeanne. The stammering +countryman, the bluff, rustic noble and soldier, cheerfully +contemptuous, receiving, with a loud laugh into all the echoes, the +extraordinary demand that he should send a little girl from Domremy +to the King, to deliver France, come before us like a picture in the +countryman's simple words. Robert de Baudricourt would scarcely hear the +story out. "Box her ears," he said, "and send her home to her mother." +The little fool! What did she know of the English, those brutal, +downright fighters, against whom no _elan_ was sufficient, who stood +their ground and set up vulgar posts around their lines, instead +of trusting to the rush of sudden valour, and the tactics of the +tournament! She deliver France! On a much smaller argument and to put +down a less ambition, the half serious, half amused adviser has bidden +a young fanatic's ears to be boxed on many an unimportant occasion, +and has often been justified in so doing. There would be a half hour of +gaiety after poor Laxart, crestfallen, had got his dismissal. The +good man must have turned back to Jeanne, where she waited for him in +courtyard or antechamber, with a heavy heart. No boxing of ears was +possible to him. The mere thought of it was blasphemy. This was on +Ascension Day the 13 May, 1428. + +Jeanne, however, was not discouraged by M. de Baudricourt's joke, and +her interview with him changed his views completely. She appears indeed +from the moment of setting out from her father's house to have taken a +new attitude. These great personages of the country before whom all the +peasants trembled, were nothing to this village maid, except, perhaps, +instruments in the hand of God to speed her on her way if they could see +their privileges--if not, to be swept out of it like straws by the wind. +It had no doubt been hard for her to leave her father's house; but after +that disruption what did anything matter? And she had gone through five +years of gradual training of which no one knew. The tears and terror, +the plea, "I am a poor girl; I cannot even ride," of her first childlike +alarm had given place to a profound acquaintance with the voices and +their meaning. They were now her familiar friends guiding her at every +step; and what was the commonplace burly Seigneur, with his roar of +laughter, to Jeanne? She went to her audience with none of the alarm +of the peasant. A certain young man of Baudricourt's suite, Bertrand de +Poulengy, another young D'Artagnan seeking his fortune, was present +in the hall and witnessed the scene. The joke would seem to have been +exhausted by the time Jeanne appeared, or her perfect gravity and +simplicity, and beautiful manners--so unlike her rustic dress and +village coif--imposed upon the Seigneur and his little court. This is +how the story is told, twenty-five years after, by the witness, then an +elderly knight, recalling the story of his youth. + +"She said that she came to Robert on the part of her Lord, that he +should send to the Dauphin, and tell him to hold out, and have no fear, +for the Lord would send him succour before the middle of Lent. She also +said that France did not belong to the Dauphin but to her Lord; but her +Lord willed that the Dauphin should be its King, and hold it in command, +and that in spite of his enemies she herself would conduct him to be +consecrated. Robert then asked her who was this Lord? She answered, 'The +King of Heaven.' This being done (the witness adds) she returned to her +father's house with her uncle, Durand Laxart of Burey le Petit." + +This brief and sudden preface to her career passed over and had no +immediate effect; indeed but for Bertrand we should have been unable +to separate it from the confused narrative to which all these witnesses +brought what recollection they had, often without sequence or order, +Durand himself taking no notice of any interval between this first +visit to Vaucouleurs and the final one.(2) The episode of Ascension Day +appears like the formal _sommation_ of French law, made as a matter of +form before the appellant takes action on his own responsibility; but +Baudricourt had probably more to do with it than appears to be at all +certain from the after evidence. One of the persons present, at all +events, young Poulengy above mentioned, bore it in mind and pondered it +in his heart. + +Meantime, Jeanne returned home--the strangest home-going,--for by this +time her mission and her aspirations could no longer be hid, and rumour +must have carried the news almost as quickly as any modern telegraph, +to startle all the echoes of the village, heretofore unaware of any +difference between Jeanne and her companions save the greater goodness +to which everybody bears testimony. No doubt, it must have reached +Jacques d'Arc's cottage even before she came back with the kind Durand, +a changed creature, already the consecrated Maid of France, La Pucelle, +apart from all others. The French peasant is a hard man, more fierce in +his terror of the unconventional, of having his domestic affairs exposed +to the public eye, or his family disgraced by an exhibition of anything +unusual either in act or feeling, than almost any other class of beings. +And it is evident that he took his daughter's intention according to the +coarsest interpretation, as a wild desire for adventure and intention +of joining herself to the roving troopers, the soldiers always hated and +dreaded in rural life. He suddenly appears in the narrative in a fever +of apprehension, with no imaginative alarm or anxiety about his girl, +but the fiercest suspicion of her, and dread of disgrace to ensue. We do +not know what passed when she returned, further than that her father had +a dream, no doubt after the first astounding explanation of the purpose +that had so long been ripening in her mind. He dreamed that he saw her +surrounded by armed men, in the midst of the troopers, the most evident +and natural interpretation of her purpose, for who could divine that +she meant to be their leader and general, on a level not with the common +men-at-arms, but of princes and nobles? In the morning he told his dream +to his wife and also to his sons. "If I could think that the thing would +happen that I dreamed, I would wish that she should be drowned; and +if you would not do it, I should do it with my own hands." The reader +remembers with a shudder the Meuse flowing at the foot of the garden, +while the fierce peasant, mad with fear lest shame should be coming to +his family, clenched his strong fist and made this outcry of dismay. + +No doubt his wife smoothed the matter over as well as she could, and, +whatever alarms were in her own mind, hastily thought of a feminine +expedient to mend matters, and persuaded the angry father that to +substitute other dreams for these would be an easier way. Isabeau most +probably knew the village lad who would fain have had her child, so good +a housewife, so industrious a workwoman, and always so friendly and so +helpful, for his wife. At all events there was such a one, too willing +to exert himself, not discouraged by any refusal, who could be egged +up to the very strong point of appearing before the bishop at Toul and +swearing that Jeanne had been promised to him from her childhood. So +timid a girl, they all thought, so devout a Catholic, would simply obey +the bishop's decision and would not be bold enough even to remonstrate, +though it is curious that with the spectacle of her grave determination +before them, and sorrowful sense of that necessity of her mission +which had steeled her to dispense with their consent, they should have +expected such an expedient to arrest her steps. The affair, we must +suppose, had gone through all the more usual stages of entreaty on the +lover's part, and persuasion on that of the parents, before such an +attempt was finally made. But the shy Jeanne had by this time attained +that courage of desperation which is not inconsistent with the most +gentle nature; and without saying anything to anyone, she too went to +Toul, appeared before the bishop, and easily freed herself from the +pretended engagement, though whether with any reference to her very +different destination we are not told.(3) + +These proceedings, however, and the father's dreams and the +remonstrances of the mother, must have made troubled days in the +cottage, and scenes of wrath and contradiction, hard to bear. The winter +passed distracted by these contentions, and it is difficult to imagine +how Jeanne could have borne this had it not been that the period of her +outset had already been indicated, and that it was only in the middle of +Lent that her succour was to reach the King. The village, no doubt, was +almost as much distracted as her father's house to hear of these strange +discussions and of the incredible purpose of the _bonne douce fille_, +whose qualities everybody knew and about whom there was nothing +eccentric, nothing unnatural, but only simple goodness, to distinguish +her above her neighbours. In the meantime her voices called her +continually to her work. They set her free from the ordinary yoke of +obedience, always so strong in the mind of a French girl. The dreadful +step of abandoning her home, not to be thought of under any other +circumstances, was more and more urgently pressed upon her. Could it +indeed be saints and angels who ordained a step which was outside of all +the habits and first duties of nature? But we have no reason to believe +that this nineteenth-century doubt of her visitors, and of whether their +mandates were right, entered into the mind of a girl who was of her own +period and not of ours. She went on steadfastly, certain of her mission +now, and inaccessible either to remonstrance or appeal. + +It was towards the beginning of Lent, as Poulengy tells us, that the +decision was made, and she left home finally, to go "to France" as is +always said. But it seems to have been in January that she set out once +more for Vaucouleurs, accompanied by her uncle, who took her to the +house of some humble folk they knew, a carter and his wife, where they +lodged. Jeanne wore her peasant dress of heavy red homespun, her rude +heavy shoes, her village coif. She never made any pretence of ladyhood +or superiority to her class, but was always equal to the finest society +in which she found herself, by dint of that simple good faith, sense, +and seriousness, without excitement or exaggeration, and radiant purity +and straightforwardness which were apparent to all seeing eyes. By +this time all the little world about knew something of her purpose and +followed her every step with wonder and quickly rising curiosity: and no +doubt the whole town was astir, women gazing at their doors, all on her +side from the first moment, the men half interested, half insolent, as +she went once more to the chateau to make her personal appeal. Simple as +she was, the _bonne douce fille_ was not intimidated by the guard at the +gates, the lounging soldiers, the no doubt impudent glances flung at +her by these rude companions. She was inaccessible to alarms of that +kind--which, perhaps, is one of the greatest safeguards against them +even in more ordinary cases. We find little record of her second +interview with Baudricourt. The _Journal du Siege d'Orleans_ and the +_Chronique de la Pucelle_ both mention it as if it had been one of +several, which may well have been the case, as she was for three weeks +in Vaucouleurs. It is almost impossible to arrange the incidents of this +interval between her arrival there and her final departure for Chinon on +the 23d February, during which time she made a pilgrimage to a shrine +of St. Nicolas and also a visit to the Duke of Lorraine. It is clear, +however, that she must have repeated her demand with such stress and +urgency that the Captain of Vaucouleurs was a much perplexed man. It was +a very natural idea then, and in accordance with every sentiment of +the time that he should suspect this wonderful girl, who would not be +daunted, of being a witch and capable of bringing an evil fate on all +who crossed her. All thought of boxing her ears must ere this have +departed from his mind. He hastened to consult the cure, which was +the most reasonable thing to do. The cure was as much puzzled as the +Captain. The Church, it must be said, if always ready to take advantage +afterwards of such revelations, has always been timid, even sceptical +about them at first. The wisdom of the rulers, secular and ecclesiastic, +suggested only one thing to do, which was to exorcise, and perhaps to +overawe and frighten, the young visionary. They paid a joint and solemn +visit to the carter's house, where no doubt their entrance together was +spied by many eager eyes; and there the priest solemnly taking out his +stole invested himself in his priestly robes and exorcised the evil +spirits, bidding them come out of the girl if they were her inspiration. +There seems a certain absurdity in this sudden assault upon the evil +one, taking him as it were by surprise: but it was not ridiculous to +any of the performers, though Jeanne no doubt looked on with serene and +smiling eyes. She remarked afterwards to her hostess, that the cure had +done wrong, as he had already heard her in confession. + +Outside, the populace were in no uncertainty at all as to her mission. +A little mob hung about the door to see her come and go, chiefly to +church, with her good hostess in attendance, as was right and seemly, +and a crowd streaming after them who perhaps of their own accord might +have neglected mass, but who would not, if they could help it, lose a +look at the new wonder. One day a young gentleman of the neighbourhood +was passing by, and amused by the commotion, came through the crowd to +have a word with the peasant lass. "What are you doing here, _ma mie_?" +the young man said. "Is the King to be driven out of the kingdom, and +are we all to be made English?" There is a tone of banter in the speech, +but he had already heard of the Maid from his friend, Bertrand, and had +been affected by the other's enthusiasm. "Robert de Baudricourt will +have none of me or my words," she replied, "nevertheless before Mid-Lent +I must be with the King, if I should wear my feet up to my knees; +for nobody in the world, be it king, duke, or the King of Scotland's +daughter, can save the kingdom of France except me alone: though I would +rather spin beside my poor mother, and this is not my work: but I must +go and do it, because my Lord so wills it." "And who is your Seigneur?" +he asked. "God," said the girl. The young man was moved, he too, by that +wind which bloweth where it listeth. He stretched out his hands through +the gaping crowd and took hers, holding them between his own, to give +her his pledge: and so swore by his faith, her hands in his hands, that +he himself would conduct her to the King. "When will you go?" he said. +"Rather to-day than to-morrow," answered the messenger of God. + +This was the second convert of La Pucelle. The peasant _bonhomme_ first, +the noble gentleman after him; not to say all the women wherever she +went, the gazing, weeping, admiring crowd which now followed her steps, +and watched every opening of the door which concealed her from their +eyes. The young gentleman was Jean de Novelonpont, "surnamed Jean de +Metz": and so moved was he by the fervour of the girl, and by her strong +sense of the necessity of immediate operations, that he proceeded at +once to make preparations for the journey. They would seem to have +discussed the dress she ought to wear, and Jeanne decided for many +obvious reasons to adopt the costume of a man--or rather boy. She must, +one would imagine have been tall, for no remark is ever made on this +subject, as if her dress had dwarfed her, which is generally the case +when a woman assumes the habit of a man: and probably with her peasant +birth and training, she was, though slim, strongly made and well knit, +besides being at the age when the difference between boy and girl is +sometimes but little noticeable. + +In the meantime Baudricourt had not been idle. He must have been moved +by the sight of Jeanne, at least to perceive a certain gravity in the +business for which he was not prepared; and her composure under the +cure's exorcism would naturally deepen the effect which her own manners +and aspect had upon all who were free of prejudice. Another singular +event, too, added weight to her character and demand. One day after +her return from Lorraine, February 12th, 1429, she intimated to all her +surroundings and specially to Baudricourt, that the King had suffered a +defeat near Orleans, which made it still more necessary that she should +be at once conducted to him. It was found when there was time for the +news to come, that this defeat, the Battle of the Herrings, so-called, +had happened as she said, at the exact time; and such a strange fact +added much to the growing enthusiasm and excitement. Baudricourt is said +by Michelet to have sent off a secret express to the Court to ask what +he should do; but of this there seems to be no direct evidence, though +likelihood enough. The Court at Chinon contained a strong feminine +element, behind the scenes. And it might be found that there were uses +for the enthusiast, even if she did not turn out to be inspired. No +doubt there were many comings and goings at this period which can only +be traced confusedly through the depositions of Jeanne's companions +twenty-five years after. She had at least two interviews with +Baudricourt before the exorcism of the cure and his consequent change +of procedure towards her. Then, escorted by her uncle Laxart, and +apparently by Jean de Metz, she had made a pilgrimage to a shrine of St. +Nicolas, as already mentioned, on which occasion, being near Nancy, she +was sent for by the Duke of Lorraine, then lying ill at his castle +in that city, who had a fancy to consult the young prophetess, +sorceress--who could tell what she was?--on the subject apparently +of his illness. He was the son of Queen Yolande of Anjou, who was +mother-in-law to Charles VII., and it would no doubt be thought of some +importance to secure his good opinion. Jeanne gave the exalted +patient no light on the subject of his health, but only the (probably +unpleasing) advice to flee from the wrath of God and to be reconciled +with his wife, from whom he was separated. He too, however, was moved by +the sight of her and her straightforward, undeviating purpose. He gave +her four francs, Durand tells us,--not much of a present,--which she +gave to her uncle, and which helped to buy her outfit. Probably he made +a good report of her to his mother, for shortly after her return to +Vaucouleurs (I again follow Michelet who ought to be well informed) +a messenger from Chinon arrived to take her to the King.(4) In the +councils of that troubled Court, perhaps, the idea of a prodigy and +miraculous leader, though she was nothing but a peasant girl, would +be not without attraction, a thing to conjure withal, so far as the +multitude were concerned. + +Anyhow from any point of view, in the hopeless condition of affairs, it +was expedient that nothing which gave promise of help, either real or +visionary, should lightly be rejected. There was much anxiety no +doubt in the careless Court still dancing and singing in the midst +of calamity, but the reception of the ambitious peasant would form an +exciting incident at least, if nothing more important and notable. + +Thus the whole anxious world of France stirred round that youthful +figure in the little frontier town, repeating with many an alteration +and exaggeration the sayings of Jeanne, and those popular superstitions +about the Maid from Lorraine which might be so naturally applied to her. +It would seem, indeed, that she had herself attached some importance to +this prophecy, for both her uncle Laxart and her hostess at Vaucouleurs +report that she asked them if they had heard it: which question +"stupefied" the latter, whose mind evidently jumped at once to the +conviction that the prophecy was fulfilled. Not in Domremy itself, +however, were these things considered with the same awe-stricken and +admiring faith. Nothing had softened the mood of Jacques d'Arc. It was +a shame to the village _prud' homme_ to think of his daughter away from +all the protection of home, living among men, encountering the young +Seigneurs who cared for no maiden's reputation, hearing the soldiers' +rude talk, exposed to their insults, or worse still to their kindness. +Probably even now he thought of her as surrounded by troopers and +men-at-arms, instead of the princes and peers with whom henceforth +Jeanne's lot was to be cast; but in the former case there would +have perhaps been less to fear than in the latter. Anyhow, Jeanne's +communications with her family were more painful to her than had been +the jeers of Baudricourt or the exorcism of the cure. They sent her +angry orders to come back, threats of parental curses and abandonment. +We may hope that the mother, grieved and helpless, had little to do with +this persecution. The woman who had nourished her children upon saintly +legend and Scripture story could scarcely have been hard upon the child, +of whom she, better than any, knew the perfect purity and steadfast +resolution. One of the little household at least, revolted by the stern +father's fury, perhaps secretly encouraged by the mother, broke away and +joined his sister at a later period. But we hear, during her lifetime, +little or nothing of Pierre. + +Much time, however, was passed in these preliminaries. The final +start was not made till the 23d February, 1429, when the permission +is supposed to have come by the hands of Colet de Vienne, the King's +messenger, who attended by a single archer, was to be her escort. It +is possible that he had no mission to this effect, but he certainly +did escort her to Chinon. The whole town gathered before the house of +Baudricourt to see her depart. Baudricourt, however, does not seem to +have provided any guard for her. Jean de Metz, who had so chivalrously +pledged himself to her service, with his friend De Poulengy, +equally ready for adventure, each with his servant, formed her sole +protectors.(5) Jean de Metz had already sent her the clothes of one of +his retainers, with the light breastplate and partial armour that suited +it; and the townspeople had subscribed to buy her a further outfit, and +a horse which seems to have cost sixteen francs--not so small a sum in +those days as now. Laxart declares himself to have been responsible for +this outlay, though the money was afterwards paid by Baudricourt, who +gave Jeanne a sword, which some of her historians consider a very poor +gift: none, however, of her equipments would seem to have been costly. +The little party set out thus, with a sanction of authority, from the +Captain's gate, the two gentlemen and the King's messenger at the head +of the party with their attendants, and the Maid in the midst. "Go: and +let what will happen," was the parting salutation of Baudricourt. The +gazers outside set up a cry when the decisive moment came, and someone, +struck with the feeble force which was all the safeguard she had for her +long journey through an agitated country--perhaps a woman in the sudden +passion of misgiving which often follows enthusiasm,--called out to +Jeanne with an astonished outcry to ask how she could dare to go by such +a dangerous road. "It was for that I was born," answered the fearless +Maid. The last thing she had done had been to write a letter to her +parents, asking their pardon if she obeyed a higher command than theirs, +and bidding them farewell. + +The French historians, with that amazement which they always show when +they find a man behaving like a gentleman towards a woman confided to +his honour, all pause with deep-drawn breath to note that the awe of +Jeanne's absolute purity preserved her from any unseemly overture, or +even evil thought, on the part of her companions. We need not take +up even the shadow of so grave a censure upon Frenchmen in general, +although in the far distance of the fifteenth century. The two young +men, thus starting upon a dangerous adventure, pledged by their honour +to protect and convey her safely to the King's presence, were noble and +generous cavaliers, and we may well believe had no evil thoughts. They +were not, however, without an occasional chill of reflection when +once they had taken the irrevocable step of setting out upon this wild +errand. They travelled by night to escape the danger of meeting bands of +Burgundians or English on the way, and sometimes had to ford a river to +avoid the town, where they would have found a bridge. Sometimes, too, +they had many doubts, Bertrand says, perhaps as to their reception at +Chinon, perhaps even whether their mission might not expose them to the +ridicule of their kind, if not to unknown dangers of magic and contact +with the Evil One, should this wonderful girl turn out no inspired +virgin but a pretender or sorceress. Jean de Metz informs us that she +bade them not to fear, that she had been sent to do what she was now +doing; that her brothers in paradise would tell her how to act, and that +for the last four or five years her brothers in paradise and her God had +told her that she must go to the war to save the kingdom of France. This +phrase must have struck his ear, as he thus repeats it. Her brothers in +paradise! She had not apparently talked of them to anyone as yet, but +now no one could hinder her more, and she felt herself free to speak. +A great calm seems to have been in her soul. She had at last begun her +work. How it was all to end for her she neither foresaw nor asked; +she knew only what she had to do. When they ventured into a town she +insisted on stopping to hear mass, bidding them fear nothing. "God +clears the way for me," she said; "I was born for this," and so +proceeded safe, though threatened with many dangers. There is something +that breathes of supreme satisfaction and content in her repetition of +those words. + + (1) She was, however, acquainted with the simpler byword, + that France should be destroyed by a woman and afterwards + redeemed by a virgin, which she quoted to several persons on + her first setting out. + + (2) I have to thank Mr. Andrew Lang for making the course of + these events quite clear to myself. + + (3) Mr. Andrew Lang thinks that this appearance at Toul was + made after she had finally left Domremy, and when she was + already accompanied by the escort which was to attend her to + Chinon. + + (4) Mr. Andrew Lang will not hear of this. He thinks the man + was a mere King's messenger with news, probably charged with + the melancholy tidings of the loss at Rouvray (Battle of the + Herrings): and that the fact he did accompany Jeanne and her + little part was entirely accidental. + + (5) Her brother Pierre is said by some to have been of the + party. _La Chronique de la Pucelle_ says two of her + brothers. Mr. Andrew Lang, however, tells us that Pierre did + not join his sister's party till much later--in the + beginning of June: and this is the statement of Jean de + Metz. But Quicherat is also of opinion that they both fought + in the relief of Orleans. + + + +CHAPTER III -- BEFORE THE KING. FEB.-APRIL, 1429. + +Jeanne and her little party were eleven days on the road, but do not +seem to have encountered any special peril. They lodged sometimes in the +security of a convent, sometimes in a village hostel, pursuing the long +and tedious way across the great levels of midland France, which has +so few features of beauty except in the picturesque towns with their +castles and churches, which the escort avoided. At length they paused +in the village of Fierbois not far from Chinon where the Court was, in +order to announce their arrival and ask for an audience, which was not +immediately accorded. Charles held his Court with incredible gaiety and +folly, in the midst of almost every disaster that could overtake a king, +in the castle of Chinon on the banks of the Vienne. The situation and +aspect of this noble building, now in ruins, is wonderfully like that +of Windsor Castle. The great walls, interrupted and strengthened by +huge towers, stretch along a low ridge of rocky hill, with the swift and +clear river, a little broader and swifter than the Thames, flowing at +its foot. The red and high-pitched roofs of the houses clustered between +the castle hill and the stream, give a point of resemblance the more. +The large and ample dwelling, defensible, but with no thought of any +need of defence, a midland castle surrounded by many a level league of +wealthy country, which no hostile force should ever have power to get +through, must have looked like the home of a well-established royalty. +There was no sound or sight of war within its splendid enclosure. +Noble lords and gentlemen crowded the corridors; trains of gay ladies, +attendant upon two queens, filled the castle with fine dresses and gay +voices. There had been but lately a dreadful and indeed shameful defeat, +inflicted by a mere English convoy of provisions upon a large force of +French and Scottish soldiers, the former led by such men as Dunois, La +Hire, Xaintrailles, etc., the latter by the Constable of Scotland, John +Stuart--which defeat might well have been enough to subdue every sound +of revelry: yet Charles's Court was ringing with music and pleasantry, +as if peace had reigned around. + +It may be believed that there were many doubts and questions how to +receive this peasant from the fields, which prevented an immediate +reply to her demand for an audience. From the first, de la Tremoille, +Charles's Prime Minister and chief adviser, was strongly against any +encouragement of the visionary, or dealings with the supernatural; but +there would no doubt be others, hoping if not for a miraculous maid, +yet at least for a passing wonder, who might kindle enthusiasm in the +country and rouse the ignorant with hopes of a special blessing from +Heaven. The gayer and younger portion of the Court probably expected +a little amusement, above all, a new butt for their wit, or perhaps a +soothsayer to tell their fortunes and promise good things to come. They +had not very much to amuse them, though they made the best of it. The +joys of Paris were very far off; they were all but imprisoned in this +dull province of Touraine; nobody knew at what moment they might be +forced to leave even that refuge. For the moment here was a new event, +a little stir of interest, something to pass an hour. Jeanne had to wait +two days in Chinon before she was granted an audience, but considering +the carelessness of the Court and the absence of any patron that was but +a brief delay. + +The chamber of audience is now in ruins. A wild rose with long, arching, +thorny branches and pale flowers, straggles over the greensward where +once the floor was trod by so many gay figures. From the broken wall you +look sheer down upon the shining river; one great chimney, which at +that season must have been still the most pleasant centre of the large, +draughty hall, shows at the end of the room, with a curious suggestion +of warmth and light which makes ruin more conspicuous. The room must +have been on the ground floor almost level with the soil towards the +interior of the castle, but raised to the height of the cliffs outside. +It was evening, an evening of March, and fifty torches lighted up the +ample room; many noble personages, almost as great as kings, and clothed +in the bewildering splendour of the time, and more than three hundred +cavaliers of the best names in France filled it to overflowing. The +peasant girl from Domremy in the hose and doublet of a servant, a +little travel-worn after her tedious journey, was led in by one of those +splendid seigneurs, dazzled with the grandeur she had never seen before, +looking about her in wonder to see which was the King--while Charles, +perhaps with boyish pleasure in the mystification, perhaps with a little +half-conviction stealing over him that there might be something more in +it, stood among the smiling crowd. + +The young stranger looked round upon all those amused, light-minded, +sceptical faces, and without a moment's hesitation went forward and +knelt down before him. "Gentil Dauphin," she said, "God give you good +life." "But it is not I that am the King; there is the King," said +Charles. "Gentil Prince, it is you and no other," she said; then rising +from her knee: "Gentil Dauphin, I am Jeanne the Maid. I am sent to you +by the King of Heaven to tell you that you shall be consecrated and +crowned at Rheims, and shall be lieutenant of the King of Heaven, who +is King of France." The little masquerade had failed, the jest was over. +There would be little more laughing among the courtiers, when they saw +the face of Charles grow grave. He took the new-comer aside, perhaps to +that deep recess of the window where in the darkening night the glimmer +of the clear, flowing river, the great vault of sky would still be +visible dimly, outside the circle of the blazing interior with all its +smoky lights. + +Charles VII. of France was, like many of his predecessors, a _pauvre +Sire_ enough. He had thought more of his amusements than of the troubles +of his country; but a wild and senseless gaiety will sometimes spring +from despair as well as from lightness of heart; and after all, the +dread responsibility, the sense that in all his helplessness and +inability to do anything he was still the man who ought to do all, would +seem to have moved him from time to time. A secret doubt in his heart, +divulged to no man, had added bitterness to the conviction of his own +weakness. Was he indeed the heir of France? Had he any right to that +sustaining confidence which would have borne up his heart in the midst +of every discouragement? His very mother had given him up and set him +aside. He was described as the so-called Dauphin in treaties signed by +Charles and Isabeau his parents. If anyone knew, she knew; and was it +possible that more powerful even than the English, more cruel than the +Burgundians, this stain of illegitimacy was upon him, making all effort +vain? There is no telling where the sensitive point is in any man's +heart, and little worthy as was this King, the story we are here told +has a thrill of truth in it. It is reported by a certain Sala, who +declares that he had it from the lips of Charles's favourite and close +follower, the Seigneur de Boisi, a courtier who, after the curious +custom of the time, shared even the bed of his master. This was confided +to Boisi by the King in the deepest confidence, in the silence of the +wakeful night: + +"This was in the time of the good King Charles, when he knew not what +step to take, and did nothing but think how to redeem his life: for as +I have told you he was surrounded by enemies on all sides. The King in +this extreme thought, went in one morning to his oratory all alone; and +there he made a prayer to our Lord, in his heart, without pronouncing +any words, in which he asked of Him devoutly that if he were indeed the +true heir, descended from the royal House of France, and that justly the +kingdom was his, that He would be pleased to guard and defend him, or +at the worst to give him grace to escape into Spain or Scotland, whose +people, from all antiquity, were brothers-in-arms, friends and allies of +the kings of France, and that he might find a refuge there." + +Perhaps there is some excuse for a young man's endeavour to forget +himself in folly or even in dissipation when his secret thoughts are so +despairing as these. + +It was soon after this melancholy moment that the arrival of Jeanne +took place. The King led her aside, touched as all were, by her look of +perfect sincerity and good faith; but it is she herself, not Charles, +who repeats what she said to him. "I have to tell you," said the young +messenger of God, "on the part of my Lord (_Messire_) that you are the +true heir of France and the son of the King; He has sent me to +conduct you to Rheims that you may receive your consecration and +your crown,"--perhaps here, Jeanne caught some look which she did not +understand in his eyes, for she adds with, one cannot but think a touch +of sternness--"if you will." + +Was it a direct message from God in answer to his prayer, uttered within +his own heart, without words, so that no one could have guessed that +secret? At least it would appear that Charles thought so: for how should +this peasant maid know the secret fear that had gnawed at his heart? +"When thou wast in the garden under the fig-tree I saw thee." Great +was the difference between the Israelite without guile and the troubled +young man, with whose fate the career of a great nation was entangled; +but it is not difficult to imagine what the effect must have been on +the mind of Charles when he was met by this strange, authoritative +statement, uttered like all that Jeanne said, _de la part de Dieu_. + +The impression thus made, however, was on Charles alone, and he was +surrounded by councillors, so much the more pedantic and punctilious as +they were incapable, and placed amidst pressing necessities with which +in themselves they had no power to cope. It may easily be allowed, also, +that to risk any hopes still belonging to the hapless young King on the +word of a peasant girl was in itself, according to every law of reason, +madness and folly. She would seem to have had the women on her side +always and at every point. The Church did not stir, or else was hostile; +the commanders and military men about, regarded with scornful disgust +the idea that an enterprise which they considered hopeless should be +confided to an ignorant woman--all with perfect reason we are obliged to +allow. Probably it was to gain time--yet without losing the aid of such +a stimulus to the superstitious among the masses--and to retard any rash +undertaking--that it was proposed to subject Jeanne to an examination +of doctors and learned men touching her faith and the character of +her visions, which all this time had been of continual recurrence, yet +charged with no further revelation, no mystic creed, but only with the +one simple, constantly repeated command. + +Accordingly, after some preliminary handling by half a dozen bishops, +Jeanne was taken to Poitiers--where the university and the local +parliament, all the learning, law, and ecclesiastical wisdom which were +on the side of the King, were assembled--to undergo this investigation. +It is curious that the entire history of this wildest and strangest of +all visionary occurrences is to be found in a series of processes at +law, each part recorded and certified under oath; but so it is. The +village maid was placed at the bar, before a number of acute legists, +ecclesiastics, and statesmen, to submit her to a not-too-benevolent +cross-examination. Several of these men were still alive at the time +of the Rehabilitation and gave their recollections of this examination, +though its formal records have not been preserved. A Dominican monk, +Aymer, one of an order she loved, addressed her gravely with the +severity with which that institution is always credited. "You say that +God will deliver France; if He has so determined, He has no need of +men-at-arms." "Ah!" cried the girl, with perhaps a note of irritation +in her voice, "the men must fight; it is God who gives the victory." To +another discomfited Brother, Jeanne, exasperated, answered with a little +roughness, showing that our Maid, though gentle as a child to all gentle +souls, was no piece of subdued perfection, but a woman of the fields, +and lately much in the company of rough-spoken men. He was of Limoges, a +certain Brother Seguin, "_bien aigre homme_," and disposed apparently +to weaken the trial by questions without importance: he asked her what +language her celestial visitors spoke? "Better than yours," answered the +peasant girl. He could not have been, as we say in Scotland, altogether +"an ill man," for he acknowledged that he spoke the patois of his +district, and therefore that the blow was fair. But perhaps for +the moment he was irritated too. He asked her, a question equally +unnecessary, "do you believe in God?" to which with more and more +impatience she made a similar answer: "Better than you do." There was +nothing to be made of one so well able to defend herself. "Words are +all very well," said the monk, "but God would not have us believe +you, unless you show us some sign." To this Jeanne made an answer more +dignified, though still showing signs of exasperation, "I have not come +to Poitiers to give signs," she said; "but take me to Orleans--I will +then show the signs I am sent to show. Give me as small a band as you +please, but let me go." + +The situation of Orleans was at the time a desperate one. It was +besieged by a strong army of English, who had built a succession of +towers round the city, from which to assail it, after the manner of the +times. The town lies in the midst of the plain of the Loire, with not +so much as a hillock to offer any advantage to the besiegers. Therefore +these great works were necessary in face of a very strenuous resistance, +and the possibility of provisioning the besieged, which their river +secured. The English from their high towers kept up a disastrous +fire, which, though their artillery was of the rudest kind, did great +execution. The siege was conducted by eminent generals. The works +were of themselves great fortifications, the assailants numerous, and +strengthened by the prestige of almost unbroken success; there seemed +no human hope of the deliverance of the town unless by an overwhelming +army, which the King's party did not possess, or by some wonderful and +utterly unexpected event. Jeanne had always declared the destruction +of the English and the relief of Orleans to be the first step in her +mission. + +Besides the formal and official examination of her faith and character, +held at Poitiers, private inquests of all kinds were made concerning +of the claims of the miraculous maid. She was visited by every curious +person, man or woman, in the neighbourhood, and plied with endless +questions, so that her simple personal story, and that of her +revelations--_mes voix_, as she called them--became familiarly known +from her own report, to the whole country round about. The women pressed +a question specially interesting--for no doubt, many a good mother half +convinced otherwise, shook her head at Jeanne's costume--Why she wore +the dress of a man? for which the Maid gave very good reasons: in the +first place because it was the only dress for fighting, which, though so +far from her desires or from the habits of her life, was henceforward to +be her work; and also because in her strange circumstances, +constrained as she was to live among men, she considered it safest +for herself--statements which evidently convinced the minds of the +questioners. It was, no doubt, good policy to make her thus widely and +generally known, and the result was a daily growing enthusiasm for her +and belief in her, in all classes. The result of the formal process was +that the doctors could find nothing against her, and they reluctantly +allowed that the King might lawfully take what advantage he could of her +offered services. + +Jeanne was then brought back to Chinon, where she was lodged in one of +the great towers still standing, though no special room is pointed +out as hers. And there she was subjected to another process, more +penetrating still than the interrogations of the graver tribunals. The +Queens and their ladies and all the women of the Court took her in hand. +They inquired into her history in every subtle and intimate feminine +way, testing her innocence and purity; and once more she came out +triumphant. The final judgment was given as follows: "After hearing all +these reports, the King taking into consideration the great goodness +that was in the Maid, and that she declared herself to be sent by +God, it was by the said Seigneur and his council determined that from +henceforward he should make use of her for his wars, since it was for +this that she was sent." + +It was now necessary to equip Jeanne for her service. She had a +_maison_, an _etat majeur_, or staff, formed for her, the chief of +which, Jean d'Aulon, already distinguished and worthy of such a trust +never left her thenceforward until the end of her active career. Her +chaplain, Jean Pasquerel, also followed her fortunes faithfully. Charles +would have given her a sword to replace the probably indifferent weapon +given her by Baudricourt at Vaucouleurs; but Jeanne knew where to find +the sword destined for her. She gave orders that someone should be sent +to Fierbois, the village at which she had paused on her way to Chinon, +to fetch a sword which would be found there buried behind the high altar +of the church of St. Catherine. To make this as little miraculous as +possible, we are told by some historians that it was common for knights +to be buried with their arms, and that Jeanne, in her visit to this +church, where she heard three masses in succession to make up for the +absence of constant religious services on her journey--had probably +seen some tomb or other token that such an interment had taken place. +However, as we are compelled to receive the far greater miracle of +Jeanne herself and her work, without explanation, it is foolish to take +the trouble to attempt any explanation of so small a matter as this. The +sword in fact was found, by the clergy of the church, and was by them +cleaned and polished and put in a scabbard of crimson velvet, scattered +over with fleur-de-lys in gold, for her use. Her standard, which she +considered of the greatest importance was made apparently at Tours. It +was of white linen, fringed with silk and embroidered with a figure of +the Saviour holding a globe in His hands, while an angel knelt at either +side in adoration. Jhesus' Maria was inscribed at the foot. A repetition +of this banner, which must have been re-copied from age to age is to be +seen now at Tours. Having indicated the exact device to be emblazoned +upon the banner, as dictated to her by her saints,--Margaret and +Catherine--Jeanne announced her intention of carrying it herself, a +somewhat surprising office for one who was to act as a general. But it +was the command of her heavenly guides. "Take the standard on the part +of God, and carry it boldly," they had said. She had, besides, a +simple, half-childish intention of her own in this, which she explained +shame-faced--she had no wish to use her sword though she loved it, and +would kill no man. The banner was a more safe occupation, and saved her +from all possibility of blood-shedding; it must however, have required +the robust arm of a peasant to sustain the heavy weight. + +It will show how long a time all these examinations and preparations had +taken when we read that Jeanne set out from Blois, where she had passed +some time in military preparations, only on the 27th day of April; +nearly two whole months had thus been taken up in testing her truth, and +arranging details, trifling and unnecessary in her eyes:--a period which +had been passed in great anxiety by the people of Orleans, with the huge +bastilles of the English--three of which were named Paris, Rouen, and +London--towering round them, their provisions often intercepted, all +the business of life come to a standstill, and the overwhelming +responsibility upon them of being almost the last barrier between the +invader and the final subjugation of France. It is strange to add that, +judging by ordinary rules, the garrison of Orleans ought to have been +quite sufficient in itself in numbers and science of war, to have beaten +and dispersed the English force which had thus succeeded in shutting +them in; there were many notable captains among them, with Dunois, +known as the Bastard of Orleans, one of the most celebrated and brave +of French generals, at their head. Dunois was in no way inferior to the +generals of the English army; he was popular, beloved by the people and +soldiers alike, and though illegitimate, of the House of Orleans, one of +the native seigneurs of the place. The wonder is how he and his officers +permitted the building of these towers, and the shutting in of the town +which they were quite strong enough to protect. But it was a losing game +which they were playing, a part which does not suit the genius of the +nation; and the superstition in favour of the English who had won so +many battles with all the disadvantages on their side,--cutting the +finest armies to pieces--was strong upon the imagination of the time. It +seemed a fate which no valour or skill upon the side of the French could +avert. Dunois, himself an unlikely person, one would have thought, to +yield the honour of the fight to a woman, seems to have perceived +that without a strong counter-motive, not within the range of ordinary +methods, the situation was beyond hope. + +Accordingly, on the 27th or 28th of April, Jeanne set out at the head of +her little army, accompanied by a great number of generals and captains. +She had been equipped by the Queen of Sicily (with a touch of that keen +sense of decorative effect which belonged to the age) in white armour +inlaid with silver--all shining like her own St. Michael himself, a +radiance of whiteness and glory under the sun--armed _de toutes pieces +sauve la teste_, her uncovered head rising in full relief from the +dazzling breastplate and gorget. This is the description given of her by +an eye-witness a little later. The country is flat as the palm of one's +hand. The white armour must have flashed back the sun for miles and +miles of the level road, to the eyes which from the height of any +neighbouring tower watched the party setting out. It is all fertile now, +the richest plain, and even then, corn and wine must have been in full +bourgeon, the great fresh greenness of the big leaves coming out upon +such low stumps of vine as were left in the soil; but the devastated +country was in those days covered with a wild growth like the _macchia_ +of Italian wilds, which half hid the movements of the expedition. They +went by the Loire to Tours, where Jeanne had been assigned a dwelling of +her own, with the estate of a general; and from thence to Blois, where +they had to wait for some days while the convoy of provisions, which +they were to convey to Orleans, was being prepared. And there Jeanne +fulfilled one of the preliminary duties of her mission. She had informed +her examiners at Poitiers that she had been commanded to write to the +English generals before attacking them, appealing to them _de la part de +Dieu_, to give up their conquests, and leave France to the French. +The letter which we quote would seem to have been dictated by her at +Poitiers, probably to the confessor who now formed part of her suite and +who attended her wherever she went: + +JHESUS MARIA. + +King of England, and you Duke of Bedford calling yourself Regent of +France, you, William de la Poule, Comte de Sulford, John, Lord of +Talbot, and you Thomas, Lord of Scales, who call yourself lieutenants +of the said Bedford, listen to the King of Heaven: Give back to the Maid +who is here sent on the part of God the King of Heaven, the keys of all +the good towns which you have taken by violence in His France. She is +ready to make peace if you will hear reason and be just towards France +and pay for what you have taken. And you archers, brothers-in-arms, +gentles and others who are before the town of Orleans, go in peace on +the part of God; if you do not so you will soon have news of the Maid +who will see you shortly to your great damage. King of England, if you +do not this, I am captain in this war, and in whatsoever place in France +I find your people I will make them go away. I am sent here on the part +of God the King of Heaven to push you all forth of France. If you obey I +will be merciful. And be not strong in your own opinion, for you do not +hold the kingdom from God the Son of the Holy Mary, but it is held by +Charles the true heir, for God, the King of Heaven so wills, and it is +revealed by the Maid who shall enter Paris in good company. If you will +not believe this news on the part of God and the Maid, in whatever place +you may find yourselves we shall make our way there, and make so great +a commotion as has not been in France for a thousand years, if you will +not hear reason. And believe this, that the King of Heaven will send +more strength to the Maid than you can bring against her in all your +assaults, to her and to her good men-at-arms. You, Duke of Bedford, the +Maid prays and requires you to destroy no more. If you act according to +reason you may still come in her company where the French shall do the +greatest work that has ever been done for Christianity. Answer then if +you will still continue against the city of Orleans. If you do so +you will soon recall it to yourself by great misfortunes. Written the +Saturday of Holy Week (22 March, 1429).(1) + +Jeanne had by this time made a wonderful moral revolution in her little +army; most likely she had not been in the least aware what an army was, +until this moment; but frank and fearless, she had penetrated into +every corner, and it was not in her to permit those abuses at which an +ordinary captain has to smile. The pernicious and shameful crowd of camp +followers fled before her like shadows before the day. She stopped the +big oaths and unthinking blasphemies which were so common, so that La +Hire, one of the chief captains, a rough and ready Gascon, was reduced +to swear by his _baton_, no more sacred name being permitted to him. +Perhaps this was the origin of the harmless swearing which abounds in +France, meaning probably just as much and as little as bigger oaths in +careless mouths; but no doubt the soldiers' language was very unfit for +gentle ears. Jeanne moved among the wondering ranks, all radiant in her +silver armour and with her virginal undaunted countenance, exhorting all +those rude and noisy brothers to take thought of their duties here, and +of the other life that awaited them. She would stop the march of the +army that a conscience-stricken soldier might make his confession, and +desired the priests to hear it if necessary without ceremony, or church, +under the first tree. Her tender heart was such that she shrank from any +man's death, and her hair rose up on her head, as she said, at the sight +of French blood shed--although her mission was to shed it on all sides +for a great end. But the one thing she could not bear was that +either Frenchmen or Englishmen should die unconfessed, "unhouseled, +disappointed, unannealed." The army went along attended by songs of +choristers and masses of priests, the grave and solemn music of the +Church accompanied strangely by the fanfares and bugle notes. What a +strange procession to pass along the great Loire in its spring fulness, +the raised banners and crosses, and that dazzling white figure, all +effulgence, reflected in the wayward, quick flowing stream! + +La Hire, who is like a figure out of Dumas, and indeed did service as +a model to that delightful romancer, had come from Orleans to escort +Jeanne upon her way, and Dunois met her as she approached the town. +There could not be found more unlikely companions than these two, to +conduct to a great battle the country maid who was to carry the honours +of the day from them both, and make men fight like heroes, who under +them did nothing but run away. The candour and true courage of such +leaders in circumstances so extraordinary, are beyond praise, for it was +an offence both to their pride and skill in their profession, had she +been anything less than the messenger of God which she claimed to +be; and these rude soldiers were not men to be easily moved by devout +imaginations. There would seem, however, even in the case of the greater +of the two, to have arisen a strange friendship and mutual understanding +between the famous man of war and the peasant girl. Jeanne, always +straightforward and simple, speaks to him, not with the downcast eyes of +her humility, but as an equal, as if the great Dunois had been a _prud' +homme_ of her own degree. There is no appearance indeed that the Maid +allowed herself to be overborne now by any shyness or undue humility. +She speaks loudly, so as to be heard by those fighting men, taking +something of their own brief and decisive tone, often even impatient, as +one who would not be put aside either by cunning or force. + +Her meeting with Dunois makes this at once evident. She had been +deceived in the manner of her approach to Orleans, her companions, among +whom there were several field-marshals and distinguished leaders, taking +advantage of her ignorance of the place to lead her by the opposite bank +of the river instead of that on which the English towers were built, +which she desired to attack at once. This was the beginning of a long +series of deceits and hostile combinations, by which at every step +of her way she was met and retarded; but it turned, as these devices +generally did, to the discomfiture of the adverse captains. She crossed +the river at Checy above Orleans, to meet Dunois who had come so far to +meet her. It will be seen by the conversation which she held with him +on his first appearance, how completely Jeanne had learnt to assert +herself, and how much she had overcome any fear of man. "Are you the +Bastard of Orleans?" she said. "I am; and glad of your coming," he +replied. "Is it you who have had me led to this side of the river and +not to the bank on which Talbot is and his English?" He answered that +he and the wisest of the leaders had thought it the best and safest +way. "The counsel of God, our Lord, is more sure and more powerful than +yours," she replied. The expedition, as a matter of fact, had to turn +back, and to lose precious time, there being, it is to be presumed, +no means of transporting so large a force across the river. The large +convoy of provisions which Jeanne brought was embarked in boats while +the majority of the army returned to Blois, in order to cross by the +bridge. + +Jeanne, however, having freely expressed her opinion, adapted herself to +the circumstances, though extremely averse to separate herself from her +soldiers, good men who had confessed and prepared their souls for every +emergency. She finally consented, however, to ride on with Dunois and La +Hire. The wind was against the convoy, so that the heavy boats, deeply +laden with beeves and corn, had a dangerous and slow voyage before them. +"Have patience," cried Jeanne; "by the help of God all will go well"; +and immediately the wind changed, to the astonishment and joy of all, +and the boats arrived in safety "in spite of the English, who offered no +hindrance whatever," as she had predicted. The little party made their +way along the bank, and in the twilight of the April evening, about +eight o'clock, entered Orleans. The Deliverer, it need not be said, was +hailed with joy indescribable. She was on a white horse, and carried, +Dunois says, the banner in her hand, though it was carried before her +when she entered the town. The white figure in the midst of those darkly +gleaming mailed men, would in itself throw a certain glory through the +dimness of the night, as she passed the gates and came into view by the +blaze of all the torches, and the lights in the windows, over the dark +swarming crowds of the citizens. Her white banner waving, her white +armour shining, it was little wonder that the throng that filled the +streets received the Maid "as if they had seen God descending among +them." "And they had good reason," says the Chronicle, "for they had +suffered many disturbances, labours, and pains, and, what is worse, +great doubt whether they ever should be delivered. But now all were +comforted, as if the siege were over, by the divine strength that was in +this simple Maid whom they regarded most affectionately, men, women, and +little children. There was a marvellous press around her to touch her +or the horse on which she rode, so much so that one of the torchbearers +approached too near and set fire to her pennon; upon which she touched +her horse with her spurs, and turning him cleverly, extinguished the +flame, as if she had long followed the wars." + +There could have been nothing she resembled so much as St. Michael, the +warrior-angel, who, as all the world knew, was her chief counsellor and +guide, and who, no doubt, blazed, a familiar figure, from some window in +the cathedral to which this his living picture rode without a pause, to +give thanks to God before she thought of refreshment or rest. She spoke +to the people who surrounded her on every side as she went on through +the tumultuous streets, bidding them be of good courage and that if they +had faith they should escape from all their troubles. And it was only +after she had said her prayers and rendered her thanksgiving, that +she returned to the house selected for her--the house of an important +personage, Jacques Boucher, treasurer to the Duke of Orleans, not like +the humble places where she had formerly lodged. The houses of that age +were beautiful, airy and light, with much graceful ornament and solid +comfort, the arched and vaulted Gothic beginning to give place to those +models of domestic architecture which followed the Renaissance, with +their ample windows and pleasant space and breadth. There the table was +spread with a joyous meal in honour of this wonderful guest, to which, +let us hope, Dunois and La Hire and the rest did full justice. But +Jeanne was indifferent to the feast. She mixed with water the wine +poured for her into a silver cup, and dipped her bread in it, five +or six small slices. The visionary peasant girl cared for none of the +dainty meats. And then she retired to the comfort of a peaceful chamber, +where the little daughter of the house shared her bed: strange return +to the days when Hauvette and Mengette in Domremy lay by her side and +talked as girls love to do, through half the silent night. Perhaps +little Charlotte, too, lay awake with awe to wonder at that other young +head on the pillow, a little while ago shut into the silver helmet, and +shining like the archangel's. The _etat majeur_, the Chevalier d'Aulon, +Jean de Metz, and Bertrand de Poulengy, who had never left her, first +friends and most faithful, and her brother Pierre d'Arc, were lodged in +the same house. It was the last night of April, 1429. + + (1) The dates must of course be reckoned by the old style.-- + This letter was dispatched from Tours, during her pause + there. + + + +CHAPTER IV -- THE RELIEF OF ORLEANS. MAY 1-8, 1429. + +Next morning there was a council of war among the many leaders now +collected within the town. It was the eager desire of Jeanne that an +assault should be made at once, in all the enthusiasm of the moment, +upon the English towers, without waiting even for the arrival of the +little army which she had preceded. But the captains of the defence who +had borne the heat and burden of the day, and who might naturally +enough be irritated by the enthusiasm with which this stranger had been +received, were of a different opinion. I quote here a story, for which +I am told there is no foundation whatever, touching a personage who +probably never existed, so that the reader may take it as he pleases, +with indulgence for the writer's weakness, or indignation at her +credulity. It seems to me, however, to express very naturally a +sentiment which must have existed among the many captains who had been +fighting unsuccessfully for months in defence of the beleaguered city. +A certain Guillaume de Gamache felt himself insulted above all by the +suggestion. "What," he cried, "is the advice of this hussy from the +fields (_une peronnelle de bas lieu_) to be taken against that of a +knight and captain! I will fold up my banner and become again a simple +soldier. I would rather have a nobleman for my master than a woman whom +nobody knows." + +Dunois, who was too wise to weaken the forces at his command by such a +quarrel, is said to have done his best to reconcile and soothe the angry +captain. This, however, if it was true, was only a mild instance of the +perpetual opposition which the Maid encountered from the very beginning +of her career and wherever she went. Notwithstanding her victories, she +remained through all her career a _peronnelle_ to these men of war (with +the noble exception, of course, of Alencon, Dunois, Xaintrailles, La +Hire, and others). They were sore and wounded by her appearance and her +claims. If they could cheat her, balk her designs, steal a march in any +way, they did so, from first to last, always excepting the few who were +faithful to her. Dunois could afford to be magnanimous, but the lesser +men were jealous, envious, embittered. A _peronnelle_, a woman nobody +knew! And they themselves were belted knights, experienced soldiers, of +the best blood of France. It was not unnatural; but this atmosphere +of hate, malice, and mortification forms the background of the picture +wherever the Maid moves in her whiteness, illuminating to us the whole +scene. The English hated her lustily as their enemy and a witch, casting +spells and enchantments so that the strength was sucked out of a man's +arm and the courage from his heart: but the Frenchmen, all but those +who were devoted to her, regarded her with an ungenerous opposition, the +hate of men shamed and mortified by every triumph she achieved. + +Jeanne was angry, too, and disappointed, more than she had been by all +discouragements before. She had believed, perhaps, that once in the +field these oppositions would be over, and that her mission would be +rapidly accomplished. But she neither rebelled nor complained. What +she did was to occupy herself about what she felt to be her business, +without reference to any commander. She sent out two heralds,(1) who +were attached to her staff, and therefore at her personal disposal, to +summon once more Talbot and Glasdale (Classidas, as the French called +him) _de la part de Dieu_ to evacuate their towers and return home. It +would seem that in her miraculous soul she had a visionary hope that +this appeal might be successful. What so noble, what so Christian, as +that the one nation should give up, of free-will, its attempt upon the +freedom and rights of another, if once the duty were put simply before +it--and both together joining hands, march off, as she had already +suggested, to do the noblest deed that had ever yet been done for +Christianity? That same evening she rode forth with her little train; +and placing herself on the town end of the bridge (which had been broken +in the middle), as near as the breach would permit to the bastille, or +fort of the Tourelles, which was built across the further end of +the bridge, on the left side of the Loire--called out to the enemy, +summoning them once more to withdraw while there was time. She was +overwhelmed, as might have been expected, with a storm of abusive shouts +and evil words, Classidas and his captains hurrying to the walls to +carry on the fierce exchange of abuse. To be called dairy-maid and +_peronnelle_ was a light matter, but some of the terms used were so +cruel that, according to some accounts, she betrayed her womanhood by +tears, not prepared apparently for the use of such foul weapons against +her. The _Journal du Siege_ declares, however, that she was "aucunement +yree" (angry), but answered that they lied, and rode back to the city. + +The next Sunday, the 1st of May, Dunois, alarmed by the delay of his +main body, set out for Blois to meet them, and we are told that Jeanne +accompanied him to the special point of danger, where the English from +their fortifications might have stopped his progress, and took up a +position there, along with La Hire, between the expedition and the +enemy. But in the towers not a man budged, not a shot was fired. It was +again a miracle, and she had predicted it. The party of Dunois marched +on in safety, and Jeanne returned to Orleans, once more receiving on +the breeze some words of abuse from the defenders of those battlements, +which sent forth no more dangerous missile, and replying again with +her summons, "_Retournez de la par Dieu a Angleterre._" The townsfolk +watched her coming and going with an excitement impossible to describe; +they walked by the side of her charger to the cathedral, which was +the end of every progress; they talked to her, all speaking together, +pressing upon her--and she to them, bidding them to have no fear. +"Messire has sent me," she said again and again. She went out again, +Wednesday, 4th May, on the return of Dunois, to meet the army, with the +same result, that they entered quietly, the English not firing a shot. + +On this same day, in the afternoon, after the early dinner, there +happened a wonderful scene. Jeanne, it appeared, had fallen asleep after +her meal, no doubt tired with the expedition of the morning, and her +chief attendant, D'Aulon, who had accompanied Dunois to fetch the troops +from Blois, being weary after his journey, had also stretched himself +on a couch to rest. They were all tired, the entry of the troops +having been early in the morning, a fact of which the angry captains of +Orleans, who had not shared in that expedition, took advantage to make +a secret sortie unknown to the new chiefs. All at once the Maid awoke in +agitation and alarm. Her "voices" had awakened her from her sleep. "My +council tell me to go against the English," she cried; "but if to assail +their towers or to meet Fastolfe I cannot tell." As she came to the full +command of her faculties her trouble grew. "The blood of our soldiers is +flowing," she said; "why did they not tell me? My arms, my arms!" Then +she rushed down stairs to find her page amusing himself in the tranquil +afternoon, and called to him for her horse. All was quiet, and no doubt +her attendants thought her mad: but D'Aulon, who knew better than to +contradict his mistress, armed her rapidly, and Luis, the page, brought +her horse to the door. By this time there began to rise a distant rumour +and outcry, at which they all pricked their ears. As Jeanne put her foot +in the stirrup she perceived that her standard was wanting, and called +to the page, Louis de Contes, above, to hand it to her out of the +window. Then with the heavy flag-staff in her hand she set spurs to her +horse, her attendants one by one clattering after her, and dashed onward +"so that the fire flashed from the pavement under the horse's feet." + +Jeanne's presentiment was well-founded. There had been a private +expedition against the English fort of St. Loup carried out quietly to +steal a march upon her--Gamache, possibly, or other malcontents of his +temper, in the hope perhaps of making use of her prestige to gain a +victory without her presence. But it had happened with this sally as +with many others which had been made from Orleans; and when Jeanne +appeared outside the gate which she and the rest of the followers +after her had almost forced--coming down upon them at full gallop, her +standard streaming, her white armour in a blaze of reflection, she met +the fugitives flying back towards the shelter of the town. She does not +seem to have paused or to have deigned to address a word to them, though +the troop of soldiers and citizens who had snatched arms and flung +themselves after her, arrested and turned them back. Straight to the +foot of the tower she went, Dunois startled in his turn, thundering +after her. It is not for a woman to describe, any more than it was for a +woman to execute such a feat of war. It is said that she put herself at +the head of the citizens, Dunois at the head of the soldiers. One moment +of pity and horror and heart-sickness Jeanne had felt when she met +several wounded men who were being carried towards the town. She had +never seen French blood shed before, and the dreadful thought that +they might die unconfessed, overwhelmed her soul; but this was but an +incident of her breathless gallop to the encounter. To isolate the tower +which was attacked was the first necessity, and then the conflict was +furious--the English discouraged, but fighting desperately against +a mysterious force which overwhelmed them, at the same time that it +redoubled the ardour of every Frenchman. Lord Talbot sent forth parties +from the other forts to help their companions, but these were met in the +midst by the rest of the army arriving from Orleans, which stopped +their course. It was not till evening, "the hour of Vespers," that the +bastille was finally taken, with great slaughter, the Orleanists giving +little quarter. During these dreadful hours the Maid was everywhere +visible with her standard, the most marked figure, shouting to her men, +weeping for the others, not fighting herself so far as we hear, but +always in the front of the battle. When she went back to Orleans +triumphant, she led a band of prisoners with her, keeping a wary eye +upon them that they might not come to harm. + +The next day, May 5th, was the Feast of the Ascension, and it was spent +by Jeanne in rest and in prayer. But the other leaders were not so +devout. They held a crowded and anxious council of war, taking care that +no news of it should reach the ears of the Maid. When, however, they had +decided upon the course to pursue they sent for her, and intimated to +her their decision to attack only the smaller forts, which she heard +with great impatience, not sitting down, but walking about the room in +disappointment and anger. It is difficult(2) for the present writer to +follow the plans of this council or to understand in what way Jeanne +felt herself contradicted and set aside. However it was, the fact seems +certain that their plan failed at first, the English having themselves +abandoned one of the smaller forts on the right side of the river and +concentrated their forces in the greater ones of Les Augustins and +Les Tourelles on the left bank. For all this, reference to the map is +necessary, which will make it quite clear. It was Classidas, as he +is called, Glasdale, the most furious enemy of France, and one of the +bravest of the English captains who held the former, and for a moment +succeeded in repulsing the attack. The fortune of war seemed about to +turn back to its former current, and the French fell back on the boats +which had brought them to the scene of action, carrying the Maid with +them in their retreat. But she perceived how critical the moment was, +and reining up her horse from the bank, down which she was being forced +by the crowd, turned back again, closely followed by La Hire, and at +once, no doubt, by the stouter hearts who only wanted a leader--and +charging the English, who had regained their courage as the white +armour of the witch disappeared, and were in full career after the +fugitives--drove them back to their fortifications, which they gained +with a rush, leaving the ground strewn with the wounded and dying. +Jeanne herself did not draw bridle till she had planted her standard on +the edge of the moat which surrounded the tower. + +Michelet is very brief concerning this first victory, and claims only +that "the success was due in part to the Maid," although the crowd of +captains and men-at-arms where by themselves quite sufficient for the +work, had there been any heart in them. But this was true to fact in +almost every case: and it is clear that she was simply the heart, which +was the only thing wanted to those often beaten Frenchmen; where she +was, where they could hear her robust young voice echoing over all the +din, they were as men inspired; when the impetus of their flight carried +her also away, they became once more the defeated of so many battles. +The effect upon the English was equally strong; when the back of Jeanne +was turned, they were again the men of Agincourt; when she turned +upon them, her white breastplate blazing out like a star, the sunshine +striking dazzling rays from her helmet, they trembled before the +sorceress; an angel to her own side, she was the very spirit of magic +and witchcraft to her opponents. Classidas, or which captain soever +of the English side it might happen to be, blaspheming from the +battlements, hurled all the evil names of which a trooper was capable, +upon her, while she from below summoned them, in different tones of +appeal and menace, calling upon them to yield, to go home, to give up +the struggle. Her form, her voice are always evident in the midst of the +great stone bullets, the cloth-yard shafts that were flying--they were +so near, the one above, the other below, that they could hear each other +speak. + +On the 7th of May the fort of Les Augustins on the left bank was taken. +It will be seen by reference to the map, that this bastille, an ancient +convent, stood at some distance from the river, in peaceful times a +little way beyond the bridge, and no doubt a favourite Sunday walk +from the city. The bridge was now closed up by the frowning bulk of the +Tourelles built upon it, with a smaller tower or "boulevard" on the +left bank communicating with it by a drawbridge. When Les Augustins was +taken, the victorious French turned their arms against this boulevard, +but as night had fallen by this time, they suspended the fighting, +having driven back the English, who had made a sally in help of Les +Augustins. Here in the dark, which suited their purpose, another council +was held. The captains decided that they would now pursue their victory +no further, the town being fully supplied with provisions and joyful +with success, but that they would await the arrival of reinforcements +before they proceeded further; probably their object was solely to get +rid of Jeanne, to conclude the struggle without her, and secure the +credit of it. The council was held in the camp within sight of the fort, +by the light of torches; after she had been persuaded to withdraw, on +account of a slight wound in her foot from a calthrop, it is said. +This message was sent after her into Orleans. She heard it with quiet +disdain. "You have held your council, and I have had mine," she said +calmly to the messengers; then turning to her chaplain, "Come to me +to-morrow at dawn," she said, "and do not leave me; I shall have much +to do. My blood will be shed. I shall be wounded(3) to-morrow," pointing +above her right breast. Up to this time no weapon had touched her; she +had stood fast among all the flying arrows, the fierce play of spear and +sword, and had taken no harm. + +In the morning early, at sunrise, she dashed forth from the town again, +though the generals, her hosts, and all the authorities who were in the +plot endeavoured to detain her. "Stay with us, Jeanne," said the people +with whom she lodged--official people, much above the rank of the +Maid--"stay and help us to eat this fish fresh out of the river." "Keep +it for this evening," she said, "and I shall return by the bridge and +bring you some Goddens to have their share." She had already brought in +a party of the Goddens on the night before to protect them from the fury +of the crowd. The peculiarity of this promise lay in the fact that +the bridge was broken, and could not be passed, even without that +difficulty, without passing through the Tourelles and the boulevard +which blocked it at the other end. At the closed gates another great +official stood by, to prevent her passing, but he was soon swept away +by the flood of enthusiasts who followed the white horse and its white +rider. The crowd flung themselves into the boats to cross the river with +her, horse and man. Les Tourelles stood alone, black and frowning across +the shining river in its early touch of golden sunshine, on the +south side of the Loire, the lower tower of the boulevard on the bank +blackened with the fire of last night's attack, and the smoking ruins +of Les Augustins beyond. The French army, whom Orleans had been busy +all night feeding and encouraging, lay below, not yet apparently moving +either for action or retreat. Jeanne plunged among them like a ray of +light, D'Aulon carrying her banner; and passing through the ranks, +she took up her place on the border of the moat of the boulevard. Her +followers rushed after with that _elan_ of desperate and uncalculating +valour which was the great power of the French arms. In the midst of +the fray the girl's clear voice, _assez voix de femme_, kept shouting +encouragements, _de la part de Dieu_ always her war-cry. "_Bon coeur, +bonne esperance_," she cried--"the hour is at hand." But after hours of +desperate fighting the spirit of the assailants began to flag. Jeanne, +who apparently did not at any time take any active part in the struggle, +though she exposed herself to all its dangers, seized a ladder, placed +it against the wall, and was about to mount, when an arrow struck her +full in the breast. The Maid fell, the crowd closed round; for a moment +it seemed as if all were lost. + +Here we have over again in the fable our friend Gamache. It is a pretty +story, and though we ask no one to take it for absolute fact, there is +no reason why some such incident might not have occurred. Gamache, the +angry captain who rather than follow a _peronnelle_ to the field was +prepared to fold his banner round its staff, and give up his rank, is +supposed to have been the nearest to her when she fell. It was he who +cleared the crowd from about her and raised her up. "Take my horse," +he said, "brave creature. Bear no malice. I confess that I was in the +wrong." "It is I that should be wrong if I bore malice," cried Jeanne, +"for never was a knight so courteous" (_chevalier si bien apprins_). +She was surrounded immediately by her people, the chaplain whom she had +bidden to keep near her, her page, all her special attendants, who would +have conveyed her out of the fight had she consented. Jeanne had the +courage to pull the arrow out of the wound with her own hand,--"it stood +a hand breadth out" behind her shoulder--but then, being but a girl and +this her first experience of the sort, notwithstanding her armour and +her rank as General-in-Chief, she cried with the pain, this commander +of seventeen. Somebody then proposed to charm the wound with an +incantation, but the Maid indignant, cried out, "I would rather die." +Finally a compress soaked in oil was placed upon it, and Jeanne withdrew +a little with her chaplain, and made her confession to him, as one who +might be about to die. + +But soon her mood changed. She saw the assailants waver and fall back; +the attack grew languid, and Dunois talked of sounding the retreat. Upon +this she got to her feet, and scrambled somehow on her horse. "Rest a +little," she implored the generals about her, "eat something, refresh +yourselves: and when you see my standard floating against the wall, +forward, the place is yours." They seem to have done as she suggested, +making a pause, while Jeanne withdrew a little into a vineyard close +by, where there must have been a tuft of trees, to afford her a little +shelter. There she said her prayers, and tasted that meat to eat that +men wot not of, which restores the devout soul. Turning back she took +her standard from her squire's hand, and planted it again on the edge of +the moat. "Let me know," she said, "when the pennon touches the wall." +The folds of white and gold with the benign countenance of the Saviour, +now visible, now lost in the changes of movement, floated over their +heads on the breeze of the May day. "Jeanne," said the squire, "it +touches!" "On!" cried the Maid, her voice ringing through the momentary +quiet. "On! All is yours!" The troops rose as one man; they flung +themselves against the wall, at the foot of which that white figure +stood, the staff of her banner in her hand, shouting, "All is yours." +Never had the French _elan_ been so wildly inspired, so irresistible; +they swarmed up the wall "as if it had been a stair." "Do they +think themselves immortal?" the panic-stricken English cried among +themselves--panic-stricken not by their old enemies, but by the white +figure at the foot of the wall. Was she a witch, as had been thought? +was not she indeed the messenger of God? The dazzling rays that shot +from her armour seemed like butterflies, like doves, like angels +floating about her head. They had thought her dead, yet here she stood +again without a sign of injury; or was it Michael himself, the great +archangel whom she resembled do much? Arrows flew round her on every +side but never touched her. She struck no blow, but the folds of her +standard blew against the wall, and her voice rose through all the +tumult. "On! Enter! _de la part de Dieu!_ for all is yours." + +The Maid had other words to say, "_Renty, renty_, Classidas!" she cried, +"you called me vile names, but I have a great pity for your soul." He +on his side showered down blasphemies. He was at the last gasp; one +desperate last effort he made with a handful of men to escape from the +boulevard by the drawbridge to Les Tourelles, which crossed a narrow +strip of the river. But the bridge had been fired by a fire-ship from +Orleans and gave way under the rush of the heavily-armed men; and the +fierce Classidas and his companions were plunged into the river, where a +knight in armour, like a tower falling, went to the bottom in a moment. +Nearly thirty of them, it is said, plunged thus into the great Loire and +were seen no more. + +It was the end of the struggle. The French flag swung forth on the +parapet, the French shout rose to heaven. Meanwhile a strange sight was +to be seen--the St. Michael in shining armour, who had led that assault, +shedding tears for the ferocious Classidas, who had cursed her with his +last breath. "_J'ai grande pitie de ton ame._" Had he but had time to +clear his soul and reconcile himself with God! + +This was virtually the end of the siege of Orleans. The broken bridge on +the Loire had been rudely mended, with a great _gouttiere_ and planks, +and the people of Orleans had poured out over it to take the Tourelles +in flank--the English being thus taken between Jeanne's army on the one +side and the citizens on the other. The whole south bank of the river +was cleared, not an Englishman left to threaten the richest part of +France, the land flowing with milk and honey. And though there +still remained several great generals on the other side with strong +fortifications to fall back upon, they seem to have been paralysed, and +did not strike a blow. Jeanne was not afraid of them, but her ardour +to continue the fight dropped all at once; enough had been done. She +awaited the conclusion with confidence. Needless to say that Orleans was +half mad with joy, every church sounding its bells, singing its song of +triumph and praise, the streets so crowded that it was with difficulty +that the Maid could make her progress through them, with throngs of +people pressing round to kiss her hand, if might be, her greaves, her +mailed shoes, her charger, the floating folds of her banner. She had +said she would be wounded and so she was, as might be seen, the envious +rent of the arrow showing through the white plates of metal on her +shoulder. She had said all should be theirs _de par Dieu:_ and all +was theirs, thanks to our Lord and also to St. Aignan and St. Euvert, +patrons of Orleans, and to St. Louis and St. Charlemagne in heaven who +had so great pity of the kingdom of France: and to the Maid on +earth, the Heaven-sent deliverer, the spotless virgin, the celestial +warrior--happy he who could reach to kiss it, the point of her mailed +shoe. + +Someone says that she rode through all this half-delirious joy like +a creature in a dream,--fatigue, pain, the happy languor of the end +attained, and also the profound pity that was the very inspiration of +her spirit, for all those souls of men gone to their account without +help of Church or comfort of priest--overwhelming her. But next day, +which was Sunday, she was up again and eagerly watching all that went +on. A strange sight was Orleans on that Sunday of May. On the south +side of the Loire, all those half-ruined bastilles smoking and silenced, +which once had threatened not the city only but all the south of France; +on the north the remaining bands of English drawn up in order of battle. +The excitement of the town and of the generals in it, was intense; worn +as they were with three days of continuous fighting, should they sally +forth again and meet that compact, silent, doubly defiant army, which +was more or less fresh and unexhausted? Jeanne's opinion was, No; +there had been enough of fighting, and it was Sunday, the holy day; but +apparently the French did go out though keeping at a distance, watching +the enemy. By orders of the Maid an altar was raised between the two +armies in full sight of both sides, and there mass was celebrated, under +the sunshine, by the side of the river which had swallowed Classidas +and all his men. French and English together devoutly turned towards and +responded to that Mass in the pause of bewildering uncertainty. "Which +way are their heads turned?" Jeanne asked when it was over. "They are +turned away from us, they are turned to Meung," was the reply. "Then let +them go, _de par Dieu_," the Maid replied. + +The siege had lasted for seven months, but eight days of the Maid were +enough to bring it to an end. The people of Orleans still, every year, +on the 8th of May, make a procession round the town and give thanks to +God for its deliverance. Henceforth, the Maid was known no longer as +Jeanne d'Arc, the peasant of Domremy, but as _La Pucelle d'Orleans_, in +the same manner in which one might speak of the Prince of Waterloo, or +the Duc de Malakoff. + + (1) Their special mission seems to have been a demand for + the return of a herald previously sent who had never come + back. As Dunois accompanied the demand by a threat to kill + the English prisoners in Orleans if the herald was not sent + back, the request was at once accorded, with fierce + defiances to the Maid, the dairy-maid as she is called, + bidding her go back to her cows, and threatening to burn her + if they caught her. + + (2) I avail myself here as elsewhere of Mr. Lang's lucid + description. "It is really perfectly intelligible. The + Council wanted a feint on the left bank, Jeanne an attack on + the right. She knew their scheme, untold, but entered into + it. There was, however, no feint. She deliberately forced + the fighting. There was grand fighting, well worth telling," + adds my martial critic, who understands it so much better + than I do, and who I am happy to think is himself telling + the tale in another way. + + (3) She had made this prophecy a month before, and it was + recorded three weeks before the event in the Town Book of + Brabant.--A. L. + + + +CHAPTER V -- THE CAMPAIGN OF THE LOIRE. JUNE, JULY, 1429. + +The rescue of Orleans and the defeat of the invincible English were news +to move France from one end to the other, and especially to raise the +spirits and restore the courage of that part of France which had +no sympathy with the invaders and to which the English yoke was +unaccustomed and disgraceful. The news flew up and down the Loire from +point to point, arousing every village, and breathing new heart and +encouragement everywhere; while in the meantime Jeanne, partially healed +of her wound (on May 9th she rode out in a _maillet_, a light coat of +chain-mail), after a few days' rest in the joyful city which she had +saved with all its treasures, set out on her return to Chinon. She found +the King at Loches, another of the strong places on the Loire where +there was room for a Court, and means of defence for a siege should such +be necessary, as is the case with so many of these wonderful castles +upon the great French river. Hot with eagerness to follow up her first +great success and accomplish her mission, Jeanne's object was to march +on at once with the young Prince, with or without his immense retinue, +to Rheims where he should be crowned and anointed King as she had +promised. Her instinctive sense of the necessities of the position, if +we use that language--more justly, her boundless faith in the orders +which she believed had been give her from Heaven, to accomplish this +great act without delay, urged her on. She was straitened, if we may +quote the most divine of words, till it should be accomplished. + +But the Maid, flushed with victory, with the shouts of Orleans still +ringing in her ears, the applause of her fellow-soldiers, the sound of +the triumphant bells, was plunged all at once into the indolence, +the intrigues, the busy nothingness of the Court, in which whispering +favourites surrounded a foolish young prince, beguiling him into foolish +amusements, alarming him with coward fears. Wise men and buffoons alike +dragged him down into that paltry abyss, the one always counselling +caution, the other inventing amusements. "Let us eat and drink for +to-morrow we die." Was it worth while to lose everything that was +enjoyable in the present moment, to subject a young sovereign to toils +and excitement, and probable loss, for the uncertain advantage of a +vain ceremony, when he might be enjoying himself safely and at his ease, +throughout the summer months, on the cheerful banks of the Loire? On the +other hand, the Chancellor, the Chamberlains, the Church, all his graver +advisers (with the exception of Gerson, the great theologian to whom +has been ascribed the authorship of the _Imitation of Christ_, who is +reported to have said, "If France deserts her, and she fails, she is +none the less inspired") shook their hands and advised that the way +should be quite safe and free of danger before the King risked himself +upon it. It was thus that Jeanne was received when, newly alighted from +her charger, her shoulder still but half healed, her eyes scarcely clear +of the dust and smoke, she found herself once more in the ante-chamber, +wasting the days, waiting in vain behind closed doors, tormented by +the lutes and madrigals, the light women and lighter men, useless +and contemptible, of a foolish Court. The Maid, in all the energy +and impulse of a success which had proved all her claims, had also a +premonition that her own time was short, if not a direct intimation, as +some believe, to that effect: and mingled her remonstrances and appeals +with the cry of warning: "I shall only last a year: take the good of me +as long as it is possible." + +No doubt she was a very great entertainment to the idle seigneurs and +ladies who would try to persuade her to tell them what was to happen to +them, she who had prophesied the death of Glasdale and her own wound and +so many other things. The Duke of Lorraine on her first setting out had +attempted to discover from Jeanne what course his illness would +take, and whether he should get better; and all the demoiselles and +demoiseaux, the flutterers of the ante-chamber, would be still more +likely to surround with their foolish questions the stout-hearted, +impatient girl who had acquired a little of the roughness of her soldier +comrades, and had never been slow at any time in answering a fool +according to his folly; for Jeanne was no meek or sentimental maiden, +but a robust and vigorous young woman, ready with a quick response, as +well as with a ready blow did any one touch her unadvisedly, or use any +inappropriate freedom. At last, one day while she waited vainly outside +the cabinet in which the King was retired with a few of his councillors, +Jeanne's patience failed her altogether. She knocked at the door, and +being admitted threw herself at the feet of the King. To Jeanne he +was no king till he had received the consecration necessary for every +sovereign of France. "Noble Dauphin," she cried, "why should you hold +such long and tedious councils? Rather come to Rheims and receive your +worthy crown." + +The Bishop of Castres, Christopher de Harcourt, who was present, asked +her if she would not now in the presence of the King describe to them +the manner in which her council instructed her, when they talked with +her. Jeanne reddened and replied: "I understand that you would like to +know, and I would gladly satisfy you." "Jeanne," said the King in his +turn, "it would be very good if you could do what they ask, in the +presence of those here." She answered at once and with great feeling: +"When I am vexed to find myself disbelieved in the things I say from +God, I retire by myself and pray to God, complaining and asking of Him +why I am not listened to. And when I have prayed I hear a voice which +says, 'Daughter of God, go, go, go! I will help thee, go!' And when +I hear that voice I feel a great joy." Her face shone as she spoke, +"lifting her eyes to heaven," like the face of Moses while still it bore +the reflection of the glory of God, so that the men were dazzled who +sat, speechless, looking on. + +The result was that Charles kindly promised to set out as soon as the +road between him and Rheims should be free of the English, especially +the towns on the Loire in which a great part of the army dispersed from +Orleans had taken refuge, with the addition of the auxiliary forces of +Sir John Fastolfe, a name so much feared by the French, but at which the +English reader can scarcely forbear a smile. That the young King did not +think of putting himself at the head of the troops or of taking part +in the campaign shows sufficiently that he was indeed a _pauvre sire_, +unworthy his gallant people. Jeanne, however, nothing better being +possible, seems to have accepted this mission with readiness, and +instantly began her preparations to carry it out. It is here that the +young Seigneur Guy de Laval comes in with his description of her already +quoted. He was no humble squire but a great personage to whom the King +was civil and pleased to show courtesy. The young man writes to _ses +meres_, that is, it seems, his mother and grandmother, to whom, in their +distant chateau, anxiously awaiting news of the two youths gone to the +wars, their faithful son makes his report of himself and his brother. +The King, he says, sent for the Maid, in order, Sir Guy believes, that +he might see her. And afterwards the young man went to Selles where she +was just setting out on the campaign. + +From Selles, he writes on the 8th June, exactly a month after the +deliverance of Orleans: + +"I went to her lodging to see her, and she sent for wine and told me +we should soon drink wine in Paris. It was a miraculous thing (_toute +divine_) to see her and hear her. She left Selles on Monday at the hour +of vespers for Romorantin, the Marshal de Boussac and a great many armed +men with her. I saw her mount her horse, all in white armour excepting +the head, a little axe in her hand. The great black charger was very +restive at her door and would not let her mount. 'Lead him,' she said, +'to the cross which is in front of the church,' and there she mounted, +the horse standing still as if he had been bound. Then turning towards +the church which was close by she said in a womanly voice (_assez voix +de femme_), 'You priests and people of the Church, make processions and +prayers to God for us'; then turning to the road, 'Forward,' she said. +Her unfolded standard was carried by a page; she had her little axe in +her hand, and by her side rode a brother who had joined her eight +days before. The Maid told me in her lodging that she had sent you, +grandmother, a small gold ring, which was indeed a very small affair, +and that she would fain have sent you something better, considering +your recommendation. To-day M. d'Alencon, the Bastard of Orleans, and +Gaucourt were to leave Selles, following the Maid. And men are arriving +from all parts every day, all with good hope in God who I believe will +help us. But money there is none at the Court, so that for the present I +have no hope of any help or assistance. Therefore I desire you, _Madame +ma mere_, who have my seal, spare not the land neither in sale nor +mortgage . . . . My much honoured ladies and mothers, I pray the blessed +Son of God that you have a good life and long; and both of us recommend +ourselves to our brother Louis. And we send our greetings to the reader +of this letter. Written from Selles, Wednesday, 8th June, 1429. This +afternoon are arrived M. de Vendome, M. de Boussac, and others, and La +Hire has joined the army, and we shall soon be at work (_on besognera +bientot_)--May God grant that it should be according to your desire." + +It was with difficulty that the Duc d'Alencon had been got to start, his +wife consenting with great reluctance. He had been long a prisoner in +England, and had lately been ransomed for a great sum of money; "Was +not that a sufficient sacrifice?" the Duchess asked indignantly. To risk +once more a husband so costly was naturally a painful thing to do, and +why could not Jeanne be content and stay where she was? Jeanne comforted +the lady, perhaps with a little good-humoured contempt. "Fear nothing, +Madame," she said; "I will bring him back to you safe and sound." +Probably Alencon himself had no great desire to be second in command to +this country lass, even though she had delivered Orleans; and if he +set out at all he would have preferred to take another direction and to +protect his own property and province. The gathering of the army thus +becomes visible to us; parties are continually coming in; and no doubt, +as they marched along, many a little chateau--and they abound through +the country each with its attendant hamlet--gave forth its master or +heir, poor but noble, followed by as many men-at-arms, perhaps only two +or three, as the little property could raise, to swell the forces with +the best and surest of material, the trained gentlemen with hearts full +of chivalry and pride, but with the same hardy, self-denying habits as +the sturdy peasants who followed them, ready for any privation; with a +proud delight to hear that _on besognera bientot_--with that St. Michael +at their head, and no longer any fear of the English in their hearts. + +The first _besogne_ on which this army entered was the siege of Jargeau, +June 11th, into which town Suffolk had thrown himself and his troops +when the siege of Orleans was raised. The town was strong and so was the +garrison, experienced too in all the arts of war, and already aware of +the wild enthusiasm by which Jeanne was surrounded. She passed through +Orleans on the 10th of June, and had there been joined by various new +detachments. The number of her army was now raised, we are told, to +twelve hundred lances, which means, as each "lance" was a separate +party, about three thousand six hundred men, though the _Journal du +Siege_ gives a much larger number; at all events it was a small army +with which to decide a quarrel between the two greatest nations of +Christendom. Her associates in command were here once more seized by the +prevailing sin of hesitation, and many arguments were used to induce her +to postpone the assault. It would seem that this hesitation continued +until the very moment of attack, and was only put an end to when Jeanne +herself impatiently seized her banner from the hand of her squire, and +planting herself at the foot of the walls let loose the fervour of the +troops and cheered them on to the irresistible rush in which lay their +strength. For it was with the commanders, not with the followers, that +the weakness lay. The Maid herself was struck on the head by a stone +from the battlements which threw her down; but she sprang up again in a +moment unhurt. "_Sus! Sus!_ Our Lord has condemned the English--all is +yours!" she cried. She would seem to have stood there in her place +with her banner, a rallying-point and centre in the midst of all the +confusion of the fight, taking this for her part in it, and though she +is always in the thick of the combat, never, so far as we are told, +striking a blow, exposed to all the instruments of war, but injured +by none. The effect of her mere attitude, the steadiness of her stand, +under the terrible rain of stone bullets and dreadful arrows, must of +itself have been indescribable. + +In the midst of the fiery struggle, there is almost a comic point in +her watch over Alencon, for whose safety she had pledged herself, now +dragging him from a dangerous spot with a cry of warning, now pushing +him forward with an encouraging word. On the first of these occasions +a gentleman of Anjou, M. de Lude, who took his place in the front was +killed, which seems hard upon the poor gentleman, who was probably quite +as well worth caring for as Alencon. "_Avant, gentil duc_," she cried at +another moment, "forward! Are you afraid? you know I promised your wife +to bring you safe home." Thus her voice keeps ringing through the din, +her white armour gleams. "_Sus! Sus!_" the bold cry is almost audible, +sibilant, whistling amid the whistling of the arrows. + +Suffolk, the English Bayard, the most chivalrous of knights, was at last +forced to yield. One story tells us that he would give up his sword only +to Jeanne herself,(1) but there is a more authentic description of his +selection of one youth among his assailants whom the quick perceptions +of the leader had singled out. "Are you noble?" Suffolk asks in +the brevity of such a crisis. "Yes; Guillame Regnault, gentleman of +Auvergne." "Are you a knight?" "Not yet." The victor put a knee to the +ground before his captive, the vanquished touched him lightly on the +shoulder with the sword which he then gave over to him. Suffolk was +always the finest gentleman, the most perfect gentle knight of his time. + +"Now let us go and see the English of Meung," cried Jeanne, unwearying, +as soon as this victory was assured. That place fell easily; it +is called the bridge of Meung, in the Chronicle, without further +description, therefore presumably the fortress was not attacked--and +they proceeded onward to Beaugency. These towns still shine over the +plain, along the line of the Loire, visible as far as the eye will +carry over the long levels, the great stream linking one to another like +pearls on a thread. There is nothing in the landscape now to give even a +moment's shelter to the progress of a marching army which must have been +seen from afar, wherever it moved; or to veil the shining battlements, +and piled up citadels rising here and there, concentrated points and +centres of life. The great white Castle of Blois, the darker tower of +Beaugency, still stand where they stood when Jeanne and her men drew +near, as conspicuous in their elevation of walls and towers as if they +had been planted on a mountain top. On more than one occasion during +this wonderful progress from victory to victory, the triumphant leaders +returned for a day or two to Orleans to tell their good tidings, and to +celebrate their success. + +And there is but one voice as to the military skill which she displayed +in these repeated operations. The reader sees her, with her banner, +posted in the middle of the fight, guiding her men with a sort of +infallible instinct which adds force to her absolute quick perception of +every difficulty and advantage, the unhesitating promptitude, attending +like so many servants upon the inspiration which is the soul of all. +These are things to which a writer ignorant of war is quite unable to +do justice. What was almost more wonderful still was the manner in which +the Maid held her place among the captains, most of whom would have +thwarted her if they could, with a consciousness of her own superior +place, in which there is never the slightest token of presumption or +self-esteem. She guarded and guided Alencon with a good-natured and +affectionate disdain; and when there was risk of a great quarrel and +a splitting of forces she held the balance like an old and experienced +guide of men. + +This latter crisis occurred before Beaugency on the 15th of June, when +the Comte de Richemont, Constable of France, the brother of the Duc de +Bretagne, a great nobleman and famous leader, but in disgrace with the +King and exiled from the Court, suddenly appeared with a considerable +army to join himself to the royalist forces, probably with the hope of +securing the leading place. Richemont was no friend to Jeanne; though he +apparently asked her help and influence to reconcile him with the King. +He seems indeed to have thought it a disgrace to France that her troops +should be led, and victories gained by no properly appointed general, +but by a woman, probably a witch, a creature unworthy to stand before +armed men. It must not be forgotten that even now this was the general +opinion of her out of the range of her immediate influence. The English +held it like a religion. Bedford, in his description of the siege of +Orleans and its total failure, reports to England that the discomfiture +of the hitherto always triumphant army was "caused in great part by the +fatal faith and vain fear that the French had, of a disciple and servant +of the enemy of man, called the Maid, who uses many false enchantments, +and witchcraft, by which not only is the number of our soldiers +diminished but their courage marvellously beaten down, and the boldness +of our enemies increased." Richemont was a sworn enemy of all such. +"Never man hated more, all heresies, sorcerers, and sorceresses, than +he; for he burned more in France, in Poitou, and Bretagne, than any +other of his time." The French generals were divided as to the merits +of Richemont and the advantages to be derived from his support. +Alencon, the nominal commander, declared that he would leave the army +if Richemont were permitted to join it. The letters of the King were +equally hostile to him; but on the other hand there were some who held +that the accession of the Constable was of more importance than all +the Maids in France. It was a moment which demanded very wary guidance. +Jeanne, it would seem, did not regard his arrival with much pleasure; +probably even the increase of her forces did not please her as it would +have pleased most commanders, holding so strongly as she did, to the +miraculous character of her own mission and that it was not so much the +strength of her troops as the help of God that got her the victory. But +it was not her part to reject or alienate any champion of France. We +have an account of their meeting given by a retainer of Richemont, +which is picturesque enough. "The Maid alighted from her horse, and the +Constable also. 'Jeanne,' he said, 'they tell me that you are against +me. I know not if you are from God (_de la part de Dieu_) or not. If +you are from God I do not fear you; if you are of the devil, I fear you +still less.' 'Brave Constable,' said Jeanne, 'you have not come here by +any will of mine; but since you are here you are welcome.'" + +Armed neutrality but suspicion on one side, dignified indifference but +acceptance on the other, could not be better shown. + +These successes, however, had been attended by various _escarmouches_ +going on behind. The English, who had been driven out of one town after +another, had now drawn together under the command of Talbot, and a party +of troops under Fastolfe, who came to relieve them, had turned back as +Jeanne proceeded, making various unsuccessful attempts to recover what +had been lost. Failing in all their efforts they returned across the +country to Genville, and were continuing their retreat to Paris when the +two enemies came within reach of each other. An encounter in open field +was a new experience of which Jeanne as yet had known nothing. She had +been successful in assault, in the operations of the siege, but to meet +the enemy hand to hand in battle was what she had never been required to +do; and every tradition, every experience, was in favour of the English. +From Agincourt to the Battle of the Herrings at Rouvray near Orleans, +which had taken place in the beginning of the year (a fight so named +because the field of battle had been covered with herrings, the +conquerors in this case being merely the convoy in charge of provisions +for the English, which Fastolfe commanded), such a thing had not been +known as that the French should hold their own, much less attain any +victory over the invaders. In these circumstances there was much talk of +falling back upon the camp near Beaugency and of retreating or avoiding +an engagement; anything rather than hazard one of those encounters which +had infallibly ended in disaster. But Jeanne was of the same mind as +always, to go forward and fear nothing. "Fall upon them! Go at them +boldly," she cried. "If they were in the clouds we should have them. The +gentle King will now gain the greatest victory he has ever had." + +It is curious to hear that in that great plain of the Beauce, so flat, +so fertile, with nothing but vines and cornfields now against the +horizon, the two armies at last almost stumbled upon each other by +accident, in the midst of the brushwood by which the country was wildly +overgrown. The story is that a stag roused by the French scouts rushed +into the midst of the English, who were advantageously placed among +the brushwood to arrest the enemy on their march; the wild creature +terrified and flying before an army blundered into the midst of the +others, was fired at and thus betrayed the vicinity of the foe. The +English had no time to form or set up their usual defences. They were so +taken by surprise that the rush of the French came without warning, with +a suddenness which gave it double force. La Hire made the first attack +as leader of the van, and there was thus emulation between the two +parties, which should be first upon the enemy. When Alencon asked Jeanne +what was to be the issue of the fight, she said calmly, "Have you good +spurs?" "What! You mean we shall turn our backs on our enemies?" cried +her questioner. "Not so," she replied. "The English will not fight, +they will fly, and you will want good spurs to pursue them." Even this +somewhat fantastic prophecy put heart into the men, who up to this time +had been wont to fly and not to fight. + +And this was what happened, strange as it may seem. Talbot himself was +with the English forces, and many a gallant captain beside: but the +men and their leaders were alike broken in spirit and filled with +superstitious terrors. Whether these were the forces of hell or those of +heaven that came against them no one could be sure; but it was a power +beyond that of earth. The dazzled eyes which seemed to see flights +of white butterflies fluttering about the standard of the Maid, could +scarcely belong to one who thought her a servant of the enemy of men. +But she was a pernicious witch to Talbot, and strangely enough to +Richemont also, who was on her own side. The English force was thrown +into confusion, partly, we may suppose, from the broken ground on which +they were discovered, the undergrowth of the wood which hid both armies +from each other. But soon that disorder turned into the wildest panic +and flight. It would almost seem as if between these two hereditary +opponents one must always be forced into this miserable part. Not all +the chivalry of France had been able to prevent it at the long string of +battles in which they were, before the revelation of the Maid; and not +the desperate and furious valour of Talbot could preserve his English +force from the infection now. Fastolfe, with the philosophy of an old +soldier, deciding that it was vain to risk his men when the field +was already lost, rode off with all his band. Talbot fought with +desperation, half mad with rage to be thus a second time overcome by so +unlikely an adversary, and finally was taken prisoner; while the whole +force behind him fled and were killed in their flight, the plain being +scattered with their dead bodies. + +Jeanne herself made use of those spurs concerning which she had +enquired, and carried away by the passion of battle, followed in the +pursuit, we are told, until she met a Frenchman brutally ill-using +a prisoner whom he had taken, upon which the Maid, indignant, flung +herself from her horse, and, seating herself on the ground beside the +unfortunate Englishman, took his bleeding head upon her lap and, sending +for a priest, made his departure from life at least as easy as pity and +spiritual consolation could make it on such a disastrous field. In all +the records there is no mention of any actual fighting on her part. +She stands in the thick of the flying arrows with her banner, exposing +herself to every danger; in moments of alarm, when her forces seem +flagging, she seizes and places a ladder against the wall for an +assault, and climbs the first as some say; but we never see her strike +a blow. On the banks of the Loire the fate of the mail-clad Glasdale, +hopeless in the strong stream underneath the ruined bridge, brought +tears to her eyes, and now all the excitement of the pursuit vanished +in an instant from her mind, when she saw the English man-at-arms dying +without the succour of the Church. Pity was always in her heart; she was +ever on the side of the angels, though an angel of war and not of peace. + +It is perhaps because the numbers engaged were so few that this flight +or "Chasse de Patay," has not taken a more important place in the +records of French historians. In general it is only by means of Fontenoy +that the _amour propre_ of the French nation defends itself against the +overwhelming list of battles in which the English have had the better of +it. But this was probably the most complete victory that has ever been +gained over the stubborn enemy whom French tactics are so seldom able to +touch; and the conquerors were purely French without any alloy of alien +arms, except a few Scots, to help them. The entire campaign on the Loire +was one of triumph for the French arms, and of disaster for the English. +They--it is perhaps a point of national pride to admit it frankly--were +as well beaten as heart of Frenchman could desire, beaten not only in +the result, but in the conduct of the campaign, in heart and in courage, +in skill and in genius. There is no reason in the world why it should +not be admitted. But it was not the French generals, not even Dunois, +who secured these victories. It was the young peasant woman, the +dauntless Maid, who underneath the white mantle of her inspiration, +miraculous indeed, but not so miraculous as this, had already developed +the genius of a soldier, and who in her simplicity, thinking nothing +but of her "voices" and the counsel they gave her, was already the best +general of them all. + +When Talbot stood before the French generals, no less a person than +Alencon himself is reported to have made a remark to him, of that +ungenerous kind which we call in feminine language "spiteful," and which +is not foreign to the habit of that great nation. "You did not think +this morning what would have happened to you before sunset," said the +Duc d'Alencon to the prisoner. "It is the fortune of war," replied the +English chief. + +Once more, however it is like a sudden fall from the open air and +sunshine when the victorious army and its chiefs turned back to the +Court where the King and his councillors sat idle, waiting for news +of what was being done for them. A battle-field is no fine sight; the +excitement of the conflict, the great end to be served by it, the sense +of God's special protection, even the tremendous uproar of the fight, +the intoxication of personal action, danger, and success have, we do not +doubt a rapture and passion in them for the moment, which carry the mind +away; but the bravest soldier holds his breath when he remembers the +after scene, the dead and dying, the horrible injuries inflicted, the +loss and misery. However, not even the miserable scene of the Chasse de +Patay is so painful as the reverse of the dismal picture, the halls of +the royal habitation where, while men died for him almost within hearing +of the fiddling and the dances, the young King trifled away his useless +days among his idle favourites, and the musicians played, the assemblies +were held, and all went on as in the Tuileries. We feel as if we had +fallen fathoms deep into the meannesses of mankind when we come back +from the bloodshed and the horror outside, to the King's presence +within. The troops which had gone out in uncertainty, on an enterprise +which might well have proved too great for them, had returned in full +flush of triumph, having at last fully broken the spell of the English +superiority--which was the greatest victory that could have been +achieved: besides gaining the substantial advantage of three important +towns brought back to the King's allegiance--only to find themselves as +little advanced as before, coming back to the self-same struggle with +indolent complaining, indifference, and ingratitude. + +Jeanne had given the signs that had been demanded from her. She had +delivered Orleans, she cleared the King's road toward the north. She +had filled the French forces with an enthusiasm and transport of valour +which swept away all the traditions of ill fortune. From every point of +view the instant march upon Rheims and the accomplishment of the great +object of her mission had not only become practicable, but was the +wisest and most prudent thing to do. + +But this was not the opinion of the Chancellor of France, the Archbishop +of Rheims, and La Tremouille, or of the indolent young King himself, who +was very willing to rejoice in the relief from all immediate danger, the +restoration of the surrounding country, and even the victory itself, +if only they would have left him in quiet where he was, sufficiently +comfortable, amused, and happy, without forcing necessary dangers. +Jeanne's successes and her unseasonable zeal and the commotion that she +and her train of captains made, pouring in, in all the excitement +of their triumph, into the midst of the madrigals--seem to have been +anything but welcome. Go to Rheims to be crowned? yes, some time when +it was convenient, when it was safe. But in the meantime what was more +important was to forbid Richemont, whom the Chancellor hated and the +King did not love, to come into the presence or to have any share either +in warfare or in pageant. This was not only in itself an extremely +foolish thing to do, which is always a recommendation, but it was at the +same time an excuse for wasting a little precious time. When this was +at last accomplished, and Richemont, though deeply wounded and offended, +proved himself so much a man of honour and a patriot, that though +dismissed by the King he still upheld, if languidly, his cause--there +was yet a great deal of resistance to be overcome. Paris though so far +off was thrown into great excitement and alarm by the flight at Patay, +and the whole city was in commotion fearing an immediate advance and +attack. But in Loches, or wherever Charles may have been, it was all +taken very easily. Fastolfe, the fugitive, had his Garter taken from +him as the greatest disgrace that could be inflicted, for his shameful +flight, about the time when Richemont, one of the victors, was being +sent off and disgraced on the other side for the crime of having helped +to inflict, without the consent of the King, the greatest blow which +had yet been given to the English domination! So the Court held on its +ridiculous and fatal course. + +However the force of public feeling which must have been very frankly +expressed by many important voices was too much for Charles and he was +at length compelled to put himself in motion. The army had assembled at +Gien, where he joined it, and the great wave of enthusiasm awakened by +Jeanne, and on which he now moved forth as on the top of the wave, +was for the time triumphant. No one dared say now that the Maid was +a sorceress, or that it was by the aid of Beelzebub that she cast out +devils; but a hundred jealousies and hatreds worked against her behind +backs, among the courtiers, among the clergy, strange as that may sound, +in sight of the absolute devotion of her mind, and the saintly life +she led. So much was this the case still, notwithstanding the practical +proofs she had given of her claims, that even persons of kindred mind, +partially sharing her inspirations, such as the famous Brother Richard +of Troyes, looked upon her with suspicion and alarm--fearing a delusion +of Satan. It is more easy perhaps to understand why the archbishops and +bishops should have been inclined against her, since, though perfectly +orthodox and a good Catholic, Jeanne had been independent of all +priestly guidance and had sought no sanction from the Church to her +commission, which she believed to be given by Heaven. "Give God the +praise; but we know that this woman is a sinner." This was the best they +could find to say of her in the moment of her greatest victories; but +indeed it is no disparagement to Jeanne or to any saint that she should +share with her Master the opprobrium of such words as these. + +At last however a reluctant start was made. Jeanne with her "people," +her little staff, in which, now, were two of her brothers, a second +having joined her after Orleans, left Gien on the 28th of June; and the +next day the King very unwillingly set out. There is given a long list +of generals who surrounded and accompanied him, three or four princes of +the blood, the Bastard of Orleans, the Archbishop of Rheims, marshals, +admirals, and innumerable seigneurs, among whom was our young Guy de +Laval who wrote the letter to his "mothers" which we have already quoted +and whose faith in the Maid we thus know; and our ever faithful La Hire, +the big-voiced Gascon who had permission to swear by his _baton_, the +d'Artagnan of this history. We reckon these names as those of friends: +Dunois the ever-brave, Alencon the _gentil Duc_ for whom Jeanne had +a special and protecting kindness, La Hire the rough captain of Free +Lances, and the graceful young seigneur, Sir Guy as we should have +called him had he been English, who was so ready to sell or mortgage his +land that he might convey his troop befittingly to the wars. This little +group brightens the march for us with their friendly faces. We know that +they have but one thought of the warrior maiden in whose genius they had +begun to have a wondering confidence as well as in her divine mission. +While they were there we feel that she had at least so many who +understood her, and who bore her the affection of brothers. We are told +that in the progress of the army Jeanne had no definite place. She rode +where she pleased, sometimes in the front, sometimes in the rear. One +imagines with pleasure that wherever her charger passed along the lines +it would be accompanied by one or other of those valiant and faithful +companions. + +The first place at which a halt was made was Auxerre, a town occupied +chiefly by Burgundians, which closed its gates, but by means of bribes, +partly of provisions to be supplied, partly of gifts to La Tremouille, +secured itself from the attack which Jeanne longed to lead. Other +smaller strongholds on the road yielded without hesitation. At last they +came to Troyes, a large and strong place, well garrisoned and confident +in its strength, the town distinguished in the history of the time +by the treaty made there, by which the young King had been +disinherited--and by the marriage of Henry of England with the Princess +Catherine of France, in whose right he was to succeed to the throne. +It was an ill-omened place for a French king and the camp was torn with +dissensions. Should the army march by, taking no notice of it and so +get all the sooner to Rheims? or should they pause first, to try their +fortune against those solid walls? But indeed it was not the camp that +debated this question. The camp was of Jeanne's mind whichever side she +took, and her side was always that of the promptest action. The garrison +made a bold sortie, the very day of the arrival of Charles and his +forces, but had been beaten back: and the King encamped under the walls, +wavering and uncertain whether he might not still depart on the morrow, +but sending a repeated summons to surrender, to which no attention was +paid. + +Once more there was a pause of indecision; the King was not bold enough +either to push on and leave the city, or to attack it. Again councils of +war succeeded each other day after day, discussing the matter over and +over, leaving the King each time more doubtful, more timid than before. +From these debates Jeanne was anxiously held back, while every silken +fool gave his opinion. At last, one of the councillors was stirred by +this strange anomaly. He declared among them all, that as it was by the +advice of the Maid that the expedition had been undertaken, without her +acquiescence it ought not to be abandoned. "When the King set out it was +not because of the great puissance of the army he then had with him, or +the great treasure he had to provide for them, nor yet because it seemed +to him a probable thing to be accomplished; but the said expedition +was undertaken solely at the suit of the said Jeanne, who urged him +constantly to go forward, to be crowned at Rheims, and that he should +find little resistance, for it was the pleasure and will of God. If +the said Jeanne is not to be allowed to give her advice now, it is my +opinion that we should turn back," said the Seigneur de Treves, who had +never been a partisan of or believer in Jeanne. We are told that at this +fortunate moment when one of her opponents had thus pronounced in her +favour, Jeanne, impatient and restless, knocked at the door of the +council chamber as she had done before in her rustic boldness; and then +there occurred a brief and characteristic dialogue. + +"Jeanne," said the Archbishop of Rheims, taking the first word, probably +with the ready instinct of a conspirator to excuse himself from +having helped to shut her out, "the King and his council are in great +perplexity to know what they should do." + +"Shall I be believed if I speak?" said the Maid. + +"I cannot tell," replied the King, interposing; "though if you say +things that are reasonable and profitable, I shall certainly believe +you." + +"Shall I be believed?" she repeated. + +"Yes," said the King, "according as you speak." + +"Noble Dauphin," she exclaimed, "order your people to assault the city +of Troyes, to hold no more councils; for, by my God, in three days I +will introduce you into the town of Troyes, by love or by force, and +false Burgundy shall be dismayed." + +"Jeanne," said the Chancellor, "if you could do that in six days, we +might well wait." + +"You shall be master of the place," said the Maid, addressing herself +steadily to the King, "not in six days, but to-morrow." + +And then there occurred once more the now habitual scene. It was no +longer the miracle it had been to see her dash forward to her post under +the walls with her standard which was the signal for battle, to which +the impatient troops responded, confident in her, as she in herself. But +for the first time we hear how the young general, learning her trade of +war day by day, made her preparations for the siege. She was a gunner +born, according to all we hear, and was quick to perceive the advantage +of her rude artillery though she had never seen one of these _bouches +de feu_ till she encountered them at Orleans. The whole army was set to +work during the night, knights and men-at-arms alike, to raise--with any +kind of handy material, palings faggots, tables, even doors and windows, +taken it must be feared from some neighbouring village or faubourg--a +mound on which to place the guns. The country as we have said is as +flat as the palm of one's hand. They worked all night under cover of +the darkness with incredible devotion, while the alarmed townsfolk not +knowing what was being done, but no doubt divining something from the +unusual commotion, betook themselves to the churches to pray, and began +to ponder whether after all it might not be better to join the King +whose armies were led by St. Michael himself in the person of his +representative, than to risk a siege. Once more the spell of the Maid +fell on the defenders of the place. It was witchcraft, it was some +vile art. They had no heart to man the battlements, to fight like their +brothers at Orleans and Jargeau in face of all the powers of the evil +one: the cry of "_Sus! Sus!_" was like the death-knell in their ears. + +While the soldiers within the walls were thus trembling and drawing +back, the bishop and his clergy took the matter in hand; they sallied +forth, a long procession attended by half the city, to parley with the +King. It was in the earliest dawn, while yet the peaceful world was +scarcely awake; but the town had been in commotion all night, every +visionary person in it seeing visions and dreaming dreams, and a panic +of superstition and spiritual terror taking the strength out of every +arm. Jeanne was already at her post, a glimmering white figure in the +faint and visionary twilight of the morning, when the gates of the city +swung back before this tremulous procession. The King, however, received +the envoys graciously, and readily promised to guarantee all the rights +of Troyes, and to permit the garrison to depart in peace, if the town +was given up to him. We are not told whether the Maid acquiesced in this +arrangement, though it at once secured the fulfilment of her prophecy; +but in any case she would seem to have been suspicious of the good faith +of the departing garrison. Instead of retiring to her tent she took +her place at the gate, watchful, to see the enemy march forth. And +her suspicion was not without reason. The allied troops, English and +Burgundian, poured forth from the city gates, crestfallen, unwilling to +look the way of the white witch, who might for aught they knew lay them +under some dreadful spell, even in the moment of passing. But in the +midst of them came a darker band, the French prisoners whom they had +previously taken, who were as a sort of funded capital in their hands, +each man worth so much money as a ransom, It was for this that Jeanne +had prepared herself. "_En nom Dieu_," she cried, "they shall not +be carried away." The march was stopped, the alarm given, the King +unwillingly aroused once more from his slumbers. Charles must have been +disturbed at the most untimely hour by the ambassadors from the town, +and it mattered little to his supreme indolence and indifference what +might happen to his unfortunate lieges; but he was forced to bestir +himself, and even to give something from his impoverished exchequer +for the ransom of the prisoners, which must have been more disagreeable +still. The feelings of these men who would have been dragged away in +captivity under the eyes of their victorious countrymen, but for the +vigilance of the Maid, may easily be imagined. + +Jeanne seems to have entered the town at once, to prepare for the +reception of the King, and to take instant possession of the place, +forestalling all further impediment. The people in the streets, however, +received her in a very different way from those of Orleans, with trouble +and alarm, staring at her as at a dangerous and malignant visitor. The +Brother Richard, before mentioned, the great preacher and reformer, was +the oracle of Troyes, and held the conscience of the city in his hands. +When he suddenly appeared to confront her, every eye was turned upon +them. But the friar himself was in no less doubt than his disciples; he +approached her dubiously, crossing himself, making the sacred sign in +the air, and sprinkling a shower of holy water before him to drive away +the demon, if demon there was. Jeanne was not unused to support the +rudest accost, and her frank voice, still _assez femme_, made itself +heard over every clamour. "Come on, I shall not fly away," she cried, +with, one hopes, a laugh of confident innocence and good-humour, in face +of those significant gestures and the terrified looks of all about her. +French art has been unkind to Jeanne, occupying itself very little about +her till recently; but her short career is full of pictures. Here the +simple page grows bright with the ancient houses and highly coloured +crowd: the frightened and eager faces at every window, the white warrior +in the midst, sending forth a thousand rays from the polished steel +and silver of breastplate and helmet: and the brown Franciscan monk +advancing amid a shower of water drops, a mysterious repetition of +signs. It gives us an extraordinary epitome of the history of France at +that period to turn from this scene to the wild enthusiasm of Orleans, +its crowd of people thronging about her, its shouts rending the air; +while Troyes was full of terror, doubt, and ill-will, though its nearest +neighbour, so to speak, the next town, and so short a distance away. + +A little later in the same day, the next after the surrender, Jeanne, +riding with her standard by the side of the King, conducted him to the +cathedral where he confirmed his previous promises and received the +homage of the town. It was a beautiful sight, the chronicle tells us, to +see all these magnificent people, so well dressed and well mounted; "_il +feroit tres beau voir._" + +The fate of Troyes decided that of Chalons, the only other important +town on the way, the gates of which were thrown open as Charles and his +army, which grew and increased every day, proceeded on its road. Every +promise of the Maid had been so far accomplished, both in the greater +object and in the details: and now there was nothing between Charles the +disinherited and almost ruined Dauphin of three months ago, trying to +forget himself in the seclusion and the sports of Chinon--and the sacred +ceremonial which drew with it every tradition and every assurance of an +ancient and lawful throne. + +Jeanne had her little adventure, personal to herself on the way. Though +there were neither posts nor telegraphs in those days, there has always +been a strange swift current in the air or soil which has conveyed news, +in a great national crisis, from one end of the country to the other. It +was not so great a distance to Domremy on the Meuse from Troyes on the +Loire, and it appears that a little group of peasants, bolder than the +rest, had come forth to hang about the road when the army passed and +see what was so fine a sight, and perhaps to catch a glimpse of their +_payse_, their little neighbour, the _commere_ who was godmother to +Gerard d'Epinal's child, the youthful gossip of his young wife--but who +was now, if all tales were true, a great person, and rode by the side +of the King. They went as far as Chalons to see if perhaps all this were +true and not a fable; and no doubt stood astonished to see her ride by, +to hear all the marvellous tales that were told of her, and to assure +themselves that it was truly Jeanne upon whom, more than upon the King, +every eye was bent. This small scene in the midst of so many great ones +would probably have been the most interesting of all had it been told +us at any length. The peasant travellers surrounded her with wistful +questions, with wonder and admiration. Was she never afraid among all +those risks of war, when the arrows hailed about her and the _bouches +de feu_, the mouths of fire, bellowed and flung forth great stones and +bullets upon her? "I fear nothing but treason," said the victorious +Maid. She knew, though her humble visitors did not, how that base thing +skulked at her heels, and infested every path. It must not be forgotten +that this wonderful and victorious campaign, with all its lists of towns +taken and armies discomfited, lasted six weeks only, almost every day of +which was distinguished by some victory. + + (1) The former story was written in 1429, by the Greffier of + Rochelle. "I will yield me only to her, the most valiant + woman in the world." The Greffier was writing at the moment, + but not, of course, as an eyewitness.--A. L. + + + +CHAPTER VI -- THE CORONATION. JULY 17, 1429. + +The road was now clear, and even the most timid of counsellors could not +longer hold back the most indolent of kings. Jeanne had kept her word +once more and fulfilled her own prophecy, and a force of enthusiasm +and certainty, not to be put down, pressed forward the unwilling Court +towards the great ceremonial of the coronation, to which all except +those most chiefly concerned attached so great an importance. Charles +would have hesitated still, and questioned the possibility of resistance +on the part of Rheims, if that city had not sent a deputation of +citizens with the keys of the town, to meet him. After this it was but +a triumphal march into the sacred place, where the great cathedral +dominated a swarming, busy, mediaeval city. King and Archbishop had a +double triumph, for the priest like the monarch had been shut out from +his lawful throne, and it was only in the train of the Maid that this +great ecclesiastic was able to take possession of his dignities. The +King alighted with the Archbishop at the Archeveche which is close +to the cathedral, an immense, old palace in which the heads of the +expedition were lodged. There is a magnificent old hall still remaining +in which no doubt they all assembled, scarcely able to believe that +their object was accomplished and that the King of France was actually +in Rheims, and all the prophecies fulfilled. The Archbishop marched +into the city in the morning; Charles and his Court, and all his great +seigneurs, and the body of his army, in which there were many fighting +men half armed, and some in their rustic clothes as they had left their +fields to join the King in his march--poured in in the evening, after +the ecclesiastical procession, filling the town with commotion. Jeanne +rode beside the King, her banner in her hand. It was July, the vigil of +the Madeleine, and every church poured forth its crowd to witness the +entry, and the populace, half troubled, half glad, gazed its eyes out +upon the white warrior at the side of the King. Her father and uncle +were there to meet her at the old inn in the Place, which still proudly +preserves the record of the peasant guests: two astonished rustics, +no doubt, were thrust forth from some window to watch that incredible +sight--Jacques who would rather have drowned his daughter with his own +hands, than have seen her thus launched among men, gazing still +aghast at the resplendent figure of the chevaliere at the head of the +procession. This was very different from what he had thought of when his +village respectability was tortured by the idea of his girl among the +troopers, yet probably the rigid peasant had never changed his mind. + +We are told by M. Blaze de Bury of an ancient custom which we do not +find stated elsewhere. A platform was erected, he tells us, outside the +choir of the cathedral to which the King was led the evening before the +coronation, surrounded by his peers, who showed him to the assembled +people with a traditional proclamation: "Here is your King whom we, +peers of France, crown as King and sovereign lord. And if there is a +soul here which has any objection to make, let him speak and we will +answer him. And to-morrow he shall be consecrated by the grace of the +Holy Spirit if you have nothing to say against it." The people replied +by cries of "Noel, Noel!" It is not to be supposed that the veto of the +people of Rheims would have been effectual had they opposed: but +the scene is wonderfully picturesque. No doubt Jeanne too was there, +watching over her King, as she seems to have done, like a mother over +her child, at this crisis of his affairs. + +That night there was little sleep in Rheims, for everything had to be +prepared in haste, the decorations of the cathedral, the provisions for +the ceremonial. Many of the necessary articles were at Saint Denis in +the hands of the English, and the treasury of the cathedral had to be +ransacked to find the fitting vessels. Fortunately it was rich, more +rich probably than it is now, when the commonplace silver of the +beginning of this century has replaced the ancient vials. Through the +short summer night everyone was at work in these preparations; and by +the dawn of day visitors began to flow into the city, great personages +and small, to attend the great ceremonial and to pay their homage. The +greatest of all was the Duke of Lorraine, he who had consulted Jeanne +about his health, husband of the heiress of that rich principality, and +son of Queen Yolande who was no doubt with the Court. All France seemed +to pour into the famous town, where so important an act was about to +be accomplished, with money and wine flowing on all hands, and the +enthusiasm growing along with the popular excitement and profit. Even +great London is stirred to its limits, many miles off from the centre +of proceedings, by such a great event; how much more the little mediaeval +city, in which every one might hope to see something of the pageant, +as one shining group after another, with armour blazing in the sun, and +sleek horses caracoling, arrived at the great gates of the Archeveche: +and lesser parties scarcely less interesting poured in in need of +lodging, of equipment and provisions; while every housewife searched +her stores for a piece of brilliant stuff, of old silk or embroidery, to +make her house shine like the rest. + +Early in the morning, a wonderful procession came out of the +Archbishop's house. Four splendid peers of France, in full armour +with their banners, rode through the streets to the old Abbey of Saint +Remy--the old church which Leo IX. consecrated, in the eleventh century, +on an equally splendid occasion, and which may still be seen to-day--to +fetch from its shrine, where it was strictly guarded by the monks, +the Sainte Ampoule, the holy and sacred vial in which the oil of +consecration had been sent to Clovis out of Heaven. These noble +messengers were the "hostages" of this sacred charge, engaging +themselves by an oath never to lose sight of it by night or day, till it +was restored to its appointed guardians. This vow having been made, +the Abbot of St. Remy, in his richest robes, appeared surrounded by his +monks, carrying the treasure in his hands; and under a splendid +canopy, blazing in the sunshine with cloth of gold, marched towards the +cathedral under the escort of the Knights Hostages, blazing also in the +flashes of their armour. This procession was met half-way, before the +Church of St. Denis, by another, that of the Archbishop and his train, +to whom the holy oil was solemnly confided, and carried by them to the +cathedral, already filled by a dazzled and dazzling crowd. + +The Maid had her occupations this July morning like the rest. We hear +nothing of any interview with her father, or with Durand the good uncle +who had helped her in the beginning of her career; though it was Durand +who was sent for to the King and questioned as to Jeanne's life in her +childhood and early youth; which we may take as proof that Jacques d'Arc +still stood aloof, _dour_, as a Scotch peasant father might have been, +suspicious of his daughter's intimacy with all these fine people, and +in no way cured of his objections to the publicity which is little less +than shame to such rugged folk. And there were his two sons who would +take him about, and with whom probably in their easier commonplace +he was more at home than with Jeanne. What the Maid had to do on the +morning of the coronation day was something very different from any home +talk with her relations. She who felt herself commissioned not only to +lead the armies of France, but to deal with her princes and take part in +her councils, occupied the morning in dictating a letter to the Duke of +Burgundy. She had summoned the English by letter three times repeated, +to withdraw peaceably from the possessions which by God's will were +French. It was with still better reason that she summoned Philip of +Burgundy to renounce his feud with his cousin, and thus to heal the +breach which had torn France in two: + +JHESUS, MARIA. + +High and redoubtable Prince, Duke of Burgundy. Jeanne the Maid requires +on the part of the King of Heaven, my most just sovereign and Lord (_mon +droicturier souverain seigneur_), that the King of France and you make +peace between yourselves, firm, strong and that will endure. Pardon each +other of good heart, entirely, as loyal Christians ought to do, and if +you desire to fight let it be against the Saracens. Prince of Burgundy, +I pray, supplicate, and require, as humbly as may be, fight no longer +against the holy kingdom of France: withdraw, at once and speedily, +your people who are in any strongholds or fortresses of the said holy +kingdom; and on the part of the gentle King of France, he is ready to +make peace with you, having respect to his honour, and upon your life +that you never will gain a battle against loyal Frenchmen and that all +those who war against the said holy kingdom of France, war against +the King Jesus, King of Heaven and of all the world and my just and +sovereign Lord. And I pray and require with clasped hands that you +fight not, nor make any battle against us, neither your friends nor your +subjects; but believe always however great in number may be the men you +lead against us, that you will never win, and it would be great pity +for the great battle and the blood that would be shed of those who came +against us. Three weeks ago I sent you a letter by a herald that you +should be present at the consecration of the King, which to-day, Sunday, +the seventeenth of the present month of July, is done in the city of +Rheims: to which I have had no answer, nor even any news by the said +herald. To God I commend you, and may He be your guard if it pleases +Him, and I pray God to make good peace. + +Written at the aforesaid Rheims, the seventeenth day of July, 1429. + +When the letter was finished Jeanne put on her armour and prepared for +the great ceremony. We are not told what part she took in it, nor is any +more prominent position assigned to her than among the noble crowd +of peers and generals who surrounded the altar, where her place +would naturally be, upon the broad raised platform of the choir, so +excellently adapted for such ceremonies. Her banner we are told was +borne into the cathedral, in order, as she proudly explained afterwards, +that having been foremost in the danger it should share the honour. + +But we have no right to suppose that the Maid took the position of the +chief actor in the pageant and stood alone by the side of Charles, +as the exigencies of the pictorial art have required her to do. When, +however, the ceremony was completed, and he had received on his knees +the anointing which separated him as king from every other class of men, +and while the lofty vaults echoed with the cries of Noel! Noel! by which +the people hailed the completed ceremony, Jeanne could contain herself +no longer. The object was attained for which she had laboured and +struggled, and overcome every opponent. She stepped forward out of +the brilliant crowd, and threw herself at the feet of the now crowned +monarch, embracing his knees. "Gentle King," she cried with tears, "now +is the pleasure of God fulfilled--whose will it was that I should raise +the siege of Orleans and lead you to this city of Rheims to receive +your consecration. Now has He shown that you are true King, and that the +kingdom of France truly belongs to you alone." + +Those broken words, her tears, the cry of that profound satisfaction +which is almost anguish, the "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart +in peace," which is so suitable to the lips of the old, so poignant from +those of the young, pierced all hearts. It is added that she asked leave +to withdraw, her work being done, and that all who saw her were filled +with sympathy. It was no doubt the irresistible outburst of a heart too +full; and though that fulness was all joy and triumph, yet there was in +it a sense of completed work, a rending asunder and tearing away from +life, the end of a wonderful and triumphant tale. + +There is a considerable controversy as to the precise meaning of that +outburst of emotion. Did the Maid mean that her work was over, and her +divine mission fulfilled? Was this all that she believed herself to be +appointed to do? or did she expect, as she sometimes said, to _bouter_ +the English out of France altogether? In the one case she ought to +have relinquished her work, and in not doing so she acted without the +protection of God which had hitherto made her invulnerable. In the +other, her "voices," her inspiration, must have failed her, for her +course of triumph went no farther. It is impossible to decide between +these contending theories. She did speak in both senses, sometimes +declaring that she was to take Paris, sometimes, her intention to +_bouter_ the English out of the kingdom. At the same time she betrayed a +constant conviction that her office had limitations and must come to an +end. "I will last but a year," she said to the King and to Alencon. The +testimony of Dunois seems to be the best we can have on this point. +He says in his deposition, made many years after her death: "Although +Jeanne sometimes talked playfully to amuse people, of things concerning +the war which were not afterwards accomplished, yet when she spoke +seriously of the war, and of her own career and her vocation, she never +affirmed anything but that she was sent to raise the siege of Orleans +and to lead the King to Rheims to be crowned." + +If this were so was she wrong in continuing her warfare, and did she +place herself in the position of one who goes on her own charges, +finding the mission from on high unnecessary? Or in the other case did +her inspiration fail her, or were the intrigues of Charles and his +Court sufficient to balk the designs of Heaven? We prefer to think +that Jeanne's commission concerned only those two things which she +accomplished so completely; but that in continuing the war, she acted +only as a well inspired and honourable young soldier might, though no +longer as the direct messenger of God. She had as much right to do so +as to return to her distaff or her needle in her native village; but +she became subject to all the ordinary laws of war by so doing, exposed +herself to be taken or overthrown like any man-at-arms, and accepted +that risk. What is certain is, that every intrigue sprang up again +afresh on the evening of that brilliant and triumphant ceremonial, and +that from the moment of the accomplishment of her great work the failure +of the Maid began. + +These intrigues had been in her way since her very first beginning, as +has been seen. At Orleans, in the very field as well as in the council +chamber and the presence, everything was done to balk her, and to cross +her plans, but in vain; she triumphed over every contrivance against +her, and broke through the plots, and overcame the plotters. But after +Rheims the combination of dangers became ever greater and greater, and +we may say that no merely human general would have had a chance in face +of the many and bewildering influences of evil. Charles who was himself, +at least at this period of his career, sufficiently indolent and +unenterprising to have damped the energies of any commander, was, in +addition, surrounded by advisers who had always been impatient and +jealous of the interference of Jeanne, and would have cast her off as a +witch, or passed her by as an impostor, had that been possible, without +permitting her to strike a blow. They had now grudgingly made use of +her, or rather, for this is too much to say, had permitted her action +where they had no power to restrain it: but they were as little +friendly, as malignant in their treatment of the Maid as ever, and more +hopeful, now that so much had been done by her means, of being able to +shake her off and pursue their fate in their own way. + +The position of Charles crowned King of France with all the traditional +pomp, master of the Orleannais, with fresh bands of supporters coming in +to swell his army day by day, and Paris itself almost within his reach, +was very different from that of the discredited Dauphin at Chinon, whom +half the world believed to have no right to the crown which his own +mother had signed away from him, and who wasted his idle days in folly +to the profit of the greedy councillors who schemed and trafficked +with his enemies, and to the destruction of all his hopes. The strange +apparition of virginal purity, energy, and faith which had taken up +and saved him against his will and all his efforts had not ceased for a +moment to be hateful to La Tremouille and his party; and Charles--though +he seems to have had a certain appreciation of the Maid, and even a +liking for her frank and fearless character, apart from any faith in +her mission--was far too ready to accept the facts of the moment, and +probably to believe that, after all, his own worth and favour with +Heaven had a great deal to do with this dazzling triumph and success: +certainly he was not the man to make any stand for his deliverer. But +that she was an auxiliary too important to be sent away was reluctantly +apparent to them all. To keep her as a sort of tame angel about the +Court in order to be produced when she was wanted, to put heart into +the soldiers and frighten the English as she certainly had the gift of +doing, no doubt appeared to all as a thing desirable enough. And they +dared not let her go "because of the people," nor, may we believe, +would Alencon, Dunois, La Hire, and the rest have tolerated thus the +abandonment of their comrade. To dismiss her even at her own word would +have been impossible, and it is hard to believe that Jeanne, after that +extraordinary brief career as a triumphant general and leader, could +have gone back to her father's cottage of the village, though she +thought she would fain have done so. If we are to believe that she felt +her mission to be fulfilled, she was yet mistress of her fate to serve +France and the King as seemed best. + +And we have no evidence that her "voices" forsook her, or discouraged +her. They seem to have changed a little in their burden, they began to +mingle a sadder tone in their intimations. It began to be breathed into +her mind though not immediately, that something was to happen to her, +some disaster not explained, yet that God was to be with her. It +seems to me that all the circumstances are compatible with a change in +Jeanne's consciousness, from the moment of the coronation. It might +have been a grander thing had she retired there and then, her work being +accomplished as she declared it to be; but it would not have been human. +She was still a power, if no longer the direct messenger from Heaven; +a general, with much skill and natural aptitude if not the Sent of God; +and the ardour of a military career had got into her veins. No doubt +she was much more good for that, now, than for sitting by the side of +Isabeau d'Arc at Domremy, and working even into a piece of embroidery +for the altar, her remembrances and visions of camp and siege and the +intoxication of victory. She remained, conscious that she was no longer +exactly as of old, to fight not only against the English, but with +intimate enemies, far more bitter, whom now she knew, against the +ordinary fortune of war, and against that which is a thousand times +worse, the hatred and envy, the cruel carelessness, and the malignant +schemes of her own countrymen for whom she had fought. + +This, so far as we can judge, appears to be the position of Jeanne in +the second portion of her career; perhaps only dimly apprehended and at +moments, by herself; not much thought of probably by those around her, +the wisest of whom had always been sceptical of her divine commission; +while the populace never saw any change in her, and believed that at one +time as well as at another the Maid was the Maid, and had victory at her +command. And no doubt that influence would have endured for some time at +least, and her dauntless rush against every obstacle would have carried +success with it, had she been able to carry out her plans, and fly +forth upon Paris as she had done upon Orleans, carrying on the campaign +swiftly, promptly, without pause or uncertainty. Bedford himself said +that Paris "would fall at a blow," if she came on. It had been hard +enough, however, to do that, as we have seen, when she was the only hope +of France and had the fire of the divine enthusiasm in her veins; but +it was still more hard now to mould a young King elated with triumph, +beginning to feel the crown safe upon his head, and to feel that if +there was still much to gain, there was now a great deal to be lost. +The position was complicated and made more difficult for Jeanne by every +advantage she had gained. + +In the meantime the secret negotiations, which were always being carried +on under the surface, had come to this point, that Charles had made +a private treaty with Philip of Burgundy by which that prince pledged +himself to give up Paris into the King's hands within fifteen days. +This agreement furnished a sufficient pretext for the delay in marching +against Paris, delay which was Charles's invariable method, and which +but for Jeanne's hardihood and determination, had all but crushed the +expedition to Rheims itself. It was never with any will of his or of his +adviser, La Tremouille, that any stronghold was assailed. He would fain +have passed by Troyes, as the reader will remember, he would fain have +delayed going to Rheims; in each case he had been forced to move by the +impetuosity of the Maid. But a treaty which touched the honour of the +King was a different matter. Philip of Burgundy, with whom it was made, +seems to have held the key of the position. He was called to Paris by +Bedford on one side to defend the city against its lawful King; he had +pledged himself on the other to Charles to give it up. He had in his +hands, though it is uncertain whether he ever read it, that missive of +the sorceress, the letter of Jeanne which I have quoted, calling upon +him on the part of God to make peace. What was he to do? There were +reasons drawing him to both sides. He was the enemy of Charles on +account of the murder of his father, and therefore had every interest in +keeping Paris from him; he was angry with the English on account of the +marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Jacqueline of Brabant, which +interfered with his own rights and safety in Flanders, and therefore +might have served himself by giving up the capital to the King. As for +the appeal of Jeanne, what was the letter of that mad creature to a +prince and statesman? The progress of affairs was arrested by this +double problem. Jeanne had been the prominent, the only important figure +in the history of France for some months past. Now that shining figure +was jostled aside, and the ordinary laws of life, with all the counter +changes of negotiation, the ineffectual comings and goings, the meaner +half-seen persons, the fierce contending personal interests--in which +there was no love of either God or man, or any elevated notion of +patriotism--came again into play. + +Jeanne would seem to have already foreseen and felt this change even +before she left Rheims; there is a new tone of sadness in some of her +recorded words; or if not of sadness, at least of consciousness that an +end was approaching to all these triumphs and splendours. The following +tale is told in various different versions, as occurring with different +people; but the account I give is taken from the lips of Dunois himself, +a very competent witness. As the King, after his coronation, wended his +way through the country, receiving submission and joyous welcome from +every village and little town, it happened that while passing through +the town of La Ferte, Jeanne rode between the Archbishop of Rheims and +Dunois. The Archbishop had never been friendly to the Maid, and now it +was clear, watched her with that half satirical, half amused look of +the wise man, curious and cynical in presence of the incomprehensible, +observing her ways and very ready to catch her tripping and to entangle +her if possible in her own words. The people thronged the way, full of +enthusiasm, acclaiming the King and shouting their joyful exclamations +of "Noel!" though it does not appear that any part of their devotion was +addressed to Jeanne herself. "Oh, the good people," she cried with tears +in her eyes, "how joyful they are to see their noble King! And how happy +should I be to end my days and be buried here among them!" The +priest unmoved by such an exclamation from so young a mouth attempted +instantly, like the Jewish doctors with our Lord, to catch her in her +words and draw from her some expression that might be used against her. +"Jeanne," he said, "in what place do you expect to die?" It was a direct +challenge to the messenger of Heaven to take upon herself the gift +of prophecy. But Jeanne in her simplicity shattered the snare which +probably she did not even perceive: "When it pleases God," she said. "I +know neither the place nor the time." + +It was enough, however, that she should think of death and of the +sweetness of it, after her work accomplished, in the very moment of +her height of triumph--to show something of a new leaven working in her +virgin soul. + +One characteristic reward, however, Jeanne did receive. Her father and +uncle were lodged at the public cost as benefactors of the kingdom, as +may still be seen by the inscription on the old inn in the great Place +at Rheims; and when Jacques d'Arc left the city he carried with him a +patent--better than one of nobility which, however, came to the family +later--of exemption for the villages of Domremy and Greux of all +taxes and tributes; "an exemption maintained and confirmed up to the +Revolution, in favour of the said Maid, native of that parish, in which +are her relations." "In the register of the Exchequer," says M. Blaze de +Bury, "at the name of the parish of Greux and Domremy, the place for +the receipt is blank, with these words as explanation: _a cause de la +Pucelle_, on account of the Maid." There could not have been a more +delightful reward or one more after her own heart. It would be a +graceful act of the France of to-day, which has so warmly revived +the name and image of her maiden deliverer, to renew so touching a +distinction to her native place. + +We are told that Jeanne parted with her father and uncle with tears, +longing that she might return with them and go back to her mother who +would rejoice to see her again. This was no doubt quite true, though +it might be equally true that she could not have gone back. Did not +the father return, a little sullen, grasping the present he had himself +received, not sure still that it was not disreputable to have a daughter +who wore coat armour and rode by the side of the King, a position +certainly not proper for maidens of humble birth? The dazzled peasants +turned their backs upon her while she was thus at the height of glory, +and never, so far as appears, saw her face again. + + + +CHAPTER VII -- THE SECOND PERIOD. 1429-1430. + +The epic so brief, so exciting, so full of wonder had now reached its +climax. Whatever we may think on the question as to whether Jeanne had +now reached the limit of her commission, it is at least evident that she +had reached the highest point of her triumph, and that her short day of +glory and success came to an end in the great act which she had always +spoken of as her chief object. She had crowned her King; she had +recovered for him one of the richest of his provinces, and established a +strong base for further action on his part. She had taught Frenchmen how +not to fly before the English, and she had filled those stout-hearted +English, who for a time had the Frenchmen in their powerful steel-clad +grip, with terror and panic, and taught them how to fly in their turn. +This was, from the first, what she had said she was appointed to do, +and not one of her promises had been broken. Her career had been a short +one, begun in April, ending in July, one brief continuous course of +glory. But this triumphant career had come to its conclusion. The +messenger of God had done her work; the servant must not desire to be +greater than his Lord. There have been heroes in this world whose career +has continued a glorious and a happy one to the end. Our hearts follow +them in their noble career, but when the strain and pain are over they +come into their kingdom and reap their reward the interest fails. We +are glad, very glad, that they should live happy ever after, but their +happiness does not attract us like their struggle. + +It is different with those whose work and whose motives are not those of +this world. When they step out of the brilliant lights of triumph into +sorrow and suffering, all that is most human in us rises to follow the +bleeding feet, our hearts swell with indignation, with sorrow and love, +and that instinctive admiration for the noble and pure, which proves +that our birthright too is of Heaven, however we may tarnish or even +deny that highest pedigree. The chivalrous romance of that age would +have made of Jeanne d'Arc the heroine of human story. She would have had +a noble lover, say our young Guy de Laval, or some other generous and +brilliant Seigneur of France, and after her achievements she would have +laid by her sword, and clothed herself with the beautiful garments of +the age, and would have grown to be a noble lady in some half regal +chateau, to which her name would have given new lustre. The young reader +will probably long that it should be so; he will feel it an injustice, a +wrong to humanity that so generous a soul should have no reward; it will +seem to him almost a personal injury that there should not be a noble +chevalier at hand to snatch that devoted Maid out of the danger that +threatened her, out of the horrible fate that befell her; and we can +imagine a generous boy, and enthusiastic girl, ready to gnash their +teeth at the terrible and dishonouring thought that it was by English +hands that this noble creature was tied to the stake and perished in +the flames. For the last it becomes us(1) to repent, for it was to our +everlasting shame; but not more to us than to France who condemned her, +who lifted no finger to help her, who raised not even a cry, a protest, +against the cruelty and wrong. But for her fate in itself let us not +mourn over-much. Had the Maid become a great and honoured lady should +not we all have said as Satan says in the Book of Job: Did Jeanne serve +God for nought? We should say: See what she made by it. Honour and fame +and love and happiness. She did nobly, but nobly has she been rewarded. + +But that is not God's way. The highest saint is born to martyrdom. To +serve God for nought is the greatest distinction which He reserves +for His chosen. And this was the fate to which the Maid of France was +consecrated from the moment she set out upon her mission. She had the +supreme glory of accomplishing that which she believed herself to be +sent to do, and which I also believe she was sent to do, miraculously, +by means undreamed of, and in which no one beforehand could have +believed. But when that was done a higher consecration awaited her. She +had to drink of the cup of which our Lord drank, and to be baptised with +the baptism with which He was baptised. It was involved in every step +of the progress that it should be so. And she was herself aware of it, +vaguely, at heart, as soon as the object of her mission was attained. +What else could have put the thought of dying into the mind of a girl of +eighteen in the midst of the adoring crowd, to whom to see her, to touch +her, was a benediction? When she went forth from those gates she was +going to her execution, though the end was not to be yet. There was +still a long struggle before her, lingering and slow, more bitter than +death, the preface of discouragement, of disappointment, of failure when +she had most hoped to succeed. + +She was on the threshold of this second period when she rode out of +Rheims all brilliant in the summer weather, her banner faded now, +but glorious, her shining armour bearing signs of warfare, her end +achieved--yet all the while her heart troubled, uncertain, and full of +unrest. And it is impossible not to note that from this time her plans +were less defined than before. Up to the coronation she had known +exactly what she meant to do, and in spite of all obstructions had done +it, keeping her genial humour and her patience, steering her simple way +through all the intrigues of the Court, without bitterness and without +fear. But now a vague mist seems to fall about the path which was so +open and so clear. Paris! Yes, the best policy, the true generalship +would have been to march straight upon Paris, to lose no time, to leave +as little leisure as possible to the intriguers to resume their old +plots. So the generals thought as well as Jeanne: but the courtiers were +not of that mind. The weak and foolish notion of falling back upon what +they had gained, and of contenting themselves with that, was all they +thought of; and the un-French, unpatriotic temper of Paris which wanted +no native king, but was content with the foreigner, gave them a certain +excuse. We could not even imagine London as being ever, at any time, +contented with an alien rule. But Paris evidently was so, and was ready +to defend itself to the death against its lawful sovereign. Jeanne had +never before been brought face to face with such a complication. It had +been a straightforward struggle, each man for his own side, up to this +time. But now other things had to be taken into consideration. Here +was no faithful Orleans holding out eager arms to its deliverer, but a +crafty, self-seeking city, deaf to patriotism, indifferent to freedom, +calculating which was most to its profit--and deciding that the +stranger, with Philip of Burgundy at his back, was the safer guide. This +was enough of itself to make a simple mind pause in astonishment and +dismay. + +There is no evidence that the supernatural leaders who had shaped the +course of the Maid failed her now. She still heard her "voices." She +still held communion with the three saints who, she believed devoutly, +came out of Heaven to aid her. The whole question of this supernatural +guidance is one which is of course open to discussion. There are many +in these days who do not believe in it at all, who believe in the +exaltation of Jeanne's brain, in the excitement of her nerves, in some +strange complication of bodily conditions, which made her believe she +saw and heard what she did not really see or hear. For our part, we +confess frankly that these explanations are no explanation at all so far +as we are concerned; we are far more inclined to believe that the +Maid spoke truth, she who never told a lie, she who fulfilled all the +promises she made in the name of her guides, than that those people are +right who tell us on their own authority that such interpositions of +Heaven are impossible. Nobody in Jeanne's day doubted that Heaven did +interpose directly in human affairs. The only question was, Was it +Heaven in this instance? Was it not rather the evil one? Was it sorcery +and witchcraft, or was it the agency of God? The English believed firmly +that it was witchcraft; they could not imagine that it was God, the God +of battles, who had always been on their side, who now took the courage +out of their hearts and taught their feet to fly for the first time. It +was the devil, and the Maid herself was a wicked witch. Neither one side +nor the other believed that it was from Jeanne's excited nerves that +these great things came. There were plenty of women with excited nerves +in France, nerves much more excited than those of Jeanne, who was always +reasonable at the height of her inspiration; but to none of them did it +happen to mount the breach, to take the city, to drive the enemy--up to +that moment invincible,--flying from the field. + +But it would seem as if these celestial visitants had no longer a clear +and definite message for the Maid. Their words, which she quotes, were +now promises of support, vague warnings of trouble to come. "Fear not, +for God will stand by you." She thought they meant that she would be +delivered in safety as she had been hitherto, her wounds healing, her +sacred person preserved from any profane touch. But yet such promises +have always something enigmatical in them, and it might be, as proved to +be the case, that they meant rather consolation and strength to endure +than deliverance. For the first time the Maid was often sad; she feared +nothing, but the shadow was heavy on her heart. Orleans and Rheims had +been clear as daylight, her "voices" had said to her "Do this" and she +had done it. Now there was no definite direction. She had to judge for +herself what was best, and to walk in darkness, hoping that what she did +was what she was meant to do, but with no longer any certainty. This of +itself was a great change, and one which no doubt she felt to her heart. +M. Fabre tells (alone among the biographers of Jeanne) that there were +symptoms of danger to her sound and steady mind, in her words and ways +during the moment of triumph. Her chaplain Pasquerel wrote a letter +in her name to the Hussites, against whom the Pope was then sending +crusades, in which "I, the Maid," threatened, if they were not +converted, to come against them and give them the alternative of death +or amendment. Quicherat says that to the Count d'Armagnac who had +written to her, whether in good faith or bad, to ask which of the three +then existent Popes was the real one, she is reported to have answered +that she would tell him as soon as the English left her free to do so. +But this is a perverted account of what she really did say, and M. Fabre +seems to be, like the rest of us, a little confused in his dates: and +the documents themselves on which he builds are not of unquestioned +authority. These, however, would be but small speck upon the sunshine +of her perfect humility and sobriety; if indeed they are to be depended +upon as authentic at all. + +The day of Jeanne, her time of glory and success, was but a short +one--Orleans was delivered on the 8th of May, the coronation of Charles +took place on the 17th of July; before the earliest of these dates +she had spent nearly two months in an anxious yet hopeful struggle of +preparation, before she was permitted to enter upon her career. The time +of her discouragement was longer. It was ten months from the day when +she rode out of Rheims, the 25th of July, 1429, till the 23d of May, +1430, when she was taken. She had said after the deliverance of Orleans +that she had but a year in which to accomplish her work, and at a later +period, Easter, 1430, her "voices" told her that "before the St. Jean" +she would be in the power of her enemies. Both these statements came +true. She rose quickly but fell more slowly, struggling along upon the +downward course, unable to carry out what she would, hampered on every +hand, and not apparently followed with the same fervour as of old. It is +true that the principal cause of all seems to have been the schemes of +the Court and the indolence of Charles; but all these hindrances had +existed before, and the King and his treacherous advisers had been +unwillingly dragged every mile of the way, though every step made had +been to Charles's advantage. But now though the course is still one of +victory the Maid no longer seems to be either the chief cause or the +immediate leader. Perhaps this may be partly due to the fact that little +fighting was necessary, town after town yielding to the King, which +reduced the part of Jeanne to that of a spectator; but there is a +change of atmosphere and tone which seems to point to something more +fundamental than this. The historians are very unwilling to acknowledge, +except Michelet who does so without hesitation, that she had herself +fixed the term of her commission as ending at Rheims; it is certain +that she said many things which bear this meaning, and every fact of +her after career seems to us to prove it: but it is also true that her +conviction wavered, and other sayings indicate a different belief or +hope. She did no wrong in following the profession of arms in which she +had made so glorious a beginning; she had many gifts and aptitudes for +it of which she was not herself at first aware: but she was no longer +the Envoy of God. Enough had been done to arouse the old spirit of +France, to break the spell of the English supremacy; it was right and +fitting that France should do the rest for herself. Perhaps Jeanne was +not herself very clear on this point, and after her first statement of +it, became less assured. It is not necessary that the servant should +know the designs of the master. It did not after all affect her. Her +business was to serve God to the best of her power, not to take the +management out of His hands. + +The army went forth joyously upon its way, directing itself towards +Paris. There was a pilgrimage to make, such as the Kings of France +were in the habit of making after their coronation; there were pleasant +incidents, the submission of a village, the faint resistance, instantly +overcome, of a small town, to make the early days pleasant. Laon and +Soissons both surrendered. Senlis and Beauvais received the King's +envoys with joy. The independent captains of the army made little +circles about, like parties of pleasure, bringing in another and another +little stronghold to the allegiance of the King. When he turned aside, +taking as he passed through, without as yet any serious deflection, the +road rather to the Loire than to Paris, success still attended him. At +Chateau-Thierry resistance was expected to give zest to the movement +of the forces, but that too yielded at once as the others had done. +The dates are very vague and it seems difficult to find any mode of +reconciling them. Almost all the historians while accusing the King of +foolish dilatoriness and confusion of plans give us a description of the +undefended state of Paris at the moment, which a sudden stroke on the +part of Charles might have carried with little difficulty, during the +absence of all the chiefs from the city and the great terror of the +inhabitants; but a comparison of dates shows that the Duke of Bedford +re-entered Paris with strong reinforcements on the very day on which +Charles left Rheims three days only after his coronation, so that he +scarcely seems so much to blame as appears. But the general delay, +inefficiency, and hesitation existing at headquarters, naturally lead to +mistakes of this kind. + +The great point was that Paris itself was by no means disposed to +receive the King. Strange as it seems to say so Paris was bitterly, +fiercely English at that extraordinary moment, a fact which ought to be +taken into account as the most important in the whole matter. There was +no answering enthusiasm in the capital of France to form an auxiliary +force behind its ramparts and encourage the besiegers outside. The +populace perhaps might be indifferent: at the best it had no feeling on +the subject; but there was no welcome awaiting the King. During the time +of Bedford's absence the city felt itself to have "no lord"--_ceux de +Paris avoit grand peur car nul seigneur n' y avoit_. It was believed +that Charles would put all the inhabitants to the sword, and their +desperation of feeling was rather that which leads to a wild and +hopeless defence than to submission. The Duke of Bedford, governing in +the name of the infant Henry VI. Of England, was their seigneur, instead +of their natural sovereign. It is a fact which to us seems scarcely +credible, but it was certainly true. There seems to have been no feeling +even, on the subject, no general shame as of a national betrayal; +nothing of the kind. Paris was English, holding by the English kings who +had never lost a certain hold on France, and thinking no shame of its +party. It was a hostile town, the chief of the English possessions. +In the _Journal du Bourgeois de Paris_--who was no _bourgeois_ but a +distinguished member of that university which held the Maid and all her +ways in horror--Jeanne the deliverer, the incarnation of patriotism +and of France is spoken of as "a creature in the form of a woman." How +extraordinary is this evidence of a state of affairs in which it is +almost impossible to believe! Paris is France nowadays to many people, +though no doubt this is but a superficial judgment; but in the +early part of the fifteenth century, she was frankly English, not +by compulsion even, but by habit and policy. Perhaps the delays, the +hesitation, the terrors of Charles and his counsellors are thus rendered +more excusable than by any other explanation. + +In the meantime it is almost impossible to follow the wanderings of +this vacillating army without a map. If the reader should trace its +movements, he would see what a stumbling and devious course it took as +of a man blundering in the dark. From Rheims to Soissons the way was +clear; then there came a sudden move southward to Chateau-Thierry from +which indeed there was still a straight line to Paris but which still +more clearly indicated the highroad leading to the Orleannais, the +faithful districts of the Loire. This retrograde movement was not made +without a great outcry from the generals. Their opinion was that the +King ought to press on to conquer everything while the English forces +were still depressed and discouraged. In their mind this deflection +towards the south was an abandonment at once of honour and safety. An +unimportant check on the way, however, gave an argument to the leaders +of the army, and Charles permitted himself to be dragged back. They then +made their way by La Ferte-Milon, Crepy, and Daumartin, and on this +road the English troops which had been led out from Paris by Bedford to +intercept them came twice within fighting distance of the French army. +The English, as all the French historians are eager to inform us, +invariably entrenched themselves in their positions, surrounding their +lines with sharp-pointed posts by which the equally invariable rush of +the French could be broken. But the French on these occasions were too +wise to repeat the impetuous charge which had ruined them at Crecy and +Agincourt, and the consequence was that the two forces remained within +sight of each other, with a few skirmishes going on at the flanks, but +without any serious encounter. + +It will be more satisfactory, however, to copy the following +_itineraire_ of Charles's movements from the Chronicle of Perceval +de Cagny who was a member of the household of the Duc d'Alencon, and +probably present, certainly at all events bound to have the best and +most correct information. He informs us that the King left Rheims on +Thursday the 21st of July, and dined, supped, and lay at the Abbey of +St. Nanuol that night, where were brought to him the keys of the city of +Laon. He then set out on _le voyage a venir devant Paris_. + +"And on Saturday the 23d of the same month the King dined, supped and +lay at Soissons, and was there received the most honourably that the +churchmen, burghers and other people of the town were capable of: for +they had all great fear because of the destruction of the town which had +been taken by the Burgundians and made to rebel against the King. + +"Friday the 29th day of July the King and his company were all day +before Chateau-Thierry in order of battle, hoping that the Duke of +Bedford would appear to fight. The place surrendered at the hour of +vespers, and the King lodged there till Monday the first of August. On +that day the King lay at Monmirail in Brie. + +"Tuesday the 2d of August he passed the night in the town of Provins, +and had the best possible reception there, and remained till the Friday +following, the 5th August. Sunday the 7th the King lay at the town +of Coulommiers in Brie. Wednesday the 10th he lay at La Ferte- Milon, +Thursday at Crespy in Valois--Friday at Laigny-le-Sec. The following +Saturday the 13th the King held the field near Dammartin-en-Gouelle, for +the whole day looking out for the English: but they came not. + +"On Sunday the 14th August the Maid, the Duc d'Alencon, the Count de +Vendosme, the Marshals and other captains accompanied by six or seven +thousand combatants were at the hour of vespers lodged in the fields +near Montepilloy, nearly two leagues from the town of Senlis--The +Duke of Bedford and other English captains with between eight and ten +thousand English lying half a league from Senlis between our people and +the said city on a little stream, in a village called Notre Dame de la +Victoire. That evening our people skirmished with the English near to +their camp and in this skirmish were people taken on each side, and of +the English Captain d'Orbec and ten or twelve others, and people wounded +on both sides: when night fell each retired to their own quarters." + +The same writer records an appeal in the true tone of chivalry addressed +to the English by Jeanne and Alencon desiring them to come out from +their entrenchments and fight: and promising to withdraw to a sufficient +distance to permit the enemy to place himself in the open field. The +French troops had first "put themselves in the best state of conscience +that could possibly be, hearing mass at an early hour and then to +horse." But the English would not come out. Jeanne, with her standard in +her hand rode up to the English entrenchments, and some one says (not de +Cagny) struck the posts with her banner, challenging the force within +to come out and fight; while they on their side waved at the French in +defiance, a standard copied from that of Jeanne, on which was depicted +a distaff and spindle. But neither host approached any nearer. Finally, +Charles made his way to Compiegne. + +At Chateau-Thierry there was concluded an arrangement with Philip of +Burgundy for a truce of fifteen days, before the end of which time the +Duke undertook to deliver Paris peaceably to the French. That this was +simply to gain time and that no idea of giving up Paris had ever been +entertained is evident; perhaps Charles was not even deceived. He, no +more than Philip, had any desire to encounter the dangers of such a +siege. But he was able at least to silence the clamours of the army and +the representations of the persistent Maid by this truce. To wait for +fifteen days and receive the prize without a blow struck, would not that +be best? The counsellors of the King held thus a strong position, though +the delay made the hearts of the warriors sick. + +The figure of Jeanne appears during these marchings and +counter-marchings like that of any other general, pursuing a skilful but +not unusual plan of campaign. That she did well and bravely there can be +no doubt, and there is a characteristic touch which we recognise, in the +fact that she and all of her company "put themselves in the best +state of conscience that could be," before they took to horse; but the +skirmishes and repulses are such as Alencon himself might have made. +"She made much diligence," the same chronicler tells us, "to reduce and +place many towns in the obedience of the King," but so did many others +with like success. We hear no more her vigorous knock at the door of the +council chamber if the discussion there was too long or the proceedings +too secret. Her appearances are those of a general among many other +generals, no longer with any special certainty in her movements as of a +person inspired. We are reminded of a story told of a previous period, +after the fight at Patay, when blazing forth in the indignation of her +youthful purity at the sight of one of the camp followers, a degraded +woman with some soldiers, she struck the wanton with the flat of +her sword, driving her forth from the camp, where was no longer that +chastened army of awed and reverent soldiers making their confession on +the eve of every battle, whom she had led to Orleans. The sword she used +on this occasion, was, it is said, the miraculous sword which had been +found under the high altar of St. Catharine at Fierbois; but at the +touch of the unclean the maiden brand broke in two. If this was an +allegory(2) to show that the work of that weapon was over, and the +common sword of the soldier enough for the warfare that remained, it +could not be more clearly realised than in the history of this campaign. +The only touch of our real Maid in her own distinct person comes to +us in a letter written in a field on that same wavering road to Paris, +dated as early as the 5th of August and addressed to the good people of +Rheims, some of whom had evidently written to her to ask what was the +meaning of the delay, and whether she had given up the cause of +the country. There is a terse determination in its brief, indignant +sentences which is a relief to the reader weary of the wavering and +purposeless campaign: + +"Dear and good friends, good and loyal Frenchmen of the town of Rheims. +Jeanne, the Maid, sends you news of her. It is true that the King has +made a truce of fifteen days with the Duke of Burgundy, who promises +to render peaceably the city of Paris in that time. Do not, however, be +surprised if I enter there sooner, for I like not truces so made, and +know not whether I will keep them, but if I keep them, it will be only +because of the honour of the King." + +While Jeanne and her army thus played with the unmoving English, +advancing and retiring, attempting every means of drawing them out, the +enemy took advantage of one of these seeming withdrawals to march out +of their camp suddenly and return to Paris, which all this time had +been lying comparatively defenceless, had the French made their attack +sooner. At the same time Charles moved on to Compiegne where he gave +himself up to fresh intrigues with Philip of Burgundy, this time for a +truce to last till Christmas. The Maid was grievously troubled by this +step, _moult marrie_, and by the new period of delay and negotiation on +which the Court had entered. Paris was not given up, nor was there any +appearance that it ever would be, and to all the generals as well as to +the Maid it was very evident that this was the next step to be taken. +Some of the leaders wearied with inaction had pushed on to Normandy +where four great fortresses--greatest of all the immense and mysterious +stronghold on the high cliffs of the Seine, that imposing Chateau +Gaillard which Richard Coeur-de-lion had built, the ruins of which, white +and mystic, still dominate, like some Titanic ghost, above the course of +the river--had yielded to them. So great was the danger of Normandy, the +most securely English of all French provinces, that Bedford had again +been drawn out of Paris to defend it. Here then was another opportunity +to seize the capital. But Charles could not be induced to move. He found +many ways of amusing himself at Compiegne, and the new treaty was being +hatched with Burgundy which gave an excuse for doing nothing. The pause +which wearied them all out, both captains and soldiers, at last became +more than flesh and blood could bear. + +Jeanne once more was driven to take the initiative. Already on one +occasion she had forced the hand of the lingering Court, and resumed +the campaign of her own accord, an impatient movement which had been +perfectly successful. No doubt again the army itself was becoming +demoralised, and showing symptoms of falling to pieces. One day she sent +for Alencon in haste during the absence of the ambassadors at Arras. +"_Beau duc_," she cried, "prepare your troops and the other captains. +_En mon Dieu, par mon martin_,(3) I will see Paris nearer than I have +yet seen it." She had seen the towers from afar as she wandered over the +country in Charles's lingering train. Her sudden resolution struck like +fire upon the impatient band. They set out at once, Alencon and the Maid +at the head of their division of the army, and all rejoiced to get to +horse again, to push their way through every obstacle. They started on +the 23d August, nearly a month after the departure from Rheims, a month +entirely lost, though full of events, lost without remedy so far as +Paris was concerned. At Senlis they made a pause, perhaps to await the +King, who, it was hoped, would have been constrained to follow; then +carrying with them all the forces that could be spared from that town, +they spurred on to St. Denis where they arrived on the 27th: St. Denis, +the other sacred town of France, the place of the tomb, as Rheims was +the place of the crown. + +The royalty of France was Jeanne's passion. I do not say the King, which +might be capable of malinterpretation, but the kings, the monarchy, the +anointed of the Lord, by whom France was represented, embodied and +made into a living thing. She had loved Rheims, its associations, +its triumphs, the rejoicing of its citizens. These had been the +accompaniments of her own highest victory. She came to St. Denis in a +different mood, her heart hot with disappointment and the thwarting of +all her plans. From whatever cause it might spring, it was clear that +she was no longer buoyed up by that certainty which only a little while +before had carried her through every danger and over every obstacle. But +to have reached St. Denis at least was something. It was a place doubly +sacred, consecrated to that royal House for which she would so willingly +have given her life. And at last she was within sight of Paris, the +greatest prize of all. Up to this time she had known in actual warfare +nothing but victory. If her heart for the first time wavered and feared, +there was still no certain reason that, _de par Dieu_, she might not win +the day again. + +At St. Denis there was once more a cruel delay. Nearly a fortnight +passed and there was no news of the King. The Maid employed the time in +skirmishes and reconnoissances, but does not seem to have ventured on +an attack without the sanction of Charles, whom Alencon, finally, going +back on two several occasions, succeeded in setting in motion. Charles +had remained at Compiegne to carry out his treaty with Burgundy, and +the last thing he desired was this attack; but when he could resist +no longer he moved on reluctantly to St. Denis, where his arrival was +hailed with great delight. This was not until the 5th of September, and +the army, wrought up to a high pitch of excitement and expectation, was +eager for the fight. "There was no one of whatever condition, who did +not say, 'She will lead the King into Paris, if he will let her,'" says +the chronicler. + +In the meantime the authorities in Paris were at work, strengthening its +fortifications, frightening the populace with threats of the vengeance +of Charles, persuading every citizen of the danger of submission. + +The _Bourgeois_ tells us that letters came from "les Arminoz," that is, +the party of the King, sealed with the seal of the Duc d'Alencon, and +addressed to the heads of the city guilds and municipality inviting +their co-operation as Frenchmen. "But," adds the Parisian, "it was easy +to see through their meaning, and an answer was returned that they need +not throw away their paper as no attention was paid to it." There is +no sign at all that any national feeling existed to respond to such an +appeal. Paris--its courts of law, Parliaments (salaried by Bedford), +University, Church--every department, was English in the first place, +Burgundian in the second, dependent on English support and money. There +was no French party existing. The Maid was to them an evil sorceress, a +creature in the form of a woman, exercising the blackest arts. Perhaps +there was even a breath of consciousness in the air that Charles himself +had no desire for the fall of the city. He had left the Parisians +full time to make every preparation, he had held back as long as was +possible. His favour was all on the side of his enemies; for his own +forces and their leaders, and especially for the Maid, he had nothing +but discouragement, distrust, and auguries of evil. + +Nevertheless, these oppositions came to an end, and Jeanne, though less +ready and eager for the assault, found herself under the walls of Paris +at last. + + (1) "The English, not US," says Mr. Andrew Lang: and it is + pleasant to a Scot to know that this is true. England and + Scotland were then twain, and the Scots fought in the ranks + of our auld Ally. But for the present age the distinction + lasts no longer, and to the writer of an English book on + English soil it would be ungenerous to take the advantage. + + (2) It is taken as a miraculous sign by another chronicler, + Jean Chartier, who tells us that when this fact came to the + knowledge of the King the sword was given by him to the + workmen to be re-founded--"but they could not do it, nor put + the pieces together again: which is a great proof (_grant + approbation_) that the sword came to her divinely. And it is + notorious that since the breaking of that sword, the said + Jeanne neither prospered in arms to the profit of the King + nor otherwise as she had done before." + + (3) "It was her oath," adds the chronicler; no one is quite + sure what it means, but Quicherat is of opinion that it was + her _baton_, her stick or staff. Perceval de Cagny puts in + this exclamation in almost all the speeches of the Maid. It + must have struck him as a curious adjuration. Perhaps it + explains why La Hire, unable to do without something to + swear by, was permitted by Jeanne in their frank and + humorous _camaraderie_ to swear by his stick, the same + rustic oath. + + + +CHAPTER VIII -- DEFEAT AND DISCOURAGEMENT. AUTUMN, 1429. + +It was on the 7th September that Jeanne and her immediate followers +reached the village of La Chapelle, where they encamped for the night. +The next day was the day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, a great +festival of the Church. It could scarcely be a matter of choice on the +part of so devout a Catholic as Jeanne to take this day of all others, +when every church bell was tinkling forth a summons to the faithful, for +the day of assault. In all probability she was not now acting on her own +impulse but on that of the other generals and nobles. Had she refused, +might it not have been alleged against her that after all her impatience +it was she who was the cause of delay? The forces with Jeanne were not +very large, a great proportion of the army remaining with Charles no one +seems to know where, either at St. Denis or at some intermediate spot, +possibly to form a reserve force which could be brought up when wanted. +The best informed historian only knows that Charles was not with the +active force. But Alencon was at the head of the troops, along with +many other names well known to us, La Hire, and young Guy de Laval, and +Xantrailles, all mighty men of valour and the devoted friends of Jeanne. +There is a something, a mist, an incertitude in the beginning of the +assault which was unlike the previous achievements of Jeanne, a certain +want of precaution or knowledge of the difficulties which does not +reflect honour upon the generals with her. Absolutely new to warfare as +she was before Orleans she had ridden out at once on her arrival +there to inspect the fortifications of the besiegers. But probably the +continual skirmishing of which we are told made this impossible here, +so that, though the Maid studied the situation of the town in order to +choose the best point for attack, it was only when already engaged that +the army discovered a double ditch round the walls, the inner one of +which was full of water. By sheer impetuosity the French took the gate +of St. Honore and its "boulevard" or tower, driving its defenders +back into the city: but their further progress was arrested by that +discovery. It was on this occasion that Jeanne is supposed to have +seized from a Burgundian in the melee, a sword, of which she boasted +afterwards that it was a good sword capable of good blows, though we +have no certain record that in all her battles she ever gave one blow, +or shed blood at all. + +It would seem to have been only after the taking of this gate that the +discovery was made as to the two deep ditches, one dry, the other filled +with water. Jeanne, whose place had always been with her standard at +the immediate foot of the wall, from whence to direct and cheer on her +soldiers, pressed forward to this point of peril, descending into the +first fosse, and climbing up again on the second, the _dos d'ane_, which +separated them, where she stood in the midst of a rain of arrows, fully +exposed to all the enraged crowd of archers and gunners on the ramparts +above, testing with her lance the depth of the water. We seem in the +story to see her all alone or with her standard-bearer only by her +side making this investigation; but that of course is only a pictorial +suggestion, though it might for a moment be the fact. She remained +there, however, from two in the afternoon till night, when she was +forced away. The struggle must have raged around while she stood on the +dark edge of the ditch probing the muddy water to see where it could +best be crossed, shouting directions to her men in that voice _assez +femme_, which penetrated the noise of battle, and summoning the active +and desperate enemy overhead. "_Renty! Renty!_" she cried as she had +done at Orleans--"_surrender to the King of France!_" + +We hear nothing now of the white armour; it must have been dimmed and +worn by much fighting, and the banner torn and glorious with the chances +of the war; but it still waved over her head, and she still stood fast, +on the ridge between the two ditches, shouting her summons, cheering +the men, a spot of light still, amid all the steely glimmering of the +mail-coats and the dark downpour of that iron rain. Half a hundred +war cries rending the air, shrieks from the walls of "Witch, Devil, +Ribaude," and names still more insulting to her purity, could not +silence that treble shout, the most wonderful, surely, that ever ran +through such an infernal clamour, so prodigious, the chronicler says, +that it was a marvel to hear it. _De par Dieu, Rendez vous, rendez vous, +au roy de France_. If as we believe she never struck a blow, the aspect +of that wonderful figure becomes more extraordinary still. While the +boldest of her companions struggled across to fling themselves and what +beams and ladders they could drag with them against the wall, she stood +without even such shelter as close proximity to it might have given, +cheering them on, exposed to every shot. + +The fight was desperate, and though there was no marked success on +the part of the besiegers, yet there seems to have been nothing +to discourage them, as the fight raged on. Few were wounded, +notwithstanding the noise of the cannons and culverins, "by the grace +of God and the good luck of the Maid." But towards the evening Jeanne +herself suddenly swayed and fell, an arrow having pierced her thigh; she +seems, however, to have struggled to her feet again, undismayed, when a +still greater misfortune befell: her standard-bearer was hit, first in +the foot, and then, as he raised his visor to pull the arrow from the +wound, between his eyes, falling dead at her feet. What happened to +the banner, we are not told; Jeanne most likely herself caught it as it +fell. But at this stroke, more dreadful than her own wound, her strength +failed her, and she crept behind a bush or heap of stones, where she +lay, refusing to quit the place. Some say she managed to slide into the +dry ditch where there was a little shelter, but resisted all attempts +to carry her away, and some add that while she lay there she employed +herself in a vain attempt to throw faggots into the ditch to make it +passable. It is said that she kept calling out to them to persevere, to +go on and Paris would be won. She had promised, they say, to sleep that +night within the conquered city; but this promise comes to us with no +seal of authority. Jeanne knew that it had taken her eight days to free +Orleans, and she could scarcely have promised so sudden a success in +the more formidable achievement. But she was at least determined in her +conviction that perseverance only was needed. She must have lain for +hours on the slope of the outer moat, urging on the troops with such +force as her dauntless voice could give, repeating again and again +that the place could be taken if they but held on. But when night came +Alencon and some other of the captains overcame her resistance, and +there being clearly no further possibility for the moment, succeeded +in setting her upon her horse, and conveyed her back to the camp. While +they rode with her, supporting her on her charger, she did nothing but +repeat "_Quel dommage!_" Oh, what a misfortune, that the siege of Paris +should fail, all for want of constancy and courage. "If they had but +gone on till morning," she cried, "the inhabitants would have known." +It is evident from this that she must have expected a rising within, and +could not yet believe that no such thing was to be looked for. "_Par mon +martin_, the place would have been taken," she said in the hearing one +cannot but feel of the chronicler, who reports so often those homely +words. + +Thus Jeanne was led back after the first day's attack. Her wound was not +serious, and she had been repulsed during one of the day's fighting at +Orleans without losing courage. But something had changed her spirit as +well as the spirit of the army she led. There is a curious glimpse given +us into her camp at this point, which indeed comes to us through the +observation of an enemy, yet seems to have in it an unmistakable gleam +of truth. It comes from one of the parties which had been granted a +safe-conduct to carry away the dead of the English and Burgundian side. +They tell us, among other circumstances,--such as that the French burnt +their dead, a manifest falsehood, but admirably calculated to make them +a horror to their neighbours,--that many in the ranks cursed the Maid +who had promised that they should without any doubt sleep that night +in Paris and plunder the wealthy city. The men with their safe-conduct +creeping among the dead, to recover those bodies which had fallen on +their own side, and furtively to count the fallen on the other--who were +delighted to bring a report that the Maid was no longer the fountain +of strength and blessing, but secretly cursed by her own forces--are +sinister figures groping their way through the darkness of the September +night. + +Next morning, however, her wound being slight, Jeanne was up early and +in conference with Alencon, begging him to sound his trumpets and set +forth once more. "I shall not budge from here, till Paris is taken," she +said. No doubt her spirit was up, and a determination to recover lost +ground strong in her mind. While the commanders consulted together, +there came a band of joyful augury into the camp, the Seigneur of +Montmorency with sixty gentlemen, who had left the party of Burgundy +in order to take service under the banner of the Maid. No doubt this +important and welcome addition to their number exhilarated the entire +camp, in the commotion of the reveille, while each man looked to his +weapons, wiping off from breastplate and helmet the heavy dew of the +September morning, greeting the new friends and brothers-in-arms who had +come in, and arranging, with a better knowledge of the ground than that +of yesterday, the mode of attack. Jeanne would not confess that she felt +her wound, in her eagerness to begin the assault a second time. And all +were in good spirits, the disappointment of the night having blown away, +and the determination to do or die being stronger than ever. Were the +men-at-arms perhaps less amenable? Were they whispering to each other +that Jeanne had promised them Paris yesterday, and for the first time +had not kept her word? It would almost require such a fact as this to +explain what follows. For as they began to set out, the whole field +in movement, there was suddenly seen approaching another party of +cavaliers--perhaps another reinforcement like that of Montmorency? This +new band, however, consisted but of two gentlemen and their immediate +attendants, the Duc de Bar and the Comte de Clermont,(1) always a bird +of evil omen, riding hot from St. Denis with orders from the King. +These orders were abrupt and peremptory--to turn back. Jeanne and her +companions were struck dumb for the moment. To turn back, and Paris +at their feet! There must have burst forth a storm of remonstrance +and appeal. We cannot tell how long the indignant parley lasted; the +historians do not enlarge upon the disastrous incident. But at last +the generals yielded to the orders of the King--Jeanne humiliated, +miserable, and almost in despair. We cannot but feel that on no former +occasion would she have given way so completely; she would have rushed +to the King's presence, overwhelmed him with impetuous prayers, extorted +somehow the permission to go on. But Charles was safe at seven miles' +distance, and his envoys were imperious and peremptory, like men able to +enforce obedience if it were not given. She obeyed at last, recovering +courage a little in the hope of being able to persuade Charles to change +his mind, and sanction another assault on Paris from the other side, by +means of a bridge over the Seine towards St. Denis, which Alencon had +constructed. Next morning it appears that without even asking that +permission a portion of the army set out very early for this bridge: but +the King had divined their project, and when they reached the river +side the first thing they saw was their bridge in ruins. It had been +treacherously destroyed in the night, not by their enemies, but by their +King. + +It is natural that the French historians should exhaust themselves in +explanation of this fatal change of policy. Quicherat, who was the +first to bring to light all the most important records of this period of +history, lays the entire blame upon La Tremoille, the chief adviser of +Charles. But that Charles himself was at heart equally guilty no one +can doubt. He was a man who proved himself in the end of his career to +possess both sense and energy, though tardily developed. It was to him +that Jeanne had given that private sign of the truth of her mission, +by which he was overawed and convinced in the first moment of their +intercourse. Within the few months which had elapsed since she appeared +at Chinon every thing that was wonderful had been done for him by her +means. He was then a fugitive pretender, not even very certain of his +own claim, driven into a corner of his lawful dominions, and fully +prepared to abandon even that small standing ground, to fly into Spain +or Scotland, and give up the attempt to hold his place as King of +France. Now he was the consecrated King, with the holy oil upon +his brows, and the crown of his ancestors on his head, accepted and +proclaimed, all France stirring to her old allegiance, new conquests +falling into his hands every day, and the richest portion of his kingdom +secure under his sway. To check thus peremptorily the career of the +deliverer who had done so much for him, degrading her from her place, +throwing more than doubt upon her inspiration, falsifying by force +the promises which she had made--promises which had never failed +before,--was a worse and deeper sin on the part of a young man, by right +of his kingly office the very head of knighthood and every chivalrous +undertaking, than it could be on the part of an old and subtle +diplomatist who had never believed in such wild measures, and all +through had clogged the steps and endeavoured to neutralise the mission +of the warrior Maid. It is very clear, however, that between them it was +the King and his chamberlain who made this assault upon Paris so evident +and complete a failure. One day's repulse was nothing in a siege. There +had been one great repulse and several lesser ones at Orleans. Jeanne, +even though weakened by her wound, had sprung up that morning full of +confidence and courage. In no way was the failure to be laid to her +charge. + +But this could never, perhaps, have been explained to the whole body +of the army, who had believed her word without a doubt and taken her +success for granted. If they had been wavering before, which seems +possible--for they must have been, to a considerable extent, new levies, +the campaigners of the Loire having accomplished their period of feudal +service,--this sudden downfall must have strengthened every doubt and +damped every enthusiasm. The Maid of whom such wonderful tales had been +told, she who had been the angel of triumph, the irresistible, before +whom the English fled, and the very walls fell down--was she after +all only a sorceress, as the others called her, a creature whose +incantations had failed after the flash of momentary success? Such +impressions are too apt to come like clouds over every popular +enthusiasm, quenching the light and chilling the heart. + +Jeanne was thus dragged back to St. Denis against her will and every +instinct of her being, and there ensued three days of passionate debate +and discussion. For a moment it appeared as if she would have thrown off +the bonds of loyal obedience and pursued her mission at all hazards. Her +"voices," if they had previously given her uncertain sound, promising +only the support and succour of God, but no success, now spoke more +plainly and urged the continuance of the siege; and the Maid was torn in +pieces between the requirements of her celestial guardians and the force +of authority around her. If she had broken out into open rebellion who +would have followed her? She had never yet done so; when the King was +against her she had pleaded or forced an agreement, and received or +snatched a consent from the malevolent chamberlain, as at Jargeau and +Troyes. Never yet had she set herself in public opposition to the will +of her sovereign. She had submitted to all kinds of tests and trials +rather than this. And to have lain half a day wounded outside Paris and +to stand there pleading her cause with her wound still unhealed were not +likely things to strengthen her powers of resistance. "The Voices +bade me remain at St. Denis," she said afterwards at her trial, "and I +desired to remain; but the seigneurs took me away in spite of myself. If +I had not been wounded I should never have left." Added to the force +of these circumstances, it was no doubt apparent to all that to resume +operations after that forced retreat, and the betrayal it gave of +divided counsels, would be less hopeful than ever. These arguments even +convinced the bold La Hire, who for his part, being no better than a +Free Lance, could move hither and thither as he would; and thus the +first defeat of the Maid, a disaster involving all the misfortunes that +followed in its train, was accomplished. + +Jeanne's last act in St. Denis was one to which perhaps the modern +reader gives undue significance, but which certainly must have had a +certain melancholy meaning. Before she left, dragged almost a captive +in the train of the King, we are told that she laid on the altar of the +cathedral the armour she had worn on that evil day before Paris. It was +not an unusual act for a warrior to do this on his return from the wars. +And if she had been about to renounce her mission it would have been +easily comprehensible. But no such thought was in her mind. Was it a +movement of despair, was it with some womanish fancy that the arms in +which she had suffered defeat should not be borne again?--or was it done +in some gleam of higher revelation made to her that defeat, too, was a +part of victory, and that not without that bitterness of failure could +the fame of the soldier of Christ be perfected? I have remarked already +that we hear no more of the white armour, inlaid with silver and +dazzling like a mirror, in which she had begun her career; perhaps it +was the remains of that panoply of triumph which she laid out before the +altar of the patron saint of France, all dim now with hard work and +the shadow of defeat. It must have marked a renunciation of one kind +or another, the sacrifice of some hope. She was no longer Jeanne the +invincible, the triumphant, whose very look made the enemy tremble and +flee, and gave double force to every Frenchman's arm. Was she then and +there abdicating, becoming to her own consciousness Jeanne the champion +only, honest and true, but no longer the inspired Maid, the Envoy of +God? To these questions we can give no answer; but the act is pathetic, +and fills the mind with suggestions. She who had carried every force +triumphantly with her, and quenched every opposition, bitter and +determined though that had been, was now a thrall to be dragged +almost by force in an unworthy train. It is evident that she felt the +humiliation to the bottom of her heart. It is not for human nature to +have the triumph alone: the humiliation, the overthrow, the chill and +tragic shadow must follow. Jeanne had entered into that cloud when she +offered the armour, that had been like a star in front of the battle, +at the shrine of St. Denis.(2) Hers was now to be a sadder, a humbler, +perhaps a still nobler part. + +It is enough to trace the further movements of the King to perceive +how at every step the iron must have entered deeper and deeper into the +heart of the Maid. He made his arrangements for the government of each +of the towns which had acknowledged him: Beauvais, Compiegne, Senlis, +and the rest. He appointed commissioners for the due regulation of the +truce with Philip of Burgundy. And then the retreating army took its +march southward towards the mild and wealthy country, all fertility and +quiet, where a recreant prince might feel himself safe and amuse himself +at his leisure--by Lagny, by Provins, by Bercy-sur Seine, where he had +been checked before in his retreat and almost forced to the march on +Paris--by Sens, and Montargis: until at last on the 29th of September, +no doubt diminished by the withdrawal of many a local troop and knight +whose service was over, the forces arrived at Gien, whence they had set +forth at the end of June for a series of victories. It is to be supposed +that the King was well enough satisfied with the conquests accomplished +in three months. And, indeed, in ordinary circumstances they would have +formed a triumphant list. Charles must have felt himself free to play +after the work which he had not done; and to leave his good fortune and +the able negotiators, who hoped to get Paris and other good things from +Philip of Burgundy without paying anything for them, to do the rest. + +We can imagine nothing more dreadful for the Maid than the months that +followed. The Court was not ungrateful to her; she received the warmest +welcome from the Queen; she had a _maison_ arranged for her like the +household of a noble chief, with the addition of women and maidens of +rank to her existing staff, and everything which could serve to show +that she was one whom the King delighted to honour. And Charles would +have her apparelled gloriously like the king's daughter in the psalm. +"He gave her a mantle of cloth of gold, open at both sides, to wear over +her armour," and apparently did his best to make her, if not a noble +lady, yet into the semblance of a noble young chevaliere, one the +glories of his Court, with all the distinction of her achievements and +all the complacences of a carpet knight. It was said afterwards, in the +absence of any graver possibility of accusation, that she liked her fine +clothes. The tears rise to the eyes at such a suggestion. She was so +natural that let us hope she did, the martyr Maid whose torture had +already begun. If that mantle of gold gave her a moment of pleasure, it +is something to be thankful for in the midst of the dismal shadows that +were already closing round her. They were ready to give her any shining +mantle, any beautiful dress, even a title and a noble name if she would; +but what the King and his counsellors were determined on, was, that she +should no more have the fame of individual triumph, or do anything save +under their orders. + +Alencon, the gentle duke, with whom she had taken so much trouble, and +who had grown into a true and noble comrade, made one effort to free his +friend and leader. He planned an expedition into Normandy, where, with +the help of Jeanne, he hoped to inflict upon the English a loss so +tremendous, the destruction of their base of operations, that they would +be compelled to abandon the centre of France altogether, and leave the +way open to Paris and to the recovery of the entire kingdom; but the +King, or La Tremoille, as the historians prefer to say, would not +permit Jeanne to accompany him, and this hope came to nothing. Alencon +disbanded his troops, everything in the form of an army was broken +up--the short period of feudal service making this inevitable, unless +new levies were made--and no forces were left under arms except those +bands which formed the body-guard of the King. Nevertheless, there +was plenty of work to be done still, and the breaking up of the French +forces encouraged many a little garrison of English partisans, which +would have yielded naturally and easily to a strong national party. + +In the midst of the winter, however, it seemed appropriate to the Court +to launch forth an expedition against some of the unsubdued towns, +perhaps on account of the mortal languishment of Jeanne herself, perhaps +for some other reason of its own. The first necessity was to collect the +necessary forces, and for this reason Jeanne came to Bourges, where she +was lodged in one of the great houses of the city, that of Raynard de +Bouligny, _conseiller de roi_, and his wife, Marguerite, one of the +Queen's ladies. She was there for three weeks collecting her men, +and the noble gentlewoman, who was her hostess, was afterwards in the +Rehabilitation trial, one of the witnesses to the purity of her life. + +From this lady and others we have a clear enough view of what the Maid +was in this second chapter of her history. She spent her time in the +most intimate intercourse with Madam Marguerite, sharing even her room, +so that nothing could be more complete than the knowledge of her hostess +of every detail of her young guest's life. And wonderful as was the +difference between the peasant maiden of Domremy and the most famous +woman in France, the life of Jeanne, the Deliverer of her country, is as +the life of Jeanne, the cottage sempstress,--as simple, as devout, and +as pure. She loved to go to church for the early matins, but as it was +not fit that she should go out alone at that hour, she besought Madame +Marguerite to go with her. In the evening she went to the nearest +church, and there with all her old childish love for the church bells, +she had them rung for half an hour, calling together the poor, the +beggars who haunt every Catholic church, the poor friars and bedesmen, +the penniless and forlorn from all the neighbourhood. This custom would, +no doubt, soon become known, and not only her poor pensioners, but the +general crowd would gather to gaze at the Maid as well as to join in +her prayers. It was her great pleasure to sing a hymn to the Virgin, +probably one of the litanies which the unlearned worshipper loves, +with its choruses and constant repetitions, in company with all those +untutored voices, in the dimness of the church, while the twilight +sank into night, and the twinkling stars of candles on the altar made +a radiance in the middle of the gloom. When she had money to give she +divided it, according to the liberal custom of her time, among her poor +fellow-worshippers. These evening services were her recreation. The +days were full of business, of enrolling soldiers, and regulating the +"lances," groups of retainers, headed by their lord, who came to perform +their feudal service. + +The ladies of the town who had the advantage of knowing Madame +Marguerite did not fail to avail themselves of this privilege, and +thronged to visit her wonderful guest. They brought her their sacred +medals and rosaries to bless, and asked her a hundred questions. Was +she afraid of being wounded; or was she assured that she would not +be wounded? "No more than others," she said; and she put away their +religious ornaments with a smile, bidding Madame Marguerite touch them, +or the visitors themselves, which would be just as good as if she did +it. She would seem to have been always smiling, friendly, checking with +a laugh the adulation of her visitors, many of whom wore medals with +her own effigy (if only one had been saved for us!) as there were many +banners made after the pattern of hers. But cheerful as she was, a +prevailing tone of sadness now appears to run through her life. On +several occasions she spoke to her confessor and chaplain, who attended +her everywhere, of her death. "If it should be my fate to die soon, tell +the King our master on my part to build chapels where prayer may be made +to the Most High for the salvation of the souls of those who shall die +in the wars for the defence of the kingdom." This was the one thing she +seemed anxious for, and it returned again and again to her mind. Her +thoughts indeed were heavy enough. Her larger enterprises had been +cruelly put a stop to: her companions-in-arms had been dispersed: she +had been separated from her lieutenant Alencon, and from all the friends +between whom and herself great mutual confidence had sprung up. Even the +commission which had at last been put in her hands was a trifling one +and led to nothing, bringing the King no nearer to any satisfactory end: +and the troops were under command of a new captain whom she scarcely +knew, d'Albert, who was the son-in-law of La Tremoille, and probably +little inclined to be a friend to Jeanne. In these circumstances there +was little of an exhilarating or promising kind. + +Nevertheless as an episode, few things had happened to Jeanne more +memorable than the siege of St. Pierre-le-Moutier. The first assault +upon the town was unsuccessful; the retreat had sounded and the troops +were streaming back from the point of attack, when Jean d'Aulon, the +faithful friend and brave gentleman who was at the head of the Maid's +military household, being himself wounded in the heel and unable to +stand or walk, saw the Maid almost alone before the stronghold, four or +five men only with her. He dragged himself up as well as he could upon +his horse, and hastened towards her, calling out to her to ask what she +did there, and why she did not retire with the rest. She answered him, +taking off her helmet to speak, that she would leave only when the place +was taken--and went on shouting for faggots and beams to make a +bridge across the ditch. It is to be supposed that seeing she paid no +attention, nor budged a step from that dangerous point, this brave man, +wounded though he was, must have made an effort to rally the retiring +besiegers: but Jeanne seems to have taken no notice of her desertion +nor ever to have paused in her shout for planks and gabions. "All to the +bridge," she shouted, "_aux fagots et aux claies tout le monde!_ every +one to the bridge." "Jeanne, withdraw, withdraw! You are alone," +some one said to her. Bareheaded, her countenance all aglow, the Maid +replied: "I have still with me fifty thousand of my men." Were those +the men whom the prophet's servant saw when his eyes were opened and he +beheld the innumerable company of angels that surrounded his master? But +Jeanne, rapt in the trance and ecstasy of battle, gave no explanation. +"To work, to work!" her clear voice went on, ringing over the startled +head of the good knight who knew war, but not any rapture like this. +History itself, awe-stricken, would almost have us believe that alone +with her own hand the Maid took the city, so entirely does every figure +disappear but that one, and the perplexed and terrified spectator vainly +urging her to give up so desperate an attempt. But no doubt the shouts +of a voice so strange to every such scene, the _vox infantile_, the +amazing and clear voice, silvery and womanly, _assez femme_, and the +efforts of d'Aulon to bring back the retreating troops were successful, +and Jeanne once more, triumphantly kept her word. The place was strongly +fortified, well provisioned, and full of people. Therefore the whole +narrative is little less than miraculous, though very little is said of +it. Had they but persevered, as she had said, a few hours longer before +Paris, who could tell that the same result might not have been obtained? + +She was not successful, however, with La Charite, which after a siege of +a month's duration still held out, and had to be abandoned. These +long operations of regular warfare were not in Jeanne's way; and +her coadjutor in command, it must be remembered, was in this case +commissioned by her chief enemy. We are told that she was left without +supplies, and in the depths of winter, in cold and rain and snow, with +every movement hampered, and the ineffective government ever ready to +send orders of retreat, or to cause bewildering and confusing delays by +the want of every munition of war. Finally, at all events, the French +forces withdrew, and again an unsuccessful enterprise was added to +the record of the once victorious Maid. That she went on continually +promising victory as in her early times, is probably the mere rumour +spread by her detractors who were now so many, for there is no real +evidence that she did so. Everything rather points to discouragement, +uncertainty, and to a silent rage against the coercion which she could +not overcome. + + (1) Clermont it was who deserted the Scots at the Battle of + the Herrings. + + (2) Jeanne's arms, offered at St. Denis, were afterwards + taken by the English and sent to the King of England (all + except the sword with its ornaments of gold) without giving + anything to the church in return: "qui est pur sacrilege et + manifeste," says Jean Chartier. + + + +CHAPTER IX -- COMPIEGNE. 1430. + +By this time France was once more all in flames: the English and +Burgundians had entered and then abandoned Paris--Duke Philip cynically +leaving that city, which he had promised to give up to Charles, to +its own protection, in order to look after his more pressing personal +concerns: while Bedford spread fire and flame about the adjacent +country, retaking with much slaughter many of the towns which had +opened their gates to the King. Thus while Charles gave no attention +to anything beyond the Loire, and kept his chief champion there, as it +were, on the leash, permitting no return to the most important field +of operations, almost all that had been gained was again lost upon the +banks of the Seine. This was the state of affairs when Jeanne returned +humbled and sad from the abandoned siege of La Charite. Her enemy's +counsels had triumphed all round and this was the result. Individual +fightings of no particular account and under no efficient organisation +were taking place day by day; here a town stood out heroically, there +another yielded to the foreign arms; the population were thrown back +into universal misery, the spring fields trampled under foot, the +villages burned, every evil of war in full operation, invasion +aggravated by faction, the English always aided by one side of France +against the other, and neither peace nor security anywhere. + +This was the aspect of affairs on one side. On the other appeared a +still less satisfactory scene. Charles amusing himself, his counsellors, +La Tremoille, and the Archbishop of Rheims carrying on fictitious +negotiations with Burgundy and playing with the Maid who was in their +power, sending her out to make a show and cast a spell, then dragging +her back at the end of their shameful chain: while the Court, the King +and Queen, and all their flattering attendants gilded that chain and +tried to make her forget by fine clothes and caresses, at once her +mission and her despair. They were not ungrateful, no: let us do them +justice, for they might well have added this to the number of their +sins: mantles of cloth of gold, patents of nobility were at her command, +had these been what she wanted. The only personal wrong they did +to Jeanne was to set up against her a sort of opposition, another +enchantress and visionary who had "voices" and apparitions too, and who +was admitted to all the councils and gave her advice in contradiction +of the Maid, a certain Catherine de la Rochelle, who was ready to say +anything that was put into her mouth, but who had done nothing to prove +any mission for France or from God. We have little light however upon +the state of affairs in those castles, which one after another were the +abode of the Court during this disastrous winter. They were safe enough +on the other side of the Loire in the fat country where the vines still +flourished and the young corn grew. Now and then a band of armed men was +sent forth to succour a fighting town in the suffering and struggling +Ile-de-France, always under the conflicting orders of those intrigants +and courtiers: but within the Court, all was gay; "never man," as rough +La Hire had said on an earlier occasion, "lost his kingdom more gaily +or with better grace" than did Charles. Where was La Hire? Where was +Dunois?--there is no appearance of these champions anywhere. Alencon had +returned to his province. Only La Tremoille and the Archbishop holding +all the strings in their hands, upsetting all military plans, disgusting +every chief, met and talked and carried on their busy intrigues, and +played their Sibyl--_Sibylle de carrefour_, says one of the historians +indignantly--against the Maid, who, all discouraged and downcast, +fretted by caresses, sick of inactivity, dragged out the uneasy days in +an uncongenial world; but Jeanne has left no record of the sensations +with which she saw these days pass, eating her heart out, gazing +over that rapid river, on the other side of which all the devils were +unchained and every result of her brief revolution was being lost. + +At length however the impatience and despair were more than she could +bear; the Court was then at Sully and the spring had begun with its +longer days and more passable roads. Without a word to anyone the Maid +left the castle. The war had rolled towards these princely walls, as +near as Melun, which was threatened by the English. A little band of +intimate servants and associates, her two brothers, and a few faithful +followers, were with her. So far as we know she never saw Charles or his +courtiers again. They arrived at Melun in time to witness and to take +part in the repulse of the English, and it was here that a communication +was make to Jeanne by her saints of which afterwards there was frequent +mention. Little had been said of them during her dark time of inaction, +and their tone was no longer as of old. It was on the side of the moat +of Melun where probably she was superintending some necessary work +to strengthen the fortifications or to put them in better order for +defence, that this message reached her. The "Voices" which so often had +urged her to victory and engaged the faith of heaven for her success, +had now a word to say, secret and personal to herself. It was that she +should be taken prisoner; and the date was fixed, before the St. Jean. +It was the middle of April when this communication was made and the +Feast of St. Jean, as everybody knows, is in the end of June; two months +only to work in, to strike another blow for France. The "Voices" bade +her not to fear, that God would sustain her. But it would be impossible +not to be startled by such a sudden intimation in the midst of her +reviving plans. The Maid made one terrified prayer, that God would let +her die when she was taken, not subject her to long imprisonment; her +heart prophetically sprang to a sudden consciousness of the most likely, +most terrible end that lay before her, for she had been often enough +threatened with the stake and the fire to know what to expect. But +the saintly voices made no reply. They bade her be strong and of good +courage: is not that the all-sustaining, all-delusive message for every +martyr? It was the will of God, and His support and sustaining power, +which we often take to mean deliverance, but which is not always +so--were promised. She asked where this terrible thing was to happen, +but received no reply. Natural and simple as she was, she confessed +afterwards that had she known she was to be taken on any certain day, +she would not have gone out to meet the catastrophe unless she had +been forced by evident duty to do so. But this was not revealed to her. +"Before the St. Jean!" It must almost have seemed a guarantee that until +that time or near it she was safe. She would seem to have said nothing +immediately of this vision to sadden those about her. + +In the meantime, however, there were other adventures in store for her. +From Melun to Lagny was no long journey, but it was through a country +full of enemies in which she must have been subject to attack at every +corner of every road or field. And she had not been long in the latter +place which is said to have had a garrison of Scots, when news came +of the passing of a band of Burgundians, a troop of raiders indeed, +ravaging the country, taking advantage of the war to rob and lay waste +churches, villages, and the growing fields wherever they passed. The +troops was led by Franquet d'Arras, a famous "_pillard_," robber of God +and man. Jeanne set out to encounter this bandit with a party of some +four hundred men, and various noble companions, among whom, however, we +find no name familiar in her previous career, a certain Hugh Kennedy, a +Scot, who is to be met with in various records of fighting, being one of +the most notable among them. Franquet's band fought vigorously but were +cut to pieces, and the leader was taken prisoner. When this man was +brought back to Lagny, a prisoner to be ransomed, and whom Jeanne +desired to exchange for one of her own side, the law laid claim to him +as a criminal. He was a prisoner of war: what was it the Maid's duty to +do? The question is hotly debated by the historians and it was brought +against her at her trial. He was a murderer, a robber, the scourge of +the country--especially to the poor whom Jeanne protected and cared for +everywhere, was he pitiless and cruel. She gave him up to justice, and +he was tried, condemned, and beheaded. If it was wrong from a military +point of view, it was her only error, and shows how little there was +with which to reproach her. + +In Lagny other things passed of a more private nature. Every day and all +day long her "voices" repeated their message in her ears. "Before the +St. Jean." She repeated it to some of her closest comrades but left +herself no time to dwell upon it. Still worse than the giving up of +Franquet was the supposed resuscitation of a child, born dead, which +its parents implored her to pray for that it might live again to be +baptised. She explained the story to her judges afterwards. It was +the habit of the time, nay, we believe continues to this day in some +primitive places, to lay the dead infant on the altar in such a case, in +hope of a miracle. "It is true," said Jeanne, "that the maidens of the +town were all assembled in the church praying God to restore life that +it might be baptised. It is also true that I went and prayed with them. +The child opened its eyes, yawned three or four times, was christened +and died. This is all I know." The miracle is not one that will find +much credit nowadays. But the devout custom was at least simple and +intelligible enough, though it afforded an excellent occasion to +attribute witchcraft to the one among those maidens who was not of Lagny +but of God. + +From Lagny Jeanne went on to various other places in danger, or which +wanted encouragement and help. She made two or three hurried visits to +Compiegne, which was threatened by both parties of the enemy; at one +time raising the siege of Choicy, near Compiegne, in company with the +Archbishop of Rheims, a strange brother in arms. On another of her +visits to Compiegne there is said to have occurred an incident which, if +true, reveals to us with very sad reality the trouble that overshadowed +the Maid. She had gone to early mass in the Church of St. Jacques, and +communicated, as was her custom. It must have been near Easter--perhaps +the occasion of the first communion of some of the children who are +so often referred to, among whom she loved to worship. She had retired +behind a pillar on which she leaned as she stood, and a number of +people, among whom were many children, drew near after the service to +gaze at her. Jeanne's heart was full, and she had no one near to whom +she could open it and relieve her soul. As she stood against the pillar +her trouble burst forth. "Dear friends and children," she said, "I have +to tell you that I have been sold and betrayed, and will soon be given +up to death. I beg of you to pray for me; for soon I shall no longer +have any power to serve the King and the kingdom." These words were told +to the writer who records them, in the year 1498, by two very old men +who had heard them, being children at the time. The scene was one to +dwell in a child's recollection, and, if true, it throws a melancholy +light upon the thoughts that filled the mind of Jeanne, though her +actions may have seemed as energetic and her impulses as strong as in +her best days. + +At last the news came speeding through the country that Compiegne was +being invested on all sides. It had been the headquarters of Charles +and had received him with acclamations, and therefore the alarm of the +townsfolk for the retribution awaiting them, should they fall into the +hands of the enemy, was great; it was besides a very important position. +Jeanne was at Crespy en Valois when this news reached her. She set out +immediately (May 22, 1430) to carry aid to the garrison: "_F'irai voir +mes bons amis de Compiegne_," she said. The words are on the base of +her statue which now stands in the Place of that town. Something of +her early impetuosity was in this impulse, and no apparent dread of +any fatality. She rode all night at the head of her party, and arrived +before the dawn, a May morning, the 23d, still a month from the fatal +"St. Jean." Though the prophecy was always in her ears, she must have +felt that whole month still before her, with a sensation of almost +greater safety because the dangerous moment was fixed. The town received +her with joy, and no doubt the satisfaction and relief which hailed her +and her reinforcements gave additional fervour to the Maid, and drove +out of her mind for a moment the fatal knowledge which oppressed it. +There is some difficulty in understanding the events of this day, but +the lucid narrative of Quicherat, which we shall now quote, gives a +very vivid picture of it. Jeanne had timed her arrival so early in the +morning, probably with the intention of keeping the adversaries in their +camps unaware of so important an addition to the garrison, in order that +she might surprise them by the sortie she had determined upon; but no +doubt the news had leaked forth somehow, if through no other means, by +the sudden ringing of the bells and sounds of joy from the city. She +paid her usual visits to the churches, and noted and made all her +arrangements for the sortie with her usual care, occupying the long +summer day in these preparations. And it was not till five o'clock in +the evening that everything was complete, and she sallied forth. We hear +nothing of the state of the town, or of any suspicion existing at the +time as to the governor Flavy who was afterwards believed by some to be +the man who sold and betrayed her. It is a question debated warmly like +all these questions. He was a man of bad reputation, but there is no +evidence that he was a traitor. The incidents are all natural enough, +and seem to indicate clearly the mere fortune of war upon which no man +can calculate. We add from Quicherat the description of the field and +what took place there: + +"Compiegne is situated on the left bank of the Oise. On the other side +extends a great meadow, nearly a mile broad, at the end of which the +rising ground of Picardy rises suddenly like a wall, shutting in the +horizon. The meadow is so low and so subject to floods that it is +crossed by an ancient foot of the low hills. Three village churches mark +the extent of the landscape visible from the walls of Compiegne; +Margny (sometimes spelt Marigny) at the end of the road; Clairoix three +quarters of a league higher up, at the confluence of the two rivers, +the Aronde and the Oise, close to the spot where another tributary, the +Aisne, also flows into the Oise; and Venette a mile and a half lower +down. The Burgundians had one camp at Margny, another at Clairoix; the +headquarters of the English were at Venette. As for the inhabitants +of Compiegne, their first defence facing the enemy was one of those +redoubts or towers which the chronicles of the fifteenth century called +a boulevard. It was placed at the end of the bridge and commanded the +road. + +"The plan of the Maid was to make a sortie towards the evening, to +attack Margny and afterwards Clairoix, and then at the opening of the +Aronde valley to meet the Duke of Burgundy and his forces who were +lodged there, and who would naturally come to the aid of his other +troops when attacked. She took no thought for the English, having +already carefully arranged with Flavy how they should be prevented from +cutting off her retreat. The governor provided against any chance of +this by arming the boulevard strongly with archers to drive off any +advancing force, and also by keeping ready on the Oise a number of +covered boats to receive the foot-soldiers in case of a retrograde +movement. + +"The action began well: the garrison of Margny yielded in the twinkling +of an eye. That of Clairoix rushing to the support of their brothers in +arms was repulsed, then in its turn repulsed the French; and three times +this alternative of advance and retreat took place on the flat ground of +the meadow without serious injury to either party. This gave time to the +English to take part in the fray;(1) though thanks to the precautions of +Flavy all they could do was to swell the ranks of the Burgundians. +But unfortunately the rear of the Maid's army was struck with the +possibility that a diversion might be attempted from behind, and their +retreat cut off. A panic seized them; they broke their ranks, turned +back and fled, some to the boats, some to the barrier of the boulevard. +The English witnessing this flight rushed after them, secure now on the +side of Compiegne, where the archers no longer ventured to shoot +lest they should kill the fugitives instead of the enemies. They (the +English) thus got possession of the raised road, and pushed on so hotly +after the fugitives that their horses' heads touched the backs of the +crowd. It thus became necessary for the safety of the town to close the +gates until the barrier of the boulevard should be set up again." + +***** + +These disastrous accidents had taken place while Jeanne, charging in +front with her companions and body-guard, remained quite unaware of any +misfortune. She would hear no call to retreat, even when her companions +were roused to the dangers of their position. "Forward, they are ours!" +was all her cry. As at St. Pierre-le-Moutier she was ready to defeat the +Burgundian army alone. At length the others perceiving something of +what had happened seized her bridle and forced her to retire. She was of +herself too remarkable a figure to be concealed amid the group of armed +men who rode with her, encircling her, defending the rear of the flying +party. Over her armour she wore a crimson tunic, or according to some +authorities a short cloak, of gorgeous material embroidered with gold, +and though by this time the twilight must have afforded a partial +shelter, yet the knowledge that she was there gave keenness to every +eye. Behind, the scattered Burgundians had rallied and begun to pursue, +while the armour and spears of the English glittered in front between +the little party and the barrier which was blocked by a terrified crowd +of fugitives. Even then a party of horsemen might have cut their way +through; but at the moment when Jeanne and her followers drew near, the +barrier was sharply closed and the wild, confused, and fighting crowd, +treading each other down, struggling for life, were forced back upon the +English lances. Thus the retreating band riding hard along the raised +road, in order and unbroken, found the path suddenly barred by the +forces of the enemy, the fugitives of their own army, and the closed +gates of the town. + +An attempt was then made by the Maid and her companions to turn towards +the western gate where there still might have been a chance of safety; +but by this time the smaller figure among all those steel-clad men, and +the waving mantle, must have been distinguished through the dusk and the +dust. There was a wild rush of combat and confusion, and in a moment she +was surrounded, seized, her horse and her person, notwithstanding all +resistance. With cries of "Rendez vous," and many an evil name, fierce +faces and threatening weapons closed round her. One of her assailants--a +Burgundian knight, a Picard archer, the accounts differ--caught her +by her mantle and dragged her from her horse; no Englishman let us be +thankful, though no doubt all were equally eager and ready. Into the +midst of that shouting mass of men, in the blinding cloud of dust, +in the darkening of the night, the Maid of France disappeared for one +terrible moment, and was lost to view. And then, and not till then, came +a clamour of bells into the night, and all the steeples of Compiegne +trembled with the call to arms, a sally to save the deliverer. Was it +treachery? Was it only a perception, too late, of the danger? There are +not wanting voices to say that a prompt sally might have saved Jeanne, +and that it was quite within the power of the Governor and city had they +chosen. Who can answer so dreadful a suggestion? it is too much shame +to human nature to believe it. Perhaps within Compiegne as without, they +were too slow to perceive the supreme moment, too much overwhelmed to +snatch any chance of rescue till it was too late. + +Happily we have no light upon the tumult around the prisoner, the ugly +triumph, the shouts and exultation of the captors who had seized the +sorceress at last; nor upon the thoughts of Jeanne, with her threatened +doom fulfilled and unknown horrors before her, upon which imagination +must have thrown the most dreadful light, however strongly her courage +was sustained by the promise of succour from on high. She had not been +sent upon this mission as of old. No heavenly voice had said to her +"Go and deliver Compiegne." She had undertaken that warfare on her own +charges with no promise to encourage her, only the certainty of being +overthrown "before the St. Jean." But the St. Jean was still far off, a +long month of summer days between her and that moment of fate! So far +as we can see Jeanne showed no unseemly weakness in this dark hour. One +account tells us that she held her sword high over her head declaring +that it was given by a higher than any who could claim its surrender +there. But she neither struggled nor wept. Not a word against her +constancy and courage could any one, then or after, find to say. The +Burgundian chronicler tells us one thing, the French another. "The Maid, +easily recognised by her costume of crimson and by the standard which +she carried in her hand, alone continued to defend herself," says one; +but that we are sure could not have been the case as long as d'Aulon, +who accompanied her, was still able to keep on his horse. "She yielded +and gave her parole to Lyonnel, batard de Wandomme," says another; but +Jeanne herself declares that she gave her faith to no one, reserving +to herself the right to escape if she could. In that dark evening +scene nothing is clear except the fact that the Maid was taken, to the +exultation and delight of her captors and to the terror and grief of the +unhappy town, vainly screaming with all its bells to arms,--and with its +sons and champions by hundreds dying under the English lances and in the +dark waves of the Oise. + +The archer or whoever it was who secured this prize, took Jeanne back, +along the bloody road with its relics of the fight, to Margny, the +Burgundian camp, where the leaders crowded together to see so important +a prisoner. "Thither came soon after," says Monstrelet, "the Duke of +Burgundy from his camp of Coudon, and there assembled the English, the +said Duke and those of the other camps in great numbers, making, one +with the other, great cries and rejoicings on the taking of the Maid: +whom the said Duke went to see in the lodging where she was and spoke +some words to her which I cannot call to mind, though I was there +present; after which the said Duke and the others withdrew for the +night, leaving the Maid in the keeping of Messer John of Luxembourg"--to +whom she had been immediately sold by her first captor. The same night, +Philip, this noble Duke and Prince of France, wrote a letter to convey +the blessed information: + +"The great news of this capture should be spread everywhere and brought +to the knowledge of all, that they may see the error of those who could +believe and lend themselves to the pretensions of such a woman. We write +this in the hope of giving you joy, comfort, and consolation, and that +you may thank God our Creator. Pray that it may be His holy will to be +more and more favourable to the enterprises of our royal master and to +the restoration of his sway over all his good and faithful subjects." + +This royal master was Henry VI. of England, the baby king, doomed +already to expiate sins that were not his, by the saddest life and +reign. The French historians whimsically but perhaps not unnaturally, +have the air of putting down this baseness on Philip's part, and on that +of his contemporaries in general, to the score of the English, which is +hard measure, seeing that the treachery of a Frenchman could in no way +be attributed to the other nation of which he was the natural enemy, or +at least, antagonist. Very naturally the subsequent proceedings in all +their horror and cruelty are equally put down to the English account, +although Frenchmen took, exulted over as a prisoner, tried and condemned +as an enemy of God and the Church, the spotless creature who was France +incarnate, the very embodiment of her country in all that was purest and +noblest. We shall see with what spontaneous zeal all France, except her +own small party, set to work to accomplish this noble office. + +Almost before one could draw breath the University of Paris claimed her +as a proper victim for the Inquisition. Compiegne made no sally for +her deliverance; Charles, no attempt to ransom her. From end to end of +France not a finger was lifted for her rescue; the women wept over her, +the poor people still crowded around the prisoner wherever seen, but the +France of every public document, of every practical power, the living +nation, when it did not utter cries of hatred, kept silence. We in +England have over and over again acknowledged with shame our guilty part +in her murder; but still to this day the Frenchman tries to shield +his under cover of the English influence and terror. He cannot deny La +Tremoille, nor Cauchon, nor the University, nor the learned doctors +who did the deed; individually he is ready to give them all up to the +everlasting fires which one cannot but hope are kept alive for some +people in spite of all modern benevolences; but he skilfully turns back +to the English as a moving cause of everything. Nothing can be more +untrue. The English were not better than the French, but they had the +excuse at least of being the enemy. France saved by a happy chance her +_blanches mains_ from the actual blood of the pure and spotless Maid; +but with exultation she prepared the victim for the stake, sent her +thither, played with her like a cat with a mouse and condemned her to +the fire. This is not to free us from our share: but it is the height of +hypocrisy to lay the blood of Jeanne, entirely to our door. + +Thus Jeanne's inspiration proved itself over again in blood and tears; +it had been proved already on battle-field and city wall, with loud +trumpets of joy and victory. But the "voices" had spoken again, sounding +another strain; not always of glory--it is not the way of God; but of +prison, downfall, distress. "Be not astonished at it," they said to +her; "God will be with you." From day to day they had spoken in the same +strain, with no joyful commands to go forth and conquer, but the one +refrain: "Before the St. Jean." Perhaps there was a certain relief in +her mind at first when the blow fell and the prophecy was accomplished. +All she had to do now was to suffer, not to be surprised, to trust in +God that He would support her. To Jeanne, no doubt, in the confidence +and inexperience of her youth, that meant that God would deliver her. +And so He did; but not as she expected. The sunshine of her life was +over, and now the long shadow, the bitter storm was to come. + +Nothing could be more remarkable than the response of France in general +to this extraordinary event. In Paris there were bonfires lighted to +show their joy, the _Te Deum_ was sung at Notre Dame. At the Court +Charles and his counsellors amused themselves with another prophet, a +shepherd from the hills who was to rival Jeanne's best achievements, but +never did so. Only the towns which she had delivered had still a tender +thought for Jeanne. At Tours the entire population appeared in +the streets with bare feet, singing the _Miserere_ in penance and +affliction. Orleans and Blois made public prayers for her safety. +Rheims, in which there was much independent interest in Jeanne and her +truth, had to be specially soothed by a letter from the Archbishop, in +which he made out with great cleverness that it was the fault of Jeanne +alone that she was taken. "She did nothing but by her own will, without +obeying the commandments of God," he says; "she would hear no counsel, +but followed her own pleasure,"; and it is in this letter that we hear +of the shepherd lad who was to replace Jeanne, and that it was his +opinion or revelation that God had suffered the Maid to be taken because +of her growing pride, because she loved fine clothes, and preferred her +own will to any guidance. We do not know whether this contented the +city of Rheims; similar reasoning however seems to have silenced France. +Nobody uttered a protest, nor struck a blow; the mournful procession of +Tours, where she had been first known in the outset of her career, the +prayers of Orleans which she had delivered, are the only exceptions we +know of. Otherwise there was lifted in France neither voice nor hand to +avert her doom. + + (1) The three camps must have formed a sort of irregular + triangle. The English at Venette being only half a mile from + the gates of Compiegne. + + + +CHAPTER X -- THE CAPTIVE. MAY, 1430-JAN., 1431. + +We have here to remark a complete suspension of all the ordinary laws +at once of chivalry and of honest warfare. Jeanne had been captured as +a general at the head of her forces. She was a prisoner of war. Such +a prisoner ordinarily, even in the most cruel ages, is in no +bodily danger. He is worth more alive than dead--a great ransom +perhaps--perhaps the very end of the warfare, and the accomplishment +of everything it was intended to gain: at least he is most valuable to +exchange for other important prisoners on the opposite side. It was like +taking away so much personal property to kill a prisoner, an outrage +deeply resented by his captor and unjustified by any law. It was true +that Jeanne herself had transgressed this universal custom but a little +while before, by giving up Franquet d'Arras to his prosecutors. But +Franquet was beyond the courtesies of war, a noted criminal, robber, and +destroyer: yet she ought not perhaps to have departed from the military +laws of right and wrong while everything in the country was under the +hasty arbitration of war. No one, however, so far as we know, produces +this matter of Franquet as a precedent in her own case. From the first +moment of her seizure there was no question of the custom and privilege +of warfare. She was taken as a wild animal might have been taken, the +only doubt being how to make the most signal example of her. Vengeance +in the gloomy form of the Inquisition claimed her the first day. No such +word as ransom was breathed from her own side, none was demanded, none +was offered. Her case is at once separated from every other. + +Yet the reign of chivalry was at its height, and women were supposed to +be the objects of a kind of worship, every knight being sworn to succour +and help them in need and trouble. There was perhaps something of the +subtle jealousy of sex so constantly denied on the stronger side, but +yet always existing, in the abrogation of every law of chivalry as well +as of warfare, in respect to the Maid. That man is indeed of the highest +strain of generosity who can bear to be beaten by a woman. And all the +seething, agitated world of France had been beaten by this girl. The +English and Burgundians, in the ordinary sense of the word, had been +overcome in fair field, forced to fly before her; the French, her own +side, had experienced an even more penetrating downfall by having the +honours of victory taken from them, she alone winning the day where they +had all failed. This is bitterer, perhaps, than merely to be compelled +to raise a siege or to fail in a fight. The Frenchmen fought like lions, +but the praise was to Jeanne who never struck a blow. Such great hearts +as Dunois, such a courteous prince as Alencon, were too magnanimous to +feel, or at least to resent, the grievance; they seconded her and fought +under her with a nobility of mind and disinterestedness beyond praise; +but it was not to be supposed that the common mass of the French +captains were like these; she had wronged and shamed them by taking the +glory from them, as much as she had shamed the English by making those +universal victors fly before her. The burghers whom she had rescued, the +poor people who were her brethren and whom she sought everywhere, might +weep and cry out to Heaven, but they were powerless at such a moment. +And every law that might have helped her was pushed aside. + +On the 25th the news was known in Paris, and immediately there appears +in the record a new adversary to Jeanne, the most bitter and implacable +of all; the next day, May 26, 1430, without the loss of an hour, a +letter was addressed to the Burgundian camp from the capital. Quicherat +speaks of it as a letter from the Inquisitor or vicar-general of the +Inquisition, written by the officials of the University; others tell us +that an independent letter was sent from the University to second that +of the Inquisitor. The University we may add was not a university +like one of ours, or like any existing at the present day. It was an +ecclesiastical corporation of the highest authority in every cause +connected with the Church, while gathering law, philosophy, and +literature under its wing. The first theologians, the most eminent +jurists were collected there, not by any means always in alliance with +the narrower tendencies and methods of the Inquisition. It is notable, +however, that this great institution lost no time in claiming the +prisoner, whose chief offence in its eyes was less her career as a +warrior than her position as a sorceress. The actual facts of her life +were of secondary importance to them. Orleans, Rheims, even her attack +upon Paris were nothing in comparison with the black art which they +believed to be her inspiration. The guidance of Heaven which was not the +guidance of the Church was to them a claim which meant only rebellion +of the direst kind. They had longed to seize her and strip her of her +presumptuous pretensions from the first moment of her appearance. They +could not allow a day of her overthrow to pass by without snatching at +this much-desired victim. + +No one perhaps will ever be able to say what it is that makes a trial +for heresy and sorcery, especially in the days when fire and flame, +the rack and the stake, stood at the end, so exciting and horribly +attractive to the mind. Whether it is the revelations that are hoped +for, of these strange commerces between earth and the unknown, into +which we would all fain pry if we could, in pursuit of some better +understanding than has ever yet fallen to the lot of man; whether it is +the strange and dreadful pleasure of seeing a soul driven to extremity +and fighting for its life through all the subtleties of thought and +fierce attacks of interrogation--or the mere love of inflicting torture, +misery, and death, which the Church was prevented from doing in the +common way, it is impossible to tell; but there is no doubt that a +thrill like the wings of vultures crowding to the prey, a sense of +horrible claws and beaks and greedy eyes is in the air, whenever such a +tribunal is thought of. The thrill, the stir, the eagerness among those +black birds of doom is more evident than usual in the headlong haste of +that demand. _Sous l'influence de l'Angleterre_, say the historians; the +more shame for them if it was so; but they were clearly under influence +wider and more infallible, the influence of that instinct, whatever it +may be, which makes a trial for heresy ten thousand times more cruel, +less restrained by any humanities of nature, than any other kind of +trial which history records. + +That is what the Inquisitor demanded after a long description of Jeanne, +"called the Maid," as having "dogmatised, sown, published, and caused +to be published, many and diverse errors from which have ensued great +scandals against the divine honour and our holy faith." "Using the +rights of our office and the authority committed to us by the Holy See +of Rome we instantly command, and enjoin you in the name of the Catholic +faith, and under penalty of the law: and all other Catholic persons of +whatsoever condition, pre-eminence, authority, or estate, to send or to +bring as prisoner before us with all speed and surety the said Jeanne, +vehemently suspected of various crimes springing from heresy, that +proceedings may be taken against her before us in the name of the Holy +Inquisition, and with the favour and aid of the doctors and masters of +the University of Paris, and other notable counsellors present there." + +It was the English who put it into the heads of the Inquisitor and the +University to do this, all the anxious Frenchmen cry. We can only reply +again, the more shame for the French doctors and priests! But there +was very little time to bring that influence to bear; and there is an +eagerness and precipitation in the demand which is far more like the +headlong natural rush for a much desired prize than any course of action +suggested by a third party. Nor is there anything to lead us to believe +that the movement was not spontaneous. It is little likely, indeed, that +the Sorbonne nowadays would concern itself about any inspired maid, +any more than the enlightened Oxford would do so. But the ideas of the +fifteenth century were widely different, and witchcraft and heresy were +the most enthralling and exciting of subjects, as they are still to +whosoever believes in them, learned or unlearned, great or small. + +It must be added that the entire mind of France, even of those who loved +Jeanne and believed in her, must have been shaken to its depths by this +catastrophe. We have no sympathy with those who compare the career of +any mortal martyr with the far more mysterious agony and passion of +our Lord. Yet we cannot but remember what a tremendous element the +disappointment of their hopes must have been in the misery of the first +disciples, the Apostles, the mother, all the spectators who had watched +with wonder and faith the mission of the Messiah. Had it failed? had all +the signs come to nothing, all those divine words and ways, to our minds +so much more wonderful than any miracles? Was there no meaning in +them? Were they mere unaccountable delusions, deceptions of the senses, +inspirations perhaps of mere genius--not from God at all except in a +secondary way? In the three terrible days that followed the Crucifixion +the burden of a world must have lain on the minds of those who had +seen every hope fail: no legions of angels appearing, no overwhelming +revelation from heaven, no change in a moment out of misery into the +universal kingship, the triumphant march. That was but the self-delusion +of the earth which continually travesties the schemes of Heaven; yet the +most terrible of all despairs is such a pause and horror of doubt lest +nothing should be true. + +But in the case of this little Maiden, this handmaid of the Lord, the +deception might have been all natural and perhaps shared by herself. +Were her first triumphs accidents merely, were her "voices" delusions, +had she been given up by Heaven, of which she had called herself the +servant? It was a stupor which quenched every voice--a great silence +through the country, only broken by the penitential psalms at Tours. +The Compiegne people, writing to Charles two days after May 23d, do not +mention Jeanne at all. We need not immediately take into account the +baser souls always plentiful, the envious captains and the rest who +might be secretly rejoicing. The entire country, both friends and foes, +had come to a dreadful pause and did not know what to think. The last +circumstance of which we must remind the reader, and which was of the +greatest importance, is, that it was only a small part of France that +knew anything personally of Jeanne. From Tours it is a far cry to +Picardy. All her triumphs had taken place in the south. The captive of +Beaulieu and Beaurevoir spent the sad months of her captivity among a +population which could have heard of her only by flying rumours coming +from hostile quarters. From the midland of France to the sea, near +to which her prison was situated, is a long way, and those northern +districts were as unlike the Orleannais as if they had been in two +different countries. Rouen in Normandy no more resembled Rheims, than +Edinburgh resembled London: and in the fifteenth century that was saying +a great deal. Nothing can be more deceptive than to think of these +separate and often hostile duchies as if they bore any resemblance to +the France of to-day. + +The captor of Jeanne was a vassal of Jean de Luxembourg and took her as +we have seen to the quarters of his master at Margny, into whose hands +she thenceforward passed. She was kept in the camp three or four days +and then transferred to the castle of Beaulieu, which belonged to him; +and afterwards to the more important stronghold of Beaurevoir, which +seems to have been his principal residence. We know very few details of +her captivity. According to one chronicler, d'Aulon, her faithful friend +and intendant, was with her at least in the former of those prisons, +where at first she would appear to have been hopeful and in good +spirits, if we may trust to the brief conversation between her and +d'Aulon, which is one of the few details which reach us of that period. +While he lamented over the probable fate of Compiegne she was confident. +"That poor town of Compiegne that you loved so much," he said, "by this +time it will be in the hands of the enemies of France." "No," said +the Maid, "the places which the king of Heaven brought back to the +allegiance of the gentle King Charles by me, will not be retaken by his +enemies." In this case at least the prophecy came true. + +And perhaps there might have been at first a certain relief in Jeanne's +mind, such as often follows after a long threatened blow has fallen. She +had no longer the vague tortures of suspense, and probably believed that +she would be ransomed as was usual: and in this silence and seclusion +her "voices" which she had not obeyed as at first, but yet which had not +abandoned her, nor shown estrangement, were more near and audible than +amid the noise and tumult of war. They spoke to her often, sometimes +three times a day, as she afterwards said, in the unbroken quiet of +her prison. And though they no longer spoke of new enterprises and +victories, their words were full of consolation. But it was not long +that Jeanne's young and vigorous spirit could content itself with +inaction. She was no mystic; willingly giving herself over to dreams and +visions is more possible to the old than to the young. Her confidence +and hope for her good friends of Compiegne gave way before the continued +tale of their sufferings, and the inveterate siege which was driving +them to desperation. No doubt the worst news was told to Jeanne, and +twice over she made a desperate attempt to escape, in hope of being able +to succour them, but without any sanction, as she confesses, from her +spiritual instructors. At Beaulieu the attempt was simple enough: the +narrative seems to imply that the doorway, or some part of the wall of +her room, had been closed with laths or planks nailed across an opening: +and between these she succeeded in slipping, "as she was very slight," +with the hope of locking the door to an adjoining guard-room upon the +men who had charge of her, and thus getting free. But alas! The porter +of the chateau, who had no business there, suddenly appeared in the +corridor, and she was discovered and taken back to her chamber. At +Beaurevoir, which was farther off, her attempt was a much more desperate +one, and indicates a despair and irritation of mind which had become +unbearable. At this place her own condition was much alleviated; the +castle was the residence of Jean de Luxembourg's wife and aunt, ladies +who visited Jeanne continually, and soon became interested and attached +to her; but as the master of the house was himself in the camp before +Compiegne, they had the advantage or disadvantage, as far as the +prisoner was concerned, of constant news, and Jeanne's trouble for her +friends grew daily. + +She seems, indeed, after the assurance she had expressed at first, +to have fallen into great doubt and even carried on within herself a +despairing argument with her spiritual guides on this point, battling +with these saintly influences as in the depths of the troubled heart +many have done with the Creator Himself in similar circumstances. "How," +she cried, "could God let them perish who had been so good and loyal to +their King?" St. Catherine replied gently that He would Himself care for +these _bons amis_, and even promised that "before the St. Martin" +relief would come. But Jeanne had probably by this time--in her great +disappointment and loneliness, and with the sense in her of so much +power to help were she only free--got beyond her own control. They bade +her to be patient. One of them, amid their exhortations to accept her +fate cheerfully, and not to be astonished at it, seems to have conveyed +to her mind the impression that she should not be delivered till she had +seen the King of England. "Truly I will not see him! I would rather die +than fall into the hands of the English," cried Jeanne in her petulance. +The King of England is spoken of always, it is curious to note, as if +he had been a great, severe ruler like his father, never as the child he +really was. But Jeanne in her helplessness and impotence was impatient +even with her saints. Day by day the news came in from Compiegne, +all that was favourable to the Burgundians received with joy and +thanksgiving by the ladies of Luxembourg, while the captive consumed her +heart with vain indignation. At last Jeanne would seem to have wrought +herself up to the most desperate of expedients. Whether her room was in +the donjon, or whether she was allowed sufficient freedom in the house +to mount to the battlements there, we are not informed--probably the +latter was the case: for it was from the top of the tower that the rash +girl at last flung herself down, carried away by what sudden frenzy +of alarm or sting of evil tidings can never be known. Probably she had +hoped that a miracle would be wrought on her behalf, and that faith +was all that was wanted, as on so many other occasions. Perhaps she had +heard of the negotiations to sell her to the English, which would give a +keener urgency to her determination to get free; all that appears in the +story, however, is her wild anxiety about Compiegne and her _bons amis_. +How she escaped destruction no one knows. She was rescued for a more +tremendous and harder fate. + +The Maid was taken up as dead from the foot of the tower (the height is +estimated at sixty feet); but she was not dead, nor even seriously hurt. +Her frame, so slight that she had been able to slip between the bars put +up to secure her, had so little solidity that the shock would seem +to have been all that ailed her. She was stunned and unconscious and +remained so far some time; and for three days neither ate nor drank. But +though she was so humbled by the effects of the fall, "she was comforted +by St. Catherine, who bade her confess and implore the mercy of God" for +her rash disobedience--and repeated the promise that before Martinmas +Compiegne should be relieved. Jeanne did not perhaps in her rebellion +deserve this encouragement; but the heavenly ladies were kind and +pitiful and did not stand upon their dignity. The wonderful thing was +that Jeanne recovered perfectly from this tremendous leap. + +The earthly ladies, though so completely on the other side, were +scarcely less kind to the Maid. They visited her daily, carried their +news to her, were very friendly and sweet: and no doubt other visitors +came to make the acquaintance of a prisoner so wonderful. There was one +point on which they were very urgent, and this was about her dress. It +shamed and troubled them to see her in the costume of a man. Jeanne had +her good reasons for that, which perhaps she did not care to tell +them, fearing to shock the ears of a demoiselle of Luxembourg with the +suggestion of dangers of which she knew nothing. No doubt it was true +that while doing the serious work of war, as she said afterwards, it was +best that she should be dressed as a man; but Jeanne had reason to know +besides, that it was safer, among the rough comrades and gaolers who now +surrounded her, to wear the tight-fitting and firmly fastened dress of +a soldier. She answered the ladies and their remonstrances with all +the grace of a courtier. Could she have done it she would rather have +yielded the point to them, she said, than to any one else in France, +except the Queen. The women wherever she went were always faithful +to this young creature, so pure-womanly in her young angel-hood and +man-hood. The poor followed to kiss her hands or her armour, the rich +wooed her with tender flatteries and persuasions. There is not record in +all her career of any woman who was not her friend. + +For the last dreary month of that winter she was sent to the fortress +of Crotoy on the Somme, for what reason we are not told, probably to +be more near the English into whose hands she was about to be given +up: again another shameful bargain in which the guilt lies with the +Burgundians and not with the English. If Charles I. was sold as we Scots +all indignantly deny, the shame of the sale was on our nation, not on +England, whom nobody has ever blamed for the transaction. The sale of +Jeanne was brutally frank. It was indeed a ransom which was paid to +Jean of Luxembourg with a share to the first captor, the archer who had +secured her; but it was simple blood-money as everybody knew. At Crotoy +she had once more the solace of female society, again with much +pressing upon her of their own heavy skirts and hanging sleeves. A +fellow-prisoner in the dungeon of Crotoy, a priest, said mass every day +and gave her the holy communion. And her mind seems to have been soothed +and calmed. Compiegne was relieved; the saints had kept their word: she +had that burden the less upon her soul: and over the country there were +against stirrings of French valour and success. The day of the Maid was +over, but it began to bear the fruit of a national quickening of vigour +and life. + +It was at Crotoy, in December, that she was transferred to English +hands. The eager offer of the University of Paris to see her speedy +condemnation had not been accepted, and perhaps the Burgundians had +been willing to wait, to see if any ransom was forthcoming from +France. Perhaps too, Paris, which sang the _Te Deum_ when she was taken +prisoner, began to be a little startled by its own enthusiasm and to ask +itself the question what there was to be so thankful about?--a result +which has happened before in the history of that impulsive city:--and +Paris was too near the centre of France, where the balance seemed to +be turning again in favour of the national party, to have its thoughts +distracted by such a trial as was impending. It seemed better to the +English leaders to conduct their prisoner to a safer place, to the +depths of Normandy where they were most strong. They seem to have +carried her away in the end of the year, travelling slowly along the +coast, and reaching Rouen by way of Eu and Dieppe, as far away as +possible from any risk of rescue. She arrived in Rouen in the beginning +of the year 1431, having thus been already for nearly eight months in +close custody. But there were no further ministrations of kind women for +Jeanne. She was now distinctly in the hands of her enemies, those who +had no sympathy or natural softening of feeling towards her. + +The severities inflicted upon her in her new prison at Rouen were +terrible, almost incredible. We are told that she was kept in an iron +cage (like the Countess of Buchan in earlier days by Edward I.), bound +hands, and feet, and throat, to a pillar, and watched incessantly by +English soldiers--the latter being an abominable and hideous method +of torture which was never departed from during the rest of her life. +Afterwards, at the beginning of her trial she was relieved from the +cage, but never from the presence and scrutiny of this fierce and +hateful bodyguard. Such detestable cruelties were in the manner of +the time, which does not make us the less sicken at them with burning +indignation and the rage of shame. For this aggravation of her +sufferings England alone was responsible. The Burgundians at their worst +had not used her so. It is true that she was to them a piece of +valuable property worth so much good money; which is a powerful argument +everywhere. But to the English she meant no money: no one offered to +ransom Jeanne on the side of her own party, for whom she had done +so much. Even at Tours and Orleans, so far as appears, there was no +subscription--to speak in modern terms,--no cry among the burghers to +gather their crowns for her redemption--not a word, not an effort, only +a barefooted procession, a mass, a Miserere, which had no issue. France +stood silent to see what would come of it; and her scholars and divines +swarmed towards Rouen to make sure that nothing but harm should come +of it to the ignorant country lass, who had set up such pretences of +knowing better than others. The King congratulated himself that he +had another prophetess as good as she, and a Heaven-sent boy from the +mountains who would do as well and better than Jeanne. Where was Dunois? +Where was La Hire,(1) a soldier bound by no conventions, a captain whose +troop went like the wind where it listed, and whose valour was known? +Where was young Guy de Laval, so ready to sell his lands that his men +might be fit for service? All silent; no man drawing a sword or saying +a word. It is evident that in this frightful pause of fate, Jeanne had +become to France as to England, the Witch whom it was perhaps a danger +to have had anything to do with, whose spells had turned the world +upside down for a moment: but these spells had become ineffectual or +worn out as is the nature of sorcery. No explanation, not even the +well-worn and so often valid one of human baseness, could explain the +terrible situation, if not this. + + (1) La Hire was at Louvain, which we hear a little later the + new English levies would not march to besiege till the Maid + was dead, and where Dunois joined him in March of this fatal + year. These two at Louvain within a few leagues of Rouen and + not a sword drawn for Jeanne!--the wonder grows. + + + +CHAPTER XI -- THE JUDGES. 1431. + +The name of Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, appears to us at this +long distance as arising out of the infernal mists, into which, when his +ministry of shame was accomplished, he disappeared again, bearing with +him nothing but hatred and ill fame. Yet in his own day and to his +contemporaries, he was not an inconsiderable man. He was of Rheims, +a great student, and excellent scholar, the friend of many good men, +highly esteemed among the ranks of the learned, a good man of business, +which is not always the attribute of a scholar, and at the same time a +Burgundian of pronounced sentiments, holding for his Duke, against the +King. When Beauvais was summoned by Charles, after his coronation, at +that moment of universal triumph when all seemed open for him to march +upon Paris if he would, the city had joyfully thrown open its doors to +the royal army, and in doing so had driven out its Bishop, who was hot +on the other side. He would not seem to have been wanted in Paris at +that moment. The "triste Bedford," as Michelet calls him, had no means +of employing an ambitious priest, no dirty work for the moment to give +him. It is natural to suppose that a man so admirably adapted for that +employment went in search of it to the ecclesiastical court, not +beloved of England, which the Cardinal Bishop of Winchester held there. +Winchester was the only one of the House of Lancaster who had money to +carry on the government either at home or abroad. The two priests, +as the historians are always pleased to insinuate in respect to +ecclesiastics, soon understood each other, and Winchester became aware +that he had in Cauchon a tool ready for any shameful enterprise. It is +not, however, necessary to assume so much as this, for we have not the +least reason to believe that either one or the other of them had the +slightest doubt on the subject of Jeanne, or as to her character. She +was a pernicious witch, filling a hitherto invincible army with that +savage fright which is but too well understood among men, and which +produces cruel outrages as well as cowardly panic. The air of this very +day, while I write, is ringing with the story of a woman burnt to death +by her own family under the influence of that same horrible panic and +terror. Cauchon was the countryman, almost the _pays_--an untranslatable +expression,--of Jeanne; but he did not believe in her any more than the +loftier ecclesiastics of France believed in Bernadette of Lourdes, +who was of the spiritual lineage of Jeanne, nor than we should believe +to-day in a similar pretender. It seems unnecessary then to think of +dark plots hatched between these two dark priests against the white, +angelic apparition of the Maid. + +What services Cauchon had done to recommend him to the favour of +Winchester we are not told, but he was so much in favour that the +Cardinal had recommended him to the Pope for the vacant archbishopric +of Rouen a few months before there was any immediate question of Jeanne. +The appointment was opposed by the clergy of Rouen, and the Pope had not +come to any decision as yet on the subject. But no doubt the ambition of +Cauchon made him very eager, with such a tempting prize before him, to +recommend himself to his English patron by every means in his power. And +he it was who undertook the office of negotiating the ransom of Jeanne +from the hands of Jean de Luxembourg. We doubt whether after all it +would be just even to call this a nefarious bargain. To the careless +seigneur it would probably be very much a matter of course. The ransom +offered--six thousand francs--was as good as if she had been a prince. +The ladies at home might be indignant, but what was their foolish fancy +for a high-flown girl in comparison with these substantial crowns in his +pocket; and to be free from the responsibility of guarding her would be +an advantage too. And if her own party did not stir on her behalf, why +should he? A most pertinent question. Cauchon, on the other hand, could +assure all objectors that no summary vengeance was to be taken on +the Maid. She was to be judged by the Church, and by the best men the +University could provide, and if she were found innocent, no doubt would +go free. + +They must have been sanguine indeed who hoped for a triumphant acquittal +of Jeanne; but still it may have been hoped that a trial by her +countrymen would in every case be better for her than to languish in +prison or to be seized perhaps by the English on some after occasion, +and to perish by their hands. Let us therefore be fair to Cauchon, if +possible, up to the beginning of the _Proces_. He was no Frenchman, +but a Burgundian; his allegiance was to his Duke, not to the King of +England; but his natural sovereign did so, and many, very many men of +note and importance were equally base, and did not esteem it base at +all. Had the inhabitants of Rheims, his native town, or of Rouen, +in which _his_ trial and downfall took place as well as Jeanne's, +pronounced for the King of Prussia in the last war, and proclaimed +themselves his subjects, the traitors would have been hung with infamy +from their own high towers, or driven into their river headlong. But +things were very different in the fifteenth century. There has never +been a moment in our history when either England or Scotland has +pronounced for a foreign sway. Scotland fought with desperation for +centuries against the mere name of suzerainty, though of a kindred race. +There have been terrible moments of forced subjugation at the point of +the sword; but never any such phenomena as appeared in France, so far +on in the world's history as was that brilliant and highly cultured +age. Such a state of affairs is to our minds impossible to understand +or almost to believe: but in the interests of justice it must be fully +acknowledged and understood. + +Cauchon arises accordingly, not at first with any infamy, out of the +obscurity. He had been expelled and dethroned from his See, but this +only for political reasons. He was ecclesiastically Bishop of Beauvais +still; it was within his diocese that the Maid had taken prisoner, and +there also her last acts of magic, if magic there was, had taken place. +He had therefore a legal right to claim the jurisdiction, a right which +no one had any interest in taking from him. If Paris was disappointed +at not having so interesting a trial carried on before its courts, there +was compensation in the fact that many doctors of the University were +called to assist Cauchon in his examination of the Maid, and to bring +her, witch, sorceress, heretic, whatever she might be, to question. +These doctors were not undistinguished or unworthy men. A number of them +held high office in the Church; almost all were honourably connected +with the University, the source of learning in France. "With what art +were they chosen!" exclaims M. Blaze de Bury. "A number of theologians, +the elite of the time, had been named to represent France at the council +of Bale; of these Cauchon chose the flower." This does not seem on the +face of it to be a fact against, but rather in favour of, the tribunal, +which the reader naturally supposes must have been the better, the more +just, for being chosen among the flower of learning in France. They were +not men who could be imagined to be the tools of any Bishop. Quicherat, +in his moderate and able remarks on this subject, selects for special +mention three men who took a very important part in it, Guillame Erard, +Nicole Midi, and Tomas de Courcelles. They were all men who held a high +place in the respect of their generation. Erard was a friend of Machet, +the confessor of Charles VII., who had been a member of the tribunal +at Poitiers which first pronounced upon the pretensions of Jeanne; yet +after the trial of the Maid Machet still describes him as a man of the +highest virtue and heavenly wisdom. Nicole Midi continued to hold an +honourable place in his University for many years, and was the man +chosen to congratulate Charles when Paris finally became again the +residence of the King. Courcelles was considered the first theologian of +the age. "He was an austere and eloquent young man," says Quicherat, +"of a lucid mind, though nourished on abstractions. He was the first of +theologians long before he had attained the age at which he could assume +the rank of doctor, and even before he had finished his studies he was +considered as the successor of Gerson. He was the light of the council +of Bale. Eneas Piccolomini (Pope Pius II.) speaks with admiration of his +capacity and his modesty. In him we recognise the father of the freedom +of the Gallican Church. His disinterestedness is shown by the simple +position with which he contented himself. He died with no higher rank +than that of Dean of the Chapter of Paris." + +Did this in Caesar seem ambitious? Was this the man to be used for +their vile ends by a savage English party thirsting for the blood of an +innocent victim, and by the vile priest who was its tool? It does not +seem so to our eyes across the long level of the centuries which clear +away so many mists. And no more dreadful accusation can be brought +against France than the suggestion that men like these, her best and +most carefully trained, were willing to act as blood-hounds for +the advantage and the pay of the invader. But there are many French +historians to whom the mere fact of a black gown or at least an +ecclesiastical robe, confounds every testimony, and to whom even the +name of Frenchman does not make it appear possible that a priest should +retain a shred of honour or of honesty. We should have said by the light +of nature and probability that had every guarantee been required for the +impartiality and justice of such a tribunal, they could not have +been better secured than by the selection of such men to conduct its +proceedings. They made a great and terrible mistake, as the wisest +of men have made before now. They did much worse, they behaved to an +unfortunate girl who was in their power with indescribable ferocity and +cruelty; but we must hope that this was owing to the period at which +they lived rather than to themselves. + +It is not perhaps indeed from the wise and learned, the Stoics and +Pundits of a University, that we should choose judges for the divine +simplicity of those babes and sucklings out of whose mouth praise is +perfected. At the same time to choose the best men is not generally the +way adopted to procure a base judgement. Cauchon might have been subject +to this blame had he filled the benches of his court with creatures of +his own, nameless priests and dialecticians, knowing nothing but +their own poor science of words. He did not do so. There were but two +Englishmen in the assembly, neither of them men of any importance or +influence although there must have been many English priests in the +country and in the train of Winchester. There were not even any special +partisans of Burgundy, though some of the assessors were Burgundian by +birth. We should have said, had we known no more than this, that every +precaution had been taken to give the Maid the fairest trial. But at the +same time a trial which is conducted under the name of the Inquisition +is always suspect. The mere fact of that terrible name seems to +establish a foregone conclusion; few are the prisoners at that bar who +have ever escaped. This fact is almost all that can be set against the +high character of the individuals who composed the tribunal. At all +events it is no argument against the English that they permitted the +best men in France to be chosen as Jeanne's judges. It is the most +bewildering and astonishing of historical facts that they were so, and +yet came to the conclusion they did, by the means they did, and that +without falling under the condemnation, or scorn, or horror of their +fellow-men. + +This then was the assembly which gathered in Rouen in the beginning of +1431. Quicherat will not venture to affirm even that intimidation was +directly employed to effect their decision. He says that the evidence +"tends to prove" that this was the case, but honestly allows that, "it +is well to remark that the witnesses contradict each other." "In all +that I have said," he adds, "my intention has been to prove that the +judges of the Maid had in no way the appearance of partisans hotly +pursuing a political vengeance; but that, on the contrary, their known +weight, the consideration which most of them enjoyed, and the nature +of the tribunal for which they were assembled, were all calculated to +produce generally an expectation full of confidence and respect." + +Meanwhile there is not a word to be said for the treatment to which +Jeanne herself was subjected, she being, so far as is apparent, entirely +in English custody. She had been treated with tolerable gentleness it +would seem in the first part of her captivity while in the hands of Jean +de Luxembourg, the Count de Ligny. The fact that the ladies of the house +were for her friends must have assured this, and there is no complaint +made anywhere of cruelty or even unkindness. When she arrived in Rouen +she was confined in the middle chamber of the donjon, which was the best +we may suppose, neither a dungeon under the soil, nor a room under the +leads, but one to which there was access by a short flight of steps from +the courtyard, and which was fully lighted and not out of reach or sight +of life. But in this chamber was an iron cage,(1) within which she was +bound, feet, and waist and neck, from the time of her arrival until +the beginning of the trial, a period of about six weeks. Five English +soldiers of the lowest class watched her night and day, three in the +room itself, two at the door. It is enough to think for a moment of the +probable manners and morals of these troopers to imagine what torture +must have been inflicted by their presence upon a young woman who had +always been sensitive above all things to the laws of personal modesty +and reserve. Their course jests would no doubt be unintelligible to +her, which would be an alleviation; but their coarse laughter, their +revolting touch, their impure looks, would be an endless incessant +misery. We are told that she indignantly bestowed a hearty buffet on the +cheek of a tailor who approached her too closely when it was intended +to furnish her with female dress; but she was helpless to defend herself +when in her irons, and had to endure as she best could--the bars of +her cage let us hope, if cage there was, affording her some little +protection from the horror of the continual presence of these rude +attendants, with whom it was a shame to English gentlemen and knights to +surround a helpless woman. + +When her trial began Jeanne was released from her cage, but was still +chained by one foot to a wooden beam during the day, and at night to the +posts of her bed. Sometimes her guards would wake her to tell her that +she had been condemned and was immediately to be led forth to execution; +but that was a small matter. Attempts were also made to inflict the +barest insult and outrage upon her, and on one occasion she is said to +have been saved only by the Earl of Warwick, who heard her cries and +went to her rescue. By night as by day she clung to her male garb, +tightly fastened by the innumerable "points" of which Shakespeare so +often speaks. Such were the horrible circumstances in which she awaited +her public appearance before her judges. She was brought before them +every day for months together, to be badgered by the keenest wits in +France, coming back and back with artful questions upon every detail +of every subject, to endeavour to shake her firmness or force her into +self-contradiction. Imagine a cross-examination going on for months, +like those--only more cruel than those--to which we sometimes see an +unfortunate witness exposed in our own courts of law. There is nothing +more usual than to see people break down entirely after a day or two +of such a tremendous ordeal, in which their hearts and lives are turned +inside out, their minds so bewildered that they know not what they are +saying, and everything they have done in their lives exhibited in the +worst, often in an entirely fictitious, light, to the curiosity and +amusement of the world. + +But all our processes are mercy in comparison with those to which French +prisoners at the bar are still exposed. It is unnecessary to enter into +an account of these which are so well known; but they show that even +such a trial as that of Jeanne was by no means so contrary to common +usage, as it would be, and always would have been in England. In England +we warn the accused to utter no rash word which may be used against him; +in France the first principle is to draw from him every rash word that +he can be made to bring forth. This was the method employed with Jeanne. +Her judges were all Churchmen and dialecticians of the subtlest wit +and most dexterous faculties in France; they had all, or almost all, a +strong prepossession against her. Though we cannot believe that men of +such quality were suborned, there was, no doubt, enough of jealous and +indignant feeling among them to make the desire of convicting Jeanne +more powerful with them than the desire for pure justice. She was a true +Christian, but not perhaps the soundest of Church-women. Her visions had +not the sanction of any priest's approval, except indeed the official +but not warm affirmation of the Council at Poitiers. She had not +hastened to take the Church into her confidence nor to put herself under +its protection. Though her claims had been guaranteed by the company +of divines at Poitiers, she herself had always appealed to her private +instructions, through her saints, rather than to the guiding of any +priest. The chief ecclesiastical dignitary of her own party had just +held her up to the reprobation of the people for this cause: she was too +independent, so proud that she would take no advice but acted according +to her own will. The more accustomed a Churchman is to experience +the unbounded devotion and obedience of women, the more enraged he is +against those who judge for themselves or have other guides on whom +they rely. Jeanne was, beside all other sins alleged against her, a +presumptuous woman: and very few of these men had any desire to acquit +her. They were little accustomed to researches which were solely +intended to discover the truth: their principle rather was, as it has +been the principle of many, to obtain proofs that their own particular +way of thinking was the right one. It is not perhaps very good even for +a system of doctrine when this is the principle by which it is tested. +It is more fatal still, on this principle, to judge an individual for +death or for life. It will be abundantly proved, however, by all that is +to follow, that in face of this tribunal, learned, able, powerful, and +prejudiced, the peasant girl of nineteen stood like a rock, unmoved +by all their cleverness, undaunted by their severity, seldom or never +losing her head, or her temper, her modest steadfastness, or her high +spirit. If they hoped to have an easy bargain of her, never were men +more mistaken. Not knowing a from b, as she herself said, untrained, +unaided, she was more than a match for them all. + +Round about this centre of eager intelligence, curiosity, and prejudice, +the cathedral and council chamber teeming with Churchmen, was a dark and +silent ring of laymen and soldiers. A number of the English leaders were +in Rouen, but they appear very little. Winchester, who had very +lately come from England with an army, which according to some of the +historians would not budge from Calais, where it had landed, "for fear +of the Maid"--was the chief person in the place, but did not make any +appearance at the trial, curiously enough; the Duke of Bedford we are +informed was visible on one shameful occasion, but no more. But Warwick, +who was the Governor of the town, appears frequently and various other +lords with him. We see them in the mirror held up to us by the French +historians, pressing round in an ever narrowing circle, closing up upon +the tribunal in the midst, pricking the priests with perpetual sword +points if they seem to loiter. They would have had everything pushed on, +no delay, no possibility of escape. It is very possible that this was +the case, for it is evident that the Witch was deeply obnoxious to the +English, and that they were eager to have her and her endless process +out of the way; but the evidence for their terror and fierce desire to +expedite matters is of the feeblest. A canon of Rouen declared at the +trial that he had heard it said by Maitre Pierre Morice, and Nicolas +l'Oyseleur, judges assessors, and by other whose names he does not +recollect, "that the said English were so afraid of her that they did +not dare to begin the siege of Louviers until she was dead; and that it +was necessary if one would please them, to hasten the trial as much as +possible and to find the means of condemning her." Very likely this was +quite true: but it cannot at all be taken for proved by such evidence. +Another contemporary witness allows that though some of the English +pushed on her trial for hate, some were well disposed to her; the manner +of Jeanne's imprisonment is the only thing which inclines the reader to +believe every evil thing that is said against them. + +Such were the circumstances in which Jeanne was brought to trail. The +population, moved to pity and to tears as any population would +have been, before the end, would seem at the beginning to have been +indifferent and not to have taken much interest one way or another: the +court, a hundred men and more with all their hangers-on, the cleverest +men in France, one more distinguished and impeccable than the others: +the stern ring of the Englishmen outside keeping an eye upon the tedious +suit and all its convolutions: these all appear before us, surrounding +as with bands of iron the young lonely victim in the donjon, who +submitting to every indignity, and deprived of every aid, feeling that +all her friends had abandoned her, yet stood steadfast and strong in +her absolute simplicity and honesty. It was but two years in that same +spring weather since she had left Vaucouleurs to seek the fortune of +France, to offer herself to the struggle which now was coming to an end. +Not a soul had Jeanne to comfort or stand by her. She had her saints +who--one wonders if such a thought ever entered into her young visionary +head--had lured her to her doom, and who still comforted her with +enigmatical words, promises which came true in so sadly different a +sense from that in which they were understood. + + (1) We are glad to add that the learned Quicherat has doubts + on the subject of the cage. + + + +CHAPTER XII -- BEFORE THE TRIAL. LENT, 1431. + +We have not, however, sufficiently described the horror of the prison, +and the treatment to which Jeanne was exposed, though the picture is +already dark enough. It throws a horrible yet also a grotesque light +upon the savage manners of the time to find that the chamber in which +she was confined, had secret provision for an _espionnage_ of the most +base kind, openings made in the walls through which everything that took +place in the room, every proceeding of the unfortunate prisoner, could +be spied upon and every word heard. The idea of such a secret watch +has always been attractive to the vulgar mind, and no doubt it has been +believed to exist many times when there was little or no justification +for such an infernal thought. From the "ear" of Dionysius, down to the +_Trou Judas_, which early tourists on the Continent were taught to fear +in every chamber door, the idea has descended to our own times. It would +seem, however, to be beyond doubt that this odious means of acquiring +information was in full operation during the trial of Jeanne, and +various spies were permitted to peep at her, and to watch for any +unadvised word she might say in her most private moments. We are told +that the Duke of Bedford made use of the opportunity in a still more +revolting way, and was present, a secret spectator, at the fantastic +scene when Jeanne was visited by a committee of matrons who examined +her person to prove or to disprove one of the hateful insinuations which +were made about her. The imagination, however, refuses to conceive that +a man of serious age and of high functions should have degraded himself +to the level of a Peeping Tom in this way; all the French historians, +nevertheless, repeat the story though on the merest hearsay evidence. +And they also relate, with more apparent truth, how a double treachery +was committed upon the unfortunate prisoner by stationing two +secretaries at these openings, to take down her conversation with a spy +who had been sent to her in the guise of a countryman of her own; and +that not only Cauchon but Warwick also was present on this occasion, +listening, while their plot was carried out by the vile traitor inside. +The clerks, we are glad to say, are credited with a refusal to act: but +Warwick did not shrink from the ignominy. The Englishmen indeed shrank +from no ignominy; nor did the great French savants assembled under the +presidency of the Bishop. It is necessary to grant to begin with that +they were neither ignorant nor base men, yet from the beginning of the +trial almost every step taken by them appears base, as well as marked, +in the midst of all their subtlety and diabolical cunning, by the +profoundest ignorance of human nature. The spy of whom we have spoken, +L'Oyseleur (bird-snarer, a significant name), was sent, and consented to +be sent, to Jeanne in her prison, as a fellow prisoner, a _pays_, +like herself from Lorraine, to invite her confidence: but his long +conversations with the Maid, which were heard behind their backs by +the secretaries, elicited nothing from her that she did not say in the +public examination. She had no secret devices to betray to a traitor. +She would not seem, indeed, to have suspected the man at all, not +even when she saw him among her judges taking part against her. Jeanne +herself suspected no falsehood, but made her confession to him, when she +found that he was a priest, and trusted him fully. The bewildering +and confusing fact, turning all the contrivances of her judges into +foolishness, was, that she had nothing to confess that she was not ready +to tell in the eye of day. + +The adoption of this abominable method of eliciting secrets from the +candid soul which had none, was justified, it appears, by the manner of +her trial, which was after the rules of the Inquisition--by which even +more than by those which regulate an ordinary French trial the guilt of +the accused is a foregone conclusion for which proof is sought, not a +fair investigation of facts for abstract purposes of justice. The first +thing to be determined by the tribunal was the counts of the indictment +against Jeanne; was she to be tried for magical arts, for sorcery and +witchcraft? It is very probable that the mission of L'Oyseleur was to +obtain evidence that would clear up this question by means of recalling +to her the stories of her childhood, of the enchanted tree, and the +Fairies' Well; from which sources, her accusers anxiously hoped to prove +that she derived her inspiration. But it is very clear that no such +evidence was forthcoming, and that it seemed to them hopeless to +attribute sorcery to her; therefore the accusation was changed to that +of heresy alone. The following mandate from the University authorising +her prosecution will show what the charge was; and the reader will note +that one of its darkest items is the costume, which for so many good +and sufficient reasons she wore. Here is the official description of the +accused: + +"A woman, calling herself the Maid, leaving the dress and habit of her +sex against the divine law, a thing abominable to God, clothed and armed +in the habit and condition of a man, has done cruel deeds of homicide, +and as is said has made the simple people believe, in order to abuse +and lead them astray, that she was sent by God, and had knowledge of His +divine secrets; along with several other doctrines (_dogmatisations_), +very dangerous, prejudicial, and scandalous to our holy Catholic faith, +in pursuing which abuses, and exercising hostility against us and our +people, she has been taken in arms, before Compiegne, and brought as a +prisoner before us." + +According to French law the indictment ought to have been founded upon a +preliminary examination into the previous life of the accused, which, as +it does not appear in the formal accusations, it was supposed had never +been made. Recent researches, however, have proved that it was made, but +was not of a nature to strengthen or justify any accusation. All that +the examiners could discover was that Jeanne d'Arc was a good and honest +maid who left a spotless reputation behind her in her native village, +and that not a suspicion of _dogmatisations_, nor worship of fairies, +nor any other unseemly thing was associated with her name. Other things +less favourable, we are told, were reported of her: the statement, +for instance, made in apparent good faith by Monstrelet the Burgundian +chronicler, that she had been for some time a servant in an _auberge_, +and there had learned to ride, and to consort with men--a statement +totally without foundation, which was scarcely referred to in the trial. + +The skill of M. Quicherat discovered the substance of those inquiries +among the many secondary papers, but they were not made use of in the +formal proceedings. This also we are told, though contrary to the habit +of French law, was justified by the methods of the Inquisition, which +were followed throughout the trial. One breach of law and justice, +however, is permitted by no code. It is expressly forbidden by French, +and even by inquisitorial law, that a prisoner should be tried by +his enemies--that is by judges avowedly hostile to him: an initial +difficulty which it would have been impossible to get over and which +had therefore to be ignored. One brave and honest man, Nicolas de +Houppeville, had the courage to make this observation in one of the +earliest sittings of the assembly: + +"Neither the Bishop of Beauvais" (he said) "nor the other members of the +tribunal ought to be judges in the matter; and it did not seem to him a +good mode of procedure that those who were of the opposite party to +the accused should be her judges--considering also that she had been +examined already by the clergy of Poitiers, and by the Archbishop of +Rheims, who was the metropolitan of the said Bishop of Beauvais." + +Nicolas de Houppeville was a lawyer and had a right to be heard on such +a point; but the reply of the judges was to throw him into prison, not +without threats on the part of the civil authorities to carry the point +further by throwing him into the Seine. This was the method by which +every honest objection was silenced. That the examination at Poitiers, +where the judges, as has been seen, were by no means too favourable to +Jeanne, should never have been referred to by her present examiners, +though there was no doubt it ought to have been one of the most +important sources of the preliminary information--is also very +remarkable. It was suggested indeed to Jeanne at a late period of the +trial, that she might appeal to the Archbishop; but he was, as she well +knew, one of her most cruel enemies. + +Still more important was the breach of all justice apparent in the fact +that she had no advocate, no counsel on her side, no one to speak to +her and conduct her defence. It was suggested to her near the end of the +proceedings that she might choose one of her judges to fill this office; +but even if the proposal had been a genuine one or at all likely to +be to her advantage, it was then too late to be of any use. These +particulars, we believe, were enough to invalidate any process in strict +law; but the name of law seems ridiculous altogether as applied to this +rambling and cruel cross-examination in which was neither sense nor +decorum. The reader will understand that there were no witnesses either +for or against her, the answers of the accused herself forming the +entire evidence. + +One or two particulars may still be added to make the background at +least more clear. The prison of Jeanne, as we have seen, was not left +in the usual silence of such a place; the constant noise with which +the English troopers filled the air, jesting, gossiping, and +carrying on their noisy conversation, if nothing worse and more +offensive--sometimes, as Jeanne complains, preventing her from hearing +(her sole solace) the soft voices of her saintly visitors--was not her +only disturbance. Her solitude was broken by curious and inquisitive +visitors of various kinds. L'Oyseleur, the abominable detective, who +professed to be her countryman and who beguiled her into talk of her +childhood and native place, was the first of these; and it is possible +that at first his presence was a pleasure to her. One other visitor of +whom we hear accidentally, a citizen of Rouen, Pierre Casquel, seems to +have got in private interest and with a more or less good motive and no +evil meaning. He warned her to answer with prudence the questions put +to her, since it was a matter of life and death. She seemed to him to +be "very simple" and still to believe that she might be ransomed. Earl +Warwick, the commander of the town, appears on various occasions. He +probably had his headquarters in the Castle, and thus heard her cry for +help in her danger, executing, let us hope, summary vengeance on her +brutal assailant; but he also evidently took advantage of his power to +show his interesting prisoner to his friends on occasion. And it was he +who took her original captor, Jean de Luxembourg, now Comte de Ligny, +by whom she had been given up, to see her, along with an English lord, +sometimes named as Lord Sheffield. The Belgian who had put so many good +crowns in his pocket for her ransom, thought it good taste to enter with +a jesting suggestion that he had come to buy her back. + +"Jeanne, I will have you ransomed if you will promise never to bear arms +against us again," he said. The Maid was not deceived by this mocking +suggestion. "It is well for you to jest," she said, "but I know you have +no such power. I know that the English will kill me, believing, after I +am dead, that they will be able to win all the kingdom of France: but +if there were a hundred thousand more Goddens than there are, they shall +never win the kingdom of France." The English lord drew his dagger to +strike the helpless girl, all the stories say, but was prevented by +Warwick. Warwick, however, we are told, though he had thus saved her +twice, "recovered his barbarous instincts" as soon as he got outside, +and indignantly lamented the possibility of Jeanne's escape from the +stake. + +Such incidents as these alone lightened or darkened her weary days in +prison. A traitor or spy, a prophet of evil shaking his head over her +danger, a contemptuous party of jeering nobles; afterwards inquisitors, +for ever repeating in private their tedious questions: these all visited +her--but never a friend. Jeanne was not afraid of the English lord's +dagger, or of the watchful eye of Warwick over her. Even when spying +through a hole, if the English earl and knight, indeed permitted himself +that strange indulgence, his presence and inspection must have been +almost the only defence of the prisoner. Our historians all quote, +with an admiration almost as misplaced as their horror of Warwick's +"barbarous instincts," the _vrai galant homme_ of an Englishman who in +the midst of the trial cried out "_Brave femme_!" (it is difficult to +translate the words, for _brave_ means more than brave)--"why was she +not English?" However we are not concerned to defend the English share +of the crime. The worst feature of all is that she never seems to +have been visited by any one favourable and friendly to her, except +afterwards, the two or three pitying priests whose hearts were touched +by her great sufferings, though they remained among her judges, and gave +sentence against her. No woman seems ever to have entered that dreadful +prison except those "matrons" who came officially as has been already +said. The ladies de Ligny had cheered her in her first confinement, +the kind women of Abbeville had not been shut out even from the gloomy +fortress of Le Crotoy. But here no woman ever seems to have been +permitted to enter, a fact which must either be taken to prove the +hostility of the population, or the very vigorous regulations of the +prison. Perhaps the barbarous watch set upon her, the soldiers ever +present, may have been a reason for the absence of any female visitor. +At all events it is a very distinct fact that during the whole period +of her trial, five months of misery, except on the one occasion already +referred to, no woman came to console the unfortunate Maid. She had +never before during all her vicissitudes been without their constant +ministrations. + +One woman, the only one we ever hear of who was not the partisan and +lover of the Maid, does, however, make herself faintly seen amid the +crowd. Catherine of La Rochelle--the woman who had laid claim to saintly +visitors and voices like those of Jeanne, and who had been for a time +received and feted at the Court of Charles with vile satisfaction, as +making the loss of the Maid no such great thing--had by this time been +dropped as useless, on the appearance of the shepherd boy quoted by the +Archbishop of Rheims, and had fallen into the hands of the English: was +not she too a witch, and admirably qualified to give evidence as to the +other witch, for whose blood all around her were thirsting? Catherine +was ready to say anything that was evil of her sister sorceress. "Take +care of her," she said; "if you lose sight of her for one moment, the +devil will carry her away." Perhaps this was the cause of the guard +in Jeanne's room, the ceaseless scrutiny to which she was exposed. The +vulgar slanderer was allowed to escape after this valuable testimony. +She comes into history like a will-o'-the-wisp, one of the marsh lights +that mean nothing but putrescence and decay, and then flickers out again +with her false witness into the wastes of inanity. That she should have +been treated so leniently and Jeanne so cruelly! say the historians. +Reason good: she was nothing, came of nothing, and meant nothing. It +is profane to associate Jeanne's pure and beautiful name with that of +a mountebank. This is the only woman in all her generation, so far +as appears to us, who was not the partisan and devoted friend of the +spotless Maid. + +The aspect of that old-world city of Rouen, still so old and picturesque +to the visitor of to-day, though all new since that time except the +churches, is curious and interesting to look back upon. It must have +hummed and rustled with life through every street; not only with the +English troops, and many a Burgundian man-at-arms, swaggering about, +swearing big oaths and filling the air with loud voices,--but with all +the polished bands of the doctors, men first in fame and learning of +the famous University, and beneficed priests of all classes, canons +and deans and bishops, with the countless array that followed them, the +cardinal's tonsured Court in addition, standing by and taking no share +in the business: but all French and English alike, occupied with one +subject, talking of the trial, of the new points brought out, of the +opinions of this doctor and that, of Maitre Nicolas who had presumed on +his lawyership to correct the bishop, and had suffered for it: of the +bold canon who ventured to whisper a suggestion to the prisoner, and who +ever since had had the eye of the governor upon him: of Warwick, keeping +a rough shield of protection around the Maid but himself fiercely +impatient of the law's delay, anxious to burn the witch and be done with +her. And Jeanne herself, the one strange figure that nobody understood; +was she a witch? Was she an angelic messenger? Her answers so simple, +so bold, so full of the spirit and sentiment of truth, must have been +reported from one to another. This is what she said; does that look like +a deceiver? could the devils inspire that steadfastness, that constancy +and quiet? or was it not rather the angels, the saints as she said? +Never, we may be sure, had there been in Rouen a time of so much +interest, such a theme for conversations, such a subject for all +thoughts. The eager court sat with their tonsured heads together, keen +to seize every weak point. Did you observe how she hesitated on this? +Let us push that, we'll get an admission on that point to-morrow. It is +impossible to believe that in such an assembly every man was a partisan, +much less that each one of them was thinking of the fee of the English, +the daily allowance which it was the English habit to make. That were to +imagine a France, base indeed beyond the limits of human baseness. All +the Norman dignitaries of the Church, all the most learned doctors +of the University--no! that is too great a stretch of our faith. The +greater part no doubt believed as an indisputable fact, that Jeanne was +either a witch or an impostor, as we should all probably do now. And +the vertigo of Inquisition gained upon them; they became day by day more +exasperated with her seeming innocence, with what must have seemed to +them the cunning and cleverness, impossible to her age and sex, of +her replies. Who could have kept the girl so cool, so dauntless, so +embarrassing in her straight-forwardness and sincerity? The saints? the +saints were not dialecticians; far more likely the evil one himself, in +whom the Church has always such faith. "He hath a devil and by Beelzebub +casteth out devils." It was all like a play, only more exciting than +any play, and going on endlessly, the excitement always getting stronger +till it became the chief stimulus and occupation of life. + + + +CHAPTER XIII -- THE PUBLIC EXAMINATION. FEBRUARY, 1431. + +It was in the chapel of the Castle of Rouen, on the 21st of February, +that the trial of Jeanne was begun. The judges present numbered about +forty, and are carefully classed as doctors in theology, abbots, canons, +doctors in canonical and civil law, with the Bishop of Beauvais at their +head (the archepiscopal see of Rouen being vacant, as is added: but not +that my lord of Beauvais hoped for that promotion). They were assembled +there in all the solemnity of their priestly and professional robes, +the reporters ready with their pens, the range of dark figures forming a +semicircle round the presiding Bishop, when the officer of the court led +in the prisoner, clothed in her worn and war-stained tunic, like a boy, +with her hair cut close as for the helmet, and her slim figure, no doubt +more slim than ever, after her long imprisonment. She had asked to be +allowed to hear mass before coming to the bar, but this was refused. It +was a privilege which she had never failed to avail herself of in her +most triumphant days. Now the chapel--the sanctuary of God contained +for her no sacred sacrifice, but only those dark benches of priests amid +whom she found no responsive countenance, no look of kindness. + +Jeanne was addressed sternly by Cauchon, in an exhortation which it is +sad to think was not in Latin, as it appears in the _Proces_. She was +then required to take the oath on the Scriptures to speak the truth, and +to answer all questions addressed to her. Jeanne had already held that +conversation with L'Oyseleur in the prison which Cauchon and Warwick had +listened to in secret with greedy ears, but which Manchon, the honest +reporter, had refused to take down. Perhaps, therefore, the Bishop knew +that the slim creature before him, half boy half girl, was not likely to +be overawed by his presence or questions; but it cannot have been but a +wonder to the others, all gazing at her, the first men in Normandy, +the most learned in Paris, to hear her voice, _assez femme_, young and +clear, arising in the midst of them, "I know not what things I may be +asked," said Jeanne. "Perhaps you may ask me questions which I cannot +answer." The assembly was startled by this beginning. + +"Will you swear to answer truly all that concerns the faith, and that +you know?" + +"I will swear," said Jeanne, "about my father and mother and what I have +done since coming to France; but concerning my revelations from God +I will answer to no man, except only to Charles my King; I should not +reveal them were you to cut off my head, unless by the secret counsel of +my visions." + +The Bishop continued not without gentleness, enjoining her to swear at +least that in everything that touched the faith she would speak truth; +and Jeanne kneeling down crossed her hands upon the book of the Gospel, +or Missal as it is called in the report, and took the required oath, +always under the condition she stated, to answer truly on everything she +knew concerning the faith, except in respect to her revelations. + +The examination then began with the usual formalities. She was asked her +name (which she said with touching simplicity was Jeannette at home but +Jeanne in France), the names of her father and mother, godfather and +godmothers, the priest who baptised her, the place where she was born, +etc., her age, almost nineteen; her education, consisting of the Pater +Noster, Ave Maria, and Credo, which her mother had taught her. + +Here she was asked, a curious interruption to the formal interrogatory, +to say the Pater Noster--the reason of which sudden demand was that +witches and sorcerers were supposed to be unable to repeat that prayer. +As unexpected as the question was Jeanne's reply. She answered that if +the Bishop would hear her in confession she would say it willingly. She +had been refused all the exercises of piety, and she was speaking to a +company of priests. + +There is a great dignity of implied protest against this treatment in +such an answer. The request was made a second time with a promise of +selecting two worthy Frenchmen to hear her: but her reply was the same. +She would say the prayer when she made her confession but not otherwise. +She was ready it would seem in proud humility to confess to any or +to all of her enemies, as one whose conscience was clear, and who had +nothing to conceal. + +She was then commanded not to attempt to escape from her prison, on pain +of being condemned for heresy, but to this again she demurred at once. +She would not accept the prohibition, but would escape if she could, +so that no man could say that she had broken faith; although since her +capture she had been bound in chains and her feet fastened with irons. +To this, her examiner said that it was necessary so to secure her in +order that she might not escape. "It is true and certain," she replied, +"whatever others may wish, that to every prisoner it is lawful to escape +if he can." It may be remarked, as she forcibly pointed out afterwards, +that she had never given her faith, never surrendered, but had always +retained her freedom of action. + +The tribunal thereupon called in the captain in charge of Jeanne's +prison, a gentleman called John Gris in the record, probably John Grey, +along with two soldiers, Bernoit and Talbot, and enjoined them to guard +her securely and not to permit her to talk with any one without the +permission of the court. This was all the business done on the first day +of audience. + +On the 22d of February at eight o'clock in the morning, the sitting was +resumed. In the meantime, however, the chapel had been found too small +and too near the outer world, the proceedings being much interrupted by +shouts and noises from without, and probably incommoded within by the +audience which had crowded it the first day. The judges accordingly +assembled in the great hall of the castle; they were forty-nine in +number on the second day, the number being chiefly swelled by canons +of Rouen. After some preliminary business the accused was once more +introduced, and desired again to take the oath. Jeanne replied that she +had done so on the previous day and that this was enough; upon which +there followed a short altercation, which, however, ended by her consent +to swear again that she would answer truly in all things that concerned +the faith. The questioner this day was Jean Beaupere (_Pulchri patris_, +as he is called in the Latin), a theologian, Master of Arts, Canon of +Paris and of Besancon, "one of the greatest props of the University of +Paris," a man holding a number of important offices, and who afterwards +appeared at the Council of Bale as the deputy of Normandy. He began +by another exhortation to speak the truth, to which Jeanne replied as +before that what she did say she would say truly, but that she would not +answer upon all subjects. "I have done nothing but by revelation," she +said. + +These preliminaries on both sides having been gone through, the +examination was resumed. Jeanne informed the court in answer to +Beaupere's question that she had been taught by her mother to sew and +did not fear to compete with any woman in Rouen in these crafts; that +she had once been absent from home when her family were driven out of +their village by fear of the Burgundians, and that she had then lived +for about fifteen days in the house of a woman called La Rousse, at +Neufchateau; that when she was at home she was occupied in the work of +the house and did not go to the fields with the sheep and other animals; +that she went to confession regularly to the Cure of her own village, or +when he could not hear her, to some other priest, by permission of the +Cure; also that two or three times she had made her confession to the +mendicant friars--this being during her stay in Neufchateau (where +presumably she was not acquainted with the clergy); and that she +received the sacrament always at Easter. Asked whether she had +communicated at other feasts than Easter, she said briefly that this +was enough. "Go on to the rest," _passez outre_, she added, and the +questioner seems to have been satisfied. Then came the really vital +part of the matter. She proceeded--no direct question on the point being +recorded, though no doubt it was made--to tell how when she was about +thirteen she heard voices from God bidding her to be good and obedient. +The first time she was much afraid. The voice came about the hour of +noon, in summer, in her father's garden. She was fasting but had not +fasted the preceding day. The voice came from the right, towards the +church; and came rarely without a great light. This light came always +from the side whence the voice proceeded, and was a very bright +radiance. When she came into France she still continued to hear the same +voices. + +She was then asked how she could see the light when it was at the side; +to which foolish question Jeanne gave no reply, but "turned to other +matters," saying voluntarily with a soft implied reproof of the noise +around her--that if she were in a wood, that is in a quiet place, she +could hear the voices coming towards her. She added (going on, one could +imagine, in a musing, forgetting the congregation of sinners about her) +that it seemed to her a noble voice, and that she believed it came from +God, and that when she had heard it three times she knew it was the +voice of an angel; the voice always came quite clearly to her, and she +understood it well. + +She was then asked what it said to her concerning the salvation of her +soul. + +She said that it taught her to rule her life well, to go often to +church: and told her that it was necessary that she, Jeanne, should +go to France. The said Jeanne added that she would not be questioned +further concerning the voice, or the manner in which it was made known +to her, but that two or three times in a week it had said to her that +she must go to France; but that her father knew nothing of this. The +voice said to her that she should go to France, until she could endure +it no longer; it said to her that she should raise the siege, which was +set against the city of Orleans. It said also that she must go to Robert +of Baudricourt, in the city of Vaucouleurs, who was captain of that +place, and that he would give her people to go with her; to which she +had answered that she was a poor girl who knew not how to ride, nor how +to conduct war. She then said that she went to her uncle and told him +that she wished to go with him for a little while to his house, and that +she lived there for eight days; she then told her uncle that she must go +to Vaucouleurs, and the said uncle took her there. Also she went on to +say that when she came to the said city of Vaucouleurs, she recognised +Robert of Baudricourt; though she had never seen him before she knew him +by the voice that said to her which was he. She then told this Robert +that it was necessary that she should go to France, but twice over he +refused and repulsed her; the third time, however, he received her, and +gave her certain men to go with her; the voice had told her that this +would be so. + +She said also that the Duke of Lorraine sent for her to come to him, and +that she went under a safe conduct granted by him, and told him that +she must go to France. He asked her whether he should recover from his +illness; but she told him that she knew nothing of that, and she talked +very little to him of her journey. She told the Duke that he ought to +send his son and his people with her to take her to France, and that +she would pray God to restore his health; and then she was taken back to +Vaucouleurs. She said also that when she left Vaucouleurs she wore the +dress of a man, without any other arms than a sword which Robert de +Baudricourt had given her; and that she had with her a chevalier, a +squire, and four servants, and that they slept for the first night at +St. Urbain, in the abbey there. She was then asked by whose advice she +wore the dress of a man, but refused to answer. Finally she said that +she charged no man with giving her this advice. + +She went on to say that the said Robert de Baudricourt exacted an oath +from those who went with her, that they would conduct her to the end of +her journey well and safely; and that he said, as she left him, "Go, and +let come what will." She also said that she knew well that God loved the +Duke of Orleans, concerning whom she had more revelations than about any +other living man, except him whom she called her King. She added that it +was necessary for her to wear male attire, and that whoever advised her +to do so had given her wise counsel. + +She then said that she sent a letter to the English before Orleans, in +which she required them to go away, a copy of which letter had been read +to her in Rouen; but there were two or three mistakes, especially in +the words which called upon them to surrender to the Maid instead of +to surrender to the King. (There is no indication why these two latter +statements should have been introduced into the midst of her narrative +of the journey; it may have been in reply to some other question +interjected by another of her examiners: _Passez outre_, as she herself +says. She immediately resumes the simple and straightforward tale.) + +The said Jeanne went on to say that her further journey to him whom she +called her King was without any impediment; and that when she arrived +at the town of St. Catherine de Fierbois she sent news of her arrival to +the town of Chasteau-Chinon where the said King was. She arrived there +herself about noon and went to an inn(1); and after dinner went to him +whom she called her King, who was in the castle. She then said that when +she entered the chamber where he was, she knew him among all others, +by the revelation of her "voices." She told her King that she wished to +make war against the English. + +She was then asked whether when she heard the "voices" in the presence +of the King the light was also seen in that place. She answered as +before: _Passez outre: Transeatis ultra_. "Go on," as we might say, "to +the other questions." + +She was asked if she had seen an angel hovering over her King. She +answered: "Spare me; _passez outre_." She added afterwards, however, +that before he put his hand to the work, the King had many beautiful +apparitions and revelations. She was asked what these were. She +answered: "I will not tell you; it is not I who should answer; send to +the King and he will tell you." + +She was then asked if her voices had promised her that when she came to +the King he would receive her. She answered that those of her own +party knew that she had been sent from God and that some had heard +and recognised the voices. Further, she said that her King and various +others had heard and seen(2) the voices coming to her--Charles of +Bourbon (Comte de Clermont) and two or three others with him. She then +said that there was no day in which she did not hear that voice; but +that she asked nothing from it except the salvation of her soul. Besides +this, Jeanne confessed that the voice said she should be led to the town +of St. Denis in France, where she wished to remain--that is after the +attack on Paris--but that against her will the lords forced her to leave +it: if she had not been wounded she would not have gone: but she was +wounded in the moats of Paris: however she was healed in five days. She +then said that she had made an assault, called in French _escarmouche_ +(skirmish), upon the town of Paris. She was asked if it was on a holy +day, and said that she believed it was on a festival. She was then +asked if she thought it well done to fight on a holy day, and answered, +"_Passez outre_." Go on to the next question. + +This is a verbatim account of one day of the trial. Most of the +translations which exist give questions as well as answers: but these +are but occasionally given in the original document, and Jeanne's +narrative reads like a calm, continuous statement, only interrupted now +and then by a question, usually a cunning attempt to startle her with +a new subject, and to hurry some admission from her. The great dignity +with which she makes her replies, the occasional flash of high spirit, +the calm determination with which she refuses to be led into discussion +of the subjects which she had from the first moment reserved, are very +remarkable. We have seen her hitherto only in conflict, in the din of +battle and the fatigue, yet exuberant energy, of rapid journeys. Her +circumstances were now very different. She had been shut up in prison +for months, for six weeks at least she had been in irons, and the air +of heaven had not blown upon this daughter of the fields; her robust yet +sensitive maidenhood had been exposed to a hundred offences, and to the +constant society, infecting the very air about, of the rudest of men; +yet so far is her spirit from being broken that she meets all those +potent, grave, and reverend doctors and ecclesiastics, with the +simplicity and freedom of a princess, answering frankly or holding +her peace as seems good to her, afraid of nothing, keeping her +self-possession, all her wits about her as we say, without panic +and without presumption. The trial of Jeanne is indeed almost more +miraculous than her fighting; a girl not yet nineteen, forsaken of all, +without a friend! It is less wonderful that she should have developed +the qualities of a general, of a gunner, every gift of war--than that in +her humiliation and distress she should thus hold head against all +the most subtle intellects in France, and bear, with but one moment of +faltering, a continued cross-examination of three months, without losing +her patience, her heart, or her courage. + +***** + +The third day brought a still larger accession of judges, sixty-two of +them taking their places on the benches round the Bishop in the great +hall; and the day began with another and longer altercation between +Cauchon and Jeanne on the subject of the oath again demanded of her. She +maintained her resolution to say nothing of her voices. "We" according +to the record "required of her that she should swear simply and +absolutely without reservation." She would seem to have replied with +impatience, "Let me speak freely:" adding "By my faith you may ask me +many questions which I will not answer": then explaining, "Many things +you may ask me, but I will tell you nothing truly that concerns my +revelations; for you might compel me to say things which I have sworn +not to say; and so I should perjure myself, which you ought not to +wish." This explains several statements which she made later in respect +to her introduction to the King. She repeated emphatically: "I warn +you well, you who call yourselves my judges, that you take a great +responsibility upon you, and that you burden me too much." She said also +that it was enough to have already sworn twice. She was again asked to +swear simply and absolutely, and answered, "It is enough to have sworn +twice," and that all the clerks in Rouen and Paris could not condemn her +unless lawfully; also that of her coming she would speak the truth but +not all the truth; and that the space of eight days would not be enough +to tell all. + +"We the said Bishop" (continues the report) "then said to her that she +should ask advice from those present whether she ought to swear or +not. She replied again that of her coming she would speak truly and not +otherwise, nor would it be fit that she should talk at large. We then +told her that it would throw suspicion on what she said if she did not +swear to speak the truth. She answered as before. We repeated that she +must swear precisely and absolutely. She answered that she would say +what she knew, but not all, and that she had come on the part of God, +and appealed to God from whom she came. Again requested and admonished +to swear on pain of every punishment that could be put on her, again +answered '_Passez outre_.' Finally she consented to swear that she would +speak the truth in everything that concerned the trial." + +Her examination was then resumed by Beaupere as before, who elicited +from her that she had fasted (he seems to have wished to make out that +the fasting had something to do with her visions) since noon the day +before (it was Lent); and also that she had heard her voices both on +that day and the day before, three times on the previous day, the first +time in the morning when she was asleep, and awakened by them. Did she +kneel and thank them? She thanked them, sitting up in her bed (to which +she was chained, as her questioner knew) and clasping her hands. She +asked them what she was to do, and they told her to answer boldly. + +It may be remarked here that more frequently as the examination goes +on, part of Jeanne's words are quoted in the first person, as if the +reporters had been specially struck by them, while the bulk of her +evidence goes on more calmly in the third person, the narrative form. +After saying that she was bidden to answer boldly, she seems to have +turned to the Bishop, and to have addressed him individually: "You say +you are my judge; I warn you to take care what you are doing, for I +am sent from God, and you are putting yourself in much peril" (_magno +periculo: gallice_, adds the reporter, _en grant dangier_). + +She was then asked if her voices ever changed their meaning, and +answered that she had never heard two speak contrary to each other; what +they had said that day was that she should speak boldly. Asked, if the +voice forbade her to reply to questions asked, she replied; "I will not +answer you. I have revelations touching the King which I will not tell +you." Asked, if the voices forbade her to reveal these revelations, she +answered, "I have not consulted them; give me fifteen days' delay and I +will answer you"; but being again exhorted to reply, said: "If the voice +forbade me to speak, how many times should I tell you?" Again asked, if +she were forbidden to speak, answered, "I believe I am not forbidden +by men"--repeating that she would not reply, and knew not how far she +should reply, for it had not been revealed to her; but that she believed +firmly, as firmly as the Christian faith, and that God had redeemed us +from the pains of hell, that this voice came from Him. + +Questioned concerning the voice, what it appeared to be when it spoke, +if that of an angel, or from God Himself; or if it was the voice of a +saint or of saints (feminine), answered: "The voice comes from God; and +I believe that I should not tell you all I know, for I should displease +these voices if I answered you; and as for this question I pray you +to leave me free." Asked if she thought that to speak the truth would +displease God, she answered, "What the voices say I am to tell to the +King, not to you," adding that during that night they had said much to +her for the good of the King, and that if she could but let him know +she would willingly drink no wine up to Easter (the reader will remember +that her frugal fare consisted of bread dipped in the wine and water, +which is justly called _eau rougie_ in France). Asked, if she could not +induce the voices to speak to her King directly, she answered that she +knew not whether her voices would consent, unless it were the will of +God, and God consented to it, adding, "They might well reveal it to the +King; and with that I should be content." Asked, if the voices could +not communicate with the King as they did in her presence, she answered, +that she did not know whether this was God's will; and added, that +unless it were the will of God she would not know how to act. Asked, if +it was by the advice of her voices that she attempted to escape from +her prison, she answered, "I have nothing to say to you on that point." +Asked, if she always saw a light when the voices were heard, she +answered: "Yes: that with the sound of the voices light came." Asked if +she saw anything else coming with the voices, answered: "I do not tell +you all. I am not allowed to do so, nor does my oath touch that; the +voices are good and noble, but neither of that will I answer." She was +then asked to give in writing the points on which she would not reply. +Then she was asked if her voices had eyes and ears, and answered, "You +shall not have this either," adding, that it was a saying among children +that men were sometimes hanged for speaking the truth. + +She was then asked if she knew herself to be in the grace of God. She +replied: "If I am not so, may God put me in His grace; if I am, may God +keep me in it. I should be the most miserable in the world if I were not +in the grace of God." She said besides, that if she were in a state of +sin she did not believe her voices would come to her, and she wished +that everyone could understand them as she did, adding, that she was +about thirteen when they came to her first. + +She was then asked, whether in her childhood she had played with the +other children in the fields, and various other particulars about +Domremy, whether there were any Burgundians there? to which Jeanne +answered boldly that there was one, and that she wished his head might +be cut off, adding piously, "that is, if it pleased God"(3); she was +also asked whether she had fought along with the other children against +the children of the neighbouring Burgundian village of Maxy (Maxey sur +Meuse): why she hated the Burgundians, and many questions of this +kind, with a close examination about a certain tree near the village of +Domremy, which some called the Tree of the good Ladies, and others, the +Fairies' Tree; and also about a well there, the Fairies' Well, of which +poor patients were said to drink and get well. Jeanne (no doubt relieved +by the simple character of these questions) made answer freely and +without hesitation, in no way denying that she had danced and sung with +the other children, and made garlands for the image of the Blessed Marie +of Domremy; but she did not remember whether she had ever done so after +attaining years of discretion, and certainly she had never seen a fairy, +nor worked any spell by their means. At the end, after having thus been +put off her guard, she was suddenly asked about her dress (a capital +point in the eyes of her judges): whether she wished to have a woman's +dress. Probably she was, as they hoped, tired, and expecting no such +question, for she answered quickly yet with instant recovery: "Bring +me one to go home in and I will accept it; otherwise no. I prefer this, +since it pleases God that I should wear it." The recollection of Domremy +and of the pleasant fields, must have carried her back to the days when +the little Jeanne was like the rest in her short, full petticoats of +crimson stuff, free of any danger: what could be better to go home in? +but she immediately remembered the obvious and excellent reasons she had +for wearing another costume now. So ended the third day. + +In the meantime there had been, we are told, various interruptions +during the examination; perhaps it was then that Nicolas de Houppeville +protested against Bishop Cauchon as a partisan and a Burgundian, and +therefore incapable by law of judging a member of the opposite party: +and had been rudely silenced, and afterwards punished, as we have +already heard. Another kind of opposition less bold had begun to be +remarked, which was that one of the persons present, by word and sign, +whispering suggestions to her, or warning her with his eyes, was helping +the unfortunate prisoner in her defence. Probably this did little good, +"for she was often troubled and hurried in her answers," we are told; +but it was a sign of good-will, at least. When Frere Isambard, who was +the person in question, speaks at a later period he tells us that "the +questions put to Jeanne were too difficult, subtle, and dangerous, so +that the great clerks and learned men who were present scarcely would +have known how to answer them, and that many in the assembly murmured +at them." Perhaps the good Frere Isambard might have spared himself the +trouble; for Jeanne, however she may have suffered, was probably more +able to hold her own than many of those great clerks, and did so with +unfailing courage and spirit. One of the other judges, Jean Fabry, a +bishop, declared afterwards that "her answers were so good, that for +three weeks he believed that they were inspired." Manchon, the reporter, +he who had refused to take down the private conversation of Jeanne in +her prison with the vile traitor, L'Oyseleur, makes his voice heard also +to the effect that "Monseigneur of Beauvais would have had everything +written as pleased him, and when there was anything that displeased him +he forbade the secretaries to report it as being of no importance for +the trial." On another day a humbler witness still, Massieu, one of the +officers of the court, who had the charge of taking Jeanne daily +from her prison to the hall, and back again, met in the courtyard an +Englishman, who seems to have been a singing man or lay clerk "of +the King's chapel in England," probably attached to Winchester's +ecclesiastical retinue. This man asked him: "What do you think of her +answers? Will she be burned? What will happen?" "Up to this time," said +Massieu, "I have heard nothing from her that was not honourable and +good. She seems to me a good woman, but how it will all end God only +knows!" + +No doubt conversations of this kind were being carried on all over +Rouen. Would she be burned? What would happen? Could any one stand and +answer like that hour after hour and day by day, inspired only by the +devil? There was no popular enthusiasm for her even now. How should +there have been in that partisan province, more English than French? But +a chill doubt began to steal into many minds whether she was so bad as +had been thought, whether indeed she might not after all be something +quite different from what she had been thought? Nature had begun to work +in the agitated place, and even in that black-robed, eager assembly. If +there was a vile L'Oyseleur trying to get her confidence in private, and +so betray her, there was also a kind Frere Isambard, privately plucking +at her sleeve, imploring her to be cautious, whispering an answer +probably not half so wise as her own natural reply, yet warming her +heart with the suggestion of a friend at hand. + +On the fourth day, Jeanne was again required to swear, and replied as +before, that so far as concerned the trial she would answer truly, +but not all she knew. "You ought to be satisfied: I have sworn +sufficiently," she said; and with this her judges seem to have been +content. Beaupere then resumed his questions, but first asked her, +perhaps with a momentary gleam of compassion and a sudden consciousness +of the pallor and weariness of the young prisoner, how she did. She +answered, one can imagine with what tone of indignant disdain: "You see +how I am: I am as well as I can be." He then cross-examined her closely +as to what voices she had heard since her last appearance in court, +but drew from her only the same answer, "The voice tells me to answer +boldly," and that she would tell them as much as she was permitted by +God to tell them, but concerning her revelations for the King of France +she would say nothing except by permission of her voices. + +She was then asked what kind of voices they were which she heard, were +they voices of angels, or of saints (_sancti aut sanctae_, male or female +saints) or from God Himself? She answered that the voices were those of +St. Catherine and St. Margaret, whose heads were crowned with beautiful +crowns, very rich and precious. "So much as this God allows me to say. +If you doubt send to Poitiers, where I was questioned before." (It may +perhaps be permissible to suppose that the kind whisperer at her elbow +might have suggested the repeated references to Poitiers that follow, +but which are not to be found before: though it was most natural she +should refer to this place where she was examined at the beginning of +her mission.) Asked how she knew which of these two saints, she answered +that she could quite distinguish one from the other by the manner of +their salutation; that she had been led and guided by them for seven +years, and that she knew them because they had named themselves to her. +She was then asked how they were dressed? and answered: "I cannot tell +you; I am not permitted to reveal this; if you do not believe me send to +Poitiers." She said also that at her coming into France she had revealed +these things, but could not now. She was asked what was the age of her +saints, but replied that she was not permitted to tell. Asked, if both +saints spoke at once or one after the other, she replied: "I have not +permission to tell you: but I always consult them both together." Asked, +which had appeared to her first, and answered: "I do not know which it +was; I did know, but have forgotten. It is written in the register of +Poitiers." + +"She then said she had much comfort from St. Michael. Again, asked, +which had come first, she replied that it was St. Michael. Asked, if +a long time had passed since she first heard the voice of St. Michael, +answered: "I do not name to you the voice of St. Michael; but his +conversation was of great comfort to me." Asked, again, what voice came +first to her when she was thirteen, answered, that it was St. Michael +whom she saw before her eyes, and that he was not alone, but accompanied +by many angels of Heaven. She said also that she would not have come +into France but by the command of God. Asked, if she saw St. Michael and +the angels really, with her ordinary senses, she answered: "I saw them +with my bodily eyes as I see you, and when they left me I wept, desiring +much that they would take me with them." Asked, what was the form +in which he appeared, she replied: "I cannot answer you; I am not +permitted." Asked, what St. Michael said to her the first time, she +cried, "You shall have no answer to-day." Then went on to say that her +voices told her to reply boldly. Afterwards she said that she had told +her King once all that had been revealed to her; said also that she was +not permitted to say here what St. Michael had said; but that it would +be better to send for a copy of the books which were at Poitiers than to +question her on this subject. Asked, what sign she had that these +were revelations of God, and that it was really St. Catherine and St. +Margaret with whom she talked, she answered: "It is enough that I tell +you they were St. Catherine and St. Margaret: believe me or not as you +will." + +Asked how she distinguished the points on which she was allowed to +speak from the others, she answered, that on some points she had asked +permission to speak, and not on others, adding, that she would rather +have been torn by wild horses than to have come to France, unless by +the license of God. Asked how it was that she put on a man's dress, she +answered, that dress appeared to her a small matter, that she did not +adopt that dress by the counsel of any man, and that she neither put on +a dress nor did anything, but according as God, or the angels, commanded +her to do so. Asked, if she knew whether such a command to assume the +dress of a man was lawful, she answered: "All that I did, I did by the +precepts of our Lord; and if I were bidden to wear another dress I would +do so, because it was at the bidding of God." Asked, if she had done +it by the orders of Robert de Baudricourt, answered "No." Asked, if she +thought that she had done well in assuming a man's dress, answered, that +as all she did was by the command of the Lord, she believed that she had +done well, and expected a good guarantee and good succour. Asked, if in +this particular case of assuming the dress of a man she thought she had +done well, answered, that nothing in the world had made her do it, but +the command of God. + +She was then asked whether light always accompanied the voices when +they came to her, she answered, with an evident reference to her first +interview with Charles, that there were many lights on every side as was +fit. "It is not only to you that light comes" (or you have not all the +light to yourself,--a curious phrase). Asked, if there was an angel over +the head of the King when she saw him for the first time, she answered: +"By the Blessed Mary, if there were, I know not, I saw none." Asked, if +there was light, she answered: "There were about three hundred soldiers, +and fifty of them held torches, without counting any spiritual light. +And rarely do I have the revelations without light." Asked, if her King +had faith in what she said, she answered, that he had good signs, and +also by his clergy. Asked, what revelations her King had, she answered: +"You shall have nothing from me this year." Then added that for three +weeks she was cross-examined by the clergy, both in the town of Chinon +and at Poitiers, and that her King had signs concerning her, before he +believed in her. And the clergy of his party had found nothing in her, +in respect to her faith, that was not good. Asked, whether she gone to +the church of St. Catherine of Fierbois, answered: "yes," and that she +had there heard three masses in one day, and from thence went to Chinon; +she added that she had sent a letter thence to the King, in which it was +contained that she sent this to know if she might come to the town +in which the King was; for that she had travelled a hundred and fifty +leagues to come to him and to bring him help, for she knew much good +concerning him. And she thought it was contained in this letter that she +should recognise the King among all the rest. + +She said besides, that she had a sword which was given to her at +Vaucouleurs; she said also that, being in Tours or at Chinon, she sent +for a sword which was in the church of St. Catherine of Fierbois behind +the altar, and that when it was found it was rusty. Asked, how she knew +about this sword, she answered, that it was rusty because of being in +the ground, and there were five crosses on it, and that she knew this +sword by her voices, and not by any man's report. She wrote to the +ecclesiastics of the place where it was and asked them for this sword, +and they sent it to her. It was found not much below the ground behind +the altar; she was not sure if it was before or behind the altar, but +wrote that it was behind the altar. And when it was found the clergy +cleaned it and rubbed off the rust, which came off easily; and it was an +armourer of Tours who went to fetch it. The clergy made a scabbard for +it before sending it to the said Jeanne, and they of Tours made another, +so that it had two scabbards, one of crimson velvet and one of cloth of +gold. And she herself procured another of strong leather. She said also +that when she was captured she had not that sword. Said also that she +continued to wear the said sword until she left St. Denis after the +assault on Paris. Asked, what benediction she made, or if she made any +on this sword, she answered, that she made no benediction, nor knew how +to make one, but that she loved the sword because it had come to her +from the Church of the blessed Catherine whom she loved much. Asked, +if she had placed it on the altar at the village of Coulenges, Les +Vineuses, or elsewhere, placing it there that it might bring good luck, +she answered, that she knew nothing of this. Asked, if she did not pray +that the sword might have good fortune: "It is good to know that I +wish all my armour (_harnesseum meum; gallice, mon harnois_) to be very +fortunate." Asked, where she had left the sword, answered, that she had +deposited a sword and armour at St. Denis, but it was not this sword. +She added that she had it in Lagny: but that she afterwards wore the +sword which had been taken from a Burgundian, which was a good sword +for war and gave good strokes (_gallice, de bonnes bouffes_ and _de bons +torchons_). Said also that to tell where she left it had nothing to do +with the trial, and she would answer nothing. + +She said also that her brothers had everything that belonged to her, her +horses, swords, and everything, and that she believed they were worth +in all about 12,000 francs. She was also asked whether when she was at +Orleans she had a standard, and what colour it was; answered, that she +had a standard, the field of which was sown with lilies, and on it was a +figure of the world with angels on each side. It was white, and made +of a stuff called boucassin, upon which was written the name _Jhesus +Maria_, so that all might see, and it was fringed with silk. Asked, if +the name _Jhesus Maria_ was written above or below or at the side, she +answered, "At the side." Asked, if she loved her sword or standard best, +she answered, that she loved her standard best. Asked, why she had that +picture on the standard, she answered: "I have sufficiently told you +that I did nothing but by the command of God." She added that she +herself carried her standard when in battle that she might not hurt +anyone, and said that she had never killed any man. + +Asked, how many men her King gave her when she began her work, answered, +from ten to twelve(4) thousand men, and that she attacked first the +bastile of St. Loup at Orleans, and afterwards that of the bridge. +Asked, from which bastile it was that her men were driven back, she +answered, that she did not remember; adding, that she had been sure that +she could raise the siege at Orleans, for it had been so revealed to +her; and that she told this to her King before it occurred. Asked, +whether, when she made assault, she told her men that all the arrows, +stones, cannon-balls, etc., would be intercepted by her, she answered +no--that more than a hundred were wounded: that what she had said to her +people was that they should have no doubts, for they should certainly +raise the siege of Orleans. She said also that in attacking the bastile +of the bridge she herself was wounded by an arrow in the neck, and was +much comforted by St. Catherine, and was healed in fifteen days; but +that she never gave up riding and working all that time. Asked, if she +knew that she would be wounded, she answered, that she knew it well +and had told her King, but that, notwithstanding, she went about her +business. It was revealed to her by the voices of her two saints, the +blessed Catherine and the blessed Margaret. She said besides, that she +was the first to place a scaling ladder on the bastile of the bridge, +and as she raised it she was struck in the neck. + +She was then asked why she did not treat with the Captain of Jargeau; +she answered that the lords of her party had replied to the English, who +had asked for a truce of fifteen days, that they could not have it, but +that they might retire, they and their horses at once; she had said for +her part that if they retired in their doublets and tunics their lives +should be spared, otherwise the city would be taken by storm. Asked, if +she had consulted with her counsel, that is with her voices, whether the +truce should be granted or not, she answered, that she did not remember. + +It will be remarked, as the slow examination goes on day after day, that +Jeanne, becoming at moments impatient, sometimes gives a rough answer, +and at other times plays a little with her questioner as if in +contempt. "By the Blessed Mary, I know not!" is evidently an outburst +of impatience at the exhausting, exasperating folly of some of these +questions, and this will be further visible in future sittings. It +seems very likely that the reference to Poitiers, which was an excellent +suggestion, commending itself to her invariable good sense, came from +the kind priest who tried to serve her as he best could; but there are +other answers a little incoherent, which look as if Frere Isambard, +if it were he, had confused her in her own response without conveying +anything better to her mind, especially on the occasions when she +refuses to reply, and then does so, abandoning her ground at once. Her +patience and steadiness are quite extraordinary however even in the less +self-collected moments. Thus end the proceedings of the fourth day. + +***** + +The fifth day began with the usual dispute about the oath, Jeanne +still retaining her reservation with the greatest firmness. She seems, +however, at the end, to have repeated her oath to answer everything that +had to do with the trial--"And as much as I say I will say as if I +were before the Pope of Rome." These words must have given the Magister +Beaupere an admirable occasion for introducing one of the things charged +against her for which there was actual proof--her letter to the Comte +d'Armagnac in respect to the Pope. He seized upon it evidently with +eagerness, and asked her which she held to be the true Pope. To this she +answered quietly, "Are there two?"--the most confusing reply.(5) + +She was asked if she had received letters from the Comte d'Armagnac, +asking to know which of the three existing Popes he ought to obey; she +answered that she had his letter, and had replied to it, saying among +other things that when she was in Paris and at rest she would answer +him; and added that she was on the point of mounting her horse when she +gave that reply. The copy of the letter and the reply being read to her +she was asked if that was what she had said; to which she replied that +she had answered his letter in part, not in full. Asked, if she knew the +counsels of the King of Kings so as to be able to say which the count +should obey, she answered, that she knew nothing. Asked, if she was in +doubt as to which the count ought to obey, she replied that she knew not +which to bid him obey; but that she, the said Jeanne, held and believed +that we ought to obey our Pope who was in Rome; that as for what he +asked, that she should tell him which God desired him to obey, she had +said she knew nothing; but she sent much to him which was not put in +writing. And as for herself she believed in the Lord Pope of Rome. +Asked, whether in respect to the three pontiffs she had received +counsel, she answered, that she had neither written nor made to be +written anything about the three pontiffs. And this she swore on her +oath. Asked, if she were in the habit of putting on her letters the name +_Jhesus Maria_ with a cross, answered, that she did so sometimes but not +always, and that sometimes she put a cross to shew that these letters +were not to be taken seriously (as likely to fall into the enemy's +hands). + +Some questions were then put to her about her letters to the Duke of +Bedford and to the English King, and copies were read to her to which +she objected on some small points, but mistakenly it would seem, as that +she had summoned them to surrender to the King, while the scribe had put +"surrender to the Maid." She said, however, that they were her letters, +and that she held by them. She added that before seven years the English +would lose more than they had lost at Orleans,(6) and that their cause +would be lost in France; she said also that the said English should have +greater disasters than they had yet had in France, and that God would +give greater victories to France. Asked, how she knew this, she replied: +"I know it by the revelations made to me, and that it will happen in +seven years, and I might well be angry that it is deferred so long." +Asked, when this would happen, she said that she knew neither the day +nor the hour. + +She was tormented a little further as to the dates, whether this would +happen before the St. Jean, or before the St. Martin in winter, but made +no answer except that before the St. Martin in winter they should see +many things, and it might be that the English should fail; as a matter +of fact Paris opened its gates to Charles VII. within the seven years +specified, so that Jeanne's prophecy may be held to have been fulfilled. + +We then come once more to a long and profitless interrogatory upon +her saints, in which the crowd of judges forgot their dignity and +overwhelmed her with a flood of often very foolish, and sometimes worse +than foolish questions. + +Asked, how she knew the future, she answered that she knew it by St. +Catherine and St. Margaret; asked, if St. Gabriel was with St. Michael +when he came to her, she answered, that she could not remember. Asked, +if she saw them always in the same dress, answered yes, and they were +crowned very richly. Of their other garments she could not speak; she +knew nothing of their tunics. Asked, how she knew whether they were men +or women, answered, that she knew well by their voices which revealed +them to her; and that she knew nothing save by revelation and the +precepts of God. Asked, what appearances she saw, she answered, that she +saw faces. Asked, if these saints had hair, she answered, "It is good to +know." Asked, if there was anything between their crowns and their hair, +answered, no. Asked, if their hair was long and hanging down, answered, +"I know nothing about it." She also said that their voices were +beautiful sweet, and humble, and that she understood them well. Asked, +how they could speak when they had no bodies, she answered, "I refer it +to God." She repeated that the voices were beautiful, humble, and sweet, +and that they could speak French. Asked, if St. Margaret did not speak +English, answered: "How could she speak English when she was not on the +English side?" + +This would seem to infer that the St. Margaret referred to was not the +legendary St. Margaret of the dragon, but St. Margaret of Scotland, well +known in France from the long connection between those two countries, +and a popular mediaeval saint. She would naturally have spoken English, +being a Saxon, but also quite naturally would have been against the +English, as a Scottish queen; but of these refinements it is very +unlikely that Jeanne knew anything, and her prompt and somewhat sharp +reply evidently cut the inquiry short. The next question was, did they +wear gold rings in their ears or elsewhere, these crowned saints; to +which she answered a little contemptuously, "I know nothing about it." +She was then asked if she herself had rings: on which "turning to us the +aforesaid Bishop, she said, 'You have one of mine; give it back to me.' +She then said that the Burgundians had her other ring, and asked of us +if we had the ring to shew it to her. Asked, who gave her this ring, +answered, her father or her mother, and that the name _Jhesus Maria_ +was written upon it, but that she knew not who put it there, nor even +whether there was a stone in the ring; it was given to her in the +village of Domremy. She added that her brother gave her another ring +which we had, and said that she desired that it might be given to the +Church." + +A sudden change was now made in the cross-examination according to the +methods of that operation, throwing her back without warning upon the +village superstitions of Domremy, the magic tree and fountain. Many of +the questions which follow are so trivial and are so evidently instinct +with evil meaning, that it seems a wrong to Beaupere to impute the whole +of the interrogatory to him; other questions were evidently interposed +by the excited assembly. + +Asked, if St. Catherine and St. Margaret talked with her under the tree +of which mention had been made above, she answered, "I know nothing +about it." Asked, if the saints were seen at the fountain near the +tree, answered yes, that she had heard them there; but what her saints +promised to her, there or elsewhere, she answered, that nothing was +promised except by permission from God. Asked, what promises were made +to her, she answered, "This has nothing at all to do with your trial," +but added, that among other things they said to her that her King +should be restored to his kingdom, and that his adversaries should +be destroyed. She said also that they promised to take her, the said +Jeanne, to Paradise, as she had asked them to do. Asked, if she had any +other promises, she said there was one promise that had nothing to do +with the trial, but that in three months she would tell them what that +other promise was. Asked, if the voices told her she would be set free +from her prison in three months, she answered: "This does not concern +your trial; nor do I know when I shall be set free." And she added that +those who wished to send her out of this world might well go before her. +Asked, if her council did not tell her when she should be set free from +her present prison, answered: "Ask me this in three months' time; I can +promise you as much as that"--but added: "You may ask those present, on +their oaths, if this has anything to do with the trial." + +Startled by this suggestion, the judges seem to have held a hurried +consultation among themselves to see whether these matters did really +touch the trial; the result apparently decided them to return again to +the question of the local superstitions of Domremy, the only point on +which there seemed a chance of breaking down the extraordinarily just +and steadfast intelligence of the girl who stood before them. After this +pause she resumed, apparently not in answer to any question. + +"I have well told you that there were things you should not know, and +some time I must needs be set free. But I must have permission if I +speak; therefore I will ask to have delay in this." Asked, if her voices +forbade her to speak the truth, she said: "Do you expect me to tell you +things that concern the King of France? There is a great deal here that +has nothing to do with the trial." She said also that she knew that her +King should enjoy the kingdom of France, as well as she knew that they +were there before her in judgment. She added that she would have been +dead but for the revelations which comforted her daily. She was then +asked what she had done with her mandragora (mandrake)? she answered +that she had no mandragora, nor had ever had. She had heard say that +near her village there was one, but had never seen it. She had heard say +that it was a dangerous thing, and that it was wicked to keep it; but +knew nothing of its use. Asked, in what place this mandrake was, and +what she had heard of it? she said that she had heard that it grew under +the tree of which mention has been made, but did not know the place; she +said also that she had heard that above the mandragora was a hazel tree. +Asked, what she heard was done with the mandragora, answered, that she +had heard that it brought money, but did not believe it; and added that +her voices had never told her anything about it. + +Asked, what was the appearance of St. Michael when she saw him first, +she answered, that she saw no crown, and knew nothing of his dress. +Asked, if he was naked, she answered, "Do you think God has nothing to +clothe him with?" Asked, if he had hair, she answered, "Why should +it have been cut?" She said further that she had not seen the blessed +Michael since she left the castle of Crotoy, nor did she see him often. +At last she said that she knew not whether he had hair or not. Asked, +whether he carried scales, she answered, "I know nothing of it," but +added that she had much joy in seeing him, and she knew when she saw him +that she was not in a state of sin. She also said that St. Catherine and +St. Margaret often made her confess to them, and said that if she had +been in a state of sin it was without knowing it. She was then asked +whether, when she confessed, she believed herself to be in a state of +mortal sin; she answered, that she knew not whether she had been in that +state, but did not believe she had done the works of sin. "It would not +have pleased God," she said, "that I should have been so; nor would it +have pleased Him that I should have done the works of sin by which my +soul should have been burdened." + +She was then asked what sign she gave to the King that she came to him +from God; she answered: "I have told you always that nothing should draw +this from me.(7) Ask me no more." Asked, if she had not sworn to reveal +what was asked of her touching the trial, answered, "I have told you +that I will tell you nothing that was for our King; and of this which +belongs to him I will not speak." Asked, if she knew the sign which she +gave to the King, she answered: "You shall know nothing from me." When +it was said to her that this did concern the trial, she answered, "Of +that which I have promised to keep secret I shall tell you nothing"; +and further she said, "I promised in that place and I could not tell you +without perjuring myself." Asked, to whom she promised? answered, that +she had promised to Saints Catherine and Margaret, and this was shown to +the King. She also said she had promised it to these two saints, because +they had required it of her. And the same Jeanne had done this at their +request. "Too many people would have asked me concerning it, if I had +not promised to the aforesaid saints." She was then asked, when +she showed this sign to the King if there were others with him; she +answered, that to her there was no one near him, even though many people +might have been present. (As a matter of fact the sign was given to +Charles when he talked with the Maid apart in a recess, the great hall +being full of the Court and followers; so that this was strictly true.) +Asked further, if she saw a crown over the head of her King when +she showed him this sign, but replied: "I cannot answer you without +perjury." Asked further if her King had a crown when he was at Rheims, +answered, that in her opinion her King had a crown which he found at +Rheims, but a very fine one was afterwards brought for him. He did this +to hasten matters, at the desire of the city of Rheims; but if he had +been more certain, he could have had a crown a thousand times richer. +(All this is very obscure.) + +Asked, if she had seen this crown, she answered: "I could not tell you +without perjury, but I heard that it was a very rich one." It was then +determined to conclude for this day. + +On the sixth day there was again the same questions about the oath, +ending in the usual way. And the cross-examination was at once +continued. + +She was asked if she would say whether St. Michael had wings, and what +bodies and members had St. Catherine and St. Margaret; and she answered, +"I have told you what I know, and will make no other reply"; she said, +moreover, that when she saw St. Michael and St. Catherine and St. +Margaret, she knew at once that they were saints of Paradise. Asked, if +she saw anything more than their faces, she answered: "I have told you +all I know of them: and I would rather have had my head taken off than +tell you all I know." She then said that in whatever concerned the trial +she would speak freely. Asked, if she believed that St. Michael and St. +Gabriel had natural heads, she answered: "I saw them with my eyes and +I believe that they are, as firmly as I believe that God is." Asked, if +she believed that God made them in the form in which she saw them, she +answered, "Yes." Asked, if she believed that God had created them in the +same form from the beginning, answered: "You shall have no more for the +present, except what I have already said." + +This subject was then dropped, and the examiner made another leap +forward to a different part of her life. "Did you know by revelation +that you should break prison?" he said. To this Jeanne answered +indignantly: "This has nothing to do with your trial. Would you have me +speak against myself?" + +Again questioned what her "voices" had said to her in respect to her +attempts at escape, she again answered: "This has nothing to do with the +trial; I go back to the trial. If all your questions were about that, +I should tell you all." She said besides, on her faith, that she knew +neither the day nor the hour when she should escape. She was then asked +what the voices said to her generally, and answered: "In truth, they +tell me I shall be freed, but neither the day nor the hour; and that I +ought to speak boldly, and with a glad countenance." She was then asked +whether, when first she saw her King, he asked her whether it was by +revelation that she had assumed the dress of a man? she replied: "I have +answered this. I cannot recollect whether he asked me. But it is written +in the book at Poitiers." Asked, whether the doctors who examined her +there, some for a month, some for three weeks, had asked her about her +change of dress; she answered: "I don't remember; but I know they asked +me when I assumed the dress of a man, and I told them it was in the town +of Vaucouleurs." Asked, whether these doctors had inquired whether it +was her voices which had made her take that dress, answered, "I don't +remember." Asked if her Queen wished her to change her dress when she +first saw her, answered, "I don't remember." Asked if her King, Queen, +and all of her party did not ask her to lay aside the dress of a man, +she answered, "This has nothing to do with the trial." Asked, if the +same was not requested of her in the castle of Beaurevoir, she answered: +"It is true. And I replied that I could not lay it aside without the +permission of God." She said further that the demoiselle of Luxembourg +(aunt of Jeanne's captor, and a very old woman) and the lady of +Beaurevoir offered her a woman's dress, or stuff to make one, and begged +her to wear it; but she replied that she had not yet the permission of +our Lord, and that it was not yet time. Asked, if M. Jean de Pressy and +others at Arras had offered her a woman's dress, she answered, "He and +others have often asked it of me." Asked, if she thought she would have +done wrong in putting on a woman's dress, she answered, that it was +better to obey her sovereign Lord, that is, God; she said also that if +she had done it, she would rather have done it at the request of these +two ladies than of any other in France, except her Queen. Asked, if, +when God revealed to her that she should change her dress, it was by the +voice of St. Michael, St. Catherine, or St. Margaret, she answered, "You +shall hear no more about it." Asked, when the King first employed her, +and her standard was made, whether the men-at-arms and others who took +part in the war did not have flags imitated from hers? she answered, "It +is well to know that the lords retained their own arms"; she also added +that her brothers-in-arms made such pennons as pleased them. Asked, how +these were made, if they were of linen or cloth, answered, that they +were of white satin, some of them with lilies; that she had but two or +three lances in her own company--but that in the rest of the army some +carried pennons like hers, but only to distinguish them from others. +Asked, if the banners were often renewed, answered: "I know not; when +the staff was broken it was renewed." Asked, if she had not said that +the pennons copied from hers were fortunate, answered, that she had +said, "Go in boldly among the English"; and that she had done the same +herself. Asked, if she said that they should have good luck if they bore +the banners well, answered, that she had told them what would happen, +and what should still happen. Asked, if she had caused holy water to +be sprinkled on the pennons when they were new, she answered, "That has +nothing to do with the trial"; but added that if she did so sprinkle +them she was not instructed to answer that question now. Asked, if +the others put _Jhesus Maria_ upon their pennons, she answered: "By +my faith, I know nothing about it." Asked, if she had ever carried or +caused to be carried in a procession round a church or altar the linen +of which the pennons were made, answered no, that she had never seen +anything of the kind done. + +Asked, when she was before Jargeau, what it was that she wore behind +her helmet, and if she had not something round it, she answered: "By my +faith, there was nothing." Asked, if she knew a certain Brother Richard, +she answered: "I never saw him till I was before Troyes." Asked, what +cheer Brother Richard made to her, answered, that she thought the people +of Troyes had sent him to her, doubting whether she had come on the part +of God, and that as he approached her he made the sign of the cross, and +sprinkled holy water; she said to him: "Come on boldly; I shall not fly +away." Asked, if she had seen, or had caused to be made, any images or +pictures of herself, she answered, that at Arras she had seen a picture +in the hands of a Scot, where she was represented fully armed, kneeling +on one knee, and presenting a letter to the King; but that she had never +caused any image or picture of herself to be made. Asked concerning a +table in the house of her host, upon which were painted three women, +with _Justice, Peace, Union_ inscribed beneath, answered, that she knew +nothing of it. Asked, if she knew that those of her party caused masses +and prayers to be made in her honour, she answered, that she knew not; +and if they did so, it was not by any command of hers; but that if they +did so, her opinion was that they did no wrong. Asked, if those of her +party firmly believed that she was sent from God, she answered: "I know +not whether they believed it; but even if they did not believe it, I am +none the less sent on the part of God." Asked, whether she thought that +to believe that she was sent from god was a worthy faith, she answered, +that if they believed that she was sent from God they were not mistaken. +Asked, if she knew what her party meant by kissing her feet and hands +and her garments, answered, that many people did it, but that her hands +were kissed as little as she could help it. The poor people, however, +came to her of their own free will, because she never oppressed them, +but protected them as far as was in her power. Asked, what reverence +the people of Troyes made to her, she answered, "None at all," and added +that she believed Brother Richard came into Troyes with her army, but +that she had not seen him coming in. Asked, if he had not preached at +the gates when she came, answered, that she scarcely paused there at +all, and knew nothing of any sermon. Asked, how long she was at Rheims, +and answered, four or five days. Asked, whether she baptised (stood +godmother to) children there, she answered: To one at Troyes, but did +not remember any at Rheims or at Chateau-Thierry; but there were two at +St. Denis; and willingly she called the boys "Charles," in honour of her +King, and the girls "Jeanne," according to what their mothers wished. +Asked, if the good women of the town did not touch with their rings the +rings she wore, she answered, that many women touched her hands and her +rings; but she did not know why they did it. Asked, what she did with +the gloves in which her King was consecrated, she answered that "Gloves +were distributed to the knights and nobles that came there"; and there +was one who lost his; but she did not say that she would find it for +him. Also she said that her standard was in the church at Rheims, and +she believed near the altar, and she herself had carried it for a short +time, but did not know whether Brother Richard had held it. + +She was then asked if she communicated and went to confession often +while moving about the country, and if she received the sacrament in her +male costume; to which she answered "yes, but without her arms"; she was +then questioned about a horse belonging to the Bishop of Senlis, +which had not suited her, a matter completely without importance. The +inference intended was that it was taken from him without being paid +for; but there was no evidence that the Maid knew anything about it. We +then come to the incident of Lagny. + +She was asked how old the child was which she saw at Lagny, and +answered, three days; it had been brought to Lagny to the Church of +Notre Dame, and she was told that all the maids in Lagny were before our +Lady praying for it, and she also wished to go and pray God and our Lady +that its life might come back; and she went, and prayed with the rest. +And finally life appeared; it yawned three times, and was baptised and +buried in consecrated ground. It had given no sign of life for three +days and was black as her coat, but when it yawned its colour began to +come back. She was there with the other maids on her knees before our +Lady to make her prayer. + +The reader must understand that this was no special appeal to Jeanne's +miraculous power, but a custom of that intense and tender charity +with which the Church of Rome corrects her dogmatism upon questions of +salvation. A child unbaptised could not be buried in consecrated ground, +and was subject to all the sorrows of the unredeemed; but who could +doubt that the priest would be easily persuaded by some wavering of the +tapers on the altar upon the little dead face, some flicker of his own +compassionate eyelids, that sufficient life had come back to permit the +holy rite to be administered? The whole little scene is affecting in the +extreme, the young creatures all kneeling, fervently appealing to +the Maiden-mother, the priest ready to take instant advantage of any +possible flicker, the Maid of France, no conspicuous figure, but weeping +and praying among the rest. There was no thought here of the raising +of the dead--the prayer was for breath enough only to allow of the holy +observance, the blessed water, the last possibility of human love and +effort. + +Jeanne was then questioned concerning Catherine of La Rochelle, the +supposed prophetess, who had been played against her by La Tremouille +and his follows, and narrated how she had watched two nights to see +the mysterious lady clothed in cloth of gold who was said to appear to +Catherine, but had not seen her, and that she had advised the woman +to return to her husband and children. Catherine's mission was to go +through the "good towns" with heralds and trumpets to call upon those +who had money or treasure of any kind to give it to the King, and she +professed to have a supernatural knowledge where such money was hidden. +(No doubt La Tremouille must have thought that to get money, which was +so scarce, in such a simple way, was worth trying at least. But Jeanne's +opinion was that it was folly, and that there was nothing in it; an +opinion fully verified. Catherine's advice had been that Jeanne should +go to the Duke of Burgundy to make peace; but Jeanne had answered that +no peace could be made save at the end of the lance.) + +She was then asked about the siege of La Charite; she answered, that she +had made an assault: but had not sprinkled holy water, or caused it +to be sprinkled. Asked, why she did not enter the city as she had the +command of God to do so, she replied: "Who told you that I was commanded +to enter?" Asked, if she had not had the advice of her voices, she +answered, that she had desired to go into France (meaning towards +Paris), but the generals had told her that it was better to go first +to La Charite. She was then asked if she had been long in the tower of +Beaurevoir; answered, that she was there about four months, and that +when she heard the English come she was angry and much troubled. Her +voices forbade her several times to attempt to escape; but at last, +in the doubt she had of the English she threw herself down, commending +herself to God and to our Lady, and was much hurt. But after she had +done this the voice of St. Catherine said to her not to be afraid, that +she should be healed, and that Compiegne would be relieved. + +Also she said that she prayed always for the relief of Compiegne with +her council. Asked, what she said after she had thrown herself down, +she answered, that some said that she was dead; and as soon as the +Burgundians saw that she was not dead, they told her that she had thrown +herself down. Asked, if she had said that she would rather die than fall +into the hands of the English, she answered, that she would much rather +have rendered her soul to God than have fallen into the hands of the +English. Asked, if she was not in a great rage, and if she did not +blaspheme the name of God, she answered, that she never said evil of +any saint, and that it was not her custom to swear. Asked respecting +Soissons, when the captain had surrendered the town, whether she had +not cursed God, and said that if she had gotten hold of the captain, she +would have cut him into four pieces; she answered, that she never swore +by any saint, and that those who said so had not understood her. + +***** + +At this point the public trial of Jeanne came to a sudden end. Either +the feeling produced in the town, and even among the judges, by her +undeviating, simple, and dignified testimony had begun to be more than +her persecutors had calculated upon; or else they hoped to make shorter +work with her when deprived of the free air of publicity, the sight no +doubt of some sympathetic faces, and the consciousness of being still +able to vindicate her cause and to maintain her faith before men. Two +or three fierce Inquisitors within her cell, and the Bishop, that man +without heart or pity at their head, might still tear admissions +from her weariness, which a certain sympathetic atmosphere in a large +auditory, swept by waves of natural feeling, would strengthen her to +keep back. The Bishop made a proclamation that in order not to vex and +tire his learned associates he would have the minutes of the previous +sittings reduced into form, and submitted to them for judgment, while +he himself carried on apart what further interrogatory was necessary. +We are told that he was warned by a counsellor of the town that secret +examinations without witnesses or advocate on the prisoner's side, were +illegal; but Monseigneur de Beauvais was well aware that anything would +be legal which effected his purpose, and that once Jeanne was disposed +of, the legality or illegality of the proceedings would be of small +importance. I have thought it right to give to the best of my power a +literal translation of these examinations, notwithstanding their great +length; as, except in one book, now out of print and very difficult to +procure, no such detailed translation,(8) so far as I am aware, exists; +and it seems to me that, even at the risk of fatiguing the reader +(always capable of skipping at his pleasure), it is better to unfold the +complete scene with all its tedium and badgering, which brings out by +every touch the extraordinary self-command, valour, and sense of +this wonderful Maid, the youngest, perhaps, and most ignorant of the +assembly, yet meeting all with a modest and unabashed countenance, true, +pure, and natural,--a far greater miracle in her simplicity and noble +steadfastness than even in the wonders she had done. + + (1) She was in reality detained two days, which fact, no + doubt, she judged to be an unimportant detail. + + (2) Probably meaning, had been present when the voices came + to her and had perceived her state of listening and + abstraction. + + (3) This was her special friend, Gerard of Epinal--her + _compere_ and gossip; was it jesting beguiled by some + childish recollection, or mock threat of youthful days that + she said this? + + (4) An answer evidently given in the vagueness of imperfect + knowledge, meaning a very great number. + + (5) Quicherat gives a note on this subject to point out that + there was really was but one Pope at this moment, the + question having been settled by the abdication of Clement + VIII., Benedict XIV. being a mere impostor. We cannot + believe, however, that this historical cutting of the knot + could be known to Jeanne. She probably felt only, with her + fine instinct, that there could be but one Pope, and that to + be deceived on such a matter ought to have been a thing + impossible to all those priests and learned men; as a matter + of fact the three claimants, on account of whom the Comte + d'Armagnac had appealed to her, were no longer existing at + the time he wrote. + + (6) She meant Paris, which was lost by the English, + according to her prophecy within the time named. + + (7) It should here be noted that Jeanne's sign to the King + being, as he afterwards declared, the answer to his most + private devotions and the final setting at rest of a doubt + which might have injured him much had it been known that he + entertained it--it would have been dishonourable on her part + and a great wrong to him had she revealed it. + + (8) The translation of M. Fabre is now, I believe, + reprinted, but it is not satisfactory. + + + +CHAPTER XIV --THE EXAMINATION IN PRISON. LENT, 1431. + +It must not be forgotten, in the history of this strange trial, that the +prisoner was brought from the other side of France expressly that she +might be among a people who were not of her own party, and who had no +natural sympathies with her, but a hereditary connection with England, +which engaged all its partialities on that side. For this purpose it was +that the _venue_, the town expected the coming of the Witch, and all the +dark revelations that might be extracted from her, her spells, and the +details of that contract with the devil which was so entrancing to +the popular imagination, with excitement and eagerness. Such a _Cause +Celebre_ had never taken place among them before; and everybody no doubt +looked forward to the pleasure of seeing it proved that it was not by +the will of Heaven, but by some monstrous combination of black arts, +that such an extraordinary result as the defeat of the invincible +English soldiers had been brought about. The litigious and logical +Normans no doubt looked forward to it as to the most interesting +entertainment, ending in the complete vindication of their own side and +the exposure of the nefarious arms used by their adversaries. + +But when the proceedings had been opened, and in place of some +dark-browed and termagant sorceress, with the mark of every evil passion +in her face, there appeared before the spectators crowding into every +available corner, the slim, youthful figure--was it boy or girl?--the +serene and luminous countenance of the Maid, the flower of youth raising +its whiteness and innocence in the midst of all those black-robed, +subtle Doctors, it is impossible but that the very first glance must +have given a shock and thrill of amazement and doubt to what may be +called the lay spectators, those who had no especial bias more than +common report, and whose credit or interest were not involved in +bringing this unlikely criminal to condemnation. "A girl! Like our own +Jeanne at home," might many a father have said, dismayed and confounded. +She had, they all say, those eyes of innocence which it is so impossible +not to believe, and that virginal voice, _assez femme_, which a +sentimental Frenchman insists upon as belonging only to the spotless. +At all events she had the bearing of honesty, purity, and truth. She was +not afraid though all the powers of hell--or was it only of the +Church and the Law?--were arrayed against her: no guilty mystery to be +discovered, was in her countenance. But it must have been plain to the +keen and not too charitable Normans that such semblances are not always +to be trusted, and that the devil himself even, on occasion, can take +upon himself the appearance of an angel of light; so that after the +first shock of wonder they no doubt settled themselves to listen, +believing that soon they would have their imaginations fed with tales +of horror, and would discover the hoofs and the horns and unveil +with triumph the lurking demon. The French historians never take into +consideration the fact that it was the belief of Rouen and Normandy, as +well as of any similar town or province in England, that the child +Henry VI. was lawful king, and that whatever was on the other side was +a hateful adversary, to be brought to such disaster and shame as was +possible, without mercy and without delay. + +But after a few days of the examination which we have just reported, +public opinion was greatly staggered, and knew not how to turn. +Gradually the conviction must have been forced upon every mind which had +any candour left, that Jeanne, at that dreadful bar, with the stake +in sight, and all the learning of Paris--the entire power of one great +national and half of another, all England and half France against--(many +more than half France, for the other part had abandoned her +cause),--showed nothing of the demon, but all--if not of the angel, yet +of the Maid, the emblem of perfection to that rude world, though +often so barbarously handled. It might almost be said of the age, +notwithstanding its immorality and rampant viciousness, that in its eyes +a true virgin could do no harm. And hers was one if ever such a thing +existed on earth. The talk in the streets began to take a very different +tone. Massieu the clerical sheriff's officer saw nothing in her answers +that was not good and right. Out of the midst of the crowd of listeners +would burst an occasional cry of "Well said!" An Englishman, even a +knight, overcome by his feelings, cried out: "Why was not she English, +this brave girl!" All these were ominous sounds. Still more ominous was +the utterance of Maitre Jean Lohier, a lawyer of Rouen, who declared +loudly that the trial was not a legal trial for the reasons which +follow: + +"In the first place because it was not in the form of an ordinary trial; +secondly, because it was not held in a public court, and those present +had not full and complete freedom to say what was their full and +unbiassed opinion; thirdly, because there was question of the honour of +the King of France of whose party Jeanne was, without calling him, +or any one for him; fourthly, because neither libel nor articles were +produced, and this woman who was only an uninstructed girl, had no +advocate to answer for her before so many Masters and Doctors, on such +grave matters, and especially those which touched upon the revelations +of which she spoke; therefore it seemed to him that the trial was worth +nothing. For these things Monseigneur de Beauvais was very indignant +against the said Maitre Lohier, saying: 'Here is Lohier who is going to +make a fine fuss about our trial; he calumniates us all, and tells the +world it is of no good. If one were to go by him, one would have to +begin everything over again, and all that has been done would be of no +use.' Monseigneur de Beauvais said besides: 'It is easy to see on which +foot he halts (_de quel pied il cloche_). By St. John, we shall do +nothing of the kind; we shall go on with our trial as we have begun +it.'" + +A day or two later Manchon, the Clerk of the Court (he who refused to +take down Jeanne's conversation with her Judas), met this same lawyer +Lohier at church, and asked him, as no doubt every man asked every +other whom he met, how did he think the trial was going? to which Lohier +answered: "You see the manner in which they proceed; they will take her, +if they can, in her words--that is to say, the assertions in which she +says _I know for certain_, things that concern her apparitions. If she +would say, 'It seems to me' instead of 'I know for certain,' I do not +see how any man could condemn her. It appears that they proceed against +her rather from hate than from any other cause, and for this reason I +shall not remain here. I will have nothing to do with it." This I think +shows very clearly that Lohier, like the bulk of the population, by no +means thought at first that it was "from hate" that the trial proceeded, +but honestly believed that he had been called to try Jeanne as a +professor of the black arts; and that he had discovered from her own +testimony that she was not so, and that the motive of the trial was +entirely a different one from that of justice; one in fact with which an +honest man could have nothing to do. + +It is very significant also that the number of judges present in +court on the sixth day, the last of the public examination, was only +thirty-eight, as against the sixty-two of the second day, which seems to +prove that a general disgust and alarm was growing in the minds of those +most closely concerned. Warwick and the soldiers, impatient of all +such business, striding in noisily from time to time to give a careless +glance at the proceedings, might not stay long enough to share the +impression--or might, who can say? Their business was to get this +pestilent woman, even if by chance she might be an innocent fanatic, +cleared off the face of the earth and out of their way. + +After the sixth day, however, it would seem that the Bishop and his +tools had taken fright at the progress of public opinion. Before +dismissing the court on that occasion, Cauchon made an address to the +disturbed and anxious judges, informing them that he would not tire them +out with prolonged sittings, but that a few specially chosen assistants +would now examine into what further details were necessary. In the +meantime all would be put in writing; so that they might think it over +and deliberate within themselves, so as to be able each to make a +report either to himself, the Bishop, or to some one deputed by him. +The assessors, thus thrown out of work, were however forbidden to leave +Rouen without the Bishop's permission--probably because of the threat +of Lohier. Repeated meetings were held in Cauchon's house to arrange +the details of the proceedings to follow; and during this time it was +perhaps hoped that any excitement outside would quiet down. The Bishop +himself had in the meantime other work in hand. He had to receive +certain important visitors, one of them the man who held the appointment +of Chancellor of France on the English side, and who was well acquainted +with the mind of his masters. We have no information whatever whether +Cauchon ever himself wavered, or allowed the possibility of acquitting +Jeanne to enter his mind; but he must have seen that it was of the last +necessity to know what would satisfy the English chiefs. No doubt he was +confirmed and strengthened in the conviction that by hook or by crook +her condemnation must be accomplished, by the conversation of these +illustrious visitors. To save Jeanne was impossible he must have been +told. No English soldier would strike a blow while she lived. England +itself, the whole country, trembled at her name. Till she was got rid of +nothing could be done. + +There was of course great exaggeration in all this, for the English had +fought desperately enough in her presence except on the one occasion +of Patay, notwithstanding all the early prestige of Jeanne. But at all +events it was made perfectly clear that the foregoing conclusion must +be carried out, and that Jeanne must die: and, not only so, but she must +die with opprobrium and disgrace as a witch, which almost everybody out +of Rouen now believed her to be. The public examination which lasted six +days was concluded on the third of March, 1430. On the following days, +the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth of March, meetings +were held, as we have said, in the Bishop's house to consider what +it would be well to do next, at one of which a select company of +Inquisitors was chosen to carry on the examination in private. These +were Jean de la Fontaine, a lawyer learned in canon law; Jean Beaupere, +already her interrogator; Nicolas Midi, a Doctor in Theology; Pierre +Morice, Canon of Rouen and Ambassador from the English King to the +Council of Bale; Thomas de Courcelles, the learned and excellent young +Doctor already described; Nicolas l'Oyseleur, the traitor, also already +sufficiently referred to; and Manchon, the honest Clerk of the court: +the names of Gerard Feuillet, also a distinguished man, and Jean +Fecardo, an advocate, are likewise also mentioned. They seem to have +served in their turn, three or four at a time. This private session +began on the 10th of March, a week after the conclusion of the public +trial, and was held in the prison chamber inhabited by the Maid. + +We shall not attempt to follow literally those private examinations, +which would take a great deal more space than we have at our command, +and would be fatiguing to the reader from the constant and prolonged +repetitions; we shall therefore quote only such parts as are new or so +greatly enlarged from Jeanne's original statements as to seem so. At the +first day's examination in her prison she was questioned about Compiegne +and her various proceedings before reaching that place.(1) She was +asked, for one thing, if her voices had bidden her make the sally in +which she was taken; to which she answered that had she known the time +she was to be taken she would not have gone out, unless upon the express +command of the saints. She was then asked about her standard, her +arms, and her horses, and replied that she had no coat-of-arms, but her +brothers had, who also had all her money, from ten to twelve thousand +francs, which was "no great treasure to make war upon," besides five +chargers, and about seven other horses, all from the King. The examiners +then came to their principal object, and having lulled her mind with +these trifles, turned suddenly to a subject on which they still hoped +she might commit herself, the sign which had proved her good faith to +the King. It is scarcely possible to avoid the feeling, grave as all +the circumstances were, that a little _malice_, a glance of mischievous +pleasure, kindled in Jeanne's eye. She had refused to enter into further +explanations again and again. She had warned them that she would give +them no true light on the subjects that concerned the King. Now she +would seem to have had sudden recourse to the mystification that is dear +to youth, to have tossed her young head and said: "_Have then your own +way_"; and forthwith proceeded to romance, according to the indications +given her of what was wanted, without thought of preserving any +appearance of reality. Most probably indeed, her air and tone would make +it apparent to her persistent questioners how complete a fable, or at +least parable, it was. + +Asked, what sign she gave to the King, she replied that it was a +beautiful and honourable sign, very creditable and very good, and rich +above all. Asked, if it still lasted; answered, "It would be good to +know; it will last a thousand years and more if well guarded," adding +that it was in the treasure of the King. Asked, if it was of gold or +silver or of precious stones, or in the form of a crown; answered: "I +will tell you nothing more; but no man could devise a thing so rich as +this sign; but the sign that is necessary for you is that God should +deliver me out of your hands, and that is what He will do." She also +said that when she had to go to the King it was said by her voices: "Go +boldly; and when you are before the King he will have a sign which will +make him receive and believe in you." Asked, what reverence she made +when the sign came to the King, and if it came from God; answered, that +she had thanked God for having delivered her from the priests of her own +party who had argued against her, and that she had knelt down several +times; she also said that an angel from God, and not from another, +brought the sign to the King; and she had thanked the Lord many times; +she added that the priests ceased to argue against when they had seen +that sign. Asked, if the clergy of her party (_de par dela_) saw the +above sign; answered yes, that her King if he were satisfied; and he +answered yes. And afterwards she went to a little chapel close by, and +heard them say that after she was gone more than three hundred people +saw the said sign. She said besides that for love of her, and that they +should give up questioning her, God permitted those of her party to see +the sign. Asked, if the King and she made reverence to the angel when +he brought the sign; answered yes, for herself, that she knelt down and +took off her hood. + +What Jeanne meant by this strange romance can only, I think be explained +by this hypothesis. She was "dazed and bewildered," say some of the +historians, evidently not knowing how to interpret so strange +an interruption to her narrative; but there is no other sign of +bewilderment; her mind was always clear and her intelligence complete. +Granting that the whole story was boldly ironical, its object is very +apparent. Honour forbade her to betray the King's secret, and she had +expressly said she would not do so. But her story seems to say--_since +you will insist that there was a sign, though I have told you I could +give you no information, have it your own way; you shall have a sign and +one of the very best; it delivered me from the priests of my own party +(de par dela)_. Jeanne was no milk-sop; she was bold enough to send a +winged shaft to the confusion of the priests of the other side who had +tormented her in the same way. One can imagine a lurking smile at the +corner of her mouth. Let them take it since they would have it. And we +may well believe there was that in her eye, and in the details heaped up +so lightly to form the miraculous tale, which left little doubt in the +minds of the questioners, of the spirit in which she spoke: though to us +who only read the record the effect is of a more bewildering kind. + +Two days after, on Monday, the 12th of March, the Inquisitors began by +several additional questions concerning the angel who brought the +sign to the King; was it the same whom she first saw, or another? She +answered that it was the same, and no other was wanted. Asked, if this +angel had not deceived her since she had been taken prisoner; answered, +that SHE BELIEVED SINCE IT SO PLEASED OUR LORD THAT IT WAS BEST THAT SHE +SHOULD BE TAKEN. Asked, if the angel had not failed her; answered, "How +could he have failed me, when he comforts me every day?" This comfort +is what she understands to come through St. Catherine and St. Margaret. +Asked, whether she called them, or they came without being called, she +answered, that they often came without being called, and if they did +not come soon enough, she asked our Saviour to send them. Asked, if St. +Denis had ever appeared to her; answered, not that she knew. Asked, +if when she promised to our Lord to remain a virgin she spoke to Him; +answered, that it ought to be enough to speak to those who were sent by +Him that is to say, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. Asked, what induced +her to summon a man to Toul, in respect to marriage; answered, "I did +not summon him; it was he who summoned me"; and that on that occasion +she had sworn before the judge to speak the truth, which was that she +had not made him any promise. She also said that the first time she had +heard the voices she made a vow of virginity so long as it pleased God, +being then about the age of thirteen. + +It was the object of the judges by these questions to prove that, +according to a fable which had obtained some credit, Jeanne during her +visit to La Rousse, the village inn-keeper at Neufchateau, had acted as +servant in the house and tarnished her good fame--so that her betrothed +had refused to marry her: and that he had been brought before the +Bishop's court at Toul for his breach of promise, as we should say. +Exactly the reverse was the case, as the reader will remember. + +Jeanne was further asked, if she had spoken of her visions to her +cure or to any ecclesiastic: and answered no, but only to Robert de +Baudricourt and to her King; but added that she was not bidden by her +voices to conceal them, but feared to reveal them lest the Burgundians +should hear of them and prevent her going. And especially she had much +doubt of her father, lest he should hinder her from going. Asked, if she +thought she did well to go away without the permission of her father +and mother, when it is certain we ought to honour our father and mother; +answered, that in every other thing she had fully obeyed him, except +in respect to her departure; but she had written to them, and they had +pardoned her. Asked, if when she left her father and mother she did not +think it was a sin; answered, that her voices were quite willing that +she should tell them, if it were not for the pain it would have +given them; but as for herself, she would not have told them for any +consideration; also that her voices left her to do as she pleased, to +tell or not. + +***** + +Having gone so far the reverend fathers went to dinner, and Jeanne we +hope had her piece of bread and her _eau rougie_. In the afternoon these +indefatigable questioners returned, and the first few questions throw +a fuller light on the troubled cottage at Domremy, out of which this +wonderful maiden came like a being of another kind. + +She was questioned as to the dreams of her father; and answered, that +while she was still at home her mother told her several times that her +father said he had dreamt that Jeanne his daughter had gone away with +the troopers, that her father and mother took great care of her and held +her in great subjection: and she obeyed them in every point except that +of her affair at Toul in respect to marriage. She also said that her +mother had told her what her father had said to her brothers: "If I +could think that the thing would happen of which I have dreamed, I wish +she might be drowned first; and if you would not do it, I would drown +her with my own hands"; and that he nearly lost his senses when she went +to Vaucouleurs. + +How profound is this little village tragedy! The suspicious, stern, and +unhopeful peasant, never sure even that the most transparent and pure +may not be capable of infamy, distracted with that horror of personal +degradation which is involved in family disgrace, cruel in the intensity +of his pride and fear of shame! He has been revealed to us in many +lands, always one of the most impressive of human pictures, with +no trust of love in him but an overwhelming faith in every vicious +possibility. If there is no evidence to prove that, even at the moment +when Jeanne was supreme, when he was induced to go to Rheims to see the +coronation, Jacques d'Arc was still dark, unresponsive, never more sure +than any of the Inquisitors that his daughter was not a witch, or worse, +a shameless creature linked to the captains and the splendid personages +about her by very different ties from those which appeared--there is at +least not a word to prove that he had changed his mind. She does not add +anything to soften the description here given. The sudden appearance of +this dark remorseless figure, looking on from his village, who probably +in all Domremy--when Domremy got to hear the news--would be the only +person who would in his desperation almost applaud that stake and +devouring flame, is too startling for words. + +The end of this day's examination was remarkable also for a sudden light +upon the method she had intended to adopt in respect to the Duke +of Orleans, then in prison in England, whom it was one of her most +cherished hopes to deliver. + +Asked, how she meant to rescue the Duc d'Orleans: she answered, that by +that time she hoped to have taken English prisoners enough to exchange +for him: and if she had not taken enough she should have crossed the +sea, in power, to search for him in England. Asked, if St. Catherine +and St. Margaret had told her absolutely and without condition that she +should take enough prisoners to exchange for the Duc d'Orleans, who was +in England, or otherwise, that she should cross the sea to fetch him and +bring him back within three years; she answered yes: and that she had +told the King and had begged him to permit her to make prisoners. She +said further that if she had lasted three years without hindrance, she +should have delivered him. Otherwise she said she had not thought of so +long a time as three years, although it should have been more than one; +but she did not at present recollect exactly. + +There is a curious story existing, though we do not remember whence +it comes and there is not a scrap of evidence for it, which suggests a +rumour that Jeanne was not the child of the d'Arc family at all, but +in fact an abandoned and illegitimate child of the Queen, Isabel of +Bavaria, and that her real father was the murdered Duc d'Orleans. This +suggestion might explain the ease with which she fell into the way of +Courts, a sort of air _a la Princesse_ which certainly was about her, +and her especial devotion to Orleans, both to the city and the duke. A +shadow of a supposed child of our own Queen Mary has also appeared +in history, quite without warrant or likelihood. It is a little +conventional and well worn even in the way of romance, yet there are +certain fanciful suggestions in the thought. + +After the above, Jeanne was again questioned and at great length upon +the sign given to the King, upon the angel who brought it, the manner of +his coming and going, the persons who saw him, those who saw the crown +bestowed upon the King, and so on, in the most minute detail. That the +purpose of the sign was that "they should give up arguing and so let +her proceed on her mission," she repeated again and again; but here is a +curious additional note. + +She was asked how the King and the people with him were convinced that +it was an angel; and answered, that the King knew it by the instruction +of the ecclesiastics who were there, and also by the sign of the crown. +Asked, how the ecclesiastics (_gens d'eglise_) knew it was an angel she +answered, "By their knowledge (science), and because they were priests." + +Was this the keenest irony, or was it the wandering of a weary mind? +We cannot tell; but if the latter, it was the only occasion on which +Jeanne's mind wandered; and there was method and meaning in the strange +tale. + +She was further questioned whether it was by the advice of her voices +that she attacked La Charite, and afterwards Paris, her two points of +failure; the purpose of her examiners clearly being to convince her that +those voices had deceived her. To both questions she answered no. +To Paris she went at the request of gentlemen who wished to make a +skirmish, or assault of arms (_vaillance d'armes_); but she intended to +go farther, and to pass the moats; that is, to force the fighting and +make the skirmish into a serious assault; the same was the case before +La Charite. She was asked whether she had no revelation concerning Pont +l'Eveque, and said that since it was revealed to her at Melun that she +should be taken, she had had more recourse to the will of the captains +than to her own; but she did not tell them that it was revealed to her +that she should be taken. Asked, if she thought it was well done +to attack Paris on the day of the Nativity of our Lady, which was a +festival of the Church; she answered, that it was always well to keep +the festivals of our Lady: and in her conscience it seemed to her that +it was and always would be a good thing to keep the feasts of our Lady, +from one end to the other. + +In the afternoon the examiners returned to the attempt at escape or +suicide--they seemed to have preferred the latter explanation--made at +Beaurevoir; and as Jeanne expresses herself with more freedom as to her +personal motives in these prison examinations and opens her heart more +freely, there is much here which we give in full. + +She was asked first what was the cause of her leap from the tower of +Beaurevoir. She answered that she had heard that all the people of +Compiegne, down to the age of seven, were to be put to the sword, and +that she would rather die than live after such a destruction of good +people; this was one of the reasons; the other was that she knew that +she was sold to the English and that she would rather die than fall into +the hands of the English, her enemies. Asked, if she made that leap +by the command of her voices; answered, that St. Catherine said to her +almost every day that she was not to leap, for that God would help her, +and also the people of Compiegne: and she, Jeanne, said to St. Catherine +that since God intended to help the people of Compiegne she would fain +be there. And St. Catherine said: "You must take it in good part, but +you will not be delivered till you have seen the King of the English." +And she, Jeanne, answered: "Truly I do not wish to see him. I would +rather die than fall into the hands of the English." Asked, if she had +said to St. Catherine and St. Margaret, "Will God leave the good people +of Compiegne to die so cruelly?" answered, that she did not say "so +cruelly," but said it in this way: "Will God leave these good people +of Compiegne to die, who have been and are so loyal to their lord?" She +added that after she fell there were two or three days that she would +not eat; and that she was so hurt by the leap that she could not eat; +but all the time she was comforted by St. Catherine, who told her to +confess and ask pardon of God for that act, and that without doubt the +people of Compiegne would have succour before Martinmas. And then she +took pains to recover and began to eat, and shortly was healed. + +Asked, whether, when she threw herself down, she wished to kill herself, +she answered no; but that in throwing herself down she commended herself +to God, and hoped by means of that leap to escape and to avoid being +delivered to the English. Asked, if, when she recovered the power of +speech, she had denied and blasphemed God and the saints, as had been +reported; answered, that she remembered nothing of the kind, and that, +as far as she knew, she had never denied and blasphemed God and His +saints there nor anywhere else, and did not confess that she had done +so, having no recollection of it. Asked, if she would like to see the +information taken on the spot, answered: "I refer myself to God, and not +another, and to a good confession." Asked, if her voices ever desired +delay for their replies; answered, that St. Catherine always answered +her at once, but sometimes she, Jeanne, could not hear because of +the tumult round her (_turbacion des personnes_) and the noise of her +guards; but that when she asked anything of St. Catherine, sometimes +she, and sometimes St. Margaret asked of our Lord, and then by the +command of our Lord an answer was given to her. Asked, if, when they +came, there was always light accompanying them, and if she did not +see that light when she heard the voice in the castle without knowing +whether it was in her chamber or not: answered, that there was never +a day that they did not come into the castle, and that they never came +without light: and that time she heard the voice, but did not remember +whether she saw the light, or whether she saw St. Catherine. Also she +said she had asked from her voices three things: one, her release: the +other, that God would help the French, and keep the town faithful: and +the other the salvation of her soul. Afterwards she asked that she might +have a copy of these questions and her answers if she were to be taken +to Paris, that she may give them to the people in Paris, and say to +them, "This is how I was questioned in Rouen, and here are my replies," +that she might not be exhausted by so many questions. + +Asked, what she meant when she said that Monseigneur de Beauvais put +himself in danger by bringing her to trial, and why Monseigneur de +Beauvais more than others, she answered, that this was and is what she +said to Monseigneur de Beauvais: "You say that you are my judge. I know +not whether you are so; but take care that you judge well, or you will +put yourself in great danger. I warn you, so that if our Lord should +chastise you for it, I may have done my duty in warning you." Asked, +what was that danger? she answered, that St. Catherine had said that she +should have succour, but that she knew not whether this meant that +she would be delivered from prison, or that, when she was before the +tribunal, there might come trouble by which she should be delivered; +she thought, however, it would be the one or the other. And all the more +that her voices told her that she would be delivered by a great victory; +and afterwards they said to her: "Take everything cheerfully, do not +be disturbed by this martyrdom: thou shalt thence come at last to the +kingdom of Heaven." And this the voices said simply and absolutely--that +is to say, without fail; she explained that she called It martyrdom +because of all the pain and adversity that she had suffered in prison; +and she knew not whether she might have still more to suffer, but waited +upon our Lord. She was then asked whether, since her voices had said +that she should go to Paradise, she felt assured that she should be +saved and not damned in hell; she answered, that she believed firmly +what her voices said about her being saved, as firmly as if she were +so already. And when it was said to her that this answer was of great +weight, she answered that she herself held it as a great treasure. + +We have said that Jeanne's answers to the Inquisitors in prison had a +more familiar form than in the public examination; which seem to +prove that they were not unkind to her, further, at least, than by the +persistence and tediousness of their questions. The Bishop for one thing +was seldom present; the sittings were frequently presided over by the +Deputy Inquisitor, who had made great efforts to be free of the business +altogether, and had but very recently been forced into it; so that we +may at least imagine, as he was so reluctant, that he did what he could +to soften the proceedings. Jean de la Fontaine, too, was a milder man +than her former questioners, and in so small an assembly she could not +be disturbed and interrupted by Frere Isambard's well-meant signs and +whispers. She speaks at length and with a self-disclosure which seems to +have little that was painful in it, like one matured into a kind of +age by long weariness and trouble, who regards the panorama of her life +passing before her with almost a pensive pleasure. And it is clear that +Jeanne's ear, still so young and keen, notwithstanding that attitude of +mind, was still intent upon sounds from without, and that Jeanne's +heart still expected a sudden assault, a great victory for France, which +should open her prison doors--or even a rising in the very judgment hall +to deliver her. How could they keep still outside, Dunois, Alencon, +La Hire, the mighty men of valour, while they knew that she was being +racked and tortured within? She who could not bear to be out of the +conflict to serve her friends at Compiegne, even when succour from on +high had been promised, how was it possible that these gallant knights +could live and let her die, their gentle comrade, their dauntless +leader? In those long hours, amid the noise of the guards within and the +garrison around, how she must have thought, over and over again, where +were they? when were they coming? how often imagined that a louder clang +of arms than usual, a rush of hasty feet, meant that they were here! + +But honour and love kept Jeanne's lips closed. Not a word did she say +that could discredit King, or party, or friends; not a reproach to those +who had abandoned her. She still looked for the great victory in which +Monseigneur, if he did not take care, might run the risk of being +roughly handled, or of a sudden tumult in his own very court that would +pitch him form his guilty seat. It was but the fourteenth of March +still, and there were six weary weeks to come. She did not know the hour +or the day, but yet she believed that this great deliverance was on its +way. + +And there was a great deliverance to come: but not of this kind. The +voices of God--how can we deny it?--are often, though in a loftier +sense, like those fantastic voices that keep the word of promise to the +ear but break it to the heart. They promised her a great victory: and +she had it, and also the fullest deliverance: but only by the stake and +the fire, which were not less dreadful to Jeanne than to any other girl +of her age. They did not speak to deceive her, but she was deceived; +they kept their promise, but not as she understood it. "These all died +in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar +off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them." Jeanne too was +persuaded of them, but was not to receive them--except in the other way. + +On the afternoon of the same day (it was still Lent, and Jeanne fasted, +whatever our priests may have done), she was again closely questioned +on the subject, this time, of Franquet d'Arras, who, as has been above +narrated, was taken by her in the course of some indiscriminate fighting +in the north. She was asked if it was not mortal sin to take a man as +prisoner of war and then give him up to be executed. There was evidently +no perception of similarities in the minds of the judges, for this was +precisely what had been done in the case of Jeanne herself; but even she +does not seem to have been struck by the fact. Their object, apparently, +was by proving that she was in a state of sin, to prove also that her +voices were of no authority, as being unable to discover so simple a +principle as this. + +When they spoke to her of "one named Franquet d'Arras, who was executed +at Lagny," she answered that she consented to his death, as he deserved +it, for he had confessed to being a murderer, a thief, and a traitor. +She said that his trial lasted fifteen days, the Bailli de Senlis and +the law officers of Lagny being the judges; and she added that she had +wished to have Franquet, to exchange him for a man of Paris, Seigneur de +Lours (corrected, innkeeper at the sign of l'Ours); but when she heard +that this man was dead, and when the Bailli told her that she would +go very much against justice if she set Franquet free, she said to the +Bailli: "Since my man is dead whom I wished to deliver, do with this one +whatever justice demands." Asked, if she took the money or allowed it to +be taken by him who had taken Franquet, she answered, that she was not a +money changer or a treasurer of France, to deal with money. + +She was then reminded that having assaulted Paris on a holy day, having +taken the horse of Monseigneur de Senlis, having thrown herself down +from the tower of Beaurevoir, having consented to the death of Franquet +d'Arras, and being still dressed in the costume of a man, did she not +think that she must be in a state of mortal sin? She answered to the +first question about Paris: "I do not think I was guilty of mortal sin, +and if I have sinned it is to God that I would make it known, and in +confession to God by the priest." To the second question, concerning the +horse of Senlis, she answered, that she believed firmly that there was +not mortal sin in this, seeing it was valued, and the Bishop had due +notice of it, and at all events it was sent back to the Seigneur de la +Tremouille to give it back to Monseigneur de Senlis. The said horse was +of no use to her; and, on the other hand, she did not wish to keep it +because she heard that the Bishop was displeased that his horse should +have been taken. And as for the tower of Beaurevoir: "I did it not to +destroy myself, but in the hope of saving myself and of going to the aid +of the good people who were in need." But after having done it, she had +confessed her sin, and asked pardon of our Lord, and had pardon of Him. +And she allowed that it was not right to have made that leap, but that +she did wrong. + +The next day an important question was introduced, the only one as +yet which Jeanne does not seem to have been able to answer with +understanding. On points of fact or in respect to her visions she was +always quite clear, but questions concerning the Church were beyond +her knowledge. It is only indeed after some time has elapsed that we +perceive why such a question was introduced. + +After admonitions made to her she was required, if she had done anything +contrary to the faith, to submit herself to the decision of the Church. +She replied, that her answers had all been heard and seen by clerks, +and that they could say whether there was anything in them against the +faith: and that if they would point out to her where any error was, +afterwards she would tell them what was said by her counsellors. At +all events if there was anything against the faith which our Lord had +commanded, she would not sustain it, and would be very sorry to go +against that. Here it was shown to her that there was a Church militant +and a Church triumphant, and she was asked if she knew the difference +between them. She was also required to put herself under the +jurisdiction of the Church, in respect to what she had done, whether it +was good or evil, but replied, "I will answer no more on this point for +the present." + +Having thrown in this tentative question which she did not understand, +they returned to the question of her dress, which holds such an +important place in the entire interrogatory. If she were allowed to +hear mass as she wished, having been all this time deprived of religious +ordinances, did not she think it would be more honest and befitting that +she should go in the dress of a woman? To this she replied vaguely, that +she would much rather go to mass in the dress of a woman than to retain +her male costume and not to hear mass; and that if she were certified +that she should hear mass, she would be there in a woman's dress. "I +certify you that you shall hear mass," the examiner replied, "but you +must be dressed as a woman." "What would you say," she answered as with +a momentary doubt, "if I had sworn to my King never to change?" but +she added: "Anyhow I answer for it. Find me a dress, long, touching the +ground, without a train, and give it to me to go to mass; but I will +return to my present dress when I come back." She was then asked why +she would not have all the parts of a female dress to go to mass in; she +said, "I will take counsel upon that, and answer you," and begged again +for the honour of God and our Lady that she might be allowed to hear +mass in this good town. Afterwards she was again recommended to assume +the whole dress of a woman and gave a conditional assent: "Get me +a dress like that of a young _bourgeoise_, that is to say, a long +_houppelande_; I will wear that and a woman's hood to go to mass." After +having promised, however, she made an appeal to them to leave her free, +and to think no more of her garb, but to allow her to hear mass without +changing it. This would seem to have been refused, and all at once +without warning the jurisdiction of the Church was suddenly introduced +again. + +She was asked, whether in all she did and said she would submit herself +to the Church, and replied: "All my deeds and works are in the hands of +God, and I depend only on Him; and I certify that I desire to do nothing +and say nothing against the Christian faith; and if I have done or said +anything in the body that was against the Christian faith which our +Lord has established, I should not defend it but cast it forth from +me." Asked again, if she would not submit to the laws of the Church she +replied: "I can answer no more to-day on this point; but on Saturday +send the clerk to me, if you do not come, and I will answer by the grace +of God, and it can be put in writing." + +A great many questions followed as to her visions, but chiefly what had +been asked before. One thing only we may note, since it was one of the +special sayings all her own, which fell from the lips of Jeanne, during +this private and almost sympathetic examination. After being questioned +closely as to how she knew her first visitor to be St. Michael, etc., +she was asked, how she would have known had he been "l'Anemy" himself +(a Norman must surely have used this word), taking the form of an angel: +and finally, what doctrine he taught her? + +She answered; above all things he said that she was to be a good child +and that God would help her: and among other things that she was to go +to the succour of the King of France. But the greater part of what the +angel taught her, she continued, was already in their book; and THE +ANGEL SHOWED HER THE GREAT PITY THERE WAS OF THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE. + +The pity of it! That which has always gone most to the tender heart: a +country torn in pieces, brother fighting against brother, the invader +seated at the native hearth, and blood and fire making the smiling land +a desert: "_la pitie qui estoit au royaume de France_." + +Did the Inquisitor break down here? Could no one go on? or was it mere +human incompetence to feel the divine touch? Some one broke into a +foolish question about the height of the angel, and the sitting was +hurriedly concluded. Monseigneur might well be on his mettle; that +very pity, was it not stealing into the souls of his private committee +deputed for so different a use? + +***** + +Next day the questions about St. Michael's personal appearance were +resumed, as a little feint we can only suppose, for the great question +of the Church was again immediately introduced; but in the meantime +Jeanne had described her visitor in terms which it is pleasant to dwell +on. "He was in the form of a _tres vrai prud' homme_." The term is +difficult to translate, as is the Galantuomo of Italy. The "King-Honest +Man," we used to say in English in the days of his late Majesty Victor +Emmanuel of Italy; but that is not all that is meant--_un vrai prud' +homme_, a man good, honest, brave, the best man, is more like it. +The girl's honest imagination thought of no paraphernalia of wings or +shining plumes. It was not the theatrical angel, not even the angel of +art whom she saw--whom it would have been so easy to invent, nay to take +quite truthfully from the first painted window, radiating colour and +brightness through the dim, low-roofed church. But even with such +material handy, Jeanne was not led into the conventional. She knew +nothing about wings or emblematic scales. He was in the form of a brave +and gentle man. She knew not anything greater, nor would she be seduced +into fable however sacred. Then once more the true assault began. + +She was asked, if she would submit all her sayings and doings, good or +evil, to the judgment of our Holy Mother, the Church. She replied, that +as for the Church, she loved it and would sustain it with all her might +for our Christian faith; and that it was not she whom they ought to +disturb and hinder from going to church or from hearing mass. As to the +good things she had done, and that had happened, she must refer all to +the King of Heaven, who had sent her to Charles, King of France; and it +should be seen that the French would soon gain a great advantage which +God would send them, so great that all the kingdom of France would +be shaken. And this, she said, that when it came to pass, they might +remember that she had said it. She was again asked, if she would submit +to the jurisdiction of the Church, and answered, "I refer everything +to our Lord who sent me, to our Lady, and to the blessed Saints of +Paradise"; and added her opinion was that our Lord and the Church meant +the same thing, and that difficulties should not be made concerning +this, when there was no difficulty, and they were both one. She was then +told that there was the Church triumphant, in which are God, the saints, +the angels, and all saved souls. The Church militant is our Holy Father +the Pope, vicar of God on earth, the cardinals, the prelates of the +Church, and the clergy and all good Christians and Catholics, which +Church properly assembled cannot err, but is guided by the Holy Spirit. +And this being the case she was asked if she would refer her cause to +the Church militant thus explained to her. She replied that she had +come to the King of France on the part of God, on the part of the Virgin +Mary, the blessed Saints of Paradise, and the Church victorious in +Heaven, and at their commandment; and to that Church she submitted all +her good deeds, and all that she had done and might do. And if they +asked her whether she would submit to the Church militant, answered, +that she would now answer no more than this. + +Here again the argument strayed back to the futile subject of dress, +always at hand to be taken up again, one would say, when the judges were +non-plussed. Her first reply on this subject is remarkable and shows +that dark and terrible forebodings were already beginning to mingle with +her hopes. + +Asked, what she had to say about the woman's dress that had been offered +to her, to hear mass in: she answered, that she would not take it yet, +not until the Lord pleased; but that if it were necessary to lead her +out to be executed, and if she should then have to be undressed, she +required of the Lords of the Church that they would give her the grace +to have a long chemise, and a kerchief for her head; that she would +prefer to die rather than to alter what our Lord had directed her to do, +and that she firmly believed our Lord would not let her descend so low, +but that she should soon be helped by God and by a miracle. She was then +asked, if what she did in respect to the man's costume was by command of +God, why she asked for a woman's chemise in case of death? answered, _It +is enough that it should be long_. + +The effect of these words in which so much was implied, must have made +a supreme sensation among the handful of men gathered round the helpless +girl in her prison, bringing the stake in all its horror before the +eyes of the judges as before her own. No other thing could have been +suggested by that piteous prayer. The stake, the scaffold, the fire--and +the shrinking figure all maidenly, helpless, exposed to every evil gaze, +must have showed themselves at least for a moment against that dark +background of prison wall. It was enough that it should be long--to hide +her as much as was possible from those dreadful staring eyes. + +The interrogatory goes on wildly after this about the age and the dress +of the saints. But a tone of fate had come into it, and Jeanne herself, +it was evident, was very serious; her mind turned to more weighty +thoughts. Presently they asked if the saints hated the English, to which +she replied that they hated what God hated and loved what He loved. She +was then asked if God hated the English. She replied that of the love or +hate that God had for the English, or what God did for their souls, +she knew nothing; but she knew well that they should be driven out of +France, except those who died there; and that God would send victory +to the French against the English. Asked, if God was for the English so +long as they were prosperous in France: she answered, that she knew not +whether God hated the French, but believed He had allowed them to be +beaten because of their sins. + +Jeanne was then brought to a test which, had she been a great statesman +or a learned doctor, would have been as dangerous, as the question +concerning John the Baptist was to the priests and scribes. "If we shall +say: From heaven, he will say, Why then believed ye him not? but if we +shall say of men we fear the people." And she was only a peasant girl +and the event of which they spoke had been before her little time. + +Asked, if she thought and believed firmly that her King did well to kill +Monseigneur de Bourgogne, she answered that IT WAS A GREAT MISFORTUNE +FOR THE KINGDOM OF FRANCE: but that however it might be among +themselves, God had sent her to the succour of the King. + +One or two other questions of some importance followed amid perpetual +changes of the subject: one of which called forth as follows her last +deliverance on the subject of the Pope. + +Asked, if she had said to Monseigneur de Beauvais that she would answer +as exactly to him and to his clerks as she would have done before our +Holy Father the Pope, although at several points in the trial she would +have had to refuse to answer, if she did not answer more plainly than +before Monseigneur de Beauvais--she said that she had answered as +much as she knew, and that if anything came to her memory that she had +forgotten to say, she would say it willingly. Asked, if it seemed to her +that she would be bound to answer the plain truth to the Pope, the vicar +of God, in all he asked her touching the faith and her conscience, she +replied that she desired to be taken before him, and then she would +answer all that she ought to answer. + +Here we seem to perceive dimly that there was beginning to be a second +party among those examiners, one of which was covertly but earnestly +attempting to lead Jeanne into an appeal to the Pope, which would have +conveyed her out of the hands of the English at least, and gained time, +probably deliverance for her, could Jeanne have been made to understand +it. + +This, however, was by no means the wish of Cauchon, whose spy and +whisperer, L'Oyseleur, was working against it in the background. Jeanne +evidently failed to take up what they meant. She did not understand the +distinction between the Church militant and the Church triumphant: that +God alone was her judge, and that no tribunal could decide upon the +questions which were between her Lord and herself, was too firmly fixed +in her mind: and again and again the men whose desire was to make her +adopt this expedient, were driven back into the ever repeated questions +about St. Catherine and St. Margaret. + +One other of her distinctive sayings fell from her in the little +interval that remained, in a series of useless questions about her +standard. Was it true that this standard had been carried into the +Cathedral at Rheims when those of the other captains were left behind? +"It had been through the labour and the pain," she said, "there was good +reason that it should have the honour." + +This last movement of a proud spirit, absolutely disinterested and +without thought of honour or advancement in the usual sense of the word, +gives a sort of trumpet note at the end of these wonderful wranglings +in prison, in which, however, there is a softening of tone visible +throughout, and evident effect of human nature bringing into immediate +contact divers human creatures day after day. Jeanne is often at her +best, and never so frequently as during these less formal sittings +utters those flying words, simple and noble and of absolute truth to +nature, which are noted everywhere, even in the most rambling records. + +***** + +The private examination, concluding with that last answer about the +banner, came to an end on the 17th March, the day before Passion Sunday. +Several subsequent days were occupied with repeated consultations in +the Bishop's palace, and the reading over of the minutes of the +examinations, to the judges first and afterwards to Jeanne, who +acknowledged their correctness, with one or two small amendments. It is +only now that Cauchon reappears in his own person. On the morning of the +following Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, he and four other doctors with +him had a conversation with Jeanne in her prison, very early in the +morning, touching her repeated application to be allowed to hear +mass and to communicate. The Bishop offered her his ultimatum: if she +consented to resume her woman's dress, she might hear mass, but not +otherwise; to which Jeanne replied, sorrowfully, that she would have +done so before now if she could; but that it was not in her power to +do so. Thus after the long and bitter Lent her hopes of sharing in the +sacred feast were finally taken from her. It remains uncertain whether +she considered that her change of dress would be direct disobedience +to God, which her words seem often to imply; or whether it would mean +renunciation of her mission, which she still hoped against hope to be +able to resume; or if the fear of personal insult weighed most with +her. The latter reason had evidently something to do with it, but, as +evidently, not all. + +The background to these curious sittings, afterwards revealed to us, +casts a hazy side-light upon them. Probably the Bishop, never present, +must have been made aware by his spies of an intention on the part of +those most favourable to Jeanne to support an appeal to the Pope; and +L'Oyseleur, the traitor, who was all this time admitted to her cell by +permission of Cauchon, and really as his tool and agent, was actively +employed in prejudicing her mind against them, counselling her not to +trust to those clerks, not to yield to the Church. How he managed to +explain his own appearance on the other side, his official connection +with the trial, and constant presence as one of her judges, it is hard +to imagine. Probably he gave her to believe that he had sought that +position (having got himself liberated from the imprisonment which he +had represented himself as sharing) for her sake, to be able to help +her. + +On the other hand her friends, whose hearts were touched by her candour +and her sufferings, were not inactive. Jean de la Fontaine and the two +monks--l'Advenu and Frere Isambard--also succeeded in gaining admission +to her, and pressed upon her the advantage of appealing to the Church, +to the Council of Bale about to assemble, or to the Pope himself, which +would have again changed the _venue_, and transferred her into less +prejudiced hands. It is very likely that Jeanne in her ignorance and +innocence might have held by her reference to the supreme tribunal +of God in any case; and it is highly unlikely that of the English +authorities, intent on removing the only thing in France of which their +forces were afraid, should have given her up into the hands of the Pope, +or allowed her to be transferred to any place of defence beyond their +reach; but at least it is a relief to the mind to find that all these +men were not base, as appears on the face of things, but that pity and +justice and human feeling sometimes existed under the priest's gown and +the monk's cowl, if also treachery and falsehood of the blackest kind. +The Bishop, who remained withdrawn, we know not why, from all these +private sittings in the prison (probably busy with his ecclesiastical +duties as Holy Week was approaching), heard with fury of this visit and +advice, and threatened vengeance upon the meddlers, not without effect, +for Jean de la Fontaine, we are told--who had been deep in his councils, +and indeed his deputy, as chief examiner--disappeared from Rouen +immediately after, and was heard of no more. + + (1) Compiegne was a strong point. Had she proclaimed a + promise from St. Catherine, of victory? Chastelain says so, + long after date and with errors in fact. Two Anglo- + Compiegnais were at her trial. The Rehabilitation does not + go into this question.--(From Mr. Lang.) + + + +CHAPTER XV -- RE-EXAMINATION. MARCH-MAY, 1431. + +Upon all these contentions followed the calm of Palm Sunday, a great +and touching festival, the first break upon the gloom of Lent, and a +forerunner of the blessedness of Easter. We have already told how--a +semblance of charity with which the reader might easily be deceived--the +Bishop and four of his assessors had gone to the prison to offer to the +Maid permission to receive the sacrament if she would do so in a woman's +dress: and how after pleading that she might be allowed that privilege +as she was, in her male costume, and with a pathetic statement that she +would have yielded if she could, but that it was impossible--she +finally refused; and was so left in her prison to pass that sacred day +unsuccoured and alone. The historian Michelet, in the wonderful sketch +in which he rises superior to himself, and which amidst all after +writings remains the most beautiful and touching memorial of Jeanne +d'Arc, has made this day a central point in his tale, using with the +skill of genius the service of the Church appropriate to the day, in +heart-rending contrast with those doors of the prison which did not +open, and the help of God which did not come to the young and solitary +captive. _Le beau jour fleuri_ passed over her in darkness and +desertion: her agony and passion lay before her like those of the +Divine Sufferer, to whom every day of the succeeding week is specially +consecrated. There is almost indeed a painful following of the Saviour's +steps in these dark days, the circumstances lending themselves in a +wonderful way to the comparison which French writers love to make, but +which many of us must always feel, however spotless the sufferer, to +have a certain irreverence in them. But if ever martyr were worthy of +being called a partaker of the sufferings of Christ it was surely this +girl, free, if ever human creature was, from self-seeking, or thought +of reward, or ambitious hope, in whose heart there had never been any +motive but the service of God and the deliverance of her country, who +had neither looked before nor after, nor put her own interests into +consideration in any way. Silently the feast passed with no holy +privileges of religion, no blessed token of the spring, no remembrance +of the waving palms and scattered blossoms over which her Lord rode into +Jerusalem to die. She had not that sweet fallacious triumph; but the +darker ordeal remained for her to follow. + +On Tuesday the 27th of March, her troubles began again. Before Palm +Sunday, the report of the trial had been read to her. She had now to +hear the formal reading of the articles founded upon it, to give a final +response if she had any to give, or explanation, or addition, if she +thought proper. The sitting was held in the great hall of the Castle +of Rouen before a band of more than forty, all assembled for this final +test. The Bishop made a prefactory speech to the prisoner, pointing out +to her how benign and merciful were the judges now assembled, that they +had no wish to punish, but rather to instruct and lead her in the right +way; and requesting her at this late period in the proceedings to choose +one or more from among them to help her. To which Jeanne replied; "In +the first place concerning my good and our faith, I thank you and all +the company. As for the counsellor you offer me I thank you also, but I +have no need to depart from our Lord as my counsellor." + +The articles, in which the former questions put to her and answered by +her, were now repeated in the form of accusations, were then read to her +one by one; her sorcery, sacrilege, etc., being taken as facts. To a +few she repeated, with various forcible and fine turns of phrase, her +previous answers, with here and there a new explanation; but to the +great majority she referred simply to her former replies, or denied +the charge, as follows: "The second article concerning sortilege, +superstitious acts and divination, she denied, and in respect to +adoration (i.e. allowing herself to be adored) said: If any kissed her +hands or her garments, it was not by her will, and that she kept herself +from it as much as she could; and the rest of the article she denies." +This is a specimen of the manner in which she responded, with a +clear-headed and undisturbed intelligence, point after point--_ipsa +Johanna negat_, is the usual refrain: or else she referred with dignity +to previous replies as her sole answer. But sometimes the girl was +moved to indignation, sometimes added a word in her own defence: "As for +fairies she knew not what they were, and as for her education she had +been well and duly instructed what to believe, as a good child should." +This was her answer to the article in which all the folk-lore of +Domremy, all the fairy tales, had been collected into a solemn statement +of heresy. The matter of dress was once more treated in endless detail, +with many interjected questions and reports of what she had already +said: and at the end, answering the statement that woman's dress was +most fit for woman's work, Jeanne added the quick _mot_: "As for the +usual work of women, there are enough of other women to do it." On +another occasion when the report ran that she claimed to have done all +things by the counsel of God, she interrupted and said "that it ought +to be, all that I have done well." To her former answer that she had +yielded to the desire of the French knights in attacking Paris, she +added the fine words, "It seemed to me that it was their duty to attack +their adversaries." In respect to her visions she added to her former +answer, "that she had not asked advice of bishop, cure, or any other +before believing her revelations, but had many times prayed God to +reveal them to others of her party." About calling her saints when she +required their aid she added, that she asked God and Our Lady to send +her council and comfort, and immediately her heavenly visitors came; and +that this was the prayer she made: + +"Gentle God, in honour of Your(1) passion, I pray You, if You love me, +that You would reveal to me how I ought to answer these people of the +Church. I know well by what command it was that I took this dress, but +I know not in what manner I ought to give it up. For this may it please +You to teach me." + +In respect to the reproach that she had been a general in the war (_chef +de guerre_), she explained that if she were, it was to drive out the +English, repelling the accusation that she had assumed this title in +pride; and to that which accused her of preferring to live among men, +she explained that when she was in a lodging she generally had a woman +with her; but that when engaged in war she lived in her clothes whenever +there was not a woman present. In respect to her hope of escaping +from prison, she was asked if her council had thrown any light on that +question, and replied, "I have yet to tell you." Manchon, the +clerk, makes a note upon his margin at these words, "Proudly +answered"--_superbe responsum_. + +This re-examination lasted for two long days, the 27th and 28th of +March. On several points Jeanne requested that she might be allowed to +give an answer on Saturday, and accordingly, on Saturday, the last day +of March, Easter Eve, she was visited in prison by the Bishop and +seven or eight assessors. She was then asked if she would submit to +the judgment of the Church on earth all that she had done and said, +specially in things that concerned her trial. She answered that she +would submit to the judgment of the Church militant, provided that it +did not enforce anything that was impossible. She explained that +what she called impossible was to acknowledge that the visions and +revelations came otherwise than from God, or that what she had done was +not on the part of God: these she would never deny or revoke for any +power on earth: and that which our Lord had commanded or should command, +she would not give up for any living man, and this would be impossible +to her. And in case the Church should command her to do anything +contrary to the command given her by God she would not do it for any +reason whatsoever. Asked whether she would submit to the Church if the +Church militant pronounced that her revelations were delusions or from +the devil, or superstitious, or evil things, she answered that she would +refer everything to our Lord, whose command she always obeyed; and that +she knew well that everything had come to her by the commandment of God; +and that what she had affirmed during this trial to have been done by +the commandment of God it would be impossible for her to deny. And in +case the Church militant commanded her to go against God, she would +submit herself to no man in this world but to our Lord, whose good +commandment she had always obeyed. She was asked if she did not believe +that she was subject to the Church on earth, that is, to our Holy Father +the Pope, the Cardinals, Bishops, and other prelates of the Church. +She answered, "_Yes, our Lord being served first_." Asked if she had +directions from her voices not to submit to the Church militant which +is on earth, nor to its judgment, she replied that she does not answer +according to what comes into her head, but that when she replies it is +by commandment; and that she has never been told not to obey the Church, +our Lord being served first (_noster Sire premier servi_). + +Other less formal particulars come to us long after, from various +witnesses at the _proces de rehabilitation_, in which a lively picture +is given of this scene. Frere Isambard had apparently managed, as was +his wont, to get close to the prisoner, and to whisper to her to appeal +to the Council of Bale. "What is this Council of Bale?" she asked in the +same tone. Isambard replied that it was the "congregation of the whole +Church, Catholic and Universal, and that there would be as many there on +her side as on that of the English." "Ah!" she cried, "since there will +be some of our party in that place, I will willingly yield and submit +to the Council of Bale, to our Holy Father the Pope, and to the sacred +Council."(2) And immediately--continues the deposition--the Bishop of +Beauvais cried out, "Silence, in the devil's name!" and told the notary +to take no notice of what she said, that she would submit herself to the +Council of Bale; whereupon a second cry burst from the bosom of Jeanne, +"You write what is against me, but you will not write what is for me." +"Because of these things, the English and their officers threatened +terribly the said Frere Isambard, warning him that if he did not hold +his peace he would be thrown in the Seine." No notice whatever is taken +of any such interruption in the formal record. It must have been before +this time that Jean de la Fontaine disappeared. He left Rouen secretly +and never returned, nor does he ever appear again. Frere Isambard is +said to have taken temporary refuge in his convent; they scattered, +_de par l'diable_, according to the Christian adjuration of Mgr. De +Beauvais; though l'Advenu would seem to have held his ground, and served +as Confessor to Jeanne in her agony, at which Frere Isambard was also +present. We are told that the Deputy Inquisitor Lemaitre, he who had +been got to lend the aid of his presence with such difficulty, fiercely +warned the authorities that he would have no harm done to those two +friars, from which we may infer that he too had leanings towards the +Maid; and these honest and loyal men, well deserving of their country +and of mankind, should not lose their record when the tragic story of so +much human treachery and baseness has to be told. + +***** + +After this there came a long pause, full of much business to the judges, +councillors, and clerks who had to reduce the seventy articles to +twelve, in order to forward a summary of the case to the University of +Paris for their judgment. Jeanne in the meantime had been left, but not +neglected, in her prison. The great Feast of Easter had passed without +any sacred consolation of the Church; but Monseigneur de Beauvais, +in his kindness, sent her a carp to keep the feast withal, if not any +spiritual food. It was quite congenial to the spirit of the time to +imagine that the carp had been poisoned, and such a thought seems to +have crossed the mind of Jeanne, who was very ill after eating of it, +and like to die. But it was not thus, poisoned in prison, that it would +have suited any of her persecutors to let her die. As a matter of fact, +as soon as it was known that she was ill, the best doctors procurable +were sent to the prison with peremptory orders to prolong her life +and cure her at any cost. But for a little time we lose sight of +the sick-bed on which the unfortunate Maid lay fully dressed, never +relinquishing the garb which was her protection, with her feet chained +to her uneasy couch. Even at the moment when her life hung in the +balance we read of no indulgence granted in this respect, no unlocking +of the infamous chain, nor substitution of a gentler nurse for the +attendant _houspillers_, who were her guards night and day. + +When the Bishop and his court had completed their business and sent off +to Paris the important document on which so much depended, they found +themselves at leisure to return to Jeanne, to inquire after her health +and to make her "a charitable admonition." It was on the 18th of April, +after the silence of more than a fortnight, that their visit was made +with this benevolent purpose. Seven of her judges attended the Bishop +into the sick-chamber. They had come, he assured her, charitably and +familiarly, to visit her in her sickness and to carry her comfort and +consolation. Most of these men were indeed familiar enough: she had seen +their faces already through many a dreadful day, though there were one +or two which were new and strange, come to stare at her in the depths +of her distress. Cauchon reminded her how much and how carefully she had +been questioned by the most wise and learned men; and that those there +present were ready to do anything for the salvation of her soul and +body in every possible way, by instructing or advising her. He added, +however, that if she still refused to accept advice, and to act +according to the counsel of the Church, she was in the greatest +danger--to which she replied: + +"It seems to me, being so ill as I am, that I am in great danger of +death. And if it is thus that God pleases to decide for me, I ask of you +to be allowed to confess and receive my Saviour, and to be laid in holy +ground." + +"If you desire to have the rites and sacraments of the Church," said +Cauchon, "you must do as good Catholics ought to do, submit to Holy +Church." She answered, "I can say no other thing to you." She was then +told that if she was in fear of death through sickness she ought all the +more to amend her life; but that she could not have the privileges +of the Church as a Catholic, if she did not submit to the Church. She +answered: "If my body dies in prison, I hope that you will bury me in +consecrated ground: yet if not, I still hope in our Lord." + +She was then reminded that she had said in her trial--if anything had +been said or done by her against our Christian faith ordained by our +Lord, that she would not stand by it. She answered, "I refer to the +answer I made, and to our Lord." + +It was then asked of her, since she believed herself to have had many +revelations from God by St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret, +whether if there should appear some good creature (_sic_) who professed +to have had a revelation from God in respect to her, she would believe +that? She answered that there was no Christian in the world who could +come to her professing to have had a revelation, of whom she should not +know whether he spoke the truth or not: she would know it through St. +Catherine and St. Margaret. + +Asked, if she could not imagine that God might reveal something to a +good creature who might be unknown to her, she answered: "Yes; but I +would not believe either man or woman without a sign." + +Asked, if she believed that the Holy Scripture was revealed by God, she +answered, "You know that I do, and it is good to know." + +The last answer she made in respect to submission to Holy Church was +this, "Whatever may happen to me I will neither do nor say anything +else, for I have answered before, during the trial." + +She was then "exhorted powerfully by the venerable doctors present" +(four are mentioned by name) to submit to our Mother the Church, with +many authorities and examples drawn from the Holy Scriptures; and +finally, Magister Nicolas Midi made her an exhortation from Matthew +xviii.: "If your brother trespass against you," and what follows, "If +he will not hear the Church, let him be to you as a heathen man and +a publican." This was expounded to Jeanne in the French tongue and, +finally, she was told that if she would not obey and submit to the +Church she must be given up as if she was a Saracen. To which Jeanne +replied that she was a good Christian and well baptised, and that she +desired to die as a Christian. She was then asked whether, since she +begged leave of the Church to receive her Saviour, she would submit +to the Church if it were promised to her that she should receive. She +answered that she would say no more than she had said; that she loved +God, served Him, and was a good Christian, and would aid and uphold the +Holy Church with all her power. Asked if she wished that a beautiful +procession should be made for her to restore her to health, she answered +that she would be glad if the Church and the Catholics would pray for +her. + +For another fortnight Jeanne was sent back into the silence, and to her +own thoughts, which must have grown heavier and heavier as the weary +days went on, and no sound of approaching deliverance came, no rumour +of help at hand. All was quiet and safe at Rouen; amid the babble of the +courtyard which she might hear fitfully when her guardians were quieter +than usual, there was not one word which brought the hope of a French +army at hand, or of any movement to rescue her. All was silent in the +world around, not a breath of hope, not the whisper of a friend. It was +not till the 2d of May that the dreadful blank was again broken, and she +was called to the great hall of the castle for another interview with +her tormentors. When she was led into the hall it was full, as in the +first sitting, sixty-three judges in all being present. The interest +had flagged or the pity had grown as the trial dragged its slow length +along; but now, when every day the verdict was expected from Paris, the +interest had risen again. On her way from her prison to the hall, it was +necessary to pass the door of the castle chapel: and here once or twice +Massieu, the officer of the court, had permitted her to pause and kneel +down as she passed. This was all the celebration of the Paschal Feast +that was permitted to Jeanne. The compassionate official, however, was +discovered in this small service of charity, and sternly reprimanded +and threatened. Henceforward she had to pass without even a longing look +through the door at the altar on which was the holy sacrament. + +She came in on the renewed sitting of the 2d May to find the assembled +priests settling themselves, after the address which had been made to +them, to hear another address which John de Chasteillon, Archdeacon, had +prepared for herself, in which he said much that was good both for body +and soul, to which she consented. He had a list of twelve articles in +his hands, and explained and expounded them to her, as they were the +occasion of the sitting. He then "admonished her in charity," explaining +that those who were faithful to Christ hold firmly and closely to the +Christian creed, and adjuring her to consent and to amend her ways. To +this Jeanne answered: "Read your book," meaning the schedule held by +Monseigneur the Archdeacon, "and then I will answer you. I refer myself +to God my master in all things; and I love Him with all my heart." + +To read this book, however, was precisely what Monseigneur the +Archdeacon had no intention of doing. She was never allowed to hear the +twelve articles upon which the verdict against her was founded; but the +speaker gave her a long discourse by way of explanation, following more +or less the schedule which he held. This "monition general," however, +elicited no detailed reply from Jeanne, who answered briefly with some +impatience, "I refer myself to my judge, who is the King of Heaven +and earth." The "Lord Archdeacon" then proceeded to "monitions +particulares." + +It was then once more explained to her that this reference to God alone +was a refusal to submit to the Church militant, and she was instructed +in the authority of the Church, which it was the duty of every Christian +to believe--_unam sanctam Ecclesiam_ always guided by the Holy Spirit +and which could not err, to the judgment of which every question should +be referred. She answered: "I believe in the Church here below; but my +doings and sayings, as I have already said, I refer and submit to God. I +believe that the Church militant cannot err or fail; but as for my deeds +and words I put them all before God, who has made me do that which +I have done"; she also said that she submitted herself to God, her +Creator, who had made her do everything, and referred everything to Him, +and to Him alone. + +She was then asked, if she would have no judge on earth and if our +Holy Father the Pope were not her judge; she answered: "I will tell you +nothing more. I have a good master, that is our Lord, on whom I depend +for everything, and not an any other." + +She was then told that if she would not believe the Church and the +article _Ecclesiam sanctam Catholicam_, that she might be reckoned as +a heretic and punished by burning: to which she answered: "I can say +nothing else to you; and if I saw the fire before me, I should say only +that which I say, and could do nothing else." (Once more at this point +the clerk writes on his margin, "Proud reply"--_Superba responsio_--but +whether in admiration or in blame it would be hard to say.) + +Asked, if the Council General, or the Holy Father, Cardinals, etc., were +there--whether she would submit to them. "You shall have no other answer +from me," she said. + +Asked, if she would submit to our Holy Father the Pope: she answered, +"Take me to him and I will answer him," but would say no more. + +Questioned in respect to her dress, she answered, that she would +willingly accept a long dress and a woman's hood to go to church to +receive her Saviour, provided that, as she had already said, she were +allowed to wear it on that occasion only, and then to take back that +which she at present wore. Further, when it was set before her that she +wore that dress without any need, being in prison, she answered, "When +I have done that for which I was sent by God, I will then take back a +woman's dress." Asked, if she thought she did well in being dressed like +a man, she answered, "I refer every thing to our Lord." + +Again, after the exhortation made to her, namely, that in saying +that she did well and did not sin in wearing that dress, and in the +circumstances which concerned her assuming and wearing it, and in +saying that God and the saints made her do so--she blasphemed, and as +is contained in this schedule, erred and did evil: she answered that she +never blasphemed God or the saints. + +She was then admonished to give up that dress, and no longer to think it +was right, and to return to the garb of a woman; but answered that she +would make no change in this respect. + +Concerning her revelations: she replied in regard to them, that she +referred everything to her judge, that is God, and that her revelations +were from God, without any other medium. + +Asked concerning the sign given to the King if she would refer to +the Archbishop of Rheims, the Sire de Boussac, Charles de Bourbon, La +Tremouille, and La Hire, to them or to any one of them, who, according +to what she formerly said, had seen the crown, and were present when the +angel brought it, and gave it to the Archbishop; or if she would refer +to any others of her party who might write under their seals that it was +so; she answered, "Send a messenger, and I will write to them about the +whole trial": but otherwise she was not disposed to refer to them. + +In respect to her presumption in divining the future, etc., she +answered, "I refer everything to my judge who is God, and to what I have +already answered, which is written in the book." + +Asked, if two or three or four knights of her party were to be +brought here under a safe conduct, whether she would refer to them her +apparitions and other things contained in this trial; answered, "Let +them come and then I will answer:" but otherwise she was not willing to +refer to anyone. + +Asked whether, at the Church of Poitiers where she was examined, she had +submitted to the Church, she answered, "Do you hope to catch me in this +way, and by that draw advantage to yourselves?" + +In conclusion, "afresh and abundantly," she was admonished to submit +herself to the Church, on pain of being abandoned by the Church; for if +the Church left her she would be in great danger of body and of soul; +and she might well put herself in peril of eternal fire for the soul, as +well as of temporal fire for the body, by the sentence of other judges. +"You will not do this which you say against me, without doing injury to +your own bodies and souls," she said. + +Asked, whether she could give a reason why she would not submit to the +Church: but to this she would make no additional reply. + +Again a week passed in busy talk and consultation without, in silence +and desertion within. On the 9th of May the prisoner was again led, this +time to the great tower, apparently the torture chamber of the castle, +where she found nine of her judges awaiting her, and was once more +adjured to speak the truth, with the threat of torture if she continued +to refuse. Never was her attitude more calm, more dignified and lofty in +its simplicity, than at this grim moment. + +"Truly," she replied, "if you tear the limbs from my body, and my soul +out of it, I can say nothing other than what I have said; or if I said +anything different, I should afterwards say that you had compelled me to +do it by force." She added that on the day of the Holy Cross, the 3d of +May past, she had been comforted by St. Gabriel. She believed that it +was St. Gabriel: and she knew by her voices that it was St. Gabriel. She +had asked counsel of her voices whether she should submit to the Church, +because the priests pressed her so strongly to submit: but it had been +said to her that if she desired our Lord to help her she must depend +upon Him for everything. She added that she knew well that our Lord had +always been the master of all she did, and that the Enemy had nothing +to do with her deeds. Also she had asked her voices if she should be +burned, and the said voices had replied to her that she was to wait for +the Lord and He would help her. + +Afterwards in respect to the crown which had been handed by the angel to +the Archbishop of Rheims, she was asked if she would refer to him. She +answered: "Bring him here, that I may hear what he says, and then I +shall answer you; he will not dare to say the contrary of that which I +have said to you." + +The Archbishop of Rheims had been her constant enemy; all the hindrances +that had occurred in her active life, and the constant attempts made +to balk her even in her brief moment of triumph, came from him and his +associate La Tremouille. He was the last person in the world to whom +Jeanne naturally would have appealed. Perhaps that was the admirable +reason why he was suggested in this dreadful crisis of her fate. + +A few days later, it was discussed among those dark inquisitors whether +the torture should be applied or not. Finally, among thirteen there were +but two (let not the voice of sacred vengeance be silent on their shame +though after four centuries and more), Thomas de Courcelles, first of +theologians, cleverest of ecclesiastical lawyers, mildest of men, and +Nicolas L'Oyseleur, the spy and traitor, who voted for the torture. One +man most reasonably asked why she should be put to torture when they +had ample material for judgment without it? One cannot but feel that +the proceedings on this occasion were either intended to beguile the +impatience of the English authorities, eager to be done with the whole +business, or to add a quite gratuitous pang to the sufferings of the +heroic girl. As the men were not devils, though probably possessed by +this time, the more cruel among them, by the horrible curiosity, innate +alas! in human nature, of seeing how far a suffering soul could go, it +is probable that the first motive was the true one. The English, Warwick +especially, whose every movement was restrained by this long-pending +affair, were exceedingly impatient, and tempted at times to take the +matter into their own hands, and spoil the perfectness of this well +constructed work of art, conducted according to all the rules, the +beautiful trial which was dear to the Bishop's heart--and destined to +be, though perhaps in a sense somewhat different to that which he hoped, +his chief title to fame. + +Ten days after, the decision of the University of Paris arrived, and a +great assembly of counsellors, fifty-one in all, besides the permanent +presidents, collected together in the chapel of the Archbishop's +house, to hear that document read, along with many other documents, the +individual opinions of a host of doctors and eminent authorities. +After an explanation of the solemn care given by the University to the +consideration of every one of the twelve articles of the indictment, +that learned tribunal pronounced its verdict upon each. The length of +the proceedings makes it impossible to reproduce these. First as to the +early revelations given to Jeanne, described in the first and second +articles, they are denounced as "murderous, seductive, and pernicious +fictions," the apparitions those of "malignant spirits and devils, +Belial, Satan, and Behemoth." The third article, which concerned her +recognition of the saints, was described more mildly as containing +errors in faith; the fourth, as to her knowledge of future events, was +characterised as "superstitious and presumptuous divination." The fifth, +concerning her dress, declared her to be "blasphemous and contemptuous +of God in His Sacraments." The sixth, by which she was accused of loving +bloodshed, because she made war against those who did not obey the +summons in her letters bearing the name Jhesus Maria, was declared to +prove that she was cruel, "seeking the shedding of blood, seditious, +and a blasphemer of God." The tenor is the same to the end: Blasphemy, +superstition, pernicious doctrine, impiety, cruelty, presumption, lying; +a schismatic, a heretic, an apostate, an idolator, an invoker of demons. +These are the conclusions drawn by the most solemn and weighty tribunal +on matters of faith in France. The precautions taken to procure a +full and trustworthy judgment, the appeal to each section in turn, the +Faculty of Theology, the Faculty of Law, the "Nations," all separately +and than all together passing every item in review--are set forth at +full length. Every formality had been fulfilled, every rule followed, +every detail was in the fullest order, signed and sealed and attested by +solemn notaries, bristling with well-known names. A beautiful judgment, +equal to the trial, which was beautiful too--not a rule omitted except +those of justice, fairness, and truth! The doctors sat and listened with +every fine professional sense satisfied. + +"If the beforesaid woman, charitably exhorted and admonished by +competent judges, does not return spontaneously to the Catholic faith, +publicly abjure her errors, and give full satisfaction to her judges, +she is hereby given up to the secular judge to receive the reward of her +deeds." + +The attendant judges, each in his place, now added their adhesion. +Most of them simply stated their agreement with the judgment of the +University, or with that of the Bishop of Fecamp, which was a similar +tenor; a few wished that Jeanne should be again "charitably admonished"; +many desired that on this selfsame day the final sentence should +be pronounced. One among them, a certain Raoul Sauvage (Radulphus +Silvestris), suggested that she should be brought before the people in +a public place, a suggestion afterwards carried out. Frere Isambard +desired that she should be charitably admonished again and have another +chance, and that her final fate should still be in the hands of "us her +judges." The conclusion was that one more "charitable admonition" should +be given to Jeanne, and that the law should then take its course. +The suggestion that she should make a public appearance had only one +supporter. + +This dark scene in the chapel is very notable, each man rising to +pronounce what was in reality a sentence of death,--fifty of them almost +unanimous, filled no doubt with a hundred different motives, to please +this man or that, to win favour, to get into the way of promotion,--but +all with a distinct consciousness of the great yet horrible spectacle, +the stake, the burning:--though perhaps here and there was one with a +hope that perpetual imprisonment, bread of sorrow and water of anguish, +might be substituted for that terrible death. Finally, it was decided +that--always on the side of mercy, as every act proved--the tribunal +should once more "charitably admonish" the prisoner for the salvation +of her soul and body, and that after all this "good deliberation and +wholesome counsel" the case should be concluded. + +Again there follows a pause of four days. No doubt the Bishop and his +assessors had other things to do, their ecclesiastical functions, +their private business, which could not always be put aside because one +forsaken soul was held in suspense day after day. Finally on the 24th of +May, Jeanne again received in her prison a dignified company, some quite +new and strange to her (indeed the idea may cross the reader's mind +that it was perhaps to show off the interesting prisoner to two new +and powerful bishops, the first, Louis of Luxembourg, a relative of her +first captor, that this last examination was held), nine men in all, +crowding her chamber--_exponuntur Johannae defectus sui_, says the +record--to expound to Jeanne her faults. It was Magister Peter Morice to +whom this office was confided. Once more the "schedule" was gone over, +and an address delivered laden with all the bad words of the University. +"Jeanne, dearest friend," said the orator at last, "it is now time, at +the end of the trial, to think well what words these are." She would +seem to have spoken during this address, at least once--to say that +she held to everything she had said during the trial. When Morice had +finished she was once more questioned personally. + +She was asked if she still thought and believed that it was not her duty +to submit her deeds and words to the Church militant, or to any other +except God, upon which she replied, "What I have always said and held to +during the trial, I maintain to this moment"; and added that if she +were in judgment and saw the fire lighted, the faggots burning, and the +executioner ready to rake the fire, and she herself within the fire, +she could say nothing else, but would sustain what she had said in her +trial, to death. + +Once more the scribe has written on his margin the words _Responsio +Johannae superba_--the proud answer of Jeanne. Her raised head, her +expanded breast, something of a splendour of indignation about her, +must have moved the man, thus for the third time to send down to us his +distinctly human impression of the worn out prisoner before her judges. +"And immediately the promoter and she refusing to say more, the cause +was concluded," says the record, so formal, sustained within such +purely abstract limits, yet here and there with a sort of throb and +reverberation of the mortal encounter. From the lips of the Inquisitor +too all words seemed to have been taken. It is as when amid the excited +crowd in the Temple the officers of the Pharisees approaching to lay +hands on a greater than Jeanne, fell back, not knowing why, and could +not do their office. This man was silenced also. Two bishops were +present, and one a great man full of patronage; but not for the richest +living in Normandy could Peter Morice find any more to say. + +These are in one sense the words of Jeanne; the last we have from her in +her prison, the last of her consistent and unbroken life. After, there +was a deeper horror to go through, a moment when all her forces failed. +Here on the verge of eternity she stands heroic and unyielding, brave, +calm, and steadfast as at the outset of her career, the Maid of France. +Were the fires lighted and the faggots burning, and she herself within +the fire, she had no other word to say. + + (1) It is correct in French to use the second person plural + in addressing God, _thou_ being a more intimate and less + respectful form of speech. Such a difference is difficult to + remember, and troubles the ear. The French, even those who + ought to know better, sometimes speak of it as a supreme + profanity on the part of the profane English, that they + address God as _thou_. + + (2) The French report goes on, "et requiert ----," but no + more. It is not in the Latin. The scribe was stopped by the + Bishop's profane outcry, and forbidden to register the fact + she was about to make a direct appeal to the Pope. + + + +CHAPTER XVI -- THE ABJURATION. MAY 24, 1431. + +On the 23d of May Jeanne was taken back to her prison attended by the +officer of the court, Massieu, her frame still thrilling, her heart +still high, with that great note of constancy yet defiance. She had been +no doubt strongly excited, the commotion within her growing with every +repetition of these scenes, each one of which promised to be the last. +And the fire and the stake and the executioner had come very near to +her; no doubt a whole murmuring world of rumour, of strange information +about herself, never long inaudible, never heard outside of the Castle +of Rouen, rose half-comprehended from the echoing courtyard outside and +the babble of her guards within. She would hear even as she was conveyed +along the echoing stone passages something here and there of the popular +expectation:--a burning! the wonderful unheard of sight, which by hook +or by crook everyone must see; and no doubt among the English talk she +might now be able to make out something concerning this long business +which had retarded all warlike proceedings but which would soon be over +now, and the witch burnt. There must have been some, even among those +rude companions, who would be sorry, who would feel that she was no +witch, yet be helpless to do anything for her, any more than Massieu +could, or Frere Isambard: and if it was all for the sake of certain +words to be said, was the wench mad? would it not be better to say +anything, to give up anything rather than be burned at the stake? +Jeanne, notwithstanding the wonderful courage of her last speech, +must have returned to her cell with small illusion possible to her +intelligent spirit. The stake had indeed come very near, the flames +already dazzled her eyes, she must have felt her slender form shrink +together at the thought. All that long night, through the early daylight +of the May morning did she lie and ponder, as for far less reasons +so many of us have pondered as we lay wakeful through those morning +watches. God's promises are great, but where is the fulfilment? We ask +for bread and he gives us, if not a stone, yet something which we cannot +realise to be bread till after many days. Jeanne's voices had never +paused in their pledge to her of succour. "Speak boldly, God will help +you--fear nothing"; there would be aid for her before three months, +and great victory. They went on saying so, though the stake was already +being raised. What did they mean? what did they mean? Could she still +trust them? or was it possible----? + +Her heart was like to break. At their word she would have faced +the fire. She meant to do so now, notwithstanding the terrible, the +heartrending ache of hope that was still in her. But they did not give +her that heroic command. Still and always, they said God will help +you, our Lord will stand by you. What did that mean? It must mean +deliverance, deliverance! What else could it mean? If she held her head +high as she returned to the horrible monotony of that prison so often +left with hope, so often re-entered in sadness, it must soon have +dropped upon her tired bosom. Slowly the clouds had settled round her. +Over and over again had she affirmed them to be true--these voices that +had guided her steps and led her to victory. And they had promised her +the aid of God if she went forward boldly, and spoke and did not fear. +But now every way of salvation was closing; all around her were fierce +soldiers thirsting for her blood, smooth priests who admonished her in +charity, threatening her with eternal fire for the soul, temporal fire +for the body. She felt that fire, already blowing towards her as if on +the breath of the evening wind, and her girlish flesh shrank. Was that +what the voices had called deliverance? was that the grand victory, the +aid of the Lord? + +It may well be imagined that Jeanne slept but little that night; she +had reached the lowest depths; her soul had begun to lose itself in +bitterness, in the horror of a doubt. The atmosphere of her prison +became intolerable, and the noise of her guards keeping up their rough +jests half through the night, their stamping and clamour, and the clang +of their arms when relieved. Early next morning a party of her usual +visitors came in upon her to give her fresh instruction and advice. +Something new was about to happen to-day. She was to be led forth, to +breathe the air of heaven, to confront the people, the raging sea of +men's faces, all the unknown world about her. The crowd had never been +unfriendly to Jeanne. It had closed about her, almost wherever she was +visible, with sweet applause and outcries of joy. Perhaps a little hope +stirred her heart in the thought of being surrounded once more by the +common folk, though probably it did not occur to her to think of these +Norman strangers as her own people. And a great day was before her, a +day in which something might still be done, in which deliverance might +yet come. L'Oyseleur, who was one of her visitors, adjured her now +to change her conduct, to accept whatever means of salvation might be +offered to her. There was no longer any mention of Pope or Council, +but only of the Church to which she ought to yield. How it was that he +preserved his influence over her, having been proved to be a member +of the tribunal that judged her, and not a fellow-prisoner, nor a +fellow-countryman, nor any of the things he had professed to be, no once +can tell us; but evidently he had managed to do so. Jeanne would seem to +have received him without signs of repulsion or displeasure. Indeed +she seems to have been ready to hear anyone, to believe in those who +professed to wish her well, even when she did not follow their counsel. + +It would require, however, no great persuasion on L'Oyseleur's part to +convince her that this was a more than usually important day, and that +something decisive must be done, now or never. Why should she be +so determined to resist her only chance of safety? If she were but +delivered from the hands of the English, safe in the gentler keeping of +the Church, there would be time to think of everything, even to make her +peace with her voices who would surely understand if, for the saving of +her life, and out of terror for the dreadful fire, she abandoned +them for a moment. She had disobeyed them at Beaurevoir and they had +forgiven. One faltering word now, a mark of her hand upon a paper, and +she would be safe--even if still all they said was true; and if indeed +and in fact, after buoying her up from day to day, such a dreadful thing +might be as that they were not true---- + +The traitor was at her ear whispering; the cold chill of disappointment, +of disillusion, of sickening doubt was in her heart. + +Then there came into the prison a better man than L'Oyseleur, Jean +Beaupere, her questioner in the public trial, the representative of all +these notabilities. What he said was spoken with authority and he came +in all seriousness, may not we believe in some kindness too? to warn +her. He came with permission of the Bishop, no stealthy visitor. "Jean +Beaupere entered alone into the prison of the said Jeanne by permission, +and advertised her that she would straightway be taken to the scaffold +to be addressed (_pour y etre preschee_), and that if she was a good +Christian she would on that scaffold place all her acts and words under +the jurisdiction of our Holy Mother, the Church, and specially of the +ecclesiastical judges." "Accept the woman's dress and do all that you +are told," her other adviser had said. When the car that was to convey +her came to the prison doors, L'Oyseleur accompanied her, no doubt with +a show of supporting her to the end. What a change from the confined and +gloomy prison to the dazzling clearness of the May daylight, the air, +the murmuring streets, the throng that gazed and shouted and followed! +Life that had run so low in the prisoner's veins must have bounded up +within her in response to that sunshine and open sky, and movement and +sound of existence--summer weather too, and everything softened in the +medium of that soft breathing air, sound and sensation and hope. She +had been three months in her prison. As the charrette rumbled along +the roughly paved streets drawing all those crowds after it, a strange +object appeared to Jeanne's eyes in the midst of the market-place, a +lofty scaffold with a stake upon it, rising over the heads of the crowd, +the logs all arranged ready for the fire, a car waiting below with four +horses, to bring hither the victim. The place of sacrifice was ready, +everything arranged--for whom? for her? They drove her noisily past that +she might see the preparations. It was all ready; and where then was the +great victory, the deliverance in which she had believed? + +In front of the beautiful gates of St. Ouen there was a different scene. +That stately church was surrounded then by a churchyard, a great open +space, which afforded room for a very large assembly. In this were +erected two platforms, one facing the other. On the first sat the court +of judges in number about forty, Cardinal Winchester having a place by +the side of Monseigneur de Beauvais, the president, with several other +bishops and dignified ecclesiastics. Opposite, on the other platform, +were a pulpit and a place for the accused, to which Jeanne was conducted +by Massieu, who never left her, and L'Oyseleur, who kept as near as he +could, the rest of the platform being immediately covered by lawyers, +doctors, all the camp followers, so to speak, of the black army, who +could find footing there. Jeanne was in her usual male dress, the +doublet and hose, with her short-clipped hair--no doubt looking like a +slim boy among all this dark crowd of men. The people swayed like a +sea all about and around--the throng which had gathered in her progress +through the streets pushing out the crowd already assembled with a +movement like the waves of the sea. Every step of the trial all +through had been attended by preaching, by discourses and reasoning and +admonishments, charitable and otherwise. Now she was to be "preached" +for the last time. + +It was Doctor Guillaume Erard who ascended the pulpit, a great preacher, +one whom the "copious multitude" ran after and were eager to hear. He +himself had not been disposed to accept this office, but no doubt, set +up there on that height before the eyes of all the people, he thought of +his own reputation, and of the great audience, and Winchester the more +than king, the great English Prince, the wealthiest and most influential +of men. The preacher took his text from a verse in St. John's Gospel: +"A branch cannot bear fruit except it remain in the vine." The centre +circle containing the two platforms was surrounded by a close ring of +English soldiers, understanding none of it, and anxious only that the +witch should be condemned. + +It was in this strange and crowded scene that the sermon which was long +and eloquent began. When it was half over, in one of his fine periods +admired by all the people, the preacher, after heaping every reproach +upon the head of Jeanne, suddenly turned to apostrophise the House of +France, and the head of that House, "Charles who calls himself King." +"He has," cried the preacher, stimulated no doubt by the eye of +Winchester upon him, "adhered, like a schismatic and heretical person as +he is, to the words and acts of a useless woman, disgraced and full of +dishonour; and not he only, but the clergy who are under his sway, and +the nobility. This guilt is thine, Jeanne, and to thee I say that thy +King is a schismatic and a heretic." + +In the full flood of his oratory the preacher was arrested here by that +clear voice that had so often made itself heard through the tumult of +battle. Jeanne could bear much, but not this. She was used to abuse +in her own person, but all her spirit came back at this assault on her +King. And interruption to a sermon has always a dramatic and startling +effect, but when that voice arose now, when the startled speaker +stopped, and every dulled attention revived, it is easy to imagine what +a stir, what a wonderful, sudden sensation must have arisen in the midst +of the crowd. "By my faith, sire," cried Jeanne, "saving your respect, +I swear upon my life that my King is the most noble Christian of all +Christians, that he is not what you say." + +The sermon, however, was resumed after this interruption. And finally +the preacher turned to Jeanne, who had subsided from that start of +animation, and was again the subdued and silent prisoner, her heart +overwhelmed with many heavy thoughts. "Here," said Erard, "are my lords +the judges who have so often summoned and required of you to submit your +acts and words to our Holy Mother the Church; because in these acts and +words there are many things which it seemed to the clergy were not good +either to say or to sustain." + +To which she replied (we quote again from the formal records), "I will +answer you." And as to her submission to the Church she said: "I have +told them on that point that all the works which I have done and said +may be sent to Rome, to our Holy Father the Pope, to whom, but to God +first, I refer in all. And as for my acts and words I have done all on +the part of God." She also said that no one was to blame for her acts +and words, neither her King nor any other; and if there were faults in +them, the blame was hers and no other's. + +Asked, if she would renounce all that she had done wrong; answered, "I +refer everything to God and to our Holy Father the Pope." + +It was then told her that this was not enough, and that our Holy Father +was too far off; also that the Ordinaries were judges each in his +diocese, and it was necessary that she should submit to our Mother the +Holy Church, and that she should confess that the clergy and officers +of the Church had a right to determine in her case. And of this she was +admonished three times. + +After this the Bishop began to read the definitive sentence. When a +great part of it was read, Jeanne began to speak and said that she would +hold to all that the judges and the Church said, and obey in everything +their ordinance and will. And there in the presence of the above-named +and of the great multitude assembled she made her abjuration in the +manner that follows: + +And she said several times that since the Church said her apparitions +and revelations should not be sustained or believed, she would not +sustain them; but in everything submit to the judges and to our Mother +the Holy Church. + +***** + +In this strange, brief, subdued manner is the formal record made. +Manchon writes on his margin: _At the end of the sentence Jeanne, +fearing the fire, said she would obey the Church_. Even into the bare +legal document there comes a hush as of awe, the one voice responding in +the silence of the crowd, with a quiver in it; the very animation of +the previous outcry enhancing the effect of this low and faltering +submission, _timens igneum_--in fear of the fire. + +The more familiar record, and the recollections long after of those +eye-witnesses, give us another version of the scene. Erard, from his +pulpit, read the form of abjuration prepared. But Jeanne answered that +she did not know what abjuration meant, and the preacher called +upon Massieu to explain it to her. "And he" (we quote from his own +deposition), "after excusing himself, said that it meant this: that if +she opposed the said articles she would be burnt; but he advised her to +refer it to the Church universal whether she should abjure or not. Which +thing she did, saying to Erard, 'I refer to the Church universal whether +I should abjure or not.' To which Erard answered, 'You shall abjure at +once or you will be burnt.' Massieu gives further particulars in another +part of the Rehabilitation process. Erard, he says, asked what he was +saying to the prisoner, and he answered that she would sign if the +schedule was read to her; but Jeanne said that she could not write, and +then added that she wished it to be decided by the Church, and ought +not to sign unless that was done: and also required that she should be +placed in the custody of the Church, and freed from the hands of the +English. The same Erard answered that there had been ample delay, and +that if she did not sign at once she should be burned, and forbade +Massieu to say any more." + +Meanwhile many cries and entreaties came, as far as they dared, from +the crowd. Some one, in the excitement of the moment, would seem to have +promised that she should be transferred to the custody of the Church. +"Jeanne, why will you die? Jeanne, will you not save yourself?" was +called to her by many a bystander. The girl stood fast, but her heart +failed her in this terrible climax of her suffering. Once she called out +over their heads, "All that I did was done for good, and it was well +to do it:"--her last cry. Then she would seem to have recovered in +some measure her composure. Probably her agitated brain was unable to +understand the formula of recantation which was read to her amid all +the increasing noises of the crowd, but she had a vague faith in the +condition she had herself stated, that the paper should be submitted +to the Church, and that she should at once be transferred to an +ecclesiastical prison. Other suggestions are made, namely, that it was a +very short document upon which she hastily in her despair made a cross, +and that it was a long one, consisting of several pages, which was shown +afterwards with _Jehanne_ scribbled underneath. "In fact," says Massieu, +"she abjured and made a cross with the pen which the witness handed to +her:" he, if any one must have known exactly what happened. + +No doubt all this would be imperfectly heard on the other platform. +But the agitation must have been visible enough, the spectators closing +round the young figure in the midst, the pleadings, the appeals, +seconded by many a cry from the crowd. Such a small matter to risk her +young life for! "Sign, sign; why should you die!" Cauchon had gone on +reading the sentence, half through the struggle. He had two sentences +all ready, two courses of procedure, cut and dry: either to absolve +her--which meant condemning her to perpetual imprisonment on bread +and water: or to carry her off at once to the stake. The English were +impatient for the last. It is a horrible thing to acknowledge, but it is +evidently true. They had never wished to play with her as a cat with a +mouse, as her learned countrymen had done those three months past; they +had desired at once to get her out of their way. But the idea of her +perpetual imprisonment did not please them at all; the risk of such a +prisoner was more than they chose to encounter. Nevertheless there are +some things a churchman cannot do. When it was seen that Jeanne had +yielded, that she had put her mark to something on a paper flourished +forth in somebody's hand in the sunshine, the Bishop turned to the +Cardinal on his right hand, and asked what he was to do? There was but +one answer possible to Winchester, had he been English and Jeanne's +natural enemy ten times over. To admit her to penitence was the only +practicable way. + +Here arises a great question, already referred to, as to what it was +that Jeanne signed. She could not write, she could only put her cross on +the document hurriedly read to her, amid the confusion and the murmurs +of the crowd. The _cedule_ to which she put her sign "contained eight +lines:" what she is reported to have signed is three pages long, and +full of detail. Massieu declares certainly that this (the abjuration +published) was not the one of which mention is made in the trial; "for +the one read by the deponent and signed by the said Jeanne was quite +different." This would seem to prove the fact that a much enlarged +version of an act of abjuration, in its original form strictly confined +to the necessary points and expressed in few words--was afterwards +published as that bearing the sign of the penitent. Her own admissions, +as will be seen, are of the scantiest, scarcely enough to tell as an +abjuration at all. + +When the shouts of the people proved that this great step had been +taken, and Winchester had signified his conviction that the penitence +must be accepted, Cauchon replaced one sentence by another and +pronounced the prisoner's fate. "Seeing that thou hast returned to the +bosom of the Church by the grace of God, and hast revoked and denied all +thy errors, we, the Bishop aforesaid, commit thee to perpetual prison, +with the bread of sorrow and water of anguish, to purge thy soul by +solitary penitence." Whether the words reached her over all those +crowding heads, or whether they were reported to her, or what Jeanne +expected to follow standing there upon her platform, more shamed and +downcast than through all her trial, no one can tell. There seems even +to have been a moment of uncertainty among the officials. Some of them +congratulated Jeanne, L'Oyseleur for one pressing forward to say, "You +have done a good day's work, you have saved your soul." She herself, +excited and anxious, desired eagerly to know where she was not to go. +She would seem for the moment to have accepted the fact of her perpetual +imprisonment with complete faith and content. It meant to her instant +relief from her hideous prison-house, and she could not contain her +impatience and eagerness. "People of the Church--_gens de' Eglise_--lead +me to your prison; let me be no longer in the hands of the English," she +cried with feverish anxiety. To gain this point, to escape the irons +and the dreadful durance which she had suffered so long, was all her +thought. The men about her could not answer this appeal. Some of them +no doubt knew very well what the answer must be, and some must have +seen the angry looks and stern exclamation which Warwick addressed to +Cauchon, deceived like Jeanne by this unsatisfactory conclusion, and +the stir among the soldiers at sight of his displeasure. But perhaps +flurried by all that had happened, perhaps hoping to strengthen the +victim in her moment of hope, some of them hurried across to the Bishop +to ask where they were to take her. One of these was Pierre Miger, friar +of Longueville. Where was she to be taken? In Winchester's hearing, +perhaps in Warwick's, what a question to put! An English bishop, says +this witness turned to him angrily and said to Cauchon that this was a +"fauteur de ladite Jeanne," "_this fellow was also one of them_." +Miger excused himself in alarm as St. Peter did before him, and Cauchon +turning upon him commanded grimly that she should be taken back whence +she came. Thus ended the last hope of the Maid. Her abjuration, which by +no just title could be called an abjuration, had been in vain. + +Jeanne was taken back, dismayed and miserable, to the prison which she +had perilled her soul to escape. It was very little she had done in +reality, and at that moment she could scarcely yet have realised what +she had done, except that it had failed. At the end of so long and +bitter a struggle she had thrown down her arms--but for what? to escape +those horrible gaolers and that accursed room with its ear of Dionysius, +its Judas hole in the wall. The bitterness of the going back was beyond +words. We hear of no word that she said when she realised the hideous +fact that nothing was changed for her; the bitter waters closed over her +head. Again the chains to be locked and double locked that bound her to +her dreadful bed, again the presence of those men who must have been +all the more odious to her from the momentary hope that she had got free +from them for ever. + +The same afternoon the Vicar-Inquisitor, who had never been hard +upon her, accompanied by Nicole Midi, by the young seraphic doctor, +Courcelles, and L'Oyseleur, along with various other ecclesiastical +persons, visited her prison. The Inquisitor congratulated and almost +blessed her, sermonising as usual, but briefly and not ungently, though +with a word of warning that should she change her mind and return to her +evil ways there would be no further place for repentance. As a return +for the mercy and clemency of the Church, he required her immediately +to put on the female dress which his attendants had brought. There is +something almost ludicrous, could we forget the tragedy to follow, in +the bundle of humble clothing brought by such exalted personages, with +the solemnity which became a thing upon which hung the issues of life or +death. Jeanne replied with the humility of a broken spirit. "I take them +willingly," she said, "and in everything I will obey the Church." Then +silence closed upon her, the horrible silence of the prison, full of +hidden listeners and of watching eyes. + +Meantime there was great discontent and strife of tongues outside. It +was said that many even of the doctors who condemned her would fain have +seen Jeanne removed to some less dangerous prison: but Monseigneur de +Beauvais had to hold head against the great English authorities who were +out of all patience, fearing that the witch might still slip through +their fingers and by her spells and incantations make the heart of the +troops melt once more within them. If the mind of the Church had been as +charitable as it professed to be, I doubt if all the power of Rome could +have got the Maid now out of the English grip. They were exasperated, +and felt that they too, as well as the prisoner, had been played with. +But the Bishop had good hope in his mind, still to be able to content +his patrons. Jeanne had abjured, it was true, but the more he inquired +into that act, the less secure he must have felt about it. And she might +relapse; and if she relapsed there would be no longer any place for +repentance. And it is evident that his confidence in the power of the +clothes was boundless. In any case a few days more would make all clear. + +They did not have many days to wait. There are two, to all appearance, +well-authenticated stories of the cause of Jeanne's "relapse." One +account is given by Frere Isambard, whom she told in the presence of +several others, that she had been assaulted in her cell by a _Millourt +Anglois_, and barbarously used, and in self-defence had resumed again +the man's dress which had been left in her cell. The story of Massieu +is different: To him Jeanne explained that when she asked to be released +from her bed on the morning of Trinity Sunday, her guards took away her +female dress which she was wearing, and emptied the sack containing the +other upon her bed. She appealed to them, reminding them that these were +forbidden to her; but got no answer except a brutal order to get up. It +is very probable that both stories are true. Frere Isambard found her +weeping and agitated, and nothing is more probable than this was the +occasion on which Warwick heard her cries, and interfered to save her. +Massieu's version, of which he is certain, was communicated to him a +day or two after when they happened to be alone together. It was on the +Thursday before Trinity Sunday that she put on the female dress, but it +would seem that rumours on the subject of a relapse had begun to spread +even before the Sunday on which that event happened: and Beaupere +and Midi were sent by the Bishop to investigate. But they were very +ill-received in the Castle, sworn at by the guards, and forced to go +back without seeing Jeanne, there being as yet, it appeared, nothing +to see. On the morning of the Monday, however, the rumours arose with +greater force; and no doubt secret messages must have informed the +Bishop that the hoped-for relapse had taken place. He set out himself +accordingly, accompanied by the Vicar-Inquisitor and attended by eight +of the familiar names so often quoted, triumphant, important, no doubt +with much show of pompous solemnity, to find out for himself. The Castle +was all in excitement, report and gossip already busy with the new event +so trifling, so all-important. There was no idea now of turning back the +visitors. The prison doors were eagerly thrown open, and there indeed +once more, in her tunic and hose, was Jeanne, whom they had left four +days before painfully contemplating the garments they had given her, and +humbly promising obedience. The men burst in upon her with an outcry of +astonishment. What she had changed her dress again? "Yes," she replied, +"she had resumed the costume of a man." There was no triumph in what she +said, but rather a subdued tone of sadness, as of one who in the most +desperate strait has taken her resolution and must abide by it, whether +she likes it or not. She was asked why she had resumed that dress, and +who had made her do so. There was no question of anything else at first. +The tunic and _gippon_ were at once enough to decide her fate. + +She answered that she had done it by her own will, no one influencing +her to do so; and that she preferred the dress of a man to that of a +woman. + +She was reminded that she had promised and sworn not to resume the dress +of a man. She answered that she was not aware she had ever sworn or had +made any such oath. + +She was asked why she had done it. She answered that it was more lawful +to wear a man's dress among men, than the dress of a woman; and also +that she had taken it back because the promise made to her had not been +kept, that she should hear the mass, and receive her Saviour, and be +delivered from her irons. + +She was asked if she had not abjured that dress, and sworn not to resume +it. She answered that she would rather die than be left in irons; but if +they would allow her to go to mass and take her out of her irons and put +her in a gracious prison, and a woman with her, she would be good, and +do whatever the Church pleased. + +She was then asked suddenly, as if there had been no condemnation of her +voices as lying fables, whether since Thursday she had heard them again. +To this she answered, recovering a little courage, "Yes." + +She was asked what they said to her; she answered that they said God had +made known to her by St. Catherine and St. Margaret the great pity there +was of the treason to which she had consented by making abjuration and +revocation in order to save her life: and that she had earned damnation +for herself to save her life. Also that before Thursday her voices had +told her that she should do what she did that day, that on the scaffold +they had told her to answer the preachers boldly, and that this preacher +whom she called a false preacher had accused her of many things she +never did. She also added that if she said God had not sent her she +would damn herself, for true it was that God had sent her. Also that her +voices had told her since, that she had done a great sin in confessing +that she had sinned; but that for fear of the fire she had said that +which she had said. + +She was asked (all over again) if she believed that these voices were +those of St. Catherine and St. Margaret. She answered, Yes, they were +so; and from God. And as for what had been said to her on the scaffold +that she had spoken lies and boasted concerning St. Catherine and St. +Margaret, she had not intended any such thing. Also she said that she +never intended to deny her apparitions, or to say that they were not +St. Catherine and St. Margaret. All that she had done was in fear of the +fire, and she had denied nothing but what was contrary to truth; and +she said that she would like better to make her penitence all at one +time--that is to say, in dying, than to endure a long penitence in +prison. Also that she had never done anything against God or the faith +whatever they might have made her say; and that for what was in the +schedule of the abjuration she did not know what it was. Also she said +that she never intended to revoke anything so long as it pleased our +Lord. At the end she said that if her judges would have her do so, she +might put on again her female dress; but for the rest she would do no +more. + +"What need we any further witness; for we ourselves have heard of his +own mouth." Jeanne's protracted, broken, yet continuous apology and +defence, overawed her judges; they do not seem to have interrupted it +with questions. It was enough and more than enough. She had relapsed; +the end of all things had come, the will of her enemies could now be +accomplished. No one could say she had not had full justice done her; +every formality had been fulfilled, every lingering formula carried out. +Now there was but one thing before her, whose sad young voice with many +pauses thus sighed forth its last utterance; and for her judges, one +last spectacle to prepare, and the work to complete which it had taken +them three long months to do. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII -- THE SACRIFICE. MAY 31, 1431. + +It is not necessary to be a good man in order to divine what in certain +circumstances a good and pure spirit will do. The Bishop of Beauvais had +entertained no doubt as to what would happen. He knew exactly, with +a perspicuity creditable to his perceptions at least, that, +notwithstanding the effect which his theatrical _mise en scene_ had +produced upon the imagination of Jeanne, no power in heaven or earth +would induce that young soul to content itself with a lie. He knew it, +though lies were his daily bread; the children of this world are wiser +in their generation than the children of light. He had bidden his +English patrons to wait a little, and now his predictions were +triumphantly fulfilled. It is hard to believe of any man that on such +a certainty he could have calculated and laid his devilish plans; but +there would seem to have existed in the mediaeval churchman a certain +horrible thirst for the blood of a relapsed heretic which was peculiar +to their age and profession, and which no better principle in their own +minds could subdue. It was their appetite, their delight of sensation, +in distinction from the other appetites perhaps scarcely less cruel +which other men indulged with no such horrified denunciation from the +rest of the world. Others, it is evident, shared with Cauchon that sharp +sensation of dreadful pleasure in finding her out; young Courcelles, so +modest and unassuming and so learned, among the rest; not L'Oyseleur, it +appears by the sequel. That Judas, like the greater traitor, was +struck to the heart; but the less bad man who had only persecuted, not +betrayed, stood high in superior virtue, and only rejoiced that at last +the victim was ready to drop into the flames which had been so carefully +prepared. + +The next morning, Tuesday after Trinity Sunday, the witnesses hurried +with their news to the quickly summoned assembly in the chapel of the +Archbishop's house; thirty-three of the judges, having been hastily +called together, were there to hear. Jeanne had relapsed; the sinner +escaped had been re-caught; and what was now to be done? One by one each +man rose again and gave his verdict. Once more Egidius, Abbot of Fecamp, +led the tide of opinion. There was but one thing to be done: to give +her up to the secular justice, "praying that she might be gently +dealt with." Man after man added his voice "to that of Abbot of Fecamp +aforesaid"--that she might be gently dealt with! Not one of them could +be under any doubt what gentle meaning would be in the execution; +but apparently the words were of some strange use in salving their +consciences. + +The decree was pronounced at once without further formalities. In point +of view of the law, there should have followed another trial, more +evidence, pleadings, and admonitions. We may be thankful to Monseigneur +de Beauvais that he now defied law, and no longer prolonged the useless +ceremonials of that mockery of justice. It is said that in coming out of +the prison, through the courtyard full of Englishmen, where Warwick +was in waiting to hear what news, the Bishop greeted them with all the +satisfaction of success, laughing and bidding them "Make good cheer, the +thing is done." In the same spirit of satisfaction was the rapid action +of the further proceedings. On Tuesday she was condemned, summoned on +Wednesday morning at eight 'clock to the Old Market of Rouen to hear +her sentence, and there, without even that formality, the penalty was at +once carried out. No time, certainly, was lost in this last stage. + +All the interest of the heart-rending tragedy now turns to the prison +where Jeanne woke in the early morning without, as yet, any knowledge +of her fate. It must be remembered that the details of this wonderful +scene, which we have in abundance, are taken from reports made twenty +years after by eye-witnesses indeed, but men to whom by that time it had +become the only policy to represent Jeanne in the brightest colours, +and themselves as her sympathetic friends. There is no doubt that +so remarkable an occurrence as her martyrdom must have made a deep +impression on the minds of all those who were in any way actors in +or spectators of that wonderful scene. And every word of all these +different reports is on oath; but notwithstanding, a touch of +unconscious colour, a more favourable sentiment, influenced by the +feeling of later days, may well have crept in. With this warning we +may yet accept these depositions as trustworthy, all the more for the +atmosphere of truth, perfectly realistic, and in no way idealised, +which is in every description of the great catastrophe; in which Jeanne +figures as no supernatural heroine, but as a terrified, tormented, and +often trembling girl. + +On the fatal morning very early, Brother Martin l'Advenu appeared in the +cell of the Maid. He had a mingled tale to tell--first "to announce +to her her approaching death, and to lead her to true contrition and +penitence; and also to hear her confession, which the said l'Advenu did +very carefully and charitably." Jeanne on her part received the news +with no conventional resignation or calm. Was it possible that she had +been deceived and really hoped for mercy? She began to weep and to cry +at the sudden stroke of fate. Notwithstanding the solemnity of her last +declaration, that she would rather bear her punishment all at once than +to endure the long punishment of her prison, her heart failed before +the imminent stake, the immediate martyrdom. She cried out to heaven and +earth: "My body, which has never been corrupted, must it be burned to +ashes to-day!" No one but Jeanne knew at what cost she had kept her +perfect purity; was it good for nothing but to be burned, that young +body not nineteen years old? "Ah," she said, "I would rather be beheaded +seven times than burned! I appeal to God against all these great wrongs +they do me." But after a while the passion wore itself out, the child's +outburst was stilled; calming herself, she knelt down and made her +confession to the compassionate friar, then asked for the sacrament, to +"receive her Saviour" as she had so often prayed and entreated before. +It would appear that this had not been within Friar Martin's commission. +He sent to ask the Bishop's leave, and it was granted "anything she +asked for"--as they give whatever he may wish to eat to a condemned +convict. But the Host was brought into the prison without ceremony, +without accompanying candles or vestment for the priest. There are +always some things which are insupportable to a man. Brother Martin +could bear the sight of the girl's anguish, but not to administer to +her a diminished rite. He sent again to demand what was needful, out of +respect for the Holy Sacrament and the present victim. And his request +had come, it would seem, to some canon or person in authority whose +heart had been touched by the wonderful Maid in her long martyrdom. This +nameless sympathiser did all that a man could do. He sent the Host with +a train of priests chanting litanies as they went through the streets, +with torches burning in the pure early daylight; some of these exhorted +the people who knelt as they passed, to pray for her. She must have +heard in her prison the sound of the bell, the chant of the clergy, the +pause of awe, and then the rising, irregular murmur of the voices, that +sound of prayer never to be mistaken. Pray for her! At last the city was +touched to its heart. There is no sign that it had been sympathetic to +Jeanne before; it was half English or more. But she was about to die: +she had stood bravely against the world and answered like a true +Maid; and they had now seen her led through their streets, a girl just +nineteen. The popular imagination at least was subjugated for the time. + +Thus Jeanne for the first time, after all the feasts were over, received +at last "her Saviour" as she said, the consecration of that rite which +He himself had instituted before He died. But she was not permitted +to receive it in simplicity and silence as becomes the sacred +commemoration. All the time she was still _preschee_ and admonished +by the men about her. A few days after her death the Bishop and his +followers assembled, and set down in evidence their different parts in +that scene. How far it is to be relied upon, it is difficult to say. +The speakers did not testify under oath; there is no formal warrant +for their truth, and an anxious attempt to prove her change of mind +is evident throughout; still there seem elements of truth in it, and +a certain glimpse is afforded of Jeanne in the depths, when hope and +strength were gone. The general burden of their testimony is that she +sadly allowed herself to have been deceived, as to the liberation for +which all along she had hoped. Peter Morice, often already mentioned, +importuning her on the subject of the spirits, endeavouring to get from +her an admission that she had not seen them at all, and was herself +a deceiver: or if not that, at least that they were evil spirits, not +good,--drew from her the impatient exclamation: "Be they good spirits, +or be they evil, they appeared to me." Even in the act of giving her her +last communion, Brother Martin paused with the consecrated Host in his +hands. + +"Do you believe," he said, "that this is the body of Christ?" Jeanne +answered: "Yes, and He alone can free me; I pray you to administer." +Then this brother said to Jeanne: "Do you believe as fully in your +voices?" Jeanne answered: "I believe in God alone and not in the voices, +which have deceived me." L'Advenu himself, however, does not give this +deposition, but another of the persons present, Le Camus, who did not +live to revise his testimony at the Rehabilitation. + +The rite being over, the Bishop himself bustled in with an air of +satisfaction, rubbing his hands, one may suppose from his tone. "So, +Jeanne," he said, "you have always told us that your 'voices' said you +were to be delivered, and you see now they have deceived you. Tell us +the truth at last." Then Jeanne answered: "Truly I see that they have +deceived me." The report is Cauchon's, and therefore little to be +trusted; but the sad reply is at least not unlike the sentiment that, +even in records more trustworthy, seems to have breathed forth in her. +The other spectators all report another portion of this conversation. +"Bishop, it is by you I die," are the words with which the Maid is said +to have met him. "Oh Jeanne, have patience," he replied. "It is because +you did not keep your promise." "If you had kept yours, and sent me to +the prison of the Church, and put me in gentle hands, it would not +have happened," she replied. "I appeal from you to God." Several of the +attendants, also according to the Bishop's account, heard from her the +same sad words: "They have deceived me"; and there seems no reason why +we should not believe it. Her mind was weighed down under this dreadful +unaccountable fact. She was forsaken--as a greater sufferer was; and a +horror of darkness had closed around her. "Ah, Sieur Pierre," she said +to Morice, "where shall I be to-night?" The man had condemned her as a +relapsed heretic, a daughter of perdition. He had just suggested to her +that her angels must have been devils. Nevertheless perhaps his face +was not unkindly, he had not meant all the harm he did. He ought to have +answered, "In Hell, with the spirits you have trusted"; that would have +been the only logical response. What he did say was very different. +"Have you not good faith in the Lord?" said the judge who had doomed +her. Amazing and notable speech! They had sentenced her to be burned for +blasphemy as an envoy of the devil; they believed in fact that she was +the child of God, and going straight in that flame to the skies. Jeanne, +with the sound, clear head and the "sane mind" to which all of +them testified, did she perceive, even at that dreadful moment, the +inconceivable contradiction? "Ah," she said, "yes, God helping me, I +shall be in Paradise." + +There is one point in the equivocal report which commends itself to the +mind, which several of these men unite in, but which was carefully not +repeated at the Rehabilitation: and this was that Jeanne allowed "as if +it had been a thing of small importance," that her story of the angel +bearing the crown at Chinon was a romance which she neither expected nor +intended to be believed. For this we have to thank L'Oyseleur and the +rest of the reverend ghouls assembled on that dreadful morning in the +prison. + +Jeanne was then dressed, for her last appearance in this world, in the +long white garment of penitence, the robe of sacrifice: and the mitre +was placed on her head which was worn by the victims of the Holy Office. +She was led for the last time down the echoing stair to the crowded +courtyard where her "chariot" awaited her. It was her confessor's part +to remain by her side, and Frere Isambard and Massieu, the officer, +both her friends, were also with her. It is said that L'Oyseleur rushed +forward at this moment, either to accompany her also, or, as many say, +to fling himself at her feet and implore her pardon. He was hustled +aside by the crowd and would have been killed by the English, it is +said, but for Warwick. The bystanders would seem to have been seized +with a sudden disgust for all the priests about, thinking them Jeanne's +friends, the historians insinuate--more likely in scorn and horror of +their treachery. And then the melancholy procession set forth. + +The streets were overflowing as was natural, crowded in every part: +eight hundred English soldiers surrounded and followed the cortege, +as the car rumbled along over the rough stones. Not yet had the Maid +attained to the calm of consent. She looked wildly about her at all the +high houses and windows crowded with gazers, and at the throngs that +gaped and gazed upon her on every side. In the midst of the consolations +of the confessor who poured pious words in her ears, other words, the +plaints of a wondering despair fell from her lips, "Rouen! Rouen!" she +said; "am I to die here?" It seemed incredible to her, impossible. She +looked about still for some sign of disturbance, some rising among the +crowd, some cry of "France! France!" or glitter of mail. Nothing: but +the crowds ever gazing, murmuring at her, the soldiers roughly clearing +the way, the rude chariot rumbling on. "Rouen, Rouen! I fear that you +shall yet suffer because of this," she murmured in her distraction, amid +her moanings and tears. + +At last the procession came to the Old Market, an open space encumbered +with three erections--one reaching up so high that the shadow of it +seemed to touch the sky, the horrid stake with wood piled up in an +enormous mass, made so high, it is said, in order that the executioner +himself might not reach it to give a merciful blow, to secure +unconsciousness before the flames could touch the trembling form. Two +platforms were raised opposite, one furnished with chairs and benches +for Winchester and his court, another for the judges, with the civil +officers of Rouen who ought to have pronounced sentence in their turn. +Without this form the execution was illegal: what did it matter? No +sentence at all was read to her, not even the ecclesiastical one which +was illegal also. She was probably placed first on the same platform +with her judges, where there was a pulpit from which she was to be +_preschee_ for the last time. Of all Jeanne's sufferings this could +scarcely be the least, that she was always _preschee_, lectured, +addressed, sermonised through every painful step of her career. + +The moan was still unsilenced on her lips, and her distracted soul +scarcely yet freed from the sick thought of a possible deliverance, +when the everlasting strain of admonishment, and re-enumeration of her +errors, again penetrated the hum of the crowd. The preacher was Nicolas +Midi, one of the eloquent members of that dark fraternity; and his text +was in St. Paul's words: "If any of the members suffer, all the other +members suffer with it." Jeanne was a rotten branch which had to be cut +off from the Church for the good of her own soul, and that the Church +might not suffer by her sin; a heretic, a blasphemer, an impostor, +giving forth false fables at one time, and making a false penitence +the next. It is very unlikely that she heard anything of that flood of +invective. At the end of the sermon the preacher bade her "Go in peace." +Even then, however, the fountain of abuse did not cease. The Bishop +himself rose, and once more by way of exhorting her to a final +repentance, heaped ill names upon her helpless head. The narrative shows +that the prisoner, now arrived at the last point in her career, paid no +attention to the tirade levelled at her from the president's place. +"She knelt down on the platform showing great signs and appearance of +contrition, so that all those who looked upon her wept. She called on +her knees upon the blessed Trinity, the blessed glorious Virgin Mary, +and all the blessed saints of Paradise." She called specially--was +it with still a return towards the hoped for miracle? was it with the +instinctive cry towards an old and faithful friend?--"St. Michael, St. +Michael, St. Michael, help!" There would seem to have been a moment in +which the hush and silence of a great crowd surrounded this +wonderful stage, where was that white figure on her knees, praying, +speaking--sometimes to God, sometimes to the saintly unseen companions +of her life, sometimes in broken phrases to those about her. She asked +the priests, thronging all round, those who had churches, to say a mass +for her soul. She asked all whom she might have offended to forgive her. +Through her tears and prayers broke again and again the sorrowful cry of +"Rouen, Rouen! Is it here truly that I must die?" No reason is given for +the special pang that seems to echo in this cry. Jeanne had once planned +a campaign in Normandy with Alencon. Had there been perhaps some special +hope which made this conclusion all the more bitter, of setting up in +the Norman capital her standard and that of her King? + +There have been martyrs more exalted above the circumstances of their +fate than Jeanne. She was no abstract heroine. She felt every pang to +the depth of her natural, spontaneous being, and the humiliation and the +deep distress of having been abandoned in the sight of men, perhaps the +profoundest pang of which nature is capable. "He trusted in God that he +would deliver him: let him deliver him if he will have him." That which +her Lord had borne, the little sister had now to bear. She called upon +the saints, but they did not answer. She was shamed in the sight of +men. But as she knelt there weeping, the Bishop's evil voice scarcely +silenced, the soldiers waiting impatient--the entire crowd, touched +to its heart with one impulse, broke into a burst of weeping and +lamentation, "_a chaudes larmes_" according to the graphic French +expression. They wept hot tears as in the keen personal pang of sorrow +and fellow-feeling and impotence to help. Winchester--withdrawn high on +his platform, ostentatiously separated from any share in it, a +spectator merely--wept; and the judges wept. The Bishop of Boulogne was +overwhelmed with emotion, iron tears flowed down the accursed Cauchon's +cheeks. The very world stood still to see that white form of purity, and +valour, and faith, the Maid, not shouting triumphant on the height of +victory, but kneeling, weeping, on the verge of torture. Human nature +could not bear this long. A hoarse cry burst forth: "Will you keep us +here all day; must we dine here?" a voice perhaps of unendurable pain +that simulated cruelty. And then the executioner stepped in and seized +the victim. + +It has been said that her stake was set so high, that there might be no +chance of a merciful blow, or of strangulation to spare the victim the +atrocities of the fire; perhaps, let us hope, it was rather that the +ascending smoke might suffocate her before the flame could reach her: +the fifteenth century would naturally accept the most cruel explanation. +There was a writing set over the little platform which gave footing to +the attendants below the stake, upon which were written the following +words: + +JEANNE CALLED THE MAID, LIAR, ABUSER OF THE PEOPLE, SOOTHSAYER, +BLASPHEMER OF GOD, PERNICIOUS, SUPERSTITIOUS, IDOLATROUS, CRUEL, +DISSOLUTE, INVOKER OF DEVILS, APOSTATE, SCHISMATIC, HERETIC. + +This was how her countrymen in the name of law and justice and religion +branded the Maid of France--one half of her countrymen: the other half, +silent, speaking no word, looking on. + +Before she began to ascend the stake, Jeanne, rising from her knees, +asked for a cross. No place so fit for that emblem ever was: but no +cross was to be found. One of the English soldiers who kept the way +seized a stick from some one by, broke it across his knee in unequal +parts, and bound them hurriedly together; so, in the legend and in all +the pictures, when Mary of Nazareth was led to her espousals, one of her +disappointed suitors broke his wand. The cross was rough with its broken +edges which Jeanne accepted from her enemy, and carried, pressing it +against her bosom. One would rather have that rude cross to preserve as +a sacred thing, than the highest effort of art in gold and silver. This +was her ornament and consolation as she trod the few remaining steps and +mounted the pile of the faggots to her place high over all that sea of +heads. When she was bound securely to her stake, she asked again for a +cross, a cross blessed and sacred from a church, to be held before her +as long as her eyes could see. Frere Isambard and Massieu, following her +closely still, sent to the nearest church, and procured probably some +cross which was used for processional purposes on a long staff which +could be held up before her. The friar stood upon the faggots holding +it up, and calling out broken words of encouragement so long that Jeanne +bade him withdraw, lest the fire should catch his robes. And so at last, +as the flames began to rise, she was left alone, the good brother always +at the foot of the pile, painfully holding up with uplifted arms the +cross that she might still see it, the soldiers crowding, lit up +with the red glow of the fire, the horrified, trembling crowd like an +agitated sea around. The wild flames rose and fell in sinister gleams +and flashes, the smoke blew upwards, by times enveloping that white +Maid standing out alone against a sky still blue and sweet with +May--Pandemonium underneath, but Heaven above. Then suddenly there came +a great cry from among the black fumes that began to reach the clouds: +"My voices were of God! They have not deceived me!" She had seen and +recognised it at last. Here it was, the miracle: the great victory +that had been promised--though not with clang of swords and triumph of +rescuing knights, and "St. Denis for France!"--but by the sole hand +of God, a victory and triumph for all time, for her country a crown of +glory and ineffable shame. + +Thus died the Maid of France--with "Jesus, Jesus," on her lips--till the +merciful smoke breathing upwards choked that voice in her throat; and +one who was like unto the Son of God, who was with her in the fire, +wiped all memory of the bitter cross, wavering uplifted through the air +in the good monk's trembling hands--from eyes which opened bright upon +the light and peace of that Paradise of which she had so long thought +and dreamed. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII -- AFTER. + +The natural burst of remorse which follows such an event is well known +in history; and is as certainly to be expected as the details of the +great catastrophe itself. We feel almost as if, had there not been fact +and evidence for such a revulsion of feeling, it must have been recorded +all the same, being inevitable. The executioner, perhaps the most +innocent of all, sought out Frere Isambard, and confessed to him in an +anguish of remorse fearing never to be pardoned for what he had done. +An Englishman who had sworn to add a faggot to the flames in which the +witch should be burned, when he rushed forward to keep his word was +seized with sudden compunction--believed that he saw a white dove +flutter forth from amid the smoke over her head, and, almost fainting +at the sight, had to be led by his comrades to the nearest tavern for +refreshment, a life-like touch in which we recognise our countryman; but +he too found his way that afternoon to Frere Isambard like the other. A +horrible story is told by the _Bourgeois de Paris_, whose contemporary +journal is one of the authorities for this period, that "the fire was +drawn aside" in order that Jeanne's form, with all its clothing burned +away, should be visible by one last act of shameless insult to the +crowd. The fifteenth century believed, as we have said, everything that +is cruel and horrible, as indeed the vulgar mind does at all ages; but +such brutal imaginings have seldom any truth to support them, and there +is no such suggestion in the actual record. Isambard and Massieu heard +from one of the officials that when every other part of her body +was destroyed the heart was found intact, but was, by the order of +Winchester, flung into the Seine along with all the ashes of that +sacrifice. It was wise no doubt that no relics should be kept. + +Other details were murmured abroad amid the excited talk that followed +this dreadful scene. "When she was enveloped by the smoke, she cried out +for water, holy water, and called to St. Michael; then hung her head upon +her breast and breathing forth the name of Jesus, gently died." "Being +in the flame her voice never ceased repeating in a loud voice the holy +name of Jesus, and invoking without cease the saints of paradise, she +gave up her spirit, bowing her head and saying the name of Jesus in +sign of the fervour of her faith." One of the Canons of Rouen, standing +sobbing in the crowd, said to another: "Would that my soul were in the +same place where the soul of that woman is at this moment"; which indeed +is not very different from the authorised saying of Pierre Morice in +the prison. Guillaume Manchon, the reporter, he who wrote _superba +responsio_ on his margin, and had written down every word of her long +examination--his occupation for three months,--says that he "never wept +so much for anything that happened to himself, and that for a +whole month he could not recover his calm." This man adds a very +characteristic touch, to wit, that "with part of the pay which he had +for the trial, he bought a missal, that he might have a reason for +praying for her." Jean Tressat, "secretary to the King of England" +(whatever that office may have been), went home from the execution +crying out, "We are all lost, for we have burned a saint." A priest, +afterwards bishop, Jean Fabry, "did not believe that there was any man +who could restrain his tears." + +The modern historians speak of the mockeries of the English, but none +are visible in the record. Indeed, the part of the English in it is +extraordinarily diminished on investigation; they are the supposed +inspirers of the whole proceedings; they are believed to be continually +pushing on the inquisitors; still more, they are supposed to have bought +all that large tribunal, the sixty or seventy judges, among whom were +the most learned and esteemed Doctors in France; but of none of this +is there any proof given. That they were anxious to procure Jeanne's +condemnation and death, is very certain. Not one among them believed +in her sacred mission, almost all considered her a sorceress, the most +dangerous of evil influences, a witch who had brought shame and loss to +England by her incantations and evil spells. On that point there +could be no doubt whatever. She alone had stopped the progress of the +invaders, and broken the charm of their invariable success. But all that +she had done had been in favour of Charles, who made no attempt to serve +or help her, and who had thwarted her plans, and hindered her work so +long as it was possible to do so, even when she was performing miracles +for his sake. And Alencon, Dunois, La Hire, where were they and all the +knights? Two of them at least were at Louvins, within a day's march, +but never made a step to rescue her. We need not ask where were the +statesmen and clergy on the French side, for they were unfeignedly glad +to have the burden of condemning her taken from their hands. No one +in her own country said a word or struck a blow for Jeanne. As for +the suborning of the University of Paris _en masse_, and all its +best members in particular, that is a general baseness in which it is +impossible to believe. There is no appearance even of any particular +pressure put upon the judges. Jean de la Fontaine disappeared, we are +told, and no one ever knew what became of him: but it was from Cauchon +he fled. And nothing seems to have happened to the monks who attended +the Maid to the scaffold, nor to the others who sobbed about the +pile. On the other side, the Doctors who condemned her were in no way +persecuted or troubled by the French authorities when the King came to +his own. There was at the time a universal tacit consent in France to +all that was done at Rouen on the 31st of May, 1431. + +One reason for this was not far to seek. We have perhaps already +sufficiently dwelt upon it. It was that France was not France at that +dolorous moment. It was no unanimous nation repulsing an invader. It +was two at least, if not more countries, one of them frankly and +sympathetically attaching itself to the invader, almost as nearly allied +to him in blood, and more nearly by other bonds, than any tie existing +between France and Burgundy. This does not account for the hostile +indifference of southern France and of the French monarch to Jeanne, who +had delivered them; but it accounts for the hostility of Paris and +the adjacent provinces, and Normandy. She was as much against them as +against the English, and the national sentiment to which she, a patriot +before her age, appealed,--bidding not only the English go home, or +fight and be vanquished, which was their only alternative--but +the Burgundians to be converted and to live in peace with their +brothers,--did not exist. Neither to Burgundians, Picards, or Normans +was the daughter of far Champagne a fellow countrywoman. There was +neither sympathy nor kindness in their hearts on that score. Some were +humane and full of pity for a simple woman in such terrible straits; but +no more in Paris than in Rouen was the Maid of Orleans a native champion +persecuted by the English; she was to both an enemy, a sorceress, +putting their soldiers and themselves to shame. + +I have no desire to lessen our(1) guilt, whatever cruelty may have +been practised by English hands against the Heavenly Maid. And much +was practised--the iron cage, the chains, the brutal guards, the final +stake, for which may God and also the world, forgive a crime fully and +often confessed. But it was by French wits and French ingenuity that she +was tortured for three months and betrayed to her death. A prisoner of +war, yet taken and tried as a criminal, the first step in her downfall +was a disgrace to two chivalrous nations; but the shame is greater upon +those who sold than upon those who bought; and greatest of all upon +those who did not move Heaven and earth, nay, did not move a finger, to +rescue. And indeed we have been the most penitent of all concerned; we +have shrived ourselves by open confession and tears. We have quarrelled +with our Shakespeare on account of the Maid, and do not know how we +could have forgiven him, but for the notable and delightful discovery +that it was not he after all, but another and a lesser hand that +endeavoured to befoul her shining garments. France has never quarrelled +with her Voltaire for a much fouler and more intentional blasphemy. + +The most significant and the most curious after-scene, a pendant to the +remorse and pity of so many of the humbler spectators, was the assembly +held on the Thursday after Jeanne's death, how and when we are not told. +It consisted of "nos judices antedicti," but neither is the place of +meeting named, nor the person who presided. Its sole testimonial is +that the manuscript is in the same hand which has written the previous +records: but whereas each page in that record was signed at the bottom +by responsible notaries, Manchon and his colleagues, no name whatever +certifies this. Seven men, Doctors and persons of high importance, all +judges on the trial, all concerned in that last scene in the prison, +stand up and give their report of what happened there--part of which +we have quoted--their object being to establish that Jeanne at the last +acknowledged herself to be deceived. According to their own showing it +was exactly such an acknowledgment as our Lord might have been supposed +to make in the moment of his agony when the words of the psalm, "My God, +my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" burst from his lips. There seems +no reason that we can see, why this evidence should not be received as +substantially true. The inference that any real recantation on Jeanne's +part was then made, is untrue, and not even asserted. She was deceived +in respect to her deliverance, and felt it to the bottom of her heart. +It was to her the bitterness of death. But the flames of her burning +showed her the truth, and with her last breath she proclaimed her +renewed conviction. The scene at the stake would lose something of its +greatness without that momentary cloud which weighed down her troubled +soul. + +Twenty years after the martyrdom of Jeanne, long after he had, according +to her prophecy, regained Paris and all that had been lost, it became a +danger to the King of France that it should be possible to imagine +that his kingdom had been recovered for him by means of sorcery; and +accordingly a great new trial was appointed to revise the decisions +of the old. In the same palace of the Archbishop at Rouen, which had +witnessed so many scenes of the previous tragedy, the depositions of +witnesses collected with the minutest care, and which it had taken a +long time to gather from all quarters, were submitted for judgment, and +a full and complete reversal of the condemnation was given. The _proces_ +was a civil one, instituted (nominally) by the mother and brothers of +Jeanne, one of the latter being now a knight, Pierre de Lys, a gentleman +of coat armour--against the heirs and representatives of Cauchon, Bishop +of Beauvais, and Lemaitre, the Deputy Inquisitor--with other persons +chiefly concerned in the judgment. Some of these men were dead, some, +wisely, not to be found. The result was such a mass of testimony as put +every incident of the life of the Maid in the fullest light from her +childhood to her death, and in consequence secured a triumphant and full +acquittal of herself and her name from every reproach. This remarkable +and indeed unique occurrence does not seem, however, to have roused +any enthusiasm. Perhaps France felt herself too guilty: perhaps the +extraordinary calm of contemporary opinion which was still too near the +catastrophe to see it fully: perhaps that difficulty in the diffusion of +news which hindered the common knowledge of a trial--a thing too heavy +to be blown upon the winds,--while it promulgated the legend, a thing +so much more light to carry: may be the cause of this. But it is an +extraordinary fact that Jeanne's name remained in abeyance for many +ages, and that only in this century has it come to any sort of glory, +in the country of which Jeanne is the first and greatest of patriots +and champions, a country, too, to which national glory is more dear than +daily bread. + +In the new and wonderful spring of life that succeeded the revolution +of 1830, the martyr of the fifteenth century came to light as by a +revelation. The episode of the Pucelle in Michelet's _History of France_ +touched the heart of the world, and remains one of the finest efforts of +history and the most popular picture of the saint. And perhaps, though +so much less important in point of art, the maiden work of another +maiden of Orleans--the little statue of Jeanne, so pure, so simple, so +spiritual, made by the Princess Marie of that house, the daughter of the +race which the Maid held in visionary love, and which thus only has ever +attempted any return of that devotion--had its part in reawakening +her name and memory. It fell again, however, after the great work of +Quicherat had finally given to the country the means of fully +forming its opinion on the subject which Fabre's translation, though +unfortunately not literal and adorned with modern decorations, was +calculated to render popular. A great crop of statues and some pictures +not of any great artistic merit have since been dedicated to the memory +of the Maid: but yet the public enthusiasm has never risen above the +tide mark of literary applause. + +There has been, however, a great movement of enthusiasm lately to gain +for Jeanne the honour of canonisation(2); but it seems to have failed, +or at least to have sunk again for the moment into silence. Perhaps +these honours are out of date in our time. One of the most recent +writers on the subject, M. Henri Blaze de Bury, suggests that one reason +which retards this final consecration is "England, certainly not a +negligible quantity to a Pope of our time." Let no such illusion move +any mind, French or ecclesiastical. Canonisation means to us, I presume, +and even to a great number of Catholics, simply the highest honour +that can be paid to a holy and spotless name. In that sense there is +no distinction of nation, and the English as warmly as the French, both +being guilty towards her, and before God on her account--would welcome +all honour that could be paid to one who, more truly than any princess +of the blood, is Jeanne of France, the Maid, alone in her lofty humility +and valour, and in everlasting fragrance of modesty and youth. + + (1) The writer must add that personally, as a Scot, she has + no right to use this pronoun. Scotland is entirely guiltless + of this crime. The Scots were fighting on the side of France + through all these wars, a little perhaps for love of France, + but much more out of natural hostility to the English. Yet + at this time of day, except to state that fact, it is + scarcely necessary to throw off the responsibility. The + English side is now our side, though it was not so in the + fifteenth century: and a writer of the English tongue must + naturally desire that there should at least be fair play. + + (2) I am informed, however, that she is already "Venerable," + not a very appropriate title--the same, I presume, as + Bienheureuse, which is prettier,--and may therefore be + addressed by the faithful in prayer, though her rank is + only, as it were, brevet rank, and her elevation incomplete. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jeanne d'Arc, by Mrs.(Margaret) Oliphant + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JEANNE D'ARC *** + +***** This file should be named 2553.txt or 2553.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/5/2553/ + +Produced by Dagny; and John Bickers and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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