St. Joan of Arc by John Beevers

Author:John Beevers [Beevers, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TAN Books
Published: 2015-02-12T06:00:00+00:00

6. The Trial and the Fire

THE ARCHER who captured Joan was in the service of the Bastard of Wendomme, who served Jean de Luxembourg; Jean de Luxembourg was the vassal of the Duke of Burgundy, who in his turn was the vassal of the King of England. So by feudal law she was ultimately the prisoner of the King of England; but, also, by feudal law, each of the men named above, from the archer to the Duke, was entitled to some reward for passing her on to his superior. The archer was given a small sum, the Bastard considerably more, and Joan became the personal prisoner of Jean de Luxembourg, who of course could do nothing about her without the consent of the Duke of Burgundy.

The matter was complicated, too, by the fact that the ecclesiastics of England and Burgundy regarded Joan as a heretic in the service of the devil and so demanded that she should be immediately handed over to them. As she had been captured in the diocese of Beauvais, she came within the jurisdiction of its bishop, Pierre Cauchon. As Beauvais was in the hands of the French, he lived in Rouen. He was a former rector of the University of Paris, which at that time was the foremost in the Western world. "Foremost" is really a wholly inadequate word to describe its status and position. It was the largest in number of students and the standard of its learning was unsurpassed; but, far outweighing these points, were the weight and authority carried by its theological pronouncements. When the university gave a decision upon a matter of theology, it was heard throughout Christendom. It was called "a second Rome."

Only three days after her capture, the Vicar-General of the Inquisition in France wrote to the Duke of Burgundy and asked that Joan be given to the Inquisition so that she could be examined by the "good doctors and masters of the University of Paris." The Duke ignored the demand. The university then wrote to him again and also to Jean de Luxembourg. It seems that the university could not believe that Charles would make no effort to set Joan free. "We greatly fear that she may in some manner be taken from your power, that our enemies may try to set the woman free by paying a ransom." The university was also surprised that the Duke of Burgundy had not seen fit to answer the first approach made to him about Joan: "Notwithstanding, most feared and honored lord, our letter to your highness, imploring you humbly that the woman known as the Maid should be surrendered to the justice of the Church so that trial should be made of her idolatries and other matters concerning our holy faith, we have had no reply, nor have we learned that anything has been done toward handing over this woman . . . most feared and sovereign lord, we humbly beg you again that it may please you to

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