THE MAID AT TOURS AND AT SELLES-EN-BERRY--THE TREATISES OF JACQUES
GELU AND OF JEAN GERSON.
On the morning of Sunday the 8th of May, the English departed,
retreating towards Meung and Beaugency. In the afternoon of the same
day, Messire Florent d'Illiers with his men-at-arms left the town and
went straight to his captaincy of Chateaudun to defend it against the
_Godons_ who had a garrison at Marchenoir and were about to descend on
Le Dunois. On the next day the other captains from La Beauce and
Gatinais returned to their towns and strongholds.[1119]
[Footnote 1119: _Journal du siege_, p. 91. G. Met-Gaubert, _Notice sur
Florent d'Illiers_, Chartres, 1864, in 8vo.]
On the ninth of the same month, the combatants brought by the Sire de
Rais, receiving neither pay nor entertainment, went off each man on
his own account; and the Maid did not stay longer.[1120] After having
taken part in the procession by which the townsfolk rendered thanks to
God, she took her leave of those to whom she had come in the hour of
distress and affliction and whom she now quitted in the hour of
deliverance and rejoicing. They wept with joy and with gratitude and
offered themselves to her for her to do with them and their goods
whatever she would. And she thanked them kindly.[1121]
[Footnote 1120: _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 298.]
[Footnote 1121: _Journal du siege_, pp. 91, 92. Jean Chartier,
_Chronique_, vol. i, p. 71.]
From Chinon the King caused to be sent to the inhabitants of the towns
in his dominion and notably to those of La Rochelle and Narbonne, a
letter written at three sittings, between the evening of the 9th of
May and the morning of the 10th, as the tidings from Orleans were
coming in. In this letter he announced the capture of the forts of
Saint-Loup, Les Augustins and Les Tourelles and called upon the
townsfolk to praise God and do honour to the great feats accomplished
there, especially by the Maid, who "had always been present when these
deeds were done."[1122] Thus did the royal power describe Jeanne's
share in the victory. It was in no wise a captain's share; she held no
command of any kind. But, sent by God, at least so it might be
believed, her presence was a help and a consolation.
[Footnote 1122: _Charles VII's Letter to the Inhabitants of Narbonne_,
in _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 101, 104. Arcere, _Histoire de La Rochelle_,
vol. i, p. 271 (1756). Moynes, _Inventaire des archives de l'Aude_,
supplement, p. 390. _Procession d'actions de graces a Brignoles (Var)
en l'honneur de la delivrance d'Orleans par Jeanne d'Arc_ (1429).
Communication made to the Congress of learned Societies at the
Sorbonne (April, 1893) by F. Mireur, Draguignan, 1894, in 8vo, p.
175.]
In company with a few nobles she went to Blois, stayed there two
days,[1123] then went on to Tours, where the King was expected.[1124]
When, on the Friday before Whitsunday, she entered the town, Charles,
who had set out from Chinon, had not yet arrived. Banner in hand, she
rode out to meet him and when she came to him, she took off her cap
and bowed her head as far as she could over her horse. The King lifted
his hood, bade her look up and kissed her. It is said that he felt
glad to see her, but in reality we know not what he felt.[1125]
[Footnote 1123: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 80. _Journal du siege_, p. 91.]
[Footnote 1124: _Ibid._, vol. iii, pp. 72, 76, 80.]
[Footnote 1125: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 116 (evidence of S. Charles).
Eberhard Windecke, p. 177, and _Chronique de Tournai_, edition Smedt,
pp. 407 _et seq._ (vol. iii of _Les chroniques de Flandre_).]
In this month of May, 1429, he received from Messire Jacques Gelu a
treatise concerning the Maid, which he probably did not read, but
which his confessor read for him. Messire Jacques Gelu, sometime
Councillor to the Dauphin and now my Lord Archbishop of Embrun,[1126]
had at first been afraid that the King's enemies had sent him this
shepherdess to poison him, or that she was a witch possessed by
demons. In the beginning he had advised her being carefully
interrogated, not hastily repulsed, for appearances are deceptive and
divine grace moves in a mysterious manner. Now, after having read the
conclusions of the doctors of Poitiers, learnt the deliverance of
Orleans, and heard the cry of the common folk, Messire Jacques Gelu no
longer doubted the damsel's innocence and goodness. Seeing that the
doctors were divided in their opinion of her, he drew up a brief
treatise, which he sent to the King, with a very ample, a very humble,
and a very worthy dedicatory epistle.
[Footnote 1126: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 394, 407; vol. v, p. 413. Le P.
Marcellin Fornier, _Histoire des Alpes-Maritimes ou Cottiennes_, vol.
ii, p. 320. Le P. Ayroles, _La Pucelle devant l'Eglise de son temps_,
pp. 39, 52.]
About that time, on the pavement of the cathedral of Reims a labyrinth
had been traced with compass and with square.[1127] Pilgrims who were
patient and painstaking followed all its winding ways. The Archbishop
of Embrun's treatise is likewise a carefully planned scholastic
labyrinth. Herein one advances only to retreat and retreats only to
advance, but without entirely losing one's way provided one walks with
sufficient patience and attention. Like all scholastics, Gelu begins
by giving the reasons against his own opinion and it is not until he
has followed his opponent at some length that he returns to his own
argument. Into all the intricacies of his labyrinth it would take too
long to follow him. But since those who were round the King consulted
this theological treatise, since it was addressed to the King and
since the King and his Council may have based on it their opinion of
Jeanne and their conduct towards her, one is curious to know what, on
so singular an occasion, they found taught and recommended therein.
[Footnote 1127: L. Paris, _Notice sur le dedale ou labyrinthe de
l'eglise de Reims_, in _Ann. des Inst. provinc._, 1857, vol. ix, p.
233.]
Treating first of the Church's weal, Jacques Gelu holds that God
raised up the Maid to confound the heretics, the number of whom,
according to him, is by no means small. "To turn to confusion those
who believe in God as if they believed not," he writes, "the Almighty,
who hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, _King of
Kings and Lord of Lords_, was pleased to succour the King of France by
the hand of a child of low estate." The Archbishop of Embrun discerns
five reasons why the divine succour was granted to the King; to wit:
the justice of his cause, the striking merits of his predecessors, the
prayers of devout souls and the sighs of the oppressed, the injustice
of the enemies of the kingdom and the insatiable cruelty of the
English nation.
That God should have chosen a maid to destroy armies in no way
surprises him. "He created insects, such as flies and fleas, with
which to humble man's pride." So persistently do these tiny creatures
worry and weary us that they prevent our studying or acting. However
strong his self-control, a man may not rest in a room infested with
fleas. By the hand of a young peasant, born of poor and lowly parents,
subject to menial labour, ignorant and simple beyond saying, it hath
pleased Him to strike down the proud, to humble them and make His
Majesty manifest unto them by the deliverance of the perishing.
That to a virgin the Most High should have revealed His designs
concerning the Kingdom of the Lilies cannot astonish us; on virgins He
readily bestows the gift of prophecy. To the sibyls it pleased Him to
reveal mysteries hidden from all the Gentiles. On the authority of
Nicanor, of Euripides, of Chrysippus, of Nennius, of Apollodorus, of
Eratosthenes, of Heraclides Ponticus, of Marcus Varro and of
Lactantius, Messire Jacques Gelu teaches that the sibyls were ten in
number: the Persian, the Libyan, the Delphian, the Cimmerian, the
Erythrean, the Samian, the Cumaean, the Hellespontine, the Phrygian and
the Tiburtine. They prophesied to the Gentiles the glorious
incarnation of Our Lord, the resurrection of the dead and the
consummation of the ages. This example appears to him worthy of
consideration.
As for Jeanne, she is in herself unknowable. Aristotle teaches: there
is nothing in the intellect which hath not first been in the senses,
and the senses cannot penetrate beyond experience. But what the mind
cannot grasp directly it may come to comprehend by a roundabout way.
When we consider her works, as far as in our human weakness we can
know, we say the Maid is of God. Albeit she hath adopted the
profession of arms, she never counsels cruelty; she is merciful to her
enemies when they throw themselves upon her mercy and she offers
peace. Finally the Archbishop of Embrun believes that this Maid is an
angel sent by God, the Lord of Hosts, for the saving of the people;
not that she has the nature, but that she does the work of an angel.
Concerning the conduct to be followed in circumstances so marvellous,
the doctor is of opinion that in war the King should act according to
human wisdom. It is written: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
In vain would an active mind have been bestowed on man were he not to
make use of it in his undertakings. Long deliberation must precede
prompt execution. It is not by a woman's desires or supplications that
God's help is obtained. A prosperous issue is the fruit of action and
of counsel.
But the inspiration of God must not be rejected. Wherefore the will of
the Maid must be accomplished, even should that will appear doubtful
and mistaken. If the words of the Maid are found to be stable, then
the King must follow her and confide to her as to God the conduct of
the enterprise to which she is committed. Should any doubt occur to
the King, let him incline rather towards divine than towards human
wisdom, for as there is no comparing the finite with the infinite so
there is no comparing the wisdom of man with the wisdom of God.
Wherefore we must believe that He who sent us this child is able to
impart unto her a counsel superior to man's counsel. Then from this
Aristotelian reasoning the Archbishop of Embrun draws the following
two-headed conclusion: "On the one hand we give it to be understood
that the wisdom of this world must be consulted in the ordering of
battle, the use of engines, ladders and all other implements of war,
the building of bridges, the sufficient despatch of supplies, the
raising of funds, and in all matters without which no enterprise can
succeed save by miracle.
"But when on the other hand divine wisdom is seen to be acting in some
peculiar way, then human reason must be humble and withdraw. Then it
is, we observe, that the counsel of the Maid must be asked for, sought
after and adopted before all else. He who gives life gives wherewithal
to support life. On his workers he bestows the instruments for their
work. Wherefore let us hope in the Lord. He makes the King's cause his
own. Those who support it he will inspire with the wisdom necessary to
make it triumphant. God leaves no work imperfect."
The Archbishop concludes his treatise by commending the Maid to the
King because she inspires holy thoughts and makes manifest the works
of piety. "This counsel do we give the King that every day he do such
things as are well pleasing in the sight of the Lord and that he
confer with the Maid concerning them. When he shall have received her
advice let him practise it piously and devoutly; then shall not the
Lord withdraw His hand from Him but continue His loving kindness unto
him."[1128]
[Footnote 1128: Bibl. Nat. Latin Collection, no. 6199, folio 36.
_Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 395-410. Lanery d'Arc, _Memoires et
consultations_, pp. 365 _et seq._ Le P. Ayroles, _La Pucelle devant
l'Eglise de son temps_, pp. 31-52.]
The great doctor Gerson, former Chancellor of the University, was then
ending his days at Lyon in the monastery of Les Celestins, of which
his brother was prior. His life had been full of work and
weariness.[1129] In 1408 he was priest of Saint-Jean-en-Greve in
Paris. In that year he delivered in his parish church the funeral
oration of the Duke of Orleans, assassinated by order of the Duke of
Burgundy; and he roused the passions of the mob to such a fury that he
ran great danger of losing his life. At the Council of Constance,
possessed by a so-called "merciful cruelty"[1130] which goaded him to
send a heretic to the stake, he urged the condemnation of John Huss,
regardless of the safe-conduct which the latter had received from the
Emperor; for in common with all the fathers there assembled he held
that according to natural law both divine and human, no promise should
be kept if it were prejudicial to the Catholic Faith. With a like
ardour he prosecuted in the Council the condemnation of the thesis of
Jean Petit concerning the lawfulness of tyrannicide. In things
temporal as well as spiritual he advocated uniform obedience and the
respect of established authority. In one of his sermons he likens the
kingdom of France to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, making the
merchants and artisans the legs of the statue, "which are partly iron,
partly clay, because of their labour and humility in serving and
obeying...." Iron signifies labour, and clay humility. All the evil
has arisen from the King and the great citizens being held in
subjection by those of low estate.[1131]
[Footnote 1129: Launoy, _Historia Navarrici Gymasii_, book iv, ch. v.
J.B. Lecuy, _Essai sur la vie de Jean Gerson, chancelier de l'eglise
et de l'universite de Paris, sur sa doctrine, sur ses ecrits...._
Paris, 1832, 2 vols. in 8vo. Vallet de Viriville, _Histoire de Charles
VII_, vol. ii, p. 94. A.L. Masson, _Jean Gerson, sa vie, son temps,
ses oeuvres_, Lyon, 1894, 8vo.]
[Footnote 1130: _Par une cruaute misericordieuse._ Du Boulay,
_Historia Universitatis Parisiensis_, vol. iv, p. 270.]
[Footnote 1131: Gerson, _Opera_, vol. iv, pp. 668-678.]
Now, crushed by suffering and sorrow, he was teaching little children.
"It is with them that reforms must begin," he said.[1132]
[Footnote 1132: Gerson, _Adversus corruptionem Juventutis_. A.
Lafontaine, _De Johanne Gersonio puerorum adulescentiumque
institutore...._ La Chapelle-Montligeon, 1902, in 8vo.]
The deliverance of the city of Orleans must have gladdened the heart
of the old Orleanist partisan. The Dauphin's Councillors, eager to set
the Maid to work, had told him of the deliberations at Poitiers, and
asked him, as a good servant of the house of France, for his opinion
concerning them. In reply he wrote a compendious treatise on the Maid.
In this work he is careful from the first to distinguish between
matters of faith and matters of devotion. In questions of faith doubt
is forbidden. With regard to questions of devotion the unbeliever, to
use a colloquial expression, is not necessarily damned. Three
conditions are necessary if a question is to be considered as one of
devotion: first, it must be edifying; second, it must be probable and
attested by popular report or the testimony of the faithful; third, it
must touch on nothing contrary to faith. When these conditions are
fulfilled, it is fitting neither persistently to condemn nor to
approve, but rather to appeal to the church.
For example, the conception of the very holy Virgin, indulgences,
relics, are matters of faith and not of devotion. A relic may be
worshipped in one place or another, or in several places at once.
Recently the Parlement of Paris disputed concerning the head of Saint
Denys, worshipped at Saint-Denys in France and likewise in the
cathedral at Paris. This is a matter of devotion.[1133]
[Footnote 1133: Gallia Christiana, vol. vii, col. 142. Jean Juvenal
des Ursins, year 1406.]
Whence it may be concluded that it is lawful to consider the question
of the Maid as a matter of devotion, especially when one reflects on
her motives, which are the restitution of his kingdom to her King and
the very righteous expulsion or destruction of her very stubborn
enemies.
And if there be those who make various statements concerning her idle
talk, her frivolity, her guile, now is the time to quote the saying of
Cato: "Common report is not our judge." According to the words of the
Apostle, it doth not become us to call in question the servant of God.
Much better is it to abstain from judgment, as is permitted, or to
submit doubtful points to ecclesiastical superiors. This is the
principle followed in the canonisation of saints. The catalogue of the
saints is not, strictly speaking, necessarily a matter of faith, but
of pious devotion. Nevertheless, it is not to be highly censured by
any manner of man.
To come to the present case, the following circumstances are to be
noted: First, the royal council and the men-at-arms were induced to
believe and to obey; and they faced the risk of being put to shame by
defeat under the leadership of a girl. Second, the people rejoice, and
their pious faith seems to tend to the glory of God and the
confounding of his enemies. Third, the enemy, even his princes, are in
hiding and stricken with many terrors. They give way to weakness like
a woman with child; they are overthrown like the Egyptians in the song
sung by Miriam, sister of Moses, to the sound of the timbrel in the
midst of the women who went out with her with timbrels and with
dances: "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."[1134] And let us
likewise sing the song of Miriam with the devotion which becometh our
case.
[Footnote 1134: Exodus, xv, 20, 21 (W.S.).]
Fourth, and in conclusion, this point is worthy of consideration: The
Maid and her men-at-arms despise not the wisdom of men; they tempt
not God. Wherefore it is plain that the Maid goes no further than what
she interprets to be the instruction or inspiration received from God.
Many of the incidents of her life from childhood up have been
collected in abundance and might be set forth; but these we shall not
relate.
Here may be cited the examples of Deborah and of Saint Catherine who
miraculously converted fifty doctors or rhetoricians, of Judith and of
Judas Maccabeus. As is usually the case, there were many circumstances
in their lives which were purely natural.
A first miracle is not always followed by the other miracles which men
expect. Even if the Maid should be disappointed in her expectation and
in ours (which God forbid) we ought not to conclude therefrom, that
the first manifestation of her miraculous power proceeded from an evil
spirit and not from heavenly grace; we should believe rather that our
hopes have been disappointed because of our ingratitude and our
blasphemy, or by some just and impenetrable judgment of God. We
beseech him to turn away his anger from us and vouchsafe unto us his
favour.
Herein we perceive lessons, first for the King and the Blood Royal,
secondly for the King's forces and the kingdom; thirdly for the clergy
and people; fourthly for the Maid. Of all these lessons the object is
the same, to wit: a good life, consecrated to God, just towards
others, sober, virtuous and temperate. With regard to the Maid's
peculiar lesson, it is that God's grace revealed in her be employed
not in caring for trifles, not in worldly advantage, nor in party
hatred, nor in violent sedition, nor in avenging deeds done, nor in
foolish self-glorification, but in meekness, prayer, and thanksgiving.
And let every one contribute a liberal supply of temporal goods so
that peace be established and justice once more administered, and that
delivered out of the hands of our enemies, God being favourable unto
us, we may serve him in holiness and righteousness.
At the conclusion of his treatise, Gerson briefly examines one point
of canon law which had been neglected by the doctors of Poitiers. He
establishes that the Maid is not forbidden to dress as a man.
Firstly. The ancient law forbade a woman to dress as a man, and a man
as a woman. This restriction, as far as strict legality is concerned,
ceases to be enforced by the new law.
Secondly. In its moral bearing this law remains binding. But in such a
case it is merely a matter of decency.
Thirdly. From a legal and moral standpoint this law does not refuse
masculine and military attire to the Maid, whom the King of Heaven
appoints His standard-bearer, in order that she may trample underfoot
the enemies of justice. In the operations of divine power the end
justifies the means.
Fourthly. Examples may be quoted from history alike sacred and
profane, notably Camilla and the Amazons.
Jean Gerson completed this treatise on Whit-Sunday, a week after the
deliverance of Orleans. It was his last work. He died in the July of
that year, 1429, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.[1135]
[Footnote 1135: _Oeuvres de Gerson_, ed. Ellies Dupin, Paris, 1706,
in folio, vol. iv, p. 864. _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 298; vol. v, p. 412.
Le P. Ayroles, _La Pucelle devant l'Eglise de son temps_, p. 24.]
The treatise is the political testament of the great university doctor
in exile. The Maid's victory gladdened the last days of his life. With
his dying voice he sings the Song of Miriam. But with his rejoicings
over this happy event are mingled the sad presentiments of
keen-sighted old age. While in the Maid he beholds a subject for the
rejoicing and edification of the people, he is afraid that the hopes
she inspires may soon be disappointed. And he warns those who now
exalt her in the hour of triumph not to forsake her in the day of
disaster.
His dry close reasoning does not fundamentally differ from the ampler,
more flowery argument of Jacques Gelu. One and the other contain the
same reasons, the same proofs; and in their conclusions both doctors
agree with the judges of Poitiers.
For the Poitiers doctors, for the Archbishop of Embrun, for the
ex-chancellor of the University, for all the theologians of the
Armagnac party the Maid's case is not a matter of faith. How could it
be so before the Pope and the Council had pronounced judgment
concerning it? Men are free to believe in her or not to believe in
her. But it is a subject of edification; and it behoves men to
meditate upon it, not in a spirit of prejudice, persisting in doubt,
but with an open mind and according to the Christian faith. Following
the counsel of Gerson, kindly souls will believe that the Maid comes
from God, just as they believe that the head of Saint Denys may be
venerated by the faithful either in the Cathedral Church of Paris or
in the abbey-church of Saint Denys in France. They will think less of
literal than of spiritual truths and they will not sin by inquiring
too closely.
In short neither the treatise of Jacques Gelu nor that of Jean Gerson
brought much light to the King and his Council. Both treatises
abounded in exhortations, but they all amounted to saying: "Be good,
pious and strong, let your thoughts be humble and prudent," Concerning
the most important point, the use to be made of Jeanne in the conduct
of war, the Archbishop of Embrun wisely recommended: "Do what the Maid
commands and prudence directs; for the rest give yourselves to works
of piety and prayers of devotion." Such counsel was somewhat
embarrassing to a captain like the Sire de Gaucourt and even to a man
of worth like my Lord of Treves. It appears that the clerks left the
King perfect liberty of judgment and of action, and that in the end
they advised him not to believe in the Maid, but to let the people and
the men-at-arms believe in her.
During the ten days he spent at Tours the King kept Jeanne with him.
Meanwhile the Council were deliberating as to their line of
action.[1136] The royal treasury was empty. Charles could raise enough
money to make gifts to the gentlemen of his household, but he had
great difficulty in defraying the expenses of war.[1137] Pay was owing
to the people of Orleans. They had received little and spent much.
Their resources were exhausted and they demanded payment. In May and
in June the King distributed among the captains, who had defended the
town, sums amounting to forty-one thousand six hundred and thirty-one
livres.[1138] He had gained his victory cheaply. The total cost of
the defence of Orleans was one hundred and ten thousand livres. The
townsfolk did the rest; they gave even their little silver
spoons.[1139]
[Footnote 1136: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 12, 72, 76, 80. _Chronique de
la Pucelle_, p. 298. _Journal du siege_, p. 93. _Chronique de la
fete_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 299. Letter written by the agents of a
German town, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 349. _Chronique de Tournai_
(_Recueil des chroniques de Flandre_, vol. iii, p. 412). Eberhard
Windecke, p. 177. De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, p.
215.]
[Footnote 1137: De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, pp. 634 _et
seq._]
[Footnote 1138: Loiseleur, _Compte des depenses_, pp. 147 _et seq._]
[Footnote 1139: _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 256 _et seq._, and taken from the
Commune and Fortress Accounts in _Journal du siege_. A. de Villaret,
_loc. cit._ p. 61. Couret, _Un fragment inedit des anciens registres
de la Prevote d'Orleans_.]
It would doubtless have been expedient to attempt to destroy that
formidable army of Sir John Fastolf which had lately terrified the
good folk of Orleans. But no one knew where to find it. It had
disappeared somewhere between Orleans and Paris. It would have been
necessary to go forth to seek it; that was impossible, and no one
thought of doing such a thing. So scientific a manoeuvre was never
dreamed of in the warfare of those days. An expedition to Normandy was
suggested; and the idea was so natural that the King was already
imagined to be at Rouen.[1140] Finally it was decided to attempt the
capture of the chateaux the English held on the Loire, both below and
above Orleans, Jargeau, Meung, Beaugency.[1141] A useful undertaking
and one which presented no very great difficulties, unless it involved
an encounter with Sir John Fastolf's army, and whether it would or no
it was impossible to tell.
[Footnote 1140: Morosini, vol. iii, p. 61.]
[Footnote 1141: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 9, 10.]
Without further delay my Lord the Bastard marched on Jargeau with a
few knights and some of Poton's soldiers of fortune; but the Loire was
high and its waters filled the trenches. Being unprovided with siege
train, they retreated after having inflicted some hurt on the English
and slain the commander of the town.[1142]
[Footnote 1142: _Journal du siege_, p. 93. _Chronique de la Pucelle_,
p. 300.]
By the reasons of the captains the Maid set little store. She listened
to her Voices alone, and they spoke to her words which were infinitely
simple. Her one idea was to accomplish her mission. Saint Catherine,
Saint Margaret and Saint Michael the Archangel, had sent her into
France not to calculate the resources of the royal treasury, not to
decree aids and taxes, not to treat with men-at-arms, with merchants
and the conductors of convoys, not to draw up plans of campaign and
negotiate truces, but to lead the Dauphin to his anointing. Wherefore
it was to Reims that she wished to take him, not that she knew how to
go there, but she believed that God would guide her. Delay, tardiness,
deliberation saddened and irritated her. When with the King she urged
him gently.
Many times she said to him: "I shall live a year, barely longer.
During that year let as much as possible be done."[1143]
[Footnote 1143: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 99.]
Then she enumerated the four charges which she must accomplish during
that time. After having delivered Orleans she must drive the _Godons_
out of France, lead the King to be crowned and anointed at Reims and
rescue the Duke of Orleans from the hands of the English.[1144] One
day she grew impatient and went to the King when he was in one of
those closets of carved wainscot constructed in the great castle halls
for intimate or family gatherings. She knocked at the door and entered
almost immediately. There she found the King conversing with Maitre
Gerard Machet, his confessor, my Lord the Bastard, the Sire de Treves
and a favourite noble of his household, by name Messire Christophe
d'Harcourt. She knelt embracing the King's knees (for she was
conversant with the rules of courtesy), and said to him: "Fair
Dauphin, do not so long and so frequently deliberate in council, but
come straightway to Reims, there to receive your rightful
anointing."[1145]
[Footnote 1144: _Ibid._, p. 99 (evidence of the Duke of Alencon).]
[Footnote 1145: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 12. _Journal du siege_, p. 93.
_Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 299.]
The King looked graciously upon her but answered nothing. The Lord
d'Harcourt, having heard that the Maid held converse with angels and
saints, was curious to know whether the idea of taking the King to
Reims had really been suggested to her by her heavenly visitants.
Describing them by the word she herself used, he asked: "Is it your
Council who speak to you of such things?"
She replied: "Yes, in this matter I am urged forward." Straightway my
Lord d'Harcourt responded: "Will you not here in the King's presence
tell us the manner of your Council when they speak to you?"
At this request Jeanne blushed.
Willing to spare her constraint and embarrassment, the King said
kindly: "Jeanne, does it please you to answer this question before
these persons here present?"
But Jeanne addressing my Lord d'Harcourt said: "I understand what you
desire to know and I will tell you willingly."
And straightway she gave the King to understand what agony she endured
at not being understood and she told of her inward consolation:
"Whenever I am sad because what I say by command of Messire is not
readily believed, I go apart and to Messire I make known my complaint,
saying that those to whom I speak are not willing to believe me. And
when I have finished my prayer, straightway I hear a voice saying unto
me: 'Daughter of God, go, I will be thy help.' And this voice fills me
with so great a joy, that in this condition I would forever
stay."[1146]
[Footnote 1146: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 12 (evidence of Dunois).]
While she was repeating the words spoken by the Voice, Jeanne raised
her eyes to heaven. The nobles present were struck by the divine
expression on the maiden's face. But those eyes bathed in tears, that
air of rapture, which filled my Lord the Bastard with amazement, was
not an ecstasy, it was the imitation of an ecstasy.[1147] The scene
was at once simple and artificial. It reveals the kindness of the
King, who was incapable of wounding the child in any way, and the
light-heartedness with which the nobles of the court believed or
pretended to believe in the most wonderful marvels. It proves likewise
that henceforth the little Saint's dignifying the project of the
coronation with the authority of a divine revelation was favourably
regarded by the Royal Council.
[Footnote 1147: _Ibid._, p. 12.]
The Maid accompanied the King to Loches and stayed with him until
after the 23rd of May.[1148]
[Footnote 1148: _Ibid._, p. 116, vol. iv, p. 245.]
The people believed in her. As she passed through the streets of
Loches they threw themselves before her horse; they kissed the Saint's
hands and feet. Maitre Pierre de Versailles, a monk of Saint-Denys in
France, one of her interrogators at Poitiers, seeing her receive these
marks of veneration, rebuked her on theological grounds: "You do
wrong," he said, "to suffer such things to which you are not entitled.
Take heed: you are leading men into idolatry."
Then Jeanne, reflecting on the pride which might creep into her heart,
said: "In truth I could not keep from it, were not Messire watching
over me."[1149]
[Footnote 1149: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 84.]
She was displeased to see certain old wives coming to salute her; that
was a kind of adoration which alarmed her. But poor folk who came to
her she never repulsed. She would not hurt them, but aided them as far
as she could.[1150]
[Footnote 1150: _Ibid._, vol. i, p. 102.]
With marvellous rapidity the fame of her holiness had been spread
abroad throughout the whole of France. Many pious persons were wearing
medals of lead or some other metal, stamped with her portrait,
according to the customary mode of honouring the memory of
saints.[1151] Paintings or sculptured figures of her were placed in
chapels. At mass the priest recited as a collect "the Maid's prayer
for the realm of France:"
[Footnote 1151: _Ibid._, pp. 290, 291. A. Forgeais, _Collection de
plombs histories trouves dans la Seine_, Paris, 1869 (5 vol. in 8vo),
vol. ii, iv, and _passim_. Vallet de Viriville, _Notes sur deux
medailles de plomb relatives a Jeanne d'Arc_, Paris, 1861, in 8vo, 30
p. [Taken from _La revue archeologique_] N. Valois, _Un nouveau
temoignage sur Jeanne d'Arc_, pp. 8, 13. Cf. Appendix iv.]
"O God, author of peace, who without bow or arrow dost destroy those
enemies who hope in themselves,[1152] we beseech thee O Lord, to
protect us in our adversity; and, as Thou hast delivered Thy people by
the hand of a woman, to stretch out to Charles our King, Thy
conquering arm, that our enemies, who make their boast in multitudes
and glory in bows and arrows, may be overcome by him at this present,
and vouchsafe that at the end of his days he with his people may
appear gloriously before Thee who art the way, the truth and the
life. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, etc."[1153]
[Footnote 1152: _Trial_, vol. v, p. 104. I read _in se sperantes_.]
[Footnote 1153: _Trial_, vol. v, p. 104. Lanery d'Arc, _Le culte de
Jeanne d'Arc au XV'e siecle_, 1886, in 8vo.]
In those days the saintly, both men and women, were consulted in all
the difficulties of life. The more they were deemed simple and
innocent the more counsel was asked of them. For if of themselves they
knew nothing then all the surer was it that the voice of God was to be
heard in their words. The Maid was believed to have no intelligence of
her own, wherefore she was held capable of solving the most difficult
questions with infallible wisdom. It was observed that knowing nought
of the arts of war, she waged war better than captains, whence it was
concluded that everything, which in her holy ignorance she undertook,
she would worthily accomplish. Thus at Toulouse it occurred to a
_capitoul_ to consult her on a financial question. In that city the
indignation of the townsfolk had been aroused because the guardians of
the mint had been ordered to issue coins greatly inferior to those
which had been previously in circulation. From April till June the
_capitouls_ had been endeavouring to get this order revoked. On the
2nd of June, the _capitoul_, Pierre Flamenc, proposed that the Maid
should be written to concerning the evils resulting from the
corruption of the coinage and that she should be asked to suggest a
remedy. Pierre Flamenc made this proposal at the Capitole because he
thought that a saint was a good counsellor in all matters, especially
in anything which concerned the coinage, particularly when, like the
Maid, she was the friend of the King.[1154]
[Footnote 1154: A. Thomas, _Le siege d'Orleans, Jeanne d'Arc et les
capitouls de Toulouse_, in _Annales du Midi_, 1889, pp. 235, 236.]
From Loches Jeanne sent a little gold ring to the Dame de Laval, who
had doubtless asked for some object she had touched.[1155] Fifty-four
years previously Jeanne Dame de Laval had married Sire Bertrand Du
Guesclin whose memory the French venerated and who in the House of
Orleans was known as the tenth of _Les Preux_. Dame Jeanne's renown,
however, fell short of that of Tiphaine Raguenel, astrologer and
fairy,[1156] who had been Sire Bertrand's first wife. Jeanne was a
choleric person and a miser. Driven out of her domain of Laval by the
English, she lived in retirement at Vitre with her daughter Anne.
Thirteen years before, the latter had incurred her mother's
displeasure by secretly marrying a landless younger son of a noble
house. When Dame Jeanne discovered it she imprisoned her daughter in a
dungeon and welcomed the younger son by shooting at him with a
cross-bow. After which the two ladies dwelt together in peace.[1157]
[Footnote 1155: Letter from the Lavals, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 109.
Bertrand de Broussillon, _La maison de Laval, les Montfort-Laval_,
Paris, 1900, in 8vo, vol. iii, p. 75. Quicherat is mistaken when
(_Trial_, vol. v, p. 105) he gives the name of Anne to Du Guesclin's
widow and calls the mother of Guy and of Andre Jeanne.]
[Footnote 1156: Cuvelier, _Poeme de Duguesclin_, line 2325 _et seq._]
[Footnote 1157: Bertrand de Broussillon, _La maison de Laval_ in 8vo,
1900, vol. iii, _loc. cit._]
From Loches the Maid went to Selles-en-Berry, a considerable town on
the Cher. Here, shortly before had met the three estates of the
kingdom; and here the troops were now gathering.[1158]
[Footnote 1158: Letter from Gui de Laval, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 105.
Lucien Jeny and P. Lanery d'Arc, _Jeanne d'Arc en Berry_, Paris, s.d.
in 8vo, p. 53.]
On Saturday, the 4th of June, she received a herald sent by the people
of Orleans to bring her tidings of the English.[1159] As commander in
war they recognised none but her.
[Footnote 1159: Fortress accounts in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 262.]
Meanwhile, surrounded by monks, and side by side with men-at-arms,
like a nun she lived apart, a saintly life. She ate and drank
little.[1160] She communicated once a week and confessed
frequently.[1161] During mass at the moment of elevation, at
confession and when she received the body of Our Lord she used to weep
many tears. Every evening, at the hour of vespers, she would retire
into a church and have the bells rung for about half an hour to summon
the mendicant friars who followed the army. Then she would begin to
pray while the brethren sang an anthem in honour of the Virgin
Mary.[1162]
[Footnote 1160: _Ibid._, vol. iii, pp. 3, 9, 15, 18, 22, 69, 219,
_passim_.]
[Footnote 1161: _Ibid._, vol. v, under the words _Confession_ and
_Communion_. The Duke of Alencon says twice a week (_Ibid._, vol. iii,
p. 100).]
[Footnote 1162: _Ibid._, vol. iii, p. 14; vol. ii, pp. 420, 424.]
While practising as far as she was able the austerities required by
extreme piety, she appeared magnificently attired, like a lord, for
indeed she held her lordship from God. She wore the dress of a knight,
a small hat, doublet and hose to match, a fine cloak of silk and cloth
of gold well lined and shoes laced on the outer side of the
foot.[1163] Such attire in no wise scandalised even the most austere
members of the Dauphin's party. They read in holy Scripture that
Esther and Judith, inspired by the Lord, loaded themselves with
ornaments; true it was for sexual reasons and in order for the
salvation of Israel to attract Ahasuerus and Holophernes. Wherefore
they held that when Jeanne decked herself with masculine adornments,
in order to appear before the men-at-arms as an angel giving victory
to the Christian King, far from yielding to the vanities of the world,
she, like Esther and Judith, had nothing in her heart but the interest
of the holy nation and the glory of God. The English and Burgundian
clerks on the other hand converted into scandal what was a subject of
edification, and maintained that she was a woman dissolute in dress
and in manners.
[Footnote 1163: _Ibid._, vol. i, pp. 220, 253; vol. ii, pp. 294, 438.
_Relation du greffier de La Rochelle_, p. 60. Analysis of a letter
from Regnault de Chartres in Rogier (_Trial_, vol. v, pp. 168-169).
Martin le Franc, _Le champion des dames_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 48.]
For seven years now Saint Michael the Archangel and the Saints
Catherine and Margaret, wearing rich and precious crowns, had been
visiting and conversing with her. It was when the bells were ringing,
at the hour of compline and of matins, that she could best hear their
words.[1164] In those days bells of all kinds, large and small,
metropolitan, parochial or conventual, sounded in peals, or, chiming
harmoniously, in voices grave or gay, spoke to all men and of all
things. Their song descended from the sky to mark the ecclesiastical
and civic calendar. They called priests and people to church; they
mourned for the dead and they praised God; they announced fairs and
field work; they clashed portentous tidings through the sky, and in
times of war they called to arms and sounded the alarm. Friendly to
the husbandman they scattered the tempest, they warded off hail-storms
and drove away pestilence. They put to flight those demons that,
flying ceaselessly through the air, haunt the children of men; and to
their blessed sound was attributed the power of calming
violence.[1165] Saint Catharine, she who visited Jeanne every day,
was the patron of bells and bell-ringers. Thus many bells bore her
name. In the ringing of bells as in the rustling of leaves, Jeanne was
wont to hear her Voices. She seldom heard them without seeing a light
in the direction whence they came.[1166] Those Voices called her:
"Jeanne, daughter of God!"[1167] Often the Archangel and the Saints
appeared to her. When they came she did them reverence, bending her
knee and bowing her head; she kissed their feet, knowing it to be a
greater mark of respect than kissing the countenance. She was
conscious of the fragrance and grateful warmth of their glorified
bodies.[1168]
[Footnote 1164: _Trial_, vol. i, pp. 61, 62, 481.]
[Footnote 1165: P. Blavignac, _La cloche_, Geneva, 1877, in 8vo. L.
Morillot, _Etude sur l'emploi des clochettes_, in _Bulletin hist.
archeolog. du diocese de Dijon_, 1887, in 8vo.]
[Footnote 1166: _Trial_, vol. i, pp. 52, 64, 153, _passim_.]
[Footnote 1167: _Ibid._, p. 130.]
[Footnote 1168: _Ibid._, p. 186.]
Saint Michael the Archangel did not come alone. There accompanied him
angels so numerous and so tiny that they danced like sparks in the
damsel's dazzled eyes. When the saints and the Archangel went away,
she wept with grief because they had not taken her with them.[1169] In
like manner an angel visited Judith in the camp of Holofernes.
[Footnote 1169: _Ibid._, pp. 72, 75.]
One day Jeanne's equerry, Jean d'Aulon, asked her what her Council
was, just as my Lord d'Harcourt had done. She replied that she had
three councillors, one of whom was always with her. Another was
constantly going and coming; the third was the one with whom the other
two deliberated.
Sire d'Aulon, more curious than the King, besought and requested her
to let him see this Council for once.
She replied: "Your virtues are not great enough and you are not worthy
to behold it."[1170]
[Footnote 1170: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 219, 220.]
The good squire never asked again. If he had read the Bible he would
have known that Elisha's servant did not see the angels beheld by the
prophet (2 Kings VI, 16, 17).
And yet Jeanne imagined that her Council had appeared to the King and
his court.
"My King," she said later, "my King and many besides saw and heard the
Voices that came to me. The Count of Clermont and two or three others
were with him."[1171]
[Footnote 1171: _Ibid._, vol. i, p. 57.]
She believed it was so. But in reality she never showed her Voices to
anyone. Not even, despite what has been said to the contrary, to that
Guy de Cailly who had been following her since Checy.[1172]
[Footnote 1172: _Ibid._, vol. v, p. 342. Guy de Cailly's patent of
nobility cannot be regarded as authentic. Vallet de Viriville, _Petit
traite...._ p. 92.]
With Brother Pasquerel Jeanne engaged in pious conversation. To him
she often expressed the desire that the Church after her death should
pray for her and for all the French slain in the war.
"If I were to depart from this world," she used to say to him, "I
should like the King to build chantries, where prayers should be
offered to Messire for the salvation of the souls of those who died in
war or for the defence of the realm."[1173]
[Footnote 1173: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 112.]
Such a wish was common to all devout souls. What Christian in those
days did not hold the practice of saying masses for the dead to be
good and salutary? Thus, in the matter of devotion, the Maid was in
accord with Duke Charles of Orleans, who, in one of his complaints,
recommends the saying and singing of masses for the souls of those who
had suffered violent death in the service of the realm.[1174]
[Footnote 1174: _Trial_, vol. iii, p. 112. _Poesies de Charles
d'Orleans_, ed. A. Champollion-Figeac, p. 174.]
She said one day to the good brother: "There is succour that I am
appointed to bring."
And Pasquerel, albeit he had studied the Bible, cried out in
amazement: "Such a history as yours there hath never been before in
the world. Nought like unto it can be read in any book."
Jeanne answered him even more boldly than the doctors at Poitiers:
"Messire has a book in which no clerk, however perfect his learning,
has ever read."[1175]
[Footnote 1175: _Trial_, vol. iii, pp. 108, 109.]
She had received her mission from God alone, and she read in a book
sealed against all the doctors of the Church.
On the reverse of her standard, sprinkled by mendicants with holy
water, she had had a dove painted, holding in its beak a scroll,
whereon were written the words "in the name of the King of
Heaven."[1176] These were the armorial bearings she had received from
her Council. The emblem and the device seemed appropriate to her,
since she proclaimed that God had sent her, and since at Orleans she
had given the sign promised at Poitiers. The King, notwithstanding,
changed this shield for arms representing a crown supported upon a
sword between two flowers-de-luce and indicating clearly what was the
aid that the Maid of God was bringing to the realm of France. It is
said that she regretted having to abandon the arms communicated to her
by divine revelation.[1177]
[Footnote 1176: _Ibid._, vol. i, pp. 78, 117, 182.]
[Footnote 1177: _Ibid._, pp. 117, 300; vol. v, p. 227.]
She prophesied, and, as happens to all prophets, she did not always
foretell what was to come to pass. It was the fate of the prophet
Jonah himself. And doctors explain how the prophecies of true prophets
cannot be all fulfilled.
She had said: "Before Saint John the Baptist's Day, in 1429, there
shall not be one Englishman, howsoever strong and valiant, to be seen
throughout France, either in battle or in the open field."[1178]
[Footnote 1178: Letter written from Germany, in _Trial_, vol. v, p.
351. Morosini, vol. iii, pp. 33, 46, 62.]
The nativity of Saint John the Baptist is celebrated on the 24th of
June.