Joan of Arc

NMENT A

, like some mighty reptile scenting its prey near, slowly unfolded its coils. Whether Bedford had or had not caused these letters to be sent the Duke is not known, but the Regent had both in the Church and the University of Paris the men he wanted-instruments by whom his vengeance could be worked on Joan of Arc; and he had the astuteness to see that in calling in the aid of the Church, and t

ned priest when at the University of Paris; but he had the reputation of being a harsh and vindictive opponent to all who disagreed with his views, within or without the Church. He was forced to leave Paris, in 1413, for some misconduct. It was then that Cauchon became a strong partisan of the Duke of Burgundy. It was through the Duke that he obtained the See of Beauvais. The English also favoured Cauchon, and obtained for him a high post in the University of Paris. When the tide of French success reached Beauvais, in 1429, Cauchon was obliged to escape, and found

ain the long-coveted Archbishopric of Rouen in exchange for helping his friends to the utmost in his power by furthering their schemes and in ridding them of their prisoner once and for ever. The bait held out by Winchester and Bedford was the Archbishopric of Rouen, and

ich he had obtained from the doctors of the University, and he made the offer in the name of the child-king of England. The sum handed over for the purchase of the prisoner was 10,000 livres tournois, equivalent to 61,125 francs of French money of to-day-about ￡2

and a countryman of Joan of Arc, should have bought her from a prince, the descendant of emperors and kings, also a countryman of the heroic Maid's, for English gold, is bad enough; and that the so-called 'good' Duke of Burgundy should have been a silent spectator of the in

like a lamb to the shambles, not a hand being raised by

litical as well as an ecclesiastical body, supreme under the Pope above the whole of the Gallican Church. Although divided into two parties through the war then raging between England and France, its judicature was greatly influenced by the Church. It was a matter of certainty that the Doctors of Theology who sat in the Universit

at the same time, appears to have been allowed to remain with her. On his telling her that he feared Compiègne would now probably be taken by the enemy, Joan of Arc said such a thing could not occur, '

Arc, after an imprisonment of four months at Beaulieu, was transferred thence by Ligny to his castle of Beaurevoir, near the town of Cambrai, a place far removed from the neighbourhood of the war, and consequently more secure than Beaulieu. At Beaurevoir lived the wife and the aunt of Ligny; they showed some attention and compassion to the prisoner. They offered her some of their dresses, and tried to persuade her to quit her male attire. Joan, however, refused: she gave as her reason for not complying with

again to recover her liberty. In the course of her trial she told her judges how her voices counselled her not again to make this venture, and of her perplexity whet

n imminent peril of falling into the hands of the English, and that the inhab

gh; and yet wil

e pitiful, and

e, and go, as

the tower is supposed to have been no less than sixty feet high. She was found unconscious at its foot, and for several d

hat her beloved Saint Catherine had visited and comforted her; and she also told them that she knew

e coat-of-arms of the jailer of the Maid, the tower in which she was imp

wife and aunt, Ligny delivered up his prisoner into the custody of the Duke of

mposing a ceremony as possible; and he also meant, by defaming the source of the French King's successes, to show the French people that Charles' coronation at Rheims had been brought about by what the Regent Bedford called a 'limb of the evil one.' It was, therefore, Bedford's plan that it should be declared before the world that Joan of Arc was inspired by Satanic

h-one who was in league with the evil one; and, when that had been satisfactorily proved, that she should publicly meet with the fate which a merciful Church had, in it

town of Arras, thence to Crotoy, where, about the

h, somehow or other, has been linked with his name. Had he been the most virtuous of princes of any time, he yet deserves to have his memory branded for the part he then took in the sale of Joan of Arc-

tuation near the coast, and the strength of its fortress, made Le Crotoy one of the principal places on the sea line, whence stores and war provender could be carried into France. Le Crotoy had fallen into possession of the English through the marriage of Henry III. with Eleanor of Castille, Countess of Ponthieu, of which Crotoy formed a part. During the hundred years' war, the port could receiv

ouched by this mark of sympathy from these Abbeville folk, Joan gave them, on parting from them, her blessing, and asked them to remember her in their prayers. The enlightened clergy and doctors, lay and spiritual, who formed the body known as the University of Paris, preferred that Joan of Arc should be sent to the capital, there to undergo her trial, and wrote to thi

entire direction of the trial. It was well that the University should be made use of; but Cauchon relied on the Inquisition to carry out his and Bedford's plan. Cauchon must be the principal agent and judge, and he felt, with Bedford, that they had a freer hand i

debated by some of her captors whether or not she should be at once put to death. They suggested her being sewn into a sack and thrown into the river! The reason these people gave for summarily disposing of Joan of Arc without form or trial was that, as long as she lived, there

cular castle. Her jailers had the barbarity to place their prisoner in an iron cage, in which she was fastened with iron rings and chains, one at the neck, another at the

mong others who went to see Joan of Arc in her prison came one day the Earl of Warwick, with Lord Stafford and Ligny-Joan's former jailer. The

d, 'I know well that these English will kill me, thinking that by doing so they will reconquer the kingdom of France; but e

s dagger, and would have struck her had

his tribunal of

o appointed John Lema?tre as judge in the trial of the Maid. The following July this

al. He was a Dominican prior. He appears to have been a feeb

nother Dominican, and also

Procureur-Général during the trial. D'Estivet was a gross and cruel ecclesiastic, and it is somewhat satisfactory to know his end

the course of it he was threatened by Cauchon for having given some friendly ad

trial. We shall find that at the time of Joan's execution this man was horrified at the part he had taken in it. He confesses his horror at having received money for his infamy, but instead of casting hi

sheriffs officer. He appears to have had feel

hester throughout the trial; but he only appears to have taken part in these occasions during the examinations. It was he who was made Archbish

In the year 1456, at the trial for the rehabilitation of Joan of Arc's memory, Mai

s that she was born in too low a rank of life to have been inspired by God. This decision makes one wonder so aristocratic a

e Montjeu, Bish

e Bishops, Dominicans, and members of the French Church who gave his vote against th

bove French p

canon of Besan?on. It was he who, with the following five representatives of the Univ

d was in favour of employing torture to make Joan confess what was required of her by her prosecutors. He was considered one of the shining lights of th

rder to lay the twelve articles of accusation before the Univer

he time of the execution of Joan of Arc. Attacked soon after by leprosy, he sufficiently recovered to see Charles VII. enter Paris; and he had the aud

ity and a canon of Rouen. He was one of t

octor of the University, was vi

most to do with the proceedings of the trial, and thos

ical garb, and succeeded in getting, under the promise of secrecy from his order, a confession from the prisoner. He also introduced spies into the prison who took notes of Joan's words. When the idea was mooted of putting Joan of Arc to the torture, Loiseleur was one of the most urgent for it to be applied. However, on the day of the execution this man

er of the Cathedral of Rouen. He acted throughout the tria

lso a D.C.L., and can

esne, also a canon

s, a canon of Rouen, a

s greatly moved at the heroine's death, and exclaimed, '

Auguy, ano

aubribosc, also

another canon and

et, another c

oy, Duchemin, Dubesert, Garin, Gastinel, Ledoux, Leroy, Maguerie, Manzier, Morel, Morellet, Pinchon, Saulx, a

ous houses: Peter de Crique, Prior of Sigy; William Lebourg, Prior of

Catherine; Dacier, Abbot of Saint Corneille of Compiègne; Frique, Abbot of Bee; Jolivet, Abbot of Saint Michael's Mount in Normandy; Labbé, Abbot

rtin Ladvenu, a Dominican priest, one of the few who showed some humanity to the prisoner. It was Ladvenu who heard her confession on the day of her execution, and who after her death testified to her saintliness. Isambard de la Pierre, also a Dominican. Although he voted for her death, de la Pierre showed signs of pity and compassion for his victim, and assisted her at her last moments. Testimony to her pure character was given by him in the time of her rehabilitation. Besides these were Emenyart, Fiexvet, Guerdon, Le Fèvre, Delachambre, and Tiphanie, all of whom, with the exception of the last two, who were doctors of medicine, were members of the University. As we have alr

relates and doctors assembled to judge her is sufficient to show. The doctors who had been summoned to attend the trial, and who had come to Rouen from Pa

. Cupidity, lust of place and power, and fear of the enemies of the French were the principal motives which influenced these men, whose names

the original translation has been preserved. There were three reporters who took notes during the trial-Manchon, Colles, and T

dvised Joan to submit herself to the Council then holding meetings at Bale, to which she assented, Cauchon shouted out, 'In the devil's name hold your peace!' On being asked by Manchon whether the prisoner's wish to submit her case to the Council at Bale should be placed on the minutes of the trial, Cauchon roughly refused. Joan of Arc overhearing this, said, 'You write down what is against my interest, but not what is in my favour.' But

ouded success, could have shown in a grander way the greatness of her character than her answers and her

drew up a series of articles of indictment against the prisoner, the first public sitting of the t

martyrdom of fifty days' daily and nightly torture. During the trial her confinement was less barbarous, but she was kept chained to a wooden bed, and the only wonder is that she did not succumb to this barbar

nds, both of which were refused. One was, that an equal number of clergy belonging to the French party should form an equal number in the t

the trial about to commence. Beneath him were ranged forty-three assessors-there were ninety-five assesso

the priest Massieu. Cauchon opened the p

th right and proper. For as much in the eyes of public opinion, and owing to certain matters which have come to our knowledge'-(Cauchon here refers to the information that he sought to obtain from Domremy: as nothing could be learnt there but what redounded to Joan of Arc's credit, no further use was made of the information by the Bishop)-'we have, with the assistance of learned doctors in religious and civil law, called you together in order to examine the said Joan, in order that she be examined on matters relating to faith. Therefore,' he continued, 'we desire

hat she knew not on what Cauchon would question her. 'Perhaps,' s

respecting the things which will be asked you con

God, I have never revealed to any one, except to Charles my King, and I will never reveal these things, even if my head were to be cut off, because my voices have order

to her regarding matters of faith, and the Gospels were placed before her. The prisoner, kneeling, la

ur name?' a

ette. Since I came to France I wa

e were y

Greux. The principa

e your pare

is James d'Arc; my

were you

t Dom

rents, who baptized her, her age (she was abou

n, 'from my mother the Paternoster, the Ave Maria, and th

upon her to repeat

brought against her, but as Cauchon completely failed to find any evidence for such a charge against his prisoner, he altered the charge of magi

that he would send some one to whom she might confess. He then warned her that if she were to leave her prison she would be c

d, 'given my promise not to

Probably, had she then promised not to escape from prison, this severity would have been relaxed, but Joan of Arc had not the spirit to stoop to

the two soldiers Berwoit and Talbot, were called, and took an oath not to allow the prisoner to see any one

eir notes, and that Joan of Arc was repeatedly interrupted. Cauchon had placed some of his clerks behind the tapestry in

ing of the judges was held in a different place, more suitable-namely, in the great hall of the castle. That sec

Inquisition, to the judges, after which Joan was brought into the hall-a sp

g but the truth, and that that should suffice. Cauchon still insisted, and again Joan replied that as far as any question was put to her reg

rs of theology to examine and cross-questio

t you to tell the truth, as you have sworn

thers about which I cannot. If you were well informed about me you should wis

e you when you

not exact

learn any tr

d for that I am not afraid to b

your father's house befor

father's house and went to Neufchateau in Lorraine, to visit

our occupation

r the household affairs, and I went but sel

e your confessi

ith my curate's permission. I think on two or three occasions I have confessed to

Eucharist at other festiva

e had already told regarding

, not an easy one to translate. Per

ces,' and one can imagine how eagerly this portion of the pri

st hear the voice

to help me to live well. That first time I was much alarmed. The voice came

fasting?' as

I had bee

fasted on th

, I ha

irection did th

coming from my right-f

accompanied with

me from the same side as did the voice, and it was generally very br

the light when you s

, but she said that when she was in a wood

did you think this voice which mani

t was sent to me by God. When I heard it for the thir

you unde

te clear, and I could

give you regarding the

the services of the Church regularly; and it told m

er of form did t

I will give y

voice solic

ee times a week, "Leave your

ather know of

voice said, "Go to France," so I c

se did it s

I should raise the

s that

that place, and that he would give me soldiers to accompany me on my journey; and I an

did you

with him eight days. I then told him that I must go to Vaucouleurs, and he took me there. When I

n, did you r

I said to him, "I must go to France." Twice he refused to listen to me.

e business with the

d said to him, "I must go to France." The Duke asked me how he

k much to him ab

soldiers, to go to France with me, and that I should pray God to cure him. I ha

dressed when you

d by a knight, a squire, and four servants. We went to the town of Saint Urban, and I passed that night in the abbey. On the way, we passed through t

e advice did you come to

nswer, in spite of being

ricourt say to yo

ake charge of me, and as I left he said, "Go,

ding the Duke of Orleans,

ave had more revelations about the Duke than about any ot

advised her to wear male attire. She said it wa

e tell you so?

e gave me good adv

ou do on arriv

in Rouen. There are two or three sentences in that copy which were not in my letter. For instance, "Give back to the Maiden" sh

n his Life of the Maid of Orleans, the text being the s

ou see as often as you wish

te Catherine de Fierbois, I sent a messenger to Chinon to the King. We arrived about mid

s more likely, makes a slip, as she did not see C

ted out the

ong all the others, my voices having revealed him to me. I t

d your King to you, were the

ade no

y angel above the

be so easily put off, and repeated the question again and again, unti

revelations?' a

old Beaupère that he might, if he

King to see you?' th

d promised her that the King wou

Beaupère, 'did

well that I was sent by God; they hav

asked B

ve heard the voices coming to me. Charles

ourbon was the Co

ear that voice?'

that I do not hear

sk of it?' inq

'asked for any recompense, ex

ays encourage you

to remain, but against my will the knights obliged me

u wounded?' a

before Paris, having gone there from Saint

attempt to do

d made one skirmish (esca

east day?' ask

d if she considered it right to make an a

s to try and make Joan of Arc avow that her voices had given her

truth on all subjects asked her, and again she protested that as far as her revelations were concerned she could give no answers. On Cauchon insisting, she said, 'Take care what y

, and he stormed and threatened her with insta

e would willingly answer all questions relating to her deeds since leaving her home, but that it would take many days for her to tell them all. Wearied with the per

ordered to cross-ex

ing her when sh

at mid-day,' she said

uestion her regarding the voic

,' Joan said, 'and a

lock of the

ning, and once at the hour of Vespers, an

asked Beaupère, 'when

nswered Joan, 'and

you by touch

e me without it

in you

ow, but it was

nowledge it

sitting up and clasping my han

did it s

e to answe

clearly what i

d bade it ask the Saviour for counsel. And the

ing to you before

.' Then, emboldened as it seemed by the recollection of that voice, she turned to Cauchon and exclaimed, 'You, Bishop, you t

oice had ever altered its advice, and whether it had told Jo

oan. 'I have revelations of matters conc

, in order that, by that time, she might know whether she m

whether she knew that

nued, 'I believe as firmly as I believe the Christian re

the voice was that of

by God,' she only de

r that she might better be able in that time to know how

aid that she had been ordered by the voices to reveal certain things to the King, and not to her judges; t

d she not prevail on the

voices would cons

he voice not speak to the King now, as

' Joan answered: 'without the grace o

on, was afterwards made use of as a weapon to

an if the voice had form and features

,' she said, 'that one is sometim

carefully led up, and whereby Cauchon hoped to entrap her into a statement which might be used in t

ce me in it; if I am alre

the judges, guessing the object of its being made, expostul

e the most unhappy being in the world, and I do not think, were I living in sin, that my voice

ual. Then came a string of questions about the fairy-well, the haunted oak-tree. All these questions Joan fully answered. She had never, she said, seen a fairy, nor had she heard the prophecy abou

n take the oath was made to the prisoner by Cauchon, and she was again cross-examined by Beaupère. Again questioned

e of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret; they wear beautiful crowns-of this I may speak, for they allow me to do so.' If,

ish one from the oth

which they salute

ey been in commun

eir protection seven

appear to her, she said it was the last named. She had seen him, she said, as clearly as she saw Beaupère, and that he was not by

Joan replied in the affirmative, and also that she would sooner have

wear the man's dress? and had not Baudricourt,

s but by God's orders that

turned upon the vi

ed above the head o

soldiers stood in the hall, and fifty torches burnt in the great hal

ting her examination befo

, 'that there was nothing in m

soner if she had visited Sa

ard mass there twice in on

unicate your mess

ed and fifty miles to bring him assistance, and that I had much to do for him. I think,

wear a sword?'

t I had taken

t another o

om Troyes or Chinon, for a sword from the back of the

now there was

hether at the front or at the back of the altar. It was cleaned by the people belonging to the church. They had a scabbard made for me; als

word,' asked Beaupère, '

it constantly up to the time that I left

n did you bestow

g about the sword, that she had a particular liking for it, from its h

ot in the habit of placing this sword on

red in the

'had she not prayed that it

d Joan, 'that I wished my armou

the Fierbois sword

swered Joan, 'a sword and some ar

en at Lagny?'

swered th

r, which she said was a good weapon, able to deal shrewd blows. But she would not satisfy Beaupère's curi

as to what had become

her goods; she said she believed the lat

hen you went to Orleans, a banner o

he world, with angels on either side. It was white, made of white cloth, of a

of?' asked Beaupère,-'yo

the answer, 'forty times

nted you

n would

r flag?' aske

ging the enemy, 'in order,' she added, 'to avoid

g give you,' asked the priest,

twelve thousand m

f Orleans, and he was told by the Maid that she fir

xt question, 'that you would

velation which she had received, and of which sh

ell your soldiers that you alone would receive all the arrow

wounded; but,' she added, 'I said to my peopl

unded?' aske

unded by an arrow or a dart; but I received much comfort from Saint Catherine, and I recovered in

nd that you would be w

d told my King I should be wound

r were you wou

adder against the fortress at the bridge. Whil

id you not come to terms with t

hey could not have a truce of fifteen days, which they wanted;

at did

ir side arms (petites cottes) their lives would b

ices to know whether you should

d not r

the fourth

k place on the 1st of March. F

ingness to answer all questions put to her regarding her deeds as readily as if she were in the presence o

poken of the Pope to lay a pitfall in her path: Which Pope did

on to those bishops and doctors of the faith who had f

ue that she had received a letter from the Count of Armag

oduced, as well as the one s

would be able better to answer his question when at rest in Paris or elsewhere. The copy of he

in her letter that what she knew

s she believed the true one, she said tha

ould, ere seven years were passed from that time, give a more striking proof of their loss of power in France than that which they had shown before Orleans. This prediction was literally carried out when, in 1436, Paris opened its gate

f Arc, 'with greater reverses

red that these things had been revealed to her. The ex

n the same dress? Always in the

. Had the saints long hair? She did not know.

she replied, 'is g

of voices w

soft and beautiful Fr

t Margaret spe

answer, 'when she is not o

wear ea

e had worn two-one had been taken by the Burgundians when she was captured, the other by the Bishop. The former ha

sked, 'made use of these

never

lips of Joan of Arc, upon which they could found a charge of heresy against her. Her visions were distorted by them into a proof of infern

eneath the haunted oak of Domremy?-and what had they promise

to take me with them to Paradise

ore?' quer

plied, 'I am not at liberty to say what th

ou would be free in

ose three months had passed, the heroine had bee

ng there a certain fabulous plant, called Mandragora? Joan of Arc knew nothing regarding such a p

Michel like? W

which could only have occurred to a foul-minded p

nd sometimes indecent, questions with her wonderful patience. At one moment she could not help exclaiming how supremely happy the sight of her s

and refused to give any information. To reveal that sign or secret would, she felt, be not only a breach of confidence and disloyalty between her and her King, b

udges, 'that you will have nothing fr

e crown that the King had worn at Rheims: which

ong series of questions were nearly all relating to the appearance of the saints. Both questions and answer

dress-what she then wore, and wh

ed, 'did he not inquire if your change i

I do not remember if he asked me. This evi

père, 'at Poitiers, did they not want to know

me when I had first begun to wear man's dress, and

ed her to leave off wearing male clothes. She an

u were at the castle of Beaurevoir, did

the time had not yet come.' She would, she added, have yielded sooner to

banners used by her during he

not been copied

their pleasure

nner made? If the poles were

she answered,

'say that the flags made like y

my soldiers was, that they shoul

inkle holy water

ion Joan refu

r who had seen her at Troyes. She answered that he came to her making the

t she had pictures painted of he

ait of herself, in which she was represented kneelin

of you,' asked Beaupère, 'in

nothing regardi

tion put, 'that your partisans had pr

t by my wish; but if they prayed for me,'

her clothes. She answered that, inasmuch as she could, she prevented them doing so; but she acknowledge

d not stood sponsor to some

nsor for two children at Saint Denis, and she had gladly had the boy christened by the

ot touch your ri

touch both my hands and my rings;

ment and confess herself as sh

' she a

priest, 'receive the sacr

t, if I recollect right,

ist in her male dress was made one of the acc

orse she had bought from the Bish

nd was put before the image of the Virgin, in front of which some young women were kneeling. Joan of Arc joined them in their prayers, upon which it was noticed that the supposed dead infant gav

he town of Lagny that you had performed this miracle, a

inquire,'

discovered to be a vulgar impostor, and whom she had tried to dissuade from making people believe

t, although against the warning of her voices, which had counselled her to have patience-but that Saint Catherine had com

into the hands of the enemy she intended commi

r give up my soul into God's keeping, t

sixth and last public da

ps on this account that Cauchon thought it more prudent to continue holding the trial with only a few, and those few picked men, of whose sympathies, characters, and feelings he was sure. The Bishop's ostensible reason in having the trial henceforth carried on in private was in order 'not to tire the others.' A most thoughtful and tender-hea

gations was held in Joan of Arc's prison-proba

e questioned the p

mpiègne from which p

espy-en-

ègne did many days elapse

e town so that the enemy could not be aware of my arrival, and the

church rung on the oc

ot by my command. I had

order them

ollection of h

sortie by the comm

told me I should be taken prisoner before St. John's Day; but that I was to keep a brave hea

voices tell you that

uffer a long imprisonment: and the voices said, "Be without fear, for these things must happen." But they

hem about the time in w

red; but they

hat sortie, and not tell you the man

luntarily; but had my voices ordered me to go and I had known, th

ly did you pass over t

hey driven back as far as the quarters of the Burgundians; the third time half as far. While so engaged the English arrived, a

t a picture painted representing the world and

me to carry that

lso bear arms

arms; a shield with a blue ground, on which were

esent to your brot

hers by the King, withou

were you riding when

ted on a de

iven you t

em how she had had fine horses purchased by the King for he

reader did one minutely re-write them as they appear in the chronicle. We shall therefore confine ourselves to the principal and most

For hours she was urged to tell of what this special sign or token consisted-whether of precious stones, gold, or silver. Joan, who apparently was wearied out by the pertinacity of her inquisitors, seems to have allowed herself to mix with the reality the fabulous, and described that an angel had appeared to Charles bringing

obtained by the judges from the prisoner. Both answers and questions were similar to those which have already been recorded during the days of her examinations in public. Throughout all this trying process of a week's long and minute cross-questioning, the heroine mainta

have for the Ki

why she had taken such special care that her banner should be carried and

uld be in the place of greatest honour.' ('Il avait été

ar with them an heroic ring, and reveal by one sublim

sterious sign they were so eager to wrest from her, Cauchon had succeeded in inveigling his

bey its doctrines as far as lay in her power; and on being asked to which Church she alluded, whether to the Church Militant or to the Church Triumphant, she replied, 'I have been

xed his accusation of heresy against the heroine. Having failed throughout the trial to get Joan to say anything incriminating regarding Charles VII. or anything whi

une for the kingdom of

something which might be taken up as injurious to Charles-that mean prince, who made so much by her devotion to him and his cause, and in return for that devotion had not taken a step towards attempting her deliverance-not at any time did she drop one word or let an expression escape her which could cause any uneasine

er trial as spectators. Now and again, after one of her straightforward and brave answers, which would expose and lay bare the malicious intention of the question, voices were heard to say in the great hall, 'Well spoken, Joan!' and an English knight was overheard to declare that, for his part, he regretted that such a courageous maid had not been born an Englishwoman. A reaction in favour of the heroine might have set in, and, as we have already said, it was for fear of this that Cauchon caused the trial in future to be held in private. It is clear from the previous narrative that the prisoner had no one to advise her, no one to support her. At the commencement of the trial she asked to be allowed counsel, but Cauchon refused this most just demand. Among the crowd of doctors and clergy it was impossible but that, now and again, some feeling of interest, even of sympat

must have been at times almost beyond endurance; but in this long torture, which was only to terminate in the flaming death, her wonderful constancy and heaven-inspired spirit never failed. Had she given way to a kind of despair, as happened shortly before her final release-for only a few moments indeed-her jailers would not have neglected to record such weakness as a sign that her heavenly agencies had failed, if not forsaken her utterly. What appears to have constituted the greatest privation to Joan of Arc during her imprisonment was not being allowed the consolation of receiving the rites of the religion she so fervently believed. During the days on which the public examinations were h

t he was a prisoner on account of his known devotion to Charles and to France, and many other such lies. This Judas-half in the character of a layman, half in that of a confessor, and wholly as a sympathetic friend and a fellow-sufferer-paid the prisoner long visits, disguised both as priest and layman, as the part suited the day's action best. Loiseleur actually used the means of extracting information from Joan of Arc under the seal of confession, to be afterwards employed against her by Cauchon. While these

d confessions; but Cauchon was, through Loiseleur, enabled to tender such advice to Joan as made her answers coincide more c

r named John Lohier, whom he consulted during the course of the trial, Cauchon was not so well served as he had been by Loiseleur. This Lohier, who was a Norman and seems to have been a worthy man, had the courage to tell Cauchon that inasmuch as Joa

ed to the prisoner. On the 24th, the Bishop, accompanied by the Vice-Inquisitor and some others, proceeded to the dungeon in which Joan of Arc was kept. The day was Palm Sunday, and the great French historian Michelet has, with his accustomed skill and bright, vivid word-painting, in his short but incomparable Life of the heroine not only of France but of humanity, reminded his readers with what a l

e.' For her, however, no earthly gate was to be thrown open wide. The gate through which she was to pass from suffering and death into life etern

his man's dress, and dress as you would do were you b

bandon the costume, which, as we have said, proved

f in a meeting held by Cauchon in his own house. And on these articles, or rat

ation. He went on to declare that all her judges were men of high position, well versed in all matters appertaining to Church and State; and he had the audacity to qualify them-and probably included himself among them-as being benins et pitoyables, having no wish to inflict corporal punishment upon Joan, but filled only with the pio

t till now; and his asking her whether she wished for it was merely made in order to appear as an act of judicial indulgence on his part-perha

, of which she, however, declined to avail herself. She added that she felt no ne

o follow-consisted of thirty heads, and forms one of the most glaring examples of what the human mind is capable of inventing when thoroughly steeped in bigotry, stupidity, and cruelty. The Bishop of Beauvais may have been congratulated o

so palpably and strongly writ all over them, that we can but hesitate whether to be more s

'a practiser of magic,' and 'devilish arts,' were freely used. Joan of Arc was declared in this preamble to be 'abominable in the eyes of God and man'; a violator of all laws-divine, ecclesiastical and natural. To sum up all

our of these rural spirits; that she had carried hidden about her person a plant called Mandragora, hoping by it to obtain good luck; that she had left her parents against their will to go to Neufchateau, and lived in that place among a debauched set of people: that in consequence of all these wicked acts, a youth who intended marrying her had not done so. Then, having left not a stage or an act of her innocent girlhood unblasted, and covered with the slime of the Bishop's reptile-like imagination, her acts when with the King were reviewed. She had promised Charles to slay all the English in France; her cruelty and love of bloodshed were insatiable; she had influenced Charles by acts of magic; her banners and her rings were bewitched; she was schismatic, and doubted as to which was the right Pope; and, in spite of this, s

similar questions, during the former days when under examination. Some of her replies were, as they often had been during those trials, grand in their simplicity. For instance, when asked a difficult and even perplexing question relating to her belief in the Church Militant, she said:-'I believe that the Holy Father, the Bish

regarding her being allowed to attend Mass or not, she said: 'In the eyes of t

ut her mission with violence and slaughter, she answered: 'I implored at the commencement of my mission that peace might be made, while, at the same time, I declared that if that was not agreed to, I was willing to fight.' When she was accused of having made war on the Burgundians and the English alike, she made the distinguishing difference between them by saying:-'As to the Duke of Burgundy, I wrote to him, and asked him through his envoys that peace should be made between him and my King. As regards the English, the only peace that could be made with them is when they have returned to England.' The Maid's natural modesty and simplicity are apparent in a circumstance which occurred in one of those long days of searching examination and cross-questioning. When the sentence she had used, a

The accusations were now set forth afresh, in twelve chief heads or articles, under which the series of calumnies was summarised before they should be submitted to the University of Paris. These twelve heads, which formed the foundation of Joan of Arc's condemnation, were never shown her; and she had therefore no chance of contradicti

ear; and she affirms that they have counselled her to dress in male attire; she af

uaded the King to believe in her; and that accomp

ompanionship with Saint

will occur by the revelation obt

rough the will of God; she has sinned by receiving the Sacrament i

the sign of a cross. That, also, she admits having threatened death to those who would no

account of her journey to

er attempt to kill herself at Beaurevoir, so

assurance of salvation, provided she remains

ine and Margaret speak to her in French, and not in

to her parents; and of saying that if the evil one were to appear

mbers of the Church must, by the article 'Unam Sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam,' comply with and submit to the commands o

stume that may be worn by members of the Church. Nay more, it was notorious that one of the female saints of the Church (Sainte Marine) had always worn a man's dress. The question as to her dress had been gone into thoroughly during Joan of Arc's examination by the Churchmen and laymen at Poitiers; that which the Church had not blamed at Poitiers could not therefore be a sin in Rouen. By the same token, how was it possible for Joan to believe that what had not been disapproved of by the Archbishop at Rheims should be considered a criminal offence by the Bishop of Beauvais? As regards the question of her submission to the Church, Joan of Arc replied, when asked if she would submit to its will, in these words: 'You speak to me of the "Church Militant" and of the "Church Triumphant." I do not understand the signification of those terms; but I wish to submit myself to the Church as all good Christians should do.' What more could be required of her than this entire submission to the Church? She had made that answer to the doctors and clergy at Poitiers, and it had entirely satisfied those men. What Joan of Arc had a clear right not to do was to submit herself to her arch-enemy the Bishop of Beauvais. When she asked what Cauchon and his judges called the 'Church Militant,' she was told it consisted of the Pope and the prelates below him. She thereupon exclaimed she would willingly appear be

o set them right on that head. The Bishop of Lisieux, who had already given as his reason for not believing that Joan of Arc's mission could be Heaven-inspired the fact of the low station from which she came, now repeated the same absurdity on this occasion. There were others who preferred delaying their verdict until the decision arrived at by the University of Paris had been made known. A number of the Churchmen belonging to the Chapter of the Cathedral of Rouen hesitated, divided between two opinions, for and against the Maid, and of these only twenty put in an appearance when summoned by Cauchon to meet on the 13th of April. They were threatened and bullied by the Bishop to come in stronger numbers on the next day, when they attended to the number of thirty-one, but could not be prevailed on to give a definite opinion until the answer arrived from the University-which ultimatum Cauchon had to take with as much grace as he could. While these things were taking place, Joan of Arc fell ill-worn out probably by her long and harsh imprisonment, by the mental as well as physical torment she must have und

on the obligations which appertain to the true doctrine of the faith, and to the furtherance of the safety and welfare of her body and soul. 'Joan,' continued Cauchon, 'if there be any one else you wish to consult in this matter, we are ready to send for such in order that they may aid you. We are men of the Church, ever ready to aid those in need of advice good for the soul as well as the body, and ready to benefit you or any of your own kith, or ourselves. We should gla

vation of my soul; and it seems to me, seeing the illness I am now suffering, that I am in danger of dying. If this is to happen, God's will

f like a good Catholic, and you must also submit yourself to the Church. If you persevere in not doing so

this: 'I have then

your danger of now dying is, the greater reason have you to amend your life; if you do not submit

t my body will be placed in consecrated earth. If you

t if you had done or said anything that was agai

oan, 'to the answer I th

d from the saints. Suppose, then, that now some worthy person were to appear, declaring th

d saying that he came by such revelation, I should not know whether to believe or not,

God is not able to reveal to some one besides y

t a sign, I should not

an if she believed in

hat I do,'

ot the prisoner consented to submit herself to the Church M

oan of Arc's answ

all neither do nor say anything further than

her submission; they quoted Scripture, chapter and verse, to her (Matt

ctors' hissed to Joan: 'If you refuse to submit to the Chu

good Christian-a Christian born and b

time making use of a bait which he thought must catch her-namely, permission to receive the Communion: 'As,

wer than that I have already given you. I love God; Him I serve, as a good

r a grand procession to restore your hea

, 'that the Church and all goo

d be again admonished relating to the crimes of which she was accused; and Cauchon accordingly summ

cles which had been sent to the University should not be read in the presence of the prisoner, and told her that

to submit herself to the Church, and that he had accordingly invited to the present meeting a learned doctor of theology, namely, John

would now lay before her, and to agree to what he would advise. If she would not do so,

Christians must conform to the tenets of the Church; and that he trusted she w

. Seeing this, Joan of Arc requested him to read his b

n exhaustive examination of the twelve articles, br

retaining that dress; fourthly, her sin in holding as true revelations that could only lead the people into error; fifthly, that she had, owing to these revelations, done deeds displeasing to the Divine will; and lastly, that she was committing a sin in treating the apparitions as

have already spoken; and were I even

that day's trial is written by the

ba res

neither the fears of persecution nor of s

ate or public examinations. This being so, Cauchon bethought him what further cruelty could be

t the tower of the castle which contained the heroine's dungeon, but it has always been traditionally regarded as that in which, on the 9th of May, Joan of Arc was led to where her judges intended, by fear or by the inflic

nd the executioners were waiting, is probably that on the ground floor, and is b

nt Corneille of Compiègne, William Erard, Andrew Marguerie, Nicolas de Venderès, John Massieu, William Haiton, Aubert Morel, and the inf

er in her cell, 'I command you to tell the truth. In your examination many and various points have been touched on, about which you

robably a summary of the

ich are prepared, and by them stand the executioners, who are ready to do their office at our command. You will be tortured in order that y

front of her lay the rack upon which, at a signal from Cauchon, her limbs would be wrenched asunder; but her reply, as given in

not tell you anything further. And even were I forced to do so, I should afterwa

of obtaining evidence by means of torture, and recalls Ga

em of her revelations, and asked her if sh

, answe

the Bishop, 'foretold

f I should be burnt, and they answered:

dly recovered from her illness, was, from fear of her dying under the torture, not subjected to it. At any rate,

n as Cauchon and to his friend the Inquisitor; for a meeting was summoned by Cauchon at his house three days after Joan had been b

aiton, and Lema?stre. One of these, Erard, remarked that it was unnecessary to torture the prisoner seeing that, as he expressed it, 'they had already sufficient evidence to condemn her to death without putting her to torment.' B

N-ROUEN

d many notable conclaves when even Popes were judged by the doctors of Paris, still exists, but it has been transformed into an oil warehouse. John de Troyes, senior of the Faculty of Theology, was the spokesman, and

lf from obedience to the Church; secondly, that she is out of the pale of the law in contradicting the article "Unam Sanctam Ecclesiam Catholicam"; thirdly, apostate, for having cut short her hair, which was given her by God to hide her head with, and also in having abandoned the dress of a woman for that of a man; fourthly, vicious and a soothsayer, for saying, without showing miracles, that she is sent by God, as was Moses and John the Baptist; fifthly, rebel to the faith, by remaining unde

f commendation, in which he was held up to the general admiration as a faithful pastor, zealous in good works, on whom

m attended. After some discussion, during which a few of the learned men present expressed their opinion that Joan of Arc should be at once handed over to the secular arm, it was decided that the prisoner should again be brought before them to be what the

wound up his oration by imploring Joan to submit herself to the Church Militant, and threateni

us threatened as she had been when placed befo

le, and were I in the midst of the flames, I should not say anything else than what I h

admittance to the prisoner, and, under the disguise of a friendly and sympathetic priest, promised Joan that if she would conform to the wishes of

ving probed her on this point; and Wallon, in his history of the Maid, makes no allusion to such an interview, and only states that John Beaupère went in the morni

ped to degrade Joan of Arc in the eyes of the people. It was that of obliging the prisoner to make a public apology and recantation of all her deeds-a decla

on from Satan-a being abhorrent in the eyes of God and man. By this device, Cauchon hoped also to deal a blow to Charles, for when once it became known that his servant and saviour was a creature in league with the fiends, all th

of Rouen-and through Rouen the rest of France-her deeds and her words, was the cem

ch in statuary of royal and imperial benefactors of the Church, looks down upon what is the entr

e child-king Henry VI., with other notabilities of the Church; the Bishops of Norwich, of Noyon, and of Thérouenne; the Vice-Inquisitor, eight abbots, and a large number of friars and doctors, clerical and lay-in fact all those who had attended the trials of the M

followed the Maid from her prison to the cemetery, which, already full, now held with difficulty the fre

,' etc. Erard showed in his discourse how Joan had fallen from one sin into another, till she had at length separated herself from the Church. To a long string of abuse about herself Joan of Arc listened with perfect pat

the fresh danger she exposed herself to, the noble girl exclaimed: 'By my faith, and with all respect to you, I dare to affirm on m

s from the lips of Joan of Arc had destroyed all the effect of his eloquence on that vast cro

at point already to my judges. I call upon them to send an account of all

st her was her refusal to submit to the Pope. He therefore changed the subject, and asked Joan of Arc

' she answered, 'I have done

hat the King and others have sometime

and particularly not the King, responsible. If any wrong h

ords of yours which have been found ev

Joan, 'to God and our

their dioceses, therefore you must submit to the Chur

then began to read the sentence c

g of the clergy. In the midst of the hubbub Erard produced a parchment scroll, on which, he told Joan, were written the different accusations against her, which she had only to sign with her mark to be saved. All about this abjuration was a mesh of confusion to the

and Massieu, 'or you w

d at that sight, and all the wom

leur; 'abjure and put on woman's

y, for she was observed to smile once or twice; but the poor soul's spirit was crushed, and doubtless the whole scene was to her like an evil dream-the poor broken-down body could not discriminate what words she was forced to repeat. A

aws divine in having worn her hair cut short and the dress of a man; also in having caused bloodshed; also in having idolatrously invoked evil spirits; also in having treated God and His sacraments with contempt; and, besides all this, of having acted schismatically, and of having fallen foul of

ines, and it did not take longer to read these few lines, an eye-witness afterwards asserted, than it does to repeat the 'Paternoster'; whereas the one produced after the ceremony of the abjuration filled several sides. But in an act of such infamy as this of having cheated Joan of Arc not on

ad not grasped the astuteness of the French prelate, who was ready to hand his prisoner over to them directly he had obtained this recantation from her hand. Cauchon was, however, obliged to keep them waiting until he

his brother bishops he read a list of the crimes committed by the prisoner, and announced that, as Joan had now, owing to her abjuration of her sins, re-entered into the fold of the Church, she was absolved by him from her excommunication. However, he added, as

placed in the charge of the clergy, Cauchon ordered

rving this, one of the judges pacified him by assuring him that Joan should not be a

ngs that day at Saint Ouen, visited the prisoner. Their object in going to her was to insist upon her changing her man's dress, with which demand she now had to comply.

tic as to her treatment in the prison, we are led to understand, by the least untrustworthy testimon

on to believe that on her discarding her man's dress these ruffians attempted to violate the prisoner: so, sooner than suffer this, although she knew t

atement that on the morning of Trinity Sunday, on waking, she asked the soldiers to leave her alone for a few moments while she dressed; that one of th

hers that his victim had been entrapped at last. 'We have come,' he said to the prisoner, 'to find out the state of your soul, and we find you, in despite of

en she was dressed in woman's clothes. This seems to us an evident avowal that she had to resist the brutality of the men placed over her in the dungeon. Massieu also adds to Manchon's testimony that he knew Joan was unable to protect herself against attempts made to violate her. Her legs were chained to the wood with which her pallet bed was framed, and this chain was again fixed to a large beam

ath, and he confirms Isambard's statement entirely. He even adds that not only had Joan of Arc to suffer from the bruta

t title as the better known 'Milor') to escape the branding he deserves for his attempted villainy, it is but fair to add that Isambard de la Pierre

Cauchon and

you not aware you have now no

wore the woman's dress she would be allowed to hear Mass and to

not abjured, and promised never to

d to go to the Mass, and these chains were taken off me, and if I was placed in some other pris

e any complaint of her treatment. There is something superhuman in this utter absence of any shade of vindictiveness, when one thinks that, by a few words, she might have saved herself from

then asked Joan: 'Have you, since last Thursday, he

she a

the Bishop, 'wh

to which I have been led, by my abjuring and revoking my deeds i

d alongside of this answer of Joan of Arc's the following words: 'Responsio mortifera.' Indeed it was an answer of deadliest import; for Joan in asserting that

to meet the worst that her enemies could inflict upon her: death itself must now

sist giving way about the recan

d on the platform before the people that I

aid Cauchon, 's

preacher; and he accused me of hav

to tell us that you still persist in

lied that that wa

'you deny that to which you sw

n that I had committed a bad deed in saying tha

hop, with eagerness, 'you

eing burnt that I retracted what I had done; bu

, 'are you now no longer

endure any longer what

ended this long mockery of a trial, so patiently end

of the castle. They were clamouring that the execution of Joan of Arc should be soon carri

a good appetite. We h