The Life of Joan of Arc Part 120

[Footnote 2609: _Ibid._, p. 280.]

[Footnote 2610: _Ibid._, pp. 279, 280. G. Lefevre-Pontalis, _La fausse Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 6, note 1.]

The youngest, Pierre, or Pierrelot, who had fallen into the hands of the Burgundians before Compiegne at the same time as Jeanne, had just been liberated from the prison of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d of Vergy.[2611]

[Footnote 2611: _Trial_, vol. v, p. 210. Lefevre de Saint-Remy, vol.

ii, p. 176.]

Both brothers believed that their sister had been burned at Rouen. But when they were told that she was living and wished to see them, they appointed a meeting at La-Grange-aux-Ormes, a village in the meadows of the Sablon, between the Seille and the Moselle, about two and a half miles south of Metz. They reached this place on the 20th of May.

There they saw her and recognised her immediately to be their sister; and she recognised them to be her brothers.[2612]

[Footnote 2612: _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 321, 324.]

She was accompanied by certain lords of Metz, among whom was a man right n.o.ble, Messire Nicole Lowe, who was chamberlain to Charles VII.[2613] By divers tokens these n.o.bles recognised her to be the Maid Jeanne who had taken King Charles to be crowned at Reims. These tokens were certain signs on the skin.[2614] Now there was a prophecy concerning Jeanne which stated her to have a little red mark beneath the ear.[2615] But this prophecy was invented after the events to which it referred. Consequently we may believe the Maid to have been thus marked. Was this the token by which the n.o.bles of Metz recognised her?

[Footnote 2613: _Le Metz ancien_ (Metz, 1856, 2 vol. in folio) by the Baron d'Hannoncelles, which contains the genealogy of Nicole Lowe.]

[Footnote 2614: "And was recognised by divers tokens" (_enseignes_) (_Trial_, vol. v, p. 322). M. Lecoy de la Marche (_Une fausse Jeanne d'Arc_, in _Revue des questions historiques_, October, 1871, p. 565), and M. Gaston Save (_Jehanne des Armoises, Pucelle d'Orleans_, Nancy, 1893, p. 11) understand that she was recognised by several officers or ensigns (_enseignes_). I have interpreted _enseignes_ in the ordinary sense of marks on the skin, birth-marks. (Cf. La Curne.)]

[Footnote 2615: _Chronique du doyen de Saint-Thibaud_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 322.]

We do not know by what means she claimed to have escaped death; but there is reason to think[2616] that she attributed her deliverance to her holiness. Did she say that an angel had saved her from the fire?

It might be read in books how in the ancient amphitheatres lions licked the bare feet of virgins, how boiling oil was as soothing as balm to the bodies of holy martyrs; and how according to many of the old stories nothing short of the sword could take the life of G.o.d's maidens. These ancient histories rested on a sure foundation. But if such tales had been related of the fifteenth century they might have appeared less credible. And this damsel does not seem to have employed them to adorn her adventure. She was probably content to say that another woman had been burned in her place.

[Footnote 2616: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 354.]

According to a confession she made afterwards, she came from Rome, where, accoutred in harness of war, she had fought valiantly in the service of Pope Eugenius. She may even have told the Lorrainers of the feats of prowess she had there accomplished.

Now Jeanne had prophesied (at least so it was believed) that she would die in battle against the infidel and that her mantle would fall upon a maid of Rome. But such a saying, if it were known to these n.o.bles of Metz, would be more likely to denounce this so-called Jeanne as an imposture than witness to the truth of her mission.[2617] However this might be, they believed what this woman told them.

[Footnote 2617: Nevertheless see on this subject M. Germain Lefevre-Pontalis, who is our authority for this prophecy (Eberhard Windecke, pp. 108-111).]

Perhaps, like many a n.o.ble of the republic,[2618] they were more inclined to King Charles than to the Duke of Burgundy. And we may be sure that, chivalrous knights as they were, they esteemed chivalry wherever they found it; wherefore, because of her valour they admired the Maid; and they made her good cheer.

[Footnote 2618: The republic of Metz (W.S.)]

Messire Nicole Lowe gave her a charger and a pair of hose. The charger was worth thirty francs--a sum wellnigh royal--for of the two horses which at Soissons and at Senlis the King gave the Maid Jeanne, one was worth thirty-eight livres ten sous, and the other thirty-seven livres ten sous.[2619] Not more than sixteen francs had been paid for the horse with which she had been provided at Vaucouleurs.[2620]

[Footnote 2619: _Chronique du doyen de Saint-Thibaud_, in _Trial_, vol. v, p. 322. Chronique de Philippe de Vigneulles, in _Les chroniques Messines_ of Huguenin, p. 198.]

[Footnote 2620: _Trial_, vol. ii, p. 457. L. Champion, _Jeanne d'Arc ecuyere_, ch. ii, ch. vi.]

Nicole Grognot, governor of the town,[2621] offered a sword to the sister of the Du Lys brothers; Aubert Boullay presented her with a hood.[2622]

[Footnote 2621: Variant of _La chronique du doyen de Saint-Thibaud_ sent from Metz to Pierre du Puy, in _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 322, 324.]

[Footnote 2622: _Ibid._, pp. 322, 324.]

She rode her horse with the same skill which seven years earlier, if we may believe some rather mythical stories, had filled with wonder the old Duke of Lorraine.[2623] And she spoke certain words to Messire Nicole Lowe which confirmed him in his belief that she was indeed that same Maid Jeanne who had fared forth into France. She had the ready tongue of a prophetess, and spoke in symbols and parables, revealing nought of her intent.

[Footnote 2623: D. Calmet, _Histoire de Lorraine_, vol. vii. Proofs and ill.u.s.trations, col. vi.]

Her power would not come to her before Saint John the Baptist's Day, she said. Now this was the very time which the Maid, after the Battle of Patay, in 1429, had fixed for the extermination of the English in France.[2624]

[Footnote 2624: _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 322, 324. Eberhard Windecke, p.

108. Morosini, vol. iii, p. 62, note.]

This prophecy had not been fulfilled and consequently had not been mentioned again. Jeanne, if she ever uttered it, and it is quite possible that she did, must have been the first to forget it.

Moreover, Saint John's Day was a term commonly cited in leases, fairs, contracts, hirings, etc., and it is quite conceivable that the calendar of a prophetess may have been the same as that of a labourer.

The day after their arrival at La Grange-aux-Ormes, Monday, the 21st of May, the Du Lys brothers took her, whom they held to be their sister, to that town of Vaucouleurs[2625] whither Isabelle Romee's daughter had gone to see Sire Robert de Baudricourt. In this town, in the year 1436, there were still living many persons of different conditions, such as the Leroyer couple and the Seigneur Aubert d'Ourches,[2626] who had seen Jeanne in February, 1429.

[Footnote 2625: M. le Baron de Braux was kind enough to write to me from Boucq near Foug, Meurthe-et-Moselle, on the 28th of June, 1896, explaining that Bacquillon (_Trial_, vol. v, p. 322) is an erroneous reading of one of the ma.n.u.scripts of the Doyen of Saint-Thibaud. "By comparing," he added, "the various versions (V. Quicherat and _Les chroniques Messines_) we may ascertain that it is really Vaucouleurs, Valquelou," mistaken for Bacquillon.]

[Footnote 2626: _Trial_, vol. ii, pp. 406, 408, 445, 449.]

After a week at Vaucouleurs she went to Marville, a small town between Corny and Pont-a-Mousson. There she spent Whitsuntide and abode for three weeks in the house of one Jean Quenat.[2627] On her departure she was visited by sundry inhabitants of Metz, who gave her jewels, recognising her to be the Maid of France.[2628] Jeanne, it will be remembered, had been seen by divers knights of Metz at the time of King Charles's coronation at Reims. At Marville, Geoffroy Desch, following the example of Nicole Lowe, presented the so-called Jeanne with a horse. Geoffroy Desch belonged to one of the most influential families of the Republic of Metz. He was related to Jean Desch, munic.i.p.al secretary in 1429.[2629]

[Footnote 2627: The _Chronique de Tournai_ says of the true Jeanne that she came from Mareville, a small town between Metz and Pont-a-Mousson. "This Jeanne had long dwelt and served in a _metairie_ [a kind of farm] of this place."]

[Footnote 2628: _Chronique du doyen Saint-Thibaud_, in _Trial_, vol.

v, pp. 322, 324. Lecoy de la Marche, _Jeanne des Armoises_, p. 566. G.

Save, _Jehanne des Armoises, pucelle d'Orleans_, p. 14.]

[Footnote 2629: _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 352 _et seq._]

From Marville, she went on a pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Liance, called Lienche by the Picards and known later as Notre Dame de Liesse.

At Liance was wors.h.i.+pped a black image of the Virgin, which, according to tradition, had been brought by the crusaders from the Holy Land.

The chapel containing this image was situated between Laon and Reims.

It was said, by the priests who officiated there, to be one of the halting places on the route of the coronation procession, where the kings and their retinues were accustomed to stop on their return from Reims; but this is very likely not to be true. Whether it were such a halting place or no, there is no doubt that the folk of Metz displayed a particular devotion to Our Lady of Liance; and it seemed fitting that Jeanne, who had escaped from an English prison, should go and give thanks for her marvellous deliverance to the Black Virgin of Picardy.[2630]

[Footnote 2630: _Chronique du doyen de Saint-Thibaud_, in _Trial_, vol. v, pp. 322, 324. Dom Lelong, _Histoire du diocese de Laon_, 1783, p. 371. Abbe Ledouble, _Les origines de Liesse et du pelerinage de Notre-Dame_, Soissons, 1885, pp. 6 _et seq._]

Thence she went on her way to Arlon, to Elisabeth of Gorlitz, d.u.c.h.ess of Luxembourg, an aunt by marriage of the Duke of Burgundy.[2631] She was an old woman, who had been twice a widow. By extortion and oppression she had made herself detested by her va.s.sals. By this princess Jeanne was well received. There was nothing strange in that.

Persons living holy lives and working miracles were much sought after by princes and n.o.bles who desired to discover secrets or to obtain the fulfilment of some wish. And the d.u.c.h.ess of Luxembourg might well believe this damsel to be the Maid Jeanne herself, since the brothers Du Lys, the n.o.bles of Metz and the folk of Vaucouleurs were of that opinion.

[Footnote 2631: _Trial_, vol. v, p. 322, note 2. G. Lefevre-Pontalis, _La fausse Jeanne d'Arc_, p. 21, note 1.]

For the generality of men, Jeanne's life and death were surrounded by marvels and mysteries. Many had from the first doubted her having perished by the hand of the executioner. Certain were curiously reticent on this point; they said: "the English had her publicly burnt at Rouen, or some other woman like her."[2632] Others confessed that they did not know what had become of her.[2633]

[Footnote 2632: _Chronique normande_ (MS. in the British Museum), in _Trial_, vol. iv, p. 344. Symphorien Champier, _Nef des Dames_, Lyon, 1503, _ibid._]

[Footnote 2633: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 272. _Chronique normande_, in _Bibliotheque de l'ecole des Chartes_, second series, vol. iii, p. 116. D. Calmet, _Histoire de Lorraine_, p. vi, proofs and ill.u.s.trations. G. Save, _Jehanne des Armoises_, pp. 6, 7. It is well known that Gabriel Naude maintained the paradox that Jeanne was only burned in effigy. _Considerations politiques sur les coups d'etat_, Rome, 1639, in 4to. G. Lefevre-Pontalis, _La fausse Jeanne d'Arc_, p.

8.]

Thus, when throughout Germany and France the rumour spread that the Maid was alive and had been seen near Metz, the tidings were variously received. Some believed them, others did not. An ardent dispute, which arose between two citizens of Arles, gives some idea of the emotion aroused by such tidings. One maintained that the Maid was still alive; the other a.s.serted that she was dead; each one wagered that what he said was true. This was no light wager, for it was made and registered in the presence of a notary, on the 27th of June, 1436, only five weeks after the interview at La Grange-aux-Ormes.[2634]

[Footnote 2634: Lanery d'Arc, _Le culte de Jeanne d'Arc_, Orleans, 1887, in 8vo. _Revue du Midi._]