The Life of Joan of Arc Part 27

[Footnote 601: Jean Chartier, _Chronique_, vol. iii. Accounts, p. 316.

_Cabinet historique_, June, 1858, p. 176.]

[Footnote 602: _Cabinet historique_, September and October, 1858, p.

263.]

[Footnote 603: Vallet de Viriville, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. i, p. 374.]

[Footnote 604: De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, p.

632.]

[Footnote 605: Loiseleur, _Compte des depenses_, p. 57.]

[Footnote 606: De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, p.

634.]

[Footnote 607: Vuitry, _Les monnaies sous les trois premiers Valois_, Paris, 1881, in 8vo, pp. 29 _et seq._ Loiseleur, _Compte des depenses_, p. 47. Vallet de Viriville, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol.

i, p. 243. De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, pp. 620 _et seq._]

The only t.i.tle borne by La Tremouille was that of Conseiller-Chambellan, but he was also the Grand Usurer of the kingdom. His debtors were the King and a mult.i.tude of n.o.bles high and low.[608] He was therefore a powerful personage. In those difficult days he rendered the crown services self-interested, but none the less valuable. From January to August, 1428, he advanced sums amounting to about twenty-seven thousand livres for which he received lands and castles as security.[609] Fortunately the Royal Council included a number of Jurists and Churchmen who were good business men. One of them, an Angevin, Robert Le Macon, Lord of Treves, of plebeian birth, had entered the Council during the Regency. He was the first among those of lowly origin who served Charles VII so ably that he came to be called The Well Served (_Le Bien Servi_).[610] Another, the Sire de Gaucourt, had aided his King in war.[611]

[Footnote 608: Clairambault, _t.i.tres, Scelles_, vol. 205, pp. 8769, 8771, 8773, _pa.s.sim_. De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol.

ii, p. 293.]

[Footnote 609: Archives nationales, J. 183, no. 142. Duc de La Tremolle, _Les La Tremolle pendant cinq siecles_, vol. i, p. 177. De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, p. 198.]

[Footnote 610: Le P. Anselme, _Histoire genealogique et chronologique de la maison de France_, vol. vi, p. 399. Vallet de Viriville, in _Nouvelle biographie generale_. De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. i, p. 63.]

[Footnote 611: Marquis de Gaucourt, _Le Sire de Gaucourt_, Orleans, 1855, in 8vo.]

There is yet a third whom we must learn to know as well as possible.

For he will play an important part in this story; and his part would appear greater still if it were laid bare in its entirety. This is Regnault de Chartres, whom we have already seen promoted to be minister of finance.[612] Son of Hector de Chartres, master of Woods and Waters in Normandy, he took orders, became archdeacon of Beauvais, then chamberlain of Pope John XXIII, and in 1414, at about thirty-four, was raised to the archiepiscopal see of Reims.[613] The following year three of his brothers fell on the gory field of Azincourt. In 1418 Hector de Chartres perished at Paris, a.s.sa.s.sinated by the Butchers.[614] Regnault himself, cast into prison by the Cabochiens, expected to be put to death. He vowed that if he escaped he would fast every Wednesday, and drink water for breakfast every Friday and Sat.u.r.day, for the rest of his life.[615] One must not judge a man by an act prompted by fear. Nevertheless we may well hesitate to rank the author of this vow with those Epicureans who did not believe in G.o.d, of whom there were said to be many among the clerks. We may conclude rather that his intelligence submitted to the common beliefs.

[Footnote 612: Le P. Anselme, _Histoire genealogique et chronologique de la maison de France_, vol. vi, p. 339. _Gallia Christiana_, vol.

ix, col. 135. Hermant, _Histoire ecclesiastique de Beauvais_ (Bibl.

nat. fr. 8581), fol. 15 _et seq._ Article by Vallet de Viriville, in _Nouvelle biographie generale_ and _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, pp. 160 _et seq._]

[Footnote 613: Le P. Denifle, _Cartularium Universitatis Parisiensis_, vol. iv, p. 275.]

[Footnote 614: _Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris_, p. 109. In 1411 the Butchers of Paris, led by Jean-Simonnet Caboche, rose in favour of the Duke of Burgundy (W.S.).]

[Footnote 615: Le P. Denifle, _La desolation des eglises_, vol. i, pp.

594, 595. Garnier, _Doc.u.ments relatifs a la surprise de Paris par les Bourguignons en Mai_, 1418, in _Bulletin de la Societe de l'Histoire de Paris_, 1877, p. 51.]

A tragic fidelity, an inherited loyalty to the Armagnacs recommended my Lord Regnault to the Dauphin, who entrusted him with important missions to various parts of Christendom, Languedoc, Scotland, Brittany, and Burgundy.[616] The Archbishop of Reims acquitted himself with rare skill and indefatigable zeal. In December he prayed the Holy Father to dispense him from the fulfilment of the vow taken in the Butchers' prison,[617] on the grounds of his feeble health and his services rendered to the Dauphin, who required him to undertake frequent journeys and arduous emba.s.sies.

[Footnote 616: De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. i, pp.

268, 276, 339. P. Champion, _Guillaume de Flavy_, p. 4, and proofs and ill.u.s.trations, lxxj.]

[Footnote 617: Le P. Denifle, _La desolation des eglises_, _loc. cit._ According to a "legitimist" fiction he pleads the service he had rendered to King Charles VI, and his son the Dauphin "_... tam propter sue persone debililitatem, quam etiam propter a.s.sidua viagia et amba.s.siatas, que ipse serviendo Carolo Francorum regi et Carolo, ejusdem regis unigenito filio, dalphino Viennensi...._"]

In 1425, when the King and the kingdom were governed by President Louvet,[618] a learned lawyer, who may well have been a rogue, my Lord Regnault was appointed Chancellor of France in the place of my Lord Martin Gouges of Charpaigne, Bishop of Clermont.[619] But shortly afterwards, when the Constable of France, Arthur of Brittany, had dismissed Louvet, Regnault sold his appointment to Martin Gouges for a pension of two thousand five hundred _livres tournois_.[620]

[Footnote 618: Vallet de Viriville, _Nouvelle biographie generale_. De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. i, pp. 64 _et seq._]

[Footnote 619: F. d.u.c.h.esne, _Histoire des chanceliers et gardes des sceaux de France_, 1680, in fol., p. 483.]

[Footnote 620: The _livre_ of Tours was worth ten pence, while that of Paris was worth one shilling (W.S.). National Archives, p. 2298.]

The Reverend Father in G.o.d, my Lord the Archbishop of Reims, was not as rich, far from it, as my Lord de la Tremouille; but he made the best of what he had. Like the Sire de la Tremouille he lent money to the King.[621] But in those days who did not lend the King money?

Charles VII gave him the town and castle of Vierzon in payment of a debt of sixteen thousand _livres tournois_.[622] When La Tremouille had treated the Constable as the Constable had treated Louvet, Regnault de Chartres became Chancellor again. He entered into his office on the 8th of November, 1428. By this time the Council had sent men-at-arms and cannon to Orleans. No sooner was my Lord of Reims appointed than he threw himself into the city and spared no trouble.[623] He was keenly attached to the goods of this world and might pa.s.s for a miser.[624] But there can be no doubt of his devotion to the royal cause, nor of his hatred of those who fought under the Leopard and the Red Cross.[625]

[Footnote 621: De Beaucourt, _Histoire de Charles VII_, vol. ii, p.

632.]

[Footnote 622: Le P. Anselme, _Histoire genealogique de la maison de France_, vol. i, p. 407.]

[Footnote 623: _Journal du siege_, p. 51.]

[Footnote 624: Le P. Denifle, _La desolation des eglises_, introduction. _Cf._ the collection of official receipts in the National Library, fr. 20,887, original doc.u.ments 693, Clairambault, _deeds_, _seals_, vol. 29.]

[Footnote 625: F. d.u.c.h.esne, _Histoire des chanceliers et garde des sceaux de France_, p. 487.]

After eleven days' journey, Jeanne reached Chinon on the 6th of March.[626] It was the fourth Sunday in Lent, that very Sunday on which the lads and la.s.ses of Domremy went forth in bands, into the country still grey and leafless, to eat their nuts and hard-boiled eggs, with the rolls their mothers had kneaded. That was what they called their well-dressing. But Jeanne was not to recollect past well-dressings nor the home she had left without a word of farewell.[627] Ignoring those rustic, well-nigh pagan festivals which poor Christians introduced into the penance of the holy forty days, the Church had named this Sunday _Laetare_ Sunday, from the first word in the introit for the day: _Laetare, Jerusalem_. On that Sunday the priest, ascending the altar steps, says low ma.s.s; and at high ma.s.s the choir sings the following words from Scripture: "_Laetare, Jerusalem; et conventum facite, omnes qui diligitis eam ..._: Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of her consolations; ..."[628] That day priests, monks, and clerks versed in holy Scripture, as in the churches with the people a.s.sembled they sang _Laetare, Jerusalem_, had present before their minds the virgin announced by prophecy, raised up for the deliverance of the kingdom, marked with a sign, who was then making her humble entrance into the town. Perhaps more than one applied what that pa.s.sage of Scripture says of the Holy Nation to the realm of France, and in the coincidence of that liturgical text and the happy coming of the Maid found occasion for hope. _Laetare, Jerusalem!_ Rejoice ye, O people, in your true King and your rightful sovereign.

_Et conventum facite_: and come together. Unite all your strength against the enemy. _Gaudete c.u.m laet.i.tia, qui in trist.i.tia fuistis_: after your long mourning, rejoice. The Lord sends you succour and consolation.

[Footnote 626: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 56.]

[Footnote 627: _Ibid._, vol. ii, pp. 394, 462.]

[Footnote 628: Isaiah, ch. 66, verse 10 (W.S.).]

By the intercession of Saint Julien, and probably with the aid of Collet de Vienne, the King's messenger, Jeanne found a lodging in the town, near the castle, in an inn kept by a woman of good repute.[629]

The spits were idle. And the guests, deep in the chimney-corner, were watching the grilling of Saint Herring, who was suffering worse torments than Saint Lawrence.[630] In those times no one in Christendom neglected the Church's injunctions concerning the fasts and abstinences of Holy Lent. Following the example of Our Lord Jesus Christ who fasted forty days in the desert, the faithful observed the fast from Quadragesima Sunday until Easter Sunday, making forty days after abstracting the Sundays when the fast was broken but not the abstinence. Thus fasting and with her soul comforted, Jeanne listened to the soft whisper of her Voices.[631] The two days she spent in the inn were pa.s.sed in retirement, on her knees.[632] The banks of the Vienne and the broad meadows, still in their black wintry garb, the hill-slopes over which light mists floated, did not tempt her. But when, on her way to church, climbing up a steep street, or merely grooming her horse in the inn yard, she raised her eyes to the north, there on a mountain close at hand, just about the distance that would be traversed by one of those stone cannon-b.a.l.l.s which had been in use for the last fifty or sixty years, she saw the towers of the finest castle of the realm. Behind its proud walls there breathed that King to whom she had journeyed, impelled by a miraculous love.

[Footnote 629: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 143.]

[Footnote 630: _La vie de saint Harenc glorieux martir et comment il fut pesche en la mer et porte a Dieppe_, in _Recueil des poesies francaises des XV'e et XVI'e siecles_, by A. de Montaiglon, vol.

ii, pp. 325-332.]

[Footnote 631: Still if Jeanne were the age she is said to have been, about eighteen, she was under no obligation to fast, but only to be abstinent. Nevertheless, when imprisoned at Rouen, she fasted during Lent; but we do not know how old her judges considered her to be.]

[Footnote 632: _Trial_, vol. i, p. 143.]

There were three castles merging before her into one long ma.s.s of embattled walls, of keeps, towers, turrets, curtains, barbicans, ramparts, and watch-towers; three castles separated one from the other by d.y.k.es, barriers, posterns, and portcullis. On her left, towards sunset, crowded, one behind the other, the eight towers of Coudray, one of which had been built for a king of England, while the newest were more than two hundred years old. On the right could be plainly seen the middle castle, with its ancient walls and its towers crowned with machicolated battlements. There was the chamber of Saint Louis, the King's chamber, the apartment of him whom Jeanne called the Gentle Dauphin. And there also, close to the rush-strewn room, was the great hall in which she was to be received. Towards the town the site of the hall was indicated by an adjoining tower, square and very old. On the right extended a vast bailey or stronghold, intended as a lodging for the garrison, and a defence of the middle part of the castle. Near by a large chapel raised its roof, in the form of an inverted keel, above the ramparts. This chapel, built by Henry II of England, was under the patronage of Saint George, and from it the bailey received its name of Fort Saint George.[633] In those days every one knew the story of Saint George the valiant knight, who with his lance transfixed a dragon and delivered a King's daughter, and then suffered martyrdom confessing his faith. Like Saint Catherine he had been bound to a wheel with sharp spikes, and the wheel had been miraculously broken like that on which the executioners had bound the Virgin of Alexandria. And like her Saint George had suffered death by means of an axe, thus proving that he was a great saint.[634] In one thing, however, he was wrong; he was of the party of the _G.o.dons_, who for more than three hundred years had kept his feast as that of all the English. They held him to be their patron saint and invoked him before all other saints. Thus his name was p.r.o.nounced as constantly by the vilest Welsh archer as by a knight of the Garter. In truth no one knew what he thought and whether he did not condemn all these marauders who were fighting for a bad cause; but there was reason to fear that such great honours would affect him. The saints of Paradise are generally ready to take the side of those who invoke them most devoutly. And Saint George, after all, was just as English as Saint Michael was French. That glorious archangel had appeared as the most vigilant protector of the Lilies ever since my Lord Saint Denys, the patron saint of the kingdom, had permitted his abbey to be taken. And Jeanne knew it.

[Footnote 633: G. de Cougny, _Notice archeologique et historique sur le chateau de Chinon_, Chinon, 1860, in 8vo.]

[Footnote 634: _La legende doree_, translated by Gustave Brunet, 1846, pp. 259, 264. Douhet, _Dictionnaire des legendes_, pp. 426, 436.]