HAVING left Paris on the 9th of June, Sir John Fastolf was coming
through La Beauce with five thousand fighting men. To the English at
Jargeau he was bringing victuals and arrows in abundance. Learning by
the way that the town had surrendered, he left his stores at Étampes
and marched on to Janville, where Sir John Talbot joined him with
forty lances and two hundred bowmen.[1267]
There they heard that the French had taken the Meung bridge and laid
siege to Beaugency. Sir John Talbot wished to march to the relief of
the inhabitants of Beaugency and deliver them with the aid of God and
Saint George. Sir John Fastolf counselled abandoning Sir Richard
Gethyn and his garrison to their fate; for the moment he deemed it
wiser not to fight. Finding his own men fearful and the French full of
courage, he thought the best thing the English could do would be to
establish themselves in the towns, castles, and strongholds remaining
to them, there to await the reinforcements promised by the Regent.[Pg i.369]
"In comparison with the French we are but a handfull," he said. "If
luck should turn against us, then we should be in a fair way to lose
all those conquests won by our late King Henry after strenuous effort
and long delay."[1268]
His advice was disregarded and the army marched on Beaugency. The
force was not far from the town on Friday, the 17th of June, just when
the garrison was issuing forth with horses, armour, and baggage to the
amount of one silver mark's worth for each man.[1269]
Informed of the army's approach the French King's men went forth to
meet it. The scouts had not far to ride before they descried the
standards and pennons of England waving over the plain, about two and
a half miles from Patay. Then the French ascended a hill whence they
could observe the enemy. Captain La Hire and the young Sire de Termes
said to the Maid: "The English are coming. They are in battle array
and ready to fight."
The Duke of Alençon had by no means decided to descend into the plain.
In presence of the Constable, my Lord the Bastard and the captains, he
consulted the holy Maid, who gave him an enigmatical answer: "See to
it that you have good spurs."
Taking her to mean the Count of Clermont's spurs, the spurs of
Rouvray, the Duke of Alençon exclaimed: "What do you say? Shall we
turn our backs on them?"
"Nay," she replied.
On all occasions her Voices counselled unwavering confidence. "Nay. In
God's name, go down against them; for they shall flee and shall not
stay and shall be utterly discomfited; and you shall lose scarce any
men; wherefore you will need your spurs to pursue them."[1272]
According to the opinions of doctors and masters it was well to listen
to the Maid, but at the same time to follow the course marked out by
human wisdom.[Pg i.371]
The commanders of the army, either because they judged the occasion
unfavourable or because, after so many defeats, they feared a pitched
battle, did not come down from their hill. The two heralds sent by two
English knights to offer single combat received the answer: "For
to-day you may go to bed, because it grows late. But to-morrow, if it
be God's will, we will come to closer quarters."[1273]
The English, assured that they would not be attacked, marched off to
pass the night at Meung.[1274]
On the morrow, Saturday, the 18th, Saint Hubert's day, the French went
forth against them. They were not there. The Godons had decamped
early in the morning and gone off, with cannon, ammunition, and
victuals, towards Janville,[1275] where they intended to entrench
themselves.
Now, as on the previous evening, she prophesied: "To-day our fair King
shall win a victory greater than has been his for a long time. My
Council has told me that they are all ours."
Captain Poton and Sire Arnault de Gugem went forth to reconnoitre. The
most skilled men-of-war, and among them my Lord the Bastard and the
Marshal de Boussac, mounted on the finest of war-steeds, formed the
vanguard. Then under the leadership of Captain La Hire, who knew the
country, came the horse of the Duke of Alençon, the Count of Vendôme,
the Constable of France, with archers and cross-bowmen. Last of all
came the rear-guard, commanded by the lords of Graville, Laval, Rais,
and Saint-Gilles.[1280]
The Maid, ever zealous, desired to be in the vanguard; but she was
kept back. She did not lead the men-at-arms, rather the men-at-arms
led her. They regarded her, not as captain of war but as a bringer[Pg i.373] of
good luck. Greatly saddened, she must needs take her place in the
rear, in the company, doubtless, of the Sire de Rais, where she had
originally been placed.[1281] The whole army pressed forward for fear
the enemy should escape them.
After they had ridden twelve or thirteen miles in overpowering heat,
and passed Saint-Sigismond on the left and got beyond Saint-Péravy,
Captain Poton's sixty to eighty scouts reached a spot where the
ground, which had been level hitherto, descends, and where the road
leads down into a hollow called La Retrève. They could not actually
see the hollow, but beyond it the ground rose gently; and, dimly
visible, scarcely two and a half miles away was the belfry of
Lignerolles on the wooded plain known as Climat-du-Camp. A league
straight in front of them was the little town of Patay.[1282]
It is two o'clock in the afternoon. Poton's and Gugem's horse chance
to raise a stag, which darts out of a thicket and plunges down into
the hollow of La Retrève. Suddenly a clamour of voices ascends from
the hollow. It proceeds from the English soldiers loudly disputing
over the game which has fallen into their hands. Thus informed of the
enemy's presence, the French scouts halt and straightway despatch
certain of their company to go and tell the army that they have
surprised the Godons and that it is time to set to work.[1283]
Now this is what had been happening among the English. They were
retreating in good order on Janville, their vanguard commanded by a
knight bearing a white standard.[1284] Then came the artillery and the
victuals in waggons driven by merchants; then the main body of the
army, commanded by Sir John Talbot and Sir John Fastolf. The
rear-guard, which was likely to bear the brunt of the attack,
consisted only of Englishmen from England.[1285] It followed at some
distance from the rest. Its scouts, having seen the French without
being seen by them, informed Sir John Talbot, who was then between the
hamlet of Saint-Péravy and the town of Patay. On this information he
called a halt and commanded the vanguard with waggons and cannon to
take up its position on the edge of the Lignerolles wood. The position
was excellent: backed by the forest, the combatants were secure
against being attacked in the rear,[1286] while in front they were
able to entrench themselves behind their waggons. The main body did
not advance so far. It halted some little distance from Lignerolles,
in the hollow of La Retrève. On this spot the road was lined with
quickset hedges. Sir John Talbot with five hundred picked bowmen
stationed himself there to await the French who must perforce pass
that way. His design was to defend the road until the rear-guard had
had time to join the main body, and then, keeping close to the hedges,
he would fall back upon the army.
The archers, as was their wont, were making ready to plant in the
ground those pointed stakes, the spikes of which they turned against
the chests of the enemy's horses, when the French, led by Poton's
scouts, came[Pg i.375] down upon them like a whirlwind, overthrew them, and cut
them to pieces.[1287]
At this moment, Sir John Fastolf, at the head of the main body, was
preparing to join the vanguard. Feeling the French cavalry at his
heels, he gave spur and at full gallop led his men on to Lignerolles.
When those of the white standard saw him arriving thus in rout, they
thought he had been defeated. They took fright, abandoned the edge of
the wood, rushed into the thickets of Climat-du-Camp and in great
disorder came out on the Paris road. With the main body of the army,
Sir John Fastolf pushed on in the same direction. There was no battle.
Marching over the bodies of Talbot's archers, the French threw
themselves on the English, who were as dazed as a flock of sheep and
fell before the foe without resistance. Thus the French slew two
thousand of those common folk whom the Godons were accustomed to
transport from their own land to be killed in France. When the main
body of the French, commanded by La Hire, reached Lignerolles, they
found only eight hundred foot whom they soon overthrew. Of the twelve
to thirteen thousand French on the march, scarce fifteen hundred took
part in the battle or rather in the massacre. Sir John Talbot, who had
leapt on to his horse without staying to put on his spurs, was taken
prisoner by the Captains La Hire and Poton.[1288] The Lords Scales,
Hungerford and Falconbridge, Sir Thomas Guérard, Richard Spencer and
Fitz Walter were taken and held to[Pg i.376] ransom. In all, there were between
twelve and fifteen hundred prisoners.[1289]
Not more than two hundred men-at-arms pursued the fugitives to the
gates of Janville. Except for the vanguard, which had been the first
to take flight, the English army was entirely destroyed. On the French
side, the Sire de Termes, who was present, states that there was only
one killed; a man of his own company. Perceval de Boulainvilliers,
Councillor and King's Chamberlain, says there were three.[1290]
The French spent the night in the town. Sir John Talbot, having been
brought before the Duke of Alençon and the Constable, was thus
addressed by the young Duke: "This morning you little thought what
would happen to you."
The English commanders of the two small strongholds in La Beauce,
Montpipeau and Saint Sigismond, set fire to them and fled.[1296]
From Patay the victorious army marched to Orléans. The inhabitants
were expecting the King. They had hung up tapestries ready for his
entrance.[1297] But the King and his Chamberlain, fearing and not
without reason, some aggressive movement on the part of the Constable,
held themselves secure in the Château of Sully.[1298] Thence they
started for Châteauneuf on the 22nd of June. That same day the Maid
joined the King at Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire. He received her with his
usual kindness and said: "I pity you because of the suffering you
endure." And he urged her to rest.
At these words she wept. It has been said that her[Pg i.378] tears flowed
because of the indifference and incredulity towards her that the
King's urbanity implied.[1299] But we must beware of attributing to
the tears of the enraptured and the illuminated a cause intelligible
to human reason. To her Charles appeared clothed in an ineffable
splendour like that of the holiest of kings. How, since she had shown
him her angels, invisible to ordinary folk, could she for one moment
have thought that he lacked faith in her?
"Have no doubt," she said to him, confidently, "you shall receive the
whole of your kingdom and shortly shall be crowned."[1300]
True, Charles seemed in no great haste to employ his knights in the
recovery of his kingdom. But his Council just then had no idea of
getting rid of the Maid. On the contrary, they were determined to use
her cleverly, so as to put heart into the French, to terrify the
English, and to convince the world that God, Saint Michael, and Saint
Catherine, were on the side of the Armagnacs. In announcing the
victory of Patay to the good towns, the royal councillors said not one
word of the Constable, neither did they mention my Lord the
Bastard.[1301] They described as leaders of the army, the Maid, with
the two Princes of the Blood Royal, the Duke of Alençon, and the Duke
of[Pg i.379] Vendôme. In such wise did they exalt her. And, indeed, she must
have been worth as much and more than a great captain, since the
Constable attempted to seize her. With this enterprise, he charged one
of his men, Andrieu de Beaumont, who had formerly been employed to
carry off the Sire de la Trémouille. But, as Andrieu de Beaumont had
failed with the Chamberlain, so he failed with the Maid.[1302]
Probably she herself knew nothing of this plot. She besought the King
to pardon the Constable,—a request which proves how great was her
naïveté. By royal command Richemont received back his lordship of
Parthenay.[1303]
Duke John of Brittany, who had married a sister of Charles of Valois,
was not always pleased with his brother-in-law's counsellors. In 1420,
considering him too Burgundian, they had devised for him a Bridge of
Montereau.[1304] In reality, he was neither Armagnac nor Burgundian
nor French nor English, but Breton. In 1423 he recognised the Treaty
of Troyes; but two years later, when his brother, the Duke of
Richemont, had gone over to the French King and received the
Constable's sword from him, Duke John went to Charles of Valois, at
Saumur, and did homage for his duchy.[1305] In short, he extricated[Pg i.380]
himself cleverly from the most embarrassing situations and succeeded
in remaining outside the quarrel of the two kings who were both eager
to involve him in it. While France and England were cutting each
other's throats, he was raising Brittany from its ruins.[1306]
The Maid filled him with curiosity and admiration. Shortly after the
Battle of Patay, he sent to her, Hermine, his herald-at-arms, and
Brother Yves Milbeau, his confessor, to congratulate her on her
victory.[1307] The good Brother was told to question Jeanne.
He asked her whether it was God who had sent her to succour the King.
Jeanne replied that it was.
"If it be so," replied Brother Yves Milbeau, "my Lord the Duke of
Brittany, our liege lord, is disposed to proffer his service to the
King. He cannot come in person for he is sorely infirm. But he is to
send his son with a large army."
The good Brother was speaking lightly and making a promise for his
duke which would never be kept. The only truth in it was that many
Breton nobles were coming in to take service with King Charles.
On hearing these words, the little Saint made a curious mistake. She
thought that Brother Yves had meant that the Duke of Brittany was her
liege lord as well as his, which would have been altogether senseless.
Her loyalty revolted: "The Duke of Brittany is not my liege lord," she
replied sharply. "The King is my liege lord."[Pg i.381]
As far as we can tell, the Duke of Brittany's caution had produced no
favourable impression in France. He was censured for having set the
King's war ban at nought and made a treaty with the English. Jeanne
was of that opinion and to Brother Yves she said so plainly: "The Duke
should not have tarried so long in sending his men to aid the
King."[1308]
A few days later, the Sire de Rostrenen, who had accompanied the
Constable to Beaugency and to Patay, came from Duke John to treat of
the prospective marriage between his eldest son, François, and Bonne
de Savoie, daughter of Duke Amédée. With him was Comment-Qu'il-Soit,
herald of Richard of Brittany, Count of Étampes. The herald was
commissioned to present the Maid with a dagger and horses.[1309]
At Rome, in 1428, there was a French clerk, a compiler of one of those
histories of the world so common in those days and so much alike. His
cosmography, like all of them, began with the creation and came down
to the pontificate of Martin V who was then Pope. "Under this
pontificate," wrote the author, "the realm of France, the flower and
the lily of the world, opulent among the most opulent, before whom the
whole universe bowed, was cast down by its invader, the tyrant Henry,
who was not even the lawful lord of the realm of England." Then this
churchman vows the Burgundians to eternal infamy and hurls upon them
the most terrible maledictions. "May their eyes be torn out: may they
perish by an evil death!" Such language indicates a good Arma[Pg i.382]gnac and
possibly a clerk despoiled of his goods and driven into exile by the
enemies of his country. When he learns the coming of the Maid and the
deliverance of Orléans, transported with joy and wonder, he re-opens
his history and consigns to its pages arguments in favour of the
marvellous Maid, whose deeds appear to him more divine than human, but
concerning whom he knows but little. He compares her to Deborah,
Judith, Esther, and Penthesilea. "In the books of the Gentiles it is
written," he says, "that Penthesilea, and a thousand virgins with her,
came to the succour of King Priam and fought so valiantly that they
tore the Myrmidons in pieces and slew more than two thousand Greeks."
According to him, both in courage and feats of prowess, the Maid far
surpasses Penthesilea. Her deeds promptly refute those who maintain
that she is sent by the Devil.[1310]
In a moment the fame of the French King's prophetess had been spread
abroad throughout Christendom. While in temporal affairs the people
were rending each other, in spiritual matters obedience to one common
head made Europe one spiritual republic with one language and one
doctrine, governed by councils. The spirit of the Church was
all-pervading. In Italy, in Germany, the talk was all of the Sibyl of
France and her prowess which was so intimately associated with the
Christian faith. In those days it was sometimes the custom of those
who painted on the walls of monasteries to depict the Liberal Arts as
three noble dames. Between her two sisters, Logic would be painted,
seated on a lofty[Pg i.383] throne, wearing an antique turban, clothed in a
sparkling robe, and bearing in one hand a scorpion, in the other a
lizard, as a sign that her knowledge winds its way into the heart of
the adversary's argument, and saves her from being herself entrapped.
At her feet, looking up to her, would be Aristotle, disputing and
reckoning up his arguments on his fingers.[1311] This austere lady
formed all her disciples in the same mould. In those days nothing was
more despicable than singularity. Originality of mind did not then
exist. The clerks who treated of the Maid all followed the same
method, advanced the same arguments, and based them on the same texts,
sacred and profane. Conformity could go no further. Their minds were
identical, but not their hearts; it is the mind that argues, but the
heart that decides. These scholastics, dryer than their parchment,
were men, notwithstanding; they were swayed by sentiment, by passion,
by interests spiritual or temporal. While the Armagnac doctors were
demonstrating that in the Maid's case reasons for belief were stronger
than reasons for disbelief, the German or Italian masters, caring
nought for the quarrel of the Dauphin of Viennois,[1312] remained in
doubt, unmoved by either love or hatred.
There was a doctor of theology, one Heinrich von Gorcum, a professor
at Cologne. As early as the month of June, 1429, he drew up a memorial
concerning the Maid. In Germany, minds were divided as to whether the
nature of the damsel were human[Pg i.384] or whether she were not rather a
celestial being clothed in woman's form; as to whether her deeds
proceeded from a human origin or had a supernatural source; and, if
the latter, whether that source were good or bad. Meister Heinrich von
Gorcum wrote his treatise to present arguments from Holy Scripture on
both sides, and he abstained from drawing any conclusion.[1313]
In Italy, the same doubts and the same uncertainty prevailed
concerning the deeds of the Maid. Those there were who maintained that
they were mere inventions. At Milan, it was disputed whether any
credence could be placed in tidings from France. To discover the truth
about them, the notables of the city resolved to despatch a Franciscan
friar, Brother Antonio de Rho, a good humanist and a zealous preacher
of moral purity.
And Giovanni Corsini, Senator of the duchy of Arezzo, impelled by a
like curiosity, consulted a learned clerk of Milan, one Cosmo Raimondi
of Cremona. The following is the gist of the learned Ciceronian's
reply:
"Most noble lord, they say that God's choice of a shepherdess for the
restoration of a kingdom to a prince, is a new thing. And yet we know
that the shepherd David was anointed king. It is told how the Maid, at
the head of a small company, defied a great army. The victory may be
explained by an advantageous position and an unexpected attack. But
supposing we refrain from saying that the enemy was surprised and that
his courage forsook him, matters which are none the less possible,
supposing we admit that there was a miracle: what is there astonishing
in that? Is it not still more wonderful that Samson[Pg i.385] should have slain
so many Philistines with the jaw-bone of an ass?
"The Maid is said to possess the power of revealing the future.
Remember the Sibyls, notably the Erythræan and the Cumæan. They were
heathens. Why should not a like power be granted to a Christian? This
woman is a shepherdess. Jacob, when he kept Laban's flocks, conversed
familiarly with God. To such examples and to such reasons, which
incline me to give credence to the rumour, I add another reason
derived from physical science. In treatises on astrology I have often
read that by the favourable influence of the stars, certain men of
lowly birth have become the equals of the highest princes and been
regarded as men divine charged with a celestial mission. Guido da
Forli, a clever astronomer, quotes a great number of such instances.
Wherefore I should not deem myself to be incurring any reproach if I
believed that through the influence of the stars, the Maid has
undertaken what is reported of her."
At the conclusion of his arguments the clerk of Cremona says that,
while not absolutely rejecting the reports concerning her, he does not
consider them to be sufficiently proved.[1314]
Jeanne maintained her resolution to go to Reims and take the King to
his anointing.[1315] She did not stay to consider whether it would be
better to wage war in Champagne than in Normandy. She did not know
enough of the configuration of the country to decide such a question,
and it is not likely that her saints and angels knew more of geography
than she did. She was in haste to take the King to Reims for his
anoint[Pg i.386]ing, because she believed it impossible for him to be king
until he had been anointed.[1316] The idea of leading him to be
anointed with the holy oil had come to her in her native village, long
before the siege of Orléans.[1317] This inspiration was wholly of the
spirit, and had nothing to do with the state of affairs created by the
deliverance of Orléans and the victory of Patay.
The best course would have been to march straight on Paris after the
18th of June. The French were then only ninety miles from the great
city, which at that juncture would not have thought of defending
itself. Considering it as good as lost, the Regent shut himself up in
the Fort of Vincennes.[1318] They had missed their opportunity. The
French King's Councillors, Princes of the Blood, were deliberating,
surprised by victory, not knowing what to do with it. Certain it is
that not one of them thought of conquering, and that speedily, the
whole inheritance of King Charles. The forces at their disposal, and
the very conditions of the society in which they lived, rendered it
impossible for them to conceive of such an undertaking. The lords of
the Great Council were not like the poverty stricken monks, dreaming
in their ruined cloisters[1319] of an age of peace and concord. The
King's Councillors were no dreamers; they did not believe in the end
of the war, neither did they desire it. But they intended to conduct
it with the least possible risk and expenditure. There would always be
folk enough to don the hauberk and go a-plundering[Pg i.387] they said to
themselves; the taking and re-taking of towns must continue;
sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; to fight long one must
fight gently; nine times out of ten more is gained by negotiations and
treaties than by feats of prowess; truces must be concluded craftily
and broken cautiously; some defeats must be expected, and some work
must be left for the young. Such were the opinions of the good
servants of King Charles.[1320]
Certain among them wished the war to be carried on in Normandy.[1321]
The idea had occurred to them as early as the month of May, before the
Loire campaign, and indeed there was much to be said for it. In
Normandy they would cut the English tree at its root. It was quite
possible that they might immediately recover a part of that province
where the English had but few fighting men. In 1424 the Norman
garrisons consisted of not more than four hundred lances and twelve
hundred bowmen.[1322] Since then they had received but few
reinforcements. The Regent was recruiting men everywhere and
displaying marvellous activity, but he lacked money, and his soldiers
were always deserting.[1323] In the conquered province, as soon as the
Coués came out of their strongholds they found themselves in the
enemy's territory. From the borders of Brittany, Maine, Perche as far
as Pon[Pg i.388]thieu and Picardy, on the banks of the Mayenne, Orne, the Dive,
the Touque, the Eure, the Seine, the partisans of the various factions
held the country, watching the roads, robbing, ravaging, and
murdering.[1324] Everywhere the French would have found these brave
fellows ready to espouse their cause; the peasants and the village
priests would likewise have wished them well. But the campaign would
involve long sieges of towns, strongly defended, albeit held by but
small garrisons. Now the men-at-arms dreaded the delays of sieges, and
the royal treasury was not sufficient for such costly undertakings.[1325]
Normandy was ruined, stripped of its crops, and robbed of its cattle.
Were the captains and their men to go into this famine-stricken land?
And why should the King reconquer so poor a province?
And these freebooters, who were willing to stretch out a hand to the
French, were not very attractive. It was well known that brigands they
were, and brigands would remain, and that Normandy once reconquered,
they would have to be got rid of, to the last man, without honour and
without profit. In which case would it not be better to leave them to
be dealt with by the Godons?
Other nobles clamoured for an expedition into Champagne.[1326] And in
spite of all that has been said to the contrary, the Maid's visions
had no influence whatever on this determination. The King's
Councillors led Jeanne and were far from being led by her.[Pg i.389] Once
before they had diverted her from the road to Reims by providing her
with work on the Loire. Once again they might divert her into
Normandy, without her even perceiving it, so ignorant was she of the
roads and of the lie of the land. If there were certain who
recommended a campaign in Champagne, it was not on the faith of saints
and angels, but for purely human reasons. Is it possible to discover
these reasons? There were doubtless certain lords and captains who
considered the interest of the King and the kingdom, but every one
found it so difficult not to confound it with his own interest, that
the best way to discover who was responsible for the march on Reims is
to find out who was to profit by it. It was certainly not the Duke of
Alençon, who would have greatly preferred to take advantage of the
Maid's help for the conquest of his own duchy.[1327] Neither was it my
Lord the Bastard, nor the Sire de Gaucourt, nor the King himself, for
they must have desired the securing of Berry and the Orléanais by the
capture of La Charité held by the terrible Perrinet Gressart.[1328] On
the other hand we may conclude that the Queen of Sicily would not be
unfavourable to the march of the King, her son-in-law, in a north
easterly direction. This Spanish lady was possessed by the Angevin
mania. Reassured for the moment concerning the fate of her duchy of
Anjou, she was pursuing eagerly, and to the great hurt of the realm of
France, the establishment of her son René in the duchy of Bar and in
the inheritance of Lorraine. She cannot have been displeased,
therefore, when she saw the King keeping her an open road between Gien
and Troyes and Châlons. But since the Constable's exile she had[Pg i.390] lost
all influence over her son-in-law, and it is difficult to discover who
could have watched her interests in the Council of May, 1429.[1329]
Besides, without seeking further, it is obvious that there was one
person, who above all others must have desired the anointing of the
King, and who more than any was in a position to make his opinion
prevail. That person was the man on whom devolved the duty of holding
in his consecrated hands the Sacred Ampulla, my Lord Regnault de
Chartres, Archbishop Duke of Reims, Chancellor of the Kingdom.[1330]
He was a man of rare intelligence, skilled in business, a very clever
diplomatist, greedy of wealth, caring less for empty honours than for
solid advantage, avaricious, unscrupulous, one who at the age of about
fifty had lost nothing of his consuming energy; he had recently
displayed it by spending himself nobly in the defence of Orléans. Thus
gifted, how could he fail to exercise a powerful control over the
government?
Fifteen years had passed since his elevation to the archiepiscopal see
of Reims; and of his enormous revenue he had not yet received one
penny. Albeit the possessor of great wealth from other sources, he
pleaded poverty. To the Pope he addressed heart-rending
supplications.[1331] If the Maid had found favour in the eyes of the
Poitiers doctors, Monseigneur Regnault had had something to do with
it. Had it not been for him, the doctors at court would never have
proposed her examination. And we shall not be mak[Pg i.391]ing too bold a
hypothesis if we conclude, that when the march on Reims was decided in
the royal council, it was because the Archbishop, on grounds suggested
by human reason, approved of what the Maid proposed by divine
inspiration.[1332]
While the coronation campaign was attended with grave drawbacks and
met with serious obstacles, it nevertheless brought great gain and a
certain subtle advantage to the royal cause. Unfortunately it left
free from attack the rest of France occupied by the English, and it
gave the latter time to recover themselves and procure aid from over
sea. We shall shortly see what good use they made of their
opportunities.[1333] As to the advantages of the expedition, they were
many and various. First, Jeanne truly expressed the sentiments of the
poor priests and the common folk when she said that the Dauphin would
reap great profit from his anointing.[1334] From the oil of the holy
Ampulla the King would derive a splendour, a majesty which would
impress the whole of France, yea, even the whole of Christendom. In
those days royalty was alike spiritual and temporal; and multitudes of
men believed with Jeanne that kings only became kings by being
anointed with the holy oil. Thus it would not be wrong to say that
Charles of Valois would receive greater power from one drop of oil
than from ten thousand lances. On a consideration like this the King's
Councillors must needs set[Pg i.392] great store. They had also to take into
account the time and the place. Might not the ceremony be performed in
some other town than Reims? Might not the so-called "mystery" take
place in that city which had been delivered by the intercession of its
blessed patrons, Saint-Aignan and Saint Euverte? Two kings descended
from Hugh Capet, Robert the Wise and Louis the Fat, had been crowned
at Orléans.[1335] But the memory of their royal coronation was lost in
the mists of antiquity, while folk still retained the memory of a long
procession of most Christian kings anointed in the town where the holy
oil had been brought down to Clovis by the celestial dove.[1336]
Besides, the lord Archbishop and Duke of Reims would never have
suffered the King to receive his anointing save at his hand and in his
cathedral.
Therefore it was necessary to go to Reims. It was necessary also to
anticipate the English who had resolved to conduct thither their
infant King that he might receive consecration according to the
ancient ceremonial.[1337] But if the French had invaded Normandy they
would have closed the young Henry's road to Paris and to Reims, a road
which was already[Pg i.393] insecure for him; and it would be childish to
maintain that the coronation could not have been postponed for a few
weeks. If the conquest of Norman lands and Norman towns was renounced
therefore, it was not merely for the sake of capturing the holy
Ampulla. The Lord Archbishop of Reims had other objects at heart. He
believed, for example, that, by pressing in between the Duke of
Burgundy and his English allies, an excellent impression would be
produced on the mind of that Prince and the edifying object-lesson
presented to his consideration of Charles, son of Charles, King of
France, riding at the head of a powerful army.
To attain the city of the Blessed Saint Remi two hundred and fifty
miles of hostile country must be traversed. But for some time the army
would be in no danger of meeting the enemy on the road. The English
and Burgundians were engaged in using every means both fair and foul
for the raising of troops. For the moment the French need fear no foe.
The rich country of Champagne, sparsely wooded, well cultivated,
teemed with corn and wine, and abounded in fat cattle.[1338] Champagne
had not been devastated like Normandy. There was a likelihood of
obtaining food for the men-at-arms, especially if, as was hoped, the
good towns supplied victuals. They were very wealthy; their barns
overflowed with corn. While owing allegiance to King Henry, no bonds
of affection united them to the English or to the Burgundians. They
governed themselves. They were rich merchants, who only longed for
peace and who did their best to bring it about. Just now they were
beginning to suspect that the Armagnacs were growing the stronger
party. These folk of Champagne had a[Pg i.394] clergy and a bourgeoisie who
might be appealed to. It was not a question of storming their towns
with artillery, mines, and trenches, but of getting round them with
amnesties, concessions to the merchants and elaborate engagements to
respect the privileges of the clergy. In this country there was no
risk of rotting in hovels or burning in bastions. The townsfolk were
expected to throw open their gates and partly from love, partly from
fear, to give money to their lord the King.
The campaign was already arranged, and that very skilfully.
Communications had been opened with Troyes and Châlons. By letters and
messages from a few notables of Reims it was made known to King
Charles that if he came they would open to him the gates of their
town. He even received three or four citizens, who said to him, "Go
forth in confidence to our city of Reims. It shall not be our fault if
you do not enter therein."[1339]
Such assurances emboldened the Royal Council; and the march into
Champagne was resolved upon.
The army assembled at Gien; it increased daily. The nobles of Brittany
and Poitou came in in great numbers, most of them mounted on sorry
steeds[1340] and commanding but small companies of men. The poorest
equipped themselves as archers, and in default of better service were
ready to act as bowmen. Villeins and tradesmen came likewise.[1341]
From the Loire to the Seine and from the Seine to the Somme the only
cultivated land was round châteaux and fortresses. Most of the
fields lay fallow. In many places[Pg i.395] fairs and markets had been
suspended. Labourers were everywhere out of work. War, after having
ruined all trades, was now the only trade. Says Eustache Deschamps,
"All men will become squires. Scarce any artisans are left."[1342] At
the place of meeting there assembled thirty thousand men, of whom many
were on foot and many came from the villages, giving their services in
return for food. There were likewise monks, valets, women and other
camp-followers. And all this multitude was an hungered. The King went
to Gien and summoned the Queen who was at Bourges.[1343]
His idea was to take her to Reims and have her crowned with him,
following the example of Queen Blanche of Castille, of Jeanne de
Valois, and of Queen Jeanne, wife of King John. But queens had not
usually been crowned at Reims; Queen Ysabeau, mother of the present
King, had received the crown from the hands of the Archbishop of Rouen
in the Sainte-Chapelle, in Paris.[1344] Before her time, the wives of
the kings, following the example set by Berthe, wife of Pepin the
Short, generally came to Saint-Denys to receive the crown of gold, of
sapphire and of pearls given by Jeanne of Évreux to the monks of the
Abbey.[1345] Sometimes the queens were crowned with[Pg i.396] their husbands,
sometimes alone and in a different place; many had never been crowned
at all.
That King Charles should have thought of taking Queen Marie on this
expedition proves that he did not anticipate great fatigue or great
danger. Nevertheless, at the last moment the plan was changed. The
Queen, who had come to Gien, was sent back to Bourges. The King set
out without her.[1346]
On Friday, the 24th of June, the Maid set out from Orléans for Gien.
On the morrow she dictated from Gien a letter to the inhabitants of
Tournai, telling them how the English had been driven from all their[Pg i.397]
strongholds on the Loire and discomfited in battle. In this letter she
invited them to come to the anointing of King Charles at Reims and
called upon them to continue loyal Frenchmen. Here is the letter:
An epistle in the same tenor must have been sent by the Maid's monkish
scribes to all the towns which had remained true to King Charles, and
the priests themselves must have drawn up the list of them.[1352][Pg i.398]
They would certainly not have forgotten that town of the royal domain,
which, situated in Flanders,[1353] in the heart of Burgundian
territory, still remained loyal to its liege lord. The town of
Tournai, ceded to Philip the Good by the English government, in 1423,
had not recognised its new master. Jean de Thoisy, its bishop, resided
at Duke Philip's court;[1354] but it remained the King's town,[1355]
and the well-known attachment of its townsfolk to the Dauphin's
fortunes was exemplary and famous.[1356] The Consuls of Albi, in a
short note concerning the marvels of 1429, were careful to remark that
this northern city, so remote that they did not exactly know where it
was, still held out for France, though surrounded by France's enemies.
"The truth is that the English occupy the whole land of Normandy, and
of Picardy, except Tournay,"[1357] they wrote.
Indeed the inhabitants of the bailiwick of Tournai, jealously guarding
the liberties and privileges accorded to them by the King of France,
would not have separated themselves from the Crown on any
consideration. They protested their loyalty, and in honour of the King
and in the hope of his recovering his kingdom they had grand
processions; but their devotion stopped there; and, when their liege
Lord, King Charles, urgently demanded the arrears of their
contribution, of which he said he stood in great need, their
magistrates deliberated and decided to ask leave to postpone payment
again, and for as long as possible.[1358]
There is no doubt that the Maid herself dictated this letter. It will
be noticed that therein she takes to herself the credit and the whole
credit for the victory. Her candour obliged her to do so. In her
opinion God had done everything, but he had done everything through
her. "The Maid hath driven the English out of all their strongholds."
She alone could reveal so naïve a faith in herself. Brother Pasquerel
would not have written with such saintly simplicity.
It is remarkable that in this letter Sir John Fastolf should be
reckoned among the prisoners. This mistake is not peculiar to Jeanne.
The King announces to his good towns that three English captains have
been taken, Talbot, the Lord of Scales and Fastolf. Perceval de
Boulainvilliers, in his Latin epistle to the Duke of Milan, includes
Fastolf, whom he calls Fastechat, among the thousand prisoners taken
by the folk of Dauphiné. Finally, a missive despatched about the 25th
of June, from one of the towns of the diocese of Luçon, shows great
uncertainty concern[Pg i.400]ing the fate of Talbot, Fastolf and Scales, "who
are said to be either prisoners or dead."[1359] Possibly the French
had laid hands on some noble who resembled Fastolf in appearance or in
name; or perhaps some man-at-arms in order to be held to ransom had
given himself out to be Fastolf. The Maid's letter reached Tournai on
the 7th of July. On the morrow the town council resolved to send an
embassy to King Charles of France.[1360]
On the 27th of June, or about then, the Maid caused letters to be
despatched to the Duke of Burgundy, inviting him to come to the King's
coronation. She received no reply.[1361] Duke Philip was the last man
in the world to correspond with the Maid. And that she should have
written to him courteously was a sign of her goodness of heart. As a
child in her village she had been the enemy of the Burgundians before
being the enemy of the English, but none the less she desired the good
of the kingdom and a reconciliation between Burgundians and French.
The Duke of Burgundy could not lightly pardon the ambush of Montereau;
but at no time of his life had he vowed an irreconcilable hatred of
the French. An understanding had become possible after the year 1425,
when his brother-in-law, the Constable of France, had excluded Duke
John's murderers from[Pg i.401] the Royal Council. As for the Dauphin Charles,
he maintained that he had had nothing to do with the crime; but among
the Burgundians he passed for an idiot.[1362] In the depths of his
heart Duke Philip disliked the English. After King Henry V's death he
had refused to act as their regent in France. Then there was the
affair of the Countess Jacqueline which very nearly brought about an
open rupture.[1363] For many years the House of Burgundy had been
endeavouring to gain control over the Low Countries. At last Duke
Philip attained his object by marrying his second cousin, John, Duke
of Brabant to Jacqueline of Bavaria, Countess of Hainault, Holland and
Zealand, and Lady of Friesland. Jacqueline, finding her husband
intolerable, fled to England, and there, having had her marriage
annulled by the Antipope, Benedict XIII, married the Duke of
Gloucester, the Regent's brother.
Bedford, as prudent as Gloucester was headstrong, made every effort to
retain the great Duke in the English alliance; but the secret hatred
he felt for the Burgundians burst forth occasionally in sudden acts of
rage. Whether he planned the assassination of the Duke and the Duke
knew it, is uncertain. But at any rate it is alleged that one day the
courteous Bedford forgot himself so far as to say that Duke Philip
might well go to England and drink more beer than was good for
him.[1364] The Regent had just tactlessly of[Pg i.402]fended him by refusing to
let him take possession of the town of Orléans.[1365] Now Bedford was
biting his fingers with rage. Regretting that he had refused the Duke
the key to the Loire and the heart of France, he was at present eager
to offer him the province of Champagne which the French were preparing
to conquer: this was indeed just the time to present some rich gift to
his powerful ally.[1366]
Meanwhile the great Duke could think of nothing but the Low Countries.
Pope Martin had declared the marriage of the Countess Jacqueline and
Gloucester to be invalid; and Gloucester was marrying another wife.
Now the Gargantua of Dijon could once more lay hands on the broad
lands of the fair Jacqueline. He remained the ally of the English,
intending to make use of them but not to play into their hands, and
prepared, should he find it to his advantage, to make war on the
French before being reconciled to them; he saw no harm in that. After
the Low Countries what he cared most about were ladies and beautiful
paintings, like those of the brothers Van Eyck. He would not be likely
therefore to pay much attention to a letter from the Maid of the
Armagnacs.[1367]
