“I shall take counsel regarding that from Saint Catherine.”

_Monday, March 12th, assembled in Our dwelling, summoned by Us, the

religious and discreet person, Brother Jean Lemaître, of the Order of

Saint Dominic, Deputy of the Inquisitor of the Evil of Heresy in the

Kingdom of France, in presence of the Venerable and discreet persons the

Lords and Masters, Thomas Fiefvet, Pasquier de Vaux, Nicolas de Houbent,

Brother Ysambard de la Pierre._

We, the Bishop, did shew to the said Deputy, that, at the outset of the

Action for Heresy brought by us against the woman, commonly called

Jeanne the Maid, We had summoned and required him, the said Deputy, to

join with us; and that we had offered to communicate to him the acts,

documents and, in one word, all we possess bearing on the matter of the

Process. He had then made a difficulty, not being, he told Us,

commissioned except for the City and Diocese of Rouen; and the Action in

question being deduced by Us; by right of our jurisdiction of Beauvais,

on territory conceded to Us for this purpose. For this cause, in order

to give all security to this matter and by an excess of precaution, We

have, by the advice of the Masters, decided to write about it to the

Chief Inquisitor, requesting him to come himself without delay to Rouen,

or specially to appoint a Deputy to whom, for the deduction and

completion of the Process, he might wish to give full powers. The said

Inquisitor hath received Our letter, and acceding with kindness to Our

request, for the honour and exaltation of the Orthodox Faith, he hath

specially commissioned and appointed for this Action the said Brother

Jean Lemaître, as doth appear in the letters patent furnished and

attested with the seal of the Inquisition.

In consequence of this letter, We, the Bishop, summon and require the

said Brother Jean Lemaître, here present, in the terms of the said

letter, to join with us in this said Action.

To which the said Brother answered: that he would examine the Commission

addressed to him, the Process signed by the registrars, and all that it

should please Us to communicate to him; and that, all being seen and

examined by him, he will give Us an answer and will do for the Holy

Inquisition that which is right.

We, the Bishop, added: that the said Deputy had been present at a great

part of the Process; that he had, in consequence, been able to hear a

great part of Jeanne’s answers; that nevertheless We held ourselves

satisfied by what he had just said, and would certainly communicate to

him the Process and all that had already been done, that he may take

fuller cognizance of everything.

_The Deputy Inquisitor joins the Court._

_Tuesday, March 13th, in the prison. Present: The Bishop and Brother

Jean Lemaître, assisted by Jean Delafontaine, Nicolas Midi, and Gerard

Feuillet; witnesses, Nicolas de Houbent and Ysambard de la Pierre._

The said Brother Jean Lemaître declared to Us that seeing the letter

addressed to him which we had yesterday communicated, together with the

other circumstances of the Process, and all being well considered, he

joins himself to Us and is ready to proceed with Us according to law and

right.

We, the Bishop, then made known with gentleness to Jeanne this

intervention, exhorting and warning her, for the salvation of her soul,

to speak the truth on all which should be asked of her.

_The Deputy Inquisitor appoints his Officers._

And then, the Deputy of the Chief Inquisitor, wishing to proceed

regularly in the Process, hath declared his choice of the Officers whose

names follow:

1. As Promoter from the Holy Inquisition, Messire Jean d’Estivet, Canon

of the Churches of Bayeux and Beauvais.

2. As Registrar of his office, Messire Nicolas Taquel, Priest of the

Diocese of Rouen, Notary Public and Registrar of the Archiepiscopal

Court of Rouen.

3. As Executor of his Orders and Citations, Messire Jean Massieu,

Priest.

4. As keepers of the prison, the noble man, John Gris, Squire of the

Body Guard of Our Lord the King, and John Berwoist. These, We, the

Bishop, had, with the exception of Messire Nicolas Taquel, but only in

that which concerns Our office, already appointed to the same functions,

as confirmed for Our part in the letters above quoted, and as confirmed

by the said Inquisitor by his letters, of which mention follows. The

said officers did then take oath, between the hands of the said Deputy,

to faithfully fulfil their functions.

[Here follow the three letters of Nomination of the Promoter, d’Estivet;

the Registrar, Taquel; and the Usher, Massieu: dated Tuesday, March

13th: signed Boisguillaume, Manchon: the nomination of Taquel,

Registrar, is dated March 14th.]

All which precedes having already taken place, as has been said up to

the present time, We, the Bishop, and Brother Jean Lemaître, Deputy of

the Inquisitor, have from this moment proceeded together to all the

remainder of the Process, and have questioned or caused questions to be

made as it had begun.

_Tuesday, March 13th.—Present: The Bishop, and Brother Jean Lemaître,

Jean Delafontaine, Nicolas Midi, Gerard Feuillet; in the presence of

Nicolas de Houbent and of Brother Ysambard de la Pierre._

By Our order, Jeanne was asked as follows:

“What was the sign you gave your King?”

“Will you be satisfied that I should perjure myself?”

“Have you promised and sworn to Saint Catherine that you will not tell

this sign?”

“I promised and swore not to tell this sign, and for my own sake,

because I was pressed too much to tell it, and then I said to myself: ‘I

promise not to speak of it to any one in the world.’ The sign was that

an Angel assured my King, in bringing him the crown, that he should have

the whole realm of France, by the means of God’s help and my labours;

that he was to start me on the work—that is to say, to give me

men-at-arms; and that otherwise he would not be so soon crowned and

consecrated.”

“Have you spoken to Saint Catherine since yesterday?”

“I have heard her since yesterday, and she has several times told me to

reply boldly to the Judges on what they shall ask me touching my Case.”

“How did the Angel carry the crown? and did he place it himself on your

King’s head?”

“The crown was given to an Archbishop—that is, to the Archbishop of

Rheims—so it seems to me, in the presence of my King. The Archbishop

received it, and gave it to the King. I was myself present. The crown

was afterwards put among my King’s treasures.”

“To what place was the crown brought?”

“To the King’s Chamber, in the Castle of Chinon.”

“What day and what time?”

“The day, I do not know; of the time, it was full day. I have no further

recollection of it. Of the month it was March or April, it seems to me.

In this present month of March or next April it will be two years since.

It was after Easter.”[69]

“Was it the first day that you saw the sign when the King saw it?”

“Yes, he had it the same day.”

“Of what material was the said crown?”

“It is well to know it was of fine gold; it was so rich that I do not

know how to count its riches or to appreciate its beauty. The crown

signified that my King should possess the Kingdom of France.”

“Were there stones in it?”

“I have told you what I know about it.”

“Did you touch or kiss it?”

“No.”

“Did the Angel who brought this crown come from Heaven or earth?”

“He came from above, and I presume that he came by Our Lord’s command;

he came in by the door of the room. When he came before my King, he did

him reverence by bowing before him, and pronouncing the words I have

already said; and at the same time the Angel put him in mind of the

great patience he had had in presence of so many tribulations. From the

door, the Angel walked, and touched the earth, in coming to the King.”

“What space was there between the door and the King?”

“My opinion is that there was quite the space of a lance-length [about

10 feet]; and he returned the way he came. When the Angel came, I

accompanied him and went with him by the staircase to the King’s

Chamber. The Angel went in first, then myself, and I said to the King:

‘Sire, there is your sign; take it.’”

“Where did the Angel appear to you?”

“I was nearly always at prayer that God might send the sign to the King;

and I was at my lodging, at the house of a worthy woman,[70] near the

Castle of Chinon, when he came; afterwards, we went together to the

King. He was accompanied by other Angels whom no one saw. Had it not

been for love of me, and to free me of trouble from those that accused

me, I think that many who saw the Angel would not have seen him.”

“Did all those who were with the King see the Angel?”

“I believe that the Archbishop of Rheims saw him, and so did the Lords

d’Alençon, la Trémouille, and Charles de Bourbon. As to the crown, many

Clergy and others saw it who did not see the Angel.”

“Of what appearance, what height, was this Angel?”

“I have not permission to say; to-morrow I will answer about it.”

“All the Angels who accompanied him, had they the same appearance?”

“Some resembled him well enough, others not: at least, so far as I saw.

Some had wings, others were crowned. In company with them were Saint

Catherine and Saint Margaret, who were with the Angel aforesaid, and the

other Angels also, right up to the King’s Chamber.”

“How did the Angel leave you?”

“He left me in that little Chapel. I was much vexed at his going; I

wept; willingly would I have gone with him—that is to say, my soul.”

“After the departure of the Angel, did you remain happy [or[71] were you

in great fear?”]

“He did not leave me in either fear or terror; but I was grieved at his

going.”

“Is it for any merit of yours that God sent you this Angel?”

“He came for a great purpose: I was in hopes that the King would believe

the sign, and that they would cease to argue with me, and would aid the

good people of Orleans. The Angel came for the merits of the King and of

the good Duke d’Orléans.”[72]

“Why to you rather than to another?”

“It has pleased God so to do by a simple maiden, in order to drive back

the enemies of the King.”

“Was it told you whence the Angel had taken this crown?”

“It was brought from God; no goldsmith in the world would know how to

fashion it so rich and fair.”

“Whence did he take it?”

“I refer me to God; and know nothing more of whence it was taken.”

“This crown, did it smell well and had it a good odour? did it glitter?”

“I do not remember about it; I will think it over.” [Remembering:] “Yes,

it smelt good, and will smell good always, if it be well guarded, as it

should be. It was in the form of a crown.”

“Did the Angel write you a letter?”

“No.”

“What sign had your King and the people who were with him and yourself,

to believe that it was an Angel?”

“The King believed it by the teaching of the Clergy who were there, and

by the sign of the crown.”

“But how did the Clergy know it was an Angel?”

“By their knowledge and because they were clerks.”

“What have you to say about a married priest and a lost cup that you

were to have pointed out?”[73]

“Of all this I know nothing, nor have I ever heard of it.”

“When you came before Paris, had you revelations from your Voices to go

there?”

“No, I went at the request of the gentlemen who wished to make an attack

or assault-at-arms; I intended to go there and break through the

trenches.”

“Had you any revelation to attack La Charité?”

“No, I went there at the request of the men-at-arms, as I said

elsewhere.”

“Did you have any revelation to go to Pont l’Evêque?”[74]

“After I had had, in the trenches of Melun,[75] revelation that I should

be taken, I consulted more often with the Captains of the army; but I

did not tell them I had had any revelation that I should be taken.”

“Was it well to attack the town of Paris on the day of the Festival of

the Nativity of Our Lady?”

“It is well done to observe the Festival of the Blessed Mary, and on my

conscience it seems to me that it was, and ever will be, well to observe

these festivals, from one end to the other.”

“Did you not say before Paris, ‘Surrender this town by order of Jesus’?”

“No, but I said, ‘Surrender it to the King of France.’”

_Wednesday, March 14th.—Jean Delafontaine, Commissary, assisted by

Nicolas Midi and Gerard Feuillet. Witnesses: Nicolas de Houbent and

Ysambard de la Pierre._

Jeanne was interrogated as follows:

“Why did you throw yourself from the top of the Tower at Beaurevoir?”

“I had heard that the people of Compiègne, all, to the age of seven

years, were to be put to fire and sword; and I would rather have died

than live after such a destruction of good people. That was one of the

reasons. The other was that I knew I was sold to the English; and I had

rather die than be in the hands of my enemies, the English.”

“Did your Saints counsel you about it?”

“Saint Catherine told me almost every day not to leap, that God would

help me, and also those at Compiègne. I said to Saint Catherine: ‘Since

God will help those at Compiègne, I wish to be there.’ Saint Catherine

said to me, ‘Be resigned, and do not falter: you will not be delivered

before seeing the King of England.’ I answered her: ‘Truly I do not wish

to see him; I would rather die than fall into the hands of the

English.’”

“Is it true that you said to Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret: ‘Will

God leave these good people of Compiègne to die so horribly’?”

“I did not say ‘so horribly,’ but, ‘How can God leave these good people

of Compiègne, who have been, and are, so loyal to their lord, to die?’

After having fallen, I was two or three days without eating.[76] By the

leap I was so injured that I could neither eat nor drink; and all the

time I was consoled by Saint Catherine, who told me to confess, and to

beg pardon of God; and without fail, those at Compiègne would have help

before Saint Martin’s Day in the winter. Then I began to recover and to

eat, and was soon cured.”

“When you made this leap, did you think you would kill yourself?”

“No; but, in leaping, I commended myself to God. I hoped by means of

this leap to escape, and to avoid being delivered up to the English.”

“When speech returned to you, did you not blaspheme and curse God and

His Saints? This is proved by allegation.”

“I have no memory of having ever blasphemed and cursed God and His

Saints, in that place or elsewhere.”

“Will you refer this to the enquiry made or to be made?”

“I refer me to God and not to any other, and to a good confession.”

“Do your Voices ask delay to answer you?”

“Sometimes Saint Catherine answers me, but I fail to understand because

of the great disturbance in the prison and the noise made by my guards.

When I make a request to Saint Catherine, both my Saints make request to

Our Lord; then, by order of Our Lord, they give answer to me.”

“When your Saints come to you, have they a light with them? Did you not

see the light on a certain occasion when you heard the Voices in the

Castle, without knowing if the Voice were in your room?”

“There is never a day that my Saints do not come to the Castle; and they

never come without light. And as to this Voice of which you speak, I do

not remember if on that occasion I saw the light or even Saint

Catherine. I asked three things of my Voices:—1. My deliverance; 2. That

God would come to the help of the French, and protect the towns under

their control; 3. The salvation of my soul. [Addressing herself to the

Judges:] If it should be that I am taken to Paris, grant, I pray you,

that I may have a copy of my questions and answers, so that I may lend

them to those at Paris, and that I may be able to say to them: ‘Thus was

I questioned at Rouen; and here are my answers’: in this way, I shall

not have to trouble again over so many questions.”

“You said that my Lord of Beauvais puts himself in great danger by

bringing you to trial; of what danger were you speaking? In what peril

or danger do we place ourselves, your Judges and the others?”

“I said to my Lord of Beauvais, ‘You say that you are my Judge; I do not

know if you are, but take heed not to judge wrongly, because you would

put yourself in great danger; and I warn you of it, so that, if Our Lord

should punish you for it, I shall have done my duty in telling you.’”

“But what is this peril or danger?”

“Saint Catherine has told me that I shall have help; I do not know if

this will be to be delivered from prison, or if, whilst I am being

tried, some disturbance may happen, by which I shall be delivered. The

help will come to me, I think, in one way or the other. Besides this, my

Voices have told me that I shall be delivered by a great victory; and

they add: ‘Be resigned; have no care for thy martyrdom; thou wilt come

in the end to the Kingdom of Paradise.’ They have told me this simply,

absolutely, and without fail. What is meant by my martyrdom is the pain

and adversity that I suffer in prison; I do not know if I shall have

still greater suffering to bear; for that I refer me to God.”

[Illustration:

GATE TO THE PALACE OF CAUCHON, BISHOP OF BEAUVAIS.

]

“Since your Voices told you that you would come in the end to the

Kingdom of Paradise, have you felt assured of being saved and of not

being damned in Hell?”

“I believe firmly what my Voices have told me, that I shall be saved; I

believe it as firmly as if I were already there.”

“After this revelation, do you believe that you cannot commit mortal

sin?”[77]

“I do not know, and in all things I wait on Our Lord.”

“That is an answer of great weight!”

“Yes, and one which I hold for a great treasure.”

_The same day, Wednesday, March 14th, in the afternoon. Present: Jean

Delafontaine, Commissary, assisted by Nicolas Midi and Gerard Feuillet.

Witnesses: Brother Ysambard de la Pierre and Jean Manchon._

And in the first place, Jeanne expressed herself thus:

“On the subject of the answer that I made to you this morning on the

certainty of my salvation, I mean the answer thus: provided that I keep

the promise made to Our Lord, to keep safe the virginity of my body and

soul.”

“Have you any need to confess, as you believe by the revelations of your

Voices that you will be saved?”

“I do not know of having committed mortal sin; but, if I were in mortal

sin, I think that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret would abandon me at

once. I do not think one can cleanse one’s conscience too much.”

“Since you have been in the prison, have you never blasphemed or cursed

God?”

“No; sometimes I said: ‘bon gré Dieu,’ or ‘Saint Jean,’ or ‘Notre Dame’:

those who have reported otherwise may have misunderstood.”

“To take a man at ransom, and to put him to death, while a prisoner, is

not that mortal sin?”

“I never did it.”

“What did you do to Franquet d’Arras, who was put to death, at Lagny?”

“I consented that he should die if he had merited it, because he had

confessed to being a murderer, thief, and traitor; his trial lasted

fifteen days; he had for Judge the Bailly of Senlis and the people of

the Court at Lagny. I had given orders to exchange this Franquet against

a man of Paris, landlord of the Hôtel de l’Ours. When I learnt the death

of the latter, and the Bailly told me that I should do great wrong to

justice by giving up Franquet, I said to the Bailly, ‘As my man is dead,

do with the other what you should do, for justice.’”

“Did you give, or cause to be given, money to him who took Franquet?”

“I am not Master of the Mint or Treasurer of France to pay out money

so.”

“We recall to you:—1. That you attacked Paris on a Feast Day; 2. That

you had the horse of my Lord the Bishop of Senlis; 3. That you threw

yourself down from the Tower of Beaurevoir; 4. That you wear a man’s

dress; 5. That you consented to the death of Franquet d’Arras: do you

not think you have committed mortal sin in these?”

“For what concerns the attack on Paris, I do not think myself to be in

mortal sin; if I have so done, it is for God to know it, and the Priest

in confession. As to the horse of my Lord the Bishop of Senlis, I firmly

believe I have not sinned against Our Lord: the horse was valued at 200

gold crowns, of which he received assignment; nevertheless, this horse

was sent back to the Sire de la Trémouille, to restore it to my Lord of

Senlis; it was no good for me to ride; besides, it was not I who took

it; and, moreover, I did not wish to keep it, having heard that the

Bishop was displeased that it had been taken from him, and, beyond all

this, the horse was of no use for warfare. I do not know if the Bishop

was paid, nor if his horse was restored to him; I think not. As to my

fall from the Tower at Beaurevoir, I did not do it in despair, but

thinking to save myself and to go to the help of all those brave folk

who were in danger. After my fall, I confessed myself and asked pardon.

God has forgiven me, not for any good in me: I did wrong, but I know by

revelation from Saint Catherine that, after the confession I made, I was

forgiven. It was by the counsel of Saint Catherine that I confessed

myself.”

“Did you do penance for it?”

“Yes, and my penance came to me in great part from the harm I did myself

in falling. You ask me if I believe this wrong which I did in leaping to

be mortal sin? I know nothing about it, but refer me to God. As to my

dress, since I bear it by command of God and for His service, I do not

think I have done wrong at all; so soon as it shall please God to

prescribe it, I will take it off.”

_The following Thursday, March 15th, in the morning. Present: Jean

Delafontaine, Commissary, assisted by Nicolas Midi and Gerard Feuillet.

Witnesses: Nicolas de Houbent and Brother Ysambard de la Pierre._

First of all, Jeanne was charitably exhorted, warned, and required, if

she had done anything which might be against our Faith, that she should

refer it to the decision of Holy Mother Church.

“Let my answers,” she said, “be seen and examined by the Clergy: then

let them tell me if there be anything against the Christian Faith. I

shall know surely by my counsel what it is, and will say afterwards what

shall be judged and decided. And, moreover, if there be anything wrong

against the Christian Faith which Our Lord commanded, I should not wish

to maintain it, and should be very sorry to be in opposition.”

Then we explained to her about the Church Triumphant and the Church

Militant, and the difference between them. Required to submit to the

decision of the Church Militant what she had said or done, whether of

good or ill:

“I will not answer you anything more about it now,” she said.

“Upon the oath that you have taken, tell us, how did you think to escape

from the Castle of Beaulieu between two planks of wood?”[78]

“Never was I prisoner in such a place that I would not willingly have

escaped. Being in that Castle, I should have shut my keepers in the

tower, if it had not been that the porter espied me and encountered me.

It did not please God that I should escape this time: it was necessary

for me to see the English King,[79] as my Voices had told me, as has

been already said.”

“Have you had permission from God or your Voices to leave prison when it

shall please you?”

“I have asked it many times, but I have not yet had it.”

“Would you go now, if you saw your starting-point?”

“If I saw the door open, I should go: that would be leave from Our Lord.

If I saw the door open, and my keepers and the other English beyond

power of resistance, truly I should see in it my leave and help sent me

by Our Lord. But without this leave, I shall not go, unless I make a

forcible attempt to go,[80] and so learn if Our Lord would be pleased:

this on the strength of the proverb, ‘Help thyself, and God will help

thee’: I say this in order that, if I do escape, no one may say I did so

without God’s leave.”

“When you asked to hear Mass, did it not seem to you that it would be

more proper to be in female dress? Which would you like best, to have a

woman’s dress to hear Mass, or to remain in a man’s dress and not hear

it?”

“Give me assurance beforehand that I shall hear Mass if I am in female

attire, and I will answer you this.”

“Very well, I give you assurance of it: you shall hear Mass if you put

on female attire.”

“And what say you, if I have sworn and promised to our King my Master,

not to put off this dress? Well, I will answer you this: Have made for

me a long dress down to the ground, without a train; give it to me to go

to Mass, and then on my return I will put on again the dress I have.”

“I say it to you once again, do you consent to wear female attire to go

and hear Mass?”

“I will take counsel on this, and then I will answer you: but I beseech

you, for the honour of God and Our Lady permit me to hear Mass in this

good town.”

“You consent simply and absolutely to take female attire?”

“Send me a dress like a daughter of your citizens—that is to say, a long

‘houppeland.’[81] I will wear it to go and hear Mass. I beseech you as

earnestly as I can, permit me to hear it in the dress I wear at this

moment and without changing anything!”

“Will you submit your actions and words to the decision of the Church?”

“My words and deeds are all in God’s Hands: in all, I wait upon Him. I

assure you, I would say or do nothing against the Christian Faith: in

case I have done or said anything which might be on my soul and which

the clergy could say was contrary to the Christian Faith established by

Our Lord, I would not maintain it, and would put it away.”

“Are you not willing to submit yourself in this to the order of the

Church?”

“I will not answer you anything more about it now. Send me a cleric on

Saturday; and, if you do not wish to come yourself, I will answer him on

this, with God’s help; and it shall be put in writing.”

“When your Voices come, do you make obeisance to them as to a Saint?”

“Yes; and if perchance I have not done so, I have afterwards asked of

them grace and pardon. I should not know how to do them such great

reverence as belongs to them, for I believe firmly they are Saint

Catherine and Saint Margaret. I believe the same of Saint Michael.”

“For those who are Saints of Paradise, offerings are voluntarily made of

candles, etc.: have you never made an offering of lighted candles, or

other things, to the Saints who come to you, in the Church or elsewhere,

or had Masses said?”

“No, unless it be in the offering of the Mass, in the hands of the

Priest, in honour of Saint Catherine, one of the Saints who appeared to

me. I have never lighted as many candles as I wish to Saint Catherine

and Saint Margaret, who are in Paradise; and I firmly believe it is they

who come to me.”

“When you place lights before the image of Saint Catherine, do you place

them in honour of the one who appears to you?”

“I do it in honour of God, of Our Lady, and of Saint Catherine who is in

Heaven, and of her who appears to me.”

“Do you place these lights in honour of Saint Catherine, who has shewn

herself to you, who has appeared to you?”

“Yes, I make no difference between the one who has appeared to me, and

the one who is in heaven.”[82]

“Do you always do, always accomplish, what your Voices command you?”

“With all my power I accomplish the command that Our Lord sends me

through my Voices, in so far as I understand them. My Voices command

nothing but by the good pleasure of Our Lord.”

“In warfare, have you done nothing without counsel of your Voices?”

“I have already answered you thereon: read your book again well, and you

will find it. At the request of the men-at-arms, there was an assault

made before Paris, and, at the request of the King himself, one also

before La Charité. These were neither against nor by the order of my

Voices.”

“Have you never done anything against their command and will?”

“All that I could and knew how to do, I have done and accomplished to

the best of my power. As to the matter of the fall from the keep of

Beaurevoir, I did it against their command; but I could not control

myself. When my Voices saw my need, and that I neither knew how, nor was

able, to control myself, they saved my life and kept me from killing

myself. Whatever things I did in my greatest undertakings, they always

helped me; and that is a sign they are good spirits.”

“Have you no other sign that they are good spirits?”

“Saint Michael assured me of it before the Voices came to me.”

“How did you know it was Saint Michael?”

“By the speech and language of the Angels. I believe firmly that they

were Angels.”

“But how did you know it was the language of Angels?”

“I believed it at once, and I had the will to believe it. When Saint

Michael came to me, he said to me: ‘Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret

will come to thee; follow their counsel; they have been chosen to guide

thee and counsel thee in all that thou hast to do: believe what they

shall tell thee, it is the order of Our Lord.’”

“If the devil were to put himself in the form or likeness of an angel,

how would you know if it were a good or an evil angel?”

“I should know quite well if it were Saint Michael or a counterfeit. The

first time I was in great doubt if it were Saint Michael; and I was much

afraid. I had seen him many times before I knew it was Saint Michael.”

“Why did you recognize him sooner that time, when you say you believed

it was he, than the first time he appeared to you?”

“The first time I was a young child, and I was much afraid; afterwards,

he had taught me so well, and it was so clear to me, that I believed

firmly it was he.”[83]

“What doctrine did he teach you?”

“Above all things he told me to be a good child, and that God would help

me,—to come to the help of the King of France, among other things. The

greater part of what he taught me is already in the book in which you

are writing: he told me of the great misery there was in the Kingdom of

France.”

“What was the height and stature of this Angel?”

“On Saturday I will reply, with other things which I should answer, as

it shall please God.”

“Do you not think it a great sin, and one which offends Saint Catherine

and Saint Margaret who appeared to you, to act against their commands?”

“Yes, certainly; and the greatest I have ever committed, in my opinion,

has been the leap from the Tower of Beaurevoir; for the which I have

besought their mercy, and for all other offences I may have done against

them.”

“Will Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret take bodily vengeance for this

offence?”

“I do not know, and did not ask them.”

“You have asserted that, for speaking the truth, men were sometimes

hanged: do you, then, know any crime or fault in yourself for which you

should die, if you confessed it?”

“I know of none.”

_The following Saturday, March 17th:—Present: Jean Delafontaine,

Commissary, assisted by Nicolas Midi, and Gerard Feuillet, in the

presence of Ysambard de la Pierre and of Jean Massieu._

The said Jeanne was required to take the oath already made by her.

Afterwards, she was again interrogated:

“In what form, kind, size, and dress did Saint Michael come to you?”

“In the form of a true honest man [‘_prud homme_’]; of his dress and the

rest I will say nothing more. As to the Angels, I saw them with my eyes;

you will hear naught else about it. I believe the deeds and words of

Saint Michael, who appeared to me, as firmly as I believe that Our

Saviour Jesus Christ suffered Death and Passion for us. And that which

makes me believe it, is the good counsel, comfort, and good doctrine

which he has given me.”

“Will you, in respect of all your words and deeds, whether good or bad,

submit yourself to the decision of our Holy Mother the Church?”

“The Church! I love it, and would wish to maintain it with all my power,

for our Christian Faith; it is not I who should be prevented from going

to Church and hearing Mass! As to the good deeds I have done and my

coming to the King, I must wait on the King of Heaven, who sent me to

Charles, King of France, son of Charles, who was King of France. You

will see that the French will soon gain a great victory, that God will

send such great doings that nearly all the Kingdom of France will be

shaken by them. I say it, so that, when it shall come to pass, it may be

remembered that I said it.”

“When will this happen?”

“I wait on Our Lord.”

“Will you refer yourself to the decision of the Church?”

“I refer myself to God Who sent me, to Our Lady, and to all the Saints

in Paradise. And in my opinion it is all one, God and the Church; and

one should make no difficulty about it. Why do you make a difficulty?”

“There is a Church Triumphant in which are God and the Saints, the

Angels, and the Souls of the Saved. There is another Church, the Church

Militant, in which are the Pope, the Vicar of God on earth, the

Cardinals, Prelates of the Church, the Clergy and all good Christians

and Catholics: this Church, regularly assembled, cannot err, being ruled

by the Holy Spirit. Will you refer yourself to this Church which we have

thus just defined to you?”

“I came to the King of France from God, from the Blessed Virgin Mary,

from all the Saints of Paradise, and the Church Victorious above, and by

their command. To this Church I submit all my good deeds, all that I

have done or will do. As to saying whether I will submit myself to the

Church Militant, I will not now answer anything more.”

“What do you say on the subject of the female attire which is offered to

you, to go and hear Mass?”

“I will not take it yet, until it shall please Our Lord. And if it

should happen that I should be brought to judgment, [and that I have to

divest myself in Court,][84] I beseech the lords of the Church to do me

the grace to allow me a woman’s smock and a hood for my head; I would

rather die than revoke what God has made me do; and I believe firmly

that God will not allow it to come to pass that I should be brought so

low that I may not soon have succour from Him, and by miracle.”

“As you say that you bear a man’s dress by the command of God, why do

you ask for a woman’s smock at the point of death?”

“It will be enough for me if it be long.”

“Did your Godmother who saw the fairies pass as a wise woman?”

“She was held and considered a good and honest woman, neither divineress

nor sorceress.”

“You said you would take a woman’s dress, that you might be let go:

would this please God?”

“If I had leave to go in woman’s dress, I should soon put myself back in

man’s dress and do what God has commanded me: I have already told you

so. For nothing in the world will I swear not to arm myself and put on a

man’s dress; I must obey the orders of Our Lord.”

“What age and what dress had Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret?”

“You have had such answers as you will have from me, and none others

shall you have: I have told you what I know of it for certain.”

“Before to-day, did you believe fairies were evil spirits?”

“I know nothing about it.”

“Do you know if Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret hate the English?”

“They love what God loves: they hate what God hates.”

“Does God hate the English?”

“Of the love or hate God may have for the English, or of what He will do

for their souls, I know nothing; but I know quite well that they will be

put out of France, except those who shall die there, and that God will

send victory to the French against the English.”

“Was God for the English when they were prospering in France?”

“I do not know if God hated the French; but I believe that He wished

them to be defeated for their sins, if they were in sin.”

“What warrant and what help do you expect to have from Our Lord for

wearing this man’s dress?”

“For this dress and for other things that I have done, I wish to have no

other recompense than the salvation of my soul.”

“What arms did you offer at Saint Denis?”

“My whole suit of white armour [‘_album harnesium suum_;’ _Gallicè_,

‘_un blanc harnoys_,’] as beseems a soldier, with a sword I had won

before Paris.”

“Why did you make this offering?”

“In devotion, and as is the custom of soldiers when they have been

wounded. Having been wounded before Paris, I offered them at Saint

Denis, because that is the war-cry of France.”

“Did you do it that these arms might be worshipped?”

“No.”

“What was the purpose of these five crosses which were on the sword that

you found at Saint Catherine of Fierbois?”

“I know nothing about it.”

“Who prompted you to have painted on your standard Angels with arms,

feet, legs, and clothing?”

“I have already answered you.”

“Did you have them painted as they came to see you?”

“No, I had them painted in the way they are painted in the Churches.”

“Did you ever see them in the manner they are painted?”

“I will tell you nothing more.”

“Why did you not have painted the brightness that comes to you with the

Angels and the Voices?”

“It was not commanded me.”

_The same day, March 17th, afternoon. Present: The Bishop and the Deputy

Inquisitor, assisted by Jean Beaupère, Jacques de Touraine, Nicolas

Midi, Pierre Maurice, Gerard Feuillet, Thomas de Courcelles, Jean

Delafontaine; in presence of Brother Ysambard de la Pierre and John

Gris._

We interrogated the said Jeanne, as follows:

“Did the two Angels painted on your standard represent Saint Michael and

Saint Gabriel?”

“They were there only for the honour of Our Lord, Who was painted on the

standard. I only had these two Angels represented to honour Our Lord,

Who was there represented holding the world.”

“Were the two Angels represented on your standard those who guard the

world? Why were there not more of them, seeing that you had been

commanded by God to take this standard?”

“The standard was commanded by Our Lord, by the Voices of Saint

Catherine and Saint Margaret, which said to me: ‘Take the standard in

the name of the King of Heaven’; and because they had said to me ‘Take

the standard in the name of the King of Heaven,’ I had this figure of

God and of two Angels done; I did all by their command.”

“Did you ask them if, by virtue of this standard, you would gain all the

battles wherever you might find yourself, and if you would be

victorious?”

“They told me to take it boldly, and that God would help me.”

“Which gave most help, you to your standard, or your standard to you?”

“The victory either to my standard or myself, it was all from Our Lord.”

“The hope of being victorious, was it founded on your standard or on

yourself?”

“It was founded on Our Lord and nought else.”

“If any one but you had borne this standard, would he have been as

fortunate as you in bearing it?”

“I know nothing about it: I wait on Our Lord.”

“If one of the people of your party had sent you his standard to carry,

would you have had as much confidence in it as in that which had been

sent to you by God? Even the standard of your King, if it had been sent

to you, would you have had as much confidence in it as in your own?”

“I bore most willingly that which had been ordained for me by Our Lord;

and, meanwhile, in all I waited upon Our Lord.”

“For what purpose was the sign you put on your letters and these words:

‘_Jhesus Maria_’?”

“The clerks who wrote my letters put it; some told me that it was

suitable for me to put these two words: ‘_Jhesus Maria_.’”

“Was it never revealed to you that if you lost your virginity, you would

lose your happiness, and that your Voices would come to you no more?”

“That has never been revealed to me.”[85]

“If you were married, do you think your Voices would come?”

“I do not know; I wait on Our Lord.”

“Do you think, and do you firmly believe, that your King did right in

killing, or causing to be killed, my Lord the Duke of Burgundy?”

“It was a great injury to the Kingdom of France; and, whatever there may

have been between them, God sent me to the help of the King of France.”

“As you have declared to my lord of Beauvais that you will reply to him

and his Commissioners as you would before our most holy Lord the Pope,

and as there are many questions which you will not answer, would you

reply before the Pope more fully than before us?”

“I have answered you all the truth that I know; and if I know anything

which comes to my memory that I have left unsaid, I will tell it

willingly.”

“Does it not seem to you that you are bound to reply more fully to our

Lord the Pope, the Vicar of God, on all that might be asked you touching

the Faith and the matter of your conscience, than you should to us?”

“Very well; let me be taken before him, and I will answer before him all

I ought to answer.”

“Of what material was one of your rings, on which was written ‘_Jhesus

Maria_’?”

“I do not exactly know; if it were of gold, it was not fine gold; I do

not know if it were of gold or of brass; there were three crosses on it,

and no other mark that I know of, except ‘_Jhesus Maria_.’”

“Why was it that you generally looked at this ring when you were going

into battle?”

“For pleasure, and in honour of my father and mother; I had that ring in

my hand and on my finger when I touched Saint Catherine as she appeared

to me.”

“What part of Saint Catherine?”

“You will have no more about it.”

“Did you ever kiss or embrace Saint Catherine or Saint Margaret?”

“I have embraced them both.”

“Did they smell good?”

“It is well to know, they smelled good.”

“In embracing them, did you feel any heat or anything else?”

“I could not have embraced them without feeling and touching them.”

“What part did you kiss—face or feet?”

“It is more proper and respectful to kiss their feet.”

“Did you not give them crowns?”

“In their honour, I often put crowns on their images in the Churches. As

to those who appeared to me, I never gave any to them that I can

remember.”

“When you placed crowns of flowers on the tree of which you spoke

before, did you put them in honour of those who appeared to you?”

“No.”

“When these Saints came to you, did you do them no reverence? did you

bend the knee before them? did you bow?”

“Yes: and, so far as I could do them reverence, I did; I know it is they

who are in the Kingdom of Paradise.”

“Do you know nothing of those who came in the air with the fairies?”

“I have never done or known anything about them; but I have heard of

them, and that they came on Thursdays; but I do not believe it; I think

it is sorcery.”

“Did not they wave your standard round the head of your King when he was

consecrated at Rheims?”

“No, not that I know of.”

“Why was it taken to the Church of Rheims for the consecration more than

those of other captains?”

“It had shared the pain, it was only right it should share the honour.”

_Meeting at the Bishop’s house of the Doctors and Assessors to consider

the Case. Sunday of the Passion of our Saviour, 18th day of the month of

March. The Bishop and Jean Lemaître, assisted by twelve Assessors,

present._

We, the said Bishop, shewed that Jeanne had lately been questioned

during eight days, and that a great number of her replies had been put

in writing; to-day we have need of the opinion of the Assessors as to

the mode of procedure.

Then We caused to be read a great number of assertions which, by Our

order, have been extracted by several Masters from the answers of

Jeanne: so that, by means of these assertions, they, the said Assessors,

will be able the better to take up the Process as a whole, and thus

decide more certainly on what remains to be done.

After this shewing, the said Lords and Masters did deliberate with great

solemnity and maturity; and each of them did give us his opinion.

We, the Judges, did then conclude and give order as follows:

Each of the Doctors and Masters shall have the matter to examine and

study for his own part in all diligence, and to make research in

authentic books for the opinion of the Doctors on each of the said

assertions. On Thursday next, We will re-assemble anew to confer upon

them. On that day, each one shall submit to Us his opinion.

Besides this, we have given orders that between this and then shall be

extracted from the questions and answers of Jeanne certain Articles,

which shall be moved against her in the Court before Us, the Judges.

[The Seventy Articles prepared by the Promoter, which form the Act of

Accusation for the Trial in Ordinary, were read to Jeanne by Thomas de

Courcelles, on Tuesday, March 27th. These Articles will be found, with

Jeanne’s replies to them, in the Appendix. The Seventy Articles were

afterwards reduced to Twelve by Maître Nicolas Midi. These are given in

the Appendix, p. 341.]

_Another Meeting in the Bishop’s house, in which it is decided to

compile Articles from the said Extracts._

_And the following Thursday, 22nd March, under the presidence of Us, the

Bishop, and Maître Jean Lemaître, assisted by 23 Assessors._

In presence of the above, have been reported sundry assertions gathered

and considered in the matter, in a notable and scientific manner, by

many Doctors and Masters. In view of these assertions, after having the

opinions conferred thereon at length with each of the Assessors, We, the

Judges, did conclude and give order that the assertions thus extracted

from the register of the declarations of Jeanne shall be drawn up in a

very small number of Articles under the form of propositions; that the

Articles thus prepared shall be communicated at once to all and each of

the Doctors and Masters, who can thus the more easily pronounce their

opinion.

On the question of whether Jeanne ought to be again interrogated and

examined later on, We will proceed in such sort, with the help of Our

Lord, that Our case may be conducted to the praise of God and the

exaltation of the Faith, being affected by no blemish.

_The questions are read to Jeanne in prison._

_On the following Saturday, March 24th, in the prison of Jeanne; Maître

Jean Delafontaine, Commissioner for Us, the Bishop, and Brother Jean

Lemaître; assisted by J. Beaupère, N. Midi, P. Maurice, G. Feuillet,

Thomas de Courcelles, Enguerrand de Champrond._

In presence of the above-named, We caused to be read to Jeanne the

Register which contained the questions made to her and her answers. This

reading was made in the presence of the said Jeanne by G. Manchon,

Registrar, and in the French language.

But before proceeding to this reading, Our Promoter, Messire d’Estivet,

offered to prove, in case Jeanne should not recognize some of her

answers, that all the contents of the said Register, questions and

answers, had been pronounced as they were there written. And on her

side, Jeanne made oath that, during the reading, which was about to be

made, she would add or change nothing in her answers that was not the

truth.

The Register was then read. In one place during the reading, Jeanne

said:

“I have as surname d’Arc or Rommée: in my country the girls take the

name of their mother.”

Further on, she said:

“Let the questions and answers, all that has to be read, be read without

stopping: if I do not contradict at all, I hold it true and

acknowledged.”

On the subject of the passage relative to her dress, she said in

addition:

“Give me a woman’s dress to go and rejoin my mother; I will take it that

I may get out of prison, because when I am outside I will consider as to

what I should do.”

The reading of the contents of the said Register being finished, she

said:

“I believe certainly to have so spoken as it is written in the Register,

and as has been read; I do not contradict on any point.”

_Exhortation to Jeanne._

_Palm Sunday, 25th day of March, in the morning, in the prison of

Jeanne, in the Castle of Rouen, We, the Bishop, did make an address to

Jeanne, in the presence of the venerable Lords and Masters, J. Beaupère,

N. Midi, P. Maurice, Thomas de Courcelles._

We told her, that many times already and notably yesterday, she had

requested, because of the solemnity of these days and the time, that she

might be permitted to hear Mass to-day, Palm Sunday; in consequence, We

were come to ask her if, supposing this favour were accorded to her, she

would consent to put off her man’s dress, and to take the dress of a

woman, as formerly she had been accustomed to wear it in her

birth-place, and as worn by all the women of her country?

The said Jeanne answered by again asking of Us permission to hear Mass

in the dress she now wears, and in the same dress to receive the

Eucharist on Easter Day.

“Reply,” We said to her, “to what we ask you; tell us, in the event of

your being permitted to hear Mass, if you will consent to abandon the

dress you wear.”

“I have not consulted thereon,” she said, “and cannot yet take a woman’s

dress.”

“Do you wish to have counsel of your Saints to know if you ought to take

woman’s garments?”

“May I not then,” she said, “be permitted to hear Mass in the state in

which I am? I desire it ardently! As to changing my dress, I cannot: it

is not in my power.”

All the Assessors then joined themselves with Us, and each exhorted her,

for so great a benefit, and to satisfy the feeling of devotion with

which she seemed animated, to consent to take the only garment which was

suitable to her sex.

“That,” she declared, “is not in my power: if it were, it would soon be

done!”

“Speak of it to your Voices,” said the Assessors, “to know if you may

again take your woman’s dress, in order that at Easter you may receive

the Viaticum.”

“I cannot change my dress: I cannot therefore receive the Viaticum. I

beg of you, my Lords, permit me to hear Mass in man’s dress; this dress

does not weigh upon my soul, and is not contrary to the laws of the

Church.”

Of all the preceding, Master Jean d’Estivet, Promoter, hath asked that

there may be delivered to him a Public Instrument, in the presence of

the Lords and Masters, Adam Hillet, William Brolbster, and Pierre

Orient, of the Clergy of Rouen, London and Châlons, respectively.

THE TRIAL IN ORDINARY

_Here begins the Trial in Ordinary, after the Trial Ex-Officio._

_Monday after Palm Sunday, 26th day of March, in Bishop’s House.

Present: The Bishop and Brother Jean Lemaître, assisted by 12

Assessors._

In presence of the above, We caused to be read certain Articles

comprising that one which the Promoter intendeth to produce against

Jeanne.

After the reading of these Articles, it was decided that, following the

preliminary trial until now conducted from our Office, as We, the

Bishop, and subsequently We, the Deputy, have decreed and concluded, it

will be expedient to proceed henceforward by an action in Ordinary.

It was also decided that the Articles just read have been well put

together; that Jeanne should be questioned and heard upon each of them;

that these Articles shall be proposed, in the name of the Promoter, by

some grave advocate, or by the Promoter himself; that if Jeanne should

refuse to answer after a Canonical monition shall have been addressed to

her, as a preliminary, the said Articles shall be held as acknowledged.

Following on this decision, We, the Judges, gave order that the Articles

of which we treat shall, from to-morrow be proposed by our Promoter; and

that Jeanne should be, in like manner, interrogated upon each of them

and heard in answer.

_The Promoter presents his petition._

_The next day, Tuesday after Palm Sunday, 27th day of March, in the room

near the Great Hall of the Castle of Rouen. The Promoter opened the

case. Present: The Bishop and Brother Jean Lemaître, assisted by 38

Assessors._

He then shewed the text of the accusation drawn up by him against

Jeanne, in the which are found stated the Articles just spoken of, and

of which the tenour shall be written below.

This done, We, the Judges, did request the Lords and Masters here

present to deliberate and to give Us their opinion.

This deliberation[86] took place in presence of Jeanne, as follows:

And first, _Maître Nicolas de Venderès_ said: that Jeanne should in the

first place be compelled to swear what the Promoter hath rightly

demanded; that should Jeanne refuse to swear, she be accounted

contumacious and excommunicate, and be proceeded against according to

law.

_Maître Jean Pinchon_: That the Articles should first be read to her.

_Maître Jean Basset_: That the Articles should be read to her before she

be excommunicated.

_Maître Jean Guerin_: Agrees with preceding.

_Maître Jean Delafontaine_: Of the same opinion as M. Venderès.

_Maître Geoffrey de Crotay_: That she should be given at least three

days before being declared excommunicate and convicted; in civil matters

there is always a three days’ delay for taking the oath.

_Maître Jean Ledoux_: Agrees with preceding.

_Maître Gilles Deschamps_: That the Articles should be read to her, and

that a day should be assigned for her to answer.

_Maître Robert Barbier_: Agrees with preceding.

_The Lord Abbot of Fécamp_: She is bound to speak the truth on what

touches the Case; that, if she has not already been summoned to that

effect, she be so summoned with the due legal interval.

_Maître Jean de Châtillon_: She is bound to speak the truth, her own

affairs being in question.

_Maître Erard Ermengard_: Agrees with the Abbot of Fécamp.

_Maître Guillaume Lebouchier_: Agrees with the preceding.

_The Lord Prior of Longueville_: For those things to which she does not

know how to answer, it seems to be exacting too much to wish her to

reply by “I believe” or “I do not believe.”

_Maître Jean Beaupère_: To questions of fact on which she has certain

knowledge she should reply at once; to others, on which she has not

certain knowledge or which relate to law, delay should be granted if she

asks for it.

_Maître Jacques de Touraine_: Agrees with the preceding.

_Maître Nicolas Midi_: The same, with this addition: That the Jurists

should be consulted in order to decide if she should be constrained to

swear from the present time.

_Maître Maurice Duguesnay_: The same as the Abbot of Fécamp.

_Maître Jean de Nibat_: As to the Articles he would refer to the

Jurists; as to the oath, she is bound to swear regarding such things as

touch on the Trial or the Faith; if on other subjects she should ask

delay, let it be granted to her.

_Maître Jean Lefevre_: Refers to the Jurists.

_Maître Pierre Maurice_: She should answer to what she knows.

_Maître Gerard_: She is bound to reply on oath.

_Maître Jacques Guesdon_: Agrees with preceding.

_Maître Thomas de Courcelles_: She should answer; each Article should be

read to her, and she should answer them in order. As to delay, it should

be granted to her on such points of the subject as she should request

it.

_Maître André Marguerie_: She ought to swear on what touches the Case:

as to doubtful points she should be allowed delay.

_Maître Denis Gastinel_: She ought to swear; the Promoter is right to

demand her oath; as to what action should be taken in case she should

refuse, it would be necessary for him to consult his books.

_Maître Aubert Morel_, and _Maître Jean Duchemin_: She ought to swear.

* * * * *

The opinion of the others is lacking.

Then We, the Judges, considering the request of the Promoter, by the

advice of each of the Assessors, gave order, and do give order, that the

Articles just produced by the Promoter shall at once be read and shewn

in French to the said Jeanne, who, on each of them, shall answer

according to knowledge; and if there are any points on which she asks

delay, delay of right shall be granted to her.

Then the Promoter did abjure all calumny—that is to say, affirmed upon

oath, that he was not led to bring these Articles against the said

Jeanne by favour, rancour, hate or fear, but was solely animated by zeal

for the Faith.

These preliminaries being completed, We, the Bishop did address to

Jeanne a Canonical Admonition. We told her that all the Assessors were

ecclesiastical persons of consummate knowledge, experts in law, human

and divine, who desired and intended to proceed against her, as they had

already done up to this time, with kindness and piety, and that, far

from seeking vengeance or punishment, they desired, on the contrary,

only her instruction and return into the way of truth and salvation.

“But because you are neither well enough taught nor instructed in these

arduous matters, by yourself, to provide what you should do or say, We

offer you to choose for counsel such of the Assessors as you shall be

pleased to point out; if you do not of yourself know how to make this

choice, We offer to do it for you, and to point out to you some who will

counsel you on what you have to answer or do, on the condition always,

that in matters of pure faith you will answer yourself, and charging you

to swear to speak the truth on those things which are personal to

yourself.”

* * * * *

To Our exhortation, Jeanne replied in these terms:

“First, as to that on which you admonish me for my good and for our

Faith, I thank you and all the company also; as to the counsel which you

offer me, also I thank you; but I have no intention of desisting from

the counsel of Our Lord. As to the oath that you wish me to make, I am

ready to speak the truth on all that touches the Case.”

And thus did she swear, her hands on the Holy Gospels.

After this, by Our order were read the Articles contained in the

document which the Promoter hath just deposited. Each of these Articles

was read to Jeanne in the French language by Thomas de Courcelles; and

she was called upon to reply in succession to each of these Articles:

which she did. The completion of this formality hath filled up the end

of the Sitting for this day, and all the Sitting of the next day.

_Jeanne is interrogated in prison on submission to the Church._

_And the following Saturday, the last day of the month of March, Easter

Eve, under the presidency of Us, the aforesaid Judges, in Jeanne’s

prison, being assisted by the Lords and Masters, Jean Beaupère, J. de

Touraine, N. Midi, P. Maurice, G. Feuillet, G. Haiton, and T. de

Courcelles; Guillaume Muton and John Gris, witnesses:_

Jeanne hath been questioned as follows, touching sundry points on which

she did, as hath been seen, ask delay for reply:

“Will you refer yourself to the judgment of the Church on earth for all

you have said or done, be it good or bad? Especially will you refer to

the Church the cases, crimes, and offences which are imputed to you and

everything which touches on this Trial?”

“On all that I am asked I will refer to the Church Militant, provided

they do not command anything impossible. And I hold as a thing

impossible to declare that my actions and my words and all that I have

answered on the subject of my visions and revelations I have not done

and said by the order of God: this, I will not declare for anything in

the world. And that which God hath made me do, hath commanded or shall

command, I will not fail to do for any man alive. It would be impossible

for me to revoke it. And in case the Church should wish me to do

anything contrary to the command which has been given me of God, I will

not consent to it, whatever it may be.”

“If the Church Militant tells you that your revelations are illusions,

or diabolical things, will you defer to the Church?”

“I will defer to God, Whose Commandment I always do. I know well that

that which is contained in my Case has come to me by the Commandment of

God; what I affirm in the Case is, that I have acted by the order of

God: it is impossible for me to say otherwise. In case the Church should

prescribe the contrary, I should not refer to any one in the world, but

to God alone, Whose Commandment I always follow.”

“Do you not then believe you are subject to the Church of God which is

on earth, that is to say to our Lord the Pope, to the Cardinals, the

Archbishops, Bishops, and other prelates of the Church?”

“Yes, I believe myself to be subject to them; but God must be served

first.”

“Have you then command from your Voices not to submit yourself to the

Church Militant, which is on earth, nor to its decision?”

“I answer nothing from my own head; what I answer is by command of my

Voices; they do not order me to disobey the Church, but God must be

served first.”

“At the Castle of Beaurevoir, at Arras or elsewhere, had you any files?”

“If any were found upon me, I have nothing to say.”

This done we did retire, postponing to another day the continuation of

this present Trial for Belief.

_Choice is made of assertions on which the deliberation should bear, and

these assertions are drawn up in Twelve Articles._

_The Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday after Easter, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

of April, in the year of Our Lord, 1431._

We, the Judges, have convoked sundry Doctors and Masters with whom we

have carefully examined the Seventy Articles which have been recently

transcribed, together with the questions and answers of Jeanne, attached

to each of these Seventy Articles.

This examination carried out, We did decide that it is expedient to

extract from this collection certain assertions and propositions, and to

embody these assertions and propositions in Twelve Articles only, which

shall thus comprehend, in a summary and succinct manner, the greater

part of the sayings of the Accused.

These Twelve Articles having been prepared, We, the Judges, did decree

that it is expedient to transmit these Articles to the Doctors, and

others, expert in laws Divine and human, in order to have from them, for

the benefit of the Faith, advice and counsel on the character of the

assertions therein contained. [The Twelve Articles of Accusation will be

found in the Appendix, p. 366.]

_The Twelve Articles are sent to the Committee._

_The following Thursday, April 5th_, We, the Judges, sent the Articles

in question to each of the Doctors and Masters having knowledge thereof,

whom we knew were to be found in this town. We accompanied our missive

with a letter of requisition for each of them, couched in these terms:

“We, Pierre, by the Divine mercy Bishop of Beauvais, and Brother Jean

Lemaître, Vicar of the Inquisition, To you, such an one [here followeth

the name, surname, and quality of the Doctor or Master], we pray you,

and for the good of the Faith, require you, that before Tuesday next you

will give us in writing and under your seal wholesome counsel on the

subject of the assertions borne in the Twelve Articles hereto annexed,

in order to know if, the said assertions being by you maturely weighed,

considered, and compared, all or any of them seem to you contrary to the

Orthodox Faith, or, on any point contrary to Holy Writ, to the decisions

of the Holy Roman Church, to the decisions of Doctors approved by the

Church, or to the Canonical sanction; and if all or any seem to you

scandalous, audacious, disturbing to the Commonwealth, injurious,

criminal, contrary to good manners, or culpable in any other manner

whatsoever; and in effect for you to say what appears to you should be

enacted with regard to them in a matter of Faith. Written at Rouen,

Thursday after Easter, April 5th, the year of our Lord, 1431.”

EXHORTATIONS AND ADMONITIONS.

_Private Exhortation by the Bishop._

_Wednesday, 18th day of April_, We, the Judges, having cognizance

already by the deliberations and opinions of a great number of Doctors

in Theology and in Canon Law, of Licentiates and other Graduates, of the

many and considerable errors brought out in the replies and assertions

of the said Jeanne, and knowing that she doth expose herself, if she

doth not correct herself, to serious dangers:

For this reason, We did decide to exhort her charitably, to admonish her

gently, and to cause her to be gently admonished by many men of

knowledge and probity, Doctors and others, in order to lead her back

into the way of truth and to a sincere profession of our Faith.

To this end, We did to-day repair to the place of her prison, having

with us Guillaume Lebouchier, Jacques de Touraine, Maurice de Quesnay,

Nicolas Midi, Guillaume Adelie, Gerard Feuillet, and Guillaume Haiton.

In their presence We, the Bishop, did begin to speak to Jeanne, who

declared herself ill.[87] We told her that the Doctors and Masters who

accompanied Us were come to see her in a friendly and charitable way, to

visit her in her suffering and to bring her consolation and comfort.

Then, We recalled to her, that she had been during many days, and at

divers times, and in presence of many ecclesiastics full of wisdom,

questioned on points, grave and difficult, concerning the Faith; that

she had made answers, varied and diverse, which wise and lettered men

have examined with the most scrupulous attention; that they have noted

many of her words and avowals which, from the point of view of the

Faith, have appeared to them perilous; but that she is only a poor

illiterate woman, who knoweth not the Scriptures. We come to her and We

offer her learned and wise men, watchful and honest, who will give her,

as is their duty, the knowledge which she hath not. And at the same time

We did exhort the Doctors and Masters here present to give to Jeanne,

counsel profitable to the salvation of her body and soul, and this in

virtue of the duty which binds them to the doctrine of the true Faith.

If Jeanne should know others who appear to her more apt than the Doctors

here present, We offer to send them to her to counsel and instruct her

on what she should do, maintain, and believe. We added that we are all

Clergy, always disposed by vocation, will and inclination, to seek by

all means the salvation of body and soul, absolutely, as we should do it

for our nearest and for ourselves. We shall be happy to furnish her each

day with such men to procure her the instruction that We owe her, and to

do towards her all that the Church is accustomed to do in such

circumstances, she who shutteth not the fold against the repentant lamb.

Finally We told her to take into great consideration this admonition

which We address to her for her salvation, and to follow it up

efficiently: for, if she should act in opposition to Our words, if she

should be obstinate in her own mind in consulting only her inexperienced

brain, we must abandon her; and she can see to what peril she doth

expose herself in this case. It is this peril which We seek to avoid for

her with all the power of Our affection.

To which Jeanne hath answered:

“I thank you for what you say to me for my salvation. It seems to me,

seeing how ill I am, that I am in great danger of death: if it be that

God may do His pleasure on me, I ask of you that I may have confession,

and my Saviour also, and that I may be put in holy ground.”

“If you will have the rights [_droits_] and Sacraments of the Church,”

We said to her, “you must do as good Catholics do, and submit yourself

to the Church. If you persevere in your intention of not submitting to

the Church, you cannot have the Sacraments you ask administered to you,

except the Sacrament of Penance, which We are always ready to give you.”

“I have for the moment nothing else to say to you.”

“The more you fear for your life, on account of the illness that you

have, the more should you amend; you will not have the rights of a

Catholic if you do not submit to the Church.”

“If my body dies in prison, I trust that you will have it put in holy

ground; if you do not have it put there, I place my trust in God!”

“You said in your Trial that if you had said or done anything against

the Christian Faith established by Our Lord, you would not maintain it.”

“I refer to the answer that I have made to that, and to Our Lord.”

“You say you have had many revelations from God by Saint Michael, Saint

Catherine and Saint Margaret: if any good person were to come affirming

that he had revelations from God touching your mission, would you

believe him?”

“There is no Christian in this world who could come to me and say he had

had a revelation but that I should know if he were speaking truly or

not; I should know it by Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret.”

“You imagine then that God can reveal nothing to any one which is

unknown to you?”

“I know well that He can; but for me, I should not believe in this case

any man or woman if I had not some sign.”

“Do you believe that the Holy Scriptures have been revealed by God?”

“You know it well; I know it well!”

“We summon you, We exhort you, We beseech you to take counsel of the

Clerks and notable Masters here present, and to believe in the counsel

that they will give you for the salvation of your soul. And once more We

ask you if you will submit to the Church Militant your sayings and your

doings?”

“Whatever may happen to me, I will do and say no other thing than what I

have already said in the Trial.”

Here the venerable Doctors who were assisting Us did exhort her with the

most lively instance and did strive to obtain from her that she would

submit herself and her acts to the Church Militant. They cited to her a

number of authorities taken from Holy Scripture, and shewed her numerous

examples. They enlarged upon these authorities and these examples. One

of the Doctors,[88] in his exhortation, brought forward this passage of

Matthew, chapter xviii.: “If thy brother sin against thee, go and tell

him his fault between thee and him alone”; and this other, “If he will

not hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen-man and a

publican.” He shewed to Jeanne these truths in French, and said to her

at the end, that if she would not submit to the Church and obey it, the

Church must abandon her as an Infidel [_sarrazine_].

“I am a good Christian,” she answered, “I have been baptized; I shall

die a good Christian!”

“As you ask that the Church should administer the Eucharist to you, why

will you not submit to the Church? It would be administered to you at

once.”

“Of this submission I will say no more than I have said: I love God, I

serve Him; I am a good Christian; I wish to help and maintain the Church

with all my power.”

“Do you not wish that a good and notable procession might be ordained to

restore you to a good estate if you are not therein?”

“I desire that the Church and the Catholics should pray for me.”

_Public Admonition by the Judges._

_Wednesday, the 2nd day of May, the Judges held a sitting in the room of

the Castle of Rouen near the Great Hall of the same Castle; assisted by

63 Assessors._

We, the Bishop, did first address to the above-named the following

words:

“After having been thoroughly questioned, this woman hath had to reply

to the Articles judicially prepared against her by the Promoter; then We

have had a summary made of her avowals and declarations in a succinct

and abridged form of assertions in Twelve Articles, which We have

addressed to the Doctors and other persons consummate in knowledge of

Theology, of Civil Law and of Canon Law, in order to have their advice.

By the answers which many amongst them have for some time past been

sending, We have been able to recognize that, in their eyes, this woman

hath fallen short in many things: but nothing as regards this has as yet

been decided by Us; and before We come to a final decision, many honest

men, conscientious and wise, have thought it would be well to seek by

all means to instruct her on the points in which she seems to be

lacking, and to reinstate her in the way and knowledge of the truth.

This result We have always desired, and We ardently desire it still. For

We ought all to bend ourselves thereto, We who live in the Church, and

in the ministration of holy things; We ought to strive to shew to this

woman with all gentleness that she is, by her words and by her actions,

outside the Faith, the truth, and religion, and to warn her charitably

to think of her salvation.

“We were indeed penetrated with this idea when We attempted to convince

her, in sending to her, divers times and privately, eminent Doctors,

sometimes one, sometimes another. These Doctors have responded to our

call with the greatest zeal, and have occupied themselves with her with

the greatest gentleness, abstaining in every way from coercion. But the

cunning of the Devil has continued to prevail, and their efforts have

been able to produce nothing.

“Now that it has become certain to Us that private admonitions are of no

effect with her, it appears to Us opportune to assemble you together in

a solemn manner, in order that this woman should be admonished before

you with gentleness and charity on the necessity of her return [to

truth]. Perchance your presence and the exhortations of some among you

will better induce her to humility and obedience, and turn her back from

continuing obstinate in her own ideas; perchance she will believe the

counsels of worthy men, of the wise, versed in the science of the laws,

divine and human; she will cease to expose herself to the gravest

dangers into which body and soul can fall.

“In order to address to her this solemn admonition, We have chosen an

ancient Master in Theology, very learned and singularly well versed in

these matters, Maître Jean de Châtillon, Archdeacon of Evreux, who, if

it so please him, will shortly accept this charge of demonstrating

clearly to this woman sundry points on the which her error is evident,

according to what we have already gathered from the opinions which have

reached Us, and who will persuade her to leave the criminal path where

she now is, to return again to that of truth.

“It is for this purpose that this woman will be brought before you

presently; she will, therefore, receive in your presence a solemn

admonition. Now, if there be any one among you who thinketh that he hath

anything to say or do which may facilitate her return, or instruct her

in a manner profitable to the salvation of her body and soul, we beseech

him not to hesitate to open himself to Us or to state his views

publicly.”

* * * * *

Jeanne was then brought, and placed before the assembly.

We, the Bishop, in our name and in the name of the other Judge, did give

her counsel to attend to the monitions about to be made to her by the

aforesaid Lord Archdeacon, Professor in Sacred Theology, who was about

to say many things profitable to the salvation of her body and soul, and

that she ought to agree, for if she did not, she would expose herself to

great dangers both soul and body.

Then we, the said Judges, did invite the said Lord Archdeacon to proceed

with charity to the performance of the said monitions. Obeying our

order, the said Lord Archdeacon did begin to instruct the said Jeanne,

by shewing her a great number of things contained in a schedule whose

tenour will be presently transcribed. He first shewed her that all the

faithful in Christ are bound and obliged to believe the Christian Faith,

and certain Articles of this Faith; and he did warn and beseech her, by

means of a general monition, to correct and amend both herself and her

deeds; he reminded her that this was the advice of the venerable Doctors

and Masters of consummate experience and skill.

To this general monition, Jeanne replied:

“Read your book” [speaking of the writing which the Lord Archdeacon held

in his hand], “read your book, then I will answer. I rely upon God, my

Creator, for everything. I love Him with all my heart.”

Asked if she had anything more to say to this general monition, she

replied:

“I rely on my Judge: He is the King of Heaven and earth.”

Afterwards the Lord Archdeacon, proceeding to special monitions, did, in

conformity with a writing which he had under his eyes, speak as follows:

[Here follows, in the Original Documents, an Exhortation in Six

Articles, addressed to Jeanne in the French language by the Archdeacon,

on her submission to the Church, her dress, her Visions and

Revelations.]

_Jeanne replies to the Six Articles._

On the 1st and 2nd Article, she said:

“Thereupon I answer to-day as I have done before.”

On the subject of the Church Militant, she said:

“I believe indeed in the Church which is here below; but for my words

and deeds, as I have said elsewhere, I rely on and refer me to the only

God. I believe that the Church Militant cannot err or fail; but as to my

words and deeds, I submit them and refer all to God, Who caused me to do

what I have done. I submit me to God, my Creator, Who caused me to do

all these things; I refer me to God thereupon and to my own self.”

“Do you mean by this to say that you have no judge on earth? Is not our

Holy Father, the Pope, your judge?”

“I will say nothing else to you. I have a good Master, that is God; it

is to Him I look in everything and to none other.”

“If you will not believe in the Church, if you will not believe that

Article of the Creed, ‘the Church, One, Holy, Catholic,’ you will be

declared a heretic and, by other judges, punished with the pains of

fire.”

“I will say no more to you, and, if I saw the fire, I should say all

that I am saying to you, and naught else.”[89]

“If a General Council—that is to say, our Holy Father the Pope, the

Cardinals, Bishops and others—were here, would you not then refer and

submit yourself to this Holy Council?”

“You shall drag nothing else from me upon this.”

“Will you submit to our Holy Father the Pope?”

“Take me to him, I will reply to him.” [She would answer no more.]

On the subject of the 3rd Article, she replied:

“As to my garments, I will indeed take a long dress and a woman’s hood

to go to Church and to receive there the Sacrament of the Eucharist—as I

said elsewhere—provided that, directly after, I may put off that dress

and take again what I bear at this moment.” And when it was suggested to

her that she had taken this dress without necessity, especially while in

prison, she said: “When I have done that for which I am sent by God, I

will resume woman’s dress.”

“Do you think you do well to wear a man’s dress?”

“I refer me to Our Lord.”

“Will you leave off wearing this dress and the believing that you do

right in wearing it? Will you resume a woman’s dress?”

“I will do nothing different.”

On the subject of the 4th Article she replied:

“I have blasphemed neither God nor His Saints.”

“When Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret came to you, did you make the

sign of the Cross?”

“Sometimes I made it, sometimes not.”

On the subject of the 5th Article she answered:

“As to my revelations, I refer me to my Judge—that is to say, to God. My

revelations came to me from God direct.”

“On the subject of the sign given to your King, will you refer to the

Archbishop of Rheims, to the Sire de Boussac,[90] to Charles de Bourbon,

to the Seigneur de la Trémouille, and to Etienne, called La Hire, to

whom or to some of whom you say that you shewed the crown, these being

present when the Angel brought it to the King, who afterwards gave it to

the Archbishop? or will you consent to refer to some of your party who

may write under their seal about it?”

“Give me a messenger and I will write to them about this Trial.” [She

would not believe in, or refer otherwise to them.]

On the subject of the 6th Article, she answered:

“I refer to my Judge—that is to say, to Our Lord—and to what I have

before answered, which is written in the book.”

“If three or four Clergy of your party are sent to you, coming under a

safe conduct, will you refer yourself to them on the subject of your

apparitions and of all that is contained in your trial?”

“Let them come; I will answer.” [She would not refer nor otherwise

submit to them on the subject of the trial.]

“Will you refer or submit yourself to the Church of Poitiers, where you

were examined?”

“Do you think you will take me in that way, and draw me to you by it?”

Afterwards, to conclude, she was anew and in full, generally warned by

the Lord Archdeacon to submit to the Church under pain of being

abandoned by the Church. He said, and repeated to her, that, if the

Church abandoned her, she would be in great peril both of body and soul,

and would fall into danger of the pains of eternal fire as to her soul

and, by sentence of other Judges, into danger of temporal fire for her

body.

To which she answered:

“You will not do what you say against me without evil overtaking you,

body and soul!”

“Tell us a reason, one only, why you should refuse to refer yourself to

the Church.”

[But she would make Us no other answer.]

Afterwards, many Doctors and competent people of divers estates and

faculties, set themselves to admonish and to counsel her with

gentleness. They exhorted her to submit to the Church Universal, to our

Holy Father the Pope, and to the Sacred General Council. They explained

to her the peril to which she exposed both soul and body in refusing to

submit herself and her deeds to the judgment of the Church Militant.

[She answered as before.]

And then We, the Bishop, told Jeanne to think well over it, to take good

heed to the monitions, counsels, and exhortations which had just been

made to her, and to reflect on them most seriously.

Jeanne expressed herself thus:

“What time will you give me to think over it?”

We told her that she could think over it at once, and answer as she

wished. But, as she would reply no more, we retired, and Jeanne was

conducted back to prison.

_Wednesday, May 9th, We, the Judges, being in the great Tower of the

Castle of Rouen, assisted by the reverend Fathers, Doctors and Masters

whose names follow: the Reverend Father Abbot of Corneille de Compiègne,

Jean de Chatillon, Guillaume Erard, André Marguerie, Nicolas de

Venderès, Guillaume Haiton, Aubert Morel, Nicolas Loyseleur, Jean

Massieu: did cause Jeanne to be brought before us._

We did require and warn her:

To speak the truth to Us on divers and numerous points on which she hath

hitherto refused to reply or hath replied untruthfully, the which are

established in the highest degree by informations, proofs, and grave

presumptions. A great number of these points were read and shewn to her.

Then she was told that, if she would not tell the truth, she would

immediately be put to the torture, the instruments of which were here,

in this same tower, under her eyes. There also were present the

executioners, who by Our order had made all the necessary preparations

for torturing her, in order to bring her back by this means into the way

and knowledge of the truth, and thus to procure for her salvation both

of body and soul, which she doth expose to such grave peril by her lying

inventions.

To which Jeanne replied in this manner:

“Truly if you were to tear me limb from limb, and separate soul and

body, I will tell you nothing more; and, if I were to say anything else,

I should always afterwards declare that you made me say it by force.

Last Thursday[91] I received comfort from Saint Gabriel; I believe it

was Saint Gabriel: I knew by my Voices it was he. I asked counsel of my

Voices if I ought to submit to the Church, because the Clergy were

pressing me hard to submit, and they said to me: ‘If thou willest that

God should come to thy help, wait on Him for all thy doings.’ I know

that Our Lord hath always been the Master of all my doings, and that the

Devil hath never had power over them. I asked of my Voices if I should

be burned, and my Voices answered me: ‘Wait on Our Lord, He will help

thee.’”

“On the subject of the crown which you say was given to the Archbishop

of Rheims, will you defer to him?”

“Make him come here, and I will hear him speak, and then I will answer

you. Nevertheless, he dare not say the contrary to what I have said

thereon.”

Seeing the hardness of her heart, and her manner of replying, We, the

Judges, fearing that the punishment of the torture would profit her

little, decided that it was expedient to delay it, at least for the

present, and until We have had thereupon more complete advice.

_Saturday, May 12th, in the abode of Us, the Bishop,[92] We, the Judges,

having taken our seats, assisted by the venerable Doctors and Masters

whose names follow:—Raoul Roussell, Nicolas de Venderès, André

Marguerie, Guillaume Erard, Robert Barbier, Denis Gastinel, Jean Ledoux,

Aubert Morel, Thomas de Courcelles, Nicolas Coppequesne, Nicolas

Loyseleur, Brother Ysambard de la Pierre._

We, the Bishop, did make known to the Assessors what had taken place on

the previous Wednesday, and ask their counsel on what should be now

done; We did in particular consult them on the question of submitting

Jeanne to the torture.

[Here follow the deliberations of the fourteen Assessors consulted, only

two of whom, Aubert Morel and Thomas de Courcelles, recommended recourse

to the torture. Nicolas Loyseleur considered it “a salutary medicine for

her soul,” but nevertheless agreed that it should not be adopted.]

We, the Judges, after having gathered the opinion of each, taking into

consideration the answers made by Jeanne at the Sitting on Wednesday

last, taking into consideration also the disposition of her mind, her

will so energetically manifested, and all the other circumstances of the

Case, decide that it is neither profitable nor expedient to submit her

to the torture; and for the rest, We will proceed later.

[The Twelve Articles of the Indictment, or Accusation, were sent to the

University of Paris, for their consideration and report, by the hands of

Maîtres Jean Beaupère, Nicolas Midi, Jacques de Touraine, and Gerard

Feuillet, who left Rouen for this purpose on April 19th. On April 29th,

the University was solemnly convoked at Saint-Bernard to consider the

question; on May 14th, the deliberation of the Faculty of Theology and

the Faculty of Decrees was submitted to all the Faculties, solemnly

assembled for that purpose, and adopted by the University as its own.

Letters from the University of Paris were sent to the Bishop of Beauvais

and to King Henry VI. on the same day, by the messengers then returning

to Rouen.]

_The Bishop communicates the Resolutions of the University of Paris

[approving of the Twelve Articles], and asks the advice of all the

Doctors present._

_Saturday, May 19th, in the Chapel of the Archiepiscopal Manor of

Rouen.—Present: the Judges, assisted by 51 Assessors._

In presence of the above named, We, the Bishop, said:

For a long time, We have been receiving a very considerable number of

Resolutions and opinions, coming from notable Doctors and Masters, on

the subject of the assertions made and confessed by Jeanne. We might

awhile since have proceeded to the conclusion of the Process, basing

Ourselves on these Resolutions, because these Resolutions were assuredly

quite sufficient. But in order to testify all honour and all respect

towards our Mother, the University of Paris; to have on the matter a

more full and complete elucidation; to give to consciences more

guarantee and surety: We did decide to send the assertions in question

to Our Mother the University of Paris, and principally to the Faculties

of Theology and of Decrees; and to beseech the deliberation of the

Doctors and Masters of the said University, principally of the said two

Faculties of Theology and Decrees. The University—in particular, the

said two Faculties—being ardently enflamed with zeal for the Faith—have

maturely and solemnly given their opinion upon each of the assertions,

and have sent them to Us in the form of a Public Instrument.

This statement ended, We gave orders that the Resolutions contained in

the said Instrument should be read.

Afterwards, upon the reading of the Resolutions of the said two

Faculties and the said University, each of the Doctors and Masters

present did give and explain his opinion: and this, in addition to the

opinion already given for the most part in the deliberations reported

above.

The opinion of all is in conformity with the Resolutions of the

University and of the two Faculties; and it doth bear not only on the

qualifications to be given to the assertions comprised in the Twelve

Articles, but also on the manner of proceeding which shall be followed

finally.

_Here follow the deliberations of the Doctors and Masters_; [agreeing

with the Resolutions of the University, and advising that Jeanne should

be again charitably admonished and warned before a final sentence be

pronounced.]

For all which, We, the Judges, thanked the reverend Fathers, Lords, and

Masters.

We decided that Jeanne should be again warned to return into the way of

truth and salvation of soul and body.

Besides, and in accordance with the excellent deliberations which had

just taken place, and with the counsels full of sense just enunciated,

We decided that We will, after this last monition, pronounce the closing

of the Process and give a day for the announcement of the sentence.

FINAL SESSION AND SENTENCE. RECANTATION.

_Wednesday, May 23rd, We, the Judges, assisted by the reverend Fathers

and Lords the Bishops of Thérouanne and de Noyon; and the Doctors and

Masters Jean de Châtillon, Jean Beaupère, Nicolas Midi, Guillaume

Erard_, _Pierre Maurice, André Marguerie and Nicolas de Venderès, seated

ourselves in tribunal in a room in the Castle of Rouen, situated near

the place which serves Jeanne as prison._

We did cause the said Jeanne to be brought before Us, because We judged

it profitable to shew her the points on which the Faculties of Theology

and Decrees of the University of Paris have declared that she hath erred

and fallen short; We have judged it profitable also to make known to her

the omissions, crimes and errors which, in the terms of the Resolutions

of each of these Faculties, exist on each of these same points; and

afterwards, to warn her, or cause her to be warned, to abandon these

errors and shortcomings: to correct and submit herself, in fine, to the

censure and judgment of Our Holy Mother the Church.

Maître Pierre Maurice, Canon of the Church of Rouen, a celebrated Doctor

in Theology, hath been charged by us with this mission, and he hath

fulfilled it by addressing to Jeanne the words written by him in French

in a schedule thus expressed.

[Here follows a recapitulation of the Twelve Articles, with the opinion,

adverse to Jeanne, given upon them by the Clerics consulted.]

After these assertions had been thus shewn to her, and the decision of

the University of Paris upon each of them had been made known to her,

Jeanne was admonished, in the French language, by the said Doctor Pierre

Maurice to pay great attention to the character given to her sayings and

deeds by this decision of the University of Paris. Above all he did

exhort her to reflect well on the gravity of the error contained in her

refusal to submit to the Church Militant.

And he concluded by thus speaking to her:

“Jeanne, my very dear friend, it is now time, at the end of your Trial,

to reflect well on all that has been said to you. This is the fourth

time[93] that the Lord Bishop of Beauvais, the Lord Vicar of the

Inquisition, and other Doctors who have been thereto appointed, have,

either in public or in private, in honour and reverence for God, for the

Faith, and the Law of Jesus Christ, for the tranquillity of their own

consciences and for the alleviation of so great a scandal, admonished

you with the greatest zeal—so great is their care for the salvation of

your soul and body! Four times have been made known to you the perils

which endanger your soul and body, if you do not at last consent to

correct yourself and your sayings by submitting to the Church, yourself

and your deeds, and by accepting her judgment.

“Up to this time you have obstinately refused. And although many others

might long since have declared the Case heard and have given judgment

upon you, nevertheless my Lords your Judges, enflamed with zeal for the

salvation of your soul and body, desired, in order to have their advice,

to send your sayings and deeds to the University, that light of all

Science, that extirpator of all error. The resolutions of the University

of Paris have come to your Judges. They have then decided, always in the

hope of your salvation, to admonish you once again, to again call your

attention to your errors, your scandals and all the faults that you have

committed in such great number.

“They exhort you, your Judges, they beseech you, they admonish you by

the bowels of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath suffered a cruel death for

the redemption of man, they beseech you to correct your words, to submit

them to the judgment of the Church, as all the faithful are bound and

obliged to do. Do not allow yourself to be separated from Our Lord Jesus

Christ, Who hath created you to be a sharer in His glory; do not choose

the way of eternal damnation with the enemies of God, who daily set

their wits to work to find means to trouble mankind, transforming

themselves often, to this end, into the likeness of Our Lord, of Angels

and of Saints, as is seen but too often in the lives of the Fathers and

in the Scriptures.

“Therefore, if such things have appeared to you, do not believe them.

The belief which you may have had in such illusions, put it away from

you. Believe rather in the words and opinions of the University of Paris

and other Doctors, who, knowing the law of God and Holy Scripture,

decide that no faith should be placed in such apparitions, nor should

faith be placed in any extraordinary apparitions, in any novelty which

is not supported by Holy Scripture, by a sign, or by a miracle.

“You have very lightly believed in such things, you who have not turned

to God in earnest prayer that He would grant you certainty; you who, to

enlighten yourself, have not applied to a prelate or a learned

ecclesiastic. This you ought to have done: it was your duty, considering

your estate and the simplicity of your knowledge.

“Let us take an example: If your King had given you a treasure to guard,

forbidding you to receive any one, whoever it might be, should you not

refuse to receive one who presented himself to you, saying he came by

order of the King, unless he brought you a letter or some certain sign?

For the Church it is the same thing: when Our Lord Jesus Christ,

ascending into Heaven, confided the government of His Church to the

blessed Apostle Peter and his successors, He forbade us to accept

anything from others who might come in His Name, who should have for the

support of their mission only their own sayings. You ought not to have

put faith in those whom you say came to you; and we also, we ought not

to believe in you, since Our Lord hath expressly commanded the contrary.

“Reflect, Jeanne, upon this: if, when you were in your King’s realm, a

soldier or another, born in his kingdom and placed under his dominion,

had suddenly risen and said, ‘I will not obey the King, I will not

submit either to him or his officers,’ would you not have said yourself

that this man should be condemned? But what will you say of yourself,

you, brought up in the Faith of Christ, if you do not obey the officers

of Christ—that is to say, the Prelates of the Church? What judgment will

you give on yourself? Cease, therefore, to hold this damnable speech, if

you love God, your Creator, your Spouse, and your Salvation: obey the

Church, consent to submit to its judgment; know well that, if you do

not, if you persevere in your error, your soul will be condemned to

eternal punishment; and, for your body, I fear much that it will come to

perdition. [_Anima vestra damnabitur supplicio perpetuo crucianda, et de

corpore plurimum dubito ne in perditionem veniat._]

“Let not fear of the world hold you back; do not give way to the fear of

losing, by doing as I ask you, the great honours you have received. The

honour of God and the salvation of your body and soul must be preferred

before all. All is perishable, save only what I tell you to do. If you

do it not, you separate yourself from the Church and from the Faith to

which you have sworn in Holy Baptism; you detach yourself from the

authority of the Church, from the Church which is led, ruled, and

governed by the authority of the Spirit of God. Did not God say to the

chiefs of the Church: ‘He that heareth you heareth Me, he that despiseth

you despiseth Me’? If you will not submit to the Church, you separate

yourself in deed, and you refuse at the same time to submit yourself to

God; you are in error on this article of the Faith, ‘the Church, One,

Holy, and Catholic.’ What this Church and her authority is, hath been

sufficiently explained to you in former monitions.

“Thus have my Lords the Bishop of Beauvais and the Vicar of the

Inquisition, your Judges, charged me to tell you.

“And now, I admonish, I beseech, I exhort you, in the name of your

devotion to the Passion of your Creator, and of the affection you should

bear to the salvation of your body and soul, I admonish, I beseech you,

amend yourself, return into the way of truth, obey the Church, submit to

her judgment and decision.

“In thus acting you will save your soul; you will redeem—so I

believe—your body from death. But if you do not, if you persist, know

that your soul will be overwhelmed by damnation, and I fear for the

destruction of your body.

“May Our Saviour Jesus Christ preserve you from all these evils!”

* * * * *

After being thus admonished and exhorted, Jeanne did reply:

“As to my words and deeds, such as I have declared them in the Trial, I

refer to them and will maintain them.”

“Do you not, then,” We asked her, “think yourself bound to submit your

words and deeds to the Church Militant, or to any other but God?”

She replied: “What I have always said in the Trial, and held, I wish

still to say and maintain. If I were condemned, if I saw the fire

lighted, the faggots prepared, and the executioner ready to kindle the

fire, and if I myself were in the fire, I would not say otherwise, and

would maintain to the death all I have said.”[94]

Then, We, the Judges, asked of the Promoter and of Jeanne herself if

they had anything else to say. They replied, No. In consequence, We did

proceed to close the Process, following the formula contained in a

schedule which We, the Bishop, held in Our hands, and which was thus

expressed:

We, the Judges, competent in this Process, declare anew our competence

in so far as is necessary;

Considering the declaration just made by the Promoter and the Accused

that they have no more to say;

_We declare the Process concluded_;[95] and, this conclusion pronounced,

We summon you both to-morrow to hear the law which will be laid down by

Us, and the sentence which shall be pronounced by Us, to be afterwards

carried out and proceeded with according to law and right.

_On Thursday after Whitsuntide, the 24th day of May in the morning_, We,

the Judges, did repair to a solemn Assembly, publicly held in the

Cemetery of the Abbey of Saint-Ouen, at Rouen.[96] We did have with

us:—_The most reverend Father in Christ, Henry, by Divine Permission

Priest of the Holy Roman Church, under the title of Saint Eusebius,

usually called the Cardinal of England; the reverend Fathers in Christ,

the Lords Bishops of Thérouanne, Noyon, and Norwich; the Lords Abbot of

Saint Trinité de Fécamp, of Saint Ouen of Rouen, of Jumièges, Bec,

Cormeilles, Saint-Michel au Peril-de-la-Mer, Mortemer, and Preaux; the

Priors of Longueville-la-Giffard, and Saint Lo of Rouen; and many

others._

Jeanne was placed opposite to Us on a scaffold or platform prepared for

this purpose.

First of all, We did charge Maître Guillaume Érard, Doctor in Theology,

a preacher of great renown, to pronounce a solemn sermon for the

salutary admonition of Jeanne and the great crowd which surrounded us.

This Doctor began by taking for text that Word of God in St. John,