JEANNE'S VOICES
Now, when she was about thirteen, it befell one summer day, at noon,
that while she was in her father's garden she heard a voice that
filled her with a great fear. It came from the right, from towards the
church, and at the same time in the same direction there appeared a
light. The voice said: "I come from God to help thee to live a good
and holy life.[254] Be good, Jeannette, and God will aid thee."
[Footnote 254: _Trial_, vol. i, pp. 52, 72, 73, 89, 170.]
It is well known that fasting conduces to the seeing of visions.
Jeanne was accustomed to fast. Had she abstained from food that
morning and if so when had she last partaken of it? We cannot
say.[255]
[Footnote 255: The manuscript runs: _non jejunaverat die praecedenti_.
Quicherat omits _non_. _Trial_, vol. i, p. 52. Cf. _Revue critique_,
March, 1908, p. 215.]
On another day the voice spoke again and repeated, "Jeannette, be
good."
The child did not know whence the voice came. But the third time, as
she listened, she knew it was an angel's voice and she even recognised
the angel to be St. Michael. She could not be mistaken, for she knew
him well. He was the patron saint of the duchy of Bar.[256] She
sometimes saw him on the pillar of church or chapel, in the guise of
a handsome knight, with a crown on his helmet, wearing a coat of mail,
bearing a shield, and transfixing the devil with his lance.[257]
Sometimes he was represented holding the scales in which he weighed
souls, for he was provost of heaven and warden of paradise;[258] at
once the leader of the heavenly hosts and the angel of judgment.[259]
He loved high lands.[260] That is why in Lorraine a chapel had been
dedicated to him on Mount Sombar, north of the town of Toul. In very
remote times he had appeared to the Bishop of Avranches and commanded
him to build a church on Mount Tombe, in such a place as he should
find a bull hidden by thieves; and the site of the building was to
include the whole area overtrodden by the bull. The Abbey of
Mont-Saint-Michel-au-Peril-de-la-Mer was erected in obedience to this
command.[261]
[Footnote 256: V. Servais, _Annales historiques du Barrois_,
Bar-le-Duc, 1865, vol. i, engraving 2.]
[Footnote 257: P. Ch. Cahier, _Caracteristique des saints dans l'art
populaire_, vol. i, p. 363. Quicherat, _Apercus nouveaux_, p. 50. S.
Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, pp. xcv, xcvi, and proofs and
illustrations, xxiv, p. 74.]
[Footnote 258: _Mystere de Saint Remi_, the Arsenal Library, ms.
3.364, folios 4 and 108.]
[Footnote 259: "_Sed signifer Sanctus Michael representet eas (animas)
in lucem sanctam._" Prayer from the mass for the dead.]
[Footnote 260: A. Maury, _Croyances et legendes du moyen age_, pp. 171
_et seq._ Barbier de Montault, _Traite d'iconographie chretienne_,
vol. i, p. 191.]
[Footnote 261: AA. SS., 1672, vol. iii, i, pp. 85 _et seq._ Dom. J.
Huynes, _Histoire generale de l'abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel_, ed. R.
de Beaurepaire, Rouen, 1872, pp. 61 _et seq._ A. Forgeais, _Collection
de plombs_ (seals) _histories trouves dans la Seine_, Paris, 1864,
vol. iii, p. 197. S. Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, ch. iv.
_Chronique du Mont-Saint-Michel_ (1343-1468), ed. S. Luce, Paris,
1880-1886 (2 vols. in 8vo), vol. i, pp. 26, 146, 163 _et seq._]
About the time when the child was having these visions, the defenders
of Mont-Saint-Michel discomfited the English who were attacking the
fortress by land and sea. The French attributed this victory to the
all-powerful intercession of the archangel.[262] And why should he not
have favoured the French who worshipped him with peculiar devoutness?
Since my Lord St. Denys had permitted his abbey to be taken by the
English, my Lord St. Michael, who carefully guarded his, was in a fair
way to become the true patron saint of the kingdom.[263] In the year
1419 the Dauphin Charles had had escutcheons painted, representing St.
Michael fully armed, holding a naked sword and in the act of slaying a
serpent.[264] The maid of Domremy, however, knew but little of the
miracles worked by my Lord St. Michael in Normandy. She recognised the
angel by his weapons, his courtesy, and the noble words that fell from
his lips.[265]
[Footnote 262: Lanery d'Arc, _Memoires et consultations en faveur de
Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 272 (opinion of Jean Bochard, called de Vaucelle,
Bishop of Avranches). Dom. J. Huynes, _loc. cit._, ch. viii, p. 105.]
[Footnote 263: Dom Felibien, _Histoire de l'abbaye royale de
Saint-Denis...._ Paris, 1706, in folio, p. 341.]
[Footnote 264: Richer, _Histoire manuscrite de la Pucelle_, ms. fr.
10,448, fol. 13. S. Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, proofs and
illustrations, xxiv.]
[Footnote 265: _Trial_, vol. i, pp. 173, 248, 249.]
One day he said to her: "Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret will come
to thee. Act according to their advice; for they are appointed to
guide thee and counsel thee in all thou hast to do, and thou mayest
believe what they shall say unto thee." And these things came to pass
as the Lord had ordained.[266]
[Footnote 266: _Ibid._, p. 170.]
This promise filled her with great joy, for she loved them both.
Madame Sainte Marguerite was highly honoured in the kingdom of
France, where she was a great benefactress. She helped women in
labour,[267] and protected the peasant at work in the fields. She was
the patron saint of flax-spinners, of procurers of wet-nurses, of
vellum-dressers, and of bleachers of wool. Her precious relics in a
reliquary, carried on a mule's back, were paraded by ecclesiastics
through towns and villages. Plenteous alms[268] were showered upon the
exhibitors in return for permission to touch the relics. Many times
had Jeanne seen Madame Sainte Marguerite at church, painted life-size,
a holy-water sprinkler in her hand, her foot on a dragon's head.[269]
She was acquainted with her history as it was related in those days,
somewhat on the lines of the following narrative.
[Footnote 267: _La vierge Marguerite substituee a la Lucine antique_,
analysis of an unpublished poem of the fifteenth century, Paris, 1885,
in 8vo, p. 2. Rabelais, _Gargantua_, vol. i, ch. vi. L'Abbe J.B.
Thiers, _Traite des superstitions qui regarde les sacrements selon
l'Ecriture sainte_, Paris, 1697 (4 vols. in 12mo), vol. i, p. 109.]
[Footnote 268: S. Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, proofs and
illustrations, ccxxxiv, p. 272.]
[Footnote 269: Abbe Bourgaut, _Guide du pelerin a Domremy_, Nancy,
1878, in 12mo, p. 60. E. Hinzelin, _Chez Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 65-72.]
The blessed Margaret was born at Antioch. Her father, Theodosius, was
a priest of the Gentiles. She was put out to nurse and secretly
baptised. One day when she was in her fifteenth year, as she was
watching the flock belonging to her nurse, the governor Olibrius saw
her, and, struck by her great beauty, conceived a great passion for
her. Wherefore he said to his servants: "Go, bring me that girl, in
order that if she be free I may marry her, or if she be a slave I may
take her into my service."
And when she was brought he inquired of her her country, her name,
and her religion. She replied that she was called Margaret and that
she was a Christian.
And Olibrius said unto her: "How comes it that so noble and beautiful
a girl as you can worship Jesus the Crucified?"
And because she replied that Jesus Christ was alive for ever, the
governor in wrath had her thrown into prison.
The next day he summoned her to appear before him and said: "Unhappy
girl, have pity on your own beauty and for your own sake worship our
gods. If you persist in your blindness I will have your body rent in
pieces."
And Margaret made answer: "Jesus suffered death for me, and I would
fain die for him."
Then the governor commanded her to be hung from the wooden horse, to
be beaten with rods, and her flesh to be torn with iron claws. And the
blood flowed from the virgin's body as from a pure spring of fresh
water.
Those who stood by wept, and the governor covered his face with his
cloak that he might not see the blood. And he commanded to unloose her
and take her back to prison.
There she was tempted by the Spirit, and she prayed the Lord to reveal
to her the enemy whom she had to withstand. Thereupon a huge dragon,
appearing before her, rushed forward to devour her, but she made the
sign of the cross and he disappeared. Then, in order to seduce her,
the devil assumed the form of a man. He came to her gently, took her
hands in his and said: "Margaret, what you have done sufficeth." But
she seized him by the hair, threw him to the ground, placed her right
foot upon his head and cried: "Tremble, proud enemy, thou liest
beneath a woman's foot."
The next day, in the presence of the assembled people, she was brought
before the judge, who commanded her to sacrifice to idols. And when
she refused he had her body burned with flaming pine-wood, but she
seemed to suffer no pain. And fearing lest, amazed at this miracle,
all the people should be converted, Olibrius commanded that the
blessed Margaret should be beheaded. She spoke unto the executioner
and said: "Brother, take your axe and strike me." With one blow he
struck off her head. Her soul took flight to heaven in the form of a
dove.[270]
[Footnote 270: Voragine, _La legende doree_ (Legende de Sainte
Marguerite). Douhet, _Dictionnaire des legendes_, pp. 824-836.]
This story had been told in songs and mysteries.[271] It was so well
known that the name of the governor, jestingly vilified and fallen
into ridicule, was in common parlance bestowed on braggarts and
blusterers. A fool who posed as a wicked person was called _an
olibrius_.[272]
[Footnote 271: Gaston Paris, _La litterature francaise au moyen age_,
1890, in 16mo, p. 212.]
[Footnote 272: La Curne, _Dictionnaire de l'ancien langage francais_,
under the word _Olibrius_. Olibrius figures also in the legend of
Saint Reine, where he is governor of the Gallic Provinces. The legend
of Saint Reine is only a somewhat ancient variant of the legend of
Saint Margaret.]
Madame Sainte Catherine, whose coming the angel had announced to
Jeanne at the same time as that of Madame Sainte Marguerite, was the
protectress of young girls and especially of servants and spinsters.
Orators and philosophers too had chosen as their patron saint the
virgin who had confounded the fifty doctors and triumphed over the
magi of the east. In the Meuse valley rhymed prayers like the
following were addressed to her:
Ave, tres sainte Catherine,
Vierge pucelle nette et fine.[273]
[Footnote 273:
Hail, thou holy Catherine,
Virgin Maid so pure and fine.
_Bibliotheque Mazarine, manuscrit_, 515. _Recueil de prieres_, folio
55. This manuscript comes from the banks of the Meuse.]
This fine lady was no stranger to Jeanne; she had her church at Maxey,
on the opposite bank of the river; and her name was borne by Isabelle
Romee's eldest daughter.[274]
[Footnote 274: S. Luce, _loc. cit._, proofs and illustrations, xiii,
p. 19, note 2. E. de Bouteiller and G. de Braux, _Nouvelles recherches
sur la famille de Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. xvi and 62. _Guide et souvenir du
pelerin a Domremy_, Nancy, 1878, in 18mo, p. 60.]
Jeanne certainly did not know the story of Saint Catherine as it was
known to illustrious clerks; as, for example, about this time it was
committed to writing by Messire Jean Mielot, the secretary of the Duke
of Burgundy. Jean Mielot told how the virgin of Alexandria
controverted the subtle arguments of Homer, the syllogisms of
Aristotle, the very learned reasonings of the famous physicians
AEsculapius and Galen, practised the seven liberal arts, and disputed
according to the rules of dialectics.[275] Jacques d'Arc's daughter
had heard nothing of all that; she knew Saint Catherine from stories
out of some history written in the vulgar tongue, in verse or in
prose, so many of which were in circulation at that time.[276]
[Footnote 275: J. Mielot, _Vie de sainte Catherine_, text revised by
Marius Sepet, 1881, in large 8vo.]
[Footnote 276: Gaston Paris, _La litterature francaise au moyen age_,
pp. 82, 213.]
Catherine, daughter of King Costus and Queen Sabinella, as she grew in
years, became proficient in the arts, and a skilful embroiderer in
silk. While her body was resplendent with beauty, her soul was clouded
by the darkness of idolatry. Many barons of the empire sought her in
marriage; she scorned them and said: "Find me a husband wise,
handsome, noble, and rich." Now in her sleep she had a vision. Holding
the Child Jesus in her arms, the Virgin Mary appeared unto her and
said: "Catherine, will you take him for your husband? And you, my
sweet son, will you have this virgin for your bride?"
The Child Jesus made answer: "Mother, I will not have her; bid her
depart from you, for she is a worshipper of idols. But if she will be
baptised I will consent to put the nuptial ring on her finger."
Desiring to marry the King of Heaven, Catherine went to ask for
baptism at the hands of the hermit Ananias, who lived in Armenia on
Mount Negra. A few days afterwards, when she was praying in her room,
she saw Jesus Christ appear in the midst of a numerous choir of angels
and of saints. He drew near unto her and placed his ring upon her
finger. Then only did Catherine know that her bridal was a spiritual
bridal.
In those days Maxentius was Emperor of the Romans. He commanded the
people of Alexandria to offer great sacrifices to the idols.
Catherine, as she was at prayer in her oratory, heard the chanting of
the priests and the bellowing of the victims. Straightway she went to
the public square, and beholding Maxentius at the gate of the temple,
she said unto him: "How comes it that thou art so foolish as to
command this people to offer incense to idols? Thou admirest this
temple built by the hands of thy workmen. Thou admirest these
ornaments which are but dust blown away by the wind. Thou shouldest
rather admire the sky, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is
therein. Thou shouldest rather admire the ornaments of the heavens:
the sun, the moon, and the stars, and those circling planets, which
from the beginning of the world move from the west and return to the
east and never grow weary. And when thou hast observed all these
things, ask and learn who is their Creator. It is our God, the Lord of
Hosts, and the God of gods."
"Woman," replied the emperor, "leave us to finish our sacrifice;
afterwards we will make answer unto thee."
And he commanded Catherine to be taken into the palace and strictly
guarded, because he marvelled at the great wisdom and the wonderful
beauty of this virgin. He summoned fifty doctors well versed in the
knowledge of the Egyptians and the liberal arts; and, when they were
gathered together, he said unto them: "A maiden of subtle mind
maintains that our gods are but demons. I could have forced her to
sacrifice or have made her pay the penalty of her disobedience; I
judged it better that she should be confounded by the power of your
reasoning. If you triumph over her, you will return to your homes
laden with honours."
And the wise men made answer: "Let her be brought, that her rashness
may be made manifest, that she may confess that never until now has
she met men of wisdom."
And when she learned that she was to dispute with wise men, Catherine
feared lest she should not worthily defend the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But an angel appeared to her and said: "I am the Archangel Saint
Michael, sent by God to make known unto thee that from this strife
thou shalt come forth victorious and worthy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the hope and crown of those who strive for him."
And the virgin disputed with the doctors. When they maintained that it
was impossible for God to become man, and be acquainted with grief,
Catherine showed how the birth and passion of Jesus Christ had been
announced by the Gentiles themselves, and prophesied by Plato and the
Sibyl.
The doctors had nothing to oppose to arguments so convincing.
Therefore the chief among them said to the emperor: "Thou knowest that
up till now no one has disputed with us without being straightway
confounded. But this maid, through whom the Spirit of God speaks,
fills us with wonder, and we know nothing nor dare we say anything
against Christ. And we boldly confess that if thou hast no stronger
arguments to bring forth in favour of the gods, whom hitherto we have
worshipped, we will all of us embrace the Christian religion."
On hearing these words, the tyrant was so transported with wrath that
he had the fifty doctors burned in the middle of the town. But as a
sign that they suffered for the truth, neither their garments nor the
hairs of their heads were touched by the fire.
Afterwards Maxentius said unto Catherine: "O virgin, issue of a noble
line, and worthy of the imperial purple, take counsel with thy youth,
and sacrifice to our gods. If thou dost consent, thou shalt take rank
in my palace after the empress, and thy image, placed in the middle of
the town, shall be worshipped by all the people like that of a
goddess."
But Catherine answered: "Speak not of such things. The very thought of
them is sin. Jesus Christ hath chosen me for his bride. He is my love,
my glory, and all my delight."
Finding it impossible to flatter her with soft words, the tyrant hoped
to reduce her to obedience through fear; therefore he threatened her
with death.
Catherine's courage did not waver. "Jesus Christ," she said, "offered
himself to his Father as a sacrifice for me; it is my great joy to
offer myself as an agreeable sacrifice to the glory of his name."
Straightway Maxentius commanded that she should be scourged with rods,
and then cast into a dark dungeon and left there without food.
Thereupon, at the call of urgent affairs, Maxentius set out for a
distant province.
Now the empress, who was a heathen, had a vision, in which Saint
Catherine appeared to her surrounded by a marvellous light. Angels
clad in white were with her, and their faces could not be looked upon
by reason of the brightness that proceeded from them. And Catherine
told the empress to draw near. Taking a crown from the hand of one of
the angels who attended her, she placed it upon the head of the
empress, saying: "Behold a crown sent down to thee from heaven, in the
name of Jesus Christ, my God, and my Lord."
The heart of the empress was troubled by this wonderful dream.
Wherefore, attended by Porphyrius, a knight who was commander-in-chief
of the army, in the early hours of night she repaired to the prison in
which Catherine was confined. Here in her cell a dove brought her
heavenly food, and angels dressed the virgin's wounds. The empress and
Porphyrius found the dungeon bathed in a light so bright that it
filled them with a great fear, and they fell prostrate on the ground.
But there straightway filled the dungeon an odour marvellously sweet,
which comforted them and gave them courage.
"Arise," said Catherine, "and be not afraid, for Jesus Christ calleth
you."
They arose, and beheld Catherine in the midst of a choir of angels.
The saint took from the hands of one among them a crown, very
beautiful and shining like gold, and she put it upon the empress's
head. This crown was the sign of martyrdom. For indeed the names of
this queen and of the knight Porphyrius were already written in the
book of eternal rewards.
On his return Maxentius commanded Catherine to be brought before him,
and said unto her: "Choose between two things: to sacrifice and live,
or to die in torment."
Catherine made answer: "It is my desire to offer to Jesus Christ my
flesh and my blood. He is my lover, my shepherd, and my husband."
Then the provost of the city of Alexandria, whose name was Chursates,
commanded to be made four wheels furnished with very sharp iron
spikes, in order that upon these wheels the blessed Catherine should
die a miserable and a cruel death. But an angel broke the machine, and
with such violence that the parts of it flying asunder killed a great
number of the Gentiles. And the empress, who beheld these things from
the top of her tower, came down and reproached the emperor for his
cruelty. Full of wrath, Maxentius commanded the empress to sacrifice;
and when she refused, he commanded her breasts to be torn out and her
head to be cut off. And while she was being taken to the torturer,
Catherine exhorted her, saying: "Go, rejoice, queen beloved of God,
for to-day thou shalt exchange for a perishable kingdom an
everlasting empire, and a mortal husband for an immortal lover."
And the empress was taken to suffer death outside the walls.
Porphyrius carried away the body and had it buried reverently as that
of a servant of Jesus Christ. Wherefore Maxentius had Porphyrius put
to death, and his body cast to the dogs. Then, summoning Catherine
before him, he said unto her: "Since, by thy magic arts thou hast
caused the empress to perish, now if thou repent thou shalt be first
in my palace. To-day, therefore, sacrifice to the gods, or thy head
shall be struck off."
She made answer: "Do as thou hast resolved that I may take my place in
the band of maidens who are around the Lamb of God."
The emperor sentenced her to be beheaded. And when they had led her
outside the city of Alexandria, to the place of death, she raised her
eyes to heaven and said: "Jesus, hope and salvation of the faithful,
glory and beauty of virgins, I pray thee to listen and to answer the
prayer of whomsoever, in memory of my martyrdom, shall invoke me in
death or in peril whatsoever."
And a voice from heaven made answer: "Come, my beloved bride; the gate
of heaven is open to thee. And to those who shall invoke me through
thy intercession, I promise help from on high." From the riven neck of
the virgin flowed forth milk instead of blood.
Thus Madame Sainte Catherine passed from this world to celestial
happiness, on the twenty-fifth day of the month of November, which was
a Friday.[277]
[Footnote 277: Voragine, _La legende doree_, 1846, pp. 789-797.
Douhet, _Dictionnaire des legendes_, 1855, pp. 824-836.]
My Lord Saint Michael, the Archangel, did not forget his promise. The
ladies Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret came as he had said. On
their very first visit the young peasant maid vowed to them to
preserve her virginity as long as it should please God.[278] If there
were any meaning in such a promise, Jeanne, however old she may then
have been, could not have been quite a child. And it seems probable
that the angel and the saints appeared to her first when she was on
the threshold of womanhood, that is, if she ever became a woman.[279]
[Footnote 278: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 128. Hinzelin, _Chez Jeanne d'Arc_,
p. 29. When we come to the trial, we shall consider whether it be
possible to reconcile Jeanne's assertions with regard to this vow.]
[Footnote 279: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 128; vol. iii, p. 219.]
The saints soon entered into familiar relations with her.[280] They
came to the village every day, and often several times a day. When she
saw them appear in a ray of light coming down from heaven, shining and
clad like queens, with golden crowns on their heads, wearing rich and
precious jewels, the village maiden crossed herself devoutly and
curtsied low.[281] And because they were ladies of good breeding, they
returned her salutation. Each one had her own particular manner of
greeting, and it was by this manner that Jeanne distinguished one from
the other, for the dazzling light of their countenances rendered it
impossible for her to look them in the face. They graciously permitted
their earth-born friend to touch their feet, to kiss the hems of their
garments, and to inhale rapturously the sweet perfume they
emitted.[282] They addressed her courteously,[283] as it seemed to
Jeanne. They called the lowly damsel daughter of God. They taught her
to live well and go to church. Without always having anything very new
to say to her, since they came so constantly, they spoke to her of
things which filled her with joy, and, after they had disappeared,
Jeanne ardently pressed her lips to the ground their feet had
trodden.[284]
[Footnote 280: _Ibid._, index, under the words, _Voices_, _Catherine_,
and _Marguerite_.]
[Footnote 281: _Ibid._, vol. i, pp. 71-85, 167 _seq._, 186 _seq._]
[Footnote 282: _Ibid._, pp. 185, 186.]
[Footnote 283: In the French, _humblement_. In old French _humblement_
means courteously. In Froissart there is a passage quoted by La Curne:
"_Li contes de Hainaut rechut ces seigneurs d'Engleterre, l'un apres
l'autre, moult humblement._"]
[Footnote 284: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 130.]
Oftentimes she received the heavenly ladies in her little garden,
close to the precincts of the church. She used to meet them near the
spring; often they even appeared to their little friend surrounded by
heavenly companies. "For," Isabelle's daughter used to say, "angels
are wont to come down to Christians without being seen, but I see
them."[285] It was in the woods, amid the light rustling of the
leaves, and especially when the bells rang for matins or compline,
that she heard the sweet words most distinctly. And so she loved the
sound of the bells, with which her Voices mingled. So, when at nine
o'clock in the evening, Perrin le Drapier, sexton of the parish,
forgot to ring for compline, she reproached him with his negligence,
and scolded him for not doing his duty. She promised him cakes if in
the future he would not forget to ring the bells.[286]
[Footnote 285: _Ibid._, p. 130.]
[Footnote 286: _Ibid._, vol. ii, p. 413, note 2.]
She told none of these things to her priest; for this, according to
some good doctors, she must be censured, but, according to others
equally excellent, she must be commended. For if on the one hand we
are to consult our ecclesiastical superiors in matters of faith, on
the other, where the gift of the Holy Ghost is poured out, there
reigns perfect liberty.[287]
[Footnote 287: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 52, marginal comment of the d'Urfe
MS.: _Celavit visiones curato, patri et matri et cuicumque_, in the
_Trial_, vol. i, p. 128, note. Lanery d'Arc, _Memoires et
consultations en faveur de Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 471.]
Since the two saints had been visiting Jeanne, my Lord Saint Michael
had come less often; but he had not forsaken her. There came a time
when he talked to her of love for the kingdom of France, of that love
which she felt in her heart.[288]
[Footnote 288: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 171: "_Et luy racontet l'angle la
pitie qui estoit ou royaume de France._" _Pitie_ means here occasion
for tenderness and love. The angel is thinking especially of the
Dauphin. For the meaning and use of this word, cf. Monstrelet, vol.
iii, p. 74: "_... et le peuple plorant de pitie et de joie qu'ils
avoient a regarder leur seigneur_." Gerard de Nevers in La Curne:
"_Pitie estoit de voir festoyer leur seigneur; on ne pourroit retenir
ses larmes en voyant la joie qu'ils marquoient de recevoir leur
seigneur._"]
And the holy visitants, whose voices grew stronger and more ardent as
the maiden's soul grew holier and more heroic, revealed to her her
mission. "Daughter of God," they said, "thou must leave thy village,
and go to France."[289]
[Footnote 289: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 53.]
Had this idea of a holy militant mission, conceived by Jeanne through
the intermediary of her Voices, come into her mind spontaneously
without the intervention of any outside will, or had it been suggested
to her by some one who was influencing her? It would be impossible to
solve this problem were there not a slight indication to direct us.
Jeanne at Domremy was acquainted with a prophecy foretelling that
France would be ruined by a woman and saved by a maiden.[290] It made
an extraordinary impression upon her; and later she came to speak in a
manner which proved that she not only believed it, but was persuaded
that she herself was the maiden designated by the prophecy.[291] Who
taught her this? Some peasant? We have reason to believe that the
peasants did not know it, and that it was current among
ecclesiastics.[292] Besides, it is important to notice in this
connection that Jeanne was acquainted with a particular form of this
prophecy, obviously arranged for her benefit, since it specified that
the Maiden Redemptress should come from the borders of Lorraine. This
local addition is not the work of a cowherd; it suggests rather a mind
apt to direct souls and to inspire deeds. It is no longer possible to
doubt that the prophecy thus revised is the work of an ecclesiastic
whose intentions may be easily divined. Henceforth one is conscious of
an idea agitating and possessing the young seer of visions.
[Footnote 290: _Trial_, vol. ii, p. 444.]
[Footnote 291: "_Nonne alias dictum fuit quod Francia per mulierem
desolaretur, et postea per Virginem restaurari debebat?_" Evidence
given by Durand Lassois in _Trial_, vol. ii, p. 444.]
[Footnote 292: _Trial_, vol. ii, p. 447. Nevertheless the woman Le
Royer of Domremy remembered it and was astonished by it. _Et hunc ipsa
testis haec audisse recordata est et stupefacta fuit._]
On the banks of the Meuse, among the humble folk of the countryside,
some churchman, preoccupied with the lot of the poor people of France,
directed Jeanne's visions to the welfare of the kingdom and to the
conclusion of peace. He carried the ardour of his pious zeal so far as
to collect prophecies concerning the salvation of the French crown,
and to add to them with an eye to the accomplishment of his design.
For such an ecclesiastic we must seek among the priests of Lorraine
or Champagne upon whom the national misfortunes imposed cruel
sufferings.[293] Merchants and artizans, crushed under the burden of
taxes and subsidies, and ruined by changes in the coinage,[294]
peasants, whose houses, barns, and mills had been destroyed, and whose
fields had been laid waste, no longer contributed to the expenses of
public worship.[295] Canons and ecclesiastics, deprived both of their
feudal dues and of the contributions of the faithful, quitted the
religious houses and set out to beg their bread from door to door,
leaving behind in the monasteries only two or three old monks, and a
few children. The fortified abbeys attracted captains and soldiers of
both sides. They entrenched themselves within the walls; they
plundered and burnt. When one of those holy houses succeeded in
remaining standing, the wandering village folk made it their place of
refuge, and it was impossible to prevent the refectories and
dormitories from being invaded by women.[296] In the midst of this
obscure throng of souls afflicted by the sufferings and the scandals
of the Church may be divined the prophet and the director of the Maid.
[Footnote 293: Monstrelet, vol. iii, p. 180. Jean Chartier, _Chronique
latine_, ed. Vallet de Viriville, vol. i, p. 13. Th. Basin, _Histoire
de Charles VII et de Louis XI_, vol. i, pp. 44 _et seq._]
[Footnote 294: Alain Chartier, _Quadriloge invectif_, ed. Andre
Duchesne, Paris, 1617, pp. 440 _et seq._ _Ordonnances_, vol. xi, pp.
101 _et seq._ Viutry, _Les monnaies sous les trois premiers Valois_,
Paris, 1881, in 8vo, _passim_. De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles
VII_, vol. i, ch. xi.]
[Footnote 295: Juvenal des Ursins and _Journal d'un bourgeois de
Paris_, _passim_. Letter from Nicholas de Clemangis to Gerson, in
_Clemangis opera omnia_, 1613, in 4to, vol. ii, pp. 159 _et seq._]
[Footnote 296: Le P. Denifle, _La desolation des eglises, monasteres_,
Macon, 1897, in 8vo, introduction.]
We shall not be tempted to recognise him in Messire Guillaume
Frontey, priest of Domremy. The successor of Messire Jean Minet, if we
may judge from his conversation which has been preserved, was as
simple as his flock.[297] Jeanne saw many priests and monks. She was
in the habit of visiting her uncle, the priest of Sermaize, and of
seeing in the Abbey of Cheminon,[298] her cousin, a young ecclesiastic
in minor orders, who was soon to follow her into France. She was in
touch with a number of priests who would be very quick to recognise
her exceptional piety, and her gift of beholding things invisible to
the majority of Christians. They engaged her in conversations, which,
had they been preserved, would doubtless present to us one of the
sources whence she derived inspiration for her marvellous vocation.
One among them, whose name will never be known, raised up an angelic
deliverer for the king and the kingdom of France.
[Footnote 297: _Trial_, vol. ii, pp. 402, 434.]
[Footnote 298: These two persons, however, are only known to us
through somewhat doubtful genealogical documents. _Trial_, vol. v, p.
252. Boucher de Molandon, _La famille de Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 127. G. de
Braux and E. de Bouteiller, _Nouvelles recherches_, pp. 7 _et seq._]
Meanwhile Jeanne was living a life of illusion. Knowing nothing of the
influences she was under, incapable of recognising in her Voices the
echo of a human voice or the promptings of her own heart, she
responded timidly to the saints when they bade her fare forth into
France: "I am a poor girl, and know not how to ride a horse or how to
make war."[299]
[Footnote 299: _Trial_, vol. i, pp. 52, 53.]
As soon as she began to receive these revelations she gave up her
games and her excursions. Henceforth she seldom danced round the
fairies' tree, and then only in play with the children.[300] It would
seem that she also took a dislike to working in the fields, and
especially to herding the flocks. From early childhood she had shown
signs of piety. Now she gave herself up to extreme devoutness; she
confessed frequently, and communicated with ecstatic fervour; she
heard mass in her parish church every day. At all hours she was to be
found in church, sometimes prostrate on the ground, sometimes with her
hands clasped, and her face turned towards the image of Our Lord or of
Our Lady. She did not always wait for Saturday to visit the chapel at
Bermont. Sometimes, when her parents thought she was tending the
herds, she was kneeling at the feet of the miracle-working Virgin. The
village priest, Messire Guillaume Frontey, could do nothing but praise
the most guileless of his parishioners.[301] One day he happened to
say with a sigh: "If Jeannette had money she would give it to me for
the saying of masses."[302]
[Footnote 300: _Ibid._, vol. ii, pp. 404, 407, 409, 411, 414, 416,
_passim_.]
[Footnote 301: _Trial_, vol. ii, pp. 402, 434.]
[Footnote 302: _Ibid._, p. 402. Concerning Jeanne's religious
observances, see _Ibid._, index, under the words _Messe_, _Vierge_,
_Cloche_.]
As for the good man, Jacques d'Arc, it is possible that he may have
occasionally complained of those pilgrimages, those meditations, and
those other practices which ill accorded with the ordinary tenor of
country life. Every one thought Jeanne odd and erratic. Mengette and
her friends, when they found her so devout, said she was too
pious.[303] They scolded her for not dancing with them. Among others,
Isabellette, the young wife of Gerardin d'Epinal, the mother of little
Nicholas, Jeanne's godson, roundly condemned a girl who cared so
little for dancing.[304] Colin, son of Jean Colin, and all the
village lads made fun of her piety. Her fits of religious ecstasy
raised a smile. She was regarded as a little mad. She suffered from
this persistent raillery.[305] But with her own eyes she beheld the
dwellers in Paradise. And when they left her she would cry and wish
that they had taken her with them.
[Footnote 303: _Ibid._, vol. ii, p. 429.]
[Footnote 304: _Ibid._, p. 427.]
[Footnote 305: _Trial_, vol. ii, p. 432.]
"Daughter of God, thou must leave thy village and go forth into
France."[306]
[Footnote 306: _Ibid._, vol. i, pp. 52, 53.]
And the ladies Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret spoke again and
said: "Take the standard sent down to thee by the King of Heaven, take
it boldly and God will help thee." As she listened to these words of
the ladies with the beautiful crowns, Jeanne was consumed with a
desire for long expeditions on horseback, and for those battles in
which angels hover over the heads of the warriors. But how was she to
go to France? How was she to associate with men-at-arms? Ignorant and
generously impulsive like herself, the Voices she heard merely
revealed to her her own heart, and left her in sad agitation of mind:
"I am a poor girl, knowing neither how to bestride a horse nor how to
make war."[307]
[Footnote 307: _Ibid._, p. 53.]
Jeanne's native village was named after the blessed Remi;[308] the
parish church bore the name of the great apostle of the Gauls, who, in
baptising King Clovis, had anointed with holy oil the first Christian
prince of the noble House of France, descended from the noble King
Priam of Troy.
[Footnote 308: _Ibid._, vol. ii, pp. 393, 400, _passim_.]
Thus runs the legend of Saint Remi as it was told by churchmen. In
those days the pious hermit Montan, who lived in the country of Laon,
beheld a choir of angels and an assembly of saints; and he heard a
voice full and sweet saying: "The Lord hath looked down upon the
earth. That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that
he might release the children of the slain: that they may declare the
name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem. When the people
assemble together, and kings to serve the Lord.[309] And Cilinia shall
bring forth a son for the saving of the people."
[Footnote 309: Psalm ci, 20-23. _Vulgate_, Douai Version (W.S.).]
Now Cilinia was old, and her husband Emilius was blind. Yet Cilinia,
having conceived, brought forth a son; and with the milk with which
she nourished her babe she rubbed the eyes of the father, and
straightway his eyes were opened, and he saw.
This child, whose birth had been foretold by angels, was called Remi,
which, being interpreted, means oar; for by his teaching, as with a
well-cut oar, he was to guide the Church of God, and especially the
church of Reims, over the stormy sea of life, and by his merits and
his prayers bring it into the heaven of eternal salvation.
In retirement and in the practice of holy and Christian observances,
Cilinia's son passed his pious youth at Laon. Hardly had he entered
his twenty-second year, when the episcopal seat of Reims fell vacant
on the death of the blessed Bishop Bennade. An immense concourse of
people nominated Remi the shepherd of the flock. He refused a burden
which he said was too heavy for the weakness of his youth. But
suddenly there fell upon his forehead a ray of celestial light, and a
divine liquid was shed upon his hair, and scented it with a strange
perfume. Wherefore, without further delay, the bishops of the
province of Reims, with one consent, consecrated him their bishop.
Established in the seat of Saint Sixtus, the blessed Remi revealed
himself liberal in almsgiving, assiduous in vigilance, fervent in
prayer, perfect in charity, marvellous in doctrine, and holy in all
his conversation. Like a city built on the top of a mountain, he was
admired of all men.
In those days, Clovis, King of France, was a heathen, with all his
knights. But he had won a great victory over the Germans by invoking
the name of Christ. Wherefore, at the entreaty of the saintly Queen
Clotilde, his wife, he resolved to ask baptism at the hands of the
blessed Bishop of Reims. When this pious desire had been made known to
him, Saint Remi taught the King and his subjects that, renouncing
Satan and his pomps and his works, they must believe in God and in
Jesus Christ his Son. And as the solemn festival of Easter was
approaching, he commanded them to fast according to the custom of the
faithful. On the day of the Passion of Our Lord, the eve of the day on
which Clovis was to be baptised, early in the morning the Bishop went
to the King and Queen and led them to an oratory dedicated to the
blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles. Suddenly the chapel was filled
with a light so brilliant that the sunshine became as shadow, and from
the midst of this light there came a voice saying: "Peace be with you,
it is I, fear not and abide in my love." After these words the light
faded, but there remained in the chapel an odour of ineffable
sweetness. Then, with his face shining like the countenance of Moses,
and illuminated within by a divine brightness, the holy Bishop
prophesied and said: "Clovis and Clotilde, your descendants shall set
back the boundaries of the kingdom. They shall raise the church of
Jesus Christ and triumph over foreign nations provided they fall not
from virtue and depart not from the way of salvation, neither enter
upon the sinful road leading to destruction and to those snares of
deadly vices which overthrow empires and cause dominion to pass from
one nation to another."
Meanwhile the way is being prepared from the King's palace to the
baptistry; curtains and costly draperies are hung up: the houses on
each side of the street are covered with hangings; the church is
decorated, and the baptistry is strewn with balsam and all manner of
sweet-smelling herbs. Overwhelmed with the Lord's favour the people
seem already to taste the delights of Paradise. The procession sets
out from the palace; the clergy lead with crosses and banners, singing
hymns and sacred canticles; then comes the Bishop leading the King by
the hand; and lastly the Queen follows with the people. By the way the
King asked the Bishop if yonder was the kingdom of God he had promised
him. "No," answered the blessed Remi, "but it is the beginning of the
road that leads to it." When they had reached the baptistry, the
priest who bore the holy chrism was hindered by the crowd from
reaching the sacred font; so that, as God had ordained, there was no
holy oil for the benediction at the font. Then the Pontiff raises his
eyes to heaven, and prays in silence and in tears. Straightway there
descends a dove white as snow, bearing in its beak an ampulla full of
chrism sent from heaven. The heavenly oil emits a delicious perfume,
which intoxicates the multitude with a delight such as they had never
experienced before that hour. The holy Bishop takes the ampulla,
sprinkles the baptismal water with chrism, and straightway the dove
vanishes.
At the sight of so great a miracle of grace, the King, transported
with joy, renounces Satan and his pomps and his works. He demands
instant baptism, and bends over the fountain of life.[310]
[Footnote 310: Gregoire de Tours, _Le livre des miracles_, ed.
Bordier, 1864, in 8vo, vol. ii, pp. 27, 31. Hincmar, _Vita sancti
Remigii_ in the _Patrologie de Migne_, vol. cxxv, pp. 1130 _et seq._
H. Jadart, _Bibliographie des ouvrages concernant la vie et le culte
de saint Remi, eveque de Reims_, 1891, in 8vo.]
Ever since then the kings of France have been anointed with the divine
oil which the dove brought down from heaven. The holy ampulla
containing it is kept in the church of Saint Remi at Reims. And by
God's grace on the day of the King's anointing this ampulla is always
found full.[311]
[Footnote 311: Froissart, Bk. II, ch. lxxiv. Le doyen de
Saint-Thibaud, p. 328. Vertot, _Dissertation au sujet de la sainte
ampoule conservee a Reims_, in _Memoires de l'Academie des
Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres_, 1736, vol. ii, pp. 619-633; vol. iv,
pp. 1350-1365. Leber, _Des ceremonies du sacre ou recherches
historiques et critiques sur les moeurs, les coutumes dans
l'ancienne monarchie_, Paris, Reims, 1825, in 8vo, pp. 255 _et seq._]
Such was the clerks' story; and doubtless the peasants of Domremy on a
humbler note might have said as much or even more. We may believe that
they used to sing the complaint of Saint Remi. Every year, when on the
1st of October the festival of the patron saint came round, the priest
was wont to pronounce an eulogium on the saint.[312]
[Footnote 312: A. Monteil, _Histoire des Francais_, 1853, vol. ii, p.
194.]
About this time a mystery was performed at Reims in which the miracles
of the apostle of Gaul were fully represented.[313]
[Footnote 313: _Mystere de saint Remi_, Arsenal Library, ms. no.
3.364. This mystery dates from the fifteenth century, from the time of
the wars in Champagne. The following lines relate to the misfortunes
of the kingdom:
SAINT-ESTIENNE
O Jhesucrist, qui les sains cieulx
As de lumiere environnez,
Soleil et lune enlumines,
Et ordonnez a ta plaisance;
Pour le tres doulz pais de France
Les martirs, non pas un mais tous,
A jointes mains et a genoux
Te requierent que tu effaces
La grant doleur de France; et faces
Par ta sainte digne vertu
Qu'ilz aient paix; adfin que tu,
Ta doulce mere et tous les sains,
Et ceulx qui sont de pechiez sains,
Devotement servis y soient!...
SAINT STEPHEN
O Jesus Christ who hast surrounded the heavens with light and kindled
the sun and the moon, command, if it be thy will, the martyrs, not one
only but all, to clasp their hands and on bended knee to implore thee
to remove the great sorrow from France; and by thy holy and august
merit ordain that they may have peace, that thou, thy sweet mother and
all the saints and those who are cleansed from sin may be served
devoutly!...
SAINT-NICOLAS
Dieu tout puissant fay tant qu'il ysse
Hors du doulz pais sans amer
Que toutes gens doivent amer
C'est France, ou sont les bons Chrestiens
S'on les confort; si les soustiens
Car l'engin de leur adversaire
Et son faulx art les tire a faire
Contre ta sainte voulente.
Ayez pitie de Crestiente
Beau sire Dieux
Tant en France qu'en autres lieux!
Ce seroit Pitie a oultrance
Que si noble roiaume, comme France,
Fust par male temptacion
Mis du tout a perdicion....
Fol. 3, verso.
SAINT NICHOLAS
God all powerful grant that he may issue forth from that sweet land
which all must love, all France, where are good Christians, and may
they be comforted, and may they be sustained; for the power of their
adversary and his false art tempt them to withstand thy holy will.
Have pity on Christendom, good lord God, on other lands as well as on
France! It would be the worst of pities if so noble a kingdom as
France were through much temptation to fall into perdition....]
And among them were some which would appeal strongly to rustic souls.
In his mortal life my Lord Saint Remi had healed a blind man possessed
of devils. A man bestowed his goods on the chapter of Reims for the
salvation of his soul and died; ten years after his death Saint Remi
restored him to life, and made him declare his gift. Being
entertained by persons who had nothing to drink, the saint filled
their cask with miraculous wine. He received from King Clovis the gift
of a mill; but when the miller refused to yield it up to him, my Lord
Saint Remi, by the power of God, threw down the mill, and cast it into
the centre of the earth. One night when the Saint was alone in his
chapel, while all his clerks were asleep, the glorious apostles Peter
and Paul came down from Paradise to sing matins with him.
Who better than the folk of Domremy should know of the baptism of King
Clovis of France, and of the descent of the Holy Ghost, at the singing
of Veni Creator Spiritus, bearing in its beak the holy ampulla, full
of chrism blessed by Our Lord?[314]
[Footnote 314: _Mystere de Saint Remi_, Arsenal Library, ms. no.
3.364, fol. 69, verso.]
Who better than they should understand the words addressed to the very
Christian King, by my Lord Saint Remi, not doubtless in the Church's
Latin, but in the good tongue of the people and very much like the
following: "Now, Sire, take knowledge and serve God faithfully and
judge justly, that thy kingdom may prosper. For if justice depart from
it then shall this kingdom be in danger of perdition."[315]
[Footnote 315: _Mystere de Saint Remi_, fol. 71, verso.]
In short, in one way or another, whether through the clerks who
directed her or through the peasants among whom she dwelt, Jeanne had
knowledge of the good Archbishop Remi, who so dearly cherished the
royal blood in the holy ampulla at Reims, and of the anointing of the
very Christian kings.[316]
[Footnote 316:
_Le bon archevesque Remy,
Qui tant aime le sang royal,
Qui tant a son conseil loyal,
Qui tant aime Dieu et l'Eglise._
_Mystere de Saint Remi_, fol. 77.
The good Archbishop Remi, who so dearly cherishes the _royal_ blood,
so faithful in counsel, so devout a lover of God and the Church.]
And the Angel appeared unto her and said: "Daughter of God, thou shalt
lead the Dauphin to Reims that he may there receive worthily his
anointing."[317]
[Footnote 317: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 53.]
The maid understood. The scales fell from her eyes; a bright light was
shed abroad in her mind. Behold wherefore God had chosen her. Through
her the Dauphin Charles was to be anointed at Reims. The white dove,
which of old was sent to the blessed Remi, was to come down again at
the Virgin's call. God, who loves the French, marks their king with a
sign, and when there is no sign the royal power has departed. The
anointing alone makes the king, and Messire Charles de Valois had not
been anointed. Notwithstanding the father lies becrowned and
besceptred in the basilica of Saint-Denys in France, the son is but
the dauphin and will not enter into his inheritance till the day when
the oil of the inexhaustible ampulla shall flow over his forehead. And
God has chosen her, a young, ignorant peasant maid, to lead him,
through the ranks of his enemies, to Reims, where he shall receive the
unction poured upon Saint Louis. Unfathomable ways of God! The humble
maid, knowing not how to ride a horse, unskilled in the arts of war,
is chosen to bring to Our Lord his temporal vicar of Christian France.
Henceforth Jeanne knew what great deeds she was to bring to pass. But
as yet she discerned not the means by which she was to accomplish
them.
"Thou must fare forth into France," Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret
said to her.
"Daughter of God, thou shalt lead the Dauphin to Reims[318] that he
may there receive worthily his anointing," the Archangel Michael said
to her.
[Footnote 318: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 130; vol. ii, p. 456; vol. iii, p.
3, _passim_.]
She must obey them--but how? If at that time there were not just at
hand some devout adviser to direct her, one incident quite personal
and unimportant, which then occurred in her father's house, may have
sufficed to point out the way to the young saint.
Tenant-in-chief of the Castle on the island in 1419, and in 1423 elder
of the community, Jacques d'Arc was one of the notables of Domremy.
The village folk held him in high esteem and readily entrusted him
with difficult tasks. Towards the end of March, 1427, they sent him to
Vaucouleurs as their authorised proxy in a lawsuit they were
conducting before Robert de Baudricourt. It was a question of the
payment of damages required at once from the lord and the inhabitants
of Greux and Domremy by a certain Guyot Poignant, of Montigny-le-Roi.
These damages went back four years to when, as a return for his
protection, the Damoiseau of Commercy had extorted from Greux and
Domremy a sum amounting to two hundred and twenty golden crowns.
Guyot Poignant had become security for this sum which had not been
paid by the time fixed. The Damoiseau seized Poignant's wood, hay, and
horses to the value of one hundred and twenty golden crowns, which
amount the said Poignant reclaimed from the nobles and villeins of
Greux and Domremy. The suit was still pending in 1427, when the
community nominated Jacques d'Arc its authorised proxy, and sent him
to Vaucouleurs. The result of the dispute is not known; but it is
sufficient to note that Jeanne's father saw Sire Robert and had speech
with him.[319]
[Footnote 319: S. Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, pp. cliv, clv, clvi,
97, 359 _et seq._; _La France pendant la guerre de cent ans_, p. 287.]
On his return home he must have more than once related these
interviews, and told of the manners and words of so great a personage.
And doubtless Jeanne heard many of these things. Assuredly she must
have pricked up her ears at the name of Baudricourt. Then it was that
her dazzling friend, the Archangel Knight, came once more to awaken
the obscure thought slumbering within her: "Daughter of God," he said,
"go thou to the Captain Robert de Baudricourt, in the town of
Vaucouleurs, that he may grant unto thee men who shall take thee to
the gentle Dauphin."[320]
[Footnote 320: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 53.]
Resolved to obey faithfully the behest of the Archangel which
accorded with her own desire, Jeanne foresaw that her mother, albeit
pious, would grant her no aid in her design and that her father would
strongly oppose it. Therefore she refrained from confiding it to
them.[321]
[Footnote 321: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 128.]
She thought that Durand Lassois would be the man to give her the
succour of which she had need. In consideration of his age she called
him uncle,--he was her elder by sixteen years.
Their kinship was by marriage: Lassois had married one Jeanne,
daughter of one Le Vauseul, husbandman, and of Aveline, sister of
Isabelle de Vouthon, and consequently cousin-german of Isabelle's
daughter.[322]
[Footnote 322: _Ibid._, vol. ii, p. 443. Boucher de Molandon, _La
famille de Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 146. E. de Bouteiller and G. de Braux,
_Nouvelles recherches sur la famille de Jeanne d'Arc_, introduction,
pp. xxi, xxii.]
With his wife, his father-in-law, and his mother-in-law, Lassois dwelt
at Burey-en-Vaulx, a hamlet of a few homesteads, lying on the left
bank of the Meuse, in the green valley, five miles from Domremy, and
less than two and a half miles from Vaucouleurs.[323]
[Footnote 323: _Trial_, vol. ii, pp. 411, 431, 439. S. Luce, _Jeanne
d'Arc a Domremy_, p. clxi. Hinzelin, _Chez Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 92.]
Jeanne went to see him, told him of her design, and showed him that
she must needs see Sire Robert de Baudricourt. That her kind kinsman
might the more readily believe in her, she repeated to him the strange
prophecy, of which we have already made mention: "Was it not known of
old," she said, "that a woman should ruin the kingdom of France and
that a woman should re-establish it?"[324]
[Footnote 324: _Trial_, vol. ii, pp. 443, 444.]
This prognostication, it appears, caused Durand Lassois to reflect.
Of the two facts foretold therein, the first, the evil one, had come
to pass in the town of Troyes, when Madame Ysabeau had given the
Kingdom of the Lilies and Madame Catherine of France to the King of
England. It only remained to hope that the second, the good, would
likewise come to pass. If in the heart of Durand Lassois there were
any love for the Dauphin Charles, such must have been his desire; but
on this point history is silent.
During this visit to her cousin, Jeanne met with others besides her
kinsfolk, the Vouthons and their children. She visited a young
nobleman, by name Geoffroy de Foug, who dwelt in the parish of
Maxey-sur-Vayse, of which the hamlet of Burey formed part. She
confided to him that she wanted to go to France. My Lord Geoffroy did
not know much of Jeanne's parents; he was ignorant even of their
names. But the damsel seemed to him good, simple, pious, and he
encouraged her in her marvellous undertaking.[325] A week after her
arrival at Burey she attained her object: Durand Lassois consented to
take her to Vaucouleurs.[326]
[Footnote 325: _Trial_, vol. ii, p. 442.]
[Footnote 326: _Ibid._, vol. i, pp. 53, 221; vol. ii, p. 443.]
Before starting she asked a favour from her aunt Aveline who was with
child; she said to her: "If the babe you bear is a daughter, call her
Catherine in memory of my dead sister."
Catherine, who had married Colin de Greux, had just died.[327]
[Footnote 327: Genealogical Inquiry made by the Bailie of Chaumont
concerning Jehan Royer (8 October, 1555) in E. de Bouteiller and G. de
Braux, _Nouvelles recherches sur la famille de Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 62.
[Document of doubtful authenticity.]]