THE REHABILITATION
_In the following Enquiries and Depositions, it has been considered
advisable, in order to avoid unnecessary repetitions, to give
extracts only from certain of the Depositions. The names of all
witnesses are given in full, and no evidence of importance is
omitted._
_In the Original, the whole of the first Enquiry is in French, the
second and third are in Latin._
_An Introductory Note to the Rehabilitation will be found in the
Appendix on p. 371._
[Illustration: PORTE S^T. HONORÉ]
THE FIRST ENQUIRY: 1449.
[_The King’s Rescript, being a Letter of Commission to Maître Guillaume
Bouillé, was granted by Charles VII., for an Enquiry into the case of
Jeanne d’Arc._]
EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES.
BROTHER JEAN TOUTMOUILLÉ, _of the Order of Saint Dominic, (Examined, 5th
day of March), 1449_.[105]
As to the feeling of the Judges and those who conducted the Trial of the
said Jeanne, I neither assisted nor was I present at the Trial. I can
say nothing, therefore, as to what I saw; but the common report was,
that they persecuted her from desire of perverse vengeance, and of this
they gave sign and appearance. For, before her death, the English
proposed to lay siege to Louviers; soon, however, they changed their
purpose, saying they would not besiege the said town until the Maid had
been examined. What followed was evident proof of this; for, immediately
after she was burnt, they went to besiege Louviers, considering that
during her life they could have neither glory nor success in deeds of
war.
The day when Jeanne was delivered up to be burned, I was in the prison
during the morning with Brother Martin Ladvenu, whom the Bishop of
Beauvais had sent to her to announce her approaching death, and to
induce in her true contrition and penitence, and also to hear her in
confession. This the said Ladvenu did most carefully and charitably; and
when he announced to the poor woman the death she must die that day, as
the Judge had ordained, and she heard of the hard and cruel death which
was approaching, she began, in a sad and pitiful manner, as one
distraught, tearing her hair, to cry out: “Alas! am I to be so horribly
and cruelly treated? Alas! that my body, whole and entire, which has
never been corrupted, should to-day be consumed and burned to ashes! Ah!
I would far rather have my head cut off, seven times over, than be thus
burned! Alas! had I been in the ecclesiastical prison, to which I
submitted myself, and guarded by the Clergy instead of by my enemies, it
would not have fallen out so unhappily for me. I appeal to God, the
Great Judge, for the great evils and injustice done to me!”
After these complaints, the aforesaid Bishop arrived, to whom she at
once said: “Bishop, I die through you.” And he began to explain to her,
saying: “Ah! Jeanne, have patience; you die because you have not kept to
what you promised us, and for having returned to your first evil-doing.”
And the poor Maid answered him: “Alas, if you had put me in the prisons
of the Church Courts, and given me into the hands of competent and
suitable ecclesiastical guardians, this would not have happened: for
this I summon you before God.”
This done, I went out, and heard no more.
BROTHER YSAMBARD DE LA PIERRE, _of the Order of Saint Dominic, of the
Convent at Rouen_.
On one occasion, I, with many others, admonished and besought Jeanne to
submit to the Church. To which she replied that she would willingly
submit to the Holy Father, requesting to be taken before him, and to be
no more submitted to the judgment of her enemies. And when, at this
time, I counselled her to submit to the Council of Bâle, Jeanne asked
what a General Council was. I answered her, that it was an assembly of
the whole Church Universal and of Christendom, and that in this Council
there were some of her side as well as of the English side. Having heard
and understood this, she began to cry: “Oh! if in that place there are
any of our side, I am quite willing to give myself up and to submit to
the Council of Bâle.” And immediately, in great rage and indignation,
the Bishop of Beauvais began to call out: “Hold your tongue, in the
devil’s name!” and told the Notary, he was to be careful to make no note
of the submission she had made to the General Council of Bâle. On
account of these things and many others, the English and their officers
threatened me terribly, so that, had I not kept silence, they would have
thrown me into the Seine.
After she had recanted and abjured, and had resumed the dress of a man,
I and many others were present when Jeanne excused herself for having
dressed again as a man, saying and affirming publicly, that the English
had done or caused to be done to her great wrong and violence, when she
was wearing a woman’s dress; and, in truth, I saw her weeping, her face
covered with tears, disfigured and outraged in such sort that I was full
of pity and compassion.
When Jeanne was proclaimed an obstinate and relapsed heretic, she
replied publicly before all who were present: “If you, my Lords of the
Church, had placed me and kept me in your prisons, perchance I should
not have been in this way.”
After the conclusion and end of this session and trial, the Lord Bishop
of Beauvais said to the English who were waiting outside:
“Farewell![106] be of good cheer: it is done.”
Such difficult, subtle, and crafty questions were asked of and
propounded to poor Jeanne, that the great clerics and learned people
present would have found it hard to reply; and at [these questions] many
of those present murmured.
I was there myself with the Bishop of Avranches,[107] an aged and good
ecclesiastic, who, like the others, had been requested and prayed to
give his opinion on this Case. For this, the Bishop summoned me before
him, and asked me what Saint Thomas said touching submission to the
Church. I sent the decision of Saint Thomas in writing to the Bishop:
“In doubtful things, touching the Faith, recourse should always be had
to the Pope or a General Council.” The good Bishop was of this opinion,
and seemed to be far from content with the deliberations that had been
made on this subject. His deliberation was not put into writing: it was
left out, with bad intent.
After Jeanne had confessed and partaken of the Sacrament of the Altar,
sentence was given against her, and she was declared heretic and
excommunicate.
I saw and clearly perceived, because I was there all the time, helping
at the whole deduction and conclusion of the Case, that the secular
Judge did not condemn her, either to death or to burning; and although
the lay and secular Judge had appeared and was present in the same place
where she was last preached to and given over to the secular authority,
she was, entirely without judgment or conclusion of the said Judge,
delivered into the hands of the executioner, and burnt—it being said to
the executioner, simply and without other sentence: “Do thy duty.”
Jeanne had, at the end, so great contrition and such beautiful penitence
that it was a thing to be admired, saying such pitiful, devout, and
Catholic words, that those who saw her in great numbers wept, and that
the Cardinal of England and many other English were forced to weep and
to feel compassion.
As I was near her at the end, the poor woman besought and humbly begged
me to go into the Church near by and bring her the Cross, to hold it
upright on high before her eyes until the moment of death, so that the
Cross on which God was hanging might be in life continually before her
eyes.
Being in the flames, she ceased not to call in a loud voice the Holy
Name of Jesus, imploring and invoking without ceasing the aid of the
Saints in Paradise; again, what is more, in giving up the ghost and
bending her head, she uttered the Name of Jesus as a sign that she was
fervent in the Faith of God, just as we read of Saint Ignatius and of
many other Martyrs.
Immediately after the execution, the executioner came to me and to my
companion, Brother Martin Ladvenu, stricken and moved with a marvellous
repentance and terrible contrition, quite desperate and fearing never to
obtain pardon and indulgence from God for what he had done to this holy
woman. And the executioner said and affirmed that, notwithstanding the
oil, the sulphur, and the charcoal which he had applied to the entrails
and heart of the said Jeanne, in no way had he been able to burn them
up, nor reduce to cinders either the entrails or the heart, at which he
was much astonished, as a most evident miracle.
BROTHER MARTIN LADVENU, _of the Order of Saint Dominic, and of the
Convent of Saint-Jacques at Rouen_.
Many of those who appeared in the Court did so more from love of the
English and the favour they bore them than on account of true zeal for
justice and the Catholic Faith. In the extreme prejudice of Messire
Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, there were, I assert, two proofs of
ill-feeling: the first, when the Bishop, acting as Judge, commanded
Jeanne to be kept in the secular prison and in the hands of her mortal
enemies; and although he might easily have had her detained and guarded
in an ecclesiastical prison, yet he allowed her, from the beginning of
the trial to the end, to be tormented and cruelly treated in a secular
prison. Moreover, at the first session or meeting, the Bishop aforesaid
asked and required the opinion of all present, as to whether it was more
suitable to detain her in the secular ward or in the prisons of the
Church. It was decided as more correct that she be kept in
ecclesiastical prisons rather than in the secular; but this the Bishop
said he would not do for fear of displeasing the English. The second
proof was that on the day when the Bishop and several others declared
her a heretic, relapsed, and returned to her evil deeds, because, in
prison, she had resumed a man’s dress, the Bishop, coming out of the
prison, met the Earl of Warwick and a great many English with him, to
whom he said, laughing, in a loud and clear voice: “Farewell! farewell!
it is done; be of good cheer,” or such-like words.
The Maid revealed to me that, after her abjuration and recantation, she
was violently treated in the prison, molested, beaten, and ill-used; and
that an English lord had insulted her. She also said, publicly, that on
this account she had resumed a man’s dress; and, towards the end, she
said to the Bishop of Beauvais: “Alas! I die through you, for had you
given me over to be kept in the prisons of the Church, I should not have
been here!”
When she had been finally preached to in the Old Market-Place and
abandoned to the secular authority, although the secular Judges were
seated on the platform, in no way was she condemned by any of these
Judges; but, without being condemned, she was forced by two sergeants to
come down from the platform and was taken by the said sergeants to the
place where she was to be burned, and by them delivered into the hands
of the executioner.
And in proof of this, a short time after, one called Georges Folenfant
was apprehended on account of the Faith and for the crime of heresy, and
was in the same way handed over to the secular justice. In this case,
the Judges—to wit, Messire Louis de Luxembourg, Archbishop of Rouen, and
Brother Guillaume Duval, Deputy of the Inquisitor of the Faith—sent me
to the Bailly of Rouen to warn him that the said Georges should not be
treated as was the Maid, who, without final sentence or definite
judgment, had been burned in the fire.
The executioner, about four hours after the burning, said that he had
never been so afraid in executing any criminal as in the burning of the
Maid, and for many reasons: first, for her great fame and renown;
secondly, for the cruel manner of fastening her to the stake—for the
English had caused a high scaffold to be made of plaster, and, as the
said executioner reported, he could not well or easily hasten matters
nor reach her, at which he was much vexed and had great compassion for
the cruel manner in which she was put to death.
I can testify to her great and admirable contrition, repentance, and
continual confession, calling always on the Name of Jesus, and devoutly
invoking the Saints in Paradise, as also Brother Ysambard hath already
deposed, who was with her to the end, and confirmed her in the way of
salvation.
BROTHER GUILLAUME DUVAL, _of the Order of Saint Dominic, and of the
Convent of Saint-Jacques at Rouen_.
When the trial of the said Jeanne took place, I was present at one
session with Brother Ysambard de la Pierre; and, although we could find
no room for ourselves in the consistory, we seated ourselves at the
middle of the table, near to Jeanne. When she was questioned or
examined, the said Brother Ysambard advised her as to what she should
say, nudging her or making some other sign. After the session was over,
I and Brother Ysambard, with Maître Jean Delafontaine, were deputed to
visit her in prison the same day after dinner and give her counsel; we
went together to the Castle of Rouen, to visit and admonish her; and
there we found the Earl of Warwick, who attacked the said Brother
Ysambard with great anger and indignation, biting insults, and harsh
epithets, saying to him: “Why didst thou touch that wicked person this
morning, making so many signs? Mort Bleu! villain! if I see thee again
taking trouble to deliver her and to advise her for her good, I will
have thee thrown into the Seine.” At which I and the other companion of
the said Ysambard fled for fear to the Convent.
I heard no more, for I was not present at the Trial.
MAÎTRE GUILLAUME MANCHON, _Canon of the Collegiate Church of Notre Dame
d’Audely; Curé of the Parish Church of Sainte-Nicolas-le-Peinteur at
Rouen, and Notary of the Ecclesiastical Court; Notary of the Trial of
Jeanne, from the beginning up to the end, and with him Maître Guillaume
Colles, called Bois-Guillaume_.
In my opinion, not only those who had charge of instituting and
conducting the Trial—to wit, My Lord of Beauvais and the Masters sent
for from Paris for this Case—but also the English, at whose instance the
Trial was undertaken, proceeded rather from hatred and anger on account
of the quarrel with the King of France, than owing to her support of his
party, and for the following reasons:
First, one named Maître Nicolas Loyseleur, a familiar of my Lord of
Beauvais, who held altogether to the English side—for, formerly the King
being before Chartres, he went to fetch the King of England to raise the
Siege—pretended that he belonged to the Maid’s country; by this means he
found a way to have speech and familiar converse with her, telling her
news of her country that would please her. He asked to be her confessor,
and of what she told him privately he found means to inform the
Notaries: indeed, at the beginning of the Trial, I and Boisguillaume,
with witnesses, were put secretly in an adjoining room, where there was
a hole through which we could hear, in order that we might report what
she said to Loyseleur. As I think, what the Maid said or stated
familiarly to Loyseleur he reported to the Notaries; and from this were
made memoranda for questions in the Trial, to find some way of catching
her unawares.
When the Trial had begun, Maître Jean Lohier, a grave Norman Clerk, came
to this Town of Rouen, and communication was made to him of what the
Bishop of Beauvais had written hereon; and the said Lohier asked for two
or three days’ delay to look into it. To which he received answer that
he should give his opinion that afternoon; and this he was obliged to
do. And Maître Jean Lohier, when he had seen the Process, said it was of
no value, for several reasons: first, because it had not the form of an
ordinary Process; then, it was carried on in an enclosed and shut-up
place, where those concerned were not in full and perfect liberty to say
their full will; then, that this matter dealt with the honour of the
King of France, whose side she [the Maid] supported, and that he had not
been called, nor any who were for him; then, neither legal document nor
articles had been forthcoming, and so there was no guide for this simple
girl to answer the Masters and Doctors on great matters, and especially
those, as she said, which related to her revelations. For these things,
the Process was, in his opinion, of no value. At which my Lord of
Beauvais was very indignant against the said Lohier; and although my
Lord of Beauvais told him that he might remain to see the carrying out
of the Trial, Lohier replied that he would not do so. And immediately my
Lord of Beauvais, then lodging in the house where now lives Maître Jean
Bidaut, near Saint Nicolas-le-Peinteur, came to the Masters—to wit,
Maître Jean Beaupère, Maître Jacques de Touraine, Nicolas Midi, Pierre
Maurice, Thomas de Courcelles, and Loyseleur—and said to them: “This
Lohier wants to put fine questions into our Process: he would find fault
with everything, and says it is of no value. If we were to believe him,
everything must be begun again, and all we have done would be worth
nothing!” And, after stating the grounds on which Lohier found fault, my
Lord of Beauvais added: “It is clear enough on which foot he limps. By
Saint John! we will do nothing in the matter, but will go on with our
Process as it is begun!” This was on a Saturday afternoon in Lent; and
the next morning I spoke with the said Lohier at the Church of Notre
Dame at Rouen, and asked him what he thought of the said Trial and of
Jeanne? He replied: “You see the way they are proceeding. They will take
her, if they can, in her words—as in assertions where she says, ‘_I know
for certain_,’ as regards the apparitions; but if she said, ‘_I think_’
instead of the words ‘_I know for certain_’ it is my opinion that no man
could condemn her. It seems they act rather from hate than otherwise;
and for that reason, I will not stay here, for I have no desire to be in
it.” And in truth he thenceforward lived always at the Court of Rome,
where he died Dean of Appeals.[108]
At the beginning of the Trial, because I was putting in writing for five
or six days the answers and excuses of the said Maid, the Judges several
times wished to compel me, speaking in Latin, to put them in other
terms, by changing the sense of her words or in other ways such as I had
not heard. By command of the Bishop of Beauvais, two men were placed at
a window near where the Judges sat, with a curtain across the window, so
that they could not be seen. These two men wrote and reported what there
was in the charge against Jeanne, keeping silence as to her excuses;
and, in my opinion, this was Loyseleur. After the sitting was over, in
the afternoon, while comparing notes of what had been written, the two
others reported differently from me, and had put in none of the excuses;
at which my Lord of Beauvais was greatly angry with me. [109]Where
_Nota_ is written in the Process there was disagreement, and questions
had to be made upon it; and it was found that what I had written was
true.
In writing the said Process, I was often opposed by my Lord of Beauvais
and the Masters, who wanted to compel me to write according to their
fancy, and against what I had myself heard. And when there was something
which did not please them, they forbade it to be written, saying that it
did not serve the Process; but I nevertheless wrote only according to my
hearing and knowledge.
Maître Jean Delafontaine, from the beginning of the Trial up to the week
after Easter, 1431, took the place of my Lord of Beauvais, to
interrogate her, in the absence of the Bishop; and was always present
with the Bishop in the conduct of the said Trial. And when the time came
that the Maid was summoned to submit herself to the Church by this same
Delafontaine, and by Brothers Ysambard de la Pierre and Martin Ladvenu,
they advised her that she should believe in, and rely on, our Lord the
Pope and those who preside in the Church Militant; and that she should
make no question about submitting to our Holy Father the Pope and to the
Holy Council; for that there were among them as many of her own side as
of the other, many of them notable Clerics, and that if she did not do
this, she would put herself in great danger. The day after she had been
thus advised, she said that she wished certainly to submit to our Holy
Father the Pope and to the Holy Council. When my Lord of Beauvais heard
this, he asked who had spoken with the Maid. The Guard replied that it
was Maître Delafontaine, his lieutenant, and the two Friars. And at
this, in the absence of the said Delafontaine and the Friars, the Bishop
was much enraged against Maître Jean Lemaître, the Deputy Inquisitor,
and threatened to do him an injury. And when Delafontaine knew that he
was threatened for this reason, he departed from Rouen, and did not
again return. And as for the Friars, they would have been in peril of
death, but for the said Lemaître, who excused them and besought for
them, saying that if any harm were done to them, he would never again
come to the Trial. And, from that time, the Earl of Warwick forbade any
one to visit the Maid, except the Bishop of Beauvais or those sent by
him; and the Deputy Inquisitor was not allowed to go without him.
At the end of the sermon at Saint Ouen, after the abjuration of the
Maid, because Loyseleur said to her, “Jeanne, you have done a good day’s
work, if it please God, and have saved your soul,” she demanded, “Now,
some among you people of the Church, lead me to your prisons, that I may
no longer be in the hands of the English.” To which my Lord of Beauvais
replied, “Lead her back whence she was taken!” For this reason she was
taken back to the Castle which she had left. The following Sunday, which
was Trinity Sunday, the Masters, Notaries, and others concerned in this
Trial were summoned; and we were told that she had resumed her man’s
dress and had relapsed; and when we came to the Castle, in the absence
of my Lord of Beauvais, there came upon us eighty or a hundred English
soldiers, or thereabouts, who spoke to us in the courtyard of the
Castle, telling us that all of us Clergy were deceitful, traitorous
Armagnacs and false counsellors; so that we had great trouble to escape
and get out of the Castle, and did nothing for that day. The following
day I was summoned; but I replied that I would not go if I had not a
surety, on account of the fright I had had the day before; and I would
not have gone back if one of the followers of my Lord of Warwick had not
been sent as a surety. And thus I returned, and was at the continuation
of the Trial, up to the end—except that I was not at a certain
examination made by people who had spoken with her privately,[110] as
privileged persons; nevertheless, the Bishop of Beauvais wanted to
compel me to sign, and this I would not do.
I saw Jeanne led to the scaffold;[111] and there were seven or eight
hundred soldiers around her, bearing swords and staves; so that no one
was so bold as to speak to her except Brother Martin Ladvenu and Maître
Jean Massieu.
Patiently did she hear the sermon right through; afterwards she repeated
her thanksgiving, prayers, and lamentations most notably and devoutly,
in such manner that the Judges, Prelates, and all present were provoked
to much weeping, seeing her make these pitiful regrets and sad
complaints. Never did I weep more for anything that happened to me; and,
for a month afterwards, I could not feel at peace. For which reason,
with a part of the money I had for my services I bought a little Missal,
so that I might have it and might pray for her. In regard to final
repentance, I never saw greater signs of a Christian.
I remember that at the sermon given at Saint Ouen by Maître Guillaume
Érard, among other words were said and uttered these: “Ah! noble House
of France, which hath always been the protectress of the Faith, hast
thou been so abused that thou dost adhere to a heretic and schismatic?
It is indeed a great misfortune.” To which the Maid made answer, what I
do not remember, except that she gave great praise to her King, saying
that he was the best and wisest Christian in the world. At which Érard
and my Lord of Beauvais ordered Massieu, “Make her keep silence.”
MAÎTRE JEAN MASSIEU, _Priest, Curé of one of the Divisions of the Parish
Church of Saint-Caudres at Rouen, formerly Dean of the Christendom of
Rouen_.
I was at the Trial of the said Jeanne on every occasion when she was
present before the Judges and Clerics; and, on account of my office, I
was appointed a Clerk to Maître Jean Benedicite,[112] Promoter in this
Action. I believe, from what I saw, that the proceedings were taken out
of hatred and in order to abase the honour of the King of France whom
she served, and to wreak vengeance and bring her to death, not according
to reason and for the honour of God and of the Catholic Faith. I say
this, because when my Lord of Beauvais, who was Judge in the Case,
accompanied by six Clerics—namely, Beaupère, Midi, Maurice, Touraine,
Courcelles, and Feuillet, or some other in his place—first questioned
her, before she had answered one of them, another of those present would
interpose another question, by which she was often hurried and troubled
in her answers. And, besides, as I was leading Jeanne many times from
her prison to the Court, and passed before the Chapel of the Castle, at
Jeanne’s request, I suffered her to make her devotions in passing; and I
was often reproved by the said Benedicite, the Promoter, who said to me:
“Traitor! what makes thee so bold as to permit this Excommunicate to
approach without permission? I will have thee put in a tower where thou
shalt see neither sun nor moon for a month, if thou dost so again.” And
when the Promoter saw that I did not obey him, the said Benedicite
placed himself many times before the door of the Chapel, between me and
Jeanne, to prevent her saying her prayers before the Chapel, and asked
expressly of Jeanne: “Is this the Body of Christ?” When I was taking her
back to prison, the fourth or fifth day, a priest named Maître Eustace
Turquetil, asked me: “What dost thou think of her answers? will she be
burned? what will happen?” and I replied: “Up to this time I have seen
in her only good and honour; but I do not know what will happen in the
end, God knows!” Which answer was reported by the said priest to the
King’s people; and it was said that I was opposed to the King. On this
account, I was summoned, in the afternoon, by the Lord of Beauvais, the
Judge, and was spoken to of these things and told to be careful to make
no mistake, or I should be made to drink more than was good for me. I
think that, unless the Notary Manchon had made excuses for me, I should
not have escaped.
When Jeanne was taken to Saint-Ouen to be preached to by Maître
Guillaume Érard, at about the middle of the sermon, after she had been
admonished by the words of the preacher, he began to cry out, in a loud
voice, saying, “Ah! France, thou art much abused, thou hast always been
the most Christian country; and Charles, who calls himself thy King and
Governor, hath joined himself, as a heretic and schismatic, which he is,
to the words and deeds of a worthless woman, defamed and full of
dishonour; and not only he, but all the Clergy within his jurisdiction
and lordship, by whom she hath been examined and not reproved, as she
hath said.” Two or three times he repeated these words about the King;
and, at last, addressing himself to Jeanne he said, raising his finger:
“It is to thee, Jeanne, that I speak, I tell thee that thy King is a
heretic and schismatic!” To which she replied: “By my faith! sir, saving
your reverence, I dare say and swear, on pain of death, that he is the
most noble of all Christians, and the one who most loves the Faith of
the Church, and he is not what you say.” And then the preacher said to
me: “Make her keep silence.”
Jeanne never had any Counsel.[113] I remember that Loyseleur was one
appointed to counsel her. He was against her, rather deceiving than
helping her.
The said Érard, at the end of his sermon, read a schedule containing the
Articles which he was inciting Jeanne to abjure and revoke. To which
Jeanne replied, that she did not understand what abjuring was, and that
she asked advice about it. Then Érard told me to give her counsel about
it. After excusing myself for doing this, I told her it meant that, if
she opposed any of the said Articles, she would be burned. I advised her
to refer to the Church Universal as to whether she should abjure the
said Articles or not. And this she did, saying in a loud voice to Érard:
“I refer me to the Church Universal, as to whether I shall abjure or
not.” To this the said Érard replied: “You shall abjure at once, or you
shall be burned.” And, indeed, before she left the Square, she abjured,
and made a cross with a pen which I handed to her.
At the end of the sermon, I advised Jeanne to ask that she might be
taken to the prisons of the Church: and it was right she should be taken
to the Church prisons, because the Church had condemned her. And this
thing was asked of the Bishop of Beauvais by some of those present,
whose names I do not know. To which the Bishop replied: “Take her to the
Castle whence she came.” And so it was done. That day, after dinner, in
the presence of the Counsel of the Church, she took off her man’s dress
and put on a woman’s dress, as she was commanded. This was on the
Thursday or Friday after Pentecost; and the man’s dress was put in a bag
in the same room where she was kept prisoner, while she remained guarded
in this place, in the hands of five of the English, three of whom stayed
all night in the room, and two outside the door of the room. I know of a
surety that at night she slept chained by the legs with two pairs of
iron chains, and fastened closely to a chain going across the foot of
her bed, held to a great piece of wood, five or six feet long, and
closed with a key, so that she could not move from her place. When the
following Sunday came, being Trinity Sunday, and when it was time to
rise, as she reported and said to me, she asked the English guards:
“Take off my irons that I may get up.” Then one of the English took away
from her the woman’s garments which she had on her, and they emptied the
bag in which was her man’s dress, and threw the said dress at her,
saying to her: “Get up, and put the woman’s dress in the bag.” And, in
accordance with what he said, she dressed herself in the man’s dress
they had given her, saying: “Sirs, you know it is forbidden me; without
fail, I will not take it again.” Nevertheless, they would not give her
the other, insomuch that the contention lasted till mid-day, and,
finally, she was compelled to take the said dress; afterwards, they
would not give up the other, whatever supplications or prayers she might
make.
This she told me on the Tuesday following, before dinner, on which day
the Promoter had departed in company with the Earl of Warwick, and I was
alone with her. Immediately I asked her why she had resumed a man’s
dress, and she told me what I have just related.
I was not at the Castle on the Sunday, but I met near the Castle those
who had been summoned, much overwhelmed and affrighted. They said they
had been furiously driven back by the English with axes and swords, and
called traitors, and otherwise insulted. On the following Wednesday, the
day she was condemned, and before she left the Castle, the Body of
Christ was borne to her irreverently, without stole and lights, at which
Brother Martin, who had confessed her, was ill-content, and so a stole
and lights were sent for, and thus Brother Martin administered It to
her. And this done, she was led to the Old Market-Place, and by her side
were Brother Martin and myself, accompanied by more than 800 soldiers,
with axes and swords. And being in the Old Market-Place, after the
sermon, during which she showed great patience and listened most
quietly, she evinced many evidences and clear proofs of her contrition,
penitence, and fervent faith, if only by her pitiful and devout
lamentations and invocations of the Blessed Trinity and the Blessed and
Glorious Virgin Mary, and all the Blessed Saints in Paradise—naming
specially certain of these Saints: in which devotions, lamentations, and
true confession of faith, she besought mercy also, most humbly, from all
manner of people of whatever condition or estate they might be, of her
own party as well as of the other, begging them to pray for her,
forgiving them the harm they had done her, [and thus] she persevered and
continued as long a space of time as half-an-hour, and up to the very
end.
When she was given over by the Church, I was still with her; and with
great devotion she asked to have a Cross: and, hearing this, an
Englishman, who was there present, made a little cross of wood with the
ends of a stick, which he gave her, and devoutly she received and kissed
it, making piteous lamentations and acknowledgments to God, Our
Redeemer, Who had suffered on the Cross for our Redemption, of Whose
Cross she had the sign and symbol; and she put the said Cross in her
bosom, between her person and her clothing. And, besides, she asked me
humbly that I would get for her the Church Cross, so that she might see
it continually until death. And I got the Clerk of the Parish of
Saint-Sauveur to bring it to her; the which, being brought, she embraced
closely and long, and kept it till she was fastened to the stake. While
she was making these devotions and pious lamentations, I was much
hurried by the English and even by some of their Captains, who wished me
to leave her in their hands, that she might be put to death the sooner,
saying to me, when I was trying to console her on the scaffold: “What,
Priest! will you have us dine here?” And immediately, without any form
or proof of judgment, they sent her to the fire, saying to the
executioner: “Do thine office!” And thus she was led and fastened [to
the stake], continuing her praises and devout lamentations to God and
His Saints, and with her last word, in dying, she cried, with a loud
voice: “Jesus!”
MAÎTRE JEAN BEAUPÈRE, _Master in Theology, Canon of Rouen_.
With regard to the apparitions mentioned in the Trial of the said
Jeanne, I held, and still hold, the opinion that they rose more from
natural causes and human intent than from anything supernatural; but I
would refer principally to the Process.
Before she was taken to Saint-Ouen, to be preached to in the morning, I
went alone, by permission, into Jeanne’s prison, and warned her that she
would soon be led to the scaffold to be preached to, telling her that,
if she were a good Christian, she would say on the scaffold that she
placed all her deeds and words in the ordering of Our Holy Mother
Church, and especially of the Ecclesiastical Judges. And this did she
say on the scaffold, being thereto requested by Maître Nicolas Midi.
This being noted and considered, she was for a time sent back, after her
abjuration; although some of the English accused the Bishop of Beauvais
and the Delegates from Paris of favouring Jeanne’s errors.
After this abjuration, and after taking her woman’s dress which she
received in prison, it was reported to the Judges on the Friday or
Saturday following that Jeanne had repented of having put off a man’s
dress and had taken a woman’s dress. On this account, my Lord of
Beauvais sent me and Maître Nicolas Midi to her, hoping that we should
speak to Jeanne and induce and admonish her to persevere in the good
intent she had on the scaffold, and that she should be careful not to
relapse. But we could not find the keeper of the prison key,[114] and,
while we were waiting for the prison guard, several of the English, who
were in the courtyard of the Castle, spoke threatening words, as Maître
Nicolas Midi told me, to the effect that he who would throw both of us
into the water would be well employed. And, hearing these words, we
returned; and, on the bridge of the Castle, Midi heard, as he reported
to me, like words used by others of the English; at which we were much
frightened, and went away without speaking to Jeanne.
As to her innocence, Jeanne was very subtle with the subtlety of a
woman, as I consider. I did not understand from any words of hers that
she had been violated.
As to her final penitence, I do not know what to say, for, on the Monday
after[115] the abjuration, I left Rouen to go to Basle,[116] on the part
of the University of Paris. Through this I knew nothing of her
condemnation until I heard it spoken of at Lisle in Flanders.
THE SECOND ENQUIRY[117]: 1452,
AND THIRD ENQUIRY: 1455–6.
[_A Rescript was issued by Pope Calixtus III. ordering the Procedure of
Revision for the Enquiry of 1455–6._]
EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES.
MANCHON: _Second Examination, 2nd May, 1452._ [_Additional statements_:]
I have heard that after Jeanne was taken captive by one of the company
of the Count de Ligny, she was taken to the Castle of Beaurevoir and
detained there three months; and then, by letters from the King of
England to my Lord of Beauvais, she was taken to Rouen and put in
prison.
The Bishop of Beauvais held with the English; and, before he took
cognizance of the Case, Jeanne was put in irons: after he had informed
himself, Jeanne, thus fettered, was given over to the custody of four
English, although the Bishop and the Inquisitor had stated and sworn
that they would themselves faithfully keep her. Jeanne was treated with
cruelty, and, towards the end of the Trial, was shown the torture.
[Illustration:
SAINT LUCIEN TOWER, BEAUVAIS.
Jeanne is said to have passed a night in this tower on August 20,
1429.
]
And thus she put on man’s clothing and lamented that she did not dare to
doff these, fearing that at night the guards might attempt some
violence; and once or twice complaint was made to the Bishop of
Beauvais, to the Sub-Inquisitor, and to Maître Nicolas Loyseleur that
some of these guards had attempted to assault her. The Earl of Warwick,
at the statement of the Bishop, the Inquisitor, and Loyseleur, uttered
strong threats should they again presume to attempt this; and two other
guards were appointed.
I, as notary, wrote Jeanne’s answers and defence. Two or three writers,
who were secretly ensconced near, omitted, in their writing, all that
was in her favour.
The Judges desired me to write also in such wise, but I refused.
_Third Examination, 8th May, 1452._ [_Additional statements_:]
I acted as notary in the Process, by compulsion of the Great Council of
the King of England, not daring to contradict their order. The Bishop of
Beauvais was not compelled to take up the Process against Jeanne. He did
it of free-will. The Inquisitor was summoned and dared not refuse. The
Process was carried out by the English at their expense. The Promoter
also was not compelled, but came of free-will. The Assessors and Doctors
were summoned and dared not refuse.
[With regard to the comparison of the writing of the concealed clerks
and the notaries, he adds that] the comparison of notes was made in the
house of the Bishop.
Jeanne answered prudently and with simplicity, as might be seen in the
Process. She could not have defended herself before such great Doctors
had she not been inspired. The examination lasted for two or three hours
in the morning, and sometimes as long again in the afternoon of the same
day. She was much fatigued by the examination, for the examiners put to
her the most subtle questions they possibly could.
The original Process was written by me faithfully, in French, after the
first session. Later, I believe it was faithfully translated into Latin.
During the Process, and almost up to the close, Jeanne had no Counsel. I
do not remember if she asked for one; but, towards the end, she had
Maître Pierre Maurice and a Carmelite to direct and instruct her.
On the day of her death, before the sermon and ere she left the Castle,
she received the Body of the Lord by the order of the Judges, at her own
request.
She was taken to the place of execution by a large number of
soldiers—nearly four score. After the ecclesiastical sentence had been
pronounced, and Jeanne given up, she was taken over to the Bailly, there
present, who, without any consultation or sentence, made a sign with his
hand, saying: “Take her away! Take her away!”
_Fourth Examination, 17th December, 1455._ [_Additional statements_:]
The sum of a thousand pounds, or crowns, was given by the King of
England for the surrender of the Maid; and an annuity of 300 pounds to
the soldier of the Duke of Burgundy who had captured her.
I was appointed notary in the Trial, together with a certain Guillaume
Boisguillaume.
The copy of the Process shewn to me is the true Copy made. I acknowledge
my own and my companion’s signatures, and that it is the truth. Two
other copies were made. One was given to the Inquisitor, one to the King
of England, and one to the Bishop of Beauvais. This Process was made
from a certain Minute written in French, by my own hand, which was given
up to the Judges, and was afterwards translated from the French into
Latin by Monsieur Thomas de Courcelles and myself, in the form in which
it now stands, as well and as faithfully as possible, long after the
death and execution of Jeanne. As for the Act of Accusation and other
parts of the Process, Maître Thomas de Courcelles had very little to do
with these, nor did he greatly interfere with them.
With regard to the word _Nota_, written above certain Articles in the
Minute, there was, on the first day of the Enquiry, a great tumult in
the Chapel of the Castle at Rouen, where, that day, the interrogation
was held, so that Jeanne was interrupted at almost every word, whilst
she was speaking of her apparitions: Certain secretaries were there—two
or three—of the King of England, who registered, as they chose, her
words and depositions, omitting all her defence and all which tended to
exonerate her. I complained of this, saying it was irregular, and that I
would not be responsible, as clerk, in this matter: and, therefore, on
the morrow, the place of meeting was changed and convened in a certain
hall of the Castle, near the Great Hall, while two English were placed
to keep order. When there were difficulties as to Jeanne’s answers, and
some said she had not replied as I had written, I wrote _Nota_ at the
top, in order that the questions might be repeated and the difficulties
removed. Although it is mentioned in the Process that the Judges stated
they had received preliminary evidence, I do not remember to have seen
or heard of it; but I know that, if it had been produced, it would have
been inserted in the Process.
Jeanne was brought to Rouen and not to Paris, because, as I think, the
King of England and the principal people of his Council were there.
At the beginning of the Process, I was sent for to attend a meeting held
at a certain house near the Castle, at which were present the Bishop of
Beauvais, the Abbé of Fécamp, Maître Nicolas Loyseleur, and many others.
The Bishop told me it was necessary that I should serve the King: that
they meant to bring a fine case against this said Jeanne, and that I was
to recommend another _greffier_ to assist me. I therefore nominated
Boisguillaume.
I met Lohier in the Church, on the day after the Bishop had asked him to
give an opinion on the Process, and enquired what he thought of it. He
replied, that the Process was of no value, and could not be maintained,
because it was conducted in the Castle and not in a legal court; that it
concerned many who were not summoned; that Jeanne had no Counsel: and
for many other reasons. He added that, in his opinion, it was their
intention to put her to death.
A certain Maître Nicolas de Houppeville was summoned to attend the
Trial; and was in great danger, because he refused. Maître Jean
Lemaitre, Sub-Inquisitor, delayed as long as possible his attendance at
the Trial, and was much vexed at being compelled to attend.
One day, when Jeanne was being questioned, Jean de Châtillon spoke in
her favour, saying that she was not compelled to reply to the question
put to her, or to that effect. This much displeased the Bishop of
Beauvais and his following, and there was a great tumult at his words.
The Bishop ordered him to be quiet, and to let the Judges speak.
On another occasion, when some one was advising and directing Jeanne on
the question of submission to the Church, the Bishop said, “Hold your
tongue, in the devil’s name!” I do not remember the name of him who was
thus spoken to.
One day, some one, whose name I do not remember, having spoken of Jeanne
in a way which did not please the Earl of Stafford, the latter followed
him, sword in hand, to some place of sanctuary; and, if they had not
told Stafford that that place was sacred, he would have slain him.
Those who seemed to me most affected [against Jeanne] were Beaupère,
Midi, and de Touraine.
One day, I went with the Bishop of Beauvais and the Earl of Warwick to
the prison where Jeanne was, and we found her in irons. It was said that
at night she was fastened with iron chains; but I did not see her so
fastened. There was, in the prison, neither bed nor any kind of couch.
There were four or five guards of the lowest kind.
[Manchon supplies a fuller account of the story given in 1450 as to the
clerks having overheard Jeanne’s confession to Loyseleur:]
After I and Boisguillaume had been appointed notaries, the Earl of
Warwick, the Bishop of Beauvais, and Maître Nicolas Loyseleur told us
that Jeanne had spoken strange things in regard to her visions, and in
order the better to know the truth about them, it was agreed that Maître
Nicolas Loyseleur should pretend to be from the Marches of
Lorraine—Jeanne’s own country—and in the following of the King of
France; that he should enter her prison in a layman’s habit, and that
the guards should retire and leave him alone with her: there was, in a
room adjoining the prison, a hole, specially made for the purpose, in
order that I and my companion might be there, and hear what was said by
Jeanne. Thither we went, unseen by her. Then Loyseleur, pretending to
have news, began to question Jeanne of the King’s estate and of her
revelations. Jeanne replied, believing him to be in fact of her own
country and party: and the Bishop and the Earl desired us to put in
writing what we had heard. I replied, that this ought not to be, that it
was not honest to carry on the Trial by such means, but that, if she
spoke thus in open Court, we would willingly register the words. And,
ever afterwards, Jeanne had great confidence in this Loyseleur, who
often heard her in confession, and would generally have private speech
with her before she was taken before the Judges.
The interrogations sometimes lasted three or four hours in the morning;
and sometimes difficult and subtle questions arose on the answers, on
which she was further examined after dinner for two or three hours.
Often they turned from one question to another, changing about, but,
notwithstanding this, she answered prudently, and evinced a wonderful
memory, saying often, “I have already answered you on this,” and adding,
“I refer to the clerks.”
Long before the [Seventy] Articles were included in the Process, Jeanne
had been many times examined, and had given many answers; and from these
questions and answers the Articles were drawn up, with the advice of the
Assessors. This was done by the Promoter, in order that the material,
which was diffuse, might be put in order. Afterwards, she was examined
on the whole; and it was concluded by the counsellors—principally those
who came from Paris—that it would be well, and according to custom, to
reduce these Articles and answers to shorter Articles, bringing together
the principal points, in order to have the material in brief, for better
and more prompt discussion. On this, there were drawn up the Twelve
Articles; but I had no hand in them, nor do I know who composed or
extracted them.
[With regard to a Note, dated April 4th, 1431, written in French and
contained in the Process, concerning these Twelve Articles, the other
two Notaries—Guillaume Colles or Boisguillaume, and Nicolas Taquel—were
summoned and questioned, together with deponent. They testified that:]
The Note is in the handwriting of Manchon, but as to who drew up the
Twelve Articles we do not know. It was said to be customary that such
Articles should be made and drawn up from the confessions of one accused
of Heresy, even as in a matter of Faith was usually done, in Paris, by
the Doctors and Masters in Theology. The corrections of these Articles
were, we believe, put down as appears in the copy before us; but,
whether these corrections were added or not to the copy of the Articles
sent to Paris and to those invited to submit an opinion, we do not know.
We believe not: for a note, in the handwriting of Maître Guillaume
d’Estivet, the Promoter, shews that they were sent by him on the
following day without correction.
[Manchon was then asked, if he believed the Articles to be truthfully
composed, and if there were not a great difference between them and
Jeanne’s answers. He replied that, what was in his Process was true. The
Articles were not his doing.]
I believe that deliberation was not made on the whole Process, because
it was not then in shape. It was brought into its present form only
after Jeanne’s death. Opinions were given on the Twelve Articles. The
Twelve Articles were not read to Jeanne. [Asked again, if he had ever
perceived a difference between these Articles and Jeanne’s confessions,
he said he did not remember. Those to whom they were shown said, that it
was the custom to draw up such Articles; but that he had not given his
attention to it, and that he should not have dared to argue with such
great men.]
During the Trial I was seated at the feet of the Judges with Guillaume
Colles and the clerk of Maître Guillaume Beaupère, who was also writing;
but there was a great difference in what we had written, and from this
arose much contention.
When the Process was complete, opinions were asked for, and from these
it was decided that Jeanne should be exhorted; she was left to the
counsel of Maître Nicolas Loyseleur, who said to her: “Jeanne, believe
me: if you will, you may be saved. Take the dress of your sex, and do
all that you are told; otherwise you are in peril of death. If you do
what I tell you, you will be saved, and will have much good and not much
ill, and you will be given up to the Church.” And then she was taken to
a scaffold or platform. Two sentences had been prepared, one of
abjuration, the other of condemnation: both were in the hands of the
Bishop, and, while he was reading the sentence of condemnation, Maître
Nicolas Loyseleur continued to press Jeanne to do what he had advised,
and to accept the woman’s dress. There was a short interval, in which an
Englishman addressed the Bishop as a traitor, to which he answered that
he lied. At this instant, Jeanne declared herself ready to obey the
Church; and then the abjuration was read to her. I do not know if she
repeated it, or if, after it was read, she said that she agreed. But she
certainly smiled. The executioner was there, with the cart, waiting to
take her to the burning.
On Trinity Sunday, I and the other notaries were commanded by the Bishop
and Lord Warwick to come to the Castle, because it was said that Jeanne
had relapsed and had resumed her man’s dress.
When we reached the Court, the English, who were there to the number of
about fifty, assaulted us, calling us traitors, and saying that we had
mismanaged the Trial. We escaped their hands with great difficulty and
fear. I believe they were angry that, at the first preaching and
sentence, she had not been burnt.
What she had said in the abjuration she said she had not understood, and
that what she had done was from fear of the fire, seeing the executioner
ready with his cart.
[Asked, why they had administered the Sacrament to one declared
excommunicate and heretic, and if she had been absolved by the forms of
the Church, Manchon answered:] There had been much discussion among the
Judges and their Counsellors, whether they should offer her the Holy
Sacrament, and whether she should be absolved at the place of execution;
but I did not see any absolution granted to her. I was so disturbed that
for a month I remained terrified.
She never revoked her revelations, but maintained them up to the end.
BROTHER PIERRE MIGIER, _Prior of Longueville, in the diocese of Rouen,
S.T.P., First examination, May 2nd, 1452_, [_evidence of no special
value._]
_Second Examination, May 9th, 1452._ [_Additional evidence:_]
At the end of the first sermon at Saint-Ouen, when Jeanne was admonished
to recant and she hesitated, one of the English ecclesiastics told the
Bishop that he was favouring Jeanne, to which the Bishop replied, “You
lie! It is my duty, on account of my profession, to seek the salvation
of the soul and body of this Jeanne.”
I was accused before the Cardinal of England as a partisan of Jeanne,
but I excused myself to the Cardinal, being in fear of my life.
I think the notaries were truthful, and that they wrote with fidelity.
I do not know whether she asked for Counsel, but I think no one would
have dared to counsel or defend her, nor would they have been permitted.
She was taken to execution, with great anger, by the English soldiers.
When she was given up to the secular authorities by the Church, she
began to weep and call upon “Jesus.” Then I went away, having so great
compassion that I could not witness her death.
_Third Examination, December 16th, 1455._ [_Additional evidence_:]
I heard that, during the Trial, there were certain men hidden behind
curtains, who, it was said, were writing down the words and confessions
of Jeanne; but I do not know if this is the fact. This I heard from
Maître Guillaume Manchon, one of the three Registrars of the Case. I
complained of it to the Judges, saying that it did not seem to me to be
a good way of acting. But whatever may be the truth of these hidden
clerks, I believe truly that the Registrars who signed the Process were
trustworthy, and that they faithfully reported what was done in the
Trial.
As to the act of recantation, I know it was performed by her; it was in
writing, and was about the length of a _Pater Noster_.
In an old book, in which are the sayings of Merlin the prophet, it is
written that a maiden should come from an Oak-wood in the country of
Lorraine.
BROTHER YSAMBARD DE LA PIERRE: _Second Examination, May 3rd, 1452_. [_He
makes the following additions_:]
The room in which Jeanne was confined was rather dark.
I was at the sermon of Maître Guillaume Érard, who took as his theme, “A
branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the Vine,” saying that in
France there was no monster such as this Jeanne: she was a witch,
heretic, and schismatic; and that the King who favoured her was of like
sort for wishing to recover his kingdom by means of such an heretical
woman.
The Bishop of Beauvais held with the English. I believe it was he who,
at the beginning of the Process, ordered her to be kept in irons, and
deputed the English as her keepers, forbidding any to speak with her
unless by leave from him, or from the Promoter, Benedicite.
When I was holding the Cross before her, she begged me to descend, as
the fire was mounting.
When she spoke of the kingdom and the war, I thought she was moved by
the Holy Spirit; but when she spoke of herself she feigned many things:
nevertheless, I think she should not have been condemned as a heretic.
When the Bishop asked if she would submit to the Church, she enquired,
“What is the Church? So far as it is you, I will not submit to your
judgment, because you are my deadly enemy.” She complained that the
Bishop would not allow them to write anything in her excuse, but only
what was against her. When she was asked whether she would submit to the
judgment of the Pope, she replied that, if they would take her to him,
she would be content.
She was adjudged relapsed because she had resumed her man’s dress. After
she had recanted, she resumed a woman’s dress, and begged to be taken to
the ecclesiastical prisons; but it was not permitted. I heard from
Jeanne, herself, that she had been assaulted by a great lord; and for
that reason she had resumed her man’s dress, which had been perfidiously
left near her. After her resumption of this dress, I heard the Bishop,
with some of the English, exulting, and saying publicly to the Earl of
Warwick and others: “She is caught this time!”
_Third Examination, May 9th, 1452._
Some of the Assessors, such as the Bishop of Beauvais, proceeded of
their own pleasure; some—to wit, the English Doctors—out of malicious
spite; some, Doctors of Paris, from desire of gain; some were induced by
fear, as the aforesaid Sub-Inquisitor and others whom I do not remember.
The Process was instituted by the King of England, the Cardinal of
Winchester, the Earl of Warwick, and other English, who paid all the
expenses. I remember well that Jean, Bishop of Avranches, for having
refused to give his advice in the Process, was threatened by the
Promoter d’Estivet; and Maître Nicolas de Houppeville, who would not
attend the Trial nor give an opinion, was in danger of exile. After the
first sermon, at which Jeanne recanted, I, Jean Delafontaine, and Maître
Guillaume Vallée, of the Order of Saint Dominic, went to the Castle by
order of the Judges to counsel Jeanne that she should persevere in her
good purpose. Seeing this, the infuriate English threw themselves upon
us, with swords and sticks, and violently drove us out of the Castle; on
this occasion, Jean Delafontaine escaped, and left the town and did not
return; also I suffered many reproaches from the Earl of Warwick,
because I had told Jeanne she should submit to the General Council. [On
the day that she said she would submit] Messire Guillaume Manchon, the
notary, asked whether he should write down the submission? The Bishop
replied, No, it was not necessary. Then Jeanne said to the Bishop: “Ah!
you will certainly write what is against me, and will write nothing that
is for me.” This submission was not registered, and there ensued in the
assembly a great murmur.
The examination of Jeanne sometimes lasted three hours in the morning;
and sometimes she was examined in the afternoon as well as in the
morning; I heard her often complain of over-much questioning.
During the greater part of the Process, when she was asked to submit to
the Church, she understood by that term the assembly of Judges and
Assessors there present. It was then expounded to her by Maître Pierre
Maurice; and, after she knew, she always declared that she wished to
submit to the Pope and to be conducted to him.
She was brought in a cart to the cemetery of Saint-Ouen. After the
preaching [at the Old Market] there was a long waiting, and then the
King’s clerks conducted her to the stake, I and Brother Martin Ladvenu
accompanying her up to the end.
On this same occasion, the Bishop of Beauvais wept. A certain
Englishman, a soldier, who hated her greatly, had sworn to bring a
faggot for the stake. When he did so, and heard Jeanne calling on the
name of Jesus in her last moments, he was stupefied, and, as it were, in
an ecstasy at the spectacle: his companions took him and led him away to
a neighbouring tavern. After refreshment, he revived. In the afternoon,
the same Englishman confessed, in my presence, to a Brother of the Order
of Saint Dominic, that he had gravely erred, and that he repented of
what he had done against Jeanne. He held her to be a good woman, for he
had seen the spirit departing from her, as it were a white dove, going
away from France.
In the afternoon of the same day, the executioner came to the Convent of
the Dominicans, saying to them and to Brother Martin Ladvenu, that he
feared he was damned because he had burnt a saint.
MAÎTRE PIERRE CUSQUEL, _Citizen of Rouen_. _First Examination, before
Cardinal d’Estouteville, May 3rd, 1452._
I saw Jeanne brought in by the English.
I did not see her taken to prison, but I saw her two or three times in a
chamber in the Castle of Rouen, near the back entrance.
At the time of the Trial, I was in the habit of entering the Castle,
thanks to Johnson, master of the masons. Twice I entered her prison and
saw her, with her legs shackled and fastened by a long chain to a beam.
In my master’s house was hung a great cage of iron, in which, it was
said, she was to be shut up; but I never saw her in this cage.
I heard that Jeanne was made prisoner in the diocese of Beauvais, and on
this account the Bishop undertook the Process against her.
_Second Examination, May 9th, 1452._ [_He adds to his evidence_:]
The room [where Jeanne was imprisoned] was situated under the stairs,
towards the fields.
Maître André Marguérie, or another, said he had enquired as to Jeanne’s
change of dress, and by some one—I know not whom—was told that he was to
hold his tongue, in the devil’s name.
I twice entered Jeanne’s prison and spoke with her, warning her to speak
prudently, and that there was question of her death. The iron cage,
which I saw, was intended to detain her in an upright position.
I was not present at the last preaching and condemnation and execution
of Jeanne, because my heart could not bear it, for pity of her; but I
heard that she received the Body of the Lord before her condemnation.
Maître Jean Tressart, when he returned from the execution, groaning and
weeping sadly, lamented to me what he had seen at this place, saying to
me: “We are all lost; we have burnt a Saint”; adding, that he believed
her soul was in the hands of God because, when she was in the midst of
the flames, she constantly called on the name of the Lord Jesus.
_Third Examination, May 11th, 1456._ [_Additional evidence_:]
I had heard of the visitation ordered by the Duchess of Bedford, but did
not know if it were true.
After her death, the English had her ashes collected and thrown into the
Seine, because they feared that some might believe she had escaped.
LADVENU: _Second Examination, May 3rd, 1452._ [_He adds the following to
his earlier testimony_:]
I often saw her in the Castle of Rouen, under the custody of the
English, ironed and in prison.
I heard Jeanne, by license of the Judges, in confession; I administered
to her the Body of Christ; she received it with great devotion and tears
which I cannot describe.
The resumption of her man’s dress was one of the causes of her
condemnation.
_Third Examination, May 9th, 1452._ [_Additional evidence_:]
I was present at the greater part of the Process, with Brother Jean
Lemaître, then Sub-Inquisitor. I saw Maître Nicolas de Houppeville—he
who would not assist in the Process—taken to prison. I know well that
Jeanne had no director, counsel, nor defender, up to the end of the
Process, and that no one would have dared to offer himself as her
Counsel, director, or defender, for fear of the English. I have heard
that those who went to the Castle to counsel and direct Jeanne, by order
of the Judges, were harshly repulsed and threatened.
Directly Jeanne was abandoned by the Church, she was seized by the
English soldiers, who were present in large numbers, without any
sentence from the secular authority, although the Bailly of Rouen and
the Counsels of the Secular Court were present. I know this because I
was with her, from the Castle to her last breath.
The executioner, in my presence, gave his testimony that she had been
unjustly put to death.
Maître Guillaume Érard, at the sermon which he pronounced at the
Cemetery of Saint-Ouen, exclaimed: “Oh, House of France! thou hast never
till now nourished a monster in thy bosom; but now thou art disgraced by
thy adhesion to this witch, this heretic! this superstitious one!”
_Fourth Examination, December 19th, 1455, and May 13th, 1456._
[_Additional statements_:]
I have heard it said that the Bishop, and others concerned in the
Process, wished to have letters of guarantee from the King of England,
and received them; and these are the letters now shewn, signed with the
sign manual of Maître Laurence Calot, whose signature I know well.
Maître Jean Lemaitre, Sub-Inquisitor, who was concerned in the Trial and
who often went with me, was compelled to attend. Brother Ysambard de la
Pierre, who was a friend of the Inquisitor, desired on one occasion to
direct Jeanne, but was told to hold his tongue, and that, if he did not
henceforward abstain from such interference, he would be thrown into the
Seine.
On the day of her death I was with her until her last breath. One
present said he wished his soul might be where he believed Jeanne’s soul
was. After the reading of the sentence, she came down from the platform
on which the preaching had been, and was led by the executioner, without
any sentence from the secular Judges, to the place where the pile was
prepared for her burning. The pile was on a scaffold, and the
executioner lighted it from below. When Jeanne perceived the fire, she
told me to descend and to hold up the Cross of the Lord on high before
her that she might see it.
When I was with her, and exhorting her on her salvation, the Bishop of
Beauvais and some of the Canons of Rouen came over to see her; and, when
Jeanne perceived the Bishop, she told him that he was the cause of her
death; that he had promised to place her in the hands of the Church, and
had relinquished her to her mortal enemies.
Up to the end of her life she maintained and asserted that her Voices
came from God, and that what she had done had been by God’s command. She
did not believe that her Voices had deceived her: [but that] the
revelations which she had received had come from God.
MESSIRE NICOLAS TAQUEL, _Priest, Rector of Basqueville, in the Diocese
of Rouen: First Examination, May 8th, 1452._
About half-way through the Process I was called by the two notaries to
assist them. I saw Jeanne in a prison in the Castle of Rouen, in a
certain tower near the fields. I never perceived any kind of fear, nor
did I know of prohibitions or coercion by the English. I do not remember
that she asked to have Counsel, or that they were offered to her; I was
not at the opening of the Case. I knew well that Jeanne was in prison. I
saw her there, in irons, notwithstanding her weakness. There was an
Englishman who had charge of her in the room, without whose leave no
one, not even the Judges, might have access to her.
Jeanne was about twenty years of age; though she was as simple as any
girl of her age, she could speak well on occasion, sometimes varying her
answers, and sometimes not replying to the questions. I certainly heard
in the town, that at night, the English, in the absence of the Judges,
disturbed her much, saying sometimes that she would die, sometimes that
they would kill her; but I do not know if it was true. I was present
when some of the Judges put very difficult questions to her, to which
she answered that it did not concern her to reply to them. Some of the
Doctors present sometimes said to her, “You say well, Jeanne.” Sometimes
Jeanne, wearied with so many questions, begged for delay till the
morrow; and it was granted. Many heard the statement referred to, made
by Jeanne, that she would say and do nothing against the Faith. I
believe this is written in the Process. I do not remember to have seen
any English at the Examinations of Jeanne, with the exception of the
guards; nor do I remember any restrictions upon what was done in the
Process, although the Judges said it was forbidden to write anything
which was not contained in the Process. I do not know that the words of
the Seventy Articles were inserted in the Process, nor do I remember
that Jeanne, during the whole Trial, said she would not submit to the
Ecclesiastical authority, although I occasionally saw her somewhat
disturbed; then the Doctors who were present advised her, and sometimes
postponed the matter till the morrow.
I saw nothing in Jeanne contrary to a good Catholic. She asked, in my
presence, whether she might receive the Sacrament; but I was not
permitted to be present at its reception. It was told me that, before
she arrived at the place of execution, she made many and devout prayers
to God, to the Blessed Mary and the Saints, so that many present were
provoked to tears, and, among others, Maître Nicolas Loyseleur,
Promoter[118] to the cause, who, leaving her in tears, met certain
English in the court of the Castle: these took him to task, calling him
traitor, which frightened him so much that, without more ado, he went to
the Earl of Warwick to beg his protection; and, had it not been for the
said Earl, I think that Loyseleur would have been killed.
After the sentence of the Church had been read, I with many other
ecclesiastics retired. I was not present at the execution; but I heard
that Jeanne died piously and as a Catholic, calling on the name of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
_Second Examination, May 11th, 1456._ [_Additional evidence_:]
I was one of the notaries, but not at the commencement. I was not there
during the time when the Process was carried on in the Great Hall, but
only when the sittings were held in the prison. I was first concerned in
the Process on the 14th of March, 1430, as appears in my commission, to
which I refer; and, from this time to the end of the Process, I was
present as notary at the interrogations and answers of Jeanne: I was not
permitted to write, but I listened and referred, for the writing, to the
other two notaries, Boisguillaume and Manchon, both of whom wrote,
especially Manchon.
The said Process was put into its present form a long time after the
death of Jeanne, but at what time I do not know. For my labour and
trouble I had ten francs, though I had been told I should have twenty;
and these ten francs were handed over to me by a certain Benedicite
[d’Estivet], but whence the money came I know not.
I heard it said among the notaries that certain Articles were to be
made; but as to who drew them up I know not. They were sent to Paris;
but whether they were signed or no, I do not remember: I think they were
not signed, but, yet, I remember that once something was signed, which
was neither Process nor sentence.
[A note of April 4th, 1431, was then shewed to Maître Taquel, containing
the Twelve Articles in the form in which they were sent for correction.]
He confirmed the handwriting of Manchon, and said he believed he was
present on the occasion. He thought no corrections were made.
When the preaching was made at the Place Saint-Ouen, I was not upon the
platform with the other notaries. But I was quite close, and could see
and hear all that was said and done. I remember well seeing a schedule
of abjuration read to Jeanne by Massieu. It was about six lines of large
writing; and Jeanne repeated it after Massieu. This letter of abjuration
was in French, beginning, “Je, Jeanne,” etc. After the abjuration, she
was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and reconducted to the Castle;
and after this I was commanded to attend another enquiry; but a tumult
arose, and I do not know what happened afterwards. There was another
sermon: on that day Jeanne died, and on the morning of the day Jeanne
received the Body of Christ. At this last preaching I was present to the
end of the sermon; and at its conclusion Jeanne was handed over to the
secular authorities. This done, I retired.
MESSIRE PIERRE LEBOUCHIER, _Priest, Curé of the Parish of Bourgeauville:
Examined May 8th, 1452._
An English clerk, Bachelor in Theology, Keeper of the Private Seal of
the Cardinal of England, being at the sermon of Saint-Ouen, said these
words, in my presence, to the Bishop of Beauvais: “Have done! You favour
her overmuch!” Annoyed at these words, the Bishop threw the Process,
which he had in his hand, to the ground, saying that he would do nothing
more that day, being unwilling to act except according to his
conscience.
Jeanne was alone, seated upon a chair; I heard her reply without
Counsel. I do not know whether she asked for any or if it were denied
her.
She was in prison in the Castle of Rouen. I do not know if she were in
irons. No one might speak to her without leave from the English who had
charge of her. I did not see her leave the Castle. There were with her
certain Englishmen who, I believe, were shut up with her in the same
room, to which there were three keys—one kept by the Lord Cardinal or
the aforesaid secretary, another by the Inquisitor, and another by
Messire Jean Benedicite, the Promoter: for the English feared greatly
that she would escape them.
I was not present at the Process; but, after the preaching at
Saint-Ouen, Jeanne, with her hands joined together, said in a loud voice
that she submitted to the judgment of the Church, and prayed to Saint
Michael that he would direct and counsel her.
As soon as the sentence had been read by the Ecclesiastical Judge, [at
the Old Market,] she was conducted to the platform of the Bailly by the
King’s followers, on which platform were the Bailly and other lay
officers. She remained there some time with them; and what they did or
said I know not, only that she was taken back and given over to the fire
after they had departed.
While they were tying her to the stake she implored and specially
invoked Saint Michael. She seemed to me a good Christian to the end; the
greater number of those present, to the number of ten thousand, wept and
lamented, saying that she was of great piety.
I think the English feared Jeanne more than the whole of the rest of the
army of the King of France, and that this fear it was which moved them,
in my opinion, to bring the Process against her.
MAÎTRE NICOLAS DE HOUPPEVILLE, _Bachelor in Theology, of the diocese of
Rouen: First Examination, May 8th, 1452._
I never thought that zeal of the Faith, nor desire to bring her back to
the right way, caused the English to act thus.
Jeanne was brought to the town of Rouen by the English and imprisoned in
the Castle; and the Process was, I believe, instituted by them. As to
the question of fear and pressure, I do not believe it, so far as it
affected the Judges. They acted voluntarily,—principally the Bishop of
Beauvais, for I saw him on his return from the negotiations about Jeanne
speaking of it with the Regent and the Earl of Warwick: he was exulting
and rejoicing in words which I did not understand. He went apart
thereupon with the Earl of Warwick; but what was said I know not.
In my judgment, the Judges and Assessors were for the most part
uncoerced; for the rest, I believe many were afraid. I heard from Maître
Pierre Minier that he had tendered his opinion in writing, but it was
not pleasing to the Bishop of Beauvais, who sent him away, telling him
that, as a theologian, he was not to meddle any more in the matter, but
to leave it to the lawyers.
I was once called at the beginning of the Process. I did not come, being
prevented. The second day, when I came, I was not admitted. I was even
driven away by the Bishop, because, talking one day with Maître Michel
Colles, I had told him that it was dangerous for many reasons to take
part in this Process. This was repeated to the Bishop; and for this
cause he had me shut up in the King’s prison at Rouen, whence I was
delivered only by the prayers of the Lord Abbot of Fécamp: and I heard
that some, whom the Bishop summoned, advised that I should be exiled to
England or elsewhere beyond the bounds of Rouen, had I not been
delivered by the Abbot and his friends.
It was reported in the city of Rouen that some one, feigning to be a
soldier of the King of France, was secretly introduced to her,
persuading her not to submit to the authority of the Church. There were
rumours that, on account of this persuasion, Jeanne afterwards wavered
in her submission to the Church.
I saw her coming out of the Castle, weeping much, and led to the place
of execution by a troop of soldiers, to the number of 120, some with
swords and some with clubs. Touched with compassion at this sight I
could go no further.
_Re-examined, May 13th, 1456._
At the beginning of the Process, I was at several consultations, in
which I was of opinion that neither the Bishop nor those who wished to
take part with him were in the position to act as Judges; I could not
see how they could properly proceed, because those opposed to her were
acting as Judges, and she had already been examined by the Clergy of
Poitiers and the Archbishop of Rheims, the Metropolitan of the Bishop of
Beauvais. Owing to this opinion I incurred the wrath of the Bishop, who
cited me to appear before him. When I appeared, I told him that I was
not his subject, nor was I under his jurisdiction, but in that of Rouen:
and so I left him. But when, for this reason, I wished to appear in the
Case and presented myself to the authorities of Rouen, I was arrested
and taken to the Castle and to the King’s prisons. When I asked the
cause of my arrest, I was told it was by order of the Bishop of
Beauvais. Maître Jean Delafontaine, my friend, wrote to me that I was
arrested in consequence of the opinion I had given in this Process; and
he warned me, at the same time, of the anger of the Bishop. Thanks to
the intervention of the Abbé of Fécamp, I ended by being set at liberty.
[He adds, to his previous statement, that the man who feigned to be a
soldier on the side of the King of France was Nicolas Loyseleur.]
MASSIEU: _Second Examination, May 8th, 1452_. [_Additional evidence_:]
On one occasion, Maître Jean de Chatillon, Archdeacon of Evreux and
Doctor in Theology, found that Jeanne was being asked questions too
difficult for her, and complained of the mode of procedure, saying that
they ought not to act in this manner. But the other Assessors told him
to let them alone; to which he answered: “I must acquit my own
conscience.” For this cause he was forbidden, by whom I do not remember,
to attend further unless he was summoned.
On Trinity Sunday, in the afternoon, Maître André Marguérie, hearing
that Jeanne had resumed her male attire, went to the Castle of Rouen,
saying that he must find out why she had done so, and that it was not
enough for him merely to see her in this dress. One of the English
soldiers, lance in hand, called out to him, “Traitor! Armagnac!” and
raised his lance against him, so that Marguérie fled, fearing to be
slain, and was in consequence much upset and ill.
At the first sermon, I was on the platform with Jeanne, and read the
Schedule of Abjuration to her; at her request and petition I instructed
her, shewing her the danger that might arise from abjuration unless the
Articles were first seen by the Church, to whom she should refer as to
whether she should abjure or not.
Seeing this, Maître Guillaume Érard, the preacher, asked me what I was
saying to her, and, when I replied, said: “Read her this schedule, and
tell her to sign it.” Jeanne answered that she did not know how to sign;
she desired that the Articles might be seen and deliberated upon by the
Church; [she said] she ought not to abjure this schedule, and requested
that she might be placed in the custody of the Church, and no longer be
kept by the English. Érard replied that she had had long enough delay,
and that, if she did not abjure this schedule, she should be immediately
burned; and he forbade me to speak further with her or to give her more
counsel.
I remember that incomplete questions were often put to Jeanne, and many
and difficult interrogations were made together; then, before she could
answer one, another would put a question; so that she was displeased,
saying, “Speak one after the other.” I marvelled that she could so
answer the subtle and captious questions put to her; no man of letters
could have replied better.
The examinations lasted generally from eight o’clock to eleven.
I often heard Jeanne say that God would not permit her to say or do
anything against the Catholic Faith. I heard her tell the Judges that,
if she had ever said or done anything ill, she was willing to correct
and amend according to their decision. I heard Jeanne saying to the
Doctors who questioned her: “You ask me of the Church Triumphant and
Militant. I do not understand these terms; but I am willing to submit to
the Church as a good Christian should.”
I know that the whole Process was written in French. I believe it was
afterwards translated into Latin. [To his account of her resumption of
the man’s dress he adds:] On the morrow, after she had been seen in the
resumed dress, her woman’s dress was restored to her.
At the beginning of the Process, Jeanne asked for Counsel in her
replies, she said she was too unlearned to reply; but they answered,
that she must speak for herself as best she could, for she should not
have Counsel.
[He adds to his account of her last Communion the fact that he was
himself present.]
_Further examined, December 17th, 1455, and May 12th, 1456._
[_Additional evidence_:]
Once, when I was conducting her before the Judges, she asked me, if
there were not, on her way thither, any Chapel or Church in which was
the Body of Christ. I replied, that there was a certain Chapel in the
Castle. She then begged me to lead her by this Chapel, that she might do
reverence to God and pray, which I willingly did, permitting her to
kneel and pray before the Chapel; this she did with great devotion. The
Bishop of Beauvais was much displeased at this, and forbade me in future
to permit her to pray there.
Many [in the Trial] had a great hate against her, principally the
English, who feared her greatly: for, before she was captured, they did
not dare to appear where they believed her to be. I heard it said that
the Bishop of Beauvais did everything at the instigation of the King of
England and his Council, who were then in Rouen.
Among the Assessors there was complaint that Jeanne was in the hands of
the English. Some of them said that she ought to be in the hands of the
Church; but the Bishop did not care, and sent her away to the English.
Maître Jean Lefèvre, of the Order of the Hermit Friars of Saint
Augustine, now Bishop of Démétriade, seeing Jeanne much fatigued with
the questioning as to whether she were in a state of grace, and
considering that, though her answers seemed sufficient, she was
over-worried by many questioners, remarked that she was being too much
troubled. Then the questioners ordered him to be silent: I do not
remember who they were.
She was imprisoned in the Castle of Rouen in a room on the second floor,
to which one ascended by eight steps. There was a bed in which she slept
and a great piece of wood to which she was fastened by iron chains.
There were five English of wretched estate [_houcepailliers_] who kept
guard over her; they much desired her death and often derided her, and
with this she reproached them.
I learnt from Etienne Castille, locksmith, that he had constructed for
her an iron cage in which she was held by the neck, hands and feet, and
that she was in this state from the time she was first brought to the
town of Rouen until the beginning of the Process. I never saw her in
this cage, for, when I fetched her, she was always out of irons.
I know that, by the order of the Duchess of Bedford, a visitation was
made by matrons and midwives, among whom were, notably, Anna Bavon and
another matron whose name I do not remember. She was found to be virgin,
as I have heard from the said Anna. The Duchess of Bedford forbade the
guards to offer her any violence.
When Jeanne was questioned, there were with the Bishop six Assessors,
who also questioned her in such wise that, when she was occupied in
replying to one, another interrupted her answer, so that she often said
to them: “Fair sirs, speak one after another.”
[To the story of the signing of the abjuration he adds:] Érard, holding
the Schedule of Abjuration, said to Jeanne, “Thou shalt abjure and sign
this schedule,” and passed it to me to read, and I read it in her
presence. I remember well that in this schedule it was said that in
future she should not bear arms or male attire or short hair, and many
other things which I do not remember. I know that this schedule
contained about eight lines and no more; and I know of a certainty that
it was not that which is mentioned in the Process, for this is quite
different from what I read and what was signed by Jeanne. While they
were pressing Jeanne to sign her abjuration, there was a great murmur
among those present. I heard that the Bishop said to one of them, “You
shall pay me for this,” and added, that he would not go on unless
satisfaction were done him. During this time I was constrained to warn
Jeanne of the peril which threatened her if she signed this schedule. I
saw clearly that she did not understand it, nor the danger in which she
stood. Then Jeanne, pressed to sign, said: “Let the clerics of the
Church examine this schedule. It is in their hands I ought to be. If
they tell me to sign I will do it willingly.” Then Maître Guillaume
Érard said: “Do it now, otherwise you will end in the fire to-day.”
Jeanne replied that she would rather sign than burn; and there arose a
great tumult among the people, and many stones were thrown, but by whom
I know not. When the schedule was signed, Jeanne asked the Promoter
whether she were to be placed in the hands of the Church and where she
was to be taken. Then the Promoter replied, that she was to be
reconducted to the Castle of Rouen, which in fact was done, and she was
put into woman’s clothes.
On the morning of Wednesday, the day on which she died, Brother Martin
Ladvenu heard her in confession, and afterwards sent me to the Bishop to
tell him this fact and that she prayed the Sacrament of the Eucharist
might be brought to her. Thereupon, the Bishop convoked some of the
Assessors, and at the end of their deliberation he told me to inform
Brother Martin that he might take her the Sacrament and whatsoever she
desired. Then I returned to the Castle and told this to Brother Martin.
Afterwards, she came out dressed in woman’s clothing, and Brother Martin
and I led her to the place of execution.
At the end of his sermon, Maître Nicolas Midi said to her: “Jeanne, go
in peace; the Church can no longer defend thee; she leaves thee to the
secular arm.”
She commended herself to God, to Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and all
the Saints.
I heard it said by Jean Fleury, Clerk to the Bailly, that the
executioner related how, when her body was burnt and reduced to powder,
her heart remained whole and bleeding. I was told that her ashes and all
that remained of her were collected and thrown into the Seine.
MAÎTRE NICOLAS CAVAL, _Priest, Licentiate in Law, Canon of Rouen: First
Examination, May 8th, 1452_. [_Agreed with previous statements._]
_Further examined, December 19th, 1455, and May 12th, 1456._
[_Additional evidence_:]
Jeanne had a good memory, for sometimes when she was asked a question
she replied, “I have already answered in such a form,” and she insisted
that it should be ascertained from the notaries on what day she so
answered; on which it was found to be as she said, without addition or
change: and at this was there much marvel, considering her youth.
MAÎTRE GUILLAUME DU DESERT, _Canon of Rouen: Examined May 8th, 1452_.
I was present at the first preaching at Saint-Ouen, where I saw and
heard the recantation made by Jeanne, and that she submitted to the
decisions, the judgments, and the commands of the Church. A certain
English Doctor who was present, being much displeased that the
abjuration was received—because Jeanne was laughing when she pronounced
the words—said to the Bishop of Beauvais, the Judge, that he was doing
wrong to admit this recantation, since it was a mere farce. The Bishop,
irritated, told this person that he lied: for, as Judge in a cause of
faith, he must seek rather her salvation than her death.
At this sermon, I heard Jeanne submit to the judgment of the Church.
MAÎTRE ANDRÉ MARGUÉRIE, _Archdeacon: First Examination, May 9th, 1452.
Further examined, December 19th, 1455, and May 12th, 1456_.
I heard Jeanne say, that she would believe neither Prelate nor Pope nor
any other in [contradiction to] what she had received from God. I think
this was one of the reasons why she was proceeded against, so that she
should recant.
I was present at the final preaching but not at the execution, for very
pity of the deed. Many of those present wept, among others the Cardinal
de Luxembourg, then Bishop of Thérouanne.
I know nothing about her devotions; but she said, “Rouen, Rouen, must I
die here?”
I can well believe that some of the English acted from hate and fear,
but of the more notable ecclesiastics I do not think this. A chaplain of
the Cardinal of England, present at the first preaching, said to the
Bishop of Beauvais, that he was showing too much favour to Jeanne; but
the Bishop said to him, “You lie! For in such a case I would show favour
to no one.” The Cardinal of England reproved his chaplain and told him
to be silent.
MAÎTRE RICHARD GROUCHET, _Priest, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Theology,
Canon of the Cathedral Church of La Saussaye in the diocese of Evreux:
Examined, May 9th, 1452_.
Maîtres Jean Pigache, Pierre Minier, and I myself, who was with them,
gave our opinion only under terror of threats. We stayed to the Trial,
but had thoughts of flight. I many times heard from Pierre Maurice that,
after the sermon at Saint-Ouen, he had warned Jeanne to hold to her good
purpose; and the English, much displeased, threatened to strike him.
I think the notaries wrote with fidelity. I saw and heard that the
Bishop of Beauvais bitterly upbraided them when they did not do as he
wished: the whole affair, so far as I saw and heard, was carried on
tumultuously. So far as I saw, no one was permitted to instruct or
counsel Jeanne, nor did I see that she either asked for or was offered
Counsel: but I am not sure of this. I do not know whether any one was in
danger of losing his life by defending her, but I know well that when
difficult questions were put to Jeanne, whoever wished to direct her was
harshly reproved and accused of partiality, sometimes by the Bishop of
Beauvais and sometimes by Maître Jean Beaupère, who said to those who
wished to advise, that they should leave her to speak and that the
business of interrogation was theirs.
Jeanne was in prison, in the Castle of Rouen, where she was guarded and
brought backwards and forwards by the English; but as to fetters and
chains I know nothing, though I have often heard that she was harshly
and straitly bound.
I saw and heard at the Trial that when Jeanne was asked if she would
submit to the Bishop of Beauvais and others of the Assessors then named,
she replied that she would not, but she would submit to the Pope and the
Catholic Church, praying that she might be conducted to the Pope. When
she was told that the Process would be sent to the Pope for him to
judge, she replied that she did not wish this, because she did not know
what might be put in this Process, but that she wished to be taken
herself and interrogated by the Pope.
I did not know, nor did I ever hear, that there was ever any secular
sentence pronounced against Jeanne. I was not present, but the public
voice and rumour said that she had been violently and unjustly done to
death.
MESSIRE JEAN LEFEVRE, _Bishop of Démétriade, of the Order of Saint
Augustin in the Convent at Rouen, S.T.P.: Examined, May 9th, 1452_.
When Jeanne was asked if she were in the Grace of God, I, who was
present, said it was not a suitable question for such a girl. Then the
Bishop of Beauvais said to me, “It will be better for you if you keep
silent.”
Jeanne answered with great prudence the questions put to her, with the
exception of the subject of her revelations from God: for the space of
three weeks I believed her to be inspired. She was asked very profound
questions, as to which she showed herself quite capable; sometimes they
interrupted the enquiry, going from one subject to another, that they
might make her change her purpose. The Examinations were very long,
lasting sometimes two or three hours, so that the Doctors present were
much fatigued.
[Illustration:
FACSIMILE OF A PAGE OF THE PROCESS OF JEANNE D’ARC.
]
MESSIRE THOMAS MARIE, _Priest, Bachelor in Theology, Prior of Saint
Michael, near Rouen, of the Order of Saint Benedict: Examined, May 7th,
1452_.
Jeanne had done marvels in war: and, as the English are commonly
superstitious, they thought there was a fate with her. Therefore, in my
opinion, they, in all their counsels and elsewhere, desired her death.
[When asked how he knew the English were superstitious, he answered that
it was commonly so reported, and was a popular proverb.]
I heard from a certain locksmith that he had made an iron cage high
enough to allow her to stand upright. [When asked if she were ever put
into it:] I believe so; I knew nothing of her keepers.
I have heard, that after the first preaching, when she was taken back to
the prison of the Castle, she was the victim of so many oppressions that
she said she would rather die than remain with these English.
Where the judgment is not free, neither Process nor sentence is of
value; but whether in this Case the Judges and Assessors were free, I
know not beyond what I have before stated.
I heard from many that they saw the name Jesus written in the flames of
the fire in which she was burnt.
I can well believe that if the English had had such a woman, they would
have honoured her much and not have treated her in this manner.
MAÎTRE JEAN DE FAVE, _Master of Arts, Licentiate in Law; living at
Rouen; Commissary: Examined, May 9th, 1452_.
After the first preaching, when she was taken back to prison, some of
the soldiers insulted her, and their chiefs allowed them to do so. Some
of the leaders of the English—as I heard—were angry with the Bishop of
Beauvais, the Doctors, and the other Assessors in the Trial, because she
had not been convicted and condemned and taken to execution; and I heard
it said that some of the English, in their indignation against the
Bishop and the Doctors, would have drawn their swords to attack them, if
not to slay them, saying that the King was wasting his money on such as
they. I also heard that when the Earl of Warwick, after this first
sermon, complained to the Bishop and the Doctors, saying that the King
was in a bad way, for Jeanne had escaped them, one of them replied:
“Take no heed to it, my lord; we shall soon have her again.”
The English were discontented with Maître Guillaume Manchon, the notary:
they held him in suspicion as favourable to Jeanne, because he had not
been willing to come to the Trial, and did not conduct himself to their
liking.
MAÎTRE JEAN RICQUIER, _Priest, Curé of Hendicourt_ [_testimony of no
importance_].
DEPOSITIONS AT DOMREMY: 1455.
_Twelve questions were prepared for information to be taken in the
country of the late Jeanne, commonly called the Maid._
EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES.
JEAN MOREL, _of Greux, labourer_.
Jeanne was born at Domremy and was baptised at the Parish Church of
Saint Remy, in that place. Her father was named Jacques d’Arc, her
mother Isabelle—both labourers living together at Domremy. They were, as
I saw and knew, good and faithful Catholics, labourers of good repute
and honest life. I lived much with them, I was one of the godfathers of
Jeannette. She had three godmothers—the wife of Etienne Thévenin,
Beatrix, Widow Estellin, both living at Domremy; and Jeannette, widow of
Thiesselin of Viteaux, living at Neufchâteau. From her early youth,
Jeannette was brought up with care in the Faith, and in good morals; she
was so good that all the village of Domremy loved her. Jeannette knew
her Belief and her _Pater_ and _Ave_ as well as any of her companions.
She had modest ways, as beseemed one whose parents were not rich. Up to
the time she left her parents she followed the plough and sometimes
minded the cattle in the fields. Also she did the usual duties of women,
such as spinning, and other things. I know she liked to go often to the
Hermitage of the Blessed Marie of Bermont, near Domremy; I often saw her
go there. She was there when her parents thought her with the plough or
in the fields; and when she heard the Mass-bell, if she were in the
fields, she would go back to the village and to the Church, in order to
hear Mass. I have been witness of this many times. I have seen her
confess at Easter-tide and other solemn Feasts. I saw her confess to
Messire Guillaume Fronte, who was then Curé of the Parish of Saint Remy.
On the subject of the Fairies’ tree, I have heard that the Fairies came
there long ago to dance; but, since the Gospel of Saint John has been
read under the tree, they come no more. At the present day, on the
Sunday when in the Holy Church of God the Introit to the Mass ‘Laetare
Jerusalem’ is sung, called with us ‘the Sunday of the Wells,’ the young
maidens and youths of Domremy are accustomed to go there, and also in
the spring and summer and on festival days; they dance there and have a
feast. On their return, they go dancing and playing to the Well of the
Thorn, where they drink and amuse themselves, gathering flowers. Jeanne
the Maid went there, like all the other girls at those times, and did as
they did; but I never heard say that she went there alone, either to the
tree or to the well—which is nearer to the village than the tree—or that
she went for any other purpose than to walk about and play like her
companions. When Jeanne left her father’s house, she went two or three
times to Vaucouleurs to speak to the Bailly. I heard it said that the
Lord Charles, then Duke of Lorraine, wished to see her, and gave her a
black horse.
I have no more to say, except that in the month of July I was at
Chalons, at the time when it was said that the King was going to Rheims
to be anointed.[119] I found Jeanne at Chalons and she made me a present
of a red dress she had been wearing. I know nothing of the enquiry made
at Domremy. When Jeanne went to Neufchâteau on account of the soldiers,
she was always in the company of her father and mother, who stayed there
four days, and then returned to Domremy. I am sure of what I say,
because I went with the rest to Neufchâteau and I saw Jeannette there
with her parents.
MESSIRE DOMINIQUE JACOB, _Curé of the Parish Church of
Montier-sur-Saulx_.
Jeanne was older than I. I knew her and remember her for the three or
four years before her departure from home. She was a well-brought-up
girl, and well-behaved; and she often attended Church. Sometimes, when
the village bell rang for service, I saw her kneel down and pray with
great devotion.
BEATRIX, _widow of Estellin, labourer, of Domremy_.
Jeannette was born, at Domremy, of Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle, his wife,
labourers, good and true Catholics, honest folk and worthy, according to
their ability, but not rich. She was baptised at the Church of Saint
Remy. She had as god-fathers, Jean Morel, Jean de Laxart, and the late
Jean Raiguesson; and as god-mothers, Jeannette, widow Thiesselin,
Jeannette Thévenin, and myself. Jeanne was suitably instructed in the
Catholic Faith, like other young girls of her age. Up to her departure,
she was properly brought up; she was a chaste maiden, and of modest
habits. She frequented with great devotion, churches and holy places;
and, after the village of Domremy was burned, she went on Feast Days to
attend Mass at Greux. She confessed willingly at festivals, principally
at the Feast of the most Holy Easter, the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I do not think there was any one better than she in our two
villages. She employed herself at home with many duties in the house,
spinning hemp or wool, following the plough, or going to harvest,
according to the season. When it was her father’s turn, she sometimes
kept the cattle and the flocks of the village for him. When Jeannette
went to Neufchâteau, all the village had fled. I saw her there, always
with her father and mother. Up to her going into France, Jeannette had
never obeyed any one or worked for any one but her father.
JEANNETTE, _wife of Thévenin, cartwright_ [_gave evidence similar to the
preceding, as did_] JEAN MOEN, _of Domremy, cartwright, living at
Coussey, near Neufchâteau_, [_and_] JACQUIER _of Saint Amance, near
Nancy_.
MESSIRE ETIENNE OF SIONNE, _Curé of the Parish Church of
Roncessey-sous-Neufchâteau_.
Many times I heard Messire Guillaume Fronte, in his lifetime Curé of
Domremy, say that Jeanne the Maid was a simple and good girl, pious,
well-brought-up, and God-fearing, and without her like in the whole
village. Often did she confess her sins; and, if she had had money, she
would have given it to him, he told me, to say Masses. Every day, when
he celebrated Mass, she was there. I heard it said by a great number of
persons that Jeannette, when she went to Neufchâteau, lived with a
worthy woman named La Rousse; and that she always remained in the
company of her father and the other inhabitants of Domremy, who had fled
there.
JEANNETTE, _widow of Thiesselin of Viteaux, formerly clerk at
Neufchâteau_.
I often saw her confess to Messire Guillaume Fronte, the Curé of the
parish. She never swore, and, to affirm strongly, contented herself with
saying, “Without fail!” She was no dancer; and, sometimes, when the
others were singing and dancing, she went to prayer. Jeannette was fond
of work, spinning, looking after the house, and, when necessary, taking
her turn at minding her father’s cattle. There is a tree by us called
the Ladies’ Tree, because, in ancient days, the Sieur Pierre Granier,
Seigneur de Bourlement, and a lady called Fée met under this tree and
conversed together: I have heard it read in a romance. The Seigneurs of
Domremy and their ladies—at least, the Lady Beatrix, wife of Pierre de
Bourlement, and the said Pierre—accompanied by their daughters, came
sometimes to walk round this tree. In the same way, every year the young
girls and youths of Domremy came to walk there, on the Laetare
Sunday—called ‘the Sunday of the Wells’: they ate and danced there, and
went to drink at the Well of the Thorn. But I do not remember if Jeanne
were ever under this tree. I never heard anything evil said about her on
account of this tree.
LOUIS DE MARTIGNY, _Squire, living at Martigny-les-Gerbonveaux, near
Neufchâteau_.
I heard that Jeanne, when she wanted to go into France, went first to
the Bailly of Chaumont, and afterwards to the Lord Duke de Lorraine, who
gave her a horse and some money. Bertrand de Poulengey, Jean de Metz,
Jean Dieu-le-Ward, and Colet de Vienne afterwards conducted her to the
King.
THÉVENIN LE ROYER, _Cartwright, a native of Chermisey, near Neufchâteau,
residing at Domremy, husband of one of Jeanne’s God-mothers_ [_evidence
similar to the preceding_].
BERTRAND LACLOPPE, _thatcher, of Domremy_.
One day, a man[120] of Burey-le-Petit came to seek Jeanne at Domremy,
and took her to speak with the Bailly of Vaucouleurs: I heard say that
it was this Bailly who sent her to the King. The soldiers having come to
Domremy, all the people of the village went to take refuge at
Neufchâteau. Jeannette and her parents did as the others did: she stayed
there about four days, always in their company.
PERRIN LE DRAPIER, _of Domremy, Churchwarden of the Parish Church and
Bell-ringer_.
From her earliest years till her departure, Jeannette the Maid was a
good girl, chaste, simple, modest, never blaspheming God nor the Saints,
fearing God. She loved to go to Church and confessed often. I can attest
what I say, for I was then attached to the Church of Saint Remy, and
often I saw Jeanne come there to Mass and other Offices. When I forgot
to ring for Service, Jeanne scolded me, saying I had done wrong; and she
promised to give me some of the wool of her flock if I would ring more
diligently. Often she went with her sister and others to the Church and
Hermitage of Bermont. She was very charitable, and very industrious,
employed herself in spinning and divers other works in her father’s
house; sometimes she went to the plough, or took care of the flock when
it was her turn. When Jeanne left her father’s house, she went with her
uncle Durand Laxart to Vaucouleurs, to seek Robert de Baudricourt, who
was then captain there.
GERARD GUILLEMETTE, _labourer, of Greux_.
When Jeanne left her father’s house, I saw her pass before my father’s
house, with her uncle Durand Laxart. “Adieu,” she said to my father, “I
am going to Vaucouleurs.” I heard afterwards that she had gone to
France. I was at Neufchâteau with Jeanne and her parents. I saw her
always with them, excepting that, for three or four days, she did, under
their eyes, help the hostess at whose house they were lodging,—an honest
woman named La Rousse. I know well that they only remained at
Neufchâteau four or five days. When the soldiers had gone, Jeanne
returned to Domremy with her parents.
HAUVIETTE, _wife of Gerard of Syonne, near Neufchâteau_.
She was a good girl, simple and gentle; she went willingly and often to
Church, and Holy places. Often she was bashful when others reproached
her with going too devotedly to Church. There was a tree in the
neighbourhood that, from ancient days, had been called the Ladies’ Tree.
It was said formerly that ladies, called Fairies, came under this tree;
but I never heard any one say they had been seen there. The young people
of the village were accustomed to go to this tree, taking food with
them, and to the Well of the Thorn[121]
[_Ad fontem Rannorum_, or, “_ad Rannos_”] on the Sunday of ‘Laetare
Jerusalem,’[122] called the Sunday of the Wells. I often went there with
Jeanne, who was my friend, and with other young girls on the said Sunday
of the Wells. We ate there, ran about, and played. Also, we took nuts to
this tree and well. I did not know of Jeanne’s departure: I wept much; I
loved her dearly for her goodness and because she was my friend. Jeanne
was always with her father and mother at Neufchâteau. I also was at
Neufchâteau, and saw her there all the time.
JEAN WATERIN, _labourer, of Greux_.
I saw Jeannette very often. In our childhood, we often followed together
her father’s plough, and we went together with the other children of the
village to the meadows or pastures. Often, when we were all at play,
Jeannette would retire alone to “talk with God.” I and the others
laughed at her for this. She was simple and good, frequenting the Church
and Holy places. Often, when she was in the fields and heard the bells
ring, she would drop on her knees.
GERARDIN, _labourer, of Epinal_.
Of her departure for Vaucouleurs I know nothing. But, at the time when
she was thinking of leaving the village, she said to me, one day:
“Gossip, if you were not a Burgundian, I would tell you something.” I
thought it was on the subject of some marriage which she might have in
her head. After her departure, I saw her at Chalons,—I and four other
inhabitants of this place. She told us she feared nothing but treason.
SIMONIN MUSNIER, _labourer, of Domremy_.
I was brought up with Jeannette, close to her house. I know that she was
good, simple and pious, and that she feared God and the Saints. She
loved Church and Holy places; she was very charitable, and liked to take
care of the sick. I know this of a surety, for, in my childhood, I fell
ill, and it was she who nursed me. When the Church bells rang, I have
seen her kneel down and make the sign of the Cross.
ISABELLETTE, _wife of Gerardin, labourer, of Epinal_.
From my childhood I knew the parents of Jeannette; as to Jeannette,
herself, I knew her in my youth and as long as she remained with her
parents. She was very hospitable to the poor, and would even sleep on
the hearth in order that the poor might lie in her bed. She was not fond
of playing, at which we, her companions, complained. She liked work; and
would spin, labour with her father, look after the house, and sometimes
mind the sheep. She was never seen idling in the roads; she was more
often in Church at prayer.
I often saw her at confession, for she was my gossip, and god-mother to
my son Nicolas. I was often with her, and saw her go to confession to
Messire Guillaume, who was then our Curé. When all was well at the
château, the Seigneurs and their ladies often came to walk beneath the
Ladies’ Tree, on the Sunday of Laetare, which we call ‘the Sunday of the
Wells’; and on certain other days, in fine weather, they brought with
them the village boys and girls. The Seigneur Pierre de Bourlement and
his lady, who was from France, took me there on the said Sunday of the
Wells many times in my childhood, with other children. It was the custom
to go every year, on this Sunday, to play and walk round this tree.
Jeannette went with us, we each brought provisions, and, the meal ended,
went to refresh ourselves at the Well. The same thing takes place now,
with our children.
MENGETTE, _wife of Jean Joyart, labourer_.
My father’s house joined the house of Jacques d’Arc: so I knew her well.
We often spun together, and together worked at the ordinary
house-duties, whether by day or night. She was a good Christian, of good
manners and well brought up. She loved the Church, and went there often,
and gave alms from the goods of her father. She was a good girl, simple
and pious—so much so that I and her companions told her she was too
pious.
MESSIRE JEAN COLIN, _Curé of the Parish Church at Domremy and Canon of
the Collegiate Church of Saint-Nicolas de Brixey, near Vaucouleurs_.
While Jeanne was at Vaucouleurs, she confessed to me two or three times.
It seemed to me, to my knowledge, that she was an excellent girl, with
all the signs of a perfect Christian and of a true Catholic; she was
fond of going to Church. I saw her at Vaucouleurs, when she wanted to go
into France, and saw her mount on horseback; with her were Bertrand de
Poulengey, Jean de Metz, Colet de Vienne, horse-soldiers and servants of
Robert de Baudricourt.
COLIN, _son of Jean Colin, labourer_.
I heard Durand Laxart say, that she told him he must conduct her to
Vaucouleurs, that she wished to go into France, and that she would tell
her father she was going to the house of the said Durand to nurse his
wife. And this, Durand told me, was done; and then, with the consent of
her father, she went to Vaucouleurs to seek Robert de Baudricourt.
[Illustration:
CHÂTEAU DE VAUCOULEURS,
Porte de France.
]
JEAN DE NOVELEMPORT, _Knight, called Jean de Metz_.
When Jeannette was at Vaucouleurs, I saw her dressed in a red dress,
poor and worn; she lived at the house of one named Henri Leroyer. “What
are you doing here, my friend?” I said to her. “Must the King be driven
from the kingdom; and are we to be English?” “I am come here,” she
answered me, “to this royal town,[123] to speak to Robert de
Baudricourt, to the end that he may conduct me or have me conducted to
the King: but Robert cares neither for me nor for my words.
Nevertheless, before the middle of Lent, I must be with the King—even if
I have to wear down my feet to the knees! No one in the world—neither
kings, nor dukes, nor the daughter of the King of Scotland,[124] nor any
others—can recover the kingdom of France; there is no succour to be
expected save from me; but, nevertheless, I would rather spin with my
poor mother—for this is not my proper estate: it is, however, necessary
that I should go, and do this, because my Lord wills that I should do
it.” And when I asked her who this Lord was, she told me it was God.
Then I pledged my faith to her, touching her hand, and promised that,
with God’s guidance, I would conduct her to the King. I asked her when
she wished to start. “Sooner at once than to-morrow, and sooner
to-morrow than later,” she said. I asked her if she could make this
journey, dressed as she was. She replied that she would willingly take a
man’s dress. Then I gave her the dress and equipment of one of my men.
Afterwards, the inhabitants of Vaucouleurs had a man’s dress made for
her, with all the necessary requisites; I also procured for her a horse
at the price of about sixteen francs. Thus dressed and mounted, and
furnished with a safe-conduct from the Sieur Charles, Duke de Lorraine,
she went to visit the said Lord Duke. I accompanied her as far as Toul.
On the return to Vaucouleurs, the first Sunday in Lent,[125] which is
called ‘Dimanche des Bures’—and it will be, if I mistake not,
twenty-seven years from that day to the coming Lent[126]—I and Bertrand
de Poulengey, with two of my men, Colet de Vienne, the King’s Messenger,
and the Archer Richard, conducted the Maid to the King, who was then at
Chinon. The journey was made at the expense of Bertrand de Poulengey and
myself. We travelled for the most part at night, for fear of the
Burgundians and the English, who were masters of the roads. We journeyed
eleven days, always riding towards the said town of Chinon. On the way,
I asked her many times if she would really do all she said. “Have no
fear,” she answered us, “what I am commanded to do, I will do; my
brothers in Paradise have told me how to act: it is four or five years
since my brothers in Paradise and my Lord—that is, God—told me that I
must go and fight in order to regain the kingdom of France.” On the way,
Bertrand and I slept every night by her—Jeanne being at my side, fully
dressed. She inspired me with such respect that for nothing in the world
would I have dared to molest her; also, never did I feel towards her—I
say it on oath—any carnal desire. On the way she always wished to hear
Mass. She said to us: “If we can, we shall do well to hear Mass.” But,
for fear of being recognized, we were only able to hear it twice. I had
absolute faith in her. Her words and her ardent faith in God inflamed
me. I believe she was sent from God; she never swore, she loved to
attend Mass, she confessed often, and was zealous in giving alms. Many
times was I obliged to hand out to her the money she gave for the love
of God. While we were with her, we found her always good, simple, pious,
an excellent Christian, well-behaved, and God-fearing. When we arrived
at Chinon,[127] we presented ourselves to the King’s Court and Council.
I know she had there to submit to long enquiries.
MICHAEL LEBUIN, _labourer, of Domremy_.
I knew Jeannette from my earliest youth. Of Jeanne’s departure for
Vaucouleurs I knew nothing. But, one day—the Eve of Saint John the
Baptist[128]—she said to me: “Between Coussy and Vaucouleurs there is a
young girl, who, before the year is gone, will have the King of France
consecrated.” And, in truth, the following year the King was crowned at
Rheims.[129] When Jeanne was a prisoner I saw Nicolas Bailly, Notary of
Andelot, coming to Domremy, one day, with several other persons. At the
request of Jean de Torcenay, Bailly of Chaumont for the pretended King
of France and England, he proceeded to make enquiries into the conduct
and life of Jeanne. But he could not induce the inhabitants of
Vaucouleurs to depose. I believe that they questioned Jean Begot, at
whose house they were staying. Their enquiry revealed nothing against
Jeanne.
GEOFFROY DE FAY.
I saw Jeanne the Maid when she came to Maxey-sur-Vays.[130] When Jeanne
came to Maxey, she came sometimes to my house. I always thought her a
good girl, simple and pious. Many times I heard her speak; she said that
she wished to go into France.
DURAND LAXART, _of Burey-le-Petit_.
Jeanne was of the family of Jeanne, my wife. I knew Jacques d’Arc and
Isabelle, his wife, the parents of Jeanne the Maid: they were good and
faithful Catholics, and of good repute. She was a girl of good
disposition, devout, patient, loving the Church, going often to
confession, and giving to the poor all that she could. I can attest
this, having been witness thereof, both at Domremy and at my own house
at Burey, where she passed six weeks.[131] I went to fetch her from her
father’s and brought her to my house; she told me she wished to go into
France, to the Dauphin, to have him crowned. “Was it not foretold
formerly,” she said to me, “that France should be desolated[132] by a
woman, and should be restored by a maid?” She told me she wished to go,
herself, and seek Robert de Baudricourt, in order that he might have her
conducted to the place where the Dauphin was. But many times Robert told
me to take her back to her father and to box her ears. When she saw that
Robert would not do as she asked, she took some of my garments and said
she would start. She departed, and I took her to Vaucouleurs [_i.e._
Saint-Nicolas[133]].—Thence she returned, and went with a safe-conduct
to the Sieur Charles de Lorraine. The Duke saw her, spoke to her, and
gave her four francs,[134] which Jeanne showed to me. She came back to
Vaucouleurs; and the inhabitants bought for her a man’s garments and a
complete warlike equipment. Alain de Vaucouleurs and I bought her a
horse for the price of twelve francs, which we paid, and which was
repaid to us later by the Sieur Robert de Baudricourt. This done, Jean
de Metz, Bertrand de Poulengey, Colet de Vienne, together with Richard
the Archer and two men of the suite of Jean de Metz and Bertrand,
conducted Jeanne to the place where the Dauphin was.
All this, as I now say it, I told to the King. I know no more, except
that I saw her at Rheims at the King’s crowning.
CATHERINE, _wife of Leroyer_.
Jeanne, when she had left her parents, was brought to our house at
Vaucouleurs by Durand Laxart, her uncle; she wished to go to the place
where the Dauphin was. I had occasion to know her well; she was an
excellent girl, simple, gentle, respectful, well-conducted, loving to go
to Church.
She lived with us at Vaucouleurs, at different times about three weeks.
She spoke to the Sieur Robert de Baudricourt, that he might have her
conducted to the Dauphin, but Sieur Robert would not listen to her. One
day, I saw Robert de Baudricourt—then captain of Vaucouleurs—and Messire
Jean Fournier, our Curé, come in to our house to visit her. After they
were gone, she told me that the Priest had his stole, and that, in
presence of the said captain, he adjured her, saying: “If you are an
evil spirit, avaunt! If you are a good spirit, approach!” Then Jeanne
drew near the Priest and threw herself at his knees: she said he was
wrong to act so, for he had heard her in confession. When she saw that
Robert refused to conduct her to the King, she said to me that,
nevertheless, she would go and seek the Dauphin. “Do you not know,” she
said, “the prophecy which says that France, lost by a woman, shall be
saved by a maiden from the Marches of Lorraine?” I did indeed remember
the prophecy, and remained stupefied. Jacques Alain and Durand Laxart
took her to Saint-Nicolas,[135] then came back with her to Vaucouleurs.
HENRI LEROYER, _cartwright, formerly of Vaucouleurs_.
Jeanne, when she came to Vaucouleurs, lodged in our house. She said to
us, “It is necessary that I should go to the noble Dauphin; my Lord the
King of Heaven wills that I should go; I go in the name of the King of
Heaven; even if I have to drag myself thither on my knees, I shall go!”
When she arrived at our house, she was wearing a woman’s dress, of a red
colour. At Vaucouleurs she received the gift of a man’s dress and a
complete equipment; then, mounted on a horse, she was conducted to the
place where the Dauphin was, by Jean de Metz, Bertrand de Poulengey, and
two of their servants—Colet de Vienne, and Richard the Archer. I saw
them depart, all six, and Jeanne with them. When she spoke of leaving,
she was asked how she thought she could effect such a journey and escape
the enemy. “I fear them not,” she answered, “I have a sure road: if the
enemy are on my road, I have God with me, Who knows how to prepare the
way to the Lord Dauphin. I was born to do this.”
ALBERT D’OURCHES, _Seigneur of Ourches, near Commerey_.
I saw Jeanne at Vaucouleurs when she arrived to be taken to the King.
Many times I heard her then say that she wished to go to the King, and
that some one would conduct her to him, for it would be to the great
benefit of the Dauphin.
This maiden always seemed to me very well behaved. I should have been
well pleased to have had a daughter as good as she.
NICOLAS BAILLY, _Tabellion (Notary) and Deputy Royal at Andelot_.
As Tabellion I was appointed by the Sieur Jean de Torcenay, Knight, then
Bailly of Chaumont, by the authority of the pretended King of France and
England, and, with me, the late Gerard Petit—then Provost of the said
Andelot[136]—to proceed to an enquiry on the subject of Jeanne, at that
time detained in prison at Rouen. Many times, in her youth, I saw Jeanne
before she left her father’s house: she was a good girl, of pure life
and good manners, a good Catholic who loved the Church and went often on
pilgrimage to the Church of Bermont, and confessed nearly every month—as
I learned from a number of the inhabitants of Domremy, whom I had to
question on the subject at the time of the enquiry that I made with the
Provost of Andelot. When I and the late Gerard made this enquiry, we
examined twelve or fifteen witnesses. Afterwards, we certified the
information before Simon de Thermes, Squire, Lieutenant of the Captain
of Montclair.
GUILLOT JACQUIER, _of Andelot, King’s Sergeant_; [_evidence similar to
the preceding_.]
BERTRAND DE POULENGEY, _Squire_.
After her departure from her father’s roof, I often saw Jeanne at
Vaucouleurs and during the war. I remember often to have heard this
Ladies’ Tree spoken of. I have even sat beneath it, but that was a dozen
years before I saw Jeanne. Jeanne came to Vaucouleurs, I think, about
Ascension Day.[137] I saw her speaking to the Captain, Robert de
Baudricourt. She told him that “she came to him in the name of her Lord;
that the Dauphin must be compelled to persevere and to give battle to
his enemies, that the Lord would give him succour before the middle of
Lent; that the kingdom belonged not to him, the Dauphin, but to her
Lord; that her Lord would have the Dauphin King and hold the kingdom in
trust; that she would make him King, in spite of his enemies, and would
conduct him to his coronation.” “But who is this Lord of whom you
speak?” asked Robert of her. “The King of Heaven,” she replied. That
time she went back to her father’s house, accompanied by one of her
uncles, named Durand Laxart. Later, towards the commencement of Lent,
she came back to Vaucouleurs to seek companions, so as to go to the
Dauphin. Then Jean de Metz and I offered to conduct her to the King—at
that time Dauphin. After a pilgrimage to Saint-Nicolas, she went to seek
the Lord Duke de Lorraine, who had sent her a safe-conduct and asked to
see her. She then returned to Vaucouleurs and lodged in the house of
Henry Leroyer. Then Jean de Metz and I, aided by many others of
Vaucouleurs, so wrought that she put off her woman’s dress, which was of
a red colour;[138] we procured for her a tunic and man’s dress—spurs,
leggings, sword, and such-like—and a horse. Then we started with her to
seek the Dauphin, together with Julian, my servant, Jean de Honecourt,
servant of Jean de Metz, Colet de Vienne, and Richard the Archer. On
starting, the first day, fearing to be taken by the Burgundians and the
English, we travelled all night. Jeanne said to me and to Jean de Metz,
while we were journeying, that it would be well for us to hear Mass; but
while we were in the enemy’s country, we could not, for fear of being
recognized. At night, Jeanne slept beside John de Metz and myself, fully
dressed and armed. I was young then; nevertheless I never felt towards
her any desire: I should never have dared to molest her, because of the
great goodness which I saw in her. We were eleven days on the road,
during which we had many anxieties. But Jeanne told us always that we
had nothing to fear, and that, once arrived at Chinon, the noble Dauphin
would show us good countenance. She entirely abstained from swearing. I
felt myself inspired by her words, for I saw she was indeed a messenger
of God; never did I see in her any evil, but always she was as good as
if she had been a saint. We took our road thus, and, without many
obstacles, gained Chinon, where the King—then Dauphin—was staying. There
the said maid was presented to the nobles in the King’s suite, to whom I
refer for the actions of the said Jeanne.
MESSIRE HENRI ARNOLIN, _of Gontrecourt-le-Château, near Commercy,
Priest_; [_testimony of no importance_].
MESSIRE JEAN LEFUMEUX, _of Vaucouleurs, Canon of the Chapel of Saint
Mary at Vaucouleurs, and Curé of the Parish Church of Ugny_.
I know that Jeanne came to Vaucouleurs, and said that she wished to go
to the Dauphin. I was then young, and attached to the Chapel of the
Blessed Mary at Vaucouleurs. I often saw Jeanne in this Chapel; she
behaved with great piety, attended Mass in the morning, and remained a
long time in prayer. I have also seen her[139] in the crypt of the
Chapel on her knees before the Blessed Mary, her face sometimes bent to
the ground, sometimes raised to heaven. She was a good and holy maiden.
JEAN JACQUARD, _labourer, of Greux; son of Jean, called_ GUILLEMETTE;
[_evidence similar to the preceding_].
DEPOSITIONS AT ORLEANS: 1455.
JEAN,[140] _Bastard of Orleans, Count de Dunois_.
I think that Jeanne was sent by God, and that her behaviour in war was a
fact divine rather than human. Many reasons make me think so.
I was at Orleans, then besieged by the English, when the report spread
that a young girl, commonly called the Maid, had just passed through
Gien, going to the noble Dauphin, with the avowed intention of raising
the siege of Orleans and conducting the Dauphin to Rheims for his
anointing. I was then entrusted with the care of the town of Orleans and
was Lieutenant-General of the King in affairs of war. In order to be
better informed on the subject of this young girl, I sent to the King
the Sieur de Villars, Seneschal of Beaucaire, and Janet de Tilly,[141]
who was afterwards Bailly of Vermandois.
[Illustration:
COUNT DE DUNOIS,
Bastard of Orleans.
]
They returned from the King, and reported to me publicly, in presence of
all the people of Orleans [assembled] to know the truth, that they had
seen the Maid arrive at Chinon. They said that the King at first had no
wish to listen to her: she even remained two days, waiting, until she
was permitted to present herself before him, although she persisted in
saying that she was come to raise the siege of Orleans, and to conduct
the Dauphin to Rheims, in order that he might be consecrated; she at
once asked for men, arms and horses.
Three weeks or a month elapsed, during which the King had her examined
by Clergy, Prelates, and Doctors in Theology, as to her words and deeds,
in order to know if he might receive her with safety. Then the King
assembled an army to conduct to Orleans a convoy of supplies.
Hearing the opinion of the Clergy and Prelates that there was no evil in
this Maid, the King sent her with the Lord Archbishop of Rheims,[142]
then Chancellor of France, and the Sieur de Gaucourt, then Grand
Steward, to Blois, where those were who had the charge of escorting the
convoy—that is, the Sieurs de Rais[143] and de Boussac, Marshals of
France; de Coulent, Admiral of France; La Hire; and Ambroise de Loré,
who was afterwards Governor of Paris. All, at the head of the army
transporting the convoy, came, with Jeanne, in good order, by way of the
Sologne, to the Loire, facing the Church of Saint Loup. But the English
were there in great number: and the army escorting the convoy did not
appear to me, nor to the other captains, in sufficient force to resist
them and to ensure the entrance of the convoy on that side. It was
necessary to load the convoy on boats, which were procured with
difficulty. But to reach Orleans it was necessary to sail against the
stream, and the wind was altogether contrary.
Then Jeanne said to me: “Are you the Bastard of Orleans?” “Yes,” I
answered; “and I am very glad of your coming!” “Is it you who said I was
to come on this side [of the river], and that I should not go direct to
the side where Talbot and the English are?” “Yes, and those more wise
than I are of the same opinion, for our greater success and safety.” “In
God’s Name,” she then said, “the counsel of My Lord is safer and wiser
than yours. You thought to deceive me, and it is yourselves who are
deceived, for I bring you better succour than has ever come to any
general or town whatsoever—the succour of the King of Heaven. This
succour does not come from me, but from God Himself, Who, at the prayers
of Saint Louis and Saint Charlemagne, has had compassion on the town of
Orleans, and will not suffer the enemy to hold at the same time the
Duke[144] and his town!”
At that moment, the wind, being contrary, and thereby preventing the
boats going up the river and reaching Orleans, turned all at once and
became favourable. They stretched the sails; and I ordered the boats to
the town, which I entered with Brother Nicolas de Geresme, then Grand
Prior in France of the Order of Rhodes. We passed before the Church of
Saint Loup in spite of the English. From that time I put good hope in
her, even more than before. I had begged her to cross the river and to
enter the town, where many were longing for her. She had made a
difficulty about it, not wishing, she said, to abandon her army or her
followers who were duly confessed, penitent, and of good will; and on
their account she refused to come. Thereupon, I went in search of the
captains who had charge of the convoy and the army, and besought them,
for the welfare of the King, to allow Jeanne to enter Orleans at once,
and that they should go up the river—they and the army—to Blois, where
they should cross the Loire so as to return to Orleans, for there was no
nearer place of crossing. They consented; and Jeanne then came with me.
She had in her hand a banner, white in colour, on which was an image of
Our Lord holding in His Hand a lily. La Hire crossed the Loire at the
same time as she, and entered the city with her and ourselves. All this
was much more the work of God than of man: the sudden change of wind
immediately Jeanne had announced it; the bringing in of the convoy of
supplies in spite of the English, who were in much greater force than
all the King’s army; and the statement of Jeanne that she had seen Saint
Louis and Saint Charles the Great praying God for the safety of the King
and of the City.
Another circumstance made me think these deeds were the work of God. I
wished to go towards the army which had turned back on Blois and which
was marching to the relief of Orleans; Jeanne would not wait for them
nor consent that I should go to meet them: she wished to summon the
English to raise the siege at once on pain of being themselves attacked.
She did, in fact, summon them by a letter which she wrote to them in
French, in which she told them, in very simple terms, that they were to
retire from the siege and return to England, or else she would bring
against them a great attack, which would force them to retreat. Her
letter was sent to Lord Talbot. From that hour, the English—who, up to
that time, could, I affirm, with two hundred of their men, have put to
rout 800 or 1,000 of ours—were unable, with all their power, to resist
400 or 500 French; they had to be driven into their forts, where they
took refuge, and from whence they dared not come forth.
There is another fact which made me believe she was from God. The 27th
of May,[145] very early in the morning, we began the attack on the
Boulevard[146] of the bridge. Jeanne was there wounded by an arrow which
penetrated half-a-foot between the neck and the shoulder; but she
continued none the less to fight, taking no remedy for her wound. The
attack lasted throughout, from the morning until 8 o’clock in the
evening, without hope of success for us: for which reason I was anxious
that the army should retire into the town. The Maid then came to me,
praying me to wait yet a little longer. Thereupon she mounted her horse,
retired to a vineyard, all alone by herself, remained in prayer about
half an hour, then, returning and seizing her banner by both hands, she
placed herself on the edge of the trench. At sight of her the English
trembled, and were seized with sudden fear; our people, on the contrary,
took courage and began to mount and assail the Boulevard, not meeting
any resistance. Thus was the Boulevard taken and the English therein put
to flight: all were killed, among them Classidas[147] and the other
principal English captains of the Bastille, who, thinking to gain the
Bridge Tower, fell into the river, where they were drowned. This
Classidas was he who had spoken of the Maid with the greatest contempt
and insult.
The Bastille taken, we re-entered the town of Orleans—the Maid and all
the army—where we were received with enthusiasm. Jeanne was taken to her
house, to receive the care which her wound required. When the surgeon
had dressed it, she began to eat, contenting herself with four or five
slices of bread dipped in wine and water, without, on that day, having
eaten or drunk anything else.
The next day, early in the morning, the English came out of their camp
and placed themselves in order of battle. At this sight, Jeanne got up
and put on a light coat of mail; she forbade the English to be attacked
or in any way molested but [gave orders] that they should be allowed to
depart, which they did, without any pursuit. From that moment the town
was delivered.
After the deliverance of Orleans, the Maid, with myself and the other
captains, went to seek the King at the Castle of Loches, praying him to
attack immediately the towns and the camps on the Loire, Mehun,
Beaugency, Jargeau, in order to make his consecration at Rheims more
free and sure. This she besought the King often, in the most urgent
manner, to hasten, without longer delay. The King used the greatest
haste possible, and sent, for this purpose, the Duke d’Alençon, myself
and other captains, as well as Jeanne, to reduce these towns and camps.
All were reduced in a few days—thanks alone, as I believe, to the
intervention of the Maid.
After the deliverance of Orleans, the English assembled together a
numerous army, to defend the aforesaid towns, which they occupied. When
we had invested the camp and bridge of Beaugency, the English army
arrived at the camp of Meung-sur-Loire, which was still under their
control. But this army could not come to the help of the English
besieged in the camp of Beaugency. At the news of the taking of this
camp, all the English divisions joined together into one complete army;
and we thought they would offer us battle: we made our dispositions
accordingly. In presence of the Constable, myself, and the other
captains, the Duke d’Alençon asked Jeanne what was to be done. She
answered thus, in a loud voice: “Have all of you good spurs?” “What do
you mean?” asked those present of her; “are we, then, to turn our
backs?” “Nay,” she replied, “it is the English who will not defend
themselves, and will be beaten; and you must have good spurs to pursue
them.” And it fell out thus, as she had predicted: the English took to
flight, and of killed and prisoners there were more than 4,000.
At Loches, after the raising of the siege of Orleans, I remember that,
one day, the King, being in his private room with the Sieur Christopher
d’Harcourt, the Bishop of Castres,[148] his Confessor, and the Sieur de
Trèves, who was formerly Chancellor of France,[149] Jeanne and I went to
seek him. Before entering, she knocked at the door; as soon as she had
entered, she knelt before the King, and, embracing his knees, said these
words: “Noble Dauphin! hold no longer these many and long councils, but
come quickly to Rheims to take the crown for which you are worthy!” “Is
it your Counsel who told you this?” said Christopher d’Harcourt. “Yes,”
she answered, “and my Counsel urges me to this most of all.” “Will you
not say, here, in presence of the King,” added the Bishop, “what manner
of Counsel it is which thus speaks to you?” “I think I understand,” she
said, colouring, “what you want to know; and I will tell you willingly.”
Then said the King: “Jeanne, will it please you to say, in presence of
the persons who are listening to us, what has been asked you?” “Yes,
Sire,” she answered. And then she said this, or something approaching
it: “When I am vexed that faith is not readily placed in what I wish to
say in God’s Name, I retire alone, and pray to God. I complain to Him
that those whom I address do not believe me more readily; and, my prayer
ended, I hear a Voice which says to me: ‘Daughter of God! go on! go on!
go on! I will be thy Help: go on!’ And when I hear this Voice, I have
great joy. I would I could always hear it thus.” And, in repeating to us
this language of her Voice, she was—strange to say!—in a marvellous
rapture, raising her eyes to Heaven.
After the victories of which I have just spoken, the nobles of the Blood
Royal and the captains wished the King to go into Normandy, and not to
Rheims. But the Maid was always of opinion that it was necessary to go
to Rheims, that the King should be consecrated, giving as a reason that,
if once the King were consecrated and crowned, the power of his
adversaries would decline, and that in the end they would be past the
power of doing any injury, either to him or to his kingdom. And all
consented to her opinion. The place where the King first halted, with
his army, was under the town of Troyes; he there took counsel with the
nobles of the Blood, and the other captains, to decide whether they
should remain before this town, in order to lay siege to it, or whether
it would not better avail to pass on and march straight to Rheims,
leaving Troyes alone. The Council were divided in opinion, and no one
knew which course to pursue, when Jeanne suddenly arrived, and appeared
in the Council. “Noble Dauphin,” she said, “order your people to come
and besiege the town of Troyes, and lose no more time in such long
councils. In God’s Name, before three days are gone, I will bring you
into this town by favour or force, and greatly will the false Burgundy
be astounded.” Then Jeanne, putting herself at the head of the army, had
the tents placed right against the trenches of the town, and executed
many marvellous manœuvres which had not been thought of by two or three
accomplished generals working together. And so well did she work during
the night, that, the next day, the Bishop[150] and citizens came all
trembling and quaking to place their submission in the King’s hands.
Afterwards, it was known that, at the moment when she had told the
King’s Council not to pass by the town, the inhabitants had suddenly
lost heart, and had occupied themselves only in seeking refuge in the
Churches. The town of Troyes once reduced, the King went to Rheims,
where he found complete submission, and where he was consecrated and
crowned.
Jeanne was accustomed to repair daily to Church at the time of Vespers,
or towards evening; she had the bells rung for half-an-hour, and
collected together all the Mendicant Friars who were following the army.
Then she began to pray, and had an anthem in honour of the Blessed Mary,
Mother of God, sung by the Mendicant Friars.
When the King came to La Ferté and to Crespy-en-Valois, the people ran
about him, crying “Noel!” The Maid was then riding between the
Archbishop of Rheims and myself: “This is a good people,” she said to
us; “I have seen none elsewhere who rejoiced as much at the coming of so
noble a King. How happy should I be if, when my days are done, I might
be buried here!” “Jeanne,” then said the Archbishop to her, “in what
place do you hope to die?” “Where it shall please God,” she answered;
“for I am not certain of either the time or the place, any more than you
are yourself. Would it might please God, my Creator, that I might retire
now, abandon arms and return to serve my father and mother and to take
care of their sheep with my sister and my brothers, who would be so
happy to see me again!”
[Illustration:
RHEIMS CATHEDRAL.
]
There was never any one more sober. I often heard it said by the Sieur
Jean d’Aulon, Knight, now Seneschal of Beaucaire, who had been appointed
by the King to watch over her, as being the wisest and most worthy in
the army, that he did not think there had ever been a more chaste woman.
Neither I nor others, when we were with her, had ever an evil thought:
there was in her something divine.
Fifteen days after the Earl of Suffolk[151] had been made prisoner at
the taking of Jargeau, a writing was sent to him containing four lines,
in which it was said that a Maid should come from the Oak-wood who would
ride on the backs of the archers and against them.[152]