The Life of Joan of Arc Part 59

[Footnote 1387: Simeon Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, p. ccxxii, according to Labbe and Cossart, _Sacro-Sancta-Consilia_, vol. xii, col. 390.]

[Footnote 1388: S. Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, p. ccxx and proofs and ill.u.s.trations, ccix, pp. 238-239. Robillard de Beaurepaire, _Les etats de Normandie sous la domination anglaise_, evreux, 1859, in 8vo.]

Messire Jean Laiguise attended this Convocation. The Synod was held at Paris, in the Priory of Saint-Eloi, under the presidency of the Archbishop, from the 1st of March till the 23rd of April, 1429.[1389]

The a.s.sembled bishops represented to my Lord the Regent the sorry plight of the ecclesiastical lords: the peasants, pillaged by soldiers, no longer paid their dues; the lands of the Church were lying waste; divine service had ceased to be held because there was no money with which to support public wors.h.i.+p. Unanimously they refused to pay the Pope and the Regent the double t.i.the; and they threatened to appeal from the Pope to the Council. As for despoiling the clergy of all the contributions they had received during the last forty years, that, they declared, would be impious; and with great charity they reminded my Lord of Bedford of the fate reserved by G.o.d's judgment for the impious even in this world. "The Prince," they said, "should beware of the miseries and sorrows already fallen upon a mult.i.tude of princes, who with such demands had oppressed the Church which G.o.d redeemed with his own precious blood: some had perished by the sword, some had been driven into exile, others had been despoiled of their ill.u.s.trious sovereignties. Wherefore such as set themselves to enslave the Church, the Bride of G.o.d, may not hope to deserve the grace of his divine Majesty."[1390]

[Footnote 1389: Labbe and Cossart, _Sacro-Sancta-Consilia_, vol. xii, col. 392.]

[Footnote 1390: Labbe and Cossart, _Sacro-Sancta-Consilia_, vol. xii, col. 390, 399.]

Jean Laiguise's sentiments towards the English Regent were those of the Synod. It would be wrong, however, to conclude that the Bishop of Troyes desired the death of the sinner, or even that he was hostile to the English.[1391] The Church is usually capable of temporising with the powers of this world. Wide is her mercy, and great her longsuffering. She threatens oft before striking and receives the repentance of the sinner at the first sign of contrition. But we may believe that if Charles of Valois were to win the power and show the will to protect the Church of France, the Lord Bishop and the Chapter of Troyes would fear lest if they resisted him they might be resisting G.o.d himself, since all power comes from G.o.d who _deposuit potentes_.

[Footnote 1391: De Pange, _Le pays de Jeanne d'Arc, le fief et l'arriere-fief_, p. 33.]

King Charles had not ventured to enter Champagne without taking measures for his safety; he knew on what he could rely in the town of Troyes. He had received information and promises; he maintained secret relations with several burgesses of the city, and those none of the least.[1392] During the first fortnight of May, a royal notary, ten clerks and leading merchants, on their way to the king, were arrested just outside the walls, on the Paris road, by the Sire de Chateauvillain,[1393] a captain in the English service. This mission was probably fulfilled by others more fortunate. It is easy to divine what questions were discussed at these audiences. The merchants would ask whether Charles, if he became their Lord, would guarantee absolute freedom to their trade; the clerks would ask his promise to respect the goods of the Church. And the King doubtless was not sparing of his pledges.

[Footnote 1392: J. Rogier in _Trial_, vol. iv, p. 285.]

[Footnote 1393: Th. Boutiot in _Histoire de la ville de Troyes_, vol.

ii, pp. 316 _et seq._]

The Maid, with one division of the army, halted before the stronghold of Saint-Phal, belonging to Philibert de Vaudrey, commander of the town of Tonnerre, in the service of the Duke of Burgundy.[1394] In that place of Saint-Phal, Jeanne beheld approaching her a Franciscan friar, who was crossing himself and sprinkling holy water, for he feared lest she were the devil, and dared not draw near without having first exorcised the evil spirit. It was Friar Richard who was coming from Troyes.[1395] It will be interesting to see who this monk was as far as we can tell.

[Footnote 1394: J. Rogier, in _Trial_, vol. iv, p. 288. Th. Boutiot, _Histoire de la ville de Troyes_, vol. ii, p. 490. A. a.s.sier, _Une cite champenoise au xv'e siecle_, Troyes, 1875, in 12mo.]

[Footnote 1395: _Trial_, vol. i, pp. 99, 100. _Relation du Greffier de La Roch.e.l.le_, p. 338. _Journal du siege_, pp. 109-110. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 315.]

The place of his birth is unknown.[1396] A disciple of Brother Vincent Ferrier and of Brother Bernardino of Sienna, like them, he taught the imminent coming of Antichrist and the salvation of the faithful by the adoration of the holy name of Jesus.[1397] After having been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he returned to France, and preached at Troyes, during the Advent of 1428. Advent, sometimes called Saint Martin's Lent, begins on the Sunday which falls between the 27th of November and the 3rd of December. It lasts four weeks, which Christians spend in making themselves ready to celebrate the mystery of the Nativity.

[Footnote 1396: Ed. Richer says his name was Roch Richard and that he was licentiate in theology. _Histoire ma.n.u.scrite de la Pucelle_ (Bibl.

Nat. fr. 10448), book 1, folios 50 _et seq._ Simeon Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_ (chap. x, Jeanne d'Arc et frere Richard).]

[Footnote 1397: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 235. Th. Basin, _Histoire de Charles VII et de Louis XI_, vol. i, p. 104. Vallet de Viriville, _Proces de cond.a.m.nation de Jeanne d'Arc_, 1867.

Introduction, _Notes sur deux medailles de plomb relatives a Jeanne d'Arc_, Paris, 1861, p. 22. S. Luce, _Jeanne d'Arc a Domremy_, p.

ccx.x.xix.]

"Sow, sow your seed, my good folk," he said. "Sow beans ready for the harvest, for He who is to come will come quickly."[1398]

[Footnote 1398: _Journal du siege_, p. 110. _Chronique de la Pucelle_, p. 315.]

By beans he meant the good works to be performed before Our Lord should come in the clouds to judge the quick and the dead. Now it was important to sow those good works quickly, for the harvest-tide was drawing nigh. The coming of Antichrist was but shortly to precede the end of the world and the consummation of the ages. In the month of April, 1429, Friar Richard went to Paris; the Synod of the Province of Sens was then holding its final session. It is possible that the good Friar was summoned to the great city by the Bishop of Troyes who was present at the Synod; but at any rate it would appear that it was not the rights of the Gallican Church the wandering monk went there to defend.[1399]

[Footnote 1399: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 233. Labbe, Boutiot.]

On the 16th of April, he preached his first sermon at Sainte-Genevieve; on the next and the following days, until Sunday, the 24th, he preached every morning, from five until ten or eleven o'clock, in the open air, on a platform, erected against the charnel-house of the Innocents, on the spot whereon was celebrated the dance of death. Around the platform, about nine feet high, there crowded five or six thousand persons, to whom he announced the speedy coming of Antichrist and the end of the world.[1400] "In Syria," he said, "I met bands of Jews; I asked them whither they were going, and they replied: 'We are wending in a mult.i.tude towards Babylon, for of a truth the Messiah is born among men, and he will restore unto us our inheritance, and he will bring us again to the land of promise.' Thus spake those Syrian Jews. Now Scripture teaches us that He, whom they call the Messiah, is in truth that Antichrist, of whom it is said he shall be born in Babylon, capital of the kingdom of Persia, he shall be brought up at Bethsaida and in his youth he shall dwell at Chorazin. Wherefore our Lord said: 'Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida.' The year 1430," added Friar Richard, "shall witness greater marvels than have ever been seen before.[1401] The time draweth nigh. He is born, the man of sin, the child of perdition, the wicked one, the beast vomited forth from the abyss, the abomination of desolation; he came out of the tribe of Dan, of whom it is written: 'Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path.' Soon shall return to the earth the prophets Elijah and Enoch, Moses, Jeremiah and Saint John the Evangelist; and soon shall dawn that day of wrath which shall grind the age in a mill and beat it in a mortar, according to the testimony of David and the Sibyl."[1402] Then the good Brother concluded by calling upon them to repent, to do penance and to renounce empty riches. In short, in the opinion of the clerks, he was a man of wors.h.i.+p and an orator. His sermons produced more devoutness among the people, it was thought, than those of all the sermonizers who for the last century had been preaching in the town. And it was time that he came, for in those days the folk of Paris were greatly addicted to games of chance; yea, even priests unblus.h.i.+ngly indulged in them, and seven years before, a canon of Saint-Merry, a great lover of dice was known to have gamed in his own house.[1403] Despite war and famine, the women of Paris loaded themselves with ornaments. They troubled more about their beauty than about the salvation of their souls.

[Footnote 1400: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 234.]

[Footnote 1401: _Ibid._, p. 235.]

[Footnote 1402: Th. Basin, _Histoire des regnes de Charles VII et de Louis XI_, vol. iv, pp. 103, 104.]

[Footnote 1403: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 236.]

Friar Richard thundered most loudly against the draught boards of the men and the ornaments of the women. One day notably, when he was preaching at Boulogne-la-Pet.i.te, he cried down dice and _hennins_,[1404] and spoke with such power that the hearts of those who listened were changed. On returning to their homes, the citizens threw into the streets gaming-tables, draught-boards, cards, billiard cues and b.a.l.l.s, dice and dice-boxes, and made great fires before their doors. More than one hundred of these fires continued burning in the streets for three or four hours. Women followed the good example set by the men that day, and the next they burnt in public their head-dresses, pads, ornaments, and the pieces of leather or whalebone on which they mounted the fronts of their hoods. Young misses threw off their horns[1405] and their tails,[1406] ashamed to clothe themselves in the devil's garb.[1407]

[Footnote 1404: A very high head-dress, fas.h.i.+onable in the fifteenth century (W.S.).]

[Footnote 1405: _Cornes_, the high-horned head-dress (W.S.).]

[Footnote 1406: _Queues_, trains (W.S.).]

[Footnote 1407: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, pp. 234, 235.]

The good Brother likewise caused to be burnt the mandrake roots which many folk kept in their houses.[1408] Those roots are sometimes in the form of an ugly little man, of a curious and devilish aspect. On that account possibly, singular virtues are attributed to them. These mannikins were dressed in fine linen and silk and were kept in the belief that they would bring good luck and procure wealth. Witches made much of them; and those who believed that the Maid was a witch accused her of carrying a mandrake on her person. Friar Richard hated these magic roots all the more strongly because he believed in their power of attracting wealth, the root of all evil. Once again his word was obeyed; and many a Parisian threw away his mandrake in horror, albeit he had bought it dear from some old wife who knew more than was good for her.[1409] Friar Richard caused the Parisians to replace these evil treasures by objects of greater edification,--pewter medals, on which was stamped the name of Jesus, to the wors.h.i.+p of whom he was especially devoted.[1410]

[Footnote 1408: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 236.]

[Footnote 1409: _Trial_, vol. i, pp. 89, 213. _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 236.]

[Footnote 1410: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, pp. 242, 243.

Vallet de Viriville, _Notes sur deux medailles de plomb relatives a Jeanne d'Arc_, in _Revue archeologique_, 1861, pp. 429, 433.]

Having preached ten times in the town and once in the village of Boulogne, the good Brother announced his return to Burgundy and took his leave of the Parisians.

"I will pray for you," he said; "pray for me. Amen."

Whereupon all the folk, high and lowly, wept bitterly and copiously, as if each one were bearing to the grave his dearest friend. He wept with them and consented to delay his departure for a little.[1411]

[Footnote 1411: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 236.]

On Sunday, the 1st of May, he was to preach to the devout Parisians for the last time. Montmartre, the very spot where Saint Denis had suffered martyrdom, was the place chosen for the meeting of the faithful. In those unhappy days the hill was well-nigh uninhabited.

But on the evening before that day more than six thousand people flocked to the mount to be certain of having good places; and there they pa.s.sed the night, some in deserted hovels, but the majority in the open, under the stars. When the morning came no Friar Richard appeared, and in vain they waited for him. Disappointed and sad, at length they learnt that the Friar had been forbidden to preach.[1412]

He had said nothing in his sermons to offend the English. The Parisians who had heard him believed him to be a good friend to the Regent and to the Duke of Burgundy. Perhaps he had taken flight owing to a report that the theologians of the University intended to proceed against him. His views concerning the end of the world were indeed both singular and dangerous.[1413]

[Footnote 1412: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 237.]

[Footnote 1413: It is yet to be explained how the author of the diary called _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_ avoided being scandalised by them, orthodox university professor as he was; on the contrary he seems to have found the views of the good father edifying. Th. Basin, _Histoire des regnes de Charles VII et de Louis XI_, vol. iv, p. 104.]

Friar Richard had gone off to Auxerre. Thence he went preaching through Burgundy and Champagne. If he was on the King's side he did not let it appear. For in the month of June the folk of Champagne, and the inhabitants of Chalons especially, deemed him a worthy man and attached to the Duke of Burgundy.[1414] And we have seen that on the 4th of July he suspected the Maid of being either the devil or possessed by a devil.[1415]

[Footnote 1414: J. Rogier, in _Trial_, vol. iv, p. 290.]

[Footnote 1415: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 100, see _ante_, p. 412.]

She understood. When she saw the good Brother crossing himself and sprinkling holy water she knew that he took her for something evil,--for a phantom fas.h.i.+oned by the spirit of wickedness, or at least for a witch.[1416] However, she was by no means offended as she had been by the suspicions of Messire Jean Fournier. The priest, to whom she had confessed, could not be forgiven for having doubted whether she were a good Christian.[1417] But Friar Richard did not know her, had never seen her. Besides, she was growing accustomed to such treatment. The Constable, Brother Yves Milbeau, and many others who came to her asked whether she were from G.o.d or the devil.[1418] It was without a trace of anger, although in a slightly ironical tone, that she said to the preacher: "Approach boldly, I shall not fly away."[1419]

[Footnote 1416: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 100.]