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. 1

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. She 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 effect and when it was no longer wanted, the 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 pri- Her trial. soner 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. Avarice, however, generally prevailed

Monstrelet, 59-67. He was present at the time, and saw « the maid in the tent of John of Luxemburgh.

2 Of this a memorable instance occurs in Fenn's collection of ori

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 bishop of Beauvais, in whose diocese she had 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 3; and

ginal 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. 213. p.

This is the observation made in a letter written in the name of Henry to the duke of Bnrgundy. Ainsi que faire nous estoit raisonablement licite, attendu les grans dommages et inconveniens, les horribles homicides, et detestables cruautez, et autres maux innumerables, qu'elle avoit commis à l'encontre de nostre seigneurie, et loyal peuple obeissant. Apud Monstrel. ii. 72.

2

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.

3 « A disciple and lyme of the fiende, that used false enchantments and sorcerie.» Rym. x. 408.

1431. Feb. 13.

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 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 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 And executhe expectation of a heavenly deliverer forsake her, till tion. 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

May 30.

Henry is

crowned in England.

1429. Nov. 6.

1430.

May.

And at
Paris.

1

on Christ for mercy. This tragedy was acted in the
market-place of Rouen, before an immense concourse
of spectators, about twelve months after her capture.
According to the general persuasion of the age, the
of coronation was believed to consecrate the
ceremony
person, and confirm the right of the sovereign. No
sooner had Charles been crowned at Rheims, than the
Duke of Bedford determined that his nephew should be
also crowned at the same place. The young king, as a
preparatory step, received the regal unction at West-
minster in his eighth year; from which moment the
title of protector was suppressed, and that of prime
counsellor only retained. But the poverty of the
exchequer, joined to the untoward events of the war,
retarded his progress: and six months elapsed before he
was enabled to leave England. At length the sums
necessary for his journey were raised by loan : the car-
dinal of Winchester consented to accompany him : and
the duke of Glocester was appointed guardian of the
realm during his absence. He proceeded to Rouen : but
the prospect of penetrating to Rheims grew fainter
every day; and at the end of eighteen months it was
determined that the coronation should take place in
Paris. In November, 1431, attended by the chief of the
English nobility, and three thousand horse, he left
Pontoise, and was met on the road by the clergy, the
parliament, the magistrates, and the citizens of the
capital. Triumphal arches had been erected: mysteries

I

Meyer, 316, 317. Twenty-five years later her sentence was reversed by the archbishop of Rheims and the bishop of Paris (7th July, 1456), whom pope Calixtus had appointed to revise it, at the solicitation of her mother Isabella. Raynald, vi. 77.

2 Rot. Parl. iv. 337.

1431. Dec. 17.

were performed; and devices were exhibited to honour and entertain the young king. But under these public demonstrations of joy, the Parisians could with difficulty conceal their forebodings of subsequent calamities. The coronation of Henry bore but little resemblance to the coronation of their native monarchs. The ceremony was performed by an English prelate, the cardinal of Winchester: the high offices of state were filled by foreigners, or by natives of inferior rank; and no prince of the blood royal of France, not one of the lay peers, not even the duke of Burgundy attended to Dec. 25. grace the court of the new king. After a few days Henry was re-conducted to Rouen

but a nocturnal, and

surprise the castle',

almost successful, attempt to
induced him to retire from that city, and to hasten his
return to his own country.

1432.

Feb. 3.

Quarrel be

tween the

Bedford

The war languished during the two following years. Its duration had impoverished and exhausted both Duke of parties: but, if they were unable through weakness to and Buract with vigour, they were equally unwilling through gundy. pride to put an end to the contest. In 1432 happened an event which inclined the balance in favour of Charles. The dutchess of Bedford, whose influence with her husband and brother had kept together the discordant materials of which the confederacy was composed, died in November: and the precipitate union of the regent with Jacquetta of Luxemburgh, a vassal of the Burgundian, hastened its dissolution. Philip's disapprobation was received by the duke with

'Monstrel. ii. 78, 79. The English government acted on this occasion with great severity. 120 Frenchmen had been admitted into the castle in the night by a Bearnois. Not only he, but 150 of the citizens of Rouen were executed as traitors. Monstrel. ii, 8o.'

1433. May 16.