SIXTH PUBLIC EXAMINATION
(In the text footnotes are in bold)
Saturday, March 3rd, in the same place, the Bishop and 41 Assessors present.
In their presence, We required the said Jeanne simply and absolutely to swear to speak the truth on what should be asked of her. She replied:
"I am ready to swear as I have already done." And thus did she swear, her hands on the Holy Gospels.
Afterwards, because she had said, in previous inquiries, that Saint Michael had wings, but had said nothing of the body and members of Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, We asked her what she wished to say thereon.
"I have told you what I know; I will answer you nothing more. I saw Saint Michael and these two Saints so well that I know they are Saints of Paradise."
"Did you see anything else of them but the face?"
"I have told you what I know; but to tell you all I know, I would rather that you made me cut my throat. All that I know touching the Trial I will tell you willingly."
"Do you think that Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel have human heads?"
"I saw them with my eyes; and I believe it was they as firmly as I believe there is a God."
"Do you think that God made them in the form and fashion that you saw?"
"Yes."
"Do you think that God did from the first create them in this form and fashion ?"
"You will have no more at present than what I have answered."
"Do you know by revelation if you will escape?"
"That does not touch on your Case. Do you wish me to speak against myself?"
"Have your Voices told you anything?"
"That is not in your Case. I refer me to the Case. If all concerned you, I would tell you all. By my faith, I know neither the day nor the hour that I shall escape!"
"Have your Voices told you anything in a general way?"
"Yes, truly, they have told me that I shall be delivered, but I know neither the day nor the hour. They said to me: 'Be of good courage and keep a cheerful countenance.'"
"When you first came to the King, did he ask you if you had any revelation about your change of dress?"
"I have answered you about that. I do not remember if I was asked. It is written at Poitiers."
"Do you not remember if the Masters who questioned you in the other Consistory, some during a month, others during three weeks, questioned you about your change of dress?"
"I do not remember. But they asked me where I had assumed this man's dress; and I told them it was at Vaucouleurs."
"Did the aforesaid Masters ask you if it were by order of your Voice that you took this dress?"
"I do not remember."
"Did not your Queen(1)....(Mary of Anjou, wife of Charles VII, daughter of Louis, Duke of Anjou and Yolande, Queen of Sicily.) ask you, the first time you went to visit her?"
"I do not remember."
"Did not your King, your Queen, or some of your party, tell you to take off this man's dress? "
"That is not in your Case."
"Were you not so told at the Castle of Beaurevoir?" (2)....(Jeanne was taken from Beaurevoir early in August, and removed from there, when the negotiations for selling her were complete, about the middle of November.)
[Here commences the French Version, or Minute, which is collated with the Latin Text.]
"Yes, truly; and I answered that I would not take it off without leave from God. The Demoiselle de Luxembourg(3)....(Jeanne, Countess de Saint-Pol et Ligny, sister to Count Waleran de Luxembourg and aunt to Jean de Luxembourg.) and the Lady de Beaurevoir (4)....(Jeanne de Bethune, Viscountess de Meaux, wife of Jean de Luxembourg. Both these ladies were at Beaurevoir during Jeanne's captivity, and showed her great kindness, even interceding for her that she should not be sold to the English.) offered me a woman's dress, or cloth to make one, telling me to wear it. I answered them that I had not leave from Our Lord, and that it was not yet time."
"Did Messier Jean de Pressy (5)....(The Sieur de Pressy, in Artois. Present in the Burgundian camp when Jeanne was taken prisoner, and afterwards at Arras, where she was imprisoned on her way from Beaurevoir to Rouen. The questions seem to suggest that Beaup�re had before him some information which has not come down to us.) and others at Arras never offer you a woman's dress?"
"He and many others have oftentimes offered it to me."
"Do you think that you would have done wrong or committed mortal sin by taking a woman's dress ?"
"I did better to obey and serve my Sovereign Lord, who is God. Had I dared to do it, I would sooner have done it at the request of these ladies than of any other ladies in France, excepting my Queen."
"When God revealed it to you that you should change your dress, was it by the voice of Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, or Saint Margaret?"
"You shall not have anything more at present."
"When your King first set you to work, and when you had your banner made, did not the men-at-arms and others have their pennons made in the style of yours?"
"It is well to know that the Lords retained their own arms. Some of my companions-in-arms had them made at their pleasure ; others not."
"Of what material did they have them made? Of linen or of cloth?"
"It was of white satin; and on some there were fleur-de-lys. In my company I had only two or three lances. But my companions-in-arms now and then had them made like mine. They only did this to know their men from others."
"Did they often renew these pennons?"
"I do not know. When the lances were broken, they had new ones made."
"Have you sometimes said that the pennons which resembled yours would be fortunate?"
"I sometimes said to my followers: 'Go in boldly among the English !' and I myself did likewise."
"Did you tell them to carry themselves boldly, and they would be fortunate?"
"I have certainly told them what has happened and what will yet happen."
"Did you put, or did you ever cause to be put, Holy Water on the pennons when they were carried for the first time?"
"I know nothing of it; and if that were done, it was not by my order."
"Did you never see any sprinkled?"
"That is not in your Case. If I ever did see any sprinkled, I am advised not to answer about it."
"Did your companions-in-arms never put on their pennons 'Jhesus Maria'?"
"By my faith! I do not know."
"Have you not yourself carried cloth, or caused it to be carried, in procession round an altar or a church, and afterwards employed this cloth for pennons?"
"No; and I never saw it done."
"When you were before Jargeau, what did you bear at the back of your helmet? Was it not something round ?" (6).... (This may perhaps refer to a popular belief in a halo, as of a Saint, surrounding the Maid's head.)
"By my faith! there was nothing."
"Did you ever know Brother Richard?" (7)....(Brother Richard, a Mendicant Friar; some say, Augustan; some, Cordelier. He was preaching in Paris and the neighborhood in 1428-9; and said, amongst other things, in a sermon at Sainte Ginevieve, April 16th, 1419, that "strange things would happen in 1430." He professed to have been in Jerusalem; and his sermons were so popular that congregations were found to listen to him for 10 or 11 hours, from 5 o'clock in the morning! He was driven Out of Paris by the English and went to Troyes, where he joined the Maid.)
"I had not seen him when I came before Troyes."
"What countenance did Brother Richard give you?"
"I suppose after the fashion of the town of Troyes who sent him to me, saying that they feared Jeanne was not a thing that came to them from God. When he approached me, Brother Richard made the sign of the Cross and sprinkled Holy Water; and I said to him : 'Approach boldly, I shall not fly away!'"
"Have you never seen, nor had made, any images or picture of yourself and in your likeness ?"
"I saw at Arras a painting in the hands of a Scot: it was like me. I was represented fully armed, presenting a letter to my King, one knee on the ground. I have never seen, nor had made, any other image or painting in my likeness." (8)....( No absolutely authentic portraits of Jeanne are known. A head of fine work, the portrait of a young girl wearing a casque and of Jeanne's time, is at the Musee Historique at Orleans. Tradition asserts that when Jeanne entered Orleans in triumph with the relieving force a sculptor modeled the head of his statue of St. Maurice from Jeanne herself. This head is a portion of the statue which formerly stood in the church at Orleans dedicated to St. Maurice. The church was demolished in 1850.)
"In the house of your host at Orleans, was there not a picture in which was painted three women, with these words : 'Justice, Peace, Union'?"
"I know nothing about it."
"Do you not know that the people of your party had services, masses, and prayers offered for you?"
"I know nothing of it; if they had any service, it was not by my order; but if they prayed for me, my opinion is they did not do ill."
"Did those of your party firmly believe that you were sent from God?"
"I do not know if they believed it, and in this I refer to their own feeling in this matter. But even though they do not believe, yet am I sent from God."
"Do you not think they have a good belief, if they believe this?"
"If they think that I am sent from God, they will not be deceived."
"In what spirit did the people of your party kiss your hands and your garments?"
"Many came to see me willingly, but they kissed my hands as little as I could help. The poor folk came to me readily, because I never did them any unkindness: on the contrary, I loved to help them."
"What honor did the people of Troyes do you on your entry?"
"None at all. Brother Richard, so far as I remember, entered at the same time as I and our people; I do not remember seeing him at the entry."
"Did he not preach a sermon on your arrival in the town?"
"I did not stop there at all, and did not even sleep there: I know nothing of his sermon."
"Were you many days at Reims?"
"We were there, I believe, five or six days."
"Did you not act there as Godmother?" ["lever d'enfant."]
"At Troyes I did, to one child. At Reims, I do not remember it, nor at Chateau-Thierry. I was Godmother twice at Saint-Denis, in France. Usually, I gave to the boys the name of Charles, in honor of my King; and to the girls, Jeanne. At other times, I gave such names as pleased the mothers."
"Did not the good women of the town touch with their rings one that you wore on your finger?"
"Many women touched my hands and my rings; but I know nothing of their feelings nor their intention."
"Who of your people, before Chateau-Thierry, caught butterflies in your standard?"
"My people never did such a thing: it is your side who have invented it."
"What did you do at Reims with the gloves with which your King was consecrated?"
"There were favors of gloves for the knights and nobles at Reims. There was one who lost his gloves; I did not say he would find them again. My standard has been in the Church of Reims; and it seems to me it was near the altar.(9)....(Latin text adds: "dum rex suus consecraretur." Tradition asserts that at the Coronation Jeanne stood on the left and slightly in front of the altar, coming direct from the sacristy of the cathedral. The coronation throne stood in front of the high altar. The cathedral and its painted glass exist as at the Coronation, with the exception of some comparatively recent stone work surrounding the choir. The Coronation of the Kings of France has taken place at Reims' Cathedral since the twelfth century. The King was not to all intents King of France until he had been anointed by the Holy oil, brought in great state to the cathedral from the more ancient church of St. Remy. An inscription on the front of the Hotel Maison Rouge, situated near the west entrance of the cathedral, states that the town entertained Jeanne's father and mother in that house during the Coronation.) I myself bore it for a space there. I do not know if Brother Richard held it."
"When you were going through the country, did you often receive the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist in the good towns?"
"Yes, from time to time."
"Did you receive the said Sacraments in man's dress?"
"Yes; but I do not remember ever to have received them armed."
"Why did you take the horse of the Bishop of Senlis?"
"It was bought for 200 saluts. (10)....(About �200.) If he received these 200 saluts, I do not know. There was a place fixed at which they were to be paid. I wrote to him that he might have his horse back if he wished; as for me, I did not wish it, because it was worth nothing for weight-carrying."
"How old was the child you visited at Lagny ?"
"The child was three days old. It was brought before the image of Our Lady. They told me that the young girls of the village were before this image, and that I might wish to go also and pray God and Our Lady to give life to this infant. I went and prayed with them. At last, life returned to the child, who yawned three times, and was then baptized; soon after, it died, and was buried in consecrated ground. It was three days, they said, since life had departed from the child; it was as black as my coat; when it yawned, the color began to return to it. I was with the other young girls, praying and kneeling before Our Lady."
"Did they not say in the village that it was done through you, and at your prayer?"
"I did not inquire about it."
"Have you ever seen or known Catherine de La Rochelle?"
"Yes, at Jargeau and at Montfaucon in Berry."
"Did not Catherine show you a lady, robed in white, who, she said, sometimes appeared to her?"
"No."
"What did this Catherine say to you?"
"That a white lady came to her, dressed in cloth-of- gold, who told her to go through the good cities with heralds and trumpets which the King would give to her, and proclaim that any one who had gold, silver, or any concealed treasure should bring it immediately: that those who did not do so, and who had anything hidden, she would know, and would be able to discover the treasure. With these treasures, she told me, she would pay my men-at-arms. I told Catherine that she should return to her husband, look after her home, and bring up her children. And in order to have some certainty as to her mission, I spoke of it, either to Saint Catherine or to Saint Margaret, who told me that the mission of this Catherine was mere folly and nothing else. I wrote to the King as to what he should do about it; and, when I afterwards went to him, I told him that this mission of Catherine was only folly and nothing more. Nevertheless, Brother Richard wished to set her to work; therefore were they both displeased with me, - Brother Richard and she."
"Did you never speak with the said Catherine on the project of going to La Charite-sur-Loire?"
"She did not advise me to go there: it was too cold, and she would not go. She told me she wished to visit the Duke of Burgundy in order to make peace. I told her it seemed to me that peace would be found only at the end of the lance. I asked her if this white lady who appeared to her came to her every night? and I said that, to see her, I would sleep one night with her in the same bed. I went to bed; I watched till mid-night; I saw nothing, and then went to sleep. When morning came, I asked her if the White Lady had come. 'Yes, Jeanne,' she answered me, 'while you were asleep she came; and I could not awaken you.' Then I asked her if she would come again the following night. 'Yes,' she told me. For this reason I slept by day that I might be able to watch the night following. I went to bed with Catherine; watched all the night following: but saw nothing, although I asked her often, 'Will she never come ?' and she always answered me, 'Yes, in a moment."'
"What did you do in the trenches of La Charite ?"(11)....(November 9th, 1429.)
"I made an assault there; but I neither threw, nor caused to be thrown, Holy Water by way of aspersion."
"Why did you not enter La Charite, if you had command from God to do so?"
"Who told you I had God's command for it?"
"Did you not have counsel of your Voice?"
"I wished to go into France. The men-at-arms told me it was better to go first to La Charite."
"Were you a long time in the Tower at Beaurevoir?"
"About four months. When I knew that the English were come to take me, I was very angry; nevertheless, my Voices forbade me many times to leap. In the end, for fear of the English, I leaped, and commended myself to God and Our Lady. I was wounded. When I had leaped, the Voice of Saint Catherine said to me I was to be of good cheer,(12)....(The Minute adds: "and I should be cured.") for those at Compiegne would have succor. I prayed always for those at Compiegne, with my Counsel."
"What did you say when you had leaped?"
"Some said I was dead. As soon as the Burgundians saw I was alive, they reproached me with having leapt."
"Did you not say then, that you would rather die than be in the hands of the English?"
"I said I would rather give up my soul to God than be in the hands of the English."
"Were you not then very angry, to the extent of blaspheming the Name of God?"
"Never have I cursed any of the Saints; and it is not my habit to swear."
"On the subject of Soissons(13)....(Surrendered July 22nd.) and the Captain who surrendered the town, did you not blaspheme God, and say, if you got hold of this Captain you would have him cut in quarters?"
"I have never blasphemed any of the Saints; those who say so have misunderstood."
This done, Jeanne was conducted back to the place which had been assigned as her prison.
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