NOTE ON ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS OF THE PROCESS OF CONDEMNATION

1. The Minute.

The original French notes of the Trial, taken down at the time by the Registrars, formed the material on which the Authentic Document was subsequently based. A part of this original MS. is still in existence in the National Library at Paris, and is known as the ‘MS. D’UrfÉ.’ It begins with March 3rd, the day of the last Public Examination, and is apparently in the handwriting of Manchon, the Registrar, who had the whole in his own possession at the time of the Trial of Rehabilitation. The Fragment was discovered among the MSS. of the D’UrfÉ Library in the reign of Louis XVI. by Laverdy.

2. The Authentic Document.

This was the original Latin translation of the Minute, made by Thomas de Courcelles, signed by the Registrars, and attested by the seals of the two Judges. No trace of this first document can be found; but the Bishop of Beauvais caused five complete and legally attested copies to be made, three of these being in the writing of Manchon, the Registrar, of which there are still in existence, (1) Copy made for the King of England, now in the Library of the Corps LÉgislatif in Paris; (2) Copy for the Bishop of Beauvais, formerly in the Colbert Library; and (3) Copy for the Inquisitor, formerly in the Dupuy Library—the last two being now in the National Library at Paris. The two other copies are lost, one having been sent to the Pope, whilst the other was the property of Manchon himself.

Besides these Original Documents, there are also seven copies of the Process, of different dates: five in the National Library, one in the Vatican, and one at Geneva.

In the Preface to the Authentic Document of the Rehabilitation, the Notaries, Denis Lecomte and FranÇois Ferrebouc, state that they have prepared under their seals three copies of the Process of Rehabilitation, one containing also the entire Process of the Trial of Condemnation: this Copy is unfortunately lost. The two still in existence, both in the National Library of Paris, contain only the text of the Trial of 1455–6. In one of these Manuscripts are inserted the Eight Memorials presented to the Holy See in favour of Jeanne.

The Second Manuscript contains only the Memorial of Gerson. Other Documents connected with the Enquiries may be found in Quicherat, Vol. II., and in Lanery d’Arc’s MÉmoires et Consultations en faveur de Jeanne d’Arc, the most important being the Opinions of sundry learned Doctors given in 1452, and the Recollectio of Jean BrÉhal in 1456.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO THE TRIAL

In order to understand more fully the course of events in the last year of Jeanne’s life, it may be well to give in some detail the story of her capture at CompiÈgne on May 23rd, 1430, and of the negotiations and legal preliminaries which preceded the opening of the Case in the following February. Strangely enough, there is in the Trial of Rehabilitation absolutely no witness to this period. It may therefore be more satisfactory to quote at some length from the contemporary Chronicles, which, as regards the Capture itself, are fortunately very explicit.

In the early dawn of Tuesday, May 23rd, Jeanne started from Crespy with about 400 followers to reinforce the garrison of CompiÈgne, then besieged by the combined forces of England and Burgundy. Of the events of that day there is no better account than that given in the Chronicle of Percival de Cagny,^[213] which reads as follows:—

‘The 23rd day of the month of May, the Maid, being in the said place of Crespy, learned that the Duke of Burgundy,^[214] with a great number of men-at-arms and others, and the Earl of Arundel, had come to besiege the said town of CompiÈgne. About midnight she departed from the said place of Crespy, in the company of 300 or 400 fighting men. And although her followers said to her, that she had too few people with her to pass through the army of the Burgundians and of the English, she exclaimed: “By my staff! [Par mon martin!] we are enough; I am going to see my good friends of CompiÈgne.”

‘She arrived at the said place about sunrise, and, without loss or disturbance either to herself or to her followers, she entered the said town. On the same day the Burgundians and English had come to make an assault in the field before the said town. There were done many feats of arms on the one side and on the other. The Burgundians and English, knowing that the Maid was in the town, thought that those within would sally forth in great strength, and for this the Burgundians placed a strong ambush of their followers under cover of a lofty mountain near by, named the Mount of Clairoy. And, about nine in the morning, the Maid heard that the assault was hot and fierce in the field before the said town. She armed herself and her followers, mounted on horseback, and went to join the mÊlÉe. And no sooner was she come than the enemy turned back and were put to flight. The Maid charged hard upon the flank of the Burgundians. Those in ambush gave warning to their followers, who turned back in great disorder, and then, breaking up their ambuscade, they spurred on to place themselves between the town-bridge and the Maid and her company. And the one part of them turned right on the Maid in such force that those of her company could not withstand them, and said to the Maid, “Strive hard to regain the town, or you and we are lost.”

‘When the Maid heard them speak thus, she cried to them, angrily, “Silence! It only depends on you to discomfit them. Think only of striking them down.” But whatsoever she might say, these people would not believe it, and forcibly compelled her to withdraw to the bridge. And when the Burgundians and English saw that she was returning to the town, they, by supreme effort, reached the end of the bridge. And great feats of arms were done there. The captain of the place, seeing vast multitudes of Burgundians and English about to cross the bridge, for the fear that he had of the loss of the place, commanded the bridge of the town to be raised and the gates closed. And there remained the Maid hemmed in without, and few of her followers with her. When her enemies saw this, all made effort to seize her. She resisted stoutly against them, but in the end was taken by five or six acting together, some laying hands on her, others on her horse, and each saying, “Surrender to me and give parole.” She answered and said, “I have sworn and given my parole to Another than you, and to Him will I give my oath.” And, saying these words, she was taken to the lodging of Messire Jehan de Luxembourg.

‘Messire Jehan de Luxembourg^[215] had her kept in his lodging for three or four days; and, after that, he remained at the siege of the said town and had the Maid sent to a castle named Beaulieu, in Vermandois. And there was she kept prisoner during the space of four months or thereabouts. After this, the said de Luxembourg, by means of the Bishop of ThÉrouanne,^[216] his brother, and Chancellor of France for the English King, delivered her to the Duke of Bedford, Lieutenant in France for the King of England, his nephew, for the price of fifteen or sixteen thousand saluts [the salut being worth about £1] paid to the said de Luxembourg. Thus was the Maid put into the hands of the English and taken to the Castle of Rouen, at which the said Duke then held his residence. She being in prison in the said Castle of Beaulieu, he who had been her steward^[217] before her capture, and who served her in prison, said to her, “That poor town of CompiÈgne, which you have so much loved up to this time, will fall again into the hands and the power of the enemies of France!”

‘And she answered him, “It will not be, for all the places which the King of Heaven hath subdued and put into the hands and jurisdiction of the gentle King Charles by my means, will not be retaken by his enemies, so long as he will take pains to keep them.”’

The following additional details in regard to the Capture of the Maid are taken from George Chatellain’s Histoire de Philippe Le Bon:—‘The Maid, passing the nature of woman, did bear great weight, and took much pains to preserve her company from loss, remaining in the rear as becomes the chief and as the most valiant of the troop, when fortune did so permit, for the ending of her glory and for the last time that ever she should bear arms. An archer, a hard man and very churlish, having great spite that a woman of whom he had heard so much talk should drive back so many valiant men as she had done, caught her from one side by her surcoat of cloth-of-gold, and dragged her from her horse to the ground: she could find neither rescue nor help from her followers that she might be remounted, notwithstanding the pains they took. But a man-at-arms, named the Bastard de Wandonne,^[218] who arrived just as she fell, pressed her so closely that she gave him her parole, for that he said he was a man of noble birth. The which man-at-arms, more joyful than if he had gotten a king into his hands, took her hastily to Marigny, and there kept her under guard till the end of the affair. And there were taken also with her, Pouthon the Burgundian, a gentleman-at-arms of the French party; the brother of the Maid; her steward; and certain others, in small numbers, who were taken to Marigny and held in safe keeping.’

On the same day, the Duke of Burgundy wrote the following letter to the people of Saint Quentin:—

‘By order of the Duke of Burgundy, Count of Flanders, Artois, Burgundy, and Namur.

‘Very dear and well-beloved, knowing that you desire to have news of us, we signify to you that this day, the 23rd May, towards six o’clock in the afternoon, the adversaries of our Lord the King [Henry VI.] and of us, who were assembled together in great power, and entrenched in the town of CompiÈgne, before which we and the men of our army were quartered, have made a sally from the said town in force on the quarters of our advanced guard nearest to them, in the which sally was she whom they call the Maid, with many of their principal captains. In the encounter with whom, our fair cousin, Messire Jehan de Luxembourg, who was there present, and others of our people, and some of the people of our Lord the King whom he had sent before us to pass over to Paris, made great and bitter resistance. And presently we arrived in person and found that the said adversaries were already driven back, and by the pleasure of our blessed Creator, it had so happened and such grace had been granted to us, that the said Maid had been taken; and with her many captains, knights, squires and others were taken, drowned, and killed, of whom to this hour we yet know not the names, only that none of our followers nor the followers of my Lord the King are either killed or taken, and that only twenty are wounded, thanks to God. The which capture, as we certainly hold, will be great news everywhere; and by it will be recognized the error and foolish belief of all those who have shewn themselves well-disposed and favourable to the doings of the said woman. And this thing we write for our news, hoping that in it you will have joy, comfort, and consolation, and will render thanks and praise to our Creator, Who seeth and knoweth all things, and Who by His blessed pleasure will conduct the rest of our enterprizes to the good of our said Lord the King and his kingdom, and to the relief and comfort of his good and loyal subjects.

‘Very dear and well-beloved, the Holy Spirit have you in His Holy Keeping.

‘Written at Codun, near CompiÈgne, the 23rd day of May. Subscribed: To our very dear and good friends the Clergy, citizens and inhabitants of Saint Quentin, in Vermandois.’

In the Notes of Clement de Fauquembergue, Registrar of the Parliament of Paris, occurs the following passage:—‘Thursday, the 25th day of May, 1430, Messire Louis de Luxembourg, Bishop of ThÉrouanne, Chancellor of France, received letters from Messire Jean de Luxembourg, Knight, his brother, making mention, among other things, that on Tuesday last, in a sally made by the captains and men-at-arms of Messire Charles de Valois, then in the town of CompiÈgne, against the people of the Duke of Burgundy, encamped and come against the said town with the intention of besieging it, the people of the said De Valois were in such manner compelled to retreat that many of them had no time to enter again into the said town. And many of them threw themselves into the river adjacent to the walls, to the peril of their lives; others remained prisoners of the said Messire Jean de Luxembourg, and the followers of the said Duke of Burgundy, who, among others, seized and held prisoner this woman whom the followers of the said Messire Charles called the Maid.’^[219]

The news of the Maid’s capture was received in Paris with much rejoicing,^[220] and Te Deums were ordered to be sung in the Churches. The University and the Inquisition at once took up the matter, and wrote on the following day, May 26th, to the Duke of Burgundy, requesting him to claim the prisoner as a heretic against the Church. Six weeks later, on July 14th, letters were sent from the University both to the Duke and to Jean de Luxembourg to the same effect. On the same day, Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, acting for the Regent Bedford, arrived at the Burgundian camp to negotiate for the purchase of the Maid. He claimed her as a prisoner of the Church, but nevertheless offered the usual ransom of a king, 10,000 livres tournois [about £16,000 of our present value].

The arrangements presented, however, matters of long deliberation. The Duke and Jean de Luxembourg, whether from scruples of conscience or in hope of still higher ransom from the party of the King of France, were in no hurry to part with their prisoner. She had been removed to the Castle of Beaulieu at the end of May; and here she remained until August, with her faithful follower d’Aulon still in attendance on her. No records remain of her sojourn; but she herself gives evidence at the Trial of her attempt to escape, which was all but successful. Early in August, she was sent to Beaurevoir, where for a time she had the society of the wife and the aunt of Jean de Luxembourg. Of the latter, the Countess de Ligny, she spoke at the Trial in terms of great affection. Whilst at Beaurevoir, she heard of the negotiations for her delivery to the English. In despair for herself, and overwhelmed with grief for the sorrows of her beloved friends of CompiÈgne, who were then in great straits, she threw herself^[221] from the top of the Keep, a height of sixty feet, hoping, as she afterwards said, at least to escape from her enemies. She was taken up, stunned, but not severely injured by her fall, and was kept in closer ward until, in the middle of November, the arrangements for her purchase were completed. From Beaurevoir she was removed to Arras; thence to Crotoy, where she was handed over to the tender mercies of the English, who kept her, in comparatively easy confinement, until it should be decided where the Trial was to take place—the University claiming her for Paris, the Regent preferring to keep her more strictly within his own power. In December, a decision was arrived at. Rouen was fixed upon as the most suitable place, both as a stronghold of the English and as the residence of the Regent and the Court. To Rouen, accordingly, the Maid was brought, and there lodged in a tower of the Castle, under the guard of English soldiers.

The room in which she was confined was situated in a tower of the Castle of Rouen, now no longer in existence; it was on the first floor, up eight steps;^[222] not far from the back entrance,^[223] and facing the fields.^[224] There were three keys to the prison: one retained by the Cardinal of England or his Secretary, one kept by the Inquisitor, and one by the Promoter.^[225] The Maid was under the close surveillance of five common soldiers (houcepailliers), three of whom remained in the room day and night, while two guarded the door.^[226] She was heavily ironed, and chained to a beam which crossed the end of her bed.^[227] It is reported also that a cage, in which she could stand upright had been made for her; but, although this is mentioned by several persons, no one can remember to have seen it in use. The Castle being under the control of the Governor, the Earl of Warwick, the captive was officially in his hands; and for this reason the guardians appointed later to see to her safe custody were members of his household or of the Royal Bodyguard: John Gris or Grey, Talbot, and Berwoist, whose commission is made out by the authority of the Bishop on March 13th.

Many of the Assessors considered that Jeanne should have been placed in the prisons of the Church, and not left in the hands of the English. Lefevre remarks that no one dared say this; and De Courcelles states that it was never brought up as a matter for consultation, although Ladvenu refers to a discussion at the first Session, during which, in response to a generally expressed opinion that Jeanne should be placed under Ecclesiastical ward, the Bishop announced that this could not be done “for fear of the English.” At this first Session, February 21st, neither Ladvenu nor De Courcelles was present.

The Trial opened, according to the Official Report, on January the 9th. It was based on the Procedure of the trials of the Holy Office; and, although the Inquisitor himself was not officially present until a month later, the Inquisitorial form was punctiliously observed. This form was as follows:—

This Procedure was carefully observed in the case of Jeanne. The process ex officio, beginning in January, with the suppressed Domremy Enquiry, comprised the Six Public and Nine Private Examinations, and ended with the drawing up of the Seventy Articles, the Act of Accusation, on March 26th. The Process in Ordinary began on March 27th, with the reading of the Seventy Articles and Jeanne’s examination upon them. She was brought into the Torture Chamber on May the 9th; but the decision of the greater number of the Assessors being against the use of extreme measures, nothing was done. The Sentence was read on May 24th, condemning her to perpetual imprisonment.

Of the legality of the Trial there were grave doubts, expressed both at the beginning and also later on, when some opportunity had been given by the Public Examinations for those not absolutely prejudiced against the Accused, to form an opinion as regards the impartiality of the Judges. On the first day, Houppeville, whose testimony was given in full at the Rehabilitation, was present in Court; but, having dared to express his opinion that the action to be undertaken was fraught with some danger, he was afterwards refused admission, and was sent for by the Bishop to be reprimanded. As he was not in the Diocese of Beauvais he refused submission; but his appeal to his own Chapter at Rouen was disregarded, and he was thrown into prison, from which he was only released some days later through the intervention of the Abbot of JumiÈges.

Lohier, a celebrated legal authority, who was present in Rouen during the earlier part of the Examination, expressed his opinions to the Bishop at some length, stating that the whole Trial was absolutely worthless: (1) on account of its form, (2) that the Assessors were not at liberty to hold their own views, the Trial being in the Castle and therefore not in open Court, (3) that no opportunity was given to the party of the French King to speak for themselves, (4) that Jeanne herself was allowed no Counsel,^[228] nor had proper documents been prepared to support the Accusation. The Bishop, furious at this interference, summoned a meeting at his house to discuss the matter, and announced his decision to take no notice of the opinions thus expressed, but to continue as before. On the following day, Lohier left Rouen, remarking to the Registrar of the Trial: “It seems to me they act more from hate than aught else: and for this reason I will not stay here, for I do not wish to be in it.”

Massieu, the Usher of the Court, afterwards stated that Jeanne had asked for Counsel, and had been refused; but there is no reference to any such request in the message he gives from her at the time of her citation.^[229]

The Bishop’s violent resentment at any interference is noted by more than one witness; and, indeed, the whole conduct of the Trial may be not inaptly described in the words of one of the Assessors, MaÎtre Grouchet: “all was violence in this affair.”

The Trial itself was held in the Castle of Rouen, where Henry VI. had just been spending Christmas in state.

At the First Session, in the Castle Chapel, the noise and disturbance were so great that it was decided that future Sessions should be held in a smaller room, and from this time the Court met in the Ornament Room, opening from the Great Hall. Two Englishmen kept the door.^[230]

The Meetings of May 19th and May 29th, preliminary to the closing of the First and Second Processes, respectively were held outside the Castle in the Chapel of the Archiepiscopal Manor, possibly with a view to giving an air of greater publicity to the proceedings. The room in which the instruments of torture were exhibited to Jeanne is on the ground-floor of the only part of the old Castle now standing, called the Great Tower. The smaller tower, in which Jeanne’s prison was situated, was still in ruins until the beginning of the present century, and went by the name of the Tower of La Pucelle; but it has now entirely disappeared.

The three Registrars, Manchon, Boisguillaume, and Taquel (the last only after March 14th), were seated at the feet of the Judges. The clerks of BeaupÈre and Erard, Jean de Monnet and Jean de Lenozelles, were sometimes with them; two English clerks, under the direction of Loyseleur, were hidden behind a curtain.^[231]

Jeanne was seated on a chair, and questioned, generally from 8 to 11 a.m., by the Bishop and the six University Delegates. Sometimes they all spoke together, insomuch that Jeanne protested: “Beaux Seigneurs, faites l’un aprÈs l’autre.”^[232]

In the evidence given at the Rehabilitation, we learn that on more than one occasion Jeanne received advice from friendly Assessors, notably from Brother Duval and Brother Ysambard de la Pierre; but their well-meant interference seems only to have further incensed her Judges against her, and occasionally produced a violent altercation.

On the other hand, Jeanne was cruelly misled by Nicolas Loyseleur, one of the Canons of Rouen, who disguised himself as a fellow-countryman of the Marches of Lorraine, and, by false messages from her friends, wormed himself into the confidence of the Maid, even inducing her to allow him to act as her Confessor: nor did he scruple to report any admission she might make to the Bishop and the Inquisitor. The Registrars, Manchon and Boisguillaume, were even required by Cauchon to place themselves in a room adjoining the prison, provided with a so-called “Judas” ear, in order that they might take notes of the conversation between the prisoner and Loyseleur: but this, to their everlasting honour, they refused to do.

The Registrars appear to have had their difficulties from the very beginning. The notes taken by them at the morning sittings were read over in the presence of some of the Assessors at the Bishop’s lodgings in the afternoon, and compared with those made by the concealed English clerks. Differences of opinion arose very often; but the officials refused to allow their own notes to be overridden, and, whenever any disputed point was referred to the Accused, their version was always found to be correct. These notes were finally drawn up by Manchon in a complete form, and upon them is based the whole account of the Trial as it appears in the Latin translation, the subsequent work of Thomas de Courcelles.

ACT OF ACCUSATION PREPARED BY THE PROMOTER

[The Seventy Articles, prepared by the Promoter, d’Estivet, which form the Accusation of the Trial in Ordinary, were read to Jeanne by Thomas de Courcelles, on Tuesday, March 27th. In her replies, here given, Jeanne refers constantly to previous answers. The dates of Examinations, in which these are said to occur, follow in notes.]

Article I. And first, according to Divine Law, as according to Canon and Civil Law, it is to you, the Bishop, as Judge Ordinary, and to you, the Deputy, as Inquisitor of the Faith, that it appertaineth to drive away, destroy, and cut out from the roots in your Diocese and in all the kingdom of France, heresies, witchcrafts, superstitions, and other crimes of that nature; it is to you that it appertaineth to punish, to correct and to amend heretics and all those who publish, say, profess, or in any other manner act against our Catholic Faith: to wit, sorcerers, diviners, invokers of demons, those who think ill of the Faith, all criminals of this kind, their abettors and accomplices, apprehended in your Diocese or in your jurisdiction, not only for the misdeeds they may have committed there, but even for the part of their misdeeds that they may have committed elsewhere, saving, in this respect, the power and duty of the other Judges competent to pursue them in their respective dioceses, limits, and jurisdictions. And your power as to this exists against all lay persons, whatever be their estate, sex, quality, and pre-eminence: in regard to all you are competent Judges.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I believe surely that our Lord the Pope of Rome, the Bishops, and other Clergy, are established to guard the Christian Faith and punish those who are found wanting therein: but as for me, for my doings I submit myself only to the Heavenly Church—that is to say, to God, to the Virgin Mary, and to the Saints in Paradise. I firmly believe I have not wavered in the Christian Faith, nor would I waver.”

Article II. The Accused, not only this year, but from her infancy, and not only in your Diocese, Bishop, and your jurisdiction, Deputy, but also in many other places of this kingdom, hath done, composed, contrived and ordained a number of sacrileges and superstitions: she made herself a diviner; she caused herself to be adored and venerated; she hath invoked demons, and evil spirits; consulted them, associated with them, hath made and had with them compacts, treaties, and conventions, hath made use of them, hath furnished to others, acting in the same manner, aid, succour, and favour, and hath, in much, led them on to act like herself; she hath said, affirmed, and maintained that to act thus, to use witchcraft, divinations, superstitions, was not a sin, was not a forbidden thing, but, on the contrary, a thing lawful, to be praised, worthy of approval; also she hath led into these errors and evil doings a very great number of persons of divers estates, of both sexes, and hath imprinted on their hearts the most fatal errors. Jeanne hath been taken and arrested within the limits of your diocese of Beauvais, in the very act (flagrante delicto) of perpetrating all these misdoings.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I deny ever having used witchcraft, superstitious works, or divinations. As to allowing myself to be adored, if any kissed my hands and my garments, it was not my doing or by my wish; I sought to protect myself from it, and to prevent it as much as in me lay. And as for the rest of the Article, I deny it.”

Article III. The Accused hath fallen into many diverse and detestable errors which reek of heresy. She hath said, vociferated, uttered, published and inculcated within the hearts of the simple, false and lying propositions allied to heresy, even themselves heretical, contrary to our Catholic Faith and its principles, to Gospel rules, and to the Statutes established or approved by General Councils; propositions, contrary not only to the Divine Law but also to Canon and Civil Law; propositions scandalous, sacrilegious, contrary to good manners, offensive to pious ears: she hath furnished help, counsel and favour to the people who dogmatized, affirmed, or promulgated such propositions.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I deny it, and on the contrary affirm that I have always upheld the Church so far as it lay in my power.”

Article IV. But it is time to instruct you more fully and more directly, my Lords and Judges, on the offences, excesses, crimes, and misdemeanours, committed by the Accused in the diocese of Beauvais and elsewhere, in many and divers places.

It is true that the Accused was born in the village of Grus [Greux], of Jacques d’Arc and Isabelle, his wife; that she lived until seventeen years old or thereabouts in the village of Domremy, on the Meuse, in the diocese of Toul, in the Bailly of Chaumont, in Bassigny, in the provosty of MontclÈre and Andelot. In her childhood, she was not instructed in the beliefs and principles of our Faith; but by certain old women she was initiated in the science of witchcraft, divination, superstitious doings, and magical arts. Many inhabitants of these villages have been known for all time as using these kinds of witchcraft: Jeanne hath herself said that she learned from several, notably from her godmother, many things touching her visions and the apparitions of fairies; through others also, she hath been penetrated by the detestable and pernicious errors of these evil spirits—so much so, that, in these interrogations before you, she hath confessed that even now she doth not know if these fairies were evil spirits or not.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“For the first part it is true, in so far as concerns my father, my mother, and the place of my birth. As to the fairies, I do not know what they are. On what touches my teaching, I learnt to believe, and have been brought up well and duly to do what a good child ought to do. For what concerns my godmother, I refer to what I have said on another occasion. You ask me to say the Creed? Ask my confessor, to whom I said it.”

Article V. Near the village of Domremy there is a great tree, big and ancient; it is called “the Charmed Tree of the Fairy of Bourlement”: near by is a spring; round this tree and this spring live, it is said, evil spirits called fairies, with whom those who use witchcraft are accustomed to come and dance at night.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“For the tree and the spring, I refer to my previous answers. The rest, I deny.”^[233]

Article VI. Accustomed to frequent this tree and this spring, above all by night, sometimes also by day, but at the times when the Church celebrates the Divine Office, Jeanne, in order to find herself more alone, danced roundelays around this tree and this spring; from time to time she hung from its branches garlands of herbs and flowers woven by her own hands, accompanying her dances with songs mingled with invocations, sorceries, and other witchcrafts: the garlands thus left overnight on the following morning were not to be found.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer for a part to my previous answers; the rest I deny.”^[234]

Article VII. Jeanne was in the habit of carrying about with her a mandrake, hoping thereby to secure fortune and riches in this world, she, in fact, believed that the mandrake has the virtue of procuring fortune.

“What have you to say about the mandrake?”

“I deny it entirely.”^[235]

Article VIII. Towards her twentieth year, Jeanne, of her own wish, and without permission of her father and mother, went to NeufchÂteau, in Lorraine, and was in service for some time at the house of a woman, an inn-keeper named La Rousse, where lived women of evil life, and where soldiers were accustomed to lodge in great numbers. During her stay in this inn, Jeanne sometimes stayed with these evil women, sometimes took the sheep into the fields, or led the horses to watering in the meadows and pastures: it was there that she learnt to ride on horseback and to use arms.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer to what I said elsewhere. I deny the rest.”^[236]

Article IX. Whilst she was in service with these women Jeanne indicted a young man before the Officials at Toul for breach of promise; many times she repaired to Toul for this end, and spent thus nearly all that she had. This young man refused to marry her, because he knew she had been connected with evil women. He died during the trial. Jeanne then, unable to remain longer, quitted the service of this woman.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“On the subject of this trial for marriage I have answered elsewhere and refer to my answer. I deny the rest.”^[237]

Article X. After having quitted the service of La Rousse, Jeanne pretended, and still doth pretend, to have had continually during five years, visions and apparitions of Saint Michael Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret. They revealed to her, she says, by order of God, that she should raise the siege of Orleans and crown Charles, whom she calls her King; and that afterwards she would drive out his enemies from the realm of France. In spite of her father and mother, she left home, of her own motion, of her sole inspiration, and went to Robert de Baudricourt, captain of Vaucouleurs, to whom she communicated, in virtue of the order of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, the visions and revelations that God had made to her, asking of the said Robert to find her the means to accomplish what had been revealed to her. Twice repulsed by Robert, she returned twice to her parents. Returning a third time to the attempt, on a pretended order sent to her by revelation, she was then admitted and received by the said Robert.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer to what I said before.”^[238]

Article XI. Having become familiar with the said Robert, Jeanne boasted that, after having done and accomplished all that had been commanded her of God, she would have three sons, of whom the first should be Pope, the second Emperor, and the third King. Robert de Baudricourt, hearing this, said to her, “Would I could be father to one myself, if they are to be such great people! my own value would thereby be the greater!” “Nay, nay, gentle Robert,” replied Jeanne, “it is not time; the Holy Spirit will accomplish it.”^[239] This is the tale which the said Robert hath in many places often affirmed, told and published, and this in presence of prelates, lords, and high personages.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer to what I have already said.^[240] I never boasted that I should have three children.”^[241]

Article XII. In order the more openly and better to attain her end, Jeanne asked of Robert de Baudricourt to have made for her a man’s dress and armour appropriate. This captain, with great repugnance, ended by acquiescing in her request. These garments and armour made and furnished, Jeanne, rejecting and abandoning women’s clothing, her hair cut a-round like a young coxcomb, took shirt, breeches, doublet, with hose joined together and fastened to the said doublet by twenty points, long leggings laced on the outside, a short mantle [surcoat] to the knees, or thereabouts, close-cut cap, tight-fitting boots or buskins, long spurs, sword, dagger, breastplate, lance and other arms in fashion of a man of war, affirming that in this she was executing the order of God, as had been prescribed to her by revelation.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I refer to what I said before.”

“Did you then take this costume, these arms, and all this warlike apparel by the order of God?”

“On this also I refer to what I said before.”^[242]

Article XIII. Jeanne attributes to God, His Angels and His Saints, orders which are against the modesty of the sex, and which are prohibited by the Divine Law, things abominable to God and man, interdicted on pain of anathema by ecclesiastical censure, such as dressing herself in the garments of a man, short, tight, dissolute, those underneath as well as above. It is in virtue of these pretended orders that she hath attired herself in sumptuous and stately raiment, cloth-of-gold and furs; and not only did she wear short tunics, but she dressed herself in tabards, and garments open at both sides; and it is notorious that she was taken prisoner in a loose cloak of cloth-of-gold. She was always seen with a cap on her head, her hair cut short and a-round in the style of a man. In one word, putting aside the modesty of her sex, she acted not only against all feminine decency, but even against the reserve which beseems men of good morals, wearing ornaments and garments which only profligate men are accustomed to use, and going so far as to carry arms of offence. To attribute all this to the order of God, to the order which had been transmitted to her by the Angels and even by Virgin Saints, is to blaspheme God and His Saints, to destroy the Divine Law and violate the Canonical Rules; it is to libel the sex and its virtue, to overturn all decency, to justify all examples of dissolute living, and to drive others thereto.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I have not blasphemed God nor His Saints.”^[243]

Article XIV. Jeanne affirms that she has done right in attiring herself in garments worn only by dissolute men; she doth profess that she will continue to retain them until she shall have received, by revelation, the express order of God: by this, she outrages God, the Angels, and the Saints.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I do no wrong in serving God; to-morrow I will answer you.”

[One of the Assessors]: “Did you have revelation or order to wear a man’s dress?”

“I have already answered that elsewhere. I refer to my previous sayings. To-morrow I will answer. I know well who made me take a man’s dress; but I do not know how I can reveal it.”^[244]

Article XV. Jeanne, having many times asked that she might be permitted to hear Mass, hath been invited to quit the dress she now wears and to take again her woman’s dress; she hath been allowed to hope that she will be admitted to hear Mass and to receive Communion, if she will renounce entirely the dress of a man and take that of a woman, as beseems her sex; she hath refused. In other words, she hath chosen rather not to approach the Sacraments nor to assist in Divine Service, than to put aside her habit, pretending that this would displease God. In this appears her obstinacy, her hardness of heart, her lack of charity, her disobedience to the Church, and her contempt of Divine Sacraments.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I would rather die than revoke what I have done by the order of Our Lord.”

“Will you, to hear Mass, abandon the dress of a man?”

“I will not abandon it yet; the time is not come. If you refuse to let me hear Mass, it is in the power of Our Lord to let me hear it, when it shall please Him, without you. I recollect being admonished to take again a woman’s dress. As to the irreverence and such like things, I deny them.”^[245]

Article XVI. Previous to, and since her capture, at the Castle of Beaurevoir and at Arras, Jeanne hath been many times advised with gentleness, by noble persons of both sexes, to give up her man’s dress and resume suitable attire. She hath absolutely refused, and to this day also she refuses with persistence; she disdains also to give herself up to feminine work, conducting herself in all things rather as a man than as a woman.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“At Arras and Beaurevoir I was invited to take a woman’s dress; then I refused, and I refuse still. As to the women’s work of which you speak, there are plenty of other women to do it.”^[246]

Article XVII. When Jeanne found herself in the presence of Charles, thus attired and armed, she promised him these three things among others: that she would raise the siege of Orleans; that she would have him consecrated at Rheims; that she would avenge him on his enemies, who, all of them, English or Burgundians, should be, thanks to her, killed or driven out of the kingdom. Many times and in many places did she repeat publicly the same boasts; and, to give them greater weight, then and often afterwards, she did use divinations, and by these means unveiled the morals, the entire life, the most secret acts, of persons who came before her, whom she had never before seen or known; she boasted of knowing all by revelation.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“In the name of God I brought the news to my King that Our Lord would restore the kingdom to him, cause him to be crowned at Rheims, and drive out all his enemies; I was a messenger from God, when I told the King boldly to set me to work and I would raise the siege of Orleans. I mean, in so saying, the whole kingdom; and if my Lord of Burgundy and the other subjects of the King do not return to their obedience, the King will know how to make them by force. As to the end of the Article, of knowing Robert de Baudricourt and my King, I hold to what I said before.”^[247]

Article XVIII. So long as Jeanne remained with Charles, she did dissuade him with all her power, him and those with him, from consenting to any treaty of peace, any arrangement with his adversaries; inciting them always to murder and effusion of blood; affirming that they could only have peace by sword and lance; and that God willed it so, because otherwise the enemies of the King would not give up that which they held in his kingdom; to fight against them thus, is, she told them, one of the greatest benefits that can happen to all Christendom.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“As to my Lord of Burgundy, I requested him by my ambassadors and my letters that he would make peace between my King and himself; but as to the English, the peace they need is that they may go away to their own country, to England. I have answered on the remainder of the Article; and I refer to this answer.”^[248]

Article XIX. It was by consulting demons and using divinations, that Jeanne sent to look for a sword hidden in the Church of Saint Catherine de Fierbois: (perchance she had already maliciously, fraudulently, and deceitfully hidden or caused to be hidden this sword in the same church, to seduce the princes, nobles, clergy, and people, to induce them to believe more easily that she knew by revelation in what place this sword was). By this stratagem and others of a like nature she succeeded in inspiring an absolute faith in all her words.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer to what I said before; I deny all the rest.”^[249]

Article XX. She hath put faith in her ring, in her banner, in certain pieces of linen, and pennons which she carried or caused to be carried by her people, and also in the sword found by revelation, according to her, at Saint Catherine de Fierbois, saying that these things were very fortunate. She made thereon many execrations and conjurations, in many and divers places, publicly asserting that by them she would do great things and would obtain victory over her enemies; that to those of her people who carried pennons of this kind no ill could happen. She said all this at CompiÈgne on the eve of the day when, having sallied to attack my lord the Duke of Burgundy, she was taken prisoner and many of her followers were wounded, killed, or taken. She said as much at Saint Denis, when she incited her army to attack Paris.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I refer to what I have already said. In all I have done there was never any sorcery or evil arts. As for the good luck of my banner, I refer it to the fortune sent through it by Our Lord (de bon fortun sui estandart se refert ad fortunium quod Dominus Noster in es transmissit).”^[250]

Article XXI. Jeanne, by temerity or presumption, hath caused to be written certain letters at the head of which she placed the names ‘JhÉsus Maria,’ with a cross in the middle. These letters she caused to be addressed in her name to our Lord the King, to my Lord of Bedford, Regent of France, to the lords and captains who were then at the siege of Orleans, containing a number of things wicked, pernicious, contrary to the Catholic Faith, the tenour of which is found in the Article which follows:

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I did not send the letters of which you speak in pride or in presumption, but by command of Our Lord. I remember and acknowledge the contents of these letters, with the exception of three words. If the English had believed my letters, they would only have been wise; and before seven years are gone they will perceive it well enough!”^[251]

Article XXII. Tenour of the letter:^[252]

“What have you to say to this letter?”

“I remember having it written except three words, which I did not dictate. If the English had believed my words they would have acted wisely. Before seven years are gone, they will feel the truth of what I wrote to them, and for that, I refer to the answer which I made elsewhere.”

Article XXIII. The tenour of the letter contained in the preceding Article proves well that Jeanne hath been the sport of evil spirits, and that she often consulted them to know what she ought to do; or, at least, that, to seduce the people, she imagined these inventions by lying or wickedness.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I deny ever having done anything under the inspiration of evil spirits.”^[253]

Article XXIV. Jeanne hath gravely misused the names “JhÉsus Maria” and the sign of the cross placed beside them; it was understood between her and her people that, when they saw on her letters these words and this sign, they were to do the contrary of what she wrote: and, in fact, they did do the contrary.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer to what I said before.”^[254]

Article XXV. Usurping the office of Angels, Jeanne hath said and affirmed that she hath been sent by God; and she hath said this even for cases which tend openly to violence and effusion of human blood: a proposition the most foreign to all holiness, horrible and abominable to all pious souls.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“First, I begged them to make peace; and it was only in case they would not make peace that I was ready to fight.”^[255]

Article XXVI. Jeanne, being at CompiÈgne in August of 1429, did receive from the Count d’Armagnac a letter of which the tenour forms the article which follows.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer to what I said before.”^[256]

Article XXVII. Tenour of the said letter.^[257]

Article XXVIII. To this letter Jeanne did send in answer the letter signed with her name, found in the Articles which follow.

Articles XXIX. and XXX. Letter of Jeanne to the Count d’Armagnac.^[258]

“What have you to say on these Articles, XXVII., XXVIII., XXIX., XXX., which have been read to you with great care, from the first word to the last?”

“I refer to what I answered on Article XXVI.”^[259]

Continuation of the Reading of the Articles in Open Court.

[The next day, Wednesday, March 28th, in the same room, near the great Hall of the Castle of Rouen, before the Bishop and Brother Jean LemaÎtre, assisted by 35 Assessors.]

Before them hath been resumed the reading, begun the preceding day, of the Articles in the document produced by the Promoter. Their contents in French, being shewn to Jeanne, Article by Article, she hath been questioned on each of these Articles and hath continued to reply, as here followeth, after having anew sworn to speak truth on everything touching the Trial.^[260]

Article XXXI. From the time of her childhood and since, Jeanne hath boasted, and every day still doth boast, of having had, and of still having, numerous revelations and visions on the subject which, although she hath been on this charitably admonished and legally required to swear, she hath not made, nor wished to make, nor is now willing to make, any oath. She will not even make known the revelations made to her, by words nor by signs. This she hath postponed, contested, refused, and doth now also postpone, contest, and refuse. Many times hath she said and affirmed in a formal manner, in Court and outside, that she will not make known these revelations and visions to you, her Judges, even if her head should be cut off, or her body dismembered. “They shall not drag it from my mouth,” she hath said, “neither the sign that God revealed to me, nor the means whereby I knew that this sign came to me from God.”

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“As to revealing the sign and the other things, of which you speak, I may well have said I will not reveal them. I add, to what I before acknowledged that I should have said I would not reveal it without leave from Our Lord.”^[261]

Article XXXII. By this refusal to make known these pretended revelations, you may and should presume strongly that the revelations and visions of Jeanne, if she had them always, came to her from lying and evil spirits rather than from good. And all the world may take it for certain, considering her cruelty, her pride, her dress, her actions, her lies, the contradictions here given in various Articles, that all these together constitute in this respect the most powerful of presumptions, both of law and right.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I did it by revelation, from Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret; and I will maintain it even unto death. If I put on my letters the names ‘JhÉsus Maria,’ it was because I was advised to do so by certain persons of my party; sometimes I used these names, sometimes not. As to that passage in my answer of which you remind me, ‘All that I did, I did by the counsel of Our Lord,’ it should be completed thus: ‘All that I did well.’”

“Did you do well or ill to advance on La CharitÉ?”

“If it were ill done, it will be confessed.”

“Did you do well to advance on Paris?”

“The gentlemen of France wished to advance on Paris. In doing this, it seems to me they did their duty in going against their enemies.”

Article XXXIII. Jeanne hath presumptuously and audaciously boasted, and doth still boast, of knowing the future and of having foreseen the past, of knowing things that are in the present, but hidden or unknown; all which, an attribute of the Deity, she claims for herself, a simple and ignorant creature.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“It is in Our Lord’s power to give revelations to whom He pleases; that which I said of the sword of Fierbois and of things to come, I knew by revelation.”^[262]

Article XXXIV. Obstinate in her temerity and presumption, Jeanne hath said, proclaimed, and published, that she recognized and discerned the voices of Archangels, Angels, and Saints; she hath affirmed and doth still affirm that she knoweth how to distinguish their Voices from human voices.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I hold by what I have already said: of my pretended temerity, and, of that which has been concluded against me, I refer to Our Lord, my Judge.”^[263]

Article XXXV. Jeanne hath boasted and affirmed that she did know how to discern those whom God loveth and those whom He hateth.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I hold by what I have already said elsewhere of the King and the Duke d’OrlÉans; of the others I know not; I know well that God, for their well-being,^[264] (pro ediis corporum suorum), loves my King and the Duke d’OrlÉans better than me. I know it by revelation.”^[265]

Article XXXVI. Jeanne hath said, affirmed, and boasted, she doth say, affirm, and every day boast, that she hath known, and could know exactly—and that not only herself, but also others through her means recognized and surely knew—the Voice which came to her, although from its nature a voice must be invisible to every human being.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I hold by what I have said elsewhere.”^[266]

Article XXXVII. Jeanne doth confess to having frequently done the contrary to what hath been commanded her by the revelations she doth boast to have had from God; for example, when she retired from St. Denis, after the assault on Paris, and when she leaped from the top of the tower of Beaurevoir. By this, it is manifest, either that she hath had no revelations from God, or that, if she hath had them, she hath despised them. And she it is, who, after this, doth dare to affirm that she is in all things guided and governed by commands from on high and by revelation! Besides, she hath said that, when she had had the order not to leap from the top of the tower, she was compelled to act contrary to this order, without being able to resist the constraint put upon her will; in the which she appears to think wrongly on the matters of Free-will and to fall into the error of those who believe that man is led by Fate or by some other irresistible power.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I hold by what I have said elsewhere. I state in addition that when I left St. Denis I had permission from my Voices.”

“In acting against your Voices, do you think you committed mortal sin?”

“I have answered elsewhere to that; I refer to that answer. On the concluding part of this Article, I refer me to God.”^[267]

Article XXXVIII. Jeanne, from the time of her childhood, hath said, done, and committed a great number of crimes, sins and evil deeds—shameful, cruel, scandalous, dishonouring, unworthy of her sex; now she doth say and affirm that all that she hath done hath been with the approbation and by the will of God; that she hath done nothing and now doeth nothing which proceedeth not from God, by means of the revelations transmitted to her by the Holy Angels and the Holy Virgins, Catherine and Margaret.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I refer to what I have said elsewhere.”^[268]

Article XXXIX. Although the Just sin seven times a day, Jeanne hath said and published that she hath never committed, or, at least, that she doth believe never to have committed, mortal sin. Nevertheless, as many Articles of the present accusation prove, she hath indeed practised, and on a vast scale, acts customary to nations who are at war, and others yet more grave.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have answered it; I refer to what I have said elsewhere.”^[269]

Article XL. Forgetful of her salvation, impelled by the devil, she is not and hath not been ashamed several times and in many and divers places to receive the Body of Christ, having upon her a man’s dress of unseemly form, a dress which the laws of God and man do forbid her to wear.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have answered elsewhere. I rely upon what I have said before. I rely upon Our Lord.”^[270]

Article XLI. Jeanne, as one desperate, for hate and contempt of the English, and foreseeing the destruction of CompiÈgne, which she believed to be imminent, did attempt to kill herself by throwing herself down from the top of a tower; at the instigation of the devil, she took it into her head to commit this action; she applied herself to commit it; she did commit it in so far as she was able; on the other hand, in so throwing herself down, she was so well impelled and guided by a diabolic instinct that she had in view rather the safety of her body than that of her soul and of many others. Often indeed, hath she boasted that she would kill herself rather than that she should be delivered to the English.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I rely upon what I have said before.”^[271]

Article XLII. Jeanne hath said and published that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret and Saint Michael have bodies—that is to say, head, eyes, face, hair, etc.; that she hath touched them with her hands; that she hath kissed them and embraced them.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have already answered it, and I rely upon what I have said.”^[272]

Article XLIII. Jeanne hath said and published that the Saints, the Angels, and the Archangels speak the French language and not the English language, because the Saints, the Angels, and the Archangels are not on the side of the English, but of the French; she hath outraged the Saints in glory, in implying to them a mortal hatred against a Catholic realm and a nation devoted, according to the will of the Church, to the veneration of all the Saints.

This Article having been set forth to Jeanne word for word, she only answered thus:

“I rely on Our Lord, and upon what I have replied before.”^[273]

Article XLIV. Jeanne hath boasted and doth yet boast, she hath published and doth publish, that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret have promised to lead her to Paradise, and have assured her that she will obtain heavenly joy if she preserve her virginity; she affirms she is certain of this.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I rely on Our Lord and on what I answered elsewhere.”^[274]

Article XLV. Although the judgments of God are impenetrable to us, nevertheless Jeanne hath said, uttered, declared, and promulgated that she hath known and can know those who are Saints, Archangels, Angels, or the elect of God; she knoweth how to discern them.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I refer to what I have already said.”^[275]

Article XLVI. She hath said that, before leaping from the tower of Beaurevoir, she did most lovingly entreat Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret for the people of CompiÈgne, saying to these Saints in a reproachful manner, “And how can God allow these people of CompiÈgne, who are so loyal, to die thus miserably?” In the which did appear her impatience and her irreverence towards God and the Saints.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I refer to what I have already said.”^[276]

Article XLVII. Provoked with her wound, Jeanne, after the leap from the tower of Beaurevoir, seeing she had not attained her end, began to blaspheme God and the Saints, abjuring them with horrible taunts, insulting them terribly, to the great confusion of all those present. In the same way, when she was in the Castle of Rouen, many times, and on different days, did she blaspheme and deny God, the Blessed Virgin, and the Saints, in impatience and resentment at being brought for judgment before an ecclesiastical tribunal and forced to appear there.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I hold by Our Lord and by what I have already said.”^[277]

Article XLVIII. Jeanne hath said that she did and doth still believe that the spirits which appear to her are Angels and Archangels and the Saints of God, as firmly as she believes in the Christian Faith, and in the Articles of that Faith, although she can report no sign which can be of a nature to prove that she hath in reality had this communication; she hath consulted neither Bishop, Priest, nor Prelate, nor any ecclesiastical person whatsoever, to know whether she ought to have faith in such spirits; yet more, she saith that her Voices have forbidden her to reveal anything to any one whosoever it may be, save first to a captain of soldiers, then to Charles her King, and afterwards to other persons purely laic. By this, she admits that her belief on this point is audacious, her faith erroneous, her revelations doubtful, having always kept them from the knowledge of the clergy and never having been willing to reveal them save to seculars.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I have answered it already. I refer to what is written. And as to the signs, if those who asked for them were not worthy, I could not help it. Many a time did I pray that it might please God to reveal it to some of this party. It is true, that to believe in my revelations I asked neither Bishop, Priest, nor any one else. I believe it was Saint Michael, from the good teaching he shewed me.”

“Did Saint Michael say to you: ‘I am Saint Michael’?”

“I have answered before.”

As to the concluding part of the Article, she answered: “I refer me to Our Lord.... As firmly as I believe Our Saviour Jesus Christ suffered death to redeem us from the pains of hell, so firmly do I believe that it was Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret whom Our Saviour sent to comfort and to counsel me.”^[278]

Article XLIX. On the foundation of this fancy alone Jeanne hath venerated spirits of this kind, kissing the ground on the which she said they had walked, bending the knee before them, embracing them, kissing them, paying all sorts of adoration to them, giving them thanks with clasped hands, taking the greatest familiarities with them; when she did not know if they were good or evil spirits, and when, by reason of all the circumstances revealed above, these spirits should have been rather considered by her as evil. This worship, this veneration, is idolatry: it is a compact with demons.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have already answered; for the conclusion, I refer me to Our Lord.”^[279]

Article L. Every day and many times daily Jeanne doth invoke these evil spirits and consult them on what she should do,—notably on the manner in which she should answer in court. This seems to constitute, and doth in effect constitute, an invocation of demons.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have already answered it; I shall call them to my help as long as I live.”

“In what way shall you call them?”

“I beseech Our Lord and Our Lady that they will send me counsel and comfort, and then They send it to me.”

“In what words do you beseech this?”

“I say ‘Most sweet Lord, in honour of Thy Holy Passion I beseech Thee, if Thou lovest me, that Thou wilt reveal to me how I should answer these Clergy. I know well, as regards this dress, the command by which I have taken it; but I do not know in what way I should leave it off: for this, may it please Thee to teach me.’ And soon they come to me. I often by my Voices have news of my Lord of Beauvais.”

The Bishop: “What do your Voices say of Us?”

“I will tell you apart.... To-day they came to me three times.”

“In your chamber?”

“I have answered you; I hear them well. Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret have told me what I should say on the subject of my dress.”^[280]

Article LI. Jeanne hath not feared to proclaim that Saint Michael, the Archangel of God, did come to her with a great multitude of Angels in the house of a woman where she had stopped at Chinon; that he walked with her, holding her by the hand; that they together mounted the stairs of the Castle and together gained the Chamber of the King; that the Angel did reverence to the King, bowing before him, surrounded by this multitude of Angels, of which some had crowns on their heads and others had wings. To say such things of Archangels and the Holy Angels is presumption, audacity, lying, as in the holy books we do not read that they did a like reverence, a like demonstration, to any saint—not even to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God. Jeanne hath said that the Archangel Saint Gabriel hath often come to her with the blessed Michael, and sometimes even with thousands of Angels. She hath also proclaimed that the same Angel, at her prayer, did bring in this company of Angels a crown, the most precious possible, to place upon the head of her King—a crown which is to-day deposited in the treasury of the King; that the King would have been crowned at Rheims with this crown, if he had deferred his consecration some days: it was only because of the extreme haste of his coronation that he received another. All these are lies imagined by Jeanne at the instigation of the devil, or suggested by demons in deceitful apparitions, to make sport of her curiosity,—she who would search secrets beyond her capacity and condition.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“On the subject of the Angel who brought the sign I have already answered. As to what the Promoter suggests on the subject of the thousands of Angels, I do not recollect having said it—that is to say, the number; I did certainly say that I had never been wounded without receiving great comfort and help from God and from the Saints Catherine and Margaret. As to the crown, on this also I have replied. Of the conclusion which the Promoter makes against my deeds, I refer me to God, Our Lord; and where the crown was made and forged, I leave to Our Lord.”^[281]

Article LII. By all these inventions, Jeanne hath so seduced Christian people that many have in her presence adored her as a Saint, and in her absence do adore her still, composing in her honour masses and collects; yet more, going so far as to call her the greatest of all the Saints after the Virgin Mary, raising statues and images to her in the Churches of the Saints, and bearing about them medals in lead or other metal representing her—exactly as the Church does to honour the memory and the recollection of the canonized Saints—publicly proclaiming that she is sent from God, and more Angel than woman. Such things are pernicious to the Christian religion, scandalous, and prejudicial to the salvation of souls.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“As to the commencement of the Article, I have already answered; as to the conclusion, I refer to Our Lord.”^[282]

Article LIII. In contempt of the orders of God and the Saints, Jeanne, in her presumption and pride, hath gone so far as to take command over men; she hath made herself commander-in-chief and hath had under her orders nearly 16,000 men, among whom were Princes, Barons, and a number of Gentlemen: she hath made them all fight, being their principal captain.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“As to the fact of being commander-in-chief, I have answered before; if I have been commander-in-chief, it was to fight the English. As to the conclusion of the Article I refer me to God.”^[283]

Article LIV. Jeanne doth behave in an unseemly manner with men, refuses the society of women, wishes to live with men only, to be waited upon by them, even in her own room and in the most private details: a like thing hath never been seen nor heard of a chaste and pious woman.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“It is true that my command was over men; but as to my quarters and lodging, most often I had a woman with me. And when I was engaged in the war I slept fully dressed and armed, not being able always to find a woman. As to the conclusion of the Article, I refer me to God.”

Article LV. Jeanne hath abused the revelations and prophecies that she saith she hath had from God, to procure for herself lucre and temporal profit; by means of these pretended revelations, she hath acquired great riches, a great show and great estate in officers, horses, and attire; she hath obtained great revenues for her brothers and relations, imitating in this the false prophets, who, to acquire temporal gain or to obtain the favour of kings, were accustomed to pretend that they had had revelations from God on things which they knew would be to the taste of their princes; abusing the divine oracles, she hath thus attributed her lies to God.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I have answered elsewhere. As to the gifts made to my brothers, that which the King gave to them was of his grace, without my asking. As to the charge made by the Promoter and the conclusion of the Article, I refer me to Our Lord.”^[284]

Article LVI. Jeanne hath many times proclaimed that she hath two counsellors whom she calls ‘Counsellors of the Well,’ and who have come to her since she hath been taken captive, as appears from the declaration made by Catherine de la Rochelle before the Officials in Paris.^[285] This Catherine hath said that Jeanne, if she be not well guarded, will get out of prison, by the help of the Devil.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I hold by what I have already said; and as to the ‘Counsellors of the Well,’ I do not know what it means. I certainly believe that I overheard Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret there. The conclusion of the Article I deny.”

[And then she did swear by her oath^[286] that she did not wish that the Devil should get her out of prison.^[287]]

Article LVII. The day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, Jeanne did assemble the whole army of Charles, to make an attack on the city of Paris; she did lead the army against the city, affirming that she would enter it on that day—that she knew it by revelation: she directed all the arrangements possible for the entry. And, nevertheless, she is not afraid to deny it before us here in court. And at other places also, at La CharitÉ-sur-Loire, for example, at Pont L’EvÊque, at CompiÈgne, when she attacked the army of the Duke of Burgundy, she affirmed and foretold that which, according to her, would take place, saying that she knew it by revelation: now, not only did the things predicted by her not come to pass, but the very contrary happened. Before you she hath denied having made these predictions, because they were not realized, as she had said; but many people worthy of trust report^[288] to have heard her utter them. At the time of the assault on Paris, she said that thousands of angels were around her, ready to bear her to Paradise if she should be killed: now, when she was asked why, after the promises made to her, not only did she not enter Paris but that many of her men and she herself had been wounded in a horrible manner and some even killed, she answered “It was Jesus, who broke His word to me.”

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“As to the beginning, I have answered it already. If I think of more later, I will willingly answer then. I never said that Jesus had failed me.”^[289]

Article LVIII. Jeanne did cause to be painted a standard whereon are two Angels, one on each side of God holding the world in His hand, with the words “JhÉsus Maria” and other designs. She said that she caused this standard to be done by the order of God, who had revealed it to her by the agency of His Angels and Saints. This standard she did place at Rheims near the Altar, during the consecration of Charles, wishing, in her pride and vain glory, that it should be peculiarly honoured. Also did she cause to be painted arms, in the which she placed two golden lilies on a field azure; between the lilies a sword argent, with a hilt and guard gilded, the point of the sword pointing upwards and surmounted with a crown, gilded. All this is display and vanity, it is not religion nor piety; to attribute such vanities to God and to the Angels, is to be wanting in respect to God and the Saints.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have already answered it; for the conclusions drawn by the Promoter, I refer to Our Lord.”^[290]

Article LIX. At St. Denis in France Jeanne did offer and cause to be placed in the Church, in the most prominent place, the armour she wore when she was wounded while attacking the town of Paris; she desired that this armour should be honoured as relics. In this same town, she did cause to be lighted candles, for the melted wax to fall on the heads of little children, saying that this would bring them happiness, and making by such witchcrafts many divinations.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“As to my armour, I have answered; as to the candles lighted and melted, I deny it.”^[291]

Article LX. In contempt of the laws and sanction of the Church, Jeanne hath several times before this tribunal refused to speak the truth: by this, she doth render suspect all she hath said or done in matters of faith and revelation, because she dares not reveal them to ecclesiastical judges; she dreads the just punishment she hath merited and of which she appears herself to be conscious, when, on this question, she did in court urge this proverb, that “for speaking the truth, one was often hanged.” Also she hath often said: “You will not know all,” and again, “I would rather have my head cut off than tell you all.”

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I never sought delay, except to answer more surely on what was asked me. When I am doubtful if I ought to answer, I ask delay to know if I ought to speak. As to the counsel of my King, because it does not touch on this case, I would not reveal it. Of the sign given to the King, I have told it, because the clergy did constrain me to do so.”^[292]

Article LXI. Admonished of having to submit all her words and actions to the Church Militant, after that the distinction between the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant had been shewn to her, Jeanne declared that she submitted herself to the Church Triumphant and refused to submit to the Church Militant, confessing by this that she doth not rightly understand the Article of the Faith ‘I believe in the Church, One, Holy, Catholic,’ and that she is in error on this point. She hath said she would reveal them only to God, and that she referred her acts to God and to His Saints and not to the judgment of the Church.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I wish with all my power to give honour and reverence to the Church Militant. For referring my acts to the Church Militant, I must refer to Our Lord Who caused me to do them.”

“Will you refer to the Church Militant as to what you have done?”

“Send me the clerk on Saturday next, and I will answer.”^[293]

Article LXII. Jeanne hath laboured to scandalize the people, to induce them to believe in her talk, taking to herself the authority of God and His Angels, presumptuously seeking to seduce men from ecclesiastical authority, as do the false prophets who establish sects of error and perdition and separate themselves from the unity of the Church; a thing pernicious in the Christian religion, which, if the Bishops did not provide against it, might destroy ecclesiastical authority; on all sides, in fact, raising up men and women who, pretending to have revelations from God and the Angels, will sow untruth and error—as hath already happened to many since this woman hath arisen and hath begun to scandalize Christian people and to publish her knaveries.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I will answer next Saturday.”

Article LXIII. Jeanne is not afraid to lie in court, and to violate her own oath when on the subject of her revelations; she doth affirm a number of contradictory things, and which imply contradiction among themselves: she doth not fear to hurl malediction against a whole nation, the rulers of that nation and its greatest people; she doth speak of them without respect, allowing herself a tone of mockery and derision such as no woman in a state of holiness would allow; which sheweth well that she is ruled and guided by evil spirits and not, as she hath boasted, by God and the Angels. Christ said of false prophets, “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I refer to what I have said, and, for the conclusion, to God Our Lord.”^[294]

Article LXIV. Jeanne doth pretend to know that she hath obtained pardon of the sin committed when, in despair, driven by the evil spirits, she threw herself from the tower of the Castle at Beaurevoir: yet the Scriptures say that no one knoweth if he is worthy of love or hate, nor, in consequence, if he is purged of sin and justified.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have answered you, and to that I refer. Of the charge and the conclusion, I refer me to Our Lord.”

Article LXV. Many times Jeanne hath said that she asked of God to send her special revelations by the Angels and by the Saints Catherine and Margaret upon what she ought to do: for example, in the matter of learning if she ought to make known the truth in court on certain points and certain facts which are personal to herself. It is to tempt God, to ask Him that which ought not to be asked of Him, because there is no need, and man may himself suffice for it by his own research. Thus, by the leap from the tower of Beaurevoir she doth seem manifestly to have tempted God.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I have answered it, and will not, without the leave of Our Lord, reveal what has been revealed to me. It is not without need that I beseech God. I would He might send me yet more, so that it might be discerned that I am come from God and that it is He Who hath sent me.”

Article LXVI. Of many of the deeds and words that have just been noticed some are opposed to the Divine Law, to Gospel Law, to Canon Law, to Civil Law, and to the rules of General Councils; others are witchcrafts, divinations, or superstitions; others breathe heresy and errors in faith; others are attempts against peace and tend to the effusion of human blood; others constitute blasphemies against God and the Saints and are wounding to pious ears. In all this, the Accused, by her audacious temerity, at the instigation of the Devil, hath offended God and sinned against Holy Church; she hath been a cause of scandal; she is on all these points notoriously defamed: she should be punished and corrected by you.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I am a good Christian; for all with which you charge me I refer to Our Lord.”

Article LXVII. All and each of these transgressions the Accused hath committed, perpetrated, said, uttered, recited, dogmatized, promulgated, put in action, as much in your jurisdiction as elsewhere, in many and divers places of this realm, not once only but many times, in divers times, days and hours. She hath fallen again and again into all these errors; she hath furnished counsel, help, and favour to those who have committed them with her.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“I deny it.”

Article LXVIII. Because a persistent clamour hath struck your ears not once only, but many times; because public rumour and an information based on what hath gone before hath made you recognize that the Accused is vehemently suspect and defamed; you have decreed that there is reason to bring an action against her, and to proceed therein, by you or one of you, by causing the said woman to be cited, and by setting her to answer—as hath been done.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“This Article concerns the Judges.”

Article LXIX. By all which precedes, the Accused is vehemently suspect, scandalized and as far as possible defamed by all honest and serious people. But by all that hath gone before she is neither corrected nor amended; she hath postponed and doth still postpone; she hath refused and doth still refuse to correct or amend herself; she hath continued and persevered, doth continue and persevere, in her errors, although by you the Judges, and by a great number of notable clergy, and other honest persons, she hath been charitably and otherwise duly and sufficiently warned, summoned and required.

“What have you to say to this Article?”

“The misdeeds brought forward against me by the Promoter, I have not done. For the rest, I refer me to God. Of all the misdeeds brought forward against me, I do not think I have committed any against the Christian faith.”

“If you have done anything against the Christian faith, will you submit to the Church and to those to whom correction belongs?”

“On Saturday, after dinner, I will answer you.”

Article LXX. All and each of these propositions contained in these Articles are true, notorious and manifest; the public voice and rumour hath occupied and doth occupy itself therewith; the Accused hath recognized and acknowledged these things as true, many times and sufficiently, before witnesses proved and worthy of belief, in and out of court.

“What have you to say on this Article?”

“I deny all that I have not recognized and confessed.”

CONCLUSION.—Having attained conviction of the truth of all or part of the preceding Articles in a manner to justify the proposed end, which is that you may be enabled to pronounce in recognition of the cause, the Promoter doth conclude that it will be ultimately judged by you, upon the whole, according to law and right.

And the said Promoter humbly imploreth your offices on all these things, as may be suitable.

The Seventy Articles preceding [p. 341] which form the Act of Accusation for the Trial, were reduced to Twelve by MaÎtre Nicolas Midi; the twelve Articles are here given.

THE TWELVE ARTICLES OF ACCUSATION.

ARTICLE I.

A woman doth say and affirm that when she was of the age of thirteen years or thereabouts, she did, with her bodily eyes, see Saint Michael come to comfort her, and from time to time also Saint Gabriel; that both the one and the other appeared to her in bodily form. Sometimes also she hath seen a great multitude of Angels; since then, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret have shewn themselves to her in bodily form; every day she sees these two Saints and hears their voices; she hath often kissed and embraced them, and sometimes she hath touched them, in a physical and corporeal manner. She hath seen the heads of these Angels and these Saints, but of the rest of their persons and of their dress she will say nothing. The said Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret have also formerly spoken to her near a spring which flows at the foot of a great tree, called in the neighbourhood “The Fairies’ Tree.” This spring and this tree nevertheless have been, it is said, frequented by fairies; persons ill of fever have repaired there in great numbers to recover their health. This spring and this tree are nevertheless in a profane place. There and elsewhere she hath often venerated these two Saints, and hath done them obeisance.

Besides this, she doth say that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret appear and shew themselves to her adorned with most beautiful and most precious crowns. At this time and very often since, they have announced to her, by the order of God, that she was to go in search of a certain secular Prince, promising that, by her help and succour, this same Prince should, by force of arms, recover a great temporal domain and the honour of this world, and should obtain victory over his adversaries: this same Prince received her, and furnished her with arms and soldiers for the carrying out of what has just been said. Further, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret have ordered this same woman, by the command of God, to take and to wear a man’s dress, which she hath borne and doth still bear, persisting in obeying this order, to the extent that she saith she would rather die than give up this dress, adding that she will only abandon it by the express order of God. She hath even preferred not to assist in the Office of the Mass and to deprive herself of the Holy Communion of the Eucharist, at the time when the Church commands the faithful to receive it, rather than to resume female dress and to quit this man’s habit.

The said woman hath gone so far, under the inspiration of these two Saints, that without the knowledge and against the will of her parents, at the age of seventeen, she did quit the paternal roof and joined herself to a great troop of soldiers, with whom she lived night and day, having never had, or at least very rarely, another woman with her. These two Saints have said and prescribed to her many other things for the which she declares herself sent by the God of Heaven and the Church Victorious, composed of Saints who already enjoy celestial blessedness; it is to them that she submits as right all she hath done. As to the Church Militant, she hath deferred and refused to submit herself, her deeds, and her words to it, although many times required and admonished so to do, saying always that it is impossible to her to do contrary to what she hath, in her Trial, affirmed to have done by the order of God; and that for these things she will not refer to the decision or the judgment of any man alive, but to the judgment of God alone.

The said Saints have revealed to this woman that she will obtain the glory of the blessed and will gain the salvation of her soul if she doth preserve the virginity which she vowed to these Saints the first time she saw and recognized them. As a result of this revelation, she doth affirm that she is as assured of her salvation as if, now and in fact, she were already in the Kingdom of Heaven.

ARTICLE II.

The same woman saith that the sign which was received by the Prince to whom she was sent—a sign which decided this Prince to believe in her and to aid her to carry on the war—was, that Saint Michael came to the said Prince, accompanied by a multitude of Angels, of which some had crowns and others had wings; with them also were Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret. She and the Angel proceeded together, their feet touching the ground, by the road, the staircase, and the Prince’s chamber; the Angel was accompanied by other Angels and by the said two Saints; he gave to the Prince a crown, very precious and made of the purest gold, bowing before him and doing him reverence. Once she hath said that when her Prince received this sign, it seemed to her he was alone, although many other persons were close by; another time she hath said that it seemed to her that an Archbishop had received the sign of the crown and had given it to the Prince, in the presence of several temporal lords.

The same woman doth say and affirm that he who visits her is Saint Michael; that which makes her believe in him is the good counsel, the comfort, and the good teaching which he doth give her, and because he hath named himself to her, and hath told her that he was Saint Michael. She hath in the same way recognized Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret; she knoweth how to distinguish the one from the other, because they name themselves to her and greet her.

On the subject of the pretended Saint Michael who appeared to her, she believes that it is truly Saint Michael; and the sayings and deeds of this Michael she believes to be true and good as firmly as she believes that Our Lord Jesus suffered and died for our redemption.

ARTICLE IV.

The same woman doth say and affirm that she is certain of what should happen on the subject of certain future things, as surely as she is certain of those which she sees passing under her eyes. On the subject of occult things she doth boast to know or to have known them by means of the revelations which have been made to her by the Voices of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret: for example, that she will be delivered from her captivity, and that the French will do, under her guidance, the greatest exploits that they have ever done in all Christendom; for example, again, she saith she hath known by revelation without any one pointing them out to her, men whom she had never seen, and herself revealed and pointed out the existence of a sword which was hidden in the earth.

ARTICLE V.

The same woman doth say and affirm that, by the command and good pleasure of God, she hath taken and borne and continueth still to bear a man’s dress. Further, she doth say that, because she hath had God’s command to bear this habit, it was necessary that she should have a short tunic, cap, jerkin, breeches, hose with many points, hair cut close above her ears, keeping no garment which might indicate her sex. She doth say and affirm that she hath, in this dress, several times received the Sacrament of the Eucharist. She hath not desired and doth still not desire to resume woman’s dress, although many times required and charitably admonished so to do. At times she saith that she would rather die than leave off the dress which she bears; at times she saith that she will leave it off only by the command of God. She doth also say, that if she again found herself with this dress among those for whom she hath armed herself, she would act as she did before her capture; and this would be, she doth add, one of the greatest benefits that could happen to the whole kingdom of France. Also, for nothing in the world will she swear to wear this dress or to take arms no more. In all this she doth say that she hath done and doeth well, obeying God and His Commandments.

ARTICLE VI.

The same woman doth avow and acknowledge that she hath caused to be written many letters and warnings on the which were placed these names “JhÉsus Maria,” with the sign of the Cross. Sometimes, she put a cross, and between her and her party this signified that she did not wish them to do what in this same letter she told them to do. At other times she caused it to be written that she would have those who did not obey her warnings killed, and “by the blows she would give they would see who had the true right from the God of Heaven.” She hath often said that she hath done nothing but by the revelation and order of God.

ARTICLE VII.

The same woman doth say and confess that, being of the age of seventeen, by revelation, as she saith, and spontaneously, she went to seek a Knight whom she had never seen, abandoning for this the paternal roof, against the will of her parents. These, when they had knowledge of her departure, were wild with grief. This same woman ordered the Knight to conduct her, or to have her conducted, to the Prince already mentioned. The said Knight, or Captain, furnished this woman, on her demand, with a man’s dress and a sword, and appointed and commanded for her conduct a Knight, a Squire, and four servants. When they had come to the Prince, this woman told him that she wished to fight against his adversaries. She promised to establish him in great sovereignty and to vanquish his enemies; and for this she had been sent by the God of Heaven. She saith she hath acted well, having had revelation and the command of God.

ARTICLE VIII.

The same woman doth say and affirm that she, of herself, no one compelling her, did throw herself down from a very high tower, wishing rather to die than to be placed in the hands of her enemies and to live after the destruction of the town of CompiÈgne. She saith also that she was not able to avoid this fall, although Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret had forbidden it to her. To offend them is, she herself saith, a great sin. But she knoweth that this sin was remitted to her after she had confessed it; she saith she received revelation of this.

ARTICLE IX.

The same woman saith that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret have promised to conduct her to Paradise, if she doth preserve with care the virginity of body and soul which she vowed to them. Of this she saith she is as assured as if she were already in the glory of the blessed. She doth not think she hath committed mortal sin; for, if she were in a state of mortal sin, she saith it seemeth to her that Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret would not visit her each day as they do.

ARTICLE X.

The same woman doth say and affirm that God doth love sundry persons still living, designated by her and named, more than He doth this woman: this, she knoweth by revelation from Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, who speak frequently to her, but in French and not in English, because these Saints are not on the side of the English. Since she hath known by revelation that their Voices were for the Prince aforesaid she hath ceased to love the Burgundians.

ARTICLE XI.

The same woman doth say and confess that to the Voices and the Spirits now under consideration, whom she calls Michael, Gabriel, Catherine and Margaret, she doth often do reverence, uncovering, bending the knee, kissing the earth on which they walk, vowing to them her virginity, at times kissing and embracing Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret; she hath touched them with her own hands, corporeally and physically; she hath asked of them counsel and help; at times she doth call them, and they even come to her without being called; she accedes to and obeys their counsels and their commands; she hath always obeyed them, without having asked counsel thereon from whomsoever it be—father, mother, curÉ, prelate, or any ecclesiastic whatsoever. She doth believe no less firmly that the Voices and the revelations she receives by the medium of the Saints of whom she speaks come from God and by His order: she believes it as firmly as she believes the Christian Faith and that Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for us Death and Passion. She doth add that, if it were an evil spirit who had come to her under the appearance and mask of Saint Michael she would quite well have known how to distinguish that it was not Saint Michael. Finally she saith, that of her own wish and without any one pressing her thereto, she hath sworn to Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, who appeared to her, to reveal to no one the sign of the crown given to the Prince to whom she was sent, until she should have permission from God to reveal it.

ARTICLE XII.

The same woman doth say and confess that if the Church wished that she should do anything contrary to the order she doth pretend to have received from God, she would not consent, whatsoever it might be. She doth affirm that she knows well, that all contained in her Trial has come to her by the order of God, and it would be impossible for her to do contrary to what she doth. Thereupon she doth not wish to refer to the decision of the Church Militant, nor to any one, whoever it be in the world, but to God alone, Our Lord, Whose commands she doth always execute, above all in what doth concern her revelations, and in what she doth in consequence. This answer and all the others are not from her own head, she saith, but she hath made and given them by order of her Voices and revelations: she doth persist [in this], although by the Judges and others of the Assessors, the Article of Faith, ‘The Church, One, Holy, Catholic,’ hath often been recalled to her, and it hath often been shewn to her that all the faithful are bound to obey the Church Militant and to submit to it their words and actions—above all in matters of faith and in all which concerns sacred Doctrine and Ecclesiastical sanction.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO THE REHABILITATION.

It was not until nearly twenty years after the death of Jeanne d’Arc that any attempt was made by those in authority to vindicate her memory or even to acknowledge the services she had rendered to the kingdom of France.

In 1450, however, after the occupation of Normandy and the submission of the town of Rouen, the idea appeared to have occurred to Charles VII. that to suffer the stigma of heresy and witchcraft to rest on the name of the Maid of Orleans, who had “led him to his anointing,” was to throw a doubt upon his own orthodoxy, and to justify the taunt of his enemies that he had been the mere tool of “a lyme of the Fiend.” On February 13th, 1450, therefore, he issued a Declaration empowering one of his Counsellors, Guillaume BouillÉ, to enquire into the conduct of the Trial undertaken against Jeanne by “our ancient enemies the English,” who, “against reason, had cruelly put her to death,” and to report the result of his investigations to the Council.

BouillÉ was Rector of the University of Paris, Dean of the Theological Faculty, Dean of Noyon, a Member of the Great Council, and at one time Ambassador to Rome. It is very probable that he was the author of the first memorial issued in favour of Jeanne, throwing doubts upon the validity of the Rouen sentence—a memorial which, according to some, was prior to the Enquiry of 1450 with which we are now dealing.

It was to an able and competent person therefore, that Charles committed the Enquiry, which was held at Rouen on March 4th and 5th, less than three weeks after the issue of the Royal Mandate.

Seven witnesses were heard; namely, ToutmouillÉ, de la Pierre, Ladvenu, and Duval,—all Dominicans of Saint Jacques, Rouen; the Notary Manchon, the Usher Massieu, and BeaupÈre, one of the chief Examiners. But the Court took no further interest in the matter; and, although in the opinion of several legal authorities consulted by De BouillÉ, the Process of Condemnation was held as null and void, the proceedings were carried no further: the Enquiry was forwarded to the King and Council, and the whole question once more fell into abeyance.

Two years later, the Cardinal-Bishop of Digne, Guillaume d’Estouteville, Legate in France for Pope Nicholas V. took up the Enquiry, at the formal request of Isabel d’Arc, mother of the Maid, who claimed, on Civil as well as on Ecclesiastical authority, the rehabilitation of her daughter, and the restoration of the family to the position they had lost by the imputation of heresy cast on them in the person of one of their number.

The failure of the former Enquiry was due, in great part, to the fear of arousing the hostility of the English, and also of meeting with opposition from the Ecclesiastical authorities, by bringing forward an action instituted by the Sovereign against proceedings which had received the unquestioned sanction of the Holy Office and the University of Paris, and which were also guaranteed by the protection of the English King. The expedient of shifting the entire responsibility on to the shoulders of the d’Arc family obviated these difficulties, and enabled the Case to be taken as a purely private one, an appeal against a judgment given on false premisses. The reversal of this verdict could offend no one, as the action was brought against Defendants none of whom were living to meet the charge, and who could therefore be represented only by their titular legal successors. Their innocence in the whole matter made the case a perfectly harmless one—a legal fiction which might satisfy many and could injure none.

The first act of the Cardinal d’Estouteville was to associate with himself the Prior of the Convent of the Jacobins at Paris, Jean BrÉhal, Inquisitor of France; and, together, they proceeded to an Enquiry at Rouen in April, 1452, at which witnesses to the number of twenty-one, including some of those heard in 1450, gave their evidence. The Cardinal being obliged by his duties to leave Rouen, the Enquiry was left in the hands of BrÉhal and of Philippe la Rose, the Treasurer of the Cathedral. There were still difficulties in the way. The Pope feared to wound English susceptibilities; and, in spite of the efforts of the Cardinal and of the petition presented to Rome by Isabel d’Arc and her two sons, the proceeding languished; and three more years passed without any definite step being taken.

In 1455, however, the Pope Nicholas V. died, and his successor Calixtus III. [Borgia], less timorous, acceded to the request of the d’Arc family, granting a Rescript authorizing the process of revision, and appointing as delegates for the Trial the Archbishop of Rheims (Jean Jouvenal des Ursins), the Bishop of Paris (Guillaume Chartier), and the Bishop of Coutances (Richard de Longueil), who afterwards associated with themselves the Inquisitor, Jean BrÉhal.

The Case was solemnly opened on November 7th, 1455, in the Church of Notre Dame at Paris, when the mother and brothers of the Maid came before the Court to present their humble petition for a revision of her sentence, demanding only “the triumph of truth and justice.” The Court heard the request with some emotion. When Isabel d’Arc threw herself at the feet of the Commissioners, shewing the Papal Rescript and weeping aloud, while her Advocate, Pierre Maugier, and his assistants prayed for justice for her and for the memory of her martyred daughter, so many of those present joined aloud in the petition, that at last, we are told, it seemed that one great cry for justice broke from the multitude.

The Commissioners formally received the petition, and appointed November 17th, ten days later, for its consideration, warning the Petitioners of the possible danger of a confirmation of the previous Trial, instead of the reversal they looked for, but promising careful consideration of the Case should they persist in their appeal.

On November 17th the Court met a second time at Notre Dame; the Papal Rescript was solemnly read, and the Advocate for the Petitioners brought his formal accusation against the Judges and Promoter of the late Trial—none of whom, as has been said, were then alive—carefully excluding the Assessors concerned in the case, who, he said, were led to wrong conclusions by false deductions. At the close of the Advocate’s address, the Archbishop of Rheims and the Bishop of Paris declared themselves ready to act as Judges in the Appeal Case, in conjunction with the Inquisitor BrÉhal, appointing the following December 12th for the inaugural sitting, and citing all those concerned in this Case to appear before them on that day.

The Trial opened on December 12th. The family of d’Arc were represented by the Procurator, Guillaume PrÉvosteau, who had formerly been appointed Promoter in the case instituted by Cardinal d’Estouteville: but the Plaintiffs alone were represented, no one appearing to answer for either of the accused Judges nor for the Promoter d’Estivet. The Case was adjourned until December 15th, in order that Advocates for the Defendants might be summoned to appear.

The Court met accordingly on the 15th December; but, in spite of mandates and citations placed on Church-doors and other public places, no one was found to come forward as representatives of the accused; and a further delay of five days was therefore granted. At the same time, the Commissioners formally constituted the Tribunal and appointed their Officers: Simon Chapitault as Promoter or Advocate-General, Ferrebouc and Lecomte as Registrars for the Court. The Registrars of the former Trial, being present, were asked if they wished in any way to defend the Process in which they had been concerned; but, on their replying in the negative, they were requested to lay before the Court any documents relating to the previous Trial which they might have in their possession. By this means the Commissioners were enabled to have before them the actual Minute of the Trial of 1431, written in Manchon’s own hand and presented by him, and also to obtain his formal attestation of the authenticity of the Official ProcÈs-Verbal, upon which their further enquiries were to be based.

The “Preliminary Enquiry” made in 1452, by command of the Cardinal d’Estouteville and his delegates, was formally annexed, by request of the Promoter, to the official documents of the Trial of Rehabilitation; but the earlier Enquiry of 1450, having been made under secular authority, was unfortunately treated as of no value, and not included in the authorized Case.

On December 18th the Promoter lodged his request on the part of the family of d’Arc, and prayed for a Judgment of Nullity on the previous sentence, on the ground that, both in form and substantiation, it was null and void, and that it should therefore be publicly and legally so declared.

On December 20th—the last day appointed for the appearance of any representatives of the accused—only the Advocate for the family of Cauchon presented himself. He made a declaration to the effect that the heirs of the late Bishop had no desire to maintain the validity of a Trial with which they had no concern, and which took place either before they were born or when they were very little children; that Jeanne had been the victim of the hatred of the English, and that therefore the responsibility fell rather upon them; finally they begged that the Rehabilitation of Jeanne might not be to their prejudice, invoking for themselves the benefits of the King’s amnesty granted after the conquest of Normandy.

The Procurator having declared his willingness to agree, the heirs of Cauchon were put out of the question; and the other Defendants, not having appeared, were declared contumacious, and cited once more to appear on February 16th following. On the same day [Dec. 20th] the Promoter formulated his Accusation, and brought before the notice of the Court certain special points in the previous Trial which tended to vitiate the whole: 1st, the intervention of the hidden registrars and the alterations, additions, and omissions made in the Twelve Articles; 2nd, the suppression of the Preliminary Enquiry, and the obvious predisposition of the Judges; 3rd, the incompetence of the Court, and the unfairness of the treatment received throughout by the Accused, culminating in an illegal sentence and an irregular execution.

The Promoter then asked that enquiries might be instituted into the life and conduct of the Maid, and as to the manner in which she had undertaken the reconquest of the country. Orders were accordingly given, that information should at once be taken at Domremy and Vaucouleurs, under the direction of Reginald de Chichery, Dean of Vaucouleurs, and of Wautrin Thierry, Canon of Toul.

While these enquiries were being made, a document containing 101 Articles was drawn up,^[295] setting forth the case of the Plaintiffs for the consideration of the still-absent Defendants, and stating at great length the grounds, both in fact and reason, for the demand of a revision of sentence.

On the day fixed for the final citation of the Defendants—Feb. 16th, 1456,—the Court again assembled; and on this occasion the accused were represented by their legal successors: the Promoter of the Diocese of Beauvais, BrÉdouille, as representative of the authority of the Bishop, Guillaume de Hellande; and Chaussetier, the Prior of the Convent of Evreux, as representing the Dominicans of Beauvais, to whose Order Jean LemaÎtre, the other Judge of the Maid, belonged. Both of these disclaimed any responsibility for the former Trial, but submitted themselves to the mandate of the Court; and, no objection being offered to the 101 Articles, these were accepted by the Judges, and the case was proceeded with.

The Enquiry of 1456 extended over several months. Thirty-four witnesses were heard, in January and February, at Domremy and Vaucouleurs; forty-one, in February and March, at Orleans; twenty at Paris, in April and May; nineteen at Rouen, in December and May; and on May 28th, at Lyons, the Vice-Inquisitor of the province received the deposition of Jean d’Aulon, whose evidence is specially important, as being that of the Steward of the Maid’s household, and the most devoted of her followers.

After the close of these Enquiries and their formal reception as part of the Process, the Advocate of the d’Arc family petitioned the Judges to give their attention to certain Memorials drawn up on the Case by learned men, which documents he prayed might also be inserted among the formal proceedings of the Trial. The request being granted, Eight Memorials were presented and formally annexed to the Authentic Documents of the Process. The whole case was then admirably summed up, for the guidance of the Judges, in the ‘Recollectio’ of the Inquisitor, Jean BrÉhal, and on this document the final Sentence of Rehabilitation was subsequently based.

On the 18th of June, Jean d’Arc and the Promoter, Chapitault in the name of the Plaintiffs, appeared at the Palace of the Bishop of Paris, and prayed that a day might be fixed for the conclusion of the Case. In answer to this request the following 1st of July was appointed for the purpose, and an announcement to that effect was ordered to be placed on all the doors of the Cathedral at Rouen.

On July 2nd the Pontifical Delegates met and appointed the following Wednesday, July 7th, for the pronouncement of the final Sentence; and on that day, at 8 a.m., the Court assembled in the Hall of the Archiepiscopal Palace, and the formal Sentence of Rehabilitation was solemnly read by the Archbishop of Rheims. This was followed by a procession and sermon on the same day in the Place St. Ouen, and by a second sermon on the day following in the Old Market Place, where a Cross to perpetuate the memory of the martyrdom was then erected, “for the salvation of her soul.” This Cross remained until the end of the following century, when it was replaced by a fountain, with a statue of the Maid under an arcade surmounted by a Cross; the fountain now standing was erected in 1756.

FRANCE, 1429–1431
to illustrate
THE LIFE OF JEANNE D’ARC
Route followed by Jeanne d’Arc——
Stanford’s Geog^l Estab^t. London.