Joan of Arc

ERY OF OR

of Arc had promised to accomplish. Orleans was the place of the utmost importance; not merely as being the second city in France, but as forming the 'tête du pont

ded with towers, called 'Les Tournelles,' while at the end of the town side of the bridge were large 'bastilles,' powerful fortresses which dated from the year 1417, when Henry V. threatened Orleans after his

ce. Both countries looked anxiously on as the siege progressed. Salisbury commanded the English; he had been up to this point successful in taking all the

tifications, and to place cannon and catapults on the walls and ramparts. The priests on this o

rom imprisonment in England, and was burning to avenge his captivity. La Hire, Xaintrailles, Coulant, Coaraze, and Armagnac were among the de

ad razed the houses and the convent of St. Augustin, in order to prevent the enemy from entrenching themselves so near the city gates. Salisbury, however, threw up fortifications on the site of St. Augustin's, an

the whole population were in arms, and manned the walls; the women fought by the side of their h

d retired further back towards the centre of the bridge, which, as well as its approaches, was defended by towers. Part of the bridge on

n necessary from that quarter. What he aimed at for the present was to prevent all communication between the town and the south of France. Holding the bridge, he

beneath him. While gazing on it, a stray cannon shot struck him on the face; he was carried, mortally wounded, from the place. That fatal shot was said t

sieged town) and his boy are introduced on the scene, and that the boy fires the shot which proved fatal both to Salisbury and Sir Thomas Gargrave. The promi

languish. Glansdale succeeded Salisbury in the command; but it was not until the doughty

they were not a little proud, wherefrom they fired iron shot of one hundred and twenty livres in weight. The Master of Gunners of Shakespeare's play, whose name was John de Monsteschère, made also extraordinary practice with his culverin; and he could pick off marked men

command acted Suffolk's brother, John de la Pole, Lord Scales, and Lancelot de Lisle. In order to maintain touch with his troops posted at the Tournelles, Suffolk threw up f

ered by the besieged and

f Glansdale; three hundred under Talbot; twelve hundred with Fastolfe. Including those who had come with

d strong, was a garrison numbering between six and seven hundred men; also some thousand soldi

ve weakness of the English force-which, all told, could only count about four thousand men to carry on the siege-is

bastilles or towers thrown up by the besiegers led to little result on either sid

was being taken from the coast to Paris. In the fight, the fish-laden barrels were overthrown, and their contents scattered over the field; whence the name of the Battle of the He

e city were covered by the bastilles or huge towers which the besiegers had thrown up, and from which they could bombard the place; and the pressure on the devoted city waxed ever stronger. By the month of April, Orleans was girdled b

the town disturbances broke out, and the cry of treachery was heard-that sure precursor of the fears of the strong that the hardships

cting troops and securing the services of some notable officers, including the Duke of Alen?on. Towards the end of April Joan arrived at Blois f

King. Joan's historian, M. Wallon, points out that this may be an incorrect entry made in the interest of the English at the trial, as they naturally would wish the relieving force to appear as large as possible. It has even been placed as low as th

hat La Hire would do for Him, if H

e La Hire broke off this habit, but, in order to give him some sco

be the last to tolerate such interference. So changed, it is said, had this rough warrior, La Hire, and many of his fellow-soldiers become in their habits while with the Maid, that they were happy to be able to kneel b

g letter despatched t

consent to return and to pay for what you have taken. And all of you, soldiers, and archers, and men-at-arms, now before Orleans, return to your country, in God's name. If this is not done, King of England, I, as a leader in war, whenever I shall meet with your people in France, will oblige them to go whether they be willing or not; and if they go not, they will perish; but if they will depart I will pardon them. I have come from the King of Heaven to drive you out [bouter] of France. And

proposing to Bedford that they should com

ly Week. The address ran thus: 'To the Duke of Bedford, so called Regent of

d English and French armies, was an idea which seems to have floated in Joan's enthusiastic imagination, that the day

treatment of the messenger who had brought it to the English camp. He was kept prisoner, and, if some rather doubtful French writers of

ook the Sacrament at the head of the army. It must have been a striking sight during that spring-time-that army, led by a maiden all clad in white armour, and mounted on a black charger, surrounded by a brilliant band of knights, riding along the pleasant fields of Touraine, then in their first livery

en possible, in which the two nations, so closely connected by religious feeling, and so closely united by position, but so long enemies owing to the rapacity and gre

chanted the 'Veni Creator.' The sacred strain was taken up by those who fol

an remained, as was her custom when sh

assing through Beaugency and Meung, they went on by Saint Die, Saint Laurent, and Clery, without meeting with any attack from the enemy who occupied these places. On arriving at

ut that the English were in force on all sides. She wished that the nearest of these bastilles, at Saint Jean le Blanc, should be stormed, and the riv

ong islands, or 'eyots' as we call them on the Thames, lay in this part of the Loire. On one of these, called l'Isle aux Bourdons, the p

the wind changed, and the provision boats, which, owing to the wind being contrary, had not been able to make the islands, were now enabled to leave the city. They soon arrived, were laden with provisions, corn, and even cattle emb

however, was determined to enter Orleans, flood or no flood, for she knew what the moral effect of her appearing to the townspeople would be. Accompani

ple clung to her, kissing her knees and feet, and, according to the old chroniclers, behaved as if God Himself had appeared among them. So eager was the throng to approach her, that in the press one of her standards was set on fire by a flambeau. After returning thanks for the delivery of her

ding it has been much modernised, although a beautiful specimen of the domestic Gothic of the early part of the fifteenth century, kn

r, greatly changed in favour of the French, and the r?les of besieged and besiegers changed. Joan's arrival had infused a fresh spirit of enthusiasm and patriotism into the citizens, and the English were no longer fear

. Joan was, however, not to be deterred by menaces and insults from doing all she could to prevent unnecessary loss of life. On one occasion she rode out half-way across the bridge, to where there stood a crucifix called La Belle Croix, within speaking distance of the English in the Tournelles. Thence she summoned Glansdale and his men to surrender, promising that their lives should be spared. They answered with derisive shouts and villainous abuse. Still

ging its inhabitants by her confidence, faith, and courage. The people, writes the chronicler of the sieg

oix Morin, to negotiate with the English, she again promising them quarter if th

Archbishop of Rheims, Regnault de Chartres; he and Tremo?lle worked in concert to undermine all the prestige which Joan's success in revictualling Orleans had caused at Court. The historian Quicherat, whose work on Joan of Arc is by far the most complete and reliable, considers this man to have been an astute politician, without any moral strength or courage. When with Joan of Arc, he seems to have shown firmness and even enthusiasm in her mission, but he sank into the r?le of a poltroon wh

is had ridden in hot haste from Blois, that at len

rough the enemy's lines and along the fortified bastilles occupied by the English. Whether it was fear, or superstition mixed with fear, not a man from the English side stirred, although the

ened Dunois with his instant execution if he failed to tell her of the moment he learnt of his approach. Her anxiety was well founded, for the attack commenced before she had been apprised of it. She had lain down for a short repose one aftern

ged. Hastily throwing on her armour, with the assistance of her hostess and d'Aulon, she dashed off on her horse, a

the town. It was the first time the Maid came face to face with such grisly sights-the agony of the wounded, the blood and gaping wounds. Her squire, d'Aulon, who has left some record of that day, says how much she griev

enched, the place commanded that portion of the river which Talbot had garrisoned with some three hundred of his best troops. Joan now gave instructions that no aid should reach this portion of the English defences from the adjace

their rear. This expedient, however, failed, for a fresh force appeared at this juncture from Orleans, led by Boussac and De Graville, who beat back the attack of the English. The Engli

rom the enemy in five days' time, and that by that time not a single Englishman would remain before Orleans. No

rts; she said this was the third and the last time that she could give them a chance of escaping with their lives. On this occasion she made use of a

fortress communicated with the Boulevard of Saint Privé, as well as with the strong fortress of Saint Laurent, near which a small island, which exists no longer, called the Isle of Charlemagne, kept open their connections on both sides of the Loire. To t

ean le Blanc was reached, it was found deserted by the English, Glansdale having left it in order to concentrate his forces at the Tournelles. Joan led the attack. At first the French fought badly; they had been seized by a pan

g held by the enemy. The few English able to escape retired to the Tournelles. Eager to carry on the success of th

aptured six hundred prisoners, one third were slain of

sion on which the Maid h

Arc said to her almoner: 'Rise early to-morrow, for we shall have a hard day's work before us. Keep close to

but that she had known it would occur a long time before, and had told the King about it. A letter is extant in the Public Library at Brussels, written on the 22nd of April (1429), by the Sire de Rotslaer, dated from Lyons, in which Joan's prophecy regarding her wou

reinforcements from the King. When this was reported to Joan, she said: 'You have taken your counsel, and I have received mine,' and at break of day she was ready, armed and prepared for the attack. Before starting, her host wished her to eat some fish, an 'alose,' which had just been brought to him. 'Keep it,' sa

closed by order of De Gaucourt, Grand Master of the King's Household, who had done so at the instigation of those officers who wished the

said to those about the gate, 'and whether

stationed. The attack on the Tournelles commenced as soon as Joan arrived-it was then between six and seven in the morning. Meanwhile Dunois, La Hire, and the principa

nder the guidance of a leader they already regarded as more than human-and never had the

e beaten out of the Tournelles their defeat would be

French. Joan, who had been all these hours in the thick of the engagement, seeing her men were losing heart, redoubled her efforts; and, helping to raise a scaling-ladder, she placed it against the parapet of one of the towers. While thus engaged she was struck by a bolt from a cross-bow, between her shoulder and neck. The wound was a severe one; she fell, and was carried out of the press. Although she suffered acutely

she heard that the troops were about to be recalled from their attack on the Tournelles, she seemed to forget her wound, and, making her way to Dunois, implored him not to give up the fight. She assured him that she was certain they would even yet be victorious. In a few stirring sentences she rallied

ing over the broken arches of the bridge by means of ladders thrown across the masonry, the first man to reach the other bank was a knight of Rhodes, Nicolas de Giresme. Attacked from two sides, the English still held the Tournelles with bull-dog tenacity; but the sight of the witch and sorceress, as they conside

out the triumphant voice of the Mai

r; others threw themselves on a bridge, which, however, having been set on fire by the French

drowning in the Loire. Seeing his peril, Joan of Arc attempted to save him, but Glansdale was swept, before

urnelles or were drowned in attempting to esca

field till late in the night, in case the English at the Bastille of Saint Laurent should be inclined to avenge the fall of the Tournelles, and the victory over their co

courage had rescued from the English. 'God knows,' writes Perceval de Cagny, 'with what joy she was received'; and our English histo

e streets, what melody was made in taverns, what rounds were danced in large and broad places, what lights were set up in the churches, what anthems were sung in chapels, and what joy

d the heat, fatigue, and, above all, the anguish of her wound. At length she was able to find some repose wit

ity, leaving all their sick, stores, artillery, and ammunition. That day Lord Talbot must have used expressions probably not as poetical as those put into his mouth in the play of Henry VI.; but doubtless far more

e whirled like

here I am, n

ar, not force,

roops, and conque

ces near to and facing the town, he seemed inclined to make a further stand, if not to carry out an attack against the city.

enemy chose to begin an engagement they would be met and defeated; but that she could not sanction fighting on that holy

eligious a

he English have their faces

re, she added, 'Let them depart, in God's name: it is not His wish

retreat, previously setting fire to their bas

s of any place had better cause for celebrating so joyful and honourable an event. The siege which Joan had thus brought to an end began o

us; and although most of the English, no doubt, believed that the result was owing

it novit Deus bellorum'; and on the margin of the register he has traced a little profile sketch of a woman in armour, holding in her right hand a pen

undertaking, lost no time in r