Chapter XV: , “A branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in (2)

At all times when the poisoned virus of heresy attaches itself with persistence to a member of the Church and transforms him into a member of Satan, extreme care should be taken to watch that the horrible contagion of this pernicious leprosy do not gain other parts of the mystic Body of Christ. The decisions of the holy Fathers have willed that hardened heretics should be separated from the midst of the Just, so that to the great peril of others this homicidal viper should not be warmed in the bosom of pious Mother Church. It is for this that We, Pierre, by the Divine Mercy, Bishop of Beauvais, and We, Brother Jean Lemaître, Deputy of the renowned Doctor, Jean Graverend, Inquisitor of the Evil of Heresy, specially delegated by him for this Process, both Judges competent in this Trial, already, by a just judgment, have declared this woman fallen into divers errors and divers crimes of schism, idolatry, invocation of demons and many others. But because the Church closes not her bosom to the child who returns to her, we did think that, with a pure spirit and a faith unfeigned, thou hadst put far from thee thy errors and thy crimes, considering that on a certain day thou didst renounce them and didst publicly swear, vow, and promise never to return to thy errors and heresies, to resist all temptations, and to remain faithfully attached to the unity of the Catholic Church and the communion of the Roman Pontiff, as is proved at greater length in a writing signed by thine own hand. But after this abjuration of thine errors, the Author of Schism and Heresy hath arisen in thine heart, which he hath once more seduced, and it hath become manifest by thy spontaneous confessions and assertions—O, shame!—that, as the dog returns again to his vomit, so hast thou returned to thine errors and crimes; and it hath been proved to us in a most certain manner that thou hast renounced thy guilty inventions and thy errors only in a lying manner, not in a sincere and faithful spirit. For these causes, declaring thee fallen again into thine old errors, and under the sentence of excommunication which thou hast formerly incurred, WE DECREE THAT THOU ART A RELAPSED HERETIC, by our present sentence which, seated in tribunal, we utter and pronounce in this writing; we denounce thee as a rotten member, and that thou mayest not vitiate others, as cast out from the unity of the Church, separate from her Body, abandoned to the secular power as, indeed, by these presents, we do cast thee off, separate and abandon thee;—praying this same secular power, so far as concerns death and the mutilation of the limbs, to moderate its judgment towards thee, and, if true signs of penitence should appear in thee, [to permit] that the Sacrament of Penance be administered to thee.

_Here follows the Sentence of Excommunication_, [the introductory part being word for word the same as the previous sentence, read on May 24th, up to the words “We, the Judges, say and decree”; after which follows:]

... that thou hast been on the subject of thy pretended divine revelations and apparitions lying, seducing, pernicious, presumptuous, lightly believing, rash, superstitious, a divineress and blasphemer towards God and the Saints, a despiser of God Himself in His Sacraments; a prevaricator of the Divine Law, of sacred doctrine and of ecclesiastical sanctions; seditious, cruel, apostate, schismatic, erring on many points of our Faith, and by all these means rashly guilty towards God and Holy Church. And also, because that often, very often, not only by Us on Our part but by Doctors and Masters learned and expert, full of zeal for the salvation of thy soul, thou hast been duly and sufficiently warned to amend, to correct thyself and to submit to the disposal, decision, and correction of Holy Mother Church, which thou hast not willed, and hast always obstinately refused to do, having even expressly and many times refused to submit thyself to our lord the Pope and to the General Council; for these causes, as hardened and obstinate in thy crimes, excesses and errors, WE DECLARE THEE OF RIGHT EXCOMMUNICATE AND HERETIC; and after thine errors have been destroyed in a public preaching, We declare that thou must be abandoned and that We do abandon thee to the secular authority, as a member of Satan, separate from the Church, infected with the leprosy of heresy, in order that thou mayst not corrupt also the other members of Christ; praying this same power, that, as concerns death and the mutilation of the limbs, it may be pleased to moderate its judgment; and if true signs of penitence should appear in thee, that the Sacrament of Penance may be administered to thee.

_Attestations by the Registrars._

“I, Boisguillaume, Priest, Registrar above qualified, affirm that I
have duly collated the foregoing document with the original Minute
of the Process; for which reason I have marked this present copy
with my sign manual, the which will be done after me by the two
other Registrars, I signing in this place with my own hand.

(_Signed_) “BOISGUILLAUME.”

“And I, Guillaume Manchon, Priest, of the Diocese of Rouen,
Apostolic and Imperial Notary, I affirm that I assisted in the
collation made of the aforesaid Process, with the Registrars signed
above and below; I affirm that this collation of the present copy
with the original Minute of the Process hath been duly made. For
which, in the same way as the two other Registrars, I have
subscribed the present copy with my own hand, affixing thereto my
sign-manual, to this required.

(_Signed_) “G. MANCHON.”

“And I, Nicholas Taquel, Priest of the Diocese of Rouen, sworn
Imperial Public Notary and of the Archiepiscopal Court of Rouen,
called as Registrar to a part of the foregoing Process, I affirm
that I have seen and heard the present copy collated with the
original register of the said Process; I affirm that this collation
hath been duly made. For which, with the two other Registrars
preceding, I have subscribed with my own hand the present Process,
affixing thereto, here, my sign-manual, to this required.

(_Signed_) “N. TAQUEL.”

[Here follow the seals of the two Judges, marked in red wax on the original copies of the Process, prepared to the number of five.]

SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATIONS[104]
AND
PROCEEDINGS AFTER THE RELAPSE.

_Information given after the Execution on many things said by Jeanne, at the end of her life and in articulo mortis._

Thursday, 7th day of June, 1431, We, the Judges, did _ex-officio_ take information upon certain things which the late Jeanne had said before persons worthy of credit when she was still in prison and before being brought to judgment.

EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES.

1. _The venerable and circumspect_ MAÎTRE NICOLAS DE VENDERÈS, _licentiate in Canon Law, Archdeacon of Eu, hath declared upon oath as follows_:

Wednesday, 30th day of May, Eve of the Feast of Corpus Christi, Jeanne, being still in the prison of the Castle of Rouen where she was detained, did say that considering the Voices which came to her had promised she should be delivered from prison, and that she now saw the contrary, she realized and knew she had been, and still was, deceived by them. Jeanne did, besides, say and confess that she had seen with her own eyes and heard with her own ears the apparitions and Voices mentioned in the Case.

At this were present, you, the Judges aforesaid, and besides Maître Pierre Maurice, Thomas de Courcelles, Nicolas Loyseleur, Brother Martin Ladvenu, Jean Toutmouillé, Jacques Lecamus, and several others.

BROTHER MARTIN LADVENU, _Priest of the Order of Saint Dominic, did say and depose, upon oath, as follows_:

On the morning of the day on which sentence was delivered and before she was brought to judgment, Jeanne, in presence of Maître Pierre Maurice, Nicolas Loyseleur, and Brother Jean Toutmouillé, who were with me, did say and confess that she knew and recognized that the Voices and apparitions which had come to her, mentioned in the Case, had deceived her, because they had promised she should be delivered and freed from prison; and that she certainly now saw clearly the contrary.

Asked by the Bishop: Who induced Jeanne so to speak?

Replied: Pierre Maurice, Nicolas Loyseleur, and I exhorted her to save her soul, and asked her if it were true that she had these Voices and apparitions? She replied that it was indeed true, and she continued so to tell us up to the end, but without stating decidedly, at least, so far as I understood, under what form the apparitions came to her. All I remember is that she said they came to her in great multitude and in the smallest size [_in magnâ multitudine et quantitate minimâ_]. Besides, I did at this time hear Jeanne say and confess that, inasmuch as the Clergy held and believed that if they were spirits who came to her they proceeded from evil spirits, she also held and believed as did the Clergy, and would no longer put faith in these spirits. And as it appeared to me, Jeanne was then of a sound mind.

Brother Martin Ladvenu did add this: The same day I heard Jeanne say that, although she had stated in her avowals and confessions, and had affirmed above in the course of the Case, that an Angel from God had brought a crown to him whom she called her King, with all other details connected with this fact in the interrogatories, nevertheless, of her free-will and without being constrained thereto, she did this day confess as follows: that in spite of all she had affirmed on the subject of this Angel, no Angel had brought the crown; it was she, Jeanne, who had been the Angel, and who said and promised to him whom she called her King, that, if he would set her to the work, she would have him crowned at Rheims. There was no other crown sent from God, in spite of all she might have affirmed in the course of the Case on the subject of the crown and the sign given to him whom she called her King.

_The venerable and discreet_ MAÎTRE PIERRE MAURICE, _Professor in Theology, Canon of Rouen, deposed, upon oath, as follows_:

The day of the sentence, Jeanne being still in the prison, I repaired to her in the morning to exhort her to save her soul. In so exhorting her, I asked her what was the Angel mentioned in the Trial, who, according to her, had brought a crown to him whom she called her King?

She replied that it was herself who was the Angel.

Having questioned her afterwards on the subject of the crown which she had promised to her King, of the multitude of Angels who at that time accompanied her, she replied that it was true that Angels appeared to her under the form of very minute things. Finally, I asked her if this apparition were real? “Yes,” she replied, “the spirits did really appear to me—be they good or be they evil spirits—they did appear to me.” She also said that she had in particular heard her Voices at the hour of Compline, when the bells rang, and in the morning also, when the bells rang. And when I told her that they were evil spirits—in this, that they had promised her deliverance and had deceived her—“It is true,” she replied, “they have deceived me.” I also heard her declare that to know whether they were good or evil spirits, she referred to the Clergy. When she thus spoke, Jeanne, so far as it seemed to me, was sound in mind and understanding.

BROTHER JEAN TOUTMOUILLÉ, _Priest, of the Order of Saint Dominic, did say and declare upon oath as follows_:

The day that sentence was given upon Jeanne, Wednesday, Eve of the Feast of Corpus Christi, I accompanied Brother Martin Ladvenu, who, early in the morning, repaired to her to exhort her to save her soul. I first heard Maître Pierre Maurice, who had gone earlier to her, declare she had confessed that all which concerned the crown was fiction: that it was she who was the Angel. The said Master reported all this to us in Latin. Afterwards, Jeanne was questioned on the subject of the Voices and apparitions which had come to her. She replied that she had really heard voices, chiefly when the bells rang Compline or Matins; and she persisted in saying this, although Maître Pierre Maurice told her that, sometimes when the bells rang, one thought one could hear and catch the sounds of human voices. Jeanne did also say and confess that she had had apparitions which came to her in great multitude and in minute quantity—that is to say, under small forms;—she did not perfectly explain the form, or kind, of her apparitions. The same day, after you, the Bishop, had come in with the Lord Deputy Inquisitor into the room where she was detained, you said to Jeanne in French, “Now then, Jeanne, you always told us that your Voices assured you that you would be delivered: you see now how they have deceived you; tell us the truth now.” “Truly,” Jeanne replied to you, “I see indeed that they have deceived me!” I did not hear her say more, save only that, early in the same day, before you were come to the prison, Jeanne, being asked if her Voices and apparitions proceeded from good or evil spirits, did reply: “I know not—I wait on my Mother, the Church,” or “I wait on you, who are of the Church.” And, so far as it seemed to me, Jeanne was at this time of sound mind; I heard Jeanne herself then declare that she was of sound mind.

MESSIRE JACQUES LECAMUS, _Priest, Canon of Rheims, did say and declare upon oath as follows_:

Wednesday, Eve of the Feast of Corpus Christi, I went with you, the Bishop, into the room of the Castle of Rouen where Jeanne was detained, and there I heard Jeanne say and confess, publicly and in a voice loud enough to be heard by all those present, that she had had apparitions and had also heard Voices; that these apparitions and Voices had promised her that she should be delivered from prison; but now she saw in truth that they had deceived her, and, for having thus deceived her, she believed they could not be good Voices nor good things. A little while after, she confessed her sins to Brother Martin, of the Order of Saint Dominic. After the Sacrament of Confession and Penitence, when the same Brother was about to administer the Sacrament of the Eucharist to her, and already held in his hands the Consecrated Host, “Do you believe,” he asked her, “that this is the Body of Christ?” “Yes,” she replied, “and I believe that He alone can deliver me; I ask that It may be administered to me.” After the Communion, the same Brother said to her: “Do you still believe in your Voices?” “I believe in God only,” she answered, “and will no more put faith in my Voices, for having deceived me on this point.”

MAÎTRE THOMAS DE COURCELLES, _Master of Arts, Bachelor of Theology, did say and depose, upon oath, as follows_:

Wednesday, Vigil of the Feast of Corpus Christi, being in the presence of you, the Bishop, in the room of the Castle of Rouen where Jeanne was detained, I heard and understood that you asked Jeanne if it were not true that her Voices had promised to deliver her? She replied that her Voices had truly promised this, and had told her to keep a good countenance; and, “as it seems to me,” she added, “I see indeed that I have been deceived.” And then you, the Bishop, said to Jeanne, that now she could certainly see her Voices to be only evil spirits and that they did not come from God; for, had they been of such a nature, they would never have said a false thing and thus have lied.

MAÎTRE NICOLAS LOYSELEUR, _Master of Arts, Canon of Rouen and Chartres, said and declared, upon oath, as follows_:

Wednesday, the Vigil of the Feast of Corpus Christi, I repaired in the morning with the venerable Maître Pierre Maurice, to the place where Jeanne, commonly called the Maid, was detained, to exhort and admonish her on the subject of the salvation of her soul. She was besought to speak truth on the subject of that Angel who, she had declared, had brought to him she called her King a crown, very precious, and of the purest gold: she was pledged not to hide the truth, inasmuch as nothing more remained to her but to think of her own salvation. Then I heard her declare that it was she herself who had brought him she called her King the crown in question; that it was she who was the Angel of whom she had spoken; and that there had been no other Angel but herself. Asked if she had really sent a crown to him whom she called her King, she replied that he had no other crown but the promise of his coronation—a promise she had made in giving to her King the assurance that he would be crowned. In the presence of Maître Pierre Maurice, of the two Dominicans, of you, the Bishop, and of several others, I heard her many times declare that “she had really had revelations and apparitions of spirits; that these revelations had deceived her; that she recognized it in this, that they had promised her deliverance, and that she now saw the contrary; that she was willing to refer to the Clergy to know if these spirits were good or evil; that she did not put, and would no more put, faith in them.” I exhorted her, to destroy the error that she had sown among the people, to declare publicly that she had herself been deceived, and that through her fault she had deceived the people by putting faith in these revelations and in counselling the people to believe in them; and I told her it was necessary that she should humbly ask pardon. She told me she would do it willingly, but that she did not think she would be able to remember, when the proper moment came—that is to say, when she found herself in the presence of the people; she prayed her Confessor to remind her of this point and of all else which might tend to her salvation. From all this, and from many other indications, I conclude that Jeanne was then of sound mind. She shewed great penitence and great contrition for her crimes. I heard her, in the prison, in presence of a great number of witnesses, and subsequently after sentence, ask, with much contrition of heart, pardon of the English and Burgundians for having caused to be slain, beaten, and damned, a great number of them, as she recognized.

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Footnote 99:

Several versions of the reasons which caused Jeanne to resume the
forbidden dress were given in the evidence taken at the
Rehabilitation, all purporting to have come from her. According to
Massieu, her woman’s dress was taken away while she was asleep, and
the English soldiers refused to give it back to her, offering in its
stead the man’s dress she had previously worn, ‘which they emptied
from a sack.’ She refused to wear it, reminding them that it was
forbidden her; but at last, at mid-day, finding them deaf to her
remonstrance, she was obliged to rise and attire herself in the
prohibited garments. The Dominican Brothers declared that she had been
assaulted by an English milord, as she told them, and that she
therefore considered it necessary to return to the protection of her
old dress; but considering the type of soldier in whose care she was
placed, there seems no need to seek for any further explanation than
her own, as given in the text, and as later corroborated by Manchon
and De Courcelles. In the Rehabilitation Enquiry, both Jean de Metz
and de Poulengey claim to have suggested the male attire. At Poitiers,
Jeanne herself stated that she had adopted it as most suitable to her
work and the company she must share.

Footnote 100:

This request is found only in the Minute.

Footnote 101:

In the margin, the Registrar has written against this answer:
“_Responsio mortifera_.”

Footnote 102:

An appointment equivalent to a Rural Dean.

Footnote 103:

Brothers Ysambard de la Pierre and Martin Ladvenu.

Footnote 104:

Not included in the Official Text of the Trial.