M 



ARC. JOAN OF. 



ARC, JOAN 





and interest* of the French wens In favour of the Armsgnans, or the 

 truly patriotic party. The remote Tillage of Domremy was decidedly 

 Armagnac. Political aud party interests war* thai foroed upoo tha 

 enthusiastic mind of Joan, and mingled with tha pioua legends which 

 be bad caught from tha traditioui of tha Virgin. A prophecy was 

 nt, that a virgin should rid Franca of it* enemies; and thin 



prophecy stains to have bean realised by it* effect upon the mind of 

 Joan. Tha girl, by bar own account, was about thirteen when a 

 supernatural vision first appeared to her. She describes it a* a great 

 light, accompanied by a voice tolling her to be devout and good, and 

 promising her the protection of heaven. Joan reaponded by a TOW of 

 eternal chastity. In this there appear* nothing beyond the effect of 

 imagination. From that time the Toioe or voice* continued to haunt 

 Joan, and to echo the enthusiastic and restless wishes of her own 

 heart Her own aimple and early account was, that ' Toice* ' were 

 bar Tiaitort and advisers ; and that they prompted her to quit her 

 natire place, take up arm*, drive the foe before her, and procure for 

 tha young king hU coronation at Rheims. A band of Burgundians, 

 traversing and plundering the country, compelled Joan, together with 

 bar parent*, to take refuge in a neighbouring town ; when they 

 returned to their Tillage, after the departure of the marauders, they 

 found the church of Domremy in ashes. Such incident* were well 

 calculated to arouse the indignation and excite the enthusiasm of Joan. 

 Bar Toieea incessantly directed her to sat out for France; but to com- 

 meoo* by making application* to De Baudricourt, commander at 

 Vaacoaleurs. Her parent* attempted to force her into a marriage ; 

 but aba contrived to avoid thU by paying a visit to an uncle, in whose 

 company she made her appearance before the governor of Van- 

 eonleun, in May, 1428. De Baudricourt at first refused to see her, 

 and, upon granting an interview, treated her pretensions with con- 

 tempt. She than returned to her undo'* abode, where she continued 

 to announce bar project, and to insist that the prophecy, that " France, 

 lost by a woman (Isabel of Bavaria), ahould be saved by a virgin from 

 tha frontiers of Lorraine,'' alluded to her. 



Tha fortunes of the dauphin Charles at this time had suuk to the 

 lowest abb; Orleans, almost hi* last bulwark, waa besieged and 

 closely pressed, and the loas of the ' battle of Herrings' seemed to 

 take away all hope of saving the city from the English. In this crisis 

 Baudricourt no longer despised the supernatural aid promised by the 

 damsel of Domremy, and gave permission to John of Hetz and 

 Bertram of I'oulengy, two gentlemen who had become converts to the 

 truth of her divine mission, to conduct Joan of Arc to the dauphin, 

 and Joan set out from Vaucouleurs on the 13th of February, 1429. 

 Her progress, through regions attached to the Burgundian interest, 

 was perilous, but on the eleventh day after her departure from 

 Vaueouleurs, she reached Chinon, where the dauphin then held his 

 court. 



Charles, though he desired, still feared to accept the proffered aid, 

 because he knew that the instant cry of his enemies would be, that 

 be bad pat bis faith in sorcery, and had leagued himself with the 

 infernal powers. He caused her to be examined by eccleaiaitical and 

 legal conimisMoners to ascertain whether her mission was from heaven 

 or from the devil ; for none believed it to be merely human. Joan 

 was frequently asked to do miracles, but her only reply was, " Bring 

 DM to Orleans, and you shall sea. The .eiego shall ba raised, and the 

 dauphin crowned king at Rheims," 



They at length granted her request, and she received the rank of 

 a military commander. A suit of armour was made for her, and she 

 ant to Fierbois for a sword, which she ssid would be found huri ! in 

 a certain spot within tha church. It was found there, and conveyed 

 to bar. The circumstance became afterwards one of the alleged proofs 

 of bar sorcery or imposture. It was Joan'* desire to enter Orleans 

 from the north, and through all tha fortifications of the English, but 

 Dunois and the other leaders at length overruled her, and induced 

 bsr to enter the beleaguered city by wstor. She luoceeded in carrying 

 with hi r a convoy of provisions to the besieged. The entry of Joan 

 of Arc into Orleans, at tha end of April, was itself a triumph. Joan 

 announced her arrival to the foe by a herald, bearing a summons to 

 the English generals to bo gone from the land, or she, the Pucelle, 

 would slay them. The indignation of the English was increased by 

 their terror ; they detained the h> raid, and threatened to burn him, 

 a* a specimen of the treatment which they reserved for bis mistress. 

 In tlie meantime the English allowed the armed force raised and left 

 behind by Joan, to reach Orleans unmolested, traversing their intrench- 

 ments. Under her banner, and cheered by her presence, the besieged 

 marched to the attack of the English forts one after another. That 

 of Sc-Loup was first taken. On the following day, the 6th of May, 

 Joan, after another summon* to the English, signed 'Jhesus Maria 

 and Jehanne La I'ucelle,' renewed the attack upon the other forts. 

 The French bring compelled to make a momentary retreat, the 

 ""j**** 1 took courage, and pursued their enemies : whereupon Joan, 

 throwing herself into a boat, croased the river, *nd her appearance 

 was snffici-nt to frighten tha English from the open field. Behind 

 Uwir rampart* they ware still however formidable ; and the attack 

 lad by Joan against tha works to the south of tha city is the most 

 mentvraUe achievement of tha skgc. After cheering on her 

 for some tune, she had seized a scaling-ladder, when nu Kuglish un-uw 

 struck bar between the breast and shoulder, and threw her into the 



fosse. When hr followers took her aside, she showed at first some 

 feminine weakness, and wept ; but seeing that her standard was in 

 danger, she forgot her wound, and ran back to seize it. The French 

 at the same time pressed hard upon the enemy, whose stronghold 

 was carried by assault The English commander, Qladosdall, or 

 Ulacidas, as Joan called him, perished with his bravest soldiers in the 

 Loire. The English now determined to raise the siege, and Similar 

 being the day of their departure, Join forbade her soldiers to molest 

 their retreat Thus in one week from her arrival at Orleans was the 

 beleagured city relieved of its dreaded foe, and the I'ucelle, hence- 

 forth called the Maid of Orleans, had redeemed the most incredible 

 and important of her promise*. 



In compliance with the earnest entreaties of Joan, although against 

 tha opinion of the ministers and warriors of the court, she wss placed 

 at the head of a body of troops, with which, early in June, she 

 attacked the English at Jargeau. They made a desperate resistance, 

 and drove the French before them, till tha appearance of Joan chilli- 1 

 the stout hearts of the English soldiers. This success was followed 

 by a victory at Patay, in which the English were beaten by a charge 

 of Joan, and the gallant Talbot himself taken prisoner. Tho strong 

 town of Troyes, which might have repulsed the weak and starving 

 army of the French, was terrified into surrender by the sight of her 

 banner ; and Rheims itself followed the example. In the middle of 

 July, only three months after Joan had come to the relief of the 

 sinking party of Charles, this prince was crowned in the cathedral 

 consecrated to this ceremony, in the midst of the dominions of his 

 enemies. Well might an age even more advanced than the 1 5th cen- 

 tury believe, that superhuman interference manifested itself in the 

 deeds of Joan. 



In September of the same year, wj find her holding a command in 

 the royal army, which had taken possession of St DunU, whore she 

 hung up her arms in the cathedral. Soon after, the French generals 

 compelled her to join in an attack upon Paris, in which they were 

 repulsed with great loss, and Joan herself was pierced through the 

 thigh with an arrow. It was the fir.-t time that a force in whicli she 

 had served had suffered defeat About this time a royal edict was 

 issued, ennobling her family, and the district of Domremy was declared 

 free from all tax or tribute. In the ensuing spring, the English and 

 Burgundisns formed the siege of Couipiegue ; and Joan threw her- 

 self into the town to preserve it, as she had before saved Orleans, 

 from their assaults. She had not been many hours in it when she 

 headed a sally against the Burgundian quarters, in which she was 

 taken by some officers, who gave her up to the Burgundian com- 

 mander, John of Luxemburg, who placed her in his fortress of 

 Beaurevoir, near Cambray. Her capture appears, from the records of 

 the Parisian parliament, to have taken place on the 23rd of May, 1430. 

 Joan, after having made a vain attempt to escape, was at length 

 handed over to the English psrtizans, and conducted to Rouen. The 

 University of Paris called loudly for the trial of Joan, and several 

 letters are extant, in which that body reproaches the Bishop of Beau- 

 vais and the English with their tardiness in delivering up the I'ucelle 

 to justice. 



The zeal of the University was at length satisfied by letters patent 

 from the king of England and France, authorising the trial of the 

 Pucelle, but stating in plain terms that it was at the demand of public 

 opinion, and at the especial request of the Bishop of Beauvais and of 

 the University of Paris expressions whicli, taken in connection with 

 the delay in issuing the letters, sufficiently prove the reluctance of 

 the English council to sanction the extreme measure of vengeance. 

 After several months' interrogatories, the judges who conducted the 

 trial drew from her confessions the articles of accusation, which were 

 founded chiefly on her alleged visions and revelations. Upon these 

 charges her accusers wished to convict her of sorcery. Moreover, 

 they drew from her answers, that nlio declined to submit to thu 

 ordinances of the church whenever her voices told her the contrary. 

 This was declared to be heresy aud schism, and to merit the punish- 

 ment of fire. 



The articles were dispatched to the University of l'.u-i, and all 

 the faculties agreed in pronouncing them impious, diabolic.il, ami 

 heretical. This judgment came back to Rouen ; but it appears that 

 many of the assessors were unwilling that Joan should be condemned ; 

 and even the English in authority seemed to think imprisonment a 

 sufficient punishment At length nho was brought forth ou public 

 scaffold at Rouen, and the bishop of Beauvais proceeded to read the 

 sentence of condemnation, which was to be followed by burning at 

 the stake. Whilst it was reading every exhortation was used, aud 

 Joan's courage for once failing, she gave utterance to words of contri- 

 tion, aud expressed her willingness to submit, and save herself from 

 the flames. Her sentence was commuted to perpetual imprisonment. 

 After two days' confinement liar religious enthusiasm returned in all 

 it* force, and filled with remorse and shame, she avowed her resolve 

 no longer to belie the powerful impulses under which she had acted. 

 "What I resolved," said she, "I resolved against truth. Let M- 

 suffer my sentence at once, rather than endure what I suffer in prison." 



The Bishop of Beauvais lost no time in exercising his power while 

 Joan was within hit jurisdiction. The crime of relapse was con- 

 sutlicieut to warrant her execution. A pile of wood \va.-i prepared in 

 the old market at Rouen, and scaffolds placed round it for the judges 



