In 1450 King Charles VII. empowered Guillaume Bouillé, Rector of the University of Paris, to inquire into the circumstances of Jeanne’s trial, condemnation, and death, and to report the result of his investigation.
Great lawyers gave their opinions, and declared the trial void, as having been bad in substance as well as in form. But no regular judgment was pronounced.
Again in 1452 Pope Nicholas V., on appeal by Jeanne’s mother, Isabel d’Arc, ordered inquiry, which duly took place, but without formal issue.
It is fortunate for truth and human interest that these inquiries were abortive. Had they on general grounds annulled the proceedings under Cauchon, how much would have been lost to us!
We should never have had that delightful picture of Domremy given by the simple people of the place. Nor should we have, as we have now, a sworn narrative of Jeanne’s private and public life laying bare her very soul.
When Pope Calixtus ordered a full inquiry, he seemed to think, as Newman thought when writing the “Apologia,” that the less argument and the more narrative and evidence that could be given the better; and so, instead of discussing the nature of angels, the limits of Catholic obedience, the Great Schism,[[4]] and the assurances of salvation of the just, he and his deputies put aside such questions with patient contempt until they first made sure of the human side of the story. How Jeanne impressed her neighbours, her priest, and her kin; what kind of girl she was; what were her employments; was she restive and ambitious or quiet and satisfied; was her life pure; was she given to foolish imaginings, or was she a sane, modest, unpretending country maiden? Into all these things Cauchon had made inquiries, but as the answers were all favourable to the accused he suppressed the evidence.
The decree of Pope Calixtus has added a true romance to human story. In all that we know of the world’s great ones we can find no parallel for the Maid of Domremy. Perhaps only in Catholic France was such a heroine possible. Certainly Teutonic Protestantism has as yet given to the world none of the exalted types of radiant and holy women such as those that illuminate Latin Christianity. Whether as a saint or a nation-maker, Jeanne’s place in world-history is assured.
CONTENTS
| PART I—THE TRIAL | |
| I | |
| FIRST PROCESS: THE LAPSE | |
| PAGE | |
|---|---|
| TRIAL EX OFFICIO | [3] |
| Six Public Examinations | [3] |
| Nine Private Examinations | [55] |
| THE TRIAL IN ORDINARY | [98] |
| Exhortations and Admonitions | [106] |
| FINAL SESSION AND SENTENCE. RECANTATION | [121] |
| THE SENTENCE | [129] |
| II | |
| SECOND PROCESS: THE RELAPSE | |
| SENTENCE OF DEATH | [142] |
| SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATIONS AND PROCEEDINGS AFTER THE RELAPSE | [147] |
| Examination of Witnesses | [147] |
| PART II—THE REHABILITATION | |
| THE FIRST ENQUIRY: 1449 | [157] |
| Examination of Witnesses | [157] |
| THE SECOND ENQUIRY: 1452; AND THIRD ENQUIRY: 1455–6 | [178] |
| Examination of Witnesses | [178] |
| DEPOSITIONS AT DOMREMY: 1455 | [213] |
| Examination of Witnesses | [213] |
| DEPOSITIONS AT ORLEANS: 1455 | [232] |
| DEPOSITIONS IN PARIS: 1455–6 | [252] |
| Examination of Witnesses | [252] |
| DEPOSITIONS AT ROUEN: 1455–6 | [298] |
| SENTENCE OF REHABILITATION | [321] |
| APPENDIX | [331] |
| Note on Original Documents of the Process of Condemnation | [331] |
| Note on the Documents connected with the Trial of Rehabilitation | [332] |
| Introductory Note to the Trial | [332] |
| Act of Accusation prepared by the Promoter: The Seventy Articles | [341] |
| The Twelve Articles of Accusation | [366] |
| Introductory Note to the Rehabilitation | [371] |
| Chronological Table of Principal Events in the Life of Jeanne d’Arc | [377] |
| INDEX | [385] |