FAMOUS QUOTES ABOUT AND BY SAINT JOAN OF ARC
QUOTES ABOUT SAINT JOAN OF ARC:
"Foe only to the great blood guilty ones, The Masters and Murderers of Mankind."
                        Robert Southey-18th Century Poet
"Joan was a being so uplifted from the ordinary run of mankind that she finds no equal in a thousand years."
                        Winston Churchill-Legendary British Prime Minister in WWII
"Unconquerable courage, infinite compassion, the virtue of the simple, the wisdom of the just shone forth in her. She glorifies as she freed the soil from which she sprang. All soldiers should read her story and ponder on the words and deeds of the true warrior, who in one single year, though untaught in technical arts, reveals in every situation the key of victory."
                        Winston Churchill-Legendary British Prime Minister in WWII
"Consider this unique and imposing distinction. Since the writing of human history began, Joan of Arc is the only person, of either sex, who has ever held supreme command of the military forces of a nation at the age of seventeen."
                        Louis Kossuth-19th Century European Freedom Fighter
"A perfect woman, nobly plann'd, to warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still, and bright with something of an angel light."
                        William Wordsworth-19th Century Poet
"The perfect woman, Divinely planned, to love, to comfort, and command;
And with a touch of angel light, to help us through the darkest night."
                        Ben D. Kennedy's re-write of Wordsworth
"The history of this woman brings us time and again to tears."
                        Jules Michelet-19th Century French Historian
"The goodness of her life proves that Jeanne possesses
the grace of God.... She goeth forth capturing towns
and castles. She is the first captain of our host.
Such power had not Hector or Achilles.
But God, who leads her, does all."
                        Jacques Gélu, Archbishop of Embrun. 1429
"Jeanne d'Arc does not belong to France alone but also to all those whose thoughts are elevated enough to grasp the superior and beautiful among goodness."
                        Louis-Maurice Boutet de Monvel-19th Century French Painter
"...next to the Christ, the highest spiritual being of whom we have any exact record upon this earth is the girl Jeanne"
                        Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-Famous Scottish author of Sherlock Holmes Fame.
"Jeanne’s mission was on the surface warlike, but it really had the effect of ending a century of war, and her love and charity were so broad, that they could only be matched by Him who prayed for His murderers."
                        Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-Famous Scottish author of Sherlock Holmes Fame.
"Joan of Arc was not stuck at the cross-roads, either by rejecting all the paths like Tolstoy, or by accepting them all like Nietzsche. She chose a path, and went down it like a thunderbolt. Yet Joan, when I came to think of her,
had in her all that was true either in Tolstoy or Nietzsche, all that
                        G. K. Chesterton- English writer and philosopher
"She was perhaps the only entirely unselfish person whose name has a place in profane history."
                        Mark Twain-19th Century American Writer
"Whatever thing men call great, look for it in Joan of Arc, and there you will find it."
                        Mark Twain-19th Century American Writer
"Love, Mercy, Charity, Fortitude, War, Peace, Poetry, Music--these may be
symbolized as any shall prefer: by figures of either sex and of any age;
but a slender girl in her first young bloom, with the martyr's crown upon
her head, and in her hand the sword that severed her country's
bonds--shall not this, and no other, stand for PATRIOTISM through all the
ages until time shall end?"
                        Mark Twain Conclusion to Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc
"She was the consummation and ideal of two noble human efforts towards perfection. The peasant's daughter was the Flower of Chivalry, brave, gentle, merciful, courteous, kind, and loyal....She was the most perfect daughter of her Church....her conscience, by frequent confession, was kept fair and pure as the lilies of Paradise."
                        Andrew Lang-19th Century Scottish Writer and Historian
"She combined the Divine and the human, strength and weakness, a rarefied sensitivity which made her hear supernal Voices guiding her way, and a common sense which translated that guidance into practical action."
                        Frances Winwar author of The Saint and the Devil
"The military genius of Joan of Arc is a great proof of the existence of God!"
                        Lieutenant-Colonel De Lancesseur - 20th Century French Military Officer and Historian
"...with her luminous testimony, St. Joan of Arc invites us to a lofty level of Christian life."
                        Pope Benedict XVI speaking about Joan on Jan 26, 2011.
"She was the bravest of the brave."
                        Andrew Lang comparing Joan to William Wallace and other brave leaders.
"I spent six years attempting to give people a proper understanding of the
incredible beauty of St. Joan of Arc as I have been blessed by God to have been able
to see in what at most has been a brief glimpse. I now realize it is an impossible task due to the severe limits of human expression."
                        Ben D. Kennedy-Author of Maid of Heaven and Creator of MaidOfHeaven.com
"The other day I was out there with an axe and there were big fires all down the side of the little hill where the wayside shrine is, and the secular cemetery. The flames were angry and high and one delicate sapling which was left standing in the midst of all the fires withered and was blasted in the burning air. I watched the shuddering of the leaves in the gusts of the furnace and it made me think of Saint Joan of Arc."
                        Christian writer Thomas Merton in his book The Sign of Jonas
"Oh Jeanne, without sepulchre and without portrait, you know that the hero's tomb is the heart of the living."
                        André Malraux former French Minister of Culture words on mounument in Rouen
QUOTES BY SAINT JOAN OF ARC IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER:
***Included in Maid of Heaven as part of the story are many famous quotes by Saint Joan of Arc. Using actual quotes by her
helps bring her alive and give the reader some idea what her personality was like. Below are some more of her famous
quotes:***
"When I was thirteen years old, I had a Voice from God to help me govern my conduct. And the first time I was very fearful.
And came this Voice, about the hour of noon, in the summer-time, in my father's garden; I had not fasted on the eve preceding that day."
"Two or three times a week this Voice exhorted me to go to France. My father knew nothing of my going. The Voice kept urging me; I could no longer endure it. It told me I would raise the siege of Orleans. It told me to go to Robert de Baudricourt, captain, and he would give me men to come with me."
Joan of Arc speaking to Robert de Baudricourt:
"I have come to you on the part of my Lord, in order that you may send word to the Dauphin, to hold fast, and to not cease
war against his enemies. Before mid-Lent the Lord will give him help. In truth, the kingdom belongs not to the Dauphin, but to my Lord. But my Lord wills that
the Dauphin be made King, and have the kingdom in command. Notwithstanding his enemies, the Dauphin will be made King, and it is I who will conduct him to the coronation."
"Since God commanded it, had I had a hundred fathers and a hundred mothers, had I been a King's daughter, I should have departed."
As Joan was leaving Vaucouleurs a woman asked her: "How can you make such a journey when on all sides are soldiers?"
"Je n'ai pas peur des soldats, car ma route m' a été ouverte, et si les soldats viennent, j'ai Dieu, mon Seigneur, qui saura comment libérer la route qui mène à Sieur le Dauphin. C'est pour cela que je fus nais."
"I do not fear the soldiers, for my road is made open to me; and if the soldiers come, I have God, my Lord, who will know how to clear the route that leads to messire the Dauphin. It was for this that I was born!"
More about this famous Joan of Arc quote here
"From Vaucouleurs I set out, clad as a man, wearing a sword which the captain had given me, without other arms. Accompanied by a knight, a squire, and four followers, I directed my course toward St. Urbain, and found shelter that night at the abbey."
Joan of Arc speaking to her Knights on the road to Chinon:
"Fear nothing. You shall see how at Chinon the noble Dauphin will greet us with a glad face."
"I have been commanded to do two things on the part of the King of Heaven: one, to raise the siege of Orleans; the other, to conduct the King to Rheims for his sacrament and his coronation."
Joan's first words to Charles VII:
"Very illustrious Lord Dauphin, I am come, being sent on the part of God, to give succour to the kingdom and to you."
"Gentle Dauphin, I am called Joan the Maid (Jehanne la Pucelle)"
"I recognized him by the counsel and revelation of my Voice."
Upon meeting the Duke of Alencon Joan of Arc said:
"The more we can get together of the blood of the King of France, the better it will be."
"In God's name, I well know that I shall have much to go through at Poitiers! But God will aid me. Now let us be going."
When Joan of Arc was asked at Poitiers why she had come:
"As I guarded the animals a Voice appeared to me. This Voice said to me: 'God has great pity for the people of France. It is required that thou, Joan, betake thee to France."
Having heard these words, I wept. Then the Voice said to me: 'Go to Vaucouleurs. Thou wilt find there a captain who will conduct thee safely to France, and to the King.
Be without fear.' I have done what was commanded me. And I reached the King without prevention of any sort."
When Joan was asked why she needed an army if God wished to deliver the French people:
"In God's name, the soldiers will fight and He will grant victory."
"Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera"
"Aid yourself and God will aid you" or the modern equivalent "God helps those who help themselves"
When Joan was asked what dialect her Voice spoke:
"A better than yours."
Asked if she believed in God:
"Yes, better than you."
When Joan of Arc was asked for a sign:
"In God's name! I have not come to Poitiers to work sign! But take me to Orleans; and I will show you signs why I am sent."
General statement to her examiners at Poitiers to which they could not deny:
"There is more in the books of the Lord than in yours."
First letter Joan of Arc sent to the English:
King of England, and you, Duke of Bedford, who call yourself Regent of the kingdom France; you William de la Pole, Count of Suffolk; John, Lord Talbot; and you Thomas, Lord Scales,
who call yourselves lieutenants of the said Duke of Bedford, do justly by the King of Heaven; render to the Maid who is sent here of God, the King of Heaven, the keys of all the good cities that you have taken and violated in France.
She has come here from God to restore the royal blood. She is all ready to make peace, if you will deal rightly by her, acknowledge the wrong done France, and pay for what you have taken.
And all of you, archers, companions of war, nobles and others who are before you; and if this is not done, expect news of the Maid, who will go to see your shortly, to your very great damage. King
of England, if you do not do this, I am Chef de Guerre, and in whatever place I shall find your people in France, I will make them go whether they will or not; and if they will not obey I will have them all killed.
I am sent here by God, the King of Heaven, each and all, to put you out of all France. And if they will obey I will be merciful. And stand not by your opinion, for you will never hold the kingdom of France through God, King of Heaven,
son of Saint Mary; it will be thus ruled by King Charles VII, true heritor; for God , the King of Heaven, wishes it, and this to him is revealed by the Maid, and he will enter Paris in good company.
If you will not believe the news from God and the Maid, in whatever place we shall find you, we shall strike in your midst, and will make so great a hurrah [hahay] that for a thousand years there has not been one in France so great, if you do not
deal justly. And you may well believe that the King of Heaven will send more strength to the Maid than you will be able to lead in all your assaults against her and her good soldiers. And when the blows fall we shall see
who will have the better right from God of Heaven. You, Duke of Bedford, the Maid begs you and requires of you that you work not your own destruction. If you listen to her you will yet be able to come in her company to where the French will do
the finest deed that ever was done for Christianity. And reply to this, if you wish to make peace at the city of Orleans; and if thus you do not do, you will shortly remember it to your great sorrow. Written
this Tuesday, Holy Week. [March 22, 1429]
"When I was at Tours or at Chinon I sent to seek a sword which was in the church of Saint Catherine of Fierbois, behind the altar, and it was found at once all covered with rust.....This sword was in the earth, all rusty, and there were upon it five crosses and I knew it by my voices and I had never seen the man
who went to seek this sword. I wrote to the prelates of the place that if they please I should have the sword and they sent it to me. It was not very deep under ground behind the altar, as it seems to me, but I do not know exactly whether it was before or behind the altar. I think that I wrote at the time that it was behind the altar. After this sword had been found, the prelates of the place had it rubbed, and at once the rust fell from it without difficulty.
There was an arms merchant of Tours who went to seek it, and the prelates of that place gave me a sheath, and those of Tours also, with them had two sheaths made for me: one of red velvet and the other of cloth-of-gold, and I myself had another made of right strong leather. But when I was captured, it was that sword which I had.
I always wore that sword until I had withdrawn from Saint-Denis after the assault against Paris."
"I had a banner, the field of which was sown with lilies. There the World was represented [the image of God holding the World] and two angels at the sides. It was of linen or white boucassin. There was written upon it, as it seems to me, these words:
Jesus Mary, and it was fringed with silk."
"I have told you often enough that I did nothing but by God's commandment. I bore this standard when we went forward against the enemy to avoid killing anyone. I have never killed anyone."
On the march to Orleans Joan of Arc counseled the army to:
"have great confidence in God and confess their sins."
Joan of Arc first words to the Lord Dunois:
"Are you the Bastard of Orleans? Was it you who gave counsel that I come here, on this side of the river, and that I am not to go directly where are Talbot and the English?"
"In Gods's name, the counsel of our Lord is safer and wiser than yours. You have thought to deceive me, and you deceive yourself still more; for I bring you better succour than ever came to any knight or city whatever, seeing that it is the succour of the King of Heaven. Nevertheless, it comes to you
not through love of me; it proceeds from God himself, who at the request of Saint Louis and Saint Charlemagne, has had pity for the city of Orleans, and has not wished that the enemy should at the same time possess the person the duke and his city."
"Trust in God. God will aid the city of Orleans and expel the enemy."
Confronting a great merchant of Orleans she heard cursing God:
"Ah, friend, dare you thus forswear our Lord and Master? In God's name, you will recant before I leave here!"
Joan of Arc scolding her page Louis De Contes for not waking her when fighting began:
"Ha, graceless boy, you did not tell me that the blood of France was flowing!"
Letter Joan of Arc wrote that was shot into the Tourelles on May 5, 1429:
"You, men of England, who have no right in the Kingdom of France, the King of Heaven orders and notifies you through me, Jehanne the Maid, to leave your fortresses and go back to your own country; or I will produce a clash of arms to be eternally remembered. And this is the third and last time I have written to you; I shall not write anything further.
Jesus, Maria
Jehanne the Maid
"I have sent you my letters honorably, but you detain my heralds; for you have detained my herald called Guyenne. Please send him back to me, and I will send some of your men captured in the fortress of Saint Loup, for they are not all dead."
Joan of Arc leading her troops in battle:
"In God's name, forward boldly!"
Joan speaking to her Captains:
"You have been at your council, and I have been at mine. Now, be assured that the counsel of my Lord will fulfill itself and prevail, and that yours will fail."
To Father Pasquerel the night before the attack on the Tourelles:
"Rise tomorrow very early, earlier than today, and do the best that you are able. It will be necessary to keep always near me, for tomorrow I shall have much to do, and greater need of you than I have ever had.
Tomorrow the blood will flow from my body, above the breast."
Joan speaking to her host in Orleans the morning of the attack on the Tourelles:
"Keep it until evening, because this evening I will bring you a godon, and will return by the way of the bridge."
Joan of Arc speaking to her soldiers during the battle:
"Have good heart! Do not fall back; you will have the bastille soon!"
Joan's only comment about Orleans later at her trial since her Judges tried to avoid the subject:
"I was the first to place a scaling ladder on the bastion of the bridge."
Joan's response to soldiers wanting to apply a charm to her wound:
"I would rather die than do a thing which I know to be a sin or against the will of God."
Recovering from her wound and seeing the Army in retreat:
"Ha, my standard, my standard!
Joan of Arc looking up into the Tourelles and calling out to the English commander:
"Glasdale, Glasdale, surrender to the King of Heaven! You called my putain (whore), but I have great pity for your soul, and for your followers."
Day after the battle of Orleans when the English showed they would fight no more Joan said:
"In Gods name, they are going. Let them go, while we give thanks to God and pursue them no farther, since today is Sunday."
At Loches, where Joan of Arc went to see the King after the great victory, people threw themselves at her in adoration. A companion told her she should forbid it and she replied:
"Of a truth, if God does not protect me from it, I would not know how to protect myself."
Growing impatient for Charles VII to leave with her for Rheims and his coronation:
"Noble Dauphin, hold no longer so many of these interminable councils, but come at once to Rheims and receive your rightful crown."
Asked by court official if her counsel was advising her in her request Joan responded:
"Yes, and I am much stimulated thereby."
Further asked by the same official to explain her counsel; an attempt by him to get her to reveal more about her divine counsel. She blushed and responded:
"I think I understand what you wish to know, and I will tell it to you willingly."
Charles VII told her it was not necessary to respond if she did not want to but she replied:
"When I am baffled in some manner, because someone does not wish to credit the things that I speak on the part of God, I retire apart, and I pray to God, complaining that those to whom I speak are hard of belief. My prayer to God finished, I hear a Voice that says to me:
'Daughter of God, go, go, go; I will aid thee, go.' And when I hear this Voice I have great joy. I would like always to hear it."
At Selles trying to mount her horse, a great black courser who was uncontrollable Joan said:
"Lead him to the cross."
The horse immediately calmed down and Joan mounted and turned toward the priests nearby saying:
"You, priests and men of the church, form procession and make prayers to God."
First day at Jargeau when some of her army was apprehensive Joan of Arc said:
"Fear no multitude whatsoever. Do not hesitate to assault the English. God conducts our work. If I had not this assurance, I would rather guard sheep than expose myself to so great perils."
First night a Jargeau Joan spoke to those inside the walled city:
"Surrender the place to the King of Heaven, and to the noble King Charles VII, and go away! Otherwise he will destroy you."
Joan of Arc speaking to the Duke of Alencon:
"Forward, noble duke, to the assault. Doubt not. The hour is good when God pleases. One must work when God wills. Work and God will work also."
Later to the Duke of Alencon:
"Ah, noble duke, hast thou fear? Knowest thou not I have promised thy wife to bring thee back safe and sound?"
Fulfilling her promise to the Duke of Alencon's wife, Joan warned the duke:
"Step aside from there. If you do not, that machine will kill you."
After a stone knocked her off of the ladder she was climbing Joan jumped up yelling:
"Friends, friends, up! up! Our Lord has condemned the English. At this moment they are ours. Have good heart."
Joan of Arc's first words to the Constable Richemont:
"Ah, fair Constable, you did not come because of me, but since you are come, you are welcome."
At Patay with an imposing English force coming to meet them the Duke of Alencon asked Joan "What am I to do?":
"Have good spurs, all of you!"
Some hearing and not understanding asked her if she meant they should retreat and she replied:
"No! The English will turn their backs. They will not defend themselves, and will be beaten. You will need good spurs to follow them."
Asked again by Lahire and Alencon: "The English are coming; they are in order of battle and ready to fight.":
"Strike boldly, they will take to flight!"
With her Captains still hesitating Joan of Arc told them:
"In God's name, we must fight them! If they were hung from the clouds we would have them; for God sends us to chastise them!
The noble King will have today the greatest victory that he has had in a long time. And my counsel has told me that they (the enemy) are all ours."
Speaking to the Duke of Alencon:
"Have the trumpets sounded, and take horse. It is time to go to the noble King Charles VII, to put him on the road to his coronation at Rheims."
Letter Saint Joan sent to the city of Tournay on June 25, 1429:
+ Jesus + Maria
Noble loyal Frenchmen of the town of Tournai, the Maid informs you of the tidings from here: that in eight days she has driven the English out of all the places they held on the River Loire, by assault and otherwise, where there were many killed and captured; and she has defeated them in battle. And know that the Earl of Suffolk, La Pole his brother, Lord Talbot, Lord Scales, and my lord John Fastolf and many knights and commanders have been captured and the Earl of Suffolk's brothern and Glasdale are dead. Stand fast loyal Frenchmen, I pray you. And [crossed-out word] I pray and request you to be ready to come to the anointing of the noble king Charles VII at Rheims, where we will be soon. And come to us when you learn that we are approaching. I commend you to God; may God watch over you and grant you grace so that you can maintain the good cause of the Kingdom of France. Written at Gien the 25th day of June.
Before setting out for Rheims:
"By my staff! I will conduct the noble King Charles VII and his company safely and he will be crowned at the said place of Rheims."
Letter Joan of Arc sent to the city of Troyes on July 4, 1429, as the army approaced that city on the way to Rheims:
+ Jesus, + Maria
Very dear and good friends - if you don't mind - lords, bourgeois, and inhabitants of the town of Troyes, Joan the Maid sends word and makes known to you, in the name of the King of Heaven, her rightful and sovereign Lord, in whose royal service she remains each day, that you should render true obedience and recognition to the noble king of France, who will be at Rheims and Paris quite soon, regardless of whomever may come against us; and [will be] in his towns of the holy kingdom with the help of King Jesus. Loyal Frenchmen, come before King Charles VII and let there be no failing; and do not worry about your lives nor your property if you do so; and if you do not do so I promise and guarantee upon your lives that we will enter, with the help of God, into all the towns which should be part of the holy kingdom, and make there a good durable peace, regardless of whomever may come against us.
I commend you to God; may God protect you, if it pleases Him.
Reply soon.
Before the city of Troyes, written at St. Phal, Tuesday the fourth day of July.
Speaking to Charles VII before Troyes when it would not submit:
"Noble King of France, if you will remain here before the city of Troyes, it will be in your domination within two days, whether through force or through love; and for this make no doubt."
Joan speaking to Brother Richard from the city when he approached her making the sign of the cross and sprinkling holy water.
"Approach boldly, I will not fly away."
Kneeling before the King and embracing his knees after the coronation Joan of Arc said:
"Noble King, now is accomplished the pleasure of God, who willed that I should raise the siege of Orleans and should bring you to this city of Reims to receive your holy coronation, thus showing that you are the true King, him to whom the throne of France must belong."
Letter Joan of Arc sent to the Duke of Burgundy written the morning of the coronation in Reims:
+ Jesus Maria
Great and honoured Prince, Duke of Burgundy, Joan the Maid requests of you, in the name of the King of Heaven, my rightful and sovereign Lord, that the King of France and yourself should make a good firm lasting peace. Fully pardon each other willingly, as faithful Christians should do; and if it should please you to make war, then go against the Saracens. Prince of Burgundy, I pray, beg, and request as humbly as I can that you wage war no longer in the holy kingdom of France, and order your people who are in any towns and fortresses of the holy kingdom to withdraw promptly and without delay. And as for the noble King of France, he is ready to make peace with you, saving his honor; if you're not opposed.
And I tell you, in the name of the King of Heaven, my rightful and sovereign Lord, for your well-being and your honor and upon your lives, that you will never win a battle against the loyal French, and that all those who have been waging war in the holy kingdom of France have been fighting against King Jesus, King of Heaven and of all the world, my rightful and sovereign Lord. And I beg and request of you with clasped hands to not fight any battles nor wage war against us - neither yourself, your troops nor subjects; and know beyond a doubt that despite whatever number of soldiers you bring against us they will never win. And there will be tremendous heartbreak from the great clash and from the blood that will be spilled of those who come against us.
And it has been three weeks since I had written to you and sent proper letters via a herald [saying] that you should be at the anointing of the King, which this day, Sunday, the seventeenth day of this current month of July, is taking place in the city of Rheims - to which I have not received any reply. Nor have I ever heard any word from this herald since then.
I commend you to God and may He watch over you if it pleases Him, and I pray God that He shall establish a good peace.
Written at the said place of Rheims, the seventeenth day of July.
Letter Saint Joan sent to the citizens of Rheims on August 5, 1429:
My dear and good friends, the obedient and loyal Frenchmen of the city of Rheims, Joan the Maid lets you know of her tidings, and asks and requests that you should have no concerns about the good cause she is carrying on for the Royal family. I promise and guarantee you that I will never abandon you so long as I live. And it's true that the King has made a truce with the Duke of Burgundy lasting fifteen days, by which he [Burgundy] must turn over the city of Paris peaceably at the end of fifteen days. However, do not be surprised if I don't enter it [Paris] so quickly. I am not at all content with truces made like this, and I don't know if I will uphold them; but if I do uphold them it will only be in order to protect the honor of the King; also, they [the Burgundians] will not cheat the Royal family, for I will maintain and keep together the King's army so as to be ready at the end of these fifteen days if they don't make peace. For this reason, my very dear and perfect friends, I pray that you do not worry yourselves so long as I live, but I ask that you keep good watch and defend the King's city; and let me know if there are any traitors who wish to do you harm, and as soon as I can I will remove them; and let me know your news.
I commend you to God, may He protect you.
Written this Friday the fifth day of August near Provins, while encamped in the fields on the road to Paris.
While riding with Alencon and the Archbishop of Rheims near Crepy-en-Valois:
"These are a good people. I have seen none elsewhere who have shown so much joy at the coming of our noble King. Would God I might be happy enough when I shall finish my days to be buried in this soil!"
When asked by the Archbishop where she hoped to die Joan responded:
"Wherever it may please God. I am sure neither of the time nor the place. I know no more of it than yourself. But I would that it were pleasing to God, my Creator, that I might now retire, laying arms aside, and that I might serve my father and my mother, guarding their sheep with my sister and my brothers, who would be greatly rejoiced to see me!"
Calling the Duke of Alencon to her:
"Mon beau duc, make ready your men and some other captains. By my staff! I wish to see Paris at closer range."
Letter Joan of Arc sent to the Count of Armagnac responding to his letter asking her advice:
Jesus + Maria
Count of Armagnac, my very dear and good friend: Joan the Maid informs you that your messenger has arrived, who told me that you sent him here in order to learn from me which of the three Popes, which you asked about in your letter, you should believe in. Concerning which, I cannot very well tell you truly for the time being, until I am at Paris or elsewhere at ease, for at present I am too occupied with the war; but when you learn that I am in Paris, send a messenger to me and I will let you know truthfully whom you should believe, and what I will have learned about this matter through the counsel of my rightful and sovereign Lord, the King of all the World, and what you are to do, to the best of my power.
I commend you to God; may God watch over you. Written at Compiègne, the 22nd day of August.
Before Paris Joan of Arc commanded:
"Yield to the King of France."
After the assault on Paris fails Joan said:
"By my staff, the place would have been taken."
While lodging in the house of Jean Duchesne her host said to her "If you are not afraid to make assaults, it is because you well know that you will not be killed." to which Joan responded:
"I am no more sure of that than are the other soldiers."
When ladies brought to her Pater Nosters and other objects for her to touch Joan laughed, saying:
"Touch them yourselves. They will be quite as good with your touch as with mine."
Joan of Arc explaining her generosity to the poor and indigent.
"I have been sent for the consolation of the needy."
Before the walls of St. Pierre-le-Moutier when asked why she was alone and did not retreat like the rest of her soldiers:
"I am not alone! I have fifty thousand of my own company to fight with me!"
Letter Joan of Arc sent to the People of Riom on November 9, 1429.
Dear and good friends: you well know how the town of Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier was taken by assault; and with God's help I intend to clear out the other places which are against the King. But because great expenditure of powder, projectiles, and other war materials had been made before the said town, and because myself and the lords who are at this town are so poorly supplied for laying siege to La Charité, where we are presently going, I beg of you, upon whatever love you have for the welfare and honor of the King and also all the others here, that you will immediately send and donate for the siege powder, saltpeter, sulfur, projectiles, stout crossbows, and other materials of war. And do well enough in this matter that the work will not drag out for lack of supplies, and that no one can say you were negligent or unwilling.
Dear and good friends, may Our Lord protect you. Written at Moulins the ninth day of November.
Jehanne
Letter Joan of Arc sent to the city of Rheims on March 16, 1430.
On the Address: To my very dear and good friends, men of the Church, bourgeois, and other inhabitants of the town of Rheims
Very dear and well-beloved, whom I greatly desire to see: I Joan the Maid have received your letters mentioning that you fear facing a siege. Know then that you will not, if I can meet them [the enemy] soon. And if it should so happen that I do not intercept them and they come against you, then shut your gates, for I will be with you shortly. And if they are there I will make them put on their spurs in such haste that they won't be able to do so; and their time will be short, for this will be soon.
I won't write you anything else for the present, except that you should always be obedient and loyal. I pray to God to hold you in His keeping.
Written at Sully the 16th day of March.
I would send you some further news which would make you quite happy, but I fear that the letters would be captured on the road, and that the news would be seen.
Jehanne
Final letter by Joan of Arc sent to the city of Rheims on March 28, 1430.
Very dear and good friends, may it please you to know that I have received your letters, which mention how word had been brought to the king that within the good city of Rheims there is much evil. If you wish to know, it has, in fact, been reported that there were many who belonged to a conspiracy and who would have betrayed the city and brought in the Burgundians. But thereafter the king learned otherwise because you had sent him assurances, for which he is well pleased with you. And know that you are in his favor, and if you will have to fight, he will aid you in the event of a siege. And he well knows that you have much suffering to endure from the hardships which these treasonous Burgundian enemies inflict on you; so he will deliver you, if it pleases God, very soon - that is to say, the very soonest that he can. So I pray and request, very dear friends, that you defend the city for the King and that you keep good watch. You will soon hear my good news in greater detail. I will not write any more for the present except that all of Brittany is French, and the Duke must send three thousand soldiers to the king, paid for two months. I commend you to God, may He watch over you.
Written at Sully on the 28th of March.
Jehanne
Upon hearing that the town of Compiegne needed help Joan resolved:
"By my staff! We are enough! I shall go to my good friends at Compiegne!"
As the battle turned against her "Those about her cried to the Maid: 'Make haste to get back to the town, or we are lost!' She answered:
"Be silent! It rests with you to defeat them. Have not other thought than to strike!"
When the enemy demanded she surrender, Joan of Arc responded:
"I have sworn and given my faith to another than you, and to Him only will I keep my oath."
Responding to Jean d'Aulon saying that "Compiegne [would again] be placed in the hands of the enemies of France" Joan said:
"No, it will not; for all the places that the King of Heaven has reduced, and restored to the hand and obedience of the noble King Charles by means of me, will never be retaken by his enemies, so long as he will use diligence to keep them."
*** From this point on the most comprehensive source of quotes are the trial transcripts which can be read for free at the page below:
The Trial of Jeanne d'Arc by W. P. Barrett
Continuing below are some of the more famous quotes by Joan of Arc spoken during her time of imprisonment and trial.
Responding to her captives question about whether she knew she would be captured:
"I much suspected it."
Asked why if she suspected it she had not been able to to protect herself the day she was taken, Joan responded:
"I knew neither the day nor the hour I would be taken."
Joan speaking at her trial about her attempted escape and why she jumped from a 60 foot tower:
"I was sold to the English and I preferred to die rather than be in the hands of the English."
Joan responding to the Count of Ligny's claim that he had come to buy her back from the English:
"In God's name, you mock me; for I know well that you have neither the power, nor the wish. I know well that these English will put me to death believing after my death to gain the kingdom
of France. But if there were a hundred thousand godons more than now they would not have the kingdom."
Joan responding to her judges demand that she swear to tell the truth to whatever she was asked:
"I do not know upon what you wish to question me. There may be things you will ask me that I must not tell you."
Response after her judges modified their demand that she swear to speak the truth upon those things which she would be asked concerning the faith:
"As to my father and mother, and what I have done since I came into France, I will swear willingly. But as to the revelations from God, I have never told or revealed them to anyone except to King Charles, and no more would I reveal
them here, even should you cut off my head. For I had them through visions, and from my secret council, to reveal to nobody. Within eight days I shall well know if I must reveal them."
After her first day of trial, Bishop Pierre Cauchon forbid her to try to escape. Joan refused to accept the prohibition saying:
"It is true that formerly I tried to escape from prison as it is legal for any prisoner to do. Even if I could escape I could not be reproached with having falsified or violated my word,
for I have never given it to anybody."
Response after Joan was told she was kept chained because she had tried to escape:
"It is true that I wished and still wish to escape, as is lawful for any captive or prisoner"
Warning Joan of Arc issued to her judges:
"You say that you are my judge; take good heed of what you do, because, in truth, I am sent by God, and you put yourself in great peril"
Joan of Arc's famous response to the trick question she was asked about whether she was in God's grace:
"If I am not, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest creature in the world if I knew I were not in His grace"
Joan's response when asked if she wanted a dress:
"Give me one. I will take it and go: otherwise I will not have it, and am content with this, since it pleases God that I wear it"
Joan's reply when asked who told her to have her banner painted as it had been:
"I have told you often enough that I have done nothing but by God's command."
Joan explaining that she bore her banner when attacking the enemy therefore:
"I never killed anyone"
Joan of Arc's response when asked whom she believed was the true Pope.
"Is there more than one?"
Joan of Arc's prediction that the English would lose all of France:
"Before seven years are past the English will lose a greater stake than they did at Orleans, for they will lose everything in France. And the English will suffer a greater loss than ever they did in France; and it will be a great victory which God will send the French."
Response when asked why she carried her banner at the coronation of Charles VII:
"It had borne the burden; it was quite right that it receive the honor."
Joan of Arc's response to the threat of torture:
"Truly, if you were to tear me limb from limb and separate my soul from my body, I would not say anything more. If I did say anything, afterwards I would always declare that you made me say it by force!"
Joan's response when she learned how she would die:
"Alas! Am I to be so horribly and cruelly treated? Alas! That my body, clean and whole, which has never been corrupted, should this day be consumed and burned to ashes! Ah! I would far rather have my head chopped off seven times over, than to be burned!"
Joan speaking to Pierre Cauchon after learning of her impending execution:
"Bishop, I die through you"
Joan of Arc showing her concern for Rouen even as she is led to her execution:
"Rouen! Rouen! Must I die here? Ah, Rouen, I fear you will have to suffer for my death!"
Joan asking for a crucifix to be held level with her eyes:
"Hold the crucifix up before my eyes so I may see it until I die."
Joan of Arc's last words.
"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!"
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