Saint Joan of Arc (Jeanne la Pucelle): Difference between revisions

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The haste, then, was perhaps that of inaction, which surrendered the immediate opportunity for the larger, more glorious crown.<ref>>> Pernoud here on Charles' equivocations</ref>

== The road to Rouen ==

After the coronation, the Duke of Burgundy made overtures to the newly crowned Charles VII, who preferred the adulation of villages along his march towards Paris to actually entering Paris. A temporary peace was agreed upon, and under hopes that the Duke of Burgundy would join the French against the English. The Duke had no such intention, but took advantage of the lull to reinforce his position with the English who reinforced Paris.

Under Joan's insistence, the Duke of Alençon organized an attack upon Paris on September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God. After an all-day assault that induced both panic and expectant enthusiasm within the city, as sundown fell and by the walls, Joan was struck in the thigh by a crossbow bolt. She called for a continued assault, but the nightfall and shock at her injury dissuaded her troops, who carried her out of a ditch back to the French camp.<ref>See [https://ia800200.us.archive.org/6/items/joanofarc00moon/joanofarc00moon.pdf Joan of Arc] for more details of Joan's attack and injury.</ref> The next day the King ordered a halt to the attacks and on the 13th a retreat back to the Loire, which meant back to Orléans.

Before leaving St. Denis, where Charles VII had resided during this time, Joan presented a complete set of white armor and a seized sword to the altar at the church of St. Denis, a traditional act of thanks giving by a wounded soldier.<ref>See [https://ia800200.us.archive.org/6/items/joanofarc00moon/joanofarc00moon.pdf Joan of Arc] p. 49</ref> After the King left St. Denis, the English took the armor and likely destroyed it.

From here, the usual story is the the King abandoned Joan, while allowing her limited, unsupported military campaigns, which is true. We know that the King and his court, which never really trusted Joan, was hoping for a settlement with the Duke of Burgundy. For her part, Joan "feared nothing but treason."<ref>See Joan: Her Story p. 78</ref>

But there's a bit more to it. The King was not wrong to seek a settlement, and with lingering baggage from the Armagnac-Burgundy dispute, which included the assassination of the Duke of Burgundy's father in 1419 during a tense meeting with Charles himself.<ref>The tension followed the 1407 assassination of Charles' uncle, the Duke of Orléans (and brother of Charles VI and whose heir was captured by the English in 1415 at Agincourt)</ref> The assassination launched the civil war and opened the door for the English, who were already on the move in northern France, to sign the Treaty of Troyes<ref>Making Henry V of England heir to the French throne.</ref> with Charles's weak and insane father, Charles VI. But the history weighed upon the new King. On August 16, 14>> the new King's representatives appealed to the Duke of Burgundy, "the grand duke of the west," they implored, with "greater offers of reparation than the royal majesty actually possessed."<ref>https://archive.org/details/joanofarcherstor00pern/page/74/mode/1up?q=220&view=theaterd p. 74</ref> King Charles VII thereby ceded authority over the war to his enemy.

Joan, meanwhile, had told the Duke of Burgundy off:

<blockquote>Jhesus † Mary

Great and formidable Prince, Duke of Burgundy, Jeanne the Virgin 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 [which I affirm] 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 [duplicated phrase] 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 in the aforementioned place of Rheims on the aforesaid seventeenth day of July.</blockquote>

Charles VII was not entirely deceived. But he was duplicitous with Joan. He feted her, brought her from castle to castle, but ignored her pleas to carry on the war. Her opportunity came when the need arose to put down Burgundian resistance<ref>Either lands of or invaded by a Burgundian mercenary named Perrinet Gressard.</ref> within the Loire region itself, at a town called Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier. Sent by the Court, Joan took the fortified town (protected by a moat) on Nov 4, 1429, but only after insisting upon a second assault and standing at foot of the walls inspiring or, perhaps berating, her troops forward. Afterwards, Charles enobled here and her family, both men and women.

The Council ordered to to attack another town in the region, La Charité, also fortified, but denied her additional artillery or funds. So Joan was forced to raise her own army for the attack, which was unsuccessful, her first defeat after Paris. The defeat gave the royal Council further excuse to ignore her and to adhere to the supposed truce with the Duke of Burgundy. Joan's next action was to move north to defend areas that Burgundy had attacked, despite the truce. That Joan knew it was going on means the Court knew it, but the Court deliberately ignored it under the guise of the truce. Whether or not Joan acted with the royal Council's authority, over which historians have argued uselessly, doesn't matter: they knew, she knew, they all knew the Duke of Burgundy was in violation of the truce. That Joan acted on her own authority or the Kings doesn't matter. What matters is that she went to defend Compiègne, which was under Burgundian and English attack, and in doing so

>> the po;int here is that Joan carried on the battles bc she knew that Burdundy was a liar. Chas was hoping it'd work out, but Burg was fortifying his position w/ the English all along. Joan's attacks back in the north forced the situation, flushing Burgundy into revealing himself.

At Compiegne, she was captured, but, as always, standing fast while her army ran away, only this time there was no rallying the troops, as they had gone into the city and the gate was closed on her and surrounded her

Among the fixations of Joan's examiners at the Rouen Trial was a minor battle at a town called La Charité. Questions on it included,<blockquote>Did you never speak with the said Catherine<ref>As discussed earlier, the examiners were most keen to associate Joan with Catherine de la Rochelle and her visions of a "lady in white." (see Murray, p. 52)</ref> on the project of going to La Charité-sur-Loire?<ref>March 3 (Murray, p. 53)</ref></blockquote><blockquote>What did you do in the trenches of La Charité?<ref>ibid</ref></blockquote><blockquote>Why did you not enter La Charité, if you had command from God to do so?<ref>March 3 (Murray, p. 54)</ref></blockquote><blockquote>Had you any revelation to attack La Charité?<ref>March 13 (Murray, p. 69)</ref></blockquote><blockquote>Did you do well or ill to advance on La Charité?<ref>March 27 (Murray, p. 352)</ref> </blockquote>

@@ Line 991: / Line 991: @@
 The haste, then, was perhaps that of inaction, which surrendered the immediate opportunity for the larger, more glorious crown.<ref>>> Pernoud here on Charles' equivocations</ref>
 == The road to Rouen ==
+After the coronation, the Duke of Burgundy made overtures to the newly crowned Charles VII, who preferred the adulation of villages along his march towards Paris to actually entering Paris. A temporary peace was agreed upon, and under hopes that the Duke of Burgundy would join the French against the English. The Duke had no such intention, but took advantage of the lull to reinforce his position with the English who reinforced Paris.
+Under Joan's insistence, the Duke of Alençon organized an attack upon Paris on September 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God. After an all-day assault that induced both panic and expectant enthusiasm within the city, as sundown fell and by the walls, Joan was struck in the thigh by a crossbow bolt. She called for a continued assault, but the nightfall and shock at her injury dissuaded her troops, who carried her out of a ditch back to the French camp.<ref>See [https://ia800200.us.archive.org/6/items/joanofarc00moon/joanofarc00moon.pdf Joan of Arc] for more details of Joan's attack and injury.</ref> The next day the King ordered a halt to the attacks and on the 13th a retreat back to the Loire, which meant back to Orléans.
+Before leaving St. Denis, where Charles VII had resided during this time, Joan presented a complete set of white armor and a seized sword to the altar at the church of St. Denis, a traditional act of thanks giving by a wounded soldier.<ref>See [https://ia800200.us.archive.org/6/items/joanofarc00moon/joanofarc00moon.pdf Joan of Arc] p. 49</ref> After the King left St. Denis, the English took the armor and likely destroyed it.
+From here, the usual story is the the King abandoned Joan, while allowing her limited, unsupported military campaigns, which is true. We know that the King and his court, which never really trusted Joan, was hoping for a settlement with the Duke of Burgundy. For her part, Joan "feared nothing but treason."<ref>See Joan: Her Story p. 78</ref>
+But there's a bit more to it. The King was not wrong to seek a settlement, and with lingering baggage from the Armagnac-Burgundy dispute, which included the assassination of the Duke of Burgundy's father in 1419 during a tense meeting with Charles himself.<ref>The tension followed the 1407 assassination of Charles' uncle, the Duke of Orléans (and brother of Charles VI and whose heir was captured by the English in 1415 at Agincourt)</ref> The assassination launched the civil war and opened the door for the English, who were already on the move in northern France, to sign the Treaty of Troyes<ref>Making Henry V of England heir to the French throne.</ref> with Charles's weak and insane father, Charles VI. But the history weighed upon the new King. On August 16, 14>> the new King's representatives appealed to the Duke of Burgundy, "the grand duke of the west," they implored, with "greater offers of reparation than the royal majesty actually possessed."<ref>https://archive.org/details/joanofarcherstor00pern/page/74/mode/1up?q=220&view=theaterd p. 74</ref> King Charles VII thereby ceded authority over the war to his enemy.
+Joan, meanwhile, had told the Duke of Burgundy off:
+<blockquote>Jhesus † Mary
+Great and formidable Prince, Duke of Burgundy, Jeanne the Virgin 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 [which I affirm] 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 [duplicated phrase] 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 in the aforementioned place of Rheims on the aforesaid seventeenth day of July.</blockquote>
+Charles VII was not entirely deceived. But he was duplicitous with Joan. He feted her, brought her from castle to castle, but ignored her pleas to carry on the war. Her opportunity came when the need arose to put down Burgundian resistance<ref>Either lands of or invaded by a  Burgundian mercenary named Perrinet Gressard.</ref> within the Loire region itself, at a town called Saint-Pierre-le-Moûtier. Sent by the Court, Joan took the fortified town (protected by a moat) on Nov 4, 1429, but only after insisting upon a second assault and standing at foot of the walls inspiring or, perhaps berating, her troops forward. Afterwards, Charles enobled here and her family, both men and women.
+The Council ordered to to attack another town in the region, La Charité, also fortified, but denied her additional artillery or funds. So Joan was forced to raise her own army for the attack, which was unsuccessful, her first defeat after Paris. The defeat gave the royal Council further excuse to ignore her and to adhere to the supposed truce with the Duke of Burgundy. Joan's next action was to move north to defend areas that Burgundy had attacked, despite the truce. That Joan knew it was going on means the Court knew it, but the Court deliberately ignored it under the guise of the truce.  Whether or not Joan acted with the royal Council's authority, over which historians have argued uselessly, doesn't matter: they knew, she knew, they all knew the Duke of Burgundy was in violation of the truce. That Joan acted on her own authority or the Kings doesn't matter. What matters is that she went to defend Compiègne, which was under Burgundian and English attack, and in doing so
+>> the po;int here is that Joan carried on the battles bc she knew that Burdundy was a liar.  Chas was hoping it'd work out, but Burg was fortifying his position w/ the English all along.  Joan's attacks back in the north forced the situation, flushing Burgundy into revealing himself.
+At Compiegne, she was captured, but, as always, standing fast while her army ran away, only this time there was no rallying the troops, as they had gone into the city and the gate was closed on her and surrounded her
 Among the fixations of Joan's examiners at the Rouen Trial was a minor battle at a town called La Charité. Questions on it included,<blockquote>Did you never speak with the said Catherine<ref>As discussed earlier, the examiners were most keen to associate Joan with Catherine de la Rochelle and her visions of a "lady in white." (see Murray, p. 52)</ref> on the project of going to La Charité-sur-Loire?<ref>March 3 (Murray, p. 53)</ref></blockquote><blockquote>What did you do in the trenches of La Charité?<ref>ibid</ref></blockquote><blockquote>Why did you not enter La Charité, if you had command from God to do so?<ref>March 3 (Murray, p. 54)</ref></blockquote><blockquote>Had you any revelation to attack La Charité?<ref>March 13 (Murray, p. 69)</ref></blockquote><blockquote>Did you do well or ill to advance on La Charité?<ref>March 27 (Murray, p. 352)</ref> </blockquote>