| [The Duke of Bedford] From the Bedford Missal. | Frontispiece |
| To face page | |
| [Philip, Duke of Burgundy] | [140] |
| [Henry VI] From a portrait in the "Election Chamber" at Eton, reproduced by permission of the Provost. | [194] |
| [The Bastard of Orléans] From an old engraving. | [388] |
JOAN OF ARC
CHAPTER I
THE ROYAL ARMY FROM SOISSONS TO COMPIÈGNE—POEM AND PROPHECY
N the 22nd of July, King Charles, marching with his army down the valley of the Aisne, in a place called Vailly, received the keys of the town of Soissons.[1]
This town constituted a part of the Duchy of Valois, held jointly by the Houses of Orléans and of Bar.[2] Of its dukes, one was a prisoner in the hands of the English; the other was connected with the French party through his brother-in-law, King Charles, and with the Burgundian party through his father-in-law, the Duke of Lorraine. No wonder the fealty of the townsfolk was somewhat vacillating; downtrodden by men-at-arms, forever taken and retaken, red caps and white caps alternately ran the danger of being cast into the river. The Burgundians set fire to the houses, pillaged the churches, chastised the most notable burgesses; then came the Armagnacs, who sacked everything, made great slaughter of men, women, and children, ravished nuns, worthy wives, and honest maids. The Saracens could not have done worse.[3] City dames had been seen making sacks in which Burgundians were to be sewn up and thrown into the Aisne.[4]