СНАР. Joan is soner. to search after her. Charles, mortified by the obstinacy of the Parisians, retired to Bourges, where he passed the winter." 40 While the severity of the weather suspended made pri- the operations of war, both parties endeavoured to strengthen themselves by means of negociation. It was more than suspected that the duke of Burgundy began to repent of his alliance with England: and his fidelity was tempted by an honourable embassy from Charles, who offered him every reasonable satisfaction for the murder of his father. By the majority of his council the proposal was cheerfully received: but the influence of his sister, the dutchess of Bedford, fixed the wavering sentiments of her brother; and the duke, in consideration of the payment of twenty-five thousand nobles, engaged to assume the command of the united army at the commencement of spring." He undertook to reduce the city of Compeigne: and the maid was selected to raise the siege. her march she met an inferior force of Burgundians, defeated it after an obstinate resistance, and ordered its commander, Franquet, to be beheaded on the spot. On the very evening of her arrival, she surprised the post of Marigini : but reinforcements poured in from every quarter; and in a short time the assailants turned their backs. The heroine immediately took the com 1430. On 40 Monstrel, ii, 52. 41 Rym. x. 455. II. mand of the rear guard, and repeatedly facing CHAP about, repulsed the pursuers. At last, however, her men were broken: an archer pulled her from her horse; and as she lay on the ground, she surrendered to the bastard of Vendôme. The shouts of the allied army announced to the besieged the fate of their heroine, who was conducted to the quarters of John of Luxemburgh, and after some months was sold by him to the regent. Though the garrison was grieved, it was not dismayed by this accident; and the place defied the power of the enemy, till the siege was raised by the approach of the French army under marshal de Boussac.42 She The unfortunate maid was treated with neglect by her friends, with cruelty by her enemies. If ever prince had been indebted to a subject, Charles VII. was indebted to Joan d'Arc. had dispelled the terror with which success had invested the English arms, had re-animated the courage of the French soldiery, and had firmly established the king on the throne of his ancestors. Yet, from the moment of her captivity she appears to have been forgotten. No sum was offered for her ransom; no attempt was made to alleviate the rigour of her confinement; no notice was taken of her trial and execution. Her enthusiasm had produced the promised ef 42 Monstrelet, 59-67. He was present at the time, and saw maid" in the tent of John of Luxemburgh. "the CHAP. fect and when it was no longer wanted, the II Her trial. jealousy of the French commanders was not displeased at the removal of a female and plebeian rival. By the humanity of later ages, the life of the prisoner of war is considered as sacred: a few centuries ago he remained at the mercy of the captor, who might retain him in custody, liberate him for money, or put him to death.43 Avarice, however, generally prevailed over cruelty or resentment: and the wealth to be obtained by the ransom of prisoners was one of the most powerful inducements to military service. Yet, even the present war had furnished several instances, in which captives, distinguished for their ferocity or obstinacy, had suffered death; and the maid herself, but a few days before her capture, had ordered the execution of Franquet, the celebrated Burgundian leader. Had therefore her enemies dealt with her] in the same manner, though her partisans might have lamented her fate, they could not have charged them with injustice: but the 44 43 Of this a memorable instance occurs in Fenn's collection of original letters, among which is one from Wennyngton the English admiral, stating his determination to kill or drown the crews of one hundred merchantmen, which he had taken, unless the council should think it better to preserve their lives. Vol. i. p. 213. This is the observation made in a letter written in the name of Henry to the duke of Burgundy. Ainsi que faire nous estoit raisonablement licite, attendu les grans dommages et inconveniens, les horribles homicides, et detestables cruautez, et autres maux innumerables, 45 II. bishop of Beauvais, in whose diocese she had CHAP. been taken, claimed the right of trying her at his tribunal on an accusation of sorcery and imposture. It is generally supposed that this claim was made at the suggestion of the duke of Bedford, who trusted that the general belief of her supernatural mission would yield to the condemnation of an ecclesiastical tribunal. That he considered her an agent of the devil, is evident from one of his own letters;46 and the history of her trial shews, that the same opinion had been imbibed by the credulity of her judges.. The inquiry was opened at Rouen: on sixteen different days she was brought to the bar: the Feb. 13. questions, with her answers, were laid before the university of Paris; and the opinion of that body occurred with the judgment of the court. Still the sentence was delayed from day to day: and repeated attempts were made to save her from the punishment of death, by inducing her Judgment. to make a frank and explicit confession. But the spirit of the heroine continued undaunted: she proudly maintained that she had been the inspired minister of the Almighty; and repeated 1431. qu'elle avoit commis à l'encontre de nostre seigneurie, et loyal peuple obeissant. Apud Monstrel. ii. 72. 45 This Bishop was so devoted to the English interest, that in the preceding year he had been recommended by the council to the pope to be translated to the archbishopric of Rouen. Rym. x. 438. 46❝ A disciple and lyme of the fiende, that used false enchantments and sorcerie." Rym. x. 408. II. CHAP. her conviction, that she was often favoured with visits from the archangel Michael, and the saints Margaret and Catharine. The fatal day, however, arrived; the captive was placed at the bar: but, when the judge had prepared to pronounce sentence, she yielded to a sudden impulse of terror, acknowledged with tears her delusion, and, having promised upon oath never more to wear male attire, was remanded to her former place of confinement. Her enthusiasm, however, revived in the solitude of a prison: her cell was again peopled with celestial visitants, and new scenes of military glory opened to her imagination. An impartial observer would have pitied and respected the mental delusion with which she was afflicted; the credulity of her judges condemned her, on the charge of having relapsed into her former errors. She was led to the stake; nor did the expectation of a heavenly deliverer forsake her, till she saw the fire kindled at her feet. She then burst into loud exclamations: and just before the flames enveloped her, was seen embracing a crucifix, and calling on Christ for May 30. mercy. This tragedy was acted in the marketplace of Rouen, before an immense concourse of spectators, about twelve months after her capture. And execution. 47 47Meyer, 316, 317. Twenty-five years later her sentence was reversed by the archbishop of Rheims and the bishop of Paris (7th |