Chapter VI: Part I: The Trial (3)

All which precedes having already taken place, as has been said up to the present time, We, the Bishop, and Brother Jean Lemaître, Deputy of the Inquisitor, have from this moment proceeded together to all the remainder of the Process, and have questioned or caused questions to be made as it had begun.

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

By Our order, Jeanne was asked as follows:

“What was the sign you gave your King?”

“Will you be satisfied that I should perjure myself?”

“Have you promised and sworn to Saint Catherine that you will not tell this sign?”

“I promised and swore not to tell this sign, and for my own sake, because I was pressed too much to tell it, and then I said to myself: ‘I promise not to speak of it to any one in the world.’ The sign was that an Angel assured my King, in bringing him the crown, that he should have the whole realm of France, by the means of God’s help and my labours; that he was to start me on the work—that is to say, to give me men-at-arms; and that otherwise he would not be so soon crowned and consecrated.”

“Have you spoken to Saint Catherine since yesterday?”

“I have heard her since yesterday, and she has several times told me to reply boldly to the Judges on what they shall ask me touching my Case.”

“How did the Angel carry the crown? and did he place it himself on your King’s head?”

“The crown was given to an Archbishop—that is, to the Archbishop of Rheims—so it seems to me, in the presence of my King. The Archbishop received it, and gave it to the King. I was myself present. The crown was afterwards put among my King’s treasures.”

“To what place was the crown brought?”

“To the King’s Chamber, in the Castle of Chinon.”

“What day and what time?”

“The day, I do not know; of the time, it was full day. I have no further recollection of it. Of the month it was March or April, it seems to me. In this present month of March or next April it will be two years since. It was after Easter.”[69]

“Was it the first day that you saw the sign when the King saw it?”

“Yes, he had it the same day.”

“Of what material was the said crown?”

“It is well to know it was of fine gold; it was so rich that I do not know how to count its riches or to appreciate its beauty. The crown signified that my King should possess the Kingdom of France.”

“Were there stones in it?”

“I have told you what I know about it.”

“Did you touch or kiss it?”

“No.”

“Did the Angel who brought this crown come from Heaven or earth?”

“He came from above, and I presume that he came by Our Lord’s command; he came in by the door of the room. When he came before my King, he did him reverence by bowing before him, and pronouncing the words I have already said; and at the same time the Angel put him in mind of the great patience he had had in presence of so many tribulations. From the door, the Angel walked, and touched the earth, in coming to the King.”

“What space was there between the door and the King?”

“My opinion is that there was quite the space of a lance-length [about 10 feet]; and he returned the way he came. When the Angel came, I accompanied him and went with him by the staircase to the King’s Chamber. The Angel went in first, then myself, and I said to the King: ‘Sire, there is your sign; take it.’”

“Where did the Angel appear to you?”

“I was nearly always at prayer that God might send the sign to the King; and I was at my lodging, at the house of a worthy woman,[70] near the Castle of Chinon, when he came; afterwards, we went together to the King. He was accompanied by other Angels whom no one saw. Had it not been for love of me, and to free me of trouble from those that accused me, I think that many who saw the Angel would not have seen him.”

“Did all those who were with the King see the Angel?”

“I believe that the Archbishop of Rheims saw him, and so did the Lords d’Alençon, la Trémouille, and Charles de Bourbon. As to the crown, many Clergy and others saw it who did not see the Angel.”

“Of what appearance, what height, was this Angel?”

“I have not permission to say; to-morrow I will answer about it.”

“All the Angels who accompanied him, had they the same appearance?”

“Some resembled him well enough, others not: at least, so far as I saw. Some had wings, others were crowned. In company with them were Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, who were with the Angel aforesaid, and the other Angels also, right up to the King’s Chamber.”

“How did the Angel leave you?”

“He left me in that little Chapel. I was much vexed at his going; I wept; willingly would I have gone with him—that is to say, my soul.”

“After the departure of the Angel, did you remain happy [or[71] were you in great fear?”]

“He did not leave me in either fear or terror; but I was grieved at his going.”

“Is it for any merit of yours that God sent you this Angel?”

“He came for a great purpose: I was in hopes that the King would believe the sign, and that they would cease to argue with me, and would aid the good people of Orleans. The Angel came for the merits of the King and of the good Duke d’Orléans.”[72]

“Why to you rather than to another?”

“It has pleased God so to do by a simple maiden, in order to drive back the enemies of the King.”

“Was it told you whence the Angel had taken this crown?”

“It was brought from God; no goldsmith in the world would know how to fashion it so rich and fair.”

“Whence did he take it?”

“I refer me to God; and know nothing more of whence it was taken.”

“This crown, did it smell well and had it a good odour? did it glitter?”

“I do not remember about it; I will think it over.” [Remembering:] “Yes, it smelt good, and will smell good always, if it be well guarded, as it should be. It was in the form of a crown.”

“Did the Angel write you a letter?”

“No.”

“What sign had your King and the people who were with him and yourself, to believe that it was an Angel?”

“The King believed it by the teaching of the Clergy who were there, and by the sign of the crown.”

“But how did the Clergy know it was an Angel?”

“By their knowledge and because they were clerks.”

“What have you to say about a married priest and a lost cup that you were to have pointed out?”[73]

“Of all this I know nothing, nor have I ever heard of it.”

“When you came before Paris, had you revelations from your Voices to go there?”

“No, I went at the request of the gentlemen who wished to make an attack or assault-at-arms; I intended to go there and break through the trenches.”

“Had you any revelation to attack La Charité?”

“No, I went there at the request of the men-at-arms, as I said elsewhere.”

“Did you have any revelation to go to Pont l’Evêque?”[74]

“After I had had, in the trenches of Melun,[75] revelation that I should be taken, I consulted more often with the Captains of the army; but I did not tell them I had had any revelation that I should be taken.”

“Was it well to attack the town of Paris on the day of the Festival of the Nativity of Our Lady?”

“It is well done to observe the Festival of the Blessed Mary, and on my conscience it seems to me that it was, and ever will be, well to observe these festivals, from one end to the other.”

“Did you not say before Paris, ‘Surrender this town by order of Jesus’?”

“No, but I said, ‘Surrender it to the King of France.’”

_Wednesday, March 14th.—Jean Delafontaine, Commissary, assisted by Nicolas Midi and Gerard Feuillet. Witnesses: Nicolas de Houbent and Ysambard de la Pierre._

Jeanne was interrogated as follows:

“Why did you throw yourself from the top of the Tower at Beaurevoir?”

“I had heard that the people of Compiègne, all, to the age of seven years, were to be put to fire and sword; and I would rather have died than live after such a destruction of good people. That was one of the reasons. The other was that I knew I was sold to the English; and I had rather die than be in the hands of my enemies, the English.”

“Did your Saints counsel you about it?”

“Saint Catherine told me almost every day not to leap, that God would help me, and also those at Compiègne. I said to Saint Catherine: ‘Since God will help those at Compiègne, I wish to be there.’ Saint Catherine said to me, ‘Be resigned, and do not falter: you will not be delivered before seeing the King of England.’ I answered her: ‘Truly I do not wish to see him; I would rather die than fall into the hands of the English.’”

“Is it true that you said to Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret: ‘Will God leave these good people of Compiègne to die so horribly’?”

“I did not say ‘so horribly,’ but, ‘How can God leave these good people of Compiègne, who have been, and are, so loyal to their lord, to die?’ After having fallen, I was two or three days without eating.[76] By the leap I was so injured that I could neither eat nor drink; and all the time I was consoled by Saint Catherine, who told me to confess, and to beg pardon of God; and without fail, those at Compiègne would have help before Saint Martin’s Day in the winter. Then I began to recover and to eat, and was soon cured.”

“When you made this leap, did you think you would kill yourself?”

“No; but, in leaping, I commended myself to God. I hoped by means of this leap to escape, and to avoid being delivered up to the English.”

“When speech returned to you, did you not blaspheme and curse God and His Saints? This is proved by allegation.”

“I have no memory of having ever blasphemed and cursed God and His Saints, in that place or elsewhere.”

“Will you refer this to the enquiry made or to be made?”

“I refer me to God and not to any other, and to a good confession.”

“Do your Voices ask delay to answer you?”

“Sometimes Saint Catherine answers me, but I fail to understand because of the great disturbance in the prison and the noise made by my guards. When I make a request to Saint Catherine, both my Saints make request to Our Lord; then, by order of Our Lord, they give answer to me.”

“When your Saints come to you, have they a light with them? Did you not see the light on a certain occasion when you heard the Voices in the Castle, without knowing if the Voice were in your room?”

“There is never a day that my Saints do not come to the Castle; and they never come without light. And as to this Voice of which you speak, I do not remember if on that occasion I saw the light or even Saint Catherine. I asked three things of my Voices:—1. My deliverance; 2. That God would come to the help of the French, and protect the towns under their control; 3. The salvation of my soul. [Addressing herself to the Judges:] If it should be that I am taken to Paris, grant, I pray you, that I may have a copy of my questions and answers, so that I may lend them to those at Paris, and that I may be able to say to them: ‘Thus was I questioned at Rouen; and here are my answers’: in this way, I shall not have to trouble again over so many questions.”

“You said that my Lord of Beauvais puts himself in great danger by bringing you to trial; of what danger were you speaking? In what peril or danger do we place ourselves, your Judges and the others?”

“I said to my Lord of Beauvais, ‘You say that you are my Judge; I do not know if you are, but take heed not to judge wrongly, because you would put yourself in great danger; and I warn you of it, so that, if Our Lord should punish you for it, I shall have done my duty in telling you.’”

“But what is this peril or danger?”

“Saint Catherine has told me that I shall have help; I do not know if this will be to be delivered from prison, or if, whilst I am being tried, some disturbance may happen, by which I shall be delivered. The help will come to me, I think, in one way or the other. Besides this, my Voices have told me that I shall be delivered by a great victory; and they add: ‘Be resigned; have no care for thy martyrdom; thou wilt come in the end to the Kingdom of Paradise.’ They have told me this simply, absolutely, and without fail. What is meant by my martyrdom is the pain and adversity that I suffer in prison; I do not know if I shall have still greater suffering to bear; for that I refer me to God.”

GATE TO THE PALACE OF CAUCHON, BISHOP OF BEAUVAIS.
]

“Since your Voices told you that you would come in the end to the Kingdom of Paradise, have you felt assured of being saved and of not being damned in Hell?”

“I believe firmly what my Voices have told me, that I shall be saved; I believe it as firmly as if I were already there.”

“After this revelation, do you believe that you cannot commit mortal sin?”[77]

“I do not know, and in all things I wait on Our Lord.”

“That is an answer of great weight!”

“Yes, and one which I hold for a great treasure.”

_The same day, Wednesday, March 14th, in the afternoon. Present: Jean Delafontaine, Commissary, assisted by Nicolas Midi and Gerard Feuillet. Witnesses: Brother Ysambard de la Pierre and Jean Manchon._

And in the first place, Jeanne expressed herself thus:

“On the subject of the answer that I made to you this morning on the certainty of my salvation, I mean the answer thus: provided that I keep the promise made to Our Lord, to keep safe the virginity of my body and soul.”

“Have you any need to confess, as you believe by the revelations of your Voices that you will be saved?”

“I do not know of having committed mortal sin; but, if I were in mortal sin, I think that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret would abandon me at once. I do not think one can cleanse one’s conscience too much.”

“Since you have been in the prison, have you never blasphemed or cursed God?”

“No; sometimes I said: ‘bon gré Dieu,’ or ‘Saint Jean,’ or ‘Notre Dame’: those who have reported otherwise may have misunderstood.”

“To take a man at ransom, and to put him to death, while a prisoner, is not that mortal sin?”

“I never did it.”

“What did you do to Franquet d’Arras, who was put to death, at Lagny?”

“I consented that he should die if he had merited it, because he had confessed to being a murderer, thief, and traitor; his trial lasted fifteen days; he had for Judge the Bailly of Senlis and the people of the Court at Lagny. I had given orders to exchange this Franquet against a man of Paris, landlord of the Hôtel de l’Ours. When I learnt the death of the latter, and the Bailly told me that I should do great wrong to justice by giving up Franquet, I said to the Bailly, ‘As my man is dead, do with the other what you should do, for justice.’”

“Did you give, or cause to be given, money to him who took Franquet?”

“I am not Master of the Mint or Treasurer of France to pay out money so.”

“We recall to you:—1. That you attacked Paris on a Feast Day; 2. That you had the horse of my Lord the Bishop of Senlis; 3. That you threw yourself down from the Tower of Beaurevoir; 4. That you wear a man’s dress; 5. That you consented to the death of Franquet d’Arras: do you not think you have committed mortal sin in these?”

“For what concerns the attack on Paris, I do not think myself to be in mortal sin; if I have so done, it is for God to know it, and the Priest in confession. As to the horse of my Lord the Bishop of Senlis, I firmly believe I have not sinned against Our Lord: the horse was valued at 200 gold crowns, of which he received assignment; nevertheless, this horse was sent back to the Sire de la Trémouille, to restore it to my Lord of Senlis; it was no good for me to ride; besides, it was not I who took it; and, moreover, I did not wish to keep it, having heard that the Bishop was displeased that it had been taken from him, and, beyond all this, the horse was of no use for warfare. I do not know if the Bishop was paid, nor if his horse was restored to him; I think not. As to my fall from the Tower at Beaurevoir, I did not do it in despair, but thinking to save myself and to go to the help of all those brave folk who were in danger. After my fall, I confessed myself and asked pardon. God has forgiven me, not for any good in me: I did wrong, but I know by revelation from Saint Catherine that, after the confession I made, I was forgiven. It was by the counsel of Saint Catherine that I confessed myself.”

“Did you do penance for it?”

“Yes, and my penance came to me in great part from the harm I did myself in falling. You ask me if I believe this wrong which I did in leaping to be mortal sin? I know nothing about it, but refer me to God. As to my dress, since I bear it by command of God and for His service, I do not think I have done wrong at all; so soon as it shall please God to prescribe it, I will take it off.”

_The following Thursday, March 15th, in the morning. Present: Jean Delafontaine, Commissary, assisted by Nicolas Midi and Gerard Feuillet. Witnesses: Nicolas de Houbent and Brother Ysambard de la Pierre._

First of all, Jeanne was charitably exhorted, warned, and required, if she had done anything which might be against our Faith, that she should refer it to the decision of Holy Mother Church.

“Let my answers,” she said, “be seen and examined by the Clergy: then let them tell me if there be anything against the Christian Faith. I shall know surely by my counsel what it is, and will say afterwards what shall be judged and decided. And, moreover, if there be anything wrong against the Christian Faith which Our Lord commanded, I should not wish to maintain it, and should be very sorry to be in opposition.”

Then we explained to her about the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant, and the difference between them. Required to submit to the decision of the Church Militant what she had said or done, whether of good or ill:

“I will not answer you anything more about it now,” she said.

“Upon the oath that you have taken, tell us, how did you think to escape from the Castle of Beaulieu between two planks of wood?”[78]

“Never was I prisoner in such a place that I would not willingly have escaped. Being in that Castle, I should have shut my keepers in the tower, if it had not been that the porter espied me and encountered me. It did not please God that I should escape this time: it was necessary for me to see the English King,[79] as my Voices had told me, as has been already said.”

“Have you had permission from God or your Voices to leave prison when it shall please you?”

“I have asked it many times, but I have not yet had it.”

“Would you go now, if you saw your starting-point?”

“If I saw the door open, I should go: that would be leave from Our Lord. If I saw the door open, and my keepers and the other English beyond power of resistance, truly I should see in it my leave and help sent me by Our Lord. But without this leave, I shall not go, unless I make a forcible attempt to go,[80] and so learn if Our Lord would be pleased: this on the strength of the proverb, ‘Help thyself, and God will help thee’: I say this in order that, if I do escape, no one may say I did so without God’s leave.”

“When you asked to hear Mass, did it not seem to you that it would be more proper to be in female dress? Which would you like best, to have a woman’s dress to hear Mass, or to remain in a man’s dress and not hear it?”

“Give me assurance beforehand that I shall hear Mass if I am in female attire, and I will answer you this.”

“Very well, I give you assurance of it: you shall hear Mass if you put on female attire.”

“And what say you, if I have sworn and promised to our King my Master, not to put off this dress? Well, I will answer you this: Have made for me a long dress down to the ground, without a train; give it to me to go to Mass, and then on my return I will put on again the dress I have.”

“I say it to you once again, do you consent to wear female attire to go and hear Mass?”

“I will take counsel on this, and then I will answer you: but I beseech you, for the honour of God and Our Lady permit me to hear Mass in this good town.”

“You consent simply and absolutely to take female attire?”

“Send me a dress like a daughter of your citizens—that is to say, a long ‘houppeland.’[81] I will wear it to go and hear Mass. I beseech you as earnestly as I can, permit me to hear it in the dress I wear at this moment and without changing anything!”

“Will you submit your actions and words to the decision of the Church?”

“My words and deeds are all in God’s Hands: in all, I wait upon Him. I assure you, I would say or do nothing against the Christian Faith: in case I have done or said anything which might be on my soul and which the clergy could say was contrary to the Christian Faith established by Our Lord, I would not maintain it, and would put it away.”

“Are you not willing to submit yourself in this to the order of the Church?”

“I will not answer you anything more about it now. Send me a cleric on Saturday; and, if you do not wish to come yourself, I will answer him on this, with God’s help; and it shall be put in writing.”

“When your Voices come, do you make obeisance to them as to a Saint?”

“Yes; and if perchance I have not done so, I have afterwards asked of them grace and pardon. I should not know how to do them such great reverence as belongs to them, for I believe firmly they are Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. I believe the same of Saint Michael.”

“For those who are Saints of Paradise, offerings are voluntarily made of candles, etc.: have you never made an offering of lighted candles, or other things, to the Saints who come to you, in the Church or elsewhere, or had Masses said?”

“No, unless it be in the offering of the Mass, in the hands of the Priest, in honour of Saint Catherine, one of the Saints who appeared to me. I have never lighted as many candles as I wish to Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, who are in Paradise; and I firmly believe it is they who come to me.”

“When you place lights before the image of Saint Catherine, do you place them in honour of the one who appears to you?”

“I do it in honour of God, of Our Lady, and of Saint Catherine who is in Heaven, and of her who appears to me.”

“Do you place these lights in honour of Saint Catherine, who has shewn herself to you, who has appeared to you?”

“Yes, I make no difference between the one who has appeared to me, and the one who is in heaven.”[82]

“Do you always do, always accomplish, what your Voices command you?”

“With all my power I accomplish the command that Our Lord sends me through my Voices, in so far as I understand them. My Voices command nothing but by the good pleasure of Our Lord.”

“In warfare, have you done nothing without counsel of your Voices?”

“I have already answered you thereon: read your book again well, and you will find it. At the request of the men-at-arms, there was an assault made before Paris, and, at the request of the King himself, one also before La Charité. These were neither against nor by the order of my Voices.”

“Have you never done anything against their command and will?”

“All that I could and knew how to do, I have done and accomplished to the best of my power. As to the matter of the fall from the keep of Beaurevoir, I did it against their command; but I could not control myself. When my Voices saw my need, and that I neither knew how, nor was able, to control myself, they saved my life and kept me from killing myself. Whatever things I did in my greatest undertakings, they always helped me; and that is a sign they are good spirits.”

“Have you no other sign that they are good spirits?”

“Saint Michael assured me of it before the Voices came to me.”

“How did you know it was Saint Michael?”

“By the speech and language of the Angels. I believe firmly that they were Angels.”

“But how did you know it was the language of Angels?”

“I believed it at once, and I had the will to believe it. When Saint Michael came to me, he said to me: ‘Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret will come to thee; follow their counsel; they have been chosen to guide thee and counsel thee in all that thou hast to do: believe what they shall tell thee, it is the order of Our Lord.’”

“If the devil were to put himself in the form or likeness of an angel, how would you know if it were a good or an evil angel?”

“I should know quite well if it were Saint Michael or a counterfeit. The first time I was in great doubt if it were Saint Michael; and I was much afraid. I had seen him many times before I knew it was Saint Michael.”

“Why did you recognize him sooner that time, when you say you believed it was he, than the first time he appeared to you?”

“The first time I was a young child, and I was much afraid; afterwards, he had taught me so well, and it was so clear to me, that I believed firmly it was he.”[83]

“What doctrine did he teach you?”

“Above all things he told me to be a good child, and that God would help me,—to come to the help of the King of France, among other things. The greater part of what he taught me is already in the book in which you are writing: he told me of the great misery there was in the Kingdom of France.”

“What was the height and stature of this Angel?”

“On Saturday I will reply, with other things which I should answer, as it shall please God.”

“Do you not think it a great sin, and one which offends Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret who appeared to you, to act against their commands?”

“Yes, certainly; and the greatest I have ever committed, in my opinion, has been the leap from the Tower of Beaurevoir; for the which I have besought their mercy, and for all other offences I may have done against them.”

“Will Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret take bodily vengeance for this offence?”

“I do not know, and did not ask them.”

“You have asserted that, for speaking the truth, men were sometimes hanged: do you, then, know any crime or fault in yourself for which you should die, if you confessed it?”

“I know of none.”

_The following Saturday, March 17th:—Present: Jean Delafontaine, Commissary, assisted by Nicolas Midi, and Gerard Feuillet, in the presence of Ysambard de la Pierre and of Jean Massieu._

The said Jeanne was required to take the oath already made by her. Afterwards, she was again interrogated:

“In what form, kind, size, and dress did Saint Michael come to you?”

“In the form of a true honest man [‘_prud homme_’]; of his dress and the rest I will say nothing more. As to the Angels, I saw them with my eyes; you will hear naught else about it. I believe the deeds and words of Saint Michael, who appeared to me, as firmly as I believe that Our Saviour Jesus Christ suffered Death and Passion for us. And that which makes me believe it, is the good counsel, comfort, and good doctrine which he has given me.”

“Will you, in respect of all your words and deeds, whether good or bad, submit yourself to the decision of our Holy Mother the Church?”

“The Church! I love it, and would wish to maintain it with all my power, for our Christian Faith; it is not I who should be prevented from going to Church and hearing Mass! As to the good deeds I have done and my coming to the King, I must wait on the King of Heaven, who sent me to Charles, King of France, son of Charles, who was King of France. You will see that the French will soon gain a great victory, that God will send such great doings that nearly all the Kingdom of France will be shaken by them. I say it, so that, when it shall come to pass, it may be remembered that I said it.”

“When will this happen?”

“I wait on Our Lord.”

“Will you refer yourself to the decision of the Church?”

“I refer myself to God Who sent me, to Our Lady, and to all the Saints in Paradise. And in my opinion it is all one, God and the Church; and one should make no difficulty about it. Why do you make a difficulty?”

“There is a Church Triumphant in which are God and the Saints, the Angels, and the Souls of the Saved. There is another Church, the Church Militant, in which are the Pope, the Vicar of God on earth, the Cardinals, Prelates of the Church, the Clergy and all good Christians and Catholics: this Church, regularly assembled, cannot err, being ruled by the Holy Spirit. Will you refer yourself to this Church which we have thus just defined to you?”

“I came to the King of France from God, from the Blessed Virgin Mary, from all the Saints of Paradise, and the Church Victorious above, and by their command. To this Church I submit all my good deeds, all that I have done or will do. As to saying whether I will submit myself to the Church Militant, I will not now answer anything more.”

“What do you say on the subject of the female attire which is offered to you, to go and hear Mass?”

“I will not take it yet, until it shall please Our Lord. And if it should happen that I should be brought to judgment, [and that I have to divest myself in Court,][84] I beseech the lords of the Church to do me the grace to allow me a woman’s smock and a hood for my head; I would rather die than revoke what God has made me do; and I believe firmly that God will not allow it to come to pass that I should be brought so low that I may not soon have succour from Him, and by miracle.”

“As you say that you bear a man’s dress by the command of God, why do you ask for a woman’s smock at the point of death?”

“It will be enough for me if it be long.”

“Did your Godmother who saw the fairies pass as a wise woman?”

“She was held and considered a good and honest woman, neither divineress nor sorceress.”

“You said you would take a woman’s dress, that you might be let go: would this please God?”

“If I had leave to go in woman’s dress, I should soon put myself back in man’s dress and do what God has commanded me: I have already told you so. For nothing in the world will I swear not to arm myself and put on a man’s dress; I must obey the orders of Our Lord.”

“What age and what dress had Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret?”

“You have had such answers as you will have from me, and none others shall you have: I have told you what I know of it for certain.”

“Before to-day, did you believe fairies were evil spirits?”

“I know nothing about it.”

“Do you know if Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret hate the English?”

“They love what God loves: they hate what God hates.”

“Does God hate the English?”

“Of the love or hate God may have for the English, or of what He will do for their souls, I know nothing; but I know quite well that they will be put out of France, except those who shall die there, and that God will send victory to the French against the English.”

“Was God for the English when they were prospering in France?”

“I do not know if God hated the French; but I believe that He wished them to be defeated for their sins, if they were in sin.”

“What warrant and what help do you expect to have from Our Lord for wearing this man’s dress?”

“For this dress and for other things that I have done, I wish to have no other recompense than the salvation of my soul.”

“What arms did you offer at Saint Denis?”

“My whole suit of white armour [‘_album harnesium suum_;’ _Gallicè_, ‘_un blanc harnoys_,’] as beseems a soldier, with a sword I had won before Paris.”

“Why did you make this offering?”

“In devotion, and as is the custom of soldiers when they have been wounded. Having been wounded before Paris, I offered them at Saint Denis, because that is the war-cry of France.”

“Did you do it that these arms might be worshipped?”

“No.”

“What was the purpose of these five crosses which were on the sword that you found at Saint Catherine of Fierbois?”

“I know nothing about it.”

“Who prompted you to have painted on your standard Angels with arms, feet, legs, and clothing?”

“I have already answered you.”

“Did you have them painted as they came to see you?”

“No, I had them painted in the way they are painted in the Churches.”

“Did you ever see them in the manner they are painted?”

“I will tell you nothing more.”

“Why did you not have painted the brightness that comes to you with the Angels and the Voices?”

“It was not commanded me.”

_The same day, March 17th, afternoon. Present: The Bishop and the Deputy Inquisitor, assisted by Jean Beaupère, Jacques de Touraine, Nicolas Midi, Pierre Maurice, Gerard Feuillet, Thomas de Courcelles, Jean Delafontaine; in presence of Brother Ysambard de la Pierre and John Gris._

We interrogated the said Jeanne, as follows:

“Did the two Angels painted on your standard represent Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel?”

“They were there only for the honour of Our Lord, Who was painted on the standard. I only had these two Angels represented to honour Our Lord, Who was there represented holding the world.”

“Were the two Angels represented on your standard those who guard the world? Why were there not more of them, seeing that you had been commanded by God to take this standard?”

“The standard was commanded by Our Lord, by the Voices of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, which said to me: ‘Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven’; and because they had said to me ‘Take the standard in the name of the King of Heaven,’ I had this figure of God and of two Angels done; I did all by their command.”

“Did you ask them if, by virtue of this standard, you would gain all the battles wherever you might find yourself, and if you would be victorious?”

“They told me to take it boldly, and that God would help me.”

“Which gave most help, you to your standard, or your standard to you?”

“The victory either to my standard or myself, it was all from Our Lord.”

“The hope of being victorious, was it founded on your standard or on yourself?”

“It was founded on Our Lord and nought else.”

“If any one but you had borne this standard, would he have been as fortunate as you in bearing it?”

“I know nothing about it: I wait on Our Lord.”

“If one of the people of your party had sent you his standard to carry, would you have had as much confidence in it as in that which had been sent to you by God? Even the standard of your King, if it had been sent to you, would you have had as much confidence in it as in your own?”

“I bore most willingly that which had been ordained for me by Our Lord; and, meanwhile, in all I waited upon Our Lord.”

“For what purpose was the sign you put on your letters and these words: ‘_Jhesus Maria_’?”

“The clerks who wrote my letters put it; some told me that it was suitable for me to put these two words: ‘_Jhesus Maria_.’”

“Was it never revealed to you that if you lost your virginity, you would lose your happiness, and that your Voices would come to you no more?”

“That has never been revealed to me.”[85]

“If you were married, do you think your Voices would come?”

“I do not know; I wait on Our Lord.”

“Do you think, and do you firmly believe, that your King did right in killing, or causing to be killed, my Lord the Duke of Burgundy?”

“It was a great injury to the Kingdom of France; and, whatever there may have been between them, God sent me to the help of the King of France.”

“As you have declared to my lord of Beauvais that you will reply to him and his Commissioners as you would before our most holy Lord the Pope, and as there are many questions which you will not answer, would you reply before the Pope more fully than before us?”

“I have answered you all the truth that I know; and if I know anything which comes to my memory that I have left unsaid, I will tell it willingly.”

“Does it not seem to you that you are bound to reply more fully to our Lord the Pope, the Vicar of God, on all that might be asked you touching the Faith and the matter of your conscience, than you should to us?”

“Very well; let me be taken before him, and I will answer before him all I ought to answer.”

“Of what material was one of your rings, on which was written ‘_Jhesus Maria_’?”

“I do not exactly know; if it were of gold, it was not fine gold; I do not know if it were of gold or of brass; there were three crosses on it, and no other mark that I know of, except ‘_Jhesus Maria_.’”

“Why was it that you generally looked at this ring when you were going into battle?”

“For pleasure, and in honour of my father and mother; I had that ring in my hand and on my finger when I touched Saint Catherine as she appeared to me.”

“What part of Saint Catherine?”

“You will have no more about it.”

“Did you ever kiss or embrace Saint Catherine or Saint Margaret?”

“I have embraced them both.”

“Did they smell good?”

“It is well to know, they smelled good.”

“In embracing them, did you feel any heat or anything else?”

“I could not have embraced them without feeling and touching them.”

“What part did you kiss—face or feet?”

“It is more proper and respectful to kiss their feet.”

“Did you not give them crowns?”

“In their honour, I often put crowns on their images in the Churches. As to those who appeared to me, I never gave any to them that I can remember.”

“When you placed crowns of flowers on the tree of which you spoke before, did you put them in honour of those who appeared to you?”

“No.”

“When these Saints came to you, did you do them no reverence? did you bend the knee before them? did you bow?”

“Yes: and, so far as I could do them reverence, I did; I know it is they who are in the Kingdom of Paradise.”

“Do you know nothing of those who came in the air with the fairies?”

“I have never done or known anything about them; but I have heard of them, and that they came on Thursdays; but I do not believe it; I think it is sorcery.”

“Did not they wave your standard round the head of your King when he was consecrated at Rheims?”

“No, not that I know of.”

“Why was it taken to the Church of Rheims for the consecration more than those of other captains?”

“It had shared the pain, it was only right it should share the honour.”

_Meeting at the Bishop’s house of the Doctors and Assessors to consider the Case. Sunday of the Passion of our Saviour, 18th day of the month of March. The Bishop and Jean Lemaître, assisted by twelve Assessors, present._

We, the said Bishop, shewed that Jeanne had lately been questioned during eight days, and that a great number of her replies had been put in writing; to-day we have need of the opinion of the Assessors as to the mode of procedure.

Then We caused to be read a great number of assertions which, by Our order, have been extracted by several Masters from the answers of Jeanne: so that, by means of these assertions, they, the said Assessors, will be able the better to take up the Process as a whole, and thus decide more certainly on what remains to be done.

After this shewing, the said Lords and Masters did deliberate with great solemnity and maturity; and each of them did give us his opinion.

We, the Judges, did then conclude and give order as follows:

Each of the Doctors and Masters shall have the matter to examine and study for his own part in all diligence, and to make research in authentic books for the opinion of the Doctors on each of the said assertions. On Thursday next, We will re-assemble anew to confer upon them. On that day, each one shall submit to Us his opinion.

Besides this, we have given orders that between this and then shall be extracted from the questions and answers of Jeanne certain Articles, which shall be moved against her in the Court before Us, the Judges.

[The Seventy Articles prepared by the Promoter, which form the Act of Accusation for the Trial in Ordinary, were read to Jeanne by Thomas de Courcelles, on Tuesday, March 27th. These Articles will be found, with Jeanne’s replies to them, in the Appendix. The Seventy Articles were afterwards reduced to Twelve by Maître Nicolas Midi. These are given in the Appendix, p. 341.]

_Another Meeting in the Bishop’s house, in which it is decided to compile Articles from the said Extracts._

_And the following Thursday, 22nd March, under the presidence of Us, the Bishop, and Maître Jean Lemaître, assisted by 23 Assessors._

In presence of the above, have been reported sundry assertions gathered and considered in the matter, in a notable and scientific manner, by many Doctors and Masters. In view of these assertions, after having the opinions conferred thereon at length with each of the Assessors, We, the Judges, did conclude and give order that the assertions thus extracted from the register of the declarations of Jeanne shall be drawn up in a very small number of Articles under the form of propositions; that the Articles thus prepared shall be communicated at once to all and each of the Doctors and Masters, who can thus the more easily pronounce their opinion.

On the question of whether Jeanne ought to be again interrogated and examined later on, We will proceed in such sort, with the help of Our Lord, that Our case may be conducted to the praise of God and the exaltation of the Faith, being affected by no blemish.

_The questions are read to Jeanne in prison._

_On the following Saturday, March 24th, in the prison of Jeanne; Maître Jean Delafontaine, Commissioner for Us, the Bishop, and Brother Jean Lemaître; assisted by J. Beaupère, N. Midi, P. Maurice, G. Feuillet, Thomas de Courcelles, Enguerrand de Champrond._

In presence of the above-named, We caused to be read to Jeanne the Register which contained the questions made to her and her answers. This reading was made in the presence of the said Jeanne by G. Manchon, Registrar, and in the French language.

But before proceeding to this reading, Our Promoter, Messire d’Estivet, offered to prove, in case Jeanne should not recognize some of her answers, that all the contents of the said Register, questions and answers, had been pronounced as they were there written. And on her side, Jeanne made oath that, during the reading, which was about to be made, she would add or change nothing in her answers that was not the truth.

The Register was then read. In one place during the reading, Jeanne said:

“I have as surname d’Arc or Rommée: in my country the girls take the name of their mother.”

Further on, she said:

“Let the questions and answers, all that has to be read, be read without stopping: if I do not contradict at all, I hold it true and acknowledged.”

On the subject of the passage relative to her dress, she said in addition:

“Give me a woman’s dress to go and rejoin my mother; I will take it that I may get out of prison, because when I am outside I will consider as to what I should do.”

The reading of the contents of the said Register being finished, she said:

“I believe certainly to have so spoken as it is written in the Register, and as has been read; I do not contradict on any point.”

_Exhortation to Jeanne._

_Palm Sunday, 25th day of March, in the morning, in the prison of Jeanne, in the Castle of Rouen, We, the Bishop, did make an address to Jeanne, in the presence of the venerable Lords and Masters, J. Beaupère, N. Midi, P. Maurice, Thomas de Courcelles._

We told her, that many times already and notably yesterday, she had requested, because of the solemnity of these days and the time, that she might be permitted to hear Mass to-day, Palm Sunday; in consequence, We were come to ask her if, supposing this favour were accorded to her, she would consent to put off her man’s dress, and to take the dress of a woman, as formerly she had been accustomed to wear it in her birth-place, and as worn by all the women of her country?

The said Jeanne answered by again asking of Us permission to hear Mass in the dress she now wears, and in the same dress to receive the Eucharist on Easter Day.

“Reply,” We said to her, “to what we ask you; tell us, in the event of your being permitted to hear Mass, if you will consent to abandon the dress you wear.”

“I have not consulted thereon,” she said, “and cannot yet take a woman’s dress.”

“Do you wish to have counsel of your Saints to know if you ought to take woman’s garments?”

“May I not then,” she said, “be permitted to hear Mass in the state in which I am? I desire it ardently! As to changing my dress, I cannot: it is not in my power.”

All the Assessors then joined themselves with Us, and each exhorted her, for so great a benefit, and to satisfy the feeling of devotion with which she seemed animated, to consent to take the only garment which was suitable to her sex.

“That,” she declared, “is not in my power: if it were, it would soon be done!”

“Speak of it to your Voices,” said the Assessors, “to know if you may again take your woman’s dress, in order that at Easter you may receive the Viaticum.”

“I cannot change my dress: I cannot therefore receive the Viaticum. I beg of you, my Lords, permit me to hear Mass in man’s dress; this dress does not weigh upon my soul, and is not contrary to the laws of the Church.”

Of all the preceding, Master Jean d’Estivet, Promoter, hath asked that there may be delivered to him a Public Instrument, in the presence of the Lords and Masters, Adam Hillet, William Brolbster, and Pierre Orient, of the Clergy of Rouen, London and Châlons, respectively.

THE TRIAL IN ORDINARY

_Here begins the Trial in Ordinary, after the Trial Ex-Officio._

_Monday after Palm Sunday, 26th day of March, in Bishop’s House. Present: The Bishop and Brother Jean Lemaître, assisted by 12 Assessors._

In presence of the above, We caused to be read certain Articles comprising that one which the Promoter intendeth to produce against Jeanne.

After the reading of these Articles, it was decided that, following the preliminary trial until now conducted from our Office, as We, the Bishop, and subsequently We, the Deputy, have decreed and concluded, it will be expedient to proceed henceforward by an action in Ordinary.

It was also decided that the Articles just read have been well put together; that Jeanne should be questioned and heard upon each of them; that these Articles shall be proposed, in the name of the Promoter, by some grave advocate, or by the Promoter himself; that if Jeanne should refuse to answer after a Canonical monition shall have been addressed to her, as a preliminary, the said Articles shall be held as acknowledged.

Following on this decision, We, the Judges, gave order that the Articles of which we treat shall, from to-morrow be proposed by our Promoter; and that Jeanne should be, in like manner, interrogated upon each of them and heard in answer.

_The Promoter presents his petition._

_The next day, Tuesday after Palm Sunday, 27th day of March, in the room near the Great Hall of the Castle of Rouen. The Promoter opened the case. Present: The Bishop and Brother Jean Lemaître, assisted by 38 Assessors._

He then shewed the text of the accusation drawn up by him against Jeanne, in the which are found stated the Articles just spoken of, and of which the tenour shall be written below.

This done, We, the Judges, did request the Lords and Masters here present to deliberate and to give Us their opinion.

This deliberation[86] took place in presence of Jeanne, as follows:

And first, _Maître Nicolas de Venderès_ said: that Jeanne should in the first place be compelled to swear what the Promoter hath rightly demanded; that should Jeanne refuse to swear, she be accounted contumacious and excommunicate, and be proceeded against according to law.

_Maître Jean Pinchon_: That the Articles should first be read to her.

_Maître Jean Basset_: That the Articles should be read to her before she be excommunicated.

_Maître Jean Guerin_: Agrees with preceding.

_Maître Jean Delafontaine_: Of the same opinion as M. Venderès.

_Maître Geoffrey de Crotay_: That she should be given at least three days before being declared excommunicate and convicted; in civil matters there is always a three days’ delay for taking the oath.

_Maître Jean Ledoux_: Agrees with preceding.