CHAP. VI.
THE MAID OF ORLEANS IS CONDEMNED TO BE PUT TO DEATH AND BURNT AT ROUEN.
Joan the Maid had sentence of death passed on her in the city of Rouen, information of which was sent by the king of England to the duke of Burgundy, a copy of whose letter now follows:
'Most dear and well beloved uncle, the very fervent love we know you to bear, as a true Catholic, to our holy mother the church, and your zeal for the exaltation of the faith, induces us to signify to you by writing, that in honour of the above, an act has lately taken place at Rouen, which will tend, as we hope, to the strengthening of the catholic faith, and the extirpation of pestilential heresies.
'It is well known, from common report, and otherwise, that the woman, erroneously called the Maid, has, for upward of two years, contrary to the divine law, and to the decency becoming her sex, worn the dress of a man, a thing abominable before God; and in this state she joined our adversary and yours, giving him, as well as those of his party, churchmen and nobles, to understand that she was sent as a messenger from Heaven,—and presumptuously vaunting that she had personal and visible communications with St Michael, and with a multitude of angels and saints in paradise, such as St Catherine and St Margaret. By these falsehoods, and by promising future victories, she has estranged the minds of persons of both sexes from the truth, and induced them to the belief of dangerous errors.
'She clothed herself in armour also, assisted by knights and esquires, and raised a banner, on which, through excess of pride and presumption, she demanded to bear the noble and excellent arms of France, which in part she obtained. These she displayed at many conflicts and sieges; and they consisted of a shield having two flower de luces or on a field azure, with a pointed sword surmounted with a crown proper.
'In this state she took the field with large companies of men at arms and archers, to exercise her inhuman cruelties by shedding Christian blood, and stirring up seditions and rebellions of the common people. She encouraged perjuries, superstitions and false doctrines, by permitting herself to be reverenced and honoured as a holy woman, and in various other manners that would be too long to detail, but which have greatly scandalized all Christendom wherever they have been known.
'But divine Mercy having taken pity on a loyal people, and being no longer willing to suffer them to remain under such vain errors and credulities, permitted that this woman should be made prisoner by your army when besieging Compiègne, and through your affection she was transferred to our power.
'On this being known, she was claimed by the bishop in whose diocese she had been taken; and as she had been guilty of the highest treason to the Divine Majesty, we delivered her up to be tried and punished by the usual ecclesiastical judges, not only from respect to our holy mother the church, whose ordinances we shall ever prefer to our own, but also for the exaltation of our faith.
'We were unwilling that the officers of our secular justice should take cognizance of the crime, although it was perfectly lawful for us so to do, considering the great mischiefs, murders, and detestable cruelties, she has committed against our sovereignty, and on a loyal obedient people.
'The bishop having called to his aid in this matter the vicar of the inquisitor of errors and heresies in the faith, with many able doctors in theology and in the canon law, commenced with much solemnity and gravity the trial of the said Joan. After these judges had for several days interrogated her on her crimes, and had maturely considered her confessions and answers, they sent them for the opinion of our beloved daughter the university of Paris, when they all determined that this Joan was superstitious, a sorceress of the devil, a blasphemer of God and of his saints, a schismatic, and guilty of many errors against the faith of JESUS CHRIST.
'To recal her to the universal faith of our holy church, to purge her from her pernicious errors, and to save her soul from perpetual damnation, and to induce her to return to the way of truth, she was long and frequently charitably preached to; but that dangerous and obstinate spirit of pride and presumption, which is alway endeavouring to prevent the unity and safety of Christians, held the said Joan so fast bound that no arguments nor exhortations could soften the hardness of her heart, so that she boasted that all which she had done was meritorious, and that it had been done by the command of God and the aforesaid holy virgins, who had personally appeared to her. But what was worse, she refused to acknowledge any power on earth but God and his saints, denying the authority of our holy father the pope, and of the general councils of the universal church militant.
'The ecclesiastical judges, witnessing her obstinacy and hardness of heart, had her brought forth before the people, who, with the clergy, were assembled in great numbers, when she was again preached to by an able divine. Having been plainly warned of the doctrines of our holy religion, and the consequences of heresies and erroneous opinions concerning it to the welfare of mankind, she was charitably admonished to make her peace with the church, and renounce her errors, but she remained as obstinate as before.
'The judges, having considered her conduct, proceeded to pronounce sentence upon her, according to the heinousness of her crimes; but before it was read her courage seemed to fail her, and she said she was willing to return to the church. This was heard with pleasure by the judges, clergy and spectators, who received her kindly, hoping by this means to preserve her soul from perdition.
'She now submitted herself to the ordinances of the church, and publicly renounced and abjured her detestable crimes, signing with her own hand the schedule of her recantation and abjuration. Thus was our merciful mother the church rejoiced at the sinner doing penance, anxious to recover the lost sheep that had wandered in the desert. Joan was ordered to perform her penance in close confinement.
'But these good dispositions did not last long; for her presumptuous pride seemed to have acquired greater force than before,—and she relapsed, with the utmost obstinacy, into all those errors which she had publicly renounced. For this cause, and that she might not contaminate the sound members of our holy communion, she was again publicly preached to; and, proving obstinate, she was delivered over to the secular arm, who instantly condemned her to be burnt. Seeing her end approach, she fully acknowledged and confessed that the spirits which had appeared to her were often lying and wicked ones; that the promises they had made to set her at liberty were false,—and that she had been deceived and mocked by them.
'She was publicly led to the old market-place in Rouen, and there burnt in the presence of the people!'
This notice of her sentence and execution was sent by the king of England to the duke of Burgundy, that it might be published by him for the information of his subjects, that all may henceforward be advised not to put faith in such or similar errors as had governed the heart of the Maid.