Joan of Arc
Page 21
Joan’s answers were, then, recorded as she gave them, then collated and examined by the judges and assessors who sought for weak points in her answers which might give them a basis for further questioning.
Certain inadmissible procedures were employed in the court itself. This is, again, revealed by Manchon: “At the beginning of the trial, during five or six days, while I set down in writing the Maid’s answers and excuses, sometimes the judges tried to constrain me, by translating into Latin, to put into other terms, changing the meaning of the words or, in some other manner, my understanding (of what had been said). And were placed two men, at the command of my lord of Beauvais, in a window (embrasure) near to the place where the judges were. And there was a serge curtain drawn in front of the window so that they should not be seen. These men wrote and reported what was charged against Joan, and suppressed her excuses. I think it was Loiseleur (who was thus hidden). And after the session, while collating what they had written, the two others reported in another manner and did not put down Joan’s excuses. On this subject my lord of Beauvais was greatly enraged against me.” (R.49) . . . “Myself, I sat at the judges feet with Guillaume Colles and the clerk of master Jean Beaupère who wrote. But there were great differences between our writings, so much so that lively contestations arose between us.” (R.49)
Apart from what was happening in open court, attempts were made to wring admissions from Joan by devious means:
Guillaume Manchon: “One named master Nicolas Loiseleur who was a familiar of my lord of Beauvais and held extremely to the English side—for formerly, the King being before Chartres (allusion to the siege of Chartres in 1421) he went to seek the King of England to get the siege raised—pretended to be of the Maid’s own country and, by that means, contrived to have dealings, interviews and familiar talk with her, by giving her news from home which were pleasing to her, and he asked to be her confessor. And what she told him in secret he found means to bring to the ears of the notaries. And in fact, at the beginning of the trial, myself and Boisguillaume, with witnesses, were put secretly into a room near to where there was a hole through which one could listen, so that we could report what she said or confessed to the said Loiseleur. And it seems to me that what the Maid said or reported familiarly to Loiseleur, he reported to us, and of that was made memoranda to find means of taking her captiously (catching her out).” (R.48)
The better to recreate the atmosphere of this trial, we give below the complete text of one day’s interrogatories: that of Saturday, March 17th, 1431. The reader will get from this a clearer idea of the manner in which these proceedings were managed. On that day Joan was questioned on two occasions, morning and afternoon. Master Jean de La Fontaine was charged by the bishop to question her in his, Cauchon’s, presence, and in the presence of the vice-Inquisitor Jean Lemaitre, two masters of the University of Paris, Nicolas Midy and Gerard Feuillet, Brother Isambart de la Pierre and the usher Jean Massieu. Joan was first required to take the oath, as was usual, and thereafter the questioning began:
LA FONTAINE: In what form, size, appearance and clothing does St. Michael come to you?
JOAN: He was in the form of a true and honest man,* and as for the clothes and other things, I shall not tell you any more. As for the angels, I saw them with my own eyes and you will get no more out of me about that. I believe as firmly the doings and sayings of St. Michael who appeared to me as I believe that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered death and passion for us. And what moves me to believe this is the good advice, the good comfort and the good doctrine that he did and gave me.
LA FONTAINE: Will you leave to the determination of our Holy Mother the Church, all your matters whether in good or in evil?
JOAN: As for the Church, I love her and would wish to sustain her with all my power for our Christian faith. And it is not I who should be prevented from going to church and hearing mass. As for the good works which I have done and at my coming,* I must put my faith in the King of Heaven, who sent me to Charles, son of Charles, King of France, who is King of France. And you will see that the French will soon win a great thing which God will send to these French, such that it will rock the whole kingdom of France. I say it that when it happens you may remember that I said it.
LA FONTAINE: After how long will this happen?
JOAN: In Our Lord’s own time (Je m’en attends à Notre Seigneur).
LA FONTAINE: Will you abide by the Church’s determination for your sayings and deeds?
JOAN: I abide by God who sent me, by the Holy Virgin and all the saints in paradise. And I am of opinion that it is all one and the same thing, God and the Church, and that of that one should make no difficulty. Why do you make difficulty over that?
LA FONTAINE: There is a Church Triumphant where are God, the Saints, the angels and souls already saved. And there is the Church Militant in which are the Pope, God’s vicar on earth, the cardinals and prelates of the Church, the clergy, and all good Christians and Catholics. This well-composed Church cannot err and is ruled by the Holy Spirit. That is why I ask you whether you are willing to abide by (put your trust in) the Church Militant, that is to say, the one which is on earth, as I have explained to you.
JOAN: I went to the King of France from God and the Virgin Mary and all the saints in paradise and the Church Victorious above and by their commandment. And to that Church I submit all my good deeds and all that I have done and shall do. As for submitting myself to the Church Militant, I shall answer you nothing else for the time being.
LA FONTAINE: What say you of that woman’s clothing which is offered you that you may go and hear mass?
JOAN: As for women’s clothing, I shall not put it on until it please God; and if it should be that I must be brought even to judgment, I trust in the lords of the Church that they will grant me the mercy of having a woman’s shift and a covering for my head. And I would rather die than revoke what God has made me do, for I believe firmly that God will not let it happen that I be brought so low without I have immediate succour, and by miracle.
LA FONTAINE: Since you say that you wear (a man’s) habit by God’s commandment, why do you ask for a woman’s shift when it comes to dying?
JOAN: It will suffice if it be long.
LA FONTAINE: Your God-mother who has seen the fairy ladies, is she reputed a well-conducted woman?
JOAN: I hold and repute her a respectable woman* and not a diviner or witch.
LA FONTAINE: Since you have said that you would wear woman’s clothes if you were allowed to go away, would that please God?
JOAN: If permission were given me to withdraw in woman’s clothes, immediately (thereafter) I should dress myself in man’s clothes and do what is commanded me by God; and I have answered elsewhere that not for anything whatsoever would I take oath not to put on armour and not to wear man’s clothes to do the Lord’s commandment.
LA FONTAINE: What ages (are), and what garments are worn by, Saints Catherine and Margaret.
JOAN: To that you shall have the answer you have already had from me and none other. I have answered as most certainly as I know.
LA FONTAINE: Did you believe before to-day that the fairy ladies were evil spirits?
JOAN: I know nothing about that.
LA FONTAINE: Do you know whether Saints Catherine and Margaret hate the English?
JOAN: They love that which God loves and hate that which God hates.
LA FONTAINE: Does God hate the English?
JOAN: Of the love or hate which God has for the English and of what He does to their souls, I know nothing; but well I know that they will be driven out of France, excepting those who will die there, and that God will send victory to the French over the English.
LA FONTAINE: Was God for the English when their cause was prospering in France?
JOAN: I know not if God hated the French, but I believe that it was His will to let them be stricken for their sins if there were sins among them.
LA FONTAINE: What guarantee and what succour do you e
xpect from God for your wearing of man’s clothes?
JOAN: For the clothes as for the other things I have done, I expect no other recompense than the salvation of my soul.
LA FONTAINE: What arms did you offer up in the church of Saint-Denis of Paris?
JOAN: I gave a white harness entire such as is fitting for a man of arms, with a sword which I won before the town of Paris.
LA FONTAINE: With what object did you give these arms?
JOAN: It was done in devoutness, as is the custom among men of arms when they are wounded; and because I had been wounded before the town of Paris I offered them up to Saint-Denis, because that is the (war-)cry of France.
LA FONTAINE: Did you do so that the arms might be worshipped?
JOAN: No.
LA FONTAINE: What was the purpose of the five crosses which were on the sword which you found at Sainte-Catherine of Fierbois?
JOAN: I do not know.
LA FONTAINE: Who was it led you to have painted on your standard angels with arms, feet, legs and clothes?
JOAN: You have been answered.
LA FONTAINE: Did you have the angels painted such as they come to you?
JOAN: I had them painted in the manner that they are painted in churches.
LA FONTAINE: Have you seen them like to the manner in which they were painted?
JOAN: I shall not tell you anything else about that.
LA FONTAINE: Why did you not have painted there that light which comes to you with the angel or with the voices?
JOAN: I was not commanded to do so.
The interrogatory was suspended at this point and resumed in the afternoon. In the second session there were more assessors present, since they now included Jean Beaupère, Jacques de Touraine, Pierre Maurice and Thomas de Courcelles in addition to those who had been present during the forenoon. Jean de La Fontaine continued the questioning:
LA FONTAINE: Did the two angels painted on your standard represent Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel?
JOAN: They were there only to honour God who was painted on the standard. I had that representation of two angels made only to do honour to God who was figured there holding the world.
LA FONTAINE: Those two angels figured on your standard, were they the two angels guarding the world? Why were there not more of them there, since it had been commanded you by God to take this standard?
JOAN: The whole standard was made at God’s commandment by the voices of Saints Catherine and Margaret who said to me: “Take up the standard in the name of the King of Heaven.” And because they said to me: “Take up the standard in the name of the King of Heaven,” I had made that figure of God and of the angels, and in colours. And I did all by God’s commandment.
LA FONTAINE: Did you then ask those two saints if, by virtue of that standard, you would win all the wars in which you would be, and whether you would be victorious?
JOAN: They told me to take it up boldly and that God would help me.
LA FONTAINE: Is it you who helped the standard or the standard which helped you, or the contrary?
JOAN: My victory or the standard’s, it was all in our Lord.
LA FONTAINE: Was the hope of being victorious founded on the standard or on yourself?
JOAN: It was founded in our Lord and not elsewhere.
LA FONTAINE: If someone else had borne that standard, would it have brought as good fortune as when you had it?
JOAN: I do not know; I refer you to God (Je m’en rapporte a Dieu: God knows and I abide by Him).
LA FONTAINE: If someone on your side had given you his standard to bear, would you have carried it and would you have had in that one likewise as good hope as in your own standard which was given you in God’s name, in particular the standard of your King, had you had it?
JOAN: I carried with a better will that which had been ordered me to carry by God, and yet in all I trust in God.
LA FONTAINE: What was the purpose of that sign which you put on your letters and those names: Jhesus-Maria?
JOAN: The clerks who wrote my letters put it and they said that it was fitting to put those two names: Jhesus-Maria.
LA FONTAINE: Was it revealed to you that if you lost your virginity you would lose your (good) fortune and that your voices would come to you no more?
JOAN: That was not revealed to me.
LA FONTAINE: Do you believe that if you were married, the voices would come to you?
JOAN: I do not know and I (refer that to) trust in God.
LA FONTAINE: Do you think and firmly believe that your King did well to kill the lord Duke of Burgundy?
JOAN: That was a great pity (brought great harm to) for the kingdom of France; and whatever may have happened between those two princes, God cent me to succour the King of France.
LA FONTAINE: Since you have told us, and also the bishop, that you would answer to us and our delegates as freely as you would do to our Most Holy Father the pope and that nevertheless there are many questions to which you will not reply, would you answer them more fully before the pope than you do before us?
JOAN: I have answered all as truly as I could, and if I knew that in anything which I remember I have not spoken, I would willingly speak.
LA FONTAINE: Does it seem to you that you would be bound to answer, speaking the truth more fully, to our Lord Pope, vicar of God, of all that he might ask you touching the faith and the matter of your conscience, than you do to us?
JOAN: I demand to be taken before our lord the pope and then I will answer before him all that I ought to answer.
LA FONTAINE: Of what material was one of your rings on which were written these names: Jhesus-Maria?
JOAN: I am not sure, and if it was gold, it was not pure gold, and I know not whether it was of gold or base metal; and I think that there were on it three crosses and no other sign as far as I know, excepting Jhesus-Maria.
LA FONTAINE: Why did you like to look at that ring when you were going to do some war-like deed?
JOAN: That was for my pleasure and in honour of my father and mother; and I, having that ring in my hand and on my finger, I touched Saint Catherine who appeared to me visibly.
LA FONTAINE: In what part of this Saint Catherine did you touch her?
JOAN: You will have nothing else on that.
LA FONTAINE: Did you kiss or embrace (accolé) Saints Catherine and Margaret?
JOAN: I embraced both of them.
LA FONTAINE: Had they a pleasant odour?
JOAN: It is good to know that they had a pleasant odour.
LA FONTAINE: When embracing them, did you feel any warmth or any other thing?
JOAN: I could not embrace them without feeling and touching them.
LA FONTAINE: In what part did you embrace them, the upper part or the lower?
JOAN: It is more fitting to embrace them by the lower part than the higher.
LA FONTAINE: Did you give these saints any garlands or chaplets?
JOAN: In honour of them I many times put such garlands on their images or representations in churches; and as to them who appeared to me, I never gave them any, that I remember.
LA FONTAINE: When you put garlands of that kind on the tree of which there was some talk before, did you put them in honour of them who appeared to you?
JOAN: No.
LA FONTAINE: When these saints came to you, did you make them a reverence by bending the knee and bowing?
JOAN: Yes, and as much as I could I made them my reverence, for I know well that they are of those who are of the kingdom of paradise.
LA FONTAINE: Know you ought of those who go wandering with the fairies?
JOAN: I have never been there and I know nothing else about it; but I have indeed heard it said that they went on Thursdays; but in that I do not believe and I believe that there is nothing in it unless it be witchcraft.
LA FONTAINE: Did someone make the other standards float around the King’s head when he was consecrated at Rheims?
JOAN: Not as far as I know.
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br /> LA FONTAINE: Why was your standard more carried in the church of Rheims at the King’s consecration than the standard of the other captains?
JOAN: That standard had borne the heat and burden; it was but right that it have the honours. (C.164–178)
To be glimpsed through these succeeding questions and answers are the principal accusations of which Joan was, if possible, to be convicted. There was the charge of witchcraft, to which we can refer those questions touching her standard and the story of it floating round the King’s head; and those about her ring, with the suggestion that it had magical powers. Then there are the charges which, if proved, would convict Joan of impurity, of questionable intercourse with the beings whom, she claimed, appeared to her. And there are the questions relative to her deeds and prowess in war, with the possibility of convicting her of expressing hate or cruelty. Finally, there are the two charges which, cleverly confounded together, were, in the event, to enable the prosecution to convict her: wearing men’s clothes; and the question of submission to the Church. It was on this point, and by making her male attire the symbol of her refusal to submit to the Church, that they contrived to give an appearance of justification to the final sentence; for Joan’s answers gave the prosecutors absolutely no foundation upon which to build up a case against her in the matter of her morals, and still less in the matter of witchcraft. It is worth remembering that in the fifteenth century witchcraft trials were rare: there were to be some resounding ones, notably that of Gilles de Rais, which was as much a matter of morals as of magic, but they were not common, and did not become so until the end of the century, more so in the sixteenth and in the first half of the seventeenth centuries. On the other hand, trials for heresy had been common ever since the setting up, in the middle of the thirteenth century, of the Inquisition courts.