At the beginning of the Process, I was sent for to attend a meeting held at a certain house near the Castle, at which were present the Bishop of Beauvais, the Abbé of Fécamp, Maître Nicolas Loyseleur, and many others. The Bishop told me it was necessary that I should serve the King: that they meant to bring a fine case against this said Jeanne, and that I was to recommend another greffier to assist me. I therefore nominated Boisguillaume.
I met Lohier in the Church, on the day after the Bishop had asked him to give an opinion on the Process, and enquired what he thought of it. He replied, that the Process was of no value, and could not be maintained, because it was conducted in the Castle and not in a legal court; that it concerned many who were not summoned; that Jeanne had no Counsel: and for many other reasons. He added that, in his opinion, it was their intention to put her to death.
A certain Maître Nicolas de Houppeville was summoned to attend the Trial; and was in great danger, because he refused. Maître Jean Lemaitre, Sub-Inquisitor, delayed as long as possible his attendance at the Trial, and was much vexed at being compelled to attend.
One day, when Jeanne was being questioned, Jean de Châtillon spoke in her favour, saying that she was not compelled to reply to the question put to her, or to that effect. This much displeased the Bishop of Beauvais and his following, and there was a great tumult at his words. The Bishop ordered him to be quiet, and to let the Judges speak.
On another occasion, when some one was advising and directing Jeanne on the question of submission to the Church, the Bishop said, “Hold your tongue, in the devil’s name!” I do not remember the name of him who was thus spoken to.
One day, some one, whose name I do not remember, having spoken of Jeanne in a way which did not please the Earl of Stafford, the latter followed him, sword in hand, to some place of sanctuary; and, if they had not told Stafford that that place was sacred, he would have slain him.
Those who seemed to me most affected [against Jeanne] were Beaupère, Midi, and de Touraine.
One day, I went with the Bishop of Beauvais and the Earl of Warwick to the prison where Jeanne was, and we found her in irons. It was said that at night she was fastened with iron chains; but I did not see her so fastened. There was, in the prison, neither bed nor any kind of couch. There were four or five guards of the lowest kind.
[Manchon supplies a fuller account of the story given in 1450 as to the clerks having overheard Jeanne’s confession to Loyseleur:]
After I and Boisguillaume had been appointed notaries, the Earl of Warwick, the Bishop of Beauvais, and Maître Nicolas Loyseleur told us that Jeanne had spoken strange things in regard to her visions, and in order the better to know the truth about them, it was agreed that Maître Nicolas Loyseleur should pretend to be from the Marches of Lorraine—Jeanne’s own country—and in the following of the King of France; that he should enter her prison in a layman’s habit, and that the guards should retire and leave him alone with her: there was, in a room adjoining the prison, a hole, specially made for the purpose, in order that I and my companion might be there, and hear what was said by Jeanne. Thither we went, unseen by her. Then Loyseleur, pretending to have news, began to question Jeanne of the King’s estate and of her revelations. Jeanne replied, believing him to be in fact of her own country and party: and the Bishop and the Earl desired us to put in writing what we had heard. I replied, that this ought not to be, that it was not honest to carry on the Trial by such means, but that, if she spoke thus in open Court, we would willingly register the words. And, ever afterwards, Jeanne had great confidence in this Loyseleur, who often heard her in confession, and would generally have private speech with her before she was taken before the Judges.