BIOGRAPHY
OF
JOAN OF
ARC
Contemporary
Account
DANIEL RANKIN AND CLAIRE QUINTAL
Copyright @ 1964 by the University of Pittsburgh
Press
Library of
Congress Card Number 64-21449
Manufactured in the United States of
America
Headpieces forProvenance, Chronicle Comments, and
Appendix are from a Latin Ms. Of Joan’s century, library of M. Ambroise
Firmin-Didot. Those for Prologue, Biography Comments, and Booklists are from
Chronicles of Monstrelet, who talked with Joan, No.2678 Bibliothe'que nationale.
The one for the First Chronicle ... is from Ms. fr. 189, Bibliotheque nationale.
All were photographed from Jeanne d'Arc, H. Wallon. Coat of Arms of Joan of Arc is depicted here for the
first time exactly as she described it during her trial. Drawn by Mrs. John
Preston, Tryon, North Carolina.
TO
BishopJohn J. Wright
of
with gratitude and
appreciation.
He has written eloquently
with genuine learning and gracious good
humor
Of
Joan of Arc
whose life, work, and sanctity
illustrate and illumine
the moral right
of
freedom of
conscience
PREFATORY NOTE
It might well have seemed impossible to attempt the
publication of yet another life of St. Joan of Arc unless, of course, one
could come up with a translation of the first of all the hundreds of biographies
of the Maid. That is what Father Daniel Rankin and Miss Claire Quintal
decided to do; they then added, for good measure, a first English
translation of a brief but eloquent (also anonymous) chronicle of great moments
in Joan's career.
The latter document ends with the kind of words which
have fired the determination of countless writers, musicians, and scholars
to make the all but inaudible splash of the ashes of Joan in the Seine re-echo
forever like thunder endlessly building up its reverberations. Commenting on the
intensely practical wisdom of the British in shoveling the poor relics of the
discredited girl into a bag to be thrown into the river, the anonymous
chronicler observes that this was done "so that no attempt could ever be made,
nor even a proposal be suggested, to use them for sorcery or any other
mysterious evil."
Well, God save us from "mysterious evil," but
preferably by the gentle, more enduring ways of knowledge and of
love.
Father Rankin and Claire Quintal are the most recent to
contribute -6 our knowledge of "the deeds and works of Joan who called herself
the Maid." Their contribution is (quite beyond the work of translation)
substantial, reasoned, erudite; it ranges from careful criticism of the
history and value of some standard sources and of these new texts to intriguing
bits of casual erudition for the sake of us less learned but deeply devoted
partisans of St. Joan.
vii
For example, how did the ill-fated Bishop Peter Cauchon
spend the day after the cruel death that, as Joan reminded him, came to the
saint through him? What kind of letters did Joan write and leave behind her,
this girl who said of herself that she didn't know A from B? Precisely who
taught a country girl tactical skill *in the placement of artillery? What later
became of those who appeared to have made out so well on the day that Joan
clearly made out so badly?
These and like questions receive fresh, fascinating
answers in the extensive notes added by the translators. It is in their
commentaries that one senses not only the diligence but the great love of these
latest scholars to have come to the service of Joan.
Both have done me the honor of confiding in me the
separate and intensely personal backgrounds of the motivation of the love
brought to this work and destined, one rejoices to know, in their projected
further books on Joan. Their passionate partisanship breaks through with mild
explosions from time to time in the authors' commentary. Should this irritate
the bleakly dispassionate, let these be grateful that the same love gave origin
and perseverance to the labor of making available two important documents and
other rich material for the study of that life which Mark Twain dared to
describe as the most noble life that was ever born into this world save only
One. Mark Twain's praise is fulsome; it admits of debate. But Winston
Churchill is not likely to be challenged in his assertion that "the
ever-shining, ever-glorious Joan of Arc ... finds no equal in a thousand years.
Father Rankin and Claire Quintal clearly establish how early that fact was
appreciated.
JOHN WRIGHT
Bishop of
Pittsburgh
viii
CONTENTS
Prefatory Note by Bishop John Wright
vii
Provenance
3
The First Biography of Joan of Arc
13
Authors' Comments
65
The First Chronicle to Record
Joan of Arc's Exploits
109
Authors' Comments
127
Appendix
133
Books Mentioned in the Comments
143
Index
147
ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Joan of Arc's Coat of Arms
Title Page
Bronze in St. Paul's Cathedral,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
vii
Louis XII
4
Louis Malet de Graville
5
Charles VII
12
Page 6 Ms. fr. 518
12
Page 7 Ms. fr. 518
13
Philip the Good
13
Map I. Orleans During Siege
20
Preparing to Fire a Fifteenth-century Bombard
21
Map2. The Loire Campaign 11-18 June 1429
30
Map 3. The Route to Reims
34
Map 4. Reims to Paris
38
Map 5. Compiegne and Environs-the Siege Of 1430
40
Domremy, an Aerial View
68
Domremy, the River Meuse and Its Valley
69
Vaucouleurs
76
Chinon
77
La Charite'-sur-Loire
92
Statue of Joan on the Ballon d'Alsace
93
xi
THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF JOAN OF ARC
ABBREVIATIONS
Ay - Ayroles, J. B. J., La Vraie Jeanne d'Arc, 5
vols., Paris, 1890-1902.
Ch -Champion, P., Proces de Condamnation de Jeanne
d'Arc, 2 vols., Paris, 1920-21.
D-L-Doncoeur, P. and Lanhers, Y., Documents et
Recherches relatifs a Jeanne la Pucelle, 5 vols., Paris,
1952-1961.
T-L -Tisset, P. and Lanhers, Y., Proces de
Condamnation de Jeanne d'Arc, Paris, 196o.
Q - Quicherat, Jules, Proces de Condamnation et de
Rehabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc, 5 vols., Paris,
1841-49.
PROVENANCE
Our work
had its origin in a question prompted at times by interest at others by
curiosity. We were asked frequently in England, France, the United States, and
by friends from Sweden, "What was the first life of Joan of Arc?" or "Is
there such a thing as a first biography of Joan?" The answer, we hope, is
here. We make no pretense of a new discovery. The pages we have translated have
been accessible for a long time to all who wished to take an interest in
them, and some have. Our claim is a moderate one. We have moved this material
out of its quasiobscurity and placed it where it belongs-at the head of the
long list of lives of Joan of Arc because it is the earliest in time. And we
have added our comments on each section.
The anonymous author of this manuscript biography (and
we believe this account of Joan of Arc's life is a biography) gives a clue
to the time it was written. The author explains that he compiled the work "by
order of the King, Louis XII of that name." This places the writing before 15
15, which is the year Louis XII died. The eminent paleographer and
historian Quicherat believed "it was written about the year 1500." The literary
tone of the manuscript and its author's chirography belong to the early
sixteenth century. To use a phrase of the distinguished'and
lamented
JOAN OF ARC
Professor C. S. Lewis: the style is characterized by
"coupled synonyms.
It is French prose struggling away from the lack of
individual style of the chronicles. The reader is left with the impression
that the author is making an effort "to write better than he talked." He had a
good story to tell and he is striving to tell it well.
Our translation has been done directly from Ms. fr. 518
in the Municipal Library of Orleans and from a contemporary fragment in a
private collection. This first life of Joan of Arc was intended originally as an
introduction or explanation to prepare the reader for Joan's trial of
condemnation and a summarized account of her trial of vindication. Evidence
is not wanting to prove that this life has had charm and popularity, not, of
course, equal in interest to the record of the trials, but of sufficient appeal
to be reproduced frequently both in manuscript and printed form. Ms. fr.
18930, Chronique de Normandie, in the Bibliotheque Nationale, dated
"about 1522" by competent authority, incorporates part of Joan's life and
sections of the trial of condemnation from the Orleans manuscript. Other
variations of this Chronique de Normandie for instance no. 1488 of the MSS
of Saint Germain *in the Bibliothe'que Nationale, also use it. The title,
"Abbreviator of the Trial," (Abreviateur du Proces) signifies the
identical content so often borrowed.
This borrowing of the first life of Joan of Arc to add interest to the reissue of books already well received went on irregularly for more than a century. As will be 'indicated, the last reprint of the Life to increase the value of the contents of a book on Joan of Arc appeared in 1803 in Rouen. In that city the borrowings in print began. This pemits thq present translators to suggest that what is known today as the Manuscript of Orleans may have been written in
PROVENANCE
Rouen. Certainly, as internal evidence indicates
clearly, the compiler of this first life writes as if he knew little of the
English forts around Orleans at the time of the siege. He gives the impression
of composing his account of the siege from incomplete*information. Had he done
his work in Orl'ans it is reasonable to expect a more detailed knowl edge of the
city. There is a remote possibility that he knew of the account Guillaume
Girault, notary and twice municipal magistrate of the city of Orleans,
wrote 'in his official record for 9 May 1429,where he enthusiastically recounts
the glorious events of the preceding days, the deliverance of Orleans by Joan
the Maid. That he may have been influenced by Girault's account is
intriguing. (Boucher de Molandon, Premiere Expedition de Jeanne d'Arc,
pp. XVII, 10).
A book in 16o published in Rouen before 1578 borrowed
the manuscript life of Joan of Arc as part of its 3 8 pages. Its title page
reads: "Cy commence le Livre de la Pucelle: natifve de Lorraine, qui reduict
France entre les Mains du Roy, ensemble le jugement et comme elle fust Bruslee
au Vieil Marche a Rouen. Et a la fin plusieurs aultres choses advenues du depuys
en la Ville de Rouen. On les vend a Rouen au hault des degrez du Palaix,
chez Martin le Mesgissier."
With a slight variation in the first sentence of the Rouen publication Joan is 'introduced as she is in the manuscript:
In the year one thousand four hundred twenty and nine
there was in the land of Lorraine a young girl eighteen years or so of age
called Joan, a native of the parish of Dornremy. She was the daughter of Jacques
d'Arc, a farmer, and she had never done anything else except watch over animals
in the pastures.
This book lacks an indication of its exact date of
publication. However, in 1578 the same editor republished his
book
5
JOAN OF ARC
in a slightly different format, 29 pages in octavo. The
title, too, was shortened and improved. The volume's popularity is suggested by
reprintings in 1581, 1589, and 1610.
It is curious and interesting to notice that this
information about Joan of Arc, borrowed by a printer-publisher of Rouen, Marti
le Megissier, was annexed to his printing of a history, Description du pays
et duche de Normandye extraict de la Chronique de
Normandye.
The same thing happened in Orleans. The anonymous
biography of Joan was added in 1611 to an edition of a book of history,
L'histoire et discovrs av vray du siege qvi fvt mis devant la ville dOrleans
par les Angalois, le mardi 12 jour doctobre 1428 regnant alors Charles
VII roy de France ... avec la venue de Ieanne la Pucelle ... , better known
today as the journal of the Siege. The editors and printers of this edition were
booksellers of Orleans, Olyvier Boynard and his son-in-law Jean Nyon. The
commercial value of this publication must have been rewarding. Interest in
it spread far and wide through France. In 1619 a printer in Lyons, Claude
Larjot, furnished readers there with his edition. 1621 was a banner year.
Reissues were published in Orleans: two by Saturnin Hotot, another by Charles
Roze, again another by Louis Foucault. During the same year printers in Rouen
and Chalons issued their editions. French readers were being well supplied with
information on the life of Joan of Arc, her trial of condemnation, and the siege
of Orleans. Thus, her first famous achievements and her death were told in the
narratives combined in one volume.
Readers in Rouen were treated to a new printing of the
anonymous biography in a book published there in 1803 by Vincent and Philippe
Guilbert. Theirs is a melange of material about Joan of Arc entitled, Eloge historique de Jeanne d’Arc,
surnommee la Pucelle d'Orleans, suivi de notes,
6
PROVENANCE
de pieces justificatives, de son proces et de diverses
remarques historiques.
Except for the pages with a summary of the trial of
vindication, J.A.C. Buchon published in Paris in 1827 and1838 almost all the
other sections of the Manuscript of Orleans, including its life of Joan, under
the title Chronique et Proces de la Pucelle d'Orleans. This book and its
title seem to have been the inspiration for a faked manuscript done by Henri
Fabre of Lausanne (1 829-91),who “indulged fabricated manuscripts of special
interest for French collectors."(Otto Kurz, Fakes, p. 85). Fabre invented his
title, Chronique de la Pucelle d'Orleans, Jehanne d'Arc. His fabrication
now
reposes in the British Museum as Add. Ms. 30042, a
reminder of bourgeois credulity. It is a stocky, ugly forgery, its vellum
thick as boards and just as hard." How anyone could have been duped by it is a
mystery. In 1896 Albert Sarrazin in his Jeanne dArc et la Normandie (P.
4) accepted it as genuine.
During 1837, four years before Quicherat published the
first volume of his now indispensable five-volume work, Michaud and Poujoulat
edited a collection of documents entitled Nouvelle Collection des Memoires
pour servir a' l’Histoire de
France. Volume 3 reprints the anonymous first biography of Joan of
Arc.
The first serious inquiry into the importance of the
entire contents of the Manuscript of Orleans was made at the instigation of
Clement Charles Franqois de l’Averdy, who by royal permission sought out and
evaluated all manuscripts relating to the trial of Joan of Arc. In volume 3
Of his Notices et extraits des manuscrits ... published in 1790 in Paris,
he wrote an unfavorable judgment of the Manu-
JOAN OF ARC
script of Orleans. He had neither examined nor read the
manuscript. His opinion was based on the advice of others. Two scholarly priests
in Orleans, Abbe' Moutie' and Abbe' Francois Dubois, disagreed with him and
upheld the special value of this manuscript. L'Averdy's superior position and prestige prevailed. In 1847
Quicherat included a portion of the first biography of Joan from the Orleans
manuscript in his third volume, pp. 254-266. His volume five, issued in 1849,
includes an estimate of the entire manuscript, pp. 411-418. Again theJudgment is
unfavorable. In 1872 Beckmann, the plagiarist of Quicherat, introduced
German readers to the Manuscript of Orleans in his little book, Forschungen
uber die Quellen zur Geschichte der Jungfrau von Orleans, pp. 34-37. Pierre
Champion accepted Quicherat's opinion as definitive in his Proces de
Condamnation of 1920. Ayroles treats the subject in his
volume 3, pp. 278-285.
The combined weight of authority represented by l’
Averdy, Quicherat, and Champion awed students and readers into an acceptance of
their hostile opinion. One scholar refused to be awed, the learned, genial
Jesuit Father Paul Doncoeur (1880-1961). Amazed by the cavalier disregard of the
arguments and conclusion of Abbe' Dubois, he began a study of the Manuscript of
Orleans. In 1952 he published the painstaking, persuasive results of his study,
La Minute francaise des Interrogatories de’Jeanne d'Arc. His purpose was
to indicate and establish the document's intrinsic value: its pages that
deal with the trial of condemnation are the replies Joan gave in French to
her judges in answer to their questions. From what document did the compiler
copy his material? From original records of the tral which are now lost. The
omissions in the manuscript do not impair the validity of the argument. Father
Don-
8
PROVENANCE
cocur made no excessive claims for his own conclusions.
His motive in all his research was to allot its proper importance even to
the least detail in any document reflecting the speech and the opinions of Joan
herself. Owing to Father Doncoeur's perception and judgment the Tisset-Lanhers
edition of the Proces de Condamnation de Jeanne d’Arc, issued in 196o,
includes the pages of the trial from the Manuscript of Orleans before 3 March
1431.
Since the original records of the trial were in Rouen
and not in Orleans, Father Doncoeur agreed with our suggestion that the
Manuscript of Orleans may have been compiled in Rouen. We wish to pay
tribute to his stimulating friendship and to his constant, unselfish
encouragement.
The anonymous author of this first biography compiled
his life of Joan of Arc, as he explains, "by order of the King, Louis the XII of
that name and of His Lordship Louis de Graville, Admiral of
France."
The difficult problem of gathering information on Louis
Malet de Graville is made less tedious as a result of the research published
seventy-five years ago by P. M. Perret, Notice biographique sur Louis Malet
de Graville, Admiral de France, 144?-1516. Almost unknown today, this
admiral of France, “the last representative of an old and illustrious family of
Normandy," began his public life of unselfish service under Louis XI. His most
important work for the welfare of France was done under the regency of Anne de
Beaujeu during the minority of Charles VIII. The affairs of the realm were in
his hands. Today he would be called a Prime Minister whose wise and moderate
policies at home and abroad kept the ship of state on an even keel. He was
reputed fair and just. With his belief in the knightly quality of chivalrous
honor, he devoted himself faithfully to the
9
JOAN OF ARC
interests of his young sovereign Charles VIII. His
conscientious sense of public service was
exceptional.
The title or distinction, Admiral of France, was given him during January
1487. At that time it did not demand, apparently, a skilled knowledge of
seamanship. It seems to have allowed him to use his ability as a public servant
in the capacity of a Secretary of Naval Affairs. One of his predecessors in this
office in France, Louis de Culan, fought on land with Joan of Arc from Orleans
to Paris.
The date of his birth is unknown. His biographer places
it vaguely between 1441 and 1450. He died 30 October 1516. The accomplishments
of his active life are spelled out and preserved in the array of his titles. His
contemporaries agreed they were merited: Admiral of France, Lieutenant General
for the King in Normandy, Governor of Picardy, Lord of Graville, of Montaigu, of
Marcoussis, of Sees, of Bernay, of Vandeuil, Minister of War, Captain of Dieppe,
of St. Malo, of Pont-de-Larche, Chevalier of St. Michel, and Governor of Paris
in 1505.
He did not accompany Louis XII on his expeditions into
Italy. At home he devoted himself to policies of benefit for the people at
large. The Municipal Council of Rouen in 1493 proclaimed him "Father of the
Country" (Pere du Pais). Like Washington three centuries later he was not
influenced by selfish motives or personal interest. His ancestors delighted
in the proud old--Norman saying, "There was a Lord of Graville before there was
a King of France." (Vulson de la Colombiere, La Science heroique, 1664,
p. 159). Today what was Graville is part of the city of Le
Havre.
The family's link of interest with Joan of Arc is Jean
Malet de Graville, Louis Malet's grandfather, who is mentioned in many of
the French and Burgundian chronicles. He shared with Joan of Arc the struggle
for the deliverance of Orleans. He was at Jargeau, Patay, Reims, and
Paris.
PROVENANCE
The distinctive position to which he was appointed in
1425 crave him the title of Matre des Arbalitriers de France, the
Conmander of the King's Crossbowmen.
Louis XII was the son of the poet Charles Duke of
Orleans, detained after the diaster of Agincourt as a prisoner of war in England
for a quarter of a century. During her trial on Thursday 22 February 1431, Joan
of Arc mentioned this prisoner who was not to see France until 1440. The
poet's father, Louis, Duke of Orleans, brother of Charles V1, had been
assassinated in Paris in 1407. Bonne Visconti, a grandmother of Louis Malet de
Graville, was the sister of Valentine Visconti, wife of the murdered duke. This
relationship strengthened the ties between Louis XII and the Admiral. Joan of
Arc had given back the city of Orleans to the Valois-Orleans family of whom
Louis XII was the last representative.
Here we wish, with diffidence, to offer a conjecture
that Anne de Graville, one of Louis Malet's daughters, was the true
instigator of this first life of Joan of Arc. There are two probable reasons.
First, she was a writer. As Chaucer did long before her, she took from Boccaccio
the story of Palemon and Arcita and rewrote it into a poetic version of her own.
This is the most ambitious of her poems that have survived. Second, Anne de
Graville, like Joan of Arc, was independent and determined, a woman of strong
character and vigorous mind. Against the expressed will of
her
father she married her cousin, Pierre de Balzac.
(Anne de Graville by M. de Laqueuille.) She named her own daughter
Jeanne. This daughter brought to her husband Claude dUrfe (1502-I558) a
collection of books and manuscripts
JOAN OF ARC
inherited from her mother. One of the treasures of this
collection was the Manuscrit d'Urfe, designated today in the Bibliotheque
Nationale as MS Latin 8838. It contains part of the French record of Joan of
Arc's trial of condemnation. Quicherat annexed this section of the
manuscript to his first volume in 1841. On his competent authority
this was accepted as a transcript of the original minutes of the report of the
trial until Father Doncoeur's authority granted the place of primacy to the
report of the trial in the MS of Orleans. There is a curious interest in the
realization that Louis Malet de Graville and his daughter Anne had both
manuscripts to read. Champion was wrong about the significance of the MS of
Orleans. We agree with him, however, when he writes, "C'est donc dans la maison
de Graville que le translateur a travaille'." (Ch. I, XIV). The intellectural
curiosity of a mind as vigorous as Anne de Graville's may have prompted her to
propose a biography of the Maid. This unpretentious conjecture is expressed with
the hope that further research will reveal conclusive
evidence.
Daniel Rankin and Claire Quintal Paris, April 28,
1964
12
PROLOGUE
At the present time in France princes and nobles, the
lords and the people interest and concern themselves with the deeds and works of
Joan who called herself the Maid. But they dispute and argue. The chronicles
differ and disagree and many [people] of varied opinions discuss this
interesting question (font discussion de cette bonne matere). Each
side obstinately insists on its own firm opinion. There is little chance of
agreement and peace. (Et tant sont obstines l’un contre l’autre que nul n’y
peut mectre paix et concorde.)
Some accept and approve what she said and affirmed,
namely, that all the work she did was by command of God. Others speak of her
serious errors against faith, how she cast wicked spells and how when the evil
she did was pointed out to her she was neither penitent nor repentant. These
argue, "For this reason she was judged by the law to die (jugee a mourir)
and then burned to death in the city of Rouen for her misdeeds (en la ville
de Rouen pour ses demerites)."
My reply to them is, "She was condemned and executed,
but unjustly and through hatred, as is shown clearly in [the records of] her
trial of condemnation as well as that of her vindication, both of which I will
write out later on." Then all who read will see and realize without difficulty
how dishonest and unjust were her condenmation and death,.and what part hatred
had in both.
I write this by order of the King, Louis the XII of that
name, and of His Lordship Louis de Graville, Admiral of
France.
13
JOAN OF ARC
To all who may read [what I have written] my prayer is,
"Please bear with me, the writer, and forgive me for the mistakes and
inaccuracies you may find."
When I had examined and read all the chronicles which we
call the Great Chronicles of France with those by Froissart and Monstrelet and
Gagui as well as several compiled by other writers, I then considered and
compared carefully all the marvelous happenings in [the history] of the kingdom from the days of Marchomire
and Pharaon, the sons of the first king of France, right up to the present time.
I found no event so remarkable or memorable [as the story of Joan of Arc], nor
one more deserving to be written down and to be kept as a lasting memory by the
French. In short [I write this] so that the kings of France, her princes and her
lords, her nobles and all the people of this country may appreciate and
interpret the remarkable favor God has manifested by saving them from falling
into the servitude and sinking into the subjection of the old enemies of France,
the English.