Chapter V: Part I: The Trial (2)

“King of England; and you, Duke of Bedford, who call yourself Regent of the Kingdom of France; you, William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk; John, Lord Talbot; and you, Thomas, Lord Scales, who call yourselves Lieutenants to the said Duke of Bedford: give satisfaction to the King of Heaven: give up to the Maid, who is sent hither by God, the King of Heaven, the keys of all the good towns in France which you have taken and broken into. She is come here by the order of God to reclaim the Blood Royal. She is quite ready to make peace, if you are willing to give her satisfaction, by giving and paying back to France what you have taken. And as for you, archers, companions-in-arms, gentlemen and others who are before the town of Orleans, return to your own countries, by God’s order; and if this be not done, then hear the message of the Maid, who will shortly come upon you, to your very great hurt. King of England, I am a Chieftain of war and, if this be not done, wheresoever I find your followers in France, I will make them leave, willingly or unwillingly; if they will not obey, I will have them put to death. I am sent here by God, the King of Heaven, body for body, to drive them all out of the whole of France. And if they will obey, I will have mercy on them. And do not think in yourselves that you will get possession of the realm of France from God the King of Heaven, Son of the Blessed Mary; for King Charles will gain it, the true heir: for God, the King of Heaven, so wills it, and it is revealed to him [the King] by the Maid, and he will enter Paris with a good company. If you will not believe the message of God and of the Maid and act aright, in whatsoever place we find you we will enter therein and make so great a disturbance that for a thousand years none in France will be so great. And believe surely that the King of Heaven will send greater power to the Maid, to her and her good men-at-arms, than you can bring to the attack; and, when it comes to blows, we shall see who has the better right from the God of Heaven. You, Duke of Bedford, the Maid prays and enjoins you, that you do not come to grievous hurt. If you will give her satisfactory pledges, you may yet join with her, so that the French may do the fairest deed that has ever yet been done for Christendom. And answer, if you wish to make peace in the City of Orleans; if this be not done, you may be shortly reminded of it, to your very great hurt. _Written this Tuesday in Holy Week_, March 22nd, 1428.”

“Do you know this letter?”

“Yes, excepting three words. In place of ‘give up to the Maid,’ it should be ‘give up to the King.’ The words ‘Chieftain of war’ and ‘body for body’ were not in the letter I sent. None of the Lords ever dictated these letters to me; it was I myself alone who dictated them before sending them. Nevertheless, I always shewed them to some of my party. Before seven years are passed, the English will lose a greater wager than they have already done at Orleans; they will lose everything in France.[43] The English will have in France a greater loss than they have ever had, and that by a great victory which God will send to the French.”

“How do you know this?”

“I know it well by revelation, which has been made to me, and that this will happen within seven years; and I am sore vexed that it is deferred so long. I know it by revelation, as clearly as I know that you are before me at this moment.”

“When will this happen?”

“I know neither the day nor the hour.”

“In what year will it happen?”

“You will not have any more. Nevertheless, I heartily wish it might be before Saint John’s Day.”

“Did you not say that this would happen before Martinmas, in winter?”

“I said that before Martinmas many things would be seen, and that the English might perhaps be overthrown.”[44]

“What did you say to John Gris, your keeper, on the subject of the Feast of Saint Martin?”

“I have told you.”

“Through whom did you know that this would happen?”

“Through Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret.”

“Was Saint Gabriel with Saint Michael when he came to you?”

“I do not remember.”

“Since last Tuesday, have you had any converse with Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret?”

“Yes, but I do not know at what time.”

“What day?”

“Yesterday and to-day; there is never a day that I do not hear them.”

“Do you always see them in the same dress?”

“I see them always under the same form, and their heads are richly crowned. I do not speak of the rest of their clothing: I know nothing of their dresses.”

“How do you know whether the object that appears to you is male or female?”

“I know well enough. I recognize them by their voices, as they revealed themselves to me; I know nothing but by the revelation and order of God.”

“What part of their heads do you see?”

“The face.”

“These saints who shew themselves to you, have they any hair?”

“It is well to know they have.”

“Is there anything between their crowns and their hair?”

“No.”

“Is their hair long and hanging down?”

“I know nothing about it. I do not know if they have arms or other members. They speak very well and in very good language; I hear them very well.”

“How do they speak if they have no members?”

“I refer me to God. The voice is beautiful, sweet, and low; it speaks in the French tongue.”

“Does not Saint Margaret speak English?”

“Why should she speak English, when she is not on the English side?”

“On these crowned heads, were there rings?—in the ears or elsewhere?”

“I know nothing about it.”

“Have you any rings yourself?”

[Addressing herself to Us, the Bishop:] “You have one of mine; give it back to me. The Burgundians have another of them. I pray you, if you have my ring, shew it to me.”

“Who gave you the ring which the Burgundians [now] have?”

“My father or my mother. I think the Names ‘Jhesus Maria’ are engraved on it. I do not know who had them written there; there is not, I should say, any stone in the ring; it was given to me at Domremy. It was my brother who gave me the other—the one you have.” [Continuing to address herself to Us, the Bishop:] “I charge you to give it to the Church. I never cured any one with any of my rings.”

“Did Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret speak to you under the tree of which mention has been made?”

“I know nothing of it.”

“Did they speak to you at the spring, which is near the tree?”

“Yes, I have heard them there; but what they said then, I do not know.”

“What did they promise you, there or elsewhere?”

“They have never promised me anything, except by God’s leave.”

“But still, what promises have they made to you?”

“That is not in your Case: not at all. Upon other subjects, they told me that my King would be reestablished in his Kingdom, whether his enemies willed it or no; they told me also that they would lead me to Paradise: I begged it of them, indeed.”

“Did you have any other promise from them?”

“There was another, but I will not tell it; that does not touch on the Case. In three months I will tell you the other promise.”

“Have your Voices said that before three months you will be delivered from prison?”

“That is not in your Case. Nevertheless I do not know when I shall be delivered. But those who wish to send me out of the world may well go before me.”

“Has not your counsel told you that you will be delivered from your actual prison?”

“Speak to me in three months, and I will answer. Moreover, ask of those present, upon oath, if this touches on the Trial.”

We, the said Bishop, did then take the opinion of those present: and all considered that this did touch on the Trial.

“I have already told you, you shall not know all. One day I must be delivered. But I wish to have leave to tell you the day: it is for this I ask delay.”

“Have your Voices forbidden you to speak the truth?”

“Do you want me to tell you what concerns the King of France? There are a number of things that do not touch on the Case. I know well that my King will regain the Kingdom of France. I know it as well as I know that you are before me, seated in judgment. I should die if this revelation did not comfort me every day.”

“What have you done with your mandrake?”[45]

“I never have had one. But I have heard that there is one near our home, though I have never seen it. I have heard it is a dangerous and evil thing to keep. I do not know for what it is [used].”

“Where is this mandrake of which you have heard?”

“I have heard that it is in the earth, near the tree of which I spoke before; but I do not know the place. Above this mandrake, there was, it is said, a hazel tree.”

“What have you heard said was the use of this mandrake?”

“To make money come; but I do not believe it. My Voice never spoke to me of that.”

“In what likeness did Saint Michael appear to you?”

“I did not see a crown: I know nothing of his dress.”

“Was he naked?”

“Do you think God has not wherewithal to clothe him?”

“Had he hair?”

“Why should it have been cut off? I have not seen Saint Michael since I left the Castle of Crotoy. I do not see him often. I do not know if he has hair.”

“Has he a balance?”[46]

“I know nothing about it. It was a great joy to see him; it seemed to me, when I saw him, that I was not in mortal sin. Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret were pleased from time to time to receive my confession, each in turn. If I am in mortal sin, it is without my knowing it.”

“When you confessed, did you think you were in mortal sin?”

“I do not know if I am in mortal sin, and I do not believe I have done its works; and, if it please God, I will never so be; nor, please God, have I ever done or ever will do deeds which charge my soul!”

“What sign did you give your King that you came from God?”

“I have always answered that you will not drag this from my lips. Go and ask it of him.”

“Have you sworn not to reveal what shall be asked of you touching the Trial?”

“I have already told you that I will tell you nothing of what concerns my King. Thereon I will not speak.”

“Do you not know the sign that you gave to the King?”

“You will not know it from me.”

“But this touches on the Trial.”

“Of what I have promised to keep secret, I will tell you nothing. I have already said, even here, that I could not tell you without perjury.”

“To whom have you promised this?”

“To Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret; and this hath been shewn to the King. I promised them, without their asking it of me, of my own free-will, of myself, because too many people might have questioned me had I not promised it to my Saints.”

“When you shewed your sign to the King, were you alone with him?”

“I do not take account of any one else, although there were many people near.”

“When you shewed this sign to the King, did you see a crown on his head?”

“I cannot tell you without perjury.”

“Had your King a crown at Rheims?”

“I think my King took with joy the crown that he had at Rheims; but another, much richer, would have been given him later. He acted thus to hurry on his work, at the request of the people of the town of Rheims, to avoid too long a charge upon them of the soldiers. If he had waited, he would have had a crown a thousand times more rich.”

“Have you seen this richer crown?”

“I cannot tell you without incurring perjury; and, though I have not seen it, I have heard that it is rich and valuable to a degree.”

This done, we put an end to the interrogation and postponed the remainder to Saturday next, 8 o’clock in the morning, in the same place, summoning all the Assessors to be present.

_Saturday, March 3rd, in the same place, the Bishop and 41 Assessors present._

In their presence, We required the said Jeanne simply and absolutely to swear to speak the truth on what should be asked of her. She replied:

“I am ready to swear as I have already done.”

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

Afterwards, because she had said, in previous Enquiries, that Saint Michael had wings, but had said nothing of the body and members of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, We asked her what she wished to say thereon.

“I have told you what I know; I will answer you nothing more. I saw Saint Michael and these two Saints so well that I know they are Saints of Paradise.”

“Did you see anything else of them but the face?”

“I have told you what I know; but to tell you all I know, I would rather that you made me cut my throat. All that I know _touching the Trial_ I will tell you willingly.”

“Do you think that Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel have human heads?”

“I saw them with my eyes; and I believe it was they as firmly as I believe there is a God.”

“Do you think that God made them in the form and fashion that you saw?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think that God did from the first create them in this form and fashion?”

“You will have no more at present than what I have answered.”

“Do you know by revelation if you will escape?”

“That does not touch on your Case. Do you wish me to speak against myself?”

“Have your Voices told you anything?”

“That is not in your Case. I refer me to the Case. If all concerned you, I would tell you all. By my faith, I know neither the day nor the hour that I shall escape!”

“Have your Voices told you anything in a general way?”

“Yes, truly, they have told me that I shall be delivered, but I know neither the day nor the hour. They said to me: ‘Be of good courage and keep a cheerful countenance.’”

“When you first came to the King, did he ask you if you had any revelation about your change of dress?”

“I have answered you about that. I do not remember if I was asked. It is written at Poitiers.”

“Do you not remember if the Masters who questioned you in the other Consistory, some during a month, others during three weeks, questioned you about your change of dress?”

“I do not remember. But they asked me where I had assumed this man’s dress; and I told them it was at Vaucouleurs.”

“Did the aforesaid Masters ask you if it were by order of your Voice that you took this dress?”

“I do not remember.”

“Did not your Queen[47] ask you, the first time you went to visit her?”

“I do not remember.”

“Did not your King, your Queen, or some of your party, tell you to take off this man’s dress?”

“That is not in your Case.”

“Were you not so told at the Castle of Beaurevoir?”[48]

* * * * *

[Here commences the French Version, or Minute, which is collated with the Latin Text.]

“Yes, truly; and I answered that I would not take it off without leave from God. The Demoiselle de Luxembourg[49] and the Lady de Beaurevoir[50] offered me a woman’s dress, or cloth to make one, telling me to wear it. I answered them that I had not leave from Our Lord, and that it was not yet time.”

“Did Messire Jean de Pressy[51] and others at Arras never offer you a woman’s dress?”

“He and many others have oftentimes offered it to me.”

“Do you think that you would have done wrong or committed mortal sin by taking a woman’s dress?”

“I did better to obey and serve my Sovereign Lord, who is God. Had I dared to do it, I would sooner have done it at the request of these ladies than of any other ladies in France, excepting my Queen.”

“When God revealed it to you that you should change your dress, was it by the voice of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, or Saint Margaret?”

“You shall not have anything more at present.”

“When your King first set you to work, and when you had your banner made, did not the men-at-arms and others have their pennons made in the style of yours?”

“It is well to know that the Lords retained their own arms. Some of my companions-in-arms had them made at their pleasure; others not.”

“Of what material did they have them made? Of linen or of cloth?”

“It was of white satin; and on some there were fleur-de-lys. In my company I had only two or three lances. But my companions-in-arms now and then had them made like mine. They only did this to know their men from others.”

“Did they often renew these pennons?”

“I do not know. When the lances were broken, they had new ones made.”

“Have you sometimes said that the pennons which were like yours would be fortunate?”

“I sometimes said to my followers: ‘Go in boldly among the English!’ and I myself did likewise.”

“Did you tell them to carry themselves boldly, and they would be fortunate?”

“I have certainly told them what has happened and what will yet happen.”

“Did you put, or did you ever cause to be put, Holy Water on the pennons when they were carried for the first time?”

“I know nothing of it; and if that were done, it was not by my order.”

“Did you never see any sprinkled?”

“That is not in your Case. If I ever did see any sprinkled, I am advised not to answer about it.”

“Did your companions-in-arms never put on their pennons ‘Jhesus Maria’?”

“By my faith! I do not know.”

“Have you not yourself carried cloth, or caused it to be carried, in procession round an altar or a church, and afterwards employed this cloth for pennons?”

“No; and I never saw it done.”

“When you were before Jargeau, what did you bear at the back of your helmet? Was it not something round?”[52]

“By my faith! there was nothing.”

“Did you ever know Brother Richard?”[53]

“I had not seen him when I came before Troyes.”

“What countenance did Brother Richard give you?”

“I suppose after the fashion of the town of Troyes who sent him to me, saying that they feared Jeanne was not a thing that came to them from God. When he approached me, Brother Richard made the sign of the Cross and sprinkled Holy Water; and I said to him: ‘Approach boldly, I shall not fly away!’”

“Have you never seen, nor had made, any images or picture of yourself and in your likeness?”

“I saw at Arras a painting[54] in the hands of a Scot: it was like me. I was represented fully armed, presenting a letter to my King, one knee on the ground. I have never seen, nor had made, any other image or painting in my likeness.”

“In the house of your host at Orleans, was there not a picture in which was painted three women, with these words: ‘Justice, Peace, Union’?”

“I know nothing about it.”

“Do you not know that the people of your party had services, masses, and prayers offered for you?”

“I know nothing of it; if they had any service, it was not by my order; but if they prayed for me, my opinion is they did not do ill.”

“Did those of your party firmly believe that you were sent from God?”

“I do not know if they believed it, and in this I refer to their own feeling in this matter. But even though they do not believe, yet am I sent from God.”

“Do you not think they have a good belief, if they believe this?”

“If they think that I am sent from God, they will not be deceived.”

“In what spirit did the people of your party kiss your hands and your garments?”

“Many came to see me willingly, but they kissed my hands as little as I could help. The poor folk came to me readily, because I never did them any unkindness: on the contrary, I loved to help them.”

“What honour did the people of Troyes do you on your entry?”

“None at all. Brother Richard, so far as I remember, entered at the same time as I and our people; I do not recall seeing him at the entry.”

“Did he not preach a sermon on your arrival in the town?”

“I did not stop there at all, and did not even sleep there: I know nothing of his sermon.”

“Were you many days at Rheims?”

“We were there, I believe, five or six days.”

“Did you not act there as Godmother?” [“_lever d’enfant._”]

“At Troyes I did, to one child. At Rheims, I do not remember it, nor at Château-Thierry. I was Godmother twice at Saint-Denis, in France. Usually, I gave to the boys the name of Charles, in honour of my King; and to the girls, Jeanne. At other times, I gave such names as pleased the mothers.”

“Did not the good women of the town touch with their rings that which you wore on your finger?”

“Many women touched my hands and my rings; but I know nothing of their feelings nor their intention.”

“Who of your people, before Château-Thierry, caught butterflies in your standard?”

RHEIMS CATHEDRAL.
]

CHURCH OF SAINT REMY.
]

“My people never did such a thing: it is your side who have invented it.”

“What did you do at Rheims with the gloves with which your King was consecrated?”

“There were favours of gloves for the knights and nobles at Rheims. There was one who lost his gloves; I did not say he would find them again. My standard has been in the Church of Rheims; and it seems to me it was near the altar.[55] I myself bore it for a space there. I do not know if Brother Richard held it.”

“When you were going through the country, did you often receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist in the good towns?”

“Yes, from time to time.”

“Did you receive the said Sacraments in man’s dress?”

“Yes; but I do not remember ever to have received them armed.”

“Why did you take the horse of the Bishop of Senlis?”

“It was bought for 200 saluts.[56] If he received these 200 saluts, I do not know. There was a place fixed at which they were to be paid. I wrote to him that he might have his horse back if he wished; as for me, I did not wish it, because it was worth nothing for weight-carrying.”

“How old was the child you visited at Lagny?”

“The child was three days old. It was brought before the image of Our Lady. They told me that the young girls of the village were before this image, and that I might wish to go also and pray God and Our Lady to give life to this infant. I went and prayed with them. At last, life returned to the child, who yawned three times, and was then baptized; soon after, it died, and was buried in consecrated ground. It was three days, they said, since life had departed from the child; it was as black as my coat; when it yawned, the colour began to return to it. I was with the other young girls, praying and kneeling before Our Lady.”

“Did they not say in the village that it was done through you, and at your prayer?”

“I did not enquire about it.”

“Have you ever seen or known Catherine de La Rochelle?”

“Yes, at Jargeau and at Montfaucon in Berry.”

“Did not Catherine shew you a lady, robed in white, who, she said, sometimes appeared to her?”

“No.”

“What did this Catherine say to you?”

“That a white lady came to her, dressed in cloth-of-gold, who told her to go through the good cities with heralds and trumpets which the King would give to her, and proclaim that any one who had gold, silver, or any concealed treasure should bring it immediately: that those who did not do so, and who had anything hidden, she would know, and would be able to discover the treasure. With these treasures, she told me, she would pay my men-at-arms. I told Catherine that she should return to her husband, look after her home, and bring up her children. And in order to have some certainty as to her mission, I spoke of it, either to Saint Catherine or to Saint Margaret, who told me that the mission of this Catherine was mere folly and nothing else. I wrote to the King as to what he should do about it; and, when I afterwards went to him, I told him that this mission of Catherine was only folly and nothing more. Nevertheless, Brother Richard wished to set her to work; therefore were they both displeased with me,—Brother Richard and she.”

“Did you never speak with the said Catherine on the project of going to La Charité-sur-Loire?”

“She did not advise me to go there: it was too cold, and she would not go. She told me she wished to visit the Duke of Burgundy in order to make peace. I told her it seemed to me that peace would be found only at the end of the lance. I asked her if this white lady who appeared to her came to her every night? and I said that, to see her, I would sleep one night with her in the same bed. I went to bed; I watched till midnight; I saw nothing, and then went to sleep. When morning came, I asked her if the White Lady had come. ‘Yes, Jeanne,’ she answered me, ‘while you were asleep she came; and I could not awaken you.’ Then I asked her if she would come again the following night. ‘Yes,’ she told me. For this reason I slept by day that I might be able to watch the night following. I went to bed with Catherine; watched all the night following: but saw nothing, although I asked her often, ‘Will she never come?’ and she always answered me, ‘Yes, in a moment.’”

“What did you do in the trenches of La Charité?”[57]

“I made an assault there; but I neither threw, nor caused to be thrown, Holy Water by way of aspersion.”

“Why did you not enter La Charité, if you had command from God to do so?”

“Who told you I had God’s command for it?”

“Did you not have counsel of your Voice?”

“I wished to go into France. The men-at-arms told me it was better to go first to La Charité.”

“Were you a long time in the Tower at Beaurevoir?”

“About four months. When I knew that the English were come to take me, I was very angry; nevertheless, my Voices forbade me many times to leap. In the end, for fear of the English, I leaped, and commended myself to God and Our Lady. I was wounded. When I had leaped, the Voice of Saint Catherine said to me I was to be of good cheer,[58] for those at Compiègne would have succour. I prayed always for those at Compiègne, with my Counsel.”

“What did you say when you had leaped?”

“Some said I was dead. As soon as the Burgundians saw I was alive, they reproached me with having leapt.”

“Did you not say then, that you would rather die than be in the hands of the English?”

“I said I would rather give up my soul to God than be in the hands of the English.”

“Were you not then very angry, to the extent of blaspheming the Name of God?”

“Never have I cursed any of the Saints; and it is not my habit to swear.”

“On the subject of Soissons[59] and the Captain who surrendered the town, did you not blaspheme God, and say, if you got hold of this Captain you would have him cut in quarters?”

“I have never blasphemed any of the Saints; those who say so have misunderstood.”

This done, Jeanne was conducted back to the place which had been assigned as her prison.

NINE PRIVATE EXAMINATIONS.

_The Bishop decrees that the Enquiries, if any are thought necessary, shall henceforth be made in private._

Afterwards, We, the Bishop, did say that, in pursuing this Process and without in any way discontinuing it, We would call before Us some Doctors and Masters, experts in law, religious and civil, in order, by them, to gather up and collect what shall seem to them of a nature to be gathered up and collected, in Jeanne’s Declarations, as these have already been established by her own answers set down in writing. Their labour ended, if there should remain any points, on the which it would seem Jeanne should submit to more full enquiry, We will make, for this supplementary examination, choice of certain Doctors; and in this manner We shall not fatigue all and each of the Masters, who, at this moment, assist Us in such great numbers. These new enquiries shall also be put into writing, in order that the above-named Doctors and other approved men of science may deliberate and furnish their opinion and advice at the right moment. In the meantime, We invite all the Assessors to study at home the Process, and what they have already gathered from it; to search out the consequences of which the affair is susceptible; and to submit the result of their deliberations either to Us, or to the Doctors who shall be appointed by Us—if they do not prefer rather to reserve themselves for the time and place when they shall have deliberated in full maturity; and to give their opinion on full knowledge of the Process.

In the meantime, We expressly forbid all and each to leave Rouen without Our permission before the full completion of the Process.

_Meeting at the Bishop’s House of several Doctors._

Sunday, March 4th, and the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th of the same month, We, the Bishop, assembled in Our dwelling, many grave Doctors-and Masters-in-law, sacred and civil, who were charged by Us to collect all that has been confessed or answered by Jeanne in these Enquiries, and to extract therefrom the points on which she answered in an incomplete manner, and which seem to these Doctors susceptible of further examination. This double work having been effected by them, We, the said Bishop, by the advice of the said Doctors, decide that there is occasion to proceed to further enquiries. But because Our numerous occupations do not permit Us to attend ourselves,[60] we appoint, to proceed therein, the venerable and discreet person, Jean Delafontaine, Master of Arts and Licentiate in Canon Law, who will interrogate the said Jeanne in Our name. We have for this appointed the 9th March, in presence of the Doctors and Masters, Jean Beaupère, Jacques de Touraine, Nicolas Midi, Pierre Maurice, Thomas de Courcelles, Nicolas Loyseleur, and Guillaume Manchon.

Saturday, March 10th, We, the Bishop, repaired to the part of the Castle of Rouen given to Jeanne as a prison, where, being assisted by Maître Jean Delafontaine, the Commissary appointed by Us, and by the venerable Doctors and Masters in Theology, Nicolas Midi, and Gerard Feuillet (witnesses, Jean Fécard, Advocate; and Maître Jean Massieu, Priest), We summoned Jeanne to make and take oath to speak the truth on what should be asked of her. She replied:

“I promise to speak truth on what touches your Case; but the more you constrain me to swear, the later will I tell you.”

Afterwards, the examination of Jeanne by Maître Jean Delafontaine took place as follows:

“On the faith of the oath you have just taken, from whence had you started when you went the last time to Compiègne?”

“From Crespy, in Valois.”

“When you were at Compiègne, were you several days before you made your sally or attack?”

“I arrived there secretly early in the morning,[61] and entered the town without the enemy knowing anything of it; and that same day, in the evening, I made the sally in which I was taken.”

“When you made your sally, did they ring the bells?”

“If they did ring them it was not by my order or knowledge; I do not think it was so, and I do not remember to have said they rang.”

“Did you make this sally by command of your Voice?”

“During the Easter week of last year, being in the trenches of Melun, it was told me by my Voices—that is to say, by Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret—‘Thou wilt be taken before Saint John’s Day; and so it must be: do not torment thyself about it: be resigned; God will help thee.’”

“Before this occasion at Melun, had not your Voices ever told you that you would be taken?”

“Yes, many times and nearly every day. And I asked of my Voices that, when I should be taken, I might die soon, without long suffering in prison; and they said to me: ‘Be resigned to all—thus it must be.’ But they did not tell me the time; and if I had known it, I should not have gone. Often I asked to know the hour: they never told me.”

“Did your Voices command you to make this sally from Compiègne, and signify that you would be taken if you went?”

“If I had known the hour when I should be taken, I should never have gone of mine own free-will; I should always have obeyed their commands in the end, whatever might happen to me.”

“When you made this sally from Compiègne had you any Voice or revelation about making it?”

“That day I did not know at all that I should be taken, and I had no other command to go forth; but they had always told me it was necessary for me to be taken prisoner.”

“When you made this sally, did you pass by the Bridge of Compiègne?”

“I passed by the bridge and the boulevard, and went with the company of followers of my side against the followers of my Lord of Luxembourg. I drove them back twice against the camp of the Burgundians, and the third time, to the middle of the highway. The English who were there then cut off the road from me and my people, between us and the boulevard. For this reason, my followers retreated, and, in retreating towards the fields, on the Picardy side, near the boulevard, I was taken. Between Compiègne and the place where I was taken there is nothing but the stream and the boulevard with its ditch.”

“Did you not have on the banner you carried a representation of the world, painted with two angels, etc.?”

“Yes; and I had no other.”

“What did this signify, to paint God holding the world, and these angels?”

THE BATTLE OF HERRINGS.

From a French Manuscript of the XVth Century.
]

THE MAID TAKEN PRISONER.
]

“Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret told me that I was to take my banner and to carry it boldly, and to have painted on it the King of Heaven. I told my King, much against my will: that is all I can tell of the signification of this painting.”

“Have you not a shield and arms?”

“I never had one; but my King has granted arms to my brothers,—that is to say, a shield azure, two fleurs-de-lys of gold, and a sword betwixt. These arms I described in this town to a painter, because he asked what arms I bore. The King gave them to my brothers, [to please[62] them,] without request from me and without revelation.”

“Had you, when you were taken, a horse, charger, or hackney?”

“I was on horseback; the one which I was riding when I was taken was a demi-charger.”

“Who had given you this horse?”

“My King, or his people, from the King’s money. I had five chargers from the King’s money, without counting my hacks, of which I had more than seven.”

“Had you any other riches from your King besides these horses?”

“I asked nothing from my King, except good arms, good horses, and money to pay my household.”

“Had you no treasure?”

“The ten or twelve thousand I was worth is not much treasure to carry on war, very little indeed; and such goods are my brothers’, in my opinion; what I have is my King’s own money.”

“What was the sign[63] that came to your King when you went to him?”

“It was beautiful, honourable, and most credible; the best and richest in the world.”

“Then why will you not tell it and shew it, since you wished to have the sign[64] of Catherine de la Rochelle?”

“I might not have asked to know the sign of the said Catherine, had that sign been as well shewn before notable people of the Church and others, Archbishops and Bishops, as mine was before the Archbishop of Rheims and other Bishops whose names I know not. There were there also Charles de Bourbon, the Sire de la Tremouille, the Duke d’Alençon,[65] and many other knights, who saw and heard it as well as I see those who speak to me to-day; and, besides, I knew already, through Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, that the doings of this Catherine were as nothing.”

“Does this sign still last?”

“It is well to know it; it will last a thousand years and more. My sign is with the King’s treasure.”

“Is it gold, silver, precious stones, or a crown?”

“I will tell you nothing more about it. No man in the world could devise so rich a thing as this sign; but the sign that you need is that God may deliver me from your hands; that is the most sure sign He could send you. When I was about to start to see my King, my Voices told me: ‘Go boldly; when thou art before the King, he shall have a sure sign to receive thee and believe in thee.’”

“When the sign came to your King, what reverence did you make to it? Did it come from God?”

“I thanked Our Lord for having delivered me from the trouble that I had with the clergy of my party, who were arguing against me; and I knelt down several times. An Angel from God, and from none other, sent the sign to my King; and for this I have many times thanked Our Lord. The priests of that party ceased to attack me when they had recognized the sign.”

“The Clergy of that party then saw the sign?”

“When my King and those who were with him had seen the sign and also the Angel[66] that brought it, I asked my King if he were satisfied. He answered, Yes. Then I left, and went to a little chapel close by. I have since heard that, after I left, more than three hundred persons saw the said sign. For love of me and that I should not be questioned about it, God permitted certain men of my party to see the sign in reality.”

“Your King and you, did you do reverence to the Angel who brought the sign?”

“Yes; I made a salutation, knelt down, and took off my cap.”

_Monday, March 12th, in the morning; in Jeanne’s prison.—Present: The Bishop, assisted by Jean Delafontaine, Commissary; Nicholas Midi and Gerard Feuillet; and as their witnesses: Thomas Fiefvet, Pasquier de Vaux, and Nicolas de Houbent._

In presence of all the above-named, We required the said Jeanne to swear to speak truth on what should be asked her.

She replied: “_On what touches your Case_, as I have said already, I will willingly speak truth.” And thus did she make oath.

Then, by Our order, she was questioned by Maître Jean Delafontaine:

“Did not the Angel who bore the sign to your King speak to him?”

“Yes, he spoke to him; and he told my King it was necessary that I should be set to work, so that the country might be soon relieved.”

“Was the Angel who bore the sign to your King the same Angel who had before appeared to you?”

“It is all one; and he has never failed me.”

“Has not the Angel, then, failed you with regard to the good things of this life, in that you have been taken prisoner?”

“I think, as it has pleased Our Lord, that it is for my well-being that I was taken prisoner.”

“Has your Angel never failed you in the good things of grace?”

“How can he fail me, when he comforts me every day? My comfort comes from Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret.”

“Do you call them, or do they come without being called?”

“They often come without being called; and other times, if they do not come soon, I pray Our Lord to send them.”

“Have you sometimes called them without their coming?”

“I have never had need of them without having them.”

“Has Saint Denis appeared to you sometimes?”

“Not that I know.”

“When you promised Our Saviour to preserve your virginity, was it to Him that you spoke?”

“It would quite suffice that I give my promise to those who were sent by Him—that is to say, to Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret.”

“Who induced you to have cited a man of the town of Toul on the question of marriage?”

“I did not have him cited; it was he, on the contrary, who had me cited; and then I swore before the Judge to speak the truth. And besides, I had promised nothing to this man. From the first time I heard my Voices, I dedicated my virginity for so long as it should please God; and I was then about thirteen years of age. My Voices told me I should win my case in this town of Toul.”

“As to your visions, did you speak of them to your Curé or to any other Churchman?”

“No; only to Robert de Baudricourt and to my King. It was not my Voices who compelled me to keep them secret; but I feared to reveal them, in dread that the Burgundians might put some hindrance in the way of my journey; and, in particular, I was afraid that my father would hinder it.”

“Do you think that you did right to go without leave from your father or mother, when you should ‘honour your father and mother’?”

“In all things I obeyed them well, except in that of the journey: but afterwards I wrote to them, and they forgave me.”

“When you left your father and mother, do you think you sinned?”

“If God commanded, it was right to obey. If God commanded it, had I had a hundred fathers and mothers, and had I been a king’s daughter, I should have gone.”

“Did you ask your Voices if you should announce your departure to your father and mother?”

“As to my father and mother, my Voices would have been quite willing I should tell them, had it not been for the trouble I should have caused them in speaking of this. As for myself, I would not have told them at any price. My Voices agreed that I might either speak to my father and mother or be silent.”

“Did you do reverence to Saint Michael and the Angels when you saw them?”

“Yes; and, after they were gone I kissed the earth where they had been.”

“Were they long with you?”

“Very often they came among the faithful [_i.e._, in church] without being seen; and often I saw them among the faithful.”

“Had you had any letters from Saint Michael or from your Voices?”

“I have not permission to tell you. Eight days from this, I will tell you willingly what I know.”

“Did not your Voices call you ‘Daughter of God, daughter of the Church, great-hearted daughter’?”

“Before the raising of the Siege of Orleans and every day since, when they speak to me, they call me often, ‘Jeanne the Maid, Daughter of God.’”

“Since you call yourself a daughter of God, why do you not willingly say ‘Our Father’?”

“I do say it willingly. Last time, when I refused, it was because I meant that my Lord of Beauvais should hear me in confession.”

_The same day, Monday, in the afternoon, in the same place.—Present: Jean Delafontaine, Commissary; Nicolas Midi; Gerard Feuillet; Thomas Fiefvet; Pasquier de Vaux; and Nicolas de Houbent._

The said Jeanne was interrogated as follows by Our order by the said Jean Delafontaine:

“Did not your father have dreams about you before your departure?”

“When I was still with my father and mother, my mother told me many times that my father had spoken of having dreamed that I, Jeannette, his daughter, went away with the men-at-arms. My father and mother took great care to keep me safe, and held me much in subjection. I obeyed them in everything, except in the case at Toul—the action for marriage. I have heard my mother say that my father told my brothers: ‘Truly, if I thought this thing would happen that I have dreamed about my daughter, I would wish you to drown her; and, if you would not do it, I would drown her myself!’ He nearly lost his senses when I went to Vaucouleurs.”

“Did these thoughts and dreams come to your father after you had your visions?”

“Yes, more than two years after I had had my first Voice.”

“Was it at the request of Robert de Baudricourt or of yourself that you took man’s dress?”

“It was of myself, and at the request of no living man.”

“Did your Voices command you to take man’s dress?”

“All that I have done of good, I have done by the command of my Voices. As to the dress, I will answer about it another time: at present I am not advised, but to-morrow I will answer.”

“In taking man’s dress, did you think you were doing wrong?”

“No; even now if I were with those of my own side and in this man’s dress, it seems to me it would be a great good for France to do as I did before I was taken.”

“How would you have delivered the Duke d’Orléans?”

“I should have taken enough English prisoners in France to have exchanged him back; if I had not taken enough in France, I should have crossed the sea to seek him in England, by force.”

“Did Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret tell you absolutely and without condition that you would take enough English to get the Duke d’Orléans, who is in England, or that otherwise you would cross the sea to seek him?”[67]

“Yes, and I said so to my King: and he allowed me to treat with the English lords who were then prisoners.[68] If I had continued three years without hindrance, I should have delivered him. To do this, it needed less time than three years and more than one. But I do not remember about it.”

“What was the sign you gave to the King?”

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

_Monday, March 12th, assembled in Our dwelling, summoned by Us, the religious and discreet person, Brother Jean Lemaître, of the Order of Saint Dominic, Deputy of the Inquisitor of the Evil of Heresy in the Kingdom of France, in presence of the Venerable and discreet persons the Lords and Masters, Thomas Fiefvet, Pasquier de Vaux, Nicolas de Houbent, Brother Ysambard de la Pierre._

We, the Bishop, did shew to the said Deputy, that, at the outset of the Action for Heresy brought by us against the woman, commonly called Jeanne the Maid, We had summoned and required him, the said Deputy, to join with us; and that we had offered to communicate to him the acts, documents and, in one word, all we possess bearing on the matter of the Process. He had then made a difficulty, not being, he told Us, commissioned except for the City and Diocese of Rouen; and the Action in question being deduced by Us; by right of our jurisdiction of Beauvais, on territory conceded to Us for this purpose. For this cause, in order to give all security to this matter and by an excess of precaution, We have, by the advice of the Masters, decided to write about it to the Chief Inquisitor, requesting him to come himself without delay to Rouen, or specially to appoint a Deputy to whom, for the deduction and completion of the Process, he might wish to give full powers. The said Inquisitor hath received Our letter, and acceding with kindness to Our request, for the honour and exaltation of the Orthodox Faith, he hath specially commissioned and appointed for this Action the said Brother Jean Lemaître, as doth appear in the letters patent furnished and attested with the seal of the Inquisition.

In consequence of this letter, We, the Bishop, summon and require the said Brother Jean Lemaître, here present, in the terms of the said letter, to join with us in this said Action.

To which the said Brother answered: that he would examine the Commission addressed to him, the Process signed by the registrars, and all that it should please Us to communicate to him; and that, all being seen and examined by him, he will give Us an answer and will do for the Holy Inquisition that which is right.

We, the Bishop, added: that the said Deputy had been present at a great part of the Process; that he had, in consequence, been able to hear a great part of Jeanne’s answers; that nevertheless We held ourselves satisfied by what he had just said, and would certainly communicate to him the Process and all that had already been done, that he may take fuller cognizance of everything.

_The Deputy Inquisitor joins the Court._

_Tuesday, March 13th, in the prison. Present: The Bishop and Brother Jean Lemaître, assisted by Jean Delafontaine, Nicolas Midi, and Gerard Feuillet; witnesses, Nicolas de Houbent and Ysambard de la Pierre._

The said Brother Jean Lemaître declared to Us that seeing the letter addressed to him which we had yesterday communicated, together with the other circumstances of the Process, and all being well considered, he joins himself to Us and is ready to proceed with Us according to law and right.

We, the Bishop, then made known with gentleness to Jeanne this intervention, exhorting and warning her, for the salvation of her soul, to speak the truth on all which should be asked of her.

_The Deputy Inquisitor appoints his Officers._

And then, the Deputy of the Chief Inquisitor, wishing to proceed regularly in the Process, hath declared his choice of the Officers whose names follow:

1. As Promoter from the Holy Inquisition, Messire Jean d’Estivet, Canon of the Churches of Bayeux and Beauvais.

2. As Registrar of his office, Messire Nicolas Taquel, Priest of the Diocese of Rouen, Notary Public and Registrar of the Archiepiscopal Court of Rouen.

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

4. As keepers of the prison, the noble man, John Gris, Squire of the Body Guard of Our Lord the King, and John Berwoist. These, We, the Bishop, had, with the exception of Messire Nicolas Taquel, but only in that which concerns Our office, already appointed to the same functions, as confirmed for Our part in the letters above quoted, and as confirmed by the said Inquisitor by his letters, of which mention follows. The said officers did then take oath, between the hands of the said Deputy, to faithfully fulfil their functions.

[Here follow the three letters of Nomination of the Promoter, d’Estivet; the Registrar, Taquel; and the Usher, Massieu: dated Tuesday, March 13th: signed Boisguillaume, Manchon: the nomination of Taquel, Registrar, is dated March 14th.]