Brother Jean Pasquerel.[[191]]
The first time I heard of Jeanne, and that she had come to find the King, I was at Anche,[[192]] in which town was her mother[[193]] and some of those who had accompanied her thither. One day, they invited me to go with them and see her, and told me they would not leave me till I had seen her. I came then with them to Chinon; then to Tours, in which town I was at that time Reader in a Convent; and there we found her lodging in the house of a citizen named Jean Dupuy,[[194]] a burgher of Tours. My companions addressed Jeanne in these terms: “Jeanne, we bring you this good father; when you know him you will love him much.” “I am very glad to see you,” she said to me; “I have already heard of you; I should like to-morrow to confess myself to you.”
The next day, indeed, I heard her in confession, and recited Mass before her. From that day onward, I always followed her and was always with her as her Chaplain, until Compiègne, where she was taken prisoner.
On her arrival at Chinon, I heard that she had been visited on two occasions by women. The Lady de Gaucourt and the Lady de Trèves, it is said, were those who visited her.
Afterwards, she was taken to Poitiers, to be examined there by the Clergy of that University as to what should be done with regard to her. Maître Jourdin Morin, Maître Pierre de Versailles, since deceased as Bishop of Meaux, and many others, after having questioned her, came to the conclusion that, in view of the necessity which weighed upon the Kingdom, the King might make use of her aid, and that they had found nothing in her contrary to the Catholic Faith. She then returned to Chinon, and thought she would be allowed to speak with the King; but it was not yet to be. At last, by the advice of the Council, she was permitted an interview with the King. The day on which this interview was to take place, just as she entered the Castle, a man, mounted on horseback, said, “Is that the Maid?” He insulted her, and swore with horrid blasphemy. “Oh! in God’s Name,” she said to him, “dost thou blaspheme God, thou who art so near thy death!” And, an hour after, this man fell into the water and was drowned. I report this fact as I gathered it from Jeanne and from many others, who said they had been witnesses of it.
CHARLES VII.
(Gallery of the Louvre.)
It was the Sieur Count de Vendôme who brought her into the King’s apartment. When he perceived her, the King asked her her name. “Gentle Dauphin,” she replied, “I am called Jeanne the Maid; and the King of Heaven sends you word by me that you will be consecrated and crowned at Rheims, and that you will be the lieutenant of the King of Heaven, who is King of France.” After the King had asked her a number of questions, she said to him, “On the part of My Lord, I tell thee thou art true heir of France and son of the King[[195]]; and He sends me to lead thee to Rheims to the end thou mayst receive thy crowning and thy consecration, if thou wilt.” At the close of this interview, the King said that Jeanne had confided to him secrets which were not known and could not be known except by God, which gave him great confidence in her. All this I heard from Jeanne, but without having been witness of it.
She told me she was not pleased at so many examinations; that they prevented her carrying out the work for which she was sent, and that it was quite time for her to act. She told me she had asked from the Messengers of her Lord—that is to say, God—who appeared to her, what she ought to do; and they had told her to take the banner of her Lord. It was for this she had her banner made, on which was painted the image of Our Saviour seated in judgment on the clouds of Heaven, with an Angel holding in his hand a fleur-de-lys which Christ was blessing. I was at Tours with her when this banner was painted.[[196]]
A short time after Jeanne departed with the army to the succour of the town of Orleans, which was then besieged; I went with her, and did not leave her until the day when she was taken at Compiègne. I acted as her Chaplain, confessed her, and sang Mass for her. She was, indeed, very pious towards God and the Blessed Mary, confessing nearly every day and communicating frequently. When she was in a neighbourhood where there was a Convent of Mendicant Friars, she told me to remind her of the day when the children of the poor received the Eucharist, so that she might receive it with them; and this she did often: when she confessed herself she wept.