THE MAID AT ORLEANS
On the evening of Thursday, the 28th of April, Jeanne was able to
discern from the heights of Olivet the belfries of the town, the
towers of Saint-Paul and Saint-Pierre-Empont, whence the watchmen
announced her approach. The army descended the slopes towards the
Loire and stopped at the Bouchet wharf, while the carts and the cattle
continued their way along the bank as far as l'Ile-aux-Bourdons,
opposite Checy, two and a half miles further up the river.[922] There
the unloading was to take place. At a signal from the watchmen my Lord
the Bastard, accompanied by Thibaut de Termes and certain other
captains, left the town by the Burgundian Gate, took a boat at
Saint-Jean-de-Braye, and came down to hold counsel with the Lords de
Rais and de Lore, who commanded the convoy.[923]
[Footnote 922: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 4, 5. Boucher de Molandon,
_Bulletin de la Societe archeologique de l'Orleanais_, vol. iv, p.
427; vol. ix, p. 73. The same author, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne
d'Arc_, pp. 41 _et seq._ _Mistere du siege_, lines 11,480 _et seq._
_Chronique de l'etablissement de la fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p.
289.]
[Footnote 923: _Journal du siege_, p. 75. _Chronique de la Pucelle_,
p. 283.]
[Illustration: PLAN D'ORLEANS
Siege de 1429]
Meanwhile the Maid had only just perceived that she was on the Sologne
bank,[924] and that she had been deceived concerning the line of
march. Sorrow and wrath possessed her. She had been misled, that was
certain. But had it been done on purpose? Had they really intended to
deceive her? It is said that she had expressed a wish to go through La
Beauce and not through La Sologne, and that she had received the
answer: "Jeanne, be reassured; we will take you through La
Beauce."[925] Is it possible? Why should the barons have thus trifled
with the holy damsel, whom the King had confided to their care, and
who already inspired most of them with respect? Certain of them, it is
true, believing her not to be in earnest, would willingly have turned
her to ridicule; but if one of them had played her the trick of
representing La Beauce as La Sologne, how was it there was no one to
undeceive her? How could Brother Pasquerel, her chaplain, her steward,
and the honest squire d'Aulon, have become the accomplices of so
clumsy a jest? It is all very mysterious, and, when one comes to think
of it, what is most mysterious is that Jeanne should have expressly
asked to go to Orleans through La Beauce. Since she was so ignorant of
the way that when crossing the Blois bridge she never suspected that
she was going into La Sologne, there is not much likelihood of her
realising so exactly the lie of Orleans as to choose between entering
it from the south or the west. A damsel knowing naught beyond the name
of the gate through which she is to enter the city, and who is yet
persuaded by malicious captains to take one road rather than another,
sounds too much like a Mother Goose's tale.
[Footnote 924: "_Et cuidoit bien qu'ils deussent passer par devers les
bastides du siege devers la Beausse._" _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p.
281.]
[Footnote 925: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 285 (the Chronicle here
amplifies the evidence of Dunois, vol. iii, p. 67).]
Jeanne knew no more of Orleans than she did of Babylon. We may
therefore conjecture that there was a misunderstanding. She had spoken
neither of Sologne nor of Beauce. Her Voices had told her that the
English would not budge. They had not shown her a picture of the town,
they had not given her either maps or plans: soldiers did not use
them. Doubtless Jeanne had said to the captains and priests what she
was soon to repeat to the Bastard: "I must go to Talbot and the
English." And the priests and soldiers had replied quite frankly:
"Jeanne, we are going to Talbot and the English."[926] They had
thought they were speaking the truth, since Talbot, who was conducting
the siege, would be before them, so to speak, from whatever side they
approached the town. But apparently they had not thoroughly understood
what the Maid said, and the Maid had not understood what they had
replied. For now she was angry and sad at finding herself separated
from the town by the sands and waters of the river. What was there to
vex her in this? Those who were with her then did not discover; and
perhaps her reasons were misunderstood because they were spiritual and
mystic. She certainly could not have judged that a military mistake
had been made by the bringing of troops and victuals through La
Sologne. As she did not know the roads, it was impossible for her to
tell which was the best. She was ignorant alike of the enemy's
position, of the outworks of the besiegers, and of the defences of the
besieged. She had just learnt on what bank of the river the town was
situated, yet she must have thought she had good ground for complaint;
for she approached the Lord Bastard and inquired sharply: "Are you the
Bastard of Orleans?" "I am he. I rejoice at your coming." "Was it
through your counsel that I came hither on this side of the river, and
that I did not go straight to where Talbot and the English are?" "It
was I and those wiser than I who gave this counsel, believing we acted
for the best and for the greatest safety." But Jeanne retorted: "In
God's name! Messire's counsel is better and wiser than yours. You
thought to deceive me, but you deceive yourselves. For I bring you
surer aid than ever came yet to knight or city; it is the aid of the
King of Heaven and comes from God himself, who not merely for my sake
but at the prayer of Saint Louis and Saint Charlemagne has had pity
upon the town of Orleans, and will not suffer the enemy to hold at
once both the body and the city of the Duke."[927]
[Footnote 926: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 5, 6.]
[Footnote 927: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 5, 6. _Chronique de la Pucelle_,
p. 284. Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, p.
49.]
One may conclude that what really vexed her was that she had not been
taken straight to Talbot and the English. She had just heard that
Talbot with his camp was on the right bank. And when she spoke of
Talbot and the English she meant only those English who were with
Talbot. For, as she came down into the Loire valley, near the ford of
Saint-Jean-le-Blanc, she must have seen the bastion of Les Augustins
and Les Tourelles at the end of the bridge; and she must have known
that there were also English on the left bank. But still, it is not
clear why she should have desired to appear first before Talbot and
his English, and why she was now so annoyed at being separated from
him by the Loire. Did she think that the entrenched camp,
Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils, commanded by Scales, Suffolk, and Talbot
would be attacked immediately? Such an idea would never of itself
have occurred to her, since she did not know the place, and no soldier
would ever have put such madness into her head as an attack on an
entrenched camp by a convoy of cattle and wagons. Neither, as has so
often been asserted, can she have thought of forcing a passage between
the bastion Saint-Pouair and the outskirts of the wood, since of the
bastions and of the forest she knew as little as of the rest. If such
had been her intention she would have announced it plainly to the
Bastard; for she knew how to make her meaning clear, and even educated
persons considered that she spoke well. Then what was her idea? It is
not impossible to discover it if one remembers what must have been in
the saint's mind at that time, or if one merely recollects by what
words and deeds Jeanne had announced and prepared her mission. She had
said to the doctors of Poitiers: "The siege of Orleans shall be raised
and the town delivered from the enemy after I have summoned it to
surrender in God's name."[928] In the name of the King of Heaven she
had called upon Scales, Suffolk, and Talbot to raise the siege. She
had written that she was ready to make peace, and had bidden them
return to England. Now she asked Talbot, Suffolk, and Scales for an
answer. Since the English had not sent back her herald she herself
came to their leaders as the herald of Messire. She came to require
them to make peace, and if they would not make peace she was ready to
fight. It was not until they had refused that she could be certain of
conquering, not for any human reason, but because her Council had so
promised her. Perhaps even she may have hoped that by appearing to the
English captains, her standard in hand, accompanied by Saint
Catherine and Saint Margaret and Saint Michael the Archangel, she
would persuade them to leave France. She may have believed that
Talbot, falling on his knees, would obey not her, but Him who sent
her; that thus she would accomplish that for which she came, without
shedding one drop of that French blood which was so dear to her;
neither would the English whom she pitied lose their bodies or their
souls. In any case God must be obeyed and charity shown: it was only
at such a price that victory could be gained. A victory so spiritual,
a conquest so angelic, she had come to win; but now it was snatched
from her by the false wisdom of the leaders of her party. They were
hindering her from fulfilling her mission,--perhaps from giving the
promised sign,--and they were involving her with themselves in
enterprises less certain of success and less noble in spirit. Hence
her sorrow and her wrath.
[Footnote 928: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 273.]
Even after the discomfiture of her arrival, in order that she might
please God, she did not consider herself freed from the obligation of
offering peace to her enemies.[929] And since she could not go
straight to Talbot's camp she wanted to appear before the fort of
Saint-Jean-le-Blanc.[930]
[Footnote 929: Opinion of Martin Berruyer, in Lanery d'Arc, _Memoires
et consultations_, ch. vii.]
[Footnote 930: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 78, 214.]
There was no one left behind the palisades. But if she had gone and
found any of the enemy there she would first have offered them peace.
Of this her subsequent behaviour within the city walls is positive
proof. Her mission was not to contribute to the defence of Orleans
plans of campaign or stratagems of war; her share in the work of
deliverance was higher and nobler. To suffering men, weak, unhappy,
and selfish, she brought the invincible forces of love and faith, the
virtue of sacrifice.
My Lord the Bastard who regarded Jeanne's mission as purely religious,
and who would have been greatly astonished had any one told him that
he ought to consult this peasant on military matters,[931] appeared as
if he did not understand the reproaches she addressed to him. And he
went away to see that operations were carried out according to the
plans he had made.
[Footnote 931: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 16.]
Everything had been carefully concerted and prepared, but a slight
obstacle occurred. The barges that the people of Orleans were to send
for the victuals were not yet unmoored.[932] They were sailing
vessels, and, as the wind was blowing from the east, they could not
set out. No one knew how long they would be delayed, and time was
precious. Jeanne said confidently to those who were growing anxious:
"Wait a little, for in God's name everything shall enter the
town."[933]
[Footnote 932: _Ibid._, p. 78. _Journal du siege_, pp. 74, 75.
_Chronique de la fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 290.]
[Footnote 933: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 105. _Chronique du la Pucelle_,
p. 284.]
She was right. The wind changed: the sails were unfurled, and the
barges were borne up the river by a favourable wind, so strong that
one boat was able to tow two or three others.[934] Without hindrance
they passed the Saint-Loup bastion. My Lord the Bastard sailed in one
of these boats with Nicole de Giresme, Grand Prior of France of the
order of Rhodes. And the flotilla came to the port of Checy, where it
remained at anchor all night.[935] It was decided that the relieving
army should that night encamp at the port of Bouchet and guard the
convoy by watching down the river, while one detachment was stationed
near the Islands of Checy to watch up the river in the direction of
Jargeau. In company with certain captains, and with a body of
men-at-arms and archers, the Maid followed the bank as far as
l'Ile-aux-Bourdons.[936]
[Footnote 934: Boucher de Molandon, _La delivrance d'Orleans et
l'institution de la fete du 8 mai, Chronique anonyme du XV'e
siecle_, Orleans, 1883, in 8vo, pp. 28, 29.]
[Footnote 935: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 6. _Journal du siege_, p. 75.]
[Footnote 936: _Chronique de la fete_, in the _Trial_, vol. v, p. 290.
Morosini, vol. iii, p. 23, note 5. Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere
expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 52-56.]
The lords who had brought the convoy decided that they would set out
immediately after the unloading. Having accomplished the first part of
its task, the army would return to Blois to fetch the remaining
victuals and ammunition, for everything had not been brought at once.
Hearing that the soldiers, with whom she had come, were going away,
Jeanne wished to go with them; and, after having so urgently asked to
be taken to Orleans, now that she was before the gates of the city,
her one idea was to go back.[937] Thus is the soul of the mystic blown
hither and thither by the breath of the Spirit. Now as always Jeanne
was guided by impulses purely spiritual. She would not be parted from
these soldiers because she believed they had made their peace with
God, and she feared that she might not find others as contrite. For
her, victory or defeat depended absolutely on whether the combatants
were in a state of grace or of sin. To lead them to confession was her
only art of war; no other science did she know, whether for fighting
behind ramparts or in the open field.[938]
[Footnote 937: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 285. This document very
untrustworthy as a whole is in certain passages a better authority
than _Le journal du siege_.]
[Footnote 938: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 104, 105 (Pasquerel's
evidence).]
"As for entering the town," she said, "it would hurt me to leave my
men, and I ought not to do it. They have all confessed, and in their
company I should not fear the uttermost power of the English."[939]
[Footnote 939: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, pp. 284, 285.]
In reality, as one may well imagine, whether or no they had confessed,
whether they were near or far from her, these mercenaries committed
all the sins compatible with the simplicity of their minds. But the
innocent damsel did not see them. Sensitive to things invisible, her
eyes were closed to things material.
She was confirmed in her resolution to return to Blois by the captains
who had brought her and who wanted to take her back, alleging the
King's command. They wished to keep her because she brought good luck.
My Lord the Bastard, however, saw serious obstacles and even dangers
in the way of her return.[940] In the state in which he had left the
people of Orleans, if their Maid were not straightway brought before
them they would rise in fury and despair, with cries, threats,
rioting, and violence; everything was to be feared, even massacres. He
entreated the captains, in the King's interest, to agree to Jeanne's
entering Orleans; and without great difficulty, he induced them to
return to Blois without her. But Jeanne did not give in so quickly. He
besought her to decide to cross the Loire. She refused and with such
insistence that he must have realised how difficult it is to influence
a saint. It was necessary for one of the lords who had brought her,
the Sire de Rais or the Sire de Lore, to join his entreaties to those
of the Bastard, and to say to her: "Assuredly you must go, for we
promise to return to you shortly."[941]
[Footnote 940: "_Ex tunc dictus deponens habuit bonam spem de ea et
plus quam ante_," _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 6.]
[Footnote 941: _Timens ne recedere vellent et quod opus remaneret
imperfectum_, _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 78. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p.
286. _Chronique de la fete_, in the _Trial_, vol. v, p. 285. Boucher
de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 61, 62.]
At last, when she heard that Brother Pasquerel would go with them to
Blois, accompanied by the priests and bearing her standard, believing
that her men would have a good spiritual director, she consented to
stay.[942] She crossed the Loire with her brothers, her little
company, the Bastard, the Marshal de Boussac, the Captain La Hire, and
reached Checy, which was then quite a town, with two churches, an
infirmary, and a lepers' hospital.[943] She was received by a rich
burgess, one Guy de Cailly, in whose manor of Reuilly she passed the
night.[944]
[Footnote 942: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 105. _Mistere du siege_, line
11,616.]
[Footnote 943: Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne
d'Arc_, pp. 62, 99, note xiv, and in _Bulletin de la Societe
archeologique de l'Orleanais_, vol. iv, p. 429; vol. ix, p. 73.]
[Footnote 944: _Journal du siege_, p. 75. Ch. du Lys, _Traite sommaire
tant du nom et des armes que de la naissance et parente de la Pucelle
d'Orleans et de ses freres_, Paris, 1628, in 4to, p. 50. Abbe Dubois,
_Histoire du siege_, p. 344. P. Mantellier, _Histoire du siege_, p.
86. Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 65,
proofs and illustrations, note xv.]
On the morning of the 29th the barges, which had been anchored at
Checy, crossed the Loire, and those who were with the convoy loaded
them with victuals, ammunition, and cattle.[945] The river was
high.[946] The barges were able to drift down the navigable channel
near the left bank. The birches and osiers of l'Ile-aux-Boeufs hid
them from the English in the Saint-Loup bastion. Besides, at that
moment, the enemy was occupied elsewhere. The town garrison was
skirmishing with them in order to distract their attention. The
fighting was somewhat hard. There were slain and wounded; prisoners
were taken on both sides; and the English lost a banner.[947] Beneath
the deserted[948] watch of Saint-Jean-le-Blanc the barges passed
unprotected. Between l'Ile-aux-Boeufs and the Islet of Les Martinets
they turned starboard, to go down again, following the right bank,
under l'Ile-aux-Toiles, as far as La Tour Neuve, the base of which was
washed by the Loire, at the south-eastern corner of the town. Then
they took shelter in the moat near the Burgundian Gate.[949]
[Footnote 945: _Journal du siege_, pp. 75, 76.]
[Footnote 946: Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne
d'Arc_, p. 68.]
[Footnote 947: _Chronique de la Fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 290.]
[Footnote 948: _Journal du siege_, pp. 74, 75. Jean Chartier,
_Chronique_, vol. i, p. 69. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, pp. 284, 285.]
[Footnote 949: Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne
d'Arc_, pp. 51 _et seq._]
The whole day the manor of Reuilly was besieged by a procession of
citizens, who could not forbear coming at the risk of their lives to
see the promised Maid. It was six o'clock in the evening before she
left Checy. The captains wanted her to enter the town at nightfall for
fear of disorders and lest the crush around her should be too
great.[950] Doubtless they passed along the broad valleys leading from
Semoy towards the south, on the borders of the parishes of Saint-Marc
and Saint-Jean-de-Braye. On the way she said to those who rode with
her: "Fear nothing. No harm shall happen to you."[951] And indeed the
only danger was for pedestrians. Horsemen ran little risk of being
pursued by the English, who were short of horses in their bastions.
[Footnote 950: _Journal du siege_, p. 75.]
[Footnote 951: _Ibid._, p. 76.]
On that Friday, the 29th of April, in the darkness, she entered
Orleans, by the Burgundian Gate. She was in full armour and rode a
white horse.[952] A white horse was the steed of heralds and
archangels.[953] The Bastard had placed her on his right. Before her
was borne her standard, on which figured two angels, each holding a
flower de luce, and her pennon, painted with the picture of the
Annunciation. Then came the Marshal de Boussac, Guy de Cailly, Pierre
and Jean d'Arc, Jean de Metz, and Bertrand de Poulengy, the Sire
d'Aulon, and those lords, captains, men-of-war, and citizens who had
come to meet her at Checy.[954] Bearing torches and rejoicing as
heartily as if they had seen God himself descending among them, the
townfolk of Orleans pressed around her.[955] They had suffered great
privations, they had feared that help would never come; but now they
were heartened and felt as if the siege had been raised already by the
divine virtue, which they had been told resided in this Maid. They
looked at her with love and veneration; elbowing and pushing each
other, men, women, and children rushed forward to touch her and her
white horse, as folk touch the relics of saints. In the crush a torch
set her pennon on fire. The Maid, beholding it, spurred on her horse
and galloped to the flame, which she extinguished with a skill
apparently miraculous; for everything in her was marvellous.[956]
Men-at-arms and citizens, enraptured, accompanied her in crowds to the
Church of Sainte-Croix, whither she went first to give thanks, then to
the house of Jacques Boucher, where she was to lodge.[957]
[Footnote 952: _Journal du siege_, pp. 74, 75.]
[Footnote 953: And even now trumpeters ride white horses (_Histoire de
Jeanne d'Arc_, by Lebrun de Charmettes, 1817, in 8vo, vol. ii, p.
21).]
[Footnote 954: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 7. _Journal du siege_, p. 76.
_Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 287. Jean Chartier, _Chronique_, vol. i,
p. 72. Morosini, vol. iii, pp. 28, 30.]
[Footnote 955: "_Comme se ilz veissent Dieu descendre entre eulx_,"
says _Le journal du siege_, p. 76. Luillier (_Trial_, vol. iii, p. 24)
calls her "the angel of the Lord" (_l'ange de Dieu_).]
[Footnote 956: _Journal du siege_, pp. 76, 77.]
[Footnote 957: _Chronique de l'etablissement de la fete_, p. 28.]
Jacques or Jacquet Boucher, as he was called, had been the Duke of
Orleans' treasurer for several years. He was a very rich man and had
married the daughter of one of the most influential burgesses of the
city.[958] Having stayed in the town throughout the siege, he
contributed to the defence by gifts of wheat, oats, and wine, and by
advancing funds for the purchase of ammunition and weapons. As the
care of the ramparts fell to the burgesses, it was Jacques' duty to
keep in repair and ready for defence the Renard Gate, where he dwelt,
which was the most exposed to the English attack. His mansion, one of
the finest and largest in the town, once inhabited by Regnart or
Renard, the family which had given its name to the gate, was in the
Rue des Talmeliers, quite near the fortifications. The captains held
their councils of war there, when they did not meet at the house of
Chancellor Guillaume Cousinot in the Rue de la Rose.[959] Jacques
Boucher's dwelling was doubtless well furnished with silver plate and
storied tapestry. It would appear that in one of the rooms there was
a picture representing three women and bearing this inscription:
_Justice, Peace, Union_.[960]
[Footnote 958: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 101; vol. iii, pp. 34, 68, 124 _et
seq._, 211. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 285. Boucher de Molandon,
_Jacques Boucher, sieur de Guilleville, tresorier general du district
d'Orleans...._ in _Memoires de la Societe archeologique de
l'Orleanais_, vol. xxii, 1889, p. 373. Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere
expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 101, note xvi; proofs and
illustrations, p. 108.]
[Footnote 959: Jean Chartier, _Chronique_, vol. i, p. 73. _Chronique
de la Pucelle_, ed. Vallet de Viriville, p. 20. [Note on G. Cousinot
the Chancellor.] Cf. _Nouvelle biographie generale_. Vallet de
Viriville, _Essais critiques sur les historiens originaux du regne de
Charles VII_, in _Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Chartes_, 1857, fourth
series, vol. iii, pp. 11-14, 105-111.]
[Footnote 960: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 101; vol. iii, pp. 68, 124 _et
seq._; vol. iv, pp. 153, 219, 227. _Journal du siege_, pp. 77, 78.
Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 69,
107, note xvi.]
Into this house the Maid was received with her two brothers, the two
comrades who had brought her to the King, and their valets. She had
her armour taken off.[961] Jacques Boucher's wife and daughter passed
the night with her. Jeanne shared the child's bed. She was nine years
old and was called Charlotte after Duke Charles, who was her father's
lord.[962] It was the custom in those days for the host to share his
bed with his man guest and the hostess with her woman guest. This was
the rule of courtesy; kings observed it as well as burgesses. Children
were taught how to behave towards a sleeping companion, to keep to
their own part of the bed, not to fidget, and to sleep with their
mouths shut.[963]
[Footnote 961: G. Lefevre-Pontalis (_Chronique d'Antonio Morosini_,
vol. iii, p. 101, note) discovers in _La chronique de la Pucelle_
(xliv, p. 285) a wrong use of an incident cited by Dunois in his
evidence, which must be allowed to have happened on the 7th of May, as
Dunois cited it (_Trial_, vol. iii, p. 9).]
[Footnote 962: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 34, 68.]
[Footnote 963: Franklin, _La vie privee d'autrefois_, vols. ii, xix,
_passim_. H. Havard, _Dictionnaire de l'ameublement_, under the word
_lit_.]
Thus the Duke's treasurer took the Maid into his house and entertained
her at the town's expense. Jeanne's horses were stabled by a burgess
named Jean Pillas.
As for the D'Arc brothers, they did not stay with their sister, but
lodged in the house of Thevenin Villedart. The town paid all their
expenses; for example it furnished them with the shoes and gaiters
they needed and gave them a few gold crowns. Three of the Maid's
comrades, who were very destitute and came to see her at Orleans,
received food.[964]
[Footnote 964: Accounts of the fortress in _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 259,
260.]
On the next day, the 30th of April, the town bands of Orleans were
early afoot. From morn till eve everything in the town was
topsy-turvy; the rebellion, which had been repressed so long, now
broke forth. As early as February the citizens had begun to mistrust
and hate the knights;[965] now at last they shook off their yoke and
broke it.[966] Henceforth they would recognise no King's lieutenant,
no governor, no lords, no generals; there was but one power and one
defence: the Maid.[967] The Maid was the people's captain. This
damsel, this shepherdess, this nun did the knights the greatest injury
they ever experienced: she reduced them to nothing. On the morning of
the 30th they must have been convinced that the popular revolution had
taken place. The town bands were waiting for the Maid to put herself
at their head, and with her to march immediately against the _Godons_.
The captains endeavoured to make them understand that they must wait
for the army from Blois and the company of Marshal de Boussac, who
that night had set out to meet the army. The citizens in arms would
listen to nothing, and with loud cries clamoured for the Maid. She did
not appear. My Lord the Bastard, who was honey-tongued, had advised
her to keep away.[968] This was the last advantage the leaders gained
over her. And now as before, when she appeared to give way to them,
she was merely doing as she liked. As for the citizens, with the Maid
or without her, they were determined to fight. The Bastard could not
hinder them. They sallied forth,[969] accompanied by the Gascons of
Captain La Hire and the men of Messire Florent d'Illiers. They bravely
attacked the bastion Saint-Pouair, which the English called Paris, and
which was about eight hundred yards from the walls. They overcame the
outposts and approached so close to the bastion that they were already
clamouring for faggots and straw to be brought from the town to set
fire to the palisades. But at the cry "Saint George!" the English
gathered themselves together, and after a sore and sanguinary fight
repulsed the attack of the citizens and free-lances.[970]
[Footnote 965: _Journal du siege_, pp. 43, 44.]
[Footnote 966: _Ibid._, pp. 78, 79.]
[Footnote 967: See the evidence of S. Charles (vol. iii, pp. 116, 117)
and certain details in _La chronique de la Pucelle_.]
[Footnote 968: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 7, 211; vol. iv, pp. 221, 222.
_Chronique de la Pucelle_, pp. 250, 251, 287. Jean Chartier,
_Chronique_, vol. i, pp. 74, 75.]
[Footnote 969: _Journal du siege_, pp. 78, 79.]
[Footnote 970: _Ibid._, p. 78. _Chronique de la fete_, in _Trial_,
vol. v, pp. 291, 292. Cf. Letter written from Germany, in _Trial_,
vol. v, p. 349.]
The Maid had known nothing of it. Sent from God, on her white horse, a
messenger armed yet peaceful, she held it neither just nor pious to
fight the English before they had refused her offers of peace. On that
day as before her one wish was to go in true saintly wise straight to
Talbot. She asked for tidings of her letter and learnt that the
English captains had paid no heed to it, and had detained her herald,
Guyenne.[971] This is what had happened:
[Footnote 971: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 27, 108. _Journal du siege_, p.
79.]
That letter, which the Bastard deemed couched in vulgar phrase,
produced a marvellous impression on the English. It filled them with
fear and rage. They kept the herald who had brought it; and, although
use and custom insisted on the person of such officers being
respected, alleging that a sorceress's messenger must be a heretic,
they put him in chains, and after some sort of a trial condemned him
to be burnt as the accomplice of the seductress.[972]
[Footnote 972: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 284. _Trial_, vol. iii,
pp. 26, 27.]
They even put up the stake to which he was to be bound. And yet,
before executing the sentence, they judged it well to consult the
University of Paris, as in like manner the Bishop of Beauvais was to
consult it eighteen months later.[973] Their evil disposition arose
from fear. These unfortunates, who were treated as devils, were afraid
of devils. They suspected the subtle French of being necromancers and
sorcerers. They said that by repeating magic lines the Armagnacs had
compassed the death of the great King, Henry V. Fearing lest their
enemies should make use of sorcery and enchantment against them, in
order to protect themselves from all evil influences, they wore bands
of parchment inscribed with the formulae of conjuration and called
_periapts_.[974] The most efficacious of these amulets was the first
chapter of the Gospel of St. John. At this time the stars were
unfavourable to them, and astrologers were reading their approaching
ruin in the sky. Their late King, Henry V, when he was studying at
Oxford, had learnt there the rules of divination by the stars. For his
own special use he kept in his coffers two astrolabes, one of silver
and one of gold. When his queen, Catherine of France, was about to be
confined, he himself cast the horoscope of the expected child. And
further, as there was a prophecy in England[975] which said that
Windsor would lose what Monmouth had gained, he determined that the
Queen should not be confined at Windsor. But destiny cannot be
thwarted. The royal child was born at Windsor. His father was in
France when he heard the tidings. He held them to be of ill omen, and
summoned Jean Halbourd of Troyes, minister general of the Trinitarians
or Mathurins, "excellent in astrology," who, having drawn up the
scheme of nativity, could only confirm the King in his doleful
presentiments.[976] And now the time had come. Windsor reigned; all
would be lost. Merlin had predicted that they would be driven out of
France and by a Virgin utterly undone. When the Maid appeared they
grew pale with fright, and fear fell upon captains and soldiers.[977]
Those whom no man could make afraid, trembled before this girl whom
they held to be a witch. They could not be expected to regard her as a
saint sent of God. The best they could think of her was that she was a
very learned sorceress.[978] To those she came to help she appeared a
daughter of God, to those she came to destroy she appeared a horrid
monster in woman's form. In this double aspect lay all her strength:
angelic for the French, devilish for the English, to one and the other
she appeared invincible and supernatural.
[Footnote 973: Martial de Paris, called d'Auvergne, _Vigiles de
Charles VII_, ed. Coustelier, 1724, vol. i, p. 98.]
[Footnote 974: La Curne, under the word _Periapt_. Shakespeare, _Henry
VI_, part i, act v, sc. iii.]
[Footnote 975: Shakespeare, _Henry VI_, part i, act iii, sc. i.]
[Footnote 976: Vallet de Viriville, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. i,
p. 306. Carlier, _Histoire du Valois_, vol. ii, p. 442.]
[Footnote 977: Jarry, _Le compte de l'armee anglaise_, p. 61.]
[Footnote 978: Shakespeare, _Henry VI_, part i, act i, sc. ii.]
In the evening of the 30th she sent her herald, Ambleville, to the
camp of Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils to ask for Guyenne, who had borne
the letter from Blois and had not returned. Ambleville was also
instructed to tell Sir John Talbot, the Earl of Suffolk, and the Lord
Scales that in God's name the Maid required them to depart from France
and go to England; otherwise they would suffer hurt. The English sent
back Ambleville with an evil message.
"The English," he said to the Maid, "are keeping my comrade to burn
him."
She made answer: "In God's name they will do him no harm." And she
commanded Ambleville to return.[979]
[Footnote 979: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 27. _Journal du siege_, p. 79.
_Chronique de la Pucelle_, pp. 285, 286.]
She was indignant, and, no doubt, greatly disappointed. In truth, she
had never anticipated that Talbot and the leaders of the siege would
give such a welcome to a letter inspired by Saint Catherine and Saint
Margaret and Saint Michael; but so broad was her charity that she was
still willing to offer peace to the English. In her innocence she may
have believed that her proclamations in God's name were misunderstood
after all. Besides, whatever happened, she was determined to go
through with her duty to the end. At night she sallied forth from the
Bridge Gate and went as far as the outwork of La Belle-Croix. It was
not unusual for the two sides to address each other. La Belle-Croix
was within ear-shot of Les Tourelles. The Maid mounted the rampart and
cried to the English: "Surrender in God's name. I will grant you your
lives only."
But the garrison and even the Captain, William Glasdale himself,
hurled back at her coarse insults and horrible threats.
"Milk-maid! If ever we get you, you shall be burned alive."[980]
[Footnote 980: _Journal du siege_, p. 79. _Chronique de la Pucelle_,
p. 290.]
She answered that it was a lie. But they were in earnest and sincere.
They firmly believed that this damsel was arming legions of devils
against them.
On Sunday, the 1st of May, my Lord the Bastard went to meet the army
from Blois.[981] He knew the country; and, being both energetic and
cautious, he was desirous to superintend the entrance of this convoy
as he had done that of the other. He set out with a small escort. He
did not dare to take with him the Saint herself; but, in order, so to
speak, to put himself under her protection and tactfully to flatter
the piety and affections of the folk of Orleans, he took a member of
her suite, her steward, Sire Jean d'Aulon.[982] Thus he grasped the
first opportunity of showing his good will to the Maid, feeling that
henceforth nothing could be done except with her or under her
patronage.
[Footnote 981: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 7. _Journal du siege_, p. 79.]
[Footnote 982: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 211.]
The fervour of the citizens was not abated. That very day, in their
passionate desire to see the Saint, they crowded round Jacques
Boucher's house as turbulently as the pilgrims from Puy pressed into
the sanctuary of La Vierge Noire. There was a danger of the doors
being broken in. The cries of the townsfolk reached her. Then she
appeared: good, wise, equal to her mission, one born for the salvation
of the people. In the absence of captains and men-at-arms, this wild
multitude only awaited a sign from her to throw itself in tumult on
the bastions and perish there. Notwithstanding the visions of war
that haunted her, that sign she did not give. Child as she was, and
as ignorant of war as of life, there was that within her which turned
away disaster. She led this crowd of men, not to the English bastions,
but to the holy places of the city. Down the streets she rode,
accompanied by many knights and squires; men and women pressed to see
her and could not gaze upon her enough. They marvelled at the manner
of her riding and of her behaviour, in every point like a man-at-arms;
and they would have hailed her as a veritable Saint George had they
not suspected Saint George of turning Englishman.[983]
[Footnote 983: _Journal du siege_, p. 80. P. Mantellier, _Histoire du
siege_, pp. 92, 95.]
That Sunday, for the second time, she went forth to offer peace to the
enemies of the kingdom. She passed out by the Renard Gate and went
along the Blois Road, through the suburbs that had been burnt down,
towards the English bastion. Surrounded by a double moat, it was
planted on a slope at the crossroads called La Croix Boissee or
Buissee, because the townsfolk of Orleans had erected a cross there,
which every Palm Sunday they dressed with a branch of box blessed by
the priest. Doubtless she intended to reach this bastion, and perhaps
to go on to the camp of Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils situated between La
Croix Boissee and the Loire, where, as she had said, were Talbot and
the English. For she had not yet given up hope of gaining a hearing
from the leaders of the siege. But at the foot of the hill, at a place
called La Croix-Morin, she met some _Godons_ who were keeping watch.
And there, in tones grave, pious, and noble, she summoned them to
retreat before the hosts of the Lord. "Surrender, and your lives shall
be spared. In God's name go back to England. If ye will not I will
make you suffer for it."[984]
[Footnote 984: 1 May. _Journal du siege_, p. 80.]
These men-at-arms answered her with insults as those of Les Tourelles
had done. One of them, the Bastard of Granville, cried out to her:
"Would you have us surrender to a woman?"
The French, who were with her, they dubbed pimps and infidels, to
shame them for being in the company of a bad woman and a witch.[985]
But whether because they thought her magic rendered her invulnerable,
or because they held it dishonourable to strike a messenger, now, as
on other occasions, they forbore to fire on her.
[Footnote 985: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 68 (evidence of Louis de
Coutes).]
That Sunday, Jacquet le Prestre, the town varlet, offered the Maid
wine.[986] The magistrates and citizens could not have more highly
honoured her whom they regarded as their captain. Thus they treated
barons, kings and queens when they were entertained in the city. In
those days wine was highly valued on account of its beneficent power.
Jeanne, when she emphasised a wish, would say: "If I were never to
drink wine between now and Easter!..."[987] But in reality she never
drank wine except mixed with water, and she ate little.[988]
[Footnote 986: Extracts from fortress accounts, in the _Trial_, vol.
v, p. 259.]
[Footnote 987: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 64.]
[Footnote 988: _Ibid._, vol. iii, pp. 9, 15, 18, 22, 60; vol. v, p.
120. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 285. Morosini, p. 101. _Relation du
greffier de La Rochelle_, p. 337.]
Throughout this time of waiting the Maid never rested for a moment. On
Monday, May 2nd, she mounted her horse and rode out into the country
to view the English bastions. The people followed her in crowds; they
had no fear and were glad to be near her. And when she had seen all
that she wanted, she returned to the city, to the cathedral church,
where she heard vespers.[989]
[Footnote 989: _Journal du siege_, p. 80. P. Mantellier, _Histoire du
siege_, p. 95.]
On the morrow, the 3rd of May, the day of the Invention of the Holy
Cross, which was the Cathedral Festival, she followed in the
procession, with the magistrates and the townsfolk. It was then that
Maitre Jean de Macon, the precentor of the cathedral,[990] greeted her
with these words: "My daughter, are you come to raise the siege?"
[Footnote 990: Charles Cuissard, _Notes chronologiques sur Jean de
Macon_, in _Memoires de la Societe archeologique de l'Orleanais_, vol.
xi, 1897, pp. 529, 545.]
She replied: "Yea, in God's name."[991]
[Footnote 991: _Chronique de la fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 291.
Lottin, _Recherches_, vol. i, p. 30.]
The people of Orleans all believed that the English round the city
were as innumerable as the stars in the sky; the notary, Guillaume
Girault, expected nothing short of a miracle.[992] Jean Luillier,
woollen draper[993] by trade, thought it impossible for the citizens
to hold out longer against an enemy so enormously their superior.[994]
Messire Jean de Macon was likewise alarmed at the power and the
numbers of the _Godons_.
[Footnote 992: Note by Guill. Girault, notary in the _Trial_, vol. iv,
p. 282. _Journal du siege_, p. 135.]
[Footnote 993: _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 112, 113.]
[Footnote 994: _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 24. Cf. _Ibid._, pp. 7, 8 (the
evidence of Dunois amounts to much the same).]
"My daughter," he said to the Maid, "their force is great and they are
strongly intrenched. It will be a difficult matter to turn them
out."[995]
[Footnote 995: _Chronique de la fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 291.]
If notary Guillaume Girault, if draper Jean Luillier, if Messire Jean
de Macon, instead of fostering these gloomy ideas, had counted the
numbers of the besieged and the besieging, they would have found that
the former were more numerous than the latter; and that the army of
Scales, of Suffolk, of Talbot appeared mean and feeble when compared
with the great besieging armies of the reign of King Henry V. Had they
looked a little more closely they would have perceived that the
bastions, with the formidable names of London and of Paris, were
powerless to prevent either corn, cattle, pigs, or men-at-arms being
brought into the city; and that these gigantic dolls were being mocked
at by the dealers, who, with their beasts, passed by them daily. In
short, they would have realised that the people of Orleans were for
the moment better off than the English. But they had examined nothing
for themselves. They were content to abide by public opinion which is
seldom either just or correct. The Maid did not share Messire Jean de
Macon's illusions. She knew no more of the English than he did; yet
because she was a saint, she replied tranquilly: "With God all things
are possible."[996] And Maitre Jean de Macon thought it well that such
should be her opinion.
[Footnote 996: _Chronique de la fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 291.]
What aggravated the trouble, the danger, and the panic of the
situation, was that the citizens believed they were betrayed. They
recollected the Count of Clermont at the Battle of the Herrings, and
they suspected the King's men of deserting them once again. After
having done so much and spent so much they saw themselves given up to
the English. This idea made them mad.[997] There was a rumour that the
Marshal de Boussac, who had started with my Lord the Bastard to meet
the second convoy of supplies, and who was to return on Tuesday the
3rd, would not come back. It was said that the Chancellor of France
wanted to disband the army. It was absurd. On the contrary, great
efforts for the deliverance of the city were being made by the King's
Council and that of the Queen of Sicily. But the people's brains had
been turned by their long suffering and their terrible danger. A more
reasonable fear was lest any mishap should occur on the road from
Blois like that which had overtaken the force at Rouvray. The Maid's
comrades were infected with the anxieties of the townsfolk; one of
them betrayed his fears to her, but she was not affected by them. With
the radiant tranquillity of the illuminated, she said:[998] "The
Marshal will come. I am confident that no harm will happen to
him."[999]
[Footnote 997: _Journal du siege_, pp. 51, 52.]
[Footnote 998: Beaucroix, in his evidence, says it was Jean d'Aulon
(_Trial_, vol. iii, p. 79); but, according to his own testimony,
d'Aulon was then following the Bastard (_Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 210).]
[Footnote 999: _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 79. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p.
286. P. Mantellier, _Histoire du siege_, p. 85.]
On that day there entered into the city the little garrisons of Gien,
of Chateau-Regnard, and of Montargis.[1000] But the Blois army did not
come. On the morrow, at daybreak, it was descried in the plain of La
Beauce. And, indeed, the Sire de Rais and his company, escorted by the
Marshal de Boussac and my Lord the Bastard, were skirting the Forest
of Orleans.[1001] At these tidings the citizens must needs exclaim
that the Maid had been right in wishing to march straight against
Talbot since the captains now followed the very road she had
indicated. But in reality it was not just as they thought. Only one
part of the Blois army had risked forcing its way between the western
bastions; the convoy, with its escort, like the first convoy, was
coming through La Sologne and was to enter the town by water. Those
arrangements for the entrance of supplies, which, in the first
instance, had proved successful, were naturally now repeated.[1002]
[Footnote 1000: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 287.]
[Footnote 1001: _Ibid._, p. 287. _Journal du siege_, p. 81. Abbe
Dubois, _Histoire du siege_, dissertation ix. Lottin, _Recherches_,
vol. i, p. 205. Loiseleur, _Comptes des depenses_, ch. vii.]
[Footnote 1002: On the 4th of May, as on the 29th of April, the corn
was brought down the Loire. Indeed there exists a bill which makes
mention of "sailors who brought the corn which came from Blois on the
4th day of May," "_nottoniers qui amenerent les bles qui furent amenes
de Blois le iiij'e jour de may_" (Boucher de Molandon, _Premiere
expedition de Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 58, 59).]
Captain La Hire and certain other commanders, who had remained in the
city with five hundred fighting men, went out to meet the Sire de
Rais, the Marshal de Boussac and the Bastard. The Maid mounted her
horse and went with them. They passed through the English lines; and,
a little further on, having met the army, they returned to the town
together. The priests, and among them Brother Pasquerel bearing the
banner, were the first to pass beneath the Paris bastion, singing
psalms.[1003]
[Footnote 1003: The 4th of May, _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 105, 211.
_Journal du siege_, p. 81. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 287.]
Jeanne dined at Jacques Boucher's house with her steward, Jean
d'Aulon. When the table was cleared, the Bastard, who had come to the
treasurer's house, talked with her for a moment. He was gracious and
polite, but spoke with restraint.
"I have heard on good authority," he remarked, "that Fastolf is soon
to join the English who are conducting the siege. He brings them
supplies and reinforcements and is already at Janville."
At these tidings Jeanne appeared very glad and said, laughing:
"Bastard, Bastard, in God's name, I command thee to let me know as
soon as thou shalt hear of Fastolf's arrival. For should he come
without my knowledge, I warn thee thou shalt lose thy head."[1004]
[Footnote 1004: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 212 (Jean d'Aulon's evidence).]
Far from betraying any annoyance at so rude a jest, he replied that
she need have no fear, he would let her know.[1005]
[Footnote 1005: _Ibid._, p. 212.]
The approach of Sir John Fastolf had already been announced on the
26th of April. It was expressly in order to avoid him that the army
had come through La Sologne. It is possible that on the 4th of May the
tidings of his coming had no surer foundation. But the Bastard knew
something else. The corn of the second convoy, like that of the first,
was coming down the river. It had been resolved, in a council of war,
that in the afternoon the captains should attack the Saint-Loup
bastion, and divert the English as had been done on the 29th of
April.[1006] The attack had already begun. But of this the Bastard
breathed not a word to the Maid. He held her to be the one source of
strength in the town. But he believed that in war her part was purely
spiritual.[1007]
[Footnote 1006: _Ibid._, p. 212. _Journal du siege_, p. 78.]
[Footnote 1007: I have followed the account of Jean Chartier, vol. i,
p. 73 (amplified in _La chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 288), which is
more plausible than that of _Le journal du siege_.]
After he had withdrawn, Jeanne, worn out by her morning's expedition,
lay down on her bed with her hostess for a short sleep. Sire Jean
d'Aulon, who was very weary, stretched himself on a couch in the same
room, thinking to take the rest he so greatly needed. But scarce had
he fallen asleep when the Maid leapt from her bed and roused him with
a great noise. He asked her what she wanted.
"In God's name," she answered in great agitation, "my Council have
told me to go against the English; but I know not whether I am to go
against their bastions or against Fastolf, who is bringing them
supplies."[1008]
[Footnote 1008: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 212, 213 (Jean d'Aulon's
evidence).]
In her dreams she had been present at her Council, that is to say, she
had beheld her saints. She had seen Saint Catherine and Saint
Margaret. There had happened to her what always happens. The saints
had told her no more than she herself knew. They had revealed to her
nothing of what she needed to know. They had not informed her how, at
that very moment, the French were attacking the Saint-Loup bastion and
suffering great hurt. And the Blessed Ones had departed leaving her in
error and in ignorance of what was going on, and in uncertainty as to
what she was to do. The good Sire d'Aulon was not the one to relieve
her from her embarrassment. He, too, was excluded from the Councils of
War. Now he answered her nothing, and set to arming himself as quickly
as possible. He had already begun when they heard a great noise and
cries coming up from the street. From the passers-by, they gleaned
that there was fighting near Saint-Loup and that the enemy was
inflicting great hurt on the French. Without staying to inquire
further, Jean d'Aulon went straightway to his squire to have his
armour put on. Almost at the same time Jeanne went down and asked:
"Where are my armourers? The blood of our folk is flowing."[1009]
[Footnote 1009: _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 106.]
In the street she found Brother Pasquerel, her chaplain, with other
priests, and Mugot, her page, to whom she cried: "Ha! cruel boy, you
did not tell me that the blood of France was being shed!... In God's
name, our people are hard put to it."[1010]
[Footnote 1010: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 68 (evidence of Louis de
Coutes).]
She bade him bring her horse and leave the wife and daughter of her
host to finish arming her. On his return the page found her fully
accoutred. She sent him to fetch her standard from her room. He gave
it her through the window. She took it and spurred on her horse into
the high street, towards the Burgundian Gate, at such a pace that
sparks flashed from the pavement.
"Hasten after her!" cried the treasurer's wife.[1011]
[Footnote 1011: _Ibid._, p. 69.]
Sire d'Aulon had not seen her start. He imagined, why, it is
impossible to say, that she had gone out on foot, and, having met a
page on horseback in the street, had made him dismount and give her
his horse.[1012] The Renard Gate and the Burgundian Gate were on
opposite sides of the town. Jeanne, who for the last three days had
been going up and down the streets of Orleans, took the most direct
way. Jean d'Aulon and the page, who were hastily pursuing her, did not
come up with her until she had reached the gate. There they met a
wounded man being brought into the town. The Maid asked his bearers
who the man was. He was a Frenchman, they replied. Then she said: "I
have never seen the blood of a Frenchman flow without feeling my heart
stand still."[1013]
[Footnote 1012: _Ibid._, p. 212.]
[Footnote 1013: _Ibid._, pp. 212, 213 (Jean d'Aulon's evidence).]
The Maid and Sire d'Aulon, with a few fighting men of their company,
pressed on through the fields to Saint-Loup. On the way they saw
certain of their party. The good squire, unaccustomed to great
battles, never remembered having seen so many fighting men at
once.[1014]
[Footnote 1014: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 213.]
For an hour the Sire de Rais' Bretons and the men from Le Mans had
been skirmishing before the bastion. As the custom was those who had
arrived last were keeping watch.[1015] But if these combatants, who
had reached the town only that very morning, had attacked without
taking time to breathe, they must have been hard pressed. They were
doing what had been done on the 29th of April, and for the same
reason:[1016] namely, occupying the English while the barges
corn-laden were coming down the river to the moat. On the top of their
high hill, in their strong fortress, the English had easily held out
albeit they were but few; and the French King's men can hardly have
been able to make head against them, since the Maid and Sire d'Aulon
found them scattered through the fields. She gathered them together
and led them back to the attack. They were her friends: they had
journeyed together: they had sung psalms and hymns together: together
they had heard mass in the fields. They knew that she brought good
luck: they followed her. As she marched at their head her first idea
was a religious one. The bastion was built upon the church and convent
of the Ladies of Saint-Loup. With the sound of a trumpet she had it
proclaimed that nothing should be taken from the church.[1017] She
remembered how Salisbury had come to a bad end for having pillaged the
Church of Notre Dame de Clery; and she desired to keep her men from
an evil death.[1018] This was the first time she had seen fighting;
and no sooner had she entered into the battle than she became the
leader because she was the best. She did better than others, not
because she knew more; she knew less. But her heart was nobler. When
every man thought of himself, she alone thought of others: when every
man took heed to defend himself, she defended herself not at all,
having previously offered up her life. And thus this child,--who
feared suffering and death like every human being, who knew by her
Voices and her presentiments that she would be wounded,--went straight
on and stood beneath showers of arrows and cannon-balls on the edge of
the moat, her standard in hand, rallying her men.[1019] Through her
what had been merely a diversion became a serious attack. The bastion
was stormed.
[Footnote 1015: Gruel, _Chronique d'Arthur de Richemont_, p. 72.]
[Footnote 1016: _Journal du siege_, p. 75.]
[Footnote 1017: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 124, 126. Abbe Dubois,
_Histoire du siege_, dissertation vi. Morosini, vol. iv, supplement
xiii. _Journal du siege_, pp. 83, 84. Jean Chartier, _Chronique_, vol.
i, p. 72.]
[Footnote 1018: Robert Blondel, _De reductione Normanniae_, in _Trial_,
vol. iv, p. 347. _Journal du siege_, p. 13. _Chronique de la fete_, in
_Trial_, vol. v, pp. 286 _et seq._]
[Footnote 1019: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 109, 127. _Chronique de la
Pucelle_, p. 295. Clerk of the Chambre des Comptes de Brabant, in
_Trial_, vol. iv, p. 426. Eberhard Windecke, p. 172.]
When he heard that the fort of Saint-Loup was being attacked, Sir John
Talbot sallied forth from the camp of Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils. In
order to reach the threatened bastion he had some distance to go down
his lines and along the border of the forest. He set out, and on his
way was reinforced by the garrisons of the western bastions. The town
watchmen observed his movements and sounded the alarm. Marshal Boussac
passing through the Parisis Gate, went out to meet Talbot on the
north, towards Fleury. The English captain was preparing to break
through the French force when he saw a thick cloud of smoke rising
over the fort Saint-Loup. He understood that the French had captured
and set fire to it; and sadly he returned to the camp of
Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils.[1020]
[Footnote 1020: Perceval de Cagny says: "Soon after [the arrival of
the Maid on the edge of the entrenchments] those in the fort wished to
surrender to her: she would not take them for ransom and said she
would capture them in any event, and redoubled the attack. And
straightway the fort was taken and almost all put to death." This is
hard to believe. The English would sooner have surrendered to the
humblest menial in the Armagnac host than to the Maid: and it is not
likely that she would have refused to hold them as prisoners for
ransom. Besides, Perceval de Cagny has not the remotest idea of what
happened on the 4th of May. For example, he believes that the Maid
opened the attack. Perceval de Cagny, pp. 144 _et seq._ _Journal du
siege_, p. 82. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 289. _Chronique de la
fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 294.]
The attack had lasted three hours. After the burning of the bastion
the English climbed into the church belfry. The French had difficulty
in dislodging them; but they ran no danger thereby. Of prisoners, they
took two score, and the rest they slew. The Maid was very sorrowful
when she saw so many of the enemy dead. She pitied these poor folk who
had died unconfessed.[1021] Certain _Godons_, wearing the
ecclesiastical habit and ornaments, came to meet her. She perceived
that they were soldiers disguised in stoles and hoods taken from the
sacristy of the Abbaye aux Dames. But she pretended to take them for
what they represented themselves to be. She received them and had them
conducted to her house without allowing any harm to come to them. With
a charitable jest she said: "One should never question priests."[1022]
[Footnote 1021: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 106.]
[Footnote 1022: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 289.]
Before leaving the fort she confessed to Brother Pasquerel, her
chaplain. And she charged him to make the following announcement to
all the men-at-arms: "Confess your sins and thank God for the victory.
If you do not, the Maid will never help you more and will not remain
in your company."[1023]
[Footnote 1023: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 106.]
The Saint-Loup bastion, attacked by fifteen hundred French, had been
defended by only three hundred English. That they made no vigorous
defence is indicated by the fact that only two or three Frenchmen were
slain.[1024] It was not by any severe mental effort or profound
calculation that the French King's men had gained this advantage. It
had cost them little, and yet it was immense. It meant the cutting off
of the besiegers' communications with Jargeau: it meant the opening of
the upper Loire: it was the first step towards the raising of the
siege. Better still, it afforded positive proof that these devils who
had inspired such fear were miserable creatures, who might be
entrapped like mice and smoked out like wasps in their nest. Such
unhoped-for good fortune was due to the Maid. She had done everything,
for without her nothing would have been done. She it was, who, in
ignorance wiser than the knowledge of captains and free-lances, had
converted an idle skirmish into a serious attack and had won the
victory by inspiring confidence.
[Footnote 1024: At the capture of the Saint-Loup bastion:
_Number of _Number of
French engaged._ French slain._
Journal du Siege 1,500
without counting nobles.
Letter of Charles VII 2
Morosini's correspondent 3,500
Eberhard Windecke 2
_Number of _Number of
English engaged._ English slain._
Brother Pasquerel 100 picked men 100 slain or taken
Jean d'Aulon all killed or taken
G. Girault 120 killed or taken
Charles VII's letter all killed or taken
_Journal du siege_ 114 killed, 40 taken
_Relation de la fete du 8 Mai_ From 120 to 140 all killed or taken
Perceval de Cagny 3,000 all killed or taken
_Chronique de la Pucelle_ 160 killed
Monstrelet From 300 to 400 all killed or taken
Eberhard Windecke 170 killed, 1,300 taken
_Les Vigiles de Charles VII_ 60 killed, 22 taken]
That very evening the magistrates sent workmen to Saint-Loup to
demolish the captured fortifications.[1025]
[Footnote 1025: The accounts of the fortress in _Journal du siege_, p.
284.]
When at night she returned to her lodging, Jeanne told her chaplain
that on the morrow, which was the day of the Ascension of Our Lord,
she would keep the Festival by not wearing armour and by abstaining
from fighting. She commanded that no one should think of quitting the
town, of attacking or making an assault, until he had first confessed.
She added that the men-at-arms must pay heed that no dissolute women
followed in their train for fear lest God should cause them to be
defeated on account of their sins.[1026]
[Footnote 1026: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 107. _Chronique de la Pucelle_,
pp. 289, 290.]
When need was the Maid herself saw that her orders concerning bad
women and blasphemers were scrupulously obeyed. More than once she
drove away the camp-followers. She rebuked men-at-arms who swore and
blasphemed. One day, in the open street, a knight began to swear and
take God's name in vain. Jeanne heard him. She seized him by the
throat, exclaiming, "Ah, Sir! dare you take in vain the name of Our
Lord and Master? In God's name you shall take back those words before
I move from this place."
A citizen's wife, passing down the street at that moment, beheld this
man, who seemed to her to be a great baron, humbly receiving the
Saint's reproaches and testifying his repentance.[1027]
[Footnote 1027: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 34, 35 (evidence of the widow
Hure).]
On the morrow, which was Ascension Day, the captains held a
council-of-war in the house of Chancellor Cousinot in the Rue de la
Rose.[1028] There were present, as well as the Chancellor, my Lord the
Bastard, the Sire de Gaucourt, the Sire de Rais, the Sire de Graville,
Captain La Hire, my Lord Ambroise de Lore and several others. It was
decided that Les Tourelles, the chief stronghold of the besiegers,
should be attacked on the morrow. Meanwhile, it would be necessary to
hold in check the English of the camp of Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils.
On the previous day, when Talbot set out from Saint-Laurent, he had
not been able to reach Saint-Loup in time because he had been obliged
to make a long circuit, going round the town from west to east. But,
although, on that previous day, the enemy had lost command of the
Loire above the town, they still held the lower river. They could
cross it between Saint-Laurent and Saint-Prive[1029] as rapidly as the
French could cross it by the Ile-aux-Toiles; and thus the English
might gather in force at Le Portereau. This, the French must prevent
and, if possible, draw off the garrisons from Les Augustins and Les
Tourelles to Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils. With this object it was
decided that the people of Orleans with the folk from the communes,
that is, from the villages, should make a feigned attack on the
Saint-Laurent camp, with mantelets, faggots, and ladders. Meanwhile,
the nobles would cross the Loire by l'Ile-aux-Toiles, would land at Le
Portereau under the watch of Saint-Jean-le-Blanc which had been
abandoned by the English, and attack the bastion of Les Augustins; and
when that was taken, the fort of Les Tourelles.[1030] Thus there would
be one assault made by the citizens, another by the nobles; one real,
the other feigned; both useful, but only one glorious and worthy of
knights. When the plan was thus drawn up, certain captains were of
opinion that it would be well to send for the Maid and tell her what
had been decided.[1031] And, indeed, on the previous day, she had done
so well that there was no longer need to hold her aloof. Others deemed
that it would be imprudent to tell her what was contemplated
concerning Les Tourelles. For it was important that the undertaking
should be kept secret, and it was feared that the holy damsel might
speak of it to her friends among the common people. Finally, it was
agreed that she should know those decisions which affected the
train-bands of Orleans, since, indeed, she was their captain, but that
such matters as could not be safely communicated to the citizens
should be concealed from her.
[Footnote 1028: May 5th. Quicherat is mistaken when he says (_Trial_,
vol. iv, p. 57, note) that this council was held at Jacques Boucher's.
Cf. _Journal du siege_, p. 83. Jean Chartier, _Chronique_, p. 73.
Boucher de Molandon in _Memoires de la Societe archeologique de
l'Orleanais_, vol. xxii, p. 373.]
[Footnote 1029: By the little island without a name which is marked on
the plan as Petite Ile Charlemagne. The English had fortified it. See
plan.]
[Footnote 1030: Jean Chartier, _Chronique_, vol. i, p. 74.]
[Footnote 1031: _Ibid._, pp. 74, 75. These statements are very
doubtful.]
Jeanne was in another room of the house with the Chancellor's wife.
Messire Ambroise de Lore went to fetch her; and, when she had come,
the Chancellor told her that the camp of Saint-Laurent-des-Orgerils
was to be attacked on the morrow. She divined that something was being
kept back; for she possessed a certain acuteness. Besides, since they
had hitherto concealed everything, it was natural she should suspect
that something was still being kept from her. This mistrust annoyed
her. Did they think her incapable of keeping a secret? She said
bitterly: "Tell me what you have concluded and ordained. I could keep
a much greater secret than that."[1032]
[Footnote 1032: Jean Chartier, _Chronique_, vol. i, pp. 74, 75. Very
doubtful.]
And refusing to sit down she walked to and fro in the room.
My Lord the Bastard deemed it well to avoid exasperating her by
telling her the truth. He pacified her without incriminating anybody:
"Jeanne, do not rage. It is impossible to tell you everything at once.
What the Chancellor has said has been concluded and ordained. But if
those on the other side [of the water, the English of La Sologne]
should depart to come and succour the great bastion of Saint-Laurent
and the English who are encamped near this part of the city, we have
determined that some of us shall cross the river to do what we can
against those on the other side [those of Les Augustins and Les
Tourelles]. And it seems to us that such a decision is good and
profitable."
The Maid replied that she was content, that such a decision seemed to
her good, and that it should be carried out in the manner
determined.[1033]
[Footnote 1033: _Ibid._, p. 75. _Journal du siege_, pp. 82, 83. Cf.
the evidence of S. Charles (_Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 116, 117).]
It will be seen that by this proceeding the secrecy of the
deliberations had been violated, and that the nobles had not been able
to do what they had determined or at least not in the way they had
determined. On that Ascension Day the Maid for the last time sent a
message of peace to the English, which she dictated to Brother
Pasquerel in the following terms: _Ye men of England, who have no
right in the realm of France, the King of Heaven enjoins and commands
you by me, Jeanne the Maid, to leave your forts and return to your
country. If ye will not I will make so great a noise as shall remain
for ever in the memory of man: This I write to you for the third and
last time, and I will write to you no more._
Signed thus: Jhesus--Maria. Jeanne the Maid.
And below: _I should have sent to you with more ceremony. But you keep
my heralds. You kept my herald Guyenne. If you will send him back to
me, I will send you some of your men taken at the bastion Saint-Loup;
they are not all dead._[1034]
[Footnote 1034: May 5th. _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 107 (Pasquerel's
evidence).]
Jeanne went to La Belle Croix, took an arrow, and tied her letter to
it with a string, then told an archer to shoot it to the English,
crying: "Read! This is the message."
The English received the arrow, untied the letter, and having read it
they cried: "This a message from the Armagnac strumpet."
When she heard them, tears came into Jeanne's eyes and she wept. But
soon she beheld her saints, who spoke to her of Our Lord, and she was
comforted. "I have had a message from my Lord," she said
joyfully.[1035]
[Footnote 1035: _Ibid._, p. 108.]
My Lord the Bastard himself demanded the Maid's herald, threatening
that if he were not sent back he would keep the heralds whom the
English had sent to treat for the exchange of prisoners. It is
asserted that he even threatened to put those prisoners to death. But
Ambleville did not return.[1036]
[Footnote 1036: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 286. _Journal du siege_,
p. 79, gives a different account of this episode.]