“The burgesses of the city of Soissons brought him the keys and so did those of the city of Laon to whom he had sent heralds demanding that they open to him; he went away to Soissons where he was received with great joy by all those of the city who much loved him and desired his coming. And there came to him the very joyous news that Chateau-Thierry, Crécy-en-Brie, Provins, Coulommiers and many other towns had returned to their obedience. . . . And the King went towards Crépy-en-Valois, whence he sent his heralds to summon and require them of Compiègne that they place themselves under obedience to him, who sent answer that they would do so very willingly. At about this time . . . certain French lords went into the city of Beauvais of which was bishop and count master Pierre Cauchon, much inclined to the English side although he was a native of Rheims. But, however, the people of that city placed themselves in full obedience to the King as soon as his heralds came bearing his arms, and they cried all in great joy, ‘Long live Charles, King of France!’ and sang Te Deum and made great rejoicing. And that done they dismissed all those who would not stay under that obedience and let them go in peace carrying their chattels with them.” (J.S.O. 187 and 190)
Dunois, giving evidence at the Trial of Rehabilitation, recalled the happy days of that armed excursion whose incidents roused strong feelings of tenderness in Joan: “And when the King came to La Ferté and to Crépy-en-Valois, the people came out to meet the King, exulting and crying ‘Noel’. Then the Maid, riding between the archbishop of Rheims and myself, spoke these words: ‘There is a good folk. I have never seen other people so greatly rejoice at the coming of so noble a King. May I be so fortunate, when my days shall be done, as to be buried in this ground.’ The which hearing, the archbishop of Rheims said: ‘O Joan, in what place do you hope to die?’ To which she answered: ‘Where it shall please God, for I am not sure either of the time or of the place, any more than you are. And please God, my Maker, that I may now withdraw myself, leave off arms, and go and serve my father and my mother by keeping the sheep with my sister and my brothers who will rejoice so greatly to see me again.’ “ (R.137)
The regent Bedford, meanwhile, was taking advantage of the unhoped-for respite. He was having Paris fortified and trying to diminish the prestige which the coronation had given Charles by discrediting (a foretaste of what was to be done at Rouen) Joan, who had accomplished that coronation. From Montereau he sent Charles a letter in the following terms:
“We, John of Lancaster, regent of France and Duke of Bedford, make known to you Charles of Valois who call yourself Dauphin of Viennois and now without cause call yourself King because you have abusively made enterprise against the crown and lordship of the very high and excellent prince, my sovereign lord, Henry by the grace of God true, natural and rightful King of France and England. . . . You who cause to be abused the ignorant people and take to yourself the aid of people superstitious and reproved, as that of a woman disordered and defamed, being in man’s clothes and of dissolute conduct . . . who by force and power of arms have occupied in the country of Champagne and elsewhere cities, towns and castles belonging to my said lord and King . . . summon and require you that . . . taking pity on the poor Christian people . . . choose in the country of Brie where you and we are, or in the Ile de France, some place in the fields, convenient and reasonable, or one day soon and fitting . . . at which day and place, if you would appear there in person with the aforesaid defamed and apostate woman, we, at Our Lord’s pleasure, will appear in person. . . .”
It was a formal challenge which Bedford was thus proclaiming, in the letter which is dated August 7, 1429. (Q. iv, 384.) A meeting between the two men was expected at an early date.
Back in Paris, Bedford had the cleverness to name the Duke of Burgundy as governor of the city; the Parisians could no longer complain of being under foreign tutelage; Philippe the Good was of the blood royal of France. Bedford took command of the army of reinforcement—seven hundred Picards—which the Duke of Burgundy had sent him in mid-July, and on August 14th the English army marched off towards Senlis. On the following day at dawn it halted at the village of Montepilloy where, on the evening of the same day, the French arrived. Was there to be a decisive battle? In his letter of challenge Bedford seemed to have been referring the outcome to a veritable “judgment of God”.
“Sunday, fourteenth day of the month of August, the Maid, the Duke of Alençon, the Count of Vendome, the marshals and other captains, accompanied by six or seven thousand fighting men, were at the hour of vespers camped in a wood in the fields near Montepilloy, at about two leagues from the city of Senlis. The Duke of Bedford, the English captains, accompanied by eight or nine thousand English, were camped at half a league from Senlis, between our people and the said town on a little river, in a village called Nôtre-Dame de la Victoire. That evening our men went out skirmishing against the English, near their camp, and in that skirmish were men taken on both sides, and there died on the English side the captain d’Orbec and ten or twelve others and were men wounded on both sides. Night fell. All withdrew to their camp.
“Monday 15th day of this month of August 1429, the Maid, the Duke of Alençon and the company, thinking that day to join battle, all of the company, each for himself, put themselves in the best state which each in his conscience could do. And they heard mass as early in the morning as it could be done and thereafter to horse. And went to place their battle near to the battle of the English who had not moved from their camp where they had slept, and all night long had fortified themselves with stakes, ditches, and set their carts before them, and the river fortified them in the rear. There was still great skirmishing between one side and the other. The English never made any attempt at sallying out of their place excepting to skirmish. And when the Maid saw that they came not out, she went, standard in hand, and placed herself in the van and went striking at the very fortifications of the English . . . and she summoned them, with the Duke of Alençon and the captains, that if they would come out of their place and give battle, our people would withdraw and give them room to place themselves in (battle) order. Which they would not do and all day remained without coming forth excepting to skirmish. Night falling, our people returned to their camp. And the King was all that day at Montepilloy. The Duke of Bar (René of Anjou), who had come to the King at Provins, was in his company, the count of Clermont and other captains with them, and when the King saw that they could not make the English come out of their place and that night was falling, he returned to his billet in the place of Crépy.” (Chronicle of Perceval de Cagny, Q. iv, 21–23)
“All day they were one before the other, without wood or thicket, near to each other a culverin shot (i.e., within culverin-shot) and fought not. . . .” Thus another eye-witness, the herald Berry, who concludes, “And that evening the King departed and went away with his army to Crépy and the Duke of Bedford went to Senlis.” (Q. iv, 47)
The battle had not taken place.
At the same time negotiations had been started. On August 16th Philippe the Good received the archbishop of Rheims, Regnault de Chartres, who led the French delegation, which was closely watched by a Burgundian observer, Hugues de Lannoy, a member of the Royal Council of England. The French side declared themselves ready to make every concession, going so far as to offer to waive the homage and oath of loyalty due from the Duke of Burgundy, for the duration of Philippe’s reign. There is a strange contrast between that offer, for which nothing was asked in exchange, and the enthusiasm for the King’s cause which was manifest throughout the kingdom and is noted even by the Burgundian chroniclers themselves.
Monstrelet enumerates all the cities which have submitted their obedience to the King and he adds: “In truth, if, with all his power (forces), he had gone to Saint-Quentin, Corbie, Amiens, Abbeville and many other strong towns and castles, the greater part of their inhabitants were ready to receive him as lord, and desired in the world no other thing than to make their obedience to him and open fully to him. Nevertheless he was not advised
to go so far forward on the Duke of Burgundy’s frontiers, as much because some felt it strong in men-at-arms, as for the hope he had that a good treaty would be made between them.” (Q. iv, 391)
The Bourgeois de Paris echoes the fears which were felt in that city on the Burgundian side: “Towards the end of the month Beauvais and Senlis went over to the Armagnacs who took Saint-Denis on August 25th. On the morrow they were up to the gates of Paris and nobody dared to go out to harvest the wine-grapes or the verjuice, nor to go and harvest anything at all in the marshes. In consequence everything soon became very dear.” (P.93)
He goes on to mention the fortification hastily carried out by Bedford: “In the first week of September the quarteniers (heads of quarters or wards of the city), began, each in his quarter, to fortify the gates of the boulevards and the houses which were on the walls, to place canon on their carriages, to place tubs full of stones on the walls, to repair the outside moats and to construct barriers outside and in the town.” (P.93)
In short everyone was expecting Paris to be attacked. Subsequently, at her Trial of Condemnation, Joan stated that though her voices had had nothing to say about the attack against the city, she herself had wanted to make that attack and that, probably, immediately after the coronation:
Question: When you went up before the town of Paris had you had a revelation from your voices to go there?
JOAN: No, but I went there at the request of noblemen at arms who wanted to make a skirmish or some valliance in arms against Paris and I had every intention to go further and to cross the moats of the town of Paris. (C.141)
And again:
Question: Did you do anything without the command of your voices?
JOAN: You are answered. Read well your book and you will find it. It was at the request of the men of war that was made a valiance in arms against Paris and also against La Charité at the request of my King. But it was neither against nor at the command of my voices. (C.160–161)
What is certain is that in the royal entourage the military men were all impatient to storm the city; the encounter at Montepilloy had made it quite clear that henceforth the Anglo-Burgundians were in no hurry to fight. We can see the events of September 7th and 8th from the Burgundian side by reference to the Bourgeois of Paris:
“In September, on the eve of the Nativity of Our Lady, the Armagnacs came and assailed the walls of Paris which they hoped to take, but won there only grief, shame and misfortune. Many among them were wounded for the remainder of their lives who, before the assault, were in good health. But a fool fears nothing so long as he is successful. I say this for them who sweated ill-luck and bad faith and who, on the word of a creature in the form of a woman who accompanied them—who was it? God knows—had conspired and agreed together to assail Paris on the day of the Nativity of Our Lady. They assembled to the number of more than twelve thousand and came with their Maid about the time of high mass between eleven and noon, accompanied by a rabble of carts, barrows and horses bearing great faggots with three ties, destined to fill the moats of Paris. Their assault, which was very cruel, began against the Saint-Honoré gate and the Saint-Denis gate and during the attack they shouted many insults at the Parisians. Their Maid was there, on the edge of the moat, and said: ‘Yield to us quickly, for Jesus’ sake, for if you yield not before night, we shall enter by force whether you will or no, and you will all be put to death without mercy.’ ‘Here’s for you!’ cried one. ‘Cackling bawd!’ and he shot straight at her with his cross-bow, transpierced her leg and she fled. Another transfixed her standard-bearer’s foot, who, feeling himself wounded, raised his visor to try to draw the bolt from his foot, but another shot and wounded him mortally between the eyes. The Maid and the Duke of Alençon swore that they would rather have lost forty of their men at arms. The assault, which was very cruel on both sides, lasted until four in the evening without it being known who would get the better. A little after four o’clock the Parisians took heart and overwhelmed their adversaries with so many canon balls and arrows that the latter were forced to retreat, to abandon the assault, and go away.” (B. de P., pp. 93–94)
At the same time Clément de Fauquembergue, Clerk to the Parliament, noted in his register: “Thursday, eighth day of September, Feast of the Nativity of the Mother (of) God, the people of Messire Charles of Valois, assembled in great number near the walls of Paris, near to the Saint-Honoré gate, hoping by commotion of people to stop the business of and damage to the town and people of Paris rather than by power or force of arms, at about two o’clock in the afternoon began to appear as if they would assail the town of Paris. And at that time there were inside Paris some (dis)affected or corrupted people who raised voice throughout the city on the hither and yon side of the bridges, crying that all was lost, that the enemy was inside Paris, and that every man should retreat and use deligence to save himself.” (Q. iv, 457)
Which makes it clear that even in the town itself Charles VII had partisans who would not have failed to play their part had the business been managed with a little firmness. For the “Armagnac” version of what happened, we have the account written by the Duke of Alençon’s chronicler, Perceval de Cagny:
“When the King was at the place of Compiègne,” he writes, “the Maid was very vexed at his wanting to stay there, and it seemed from his manner that he was satisfied at that time with the mercies which God had granted him, without undertaking anything else. She called the Duke of Alençon and said to him: ‘My handsome (fine) Duke, call your men and the other captains to arms. By my martin, I would go and see Paris closer than I have seen it.’
“And on the Tuesday twenty-third day of the Month of August, the Maid and the Duke of Alençon left this place of Compiègne and the King, with a fine company of men. . . . And the Friday following, twenty-sixth day of this month, were the Maid, the Duke of Alençon, and their company camped (billeted) in the town of Saint-Denis. And when the King learned that they were thus camped in the town of Saint-Denis, he went very reluctantly as far as the town of Senlis and it seemed that he was advised against the (course) wanted by the Maid, the Duke of Alençon, and those of their company.
“When the Duke of Bedford saw that the city of Senlis was French, he left Paris to the government of the burgesses, of the sire de l’Isle-Adam and of the Burgundians of his company, and were left there hardly any English. He went away to Rouen, very vexed, and in great fear that the Maid might restore the King to his lordship. Since she had arrived in the place of Saint-Denis, every day, two or three times, our men were out skirmishing up to the gates of Paris, now in one place, now in another, and sometimes at the windmill near the Saint-Denis gate and La Chapelle. And no day passed but the Maid had raids made by skirmishers. And eagerly studied the situation of the town of Paris and what place would seem to her best for launching the assault. The Duke of Alençon was most often with her, but because the King was not yet come to Saint-Denis, what message soever the Maid and the Duke of Alençon had sent him, the said Duke of Alençon went to him on the first day of September following, and was told that on the second day of the month the King would leave. D’Alençon returned to his company, and, because the King did not come, the Duke of Alençon went again to him on the Monday fifth day following. He so wrought that the King set out and on the Wednesday dined at Compiègne. At which the Maid and all the company were mighty rejoiced and there was not a man, of whatever condition, but said, ‘She will put the King in Paris if it be left to her.’
“Thursday, day of Our Lady, eighth day of the month of September 1429, the Maid, the Duke of Alençon, the marshals de Boussac and de Rais and other captains and great numbers of men-at-arms and baggage men (hommes de trait) set out at about eight in the forenoon from La Chapelle near Paris, in good order. Some to go into battle, the others to guard and supply those who would make the assault. The Maid, the marshal de Rais, the sire de Gaucourt, called by order of the Maid, as seemed good to her, were given the (task of the) assault on the Saint-Honoré gate. The
Maid took her standard in hand and among the first entered the ditches (moat) near to the pigmarket. The attack was hard and long and it was a marvel to hear the noise and din of the canon and culverins which those within fired at those without, and all manner of missiles in such great abundance as (to be) innumerable. And although the Maid and great number of knights and esquires and other men of war had gone down into the ditches at the edge or thereabouts, very few were wounded, and there were many on foot or mounted who were struck and thrown to the ground by blows from canon stones. . . . The assault lasted from about the hour of noon to about the hour of nightfall, and after sunset the Maid was struck by a cross-bow bolt in the thigh. And since being struck forced herself to cry louder than ever that every man should approach the walls and that the place would be taken. But because it was night and she was wounded and that the men at arms were weary from the long assault which they had made, the sire de Gaucourt and others went to fetch the Maid and against her will took her out of the moat and so ended the attack. And she was very sorry indeed to leave in that way, saying, ‘By my martin, the place would have been taken.’ They put her on a horse and took her to her billet in the place of La Chapelle near all the rest of the King’s company: the Duke of Bar, the Count of Clermont, who that day were come from Saint-Denis.”
For her and those of her company the game was not yet over:
“Friday, ninth day of this month, although the Maid had been wounded in the assault on Paris, she rose very early in the morning and sent for her fine Duke of Alençon, who was always her escort, and asked him to have the trumpets sound to horse to return before Paris and said that by her martin never would she leave until she had the town. The said d’Alençon and other captains were of the same wish to undertake to return, others not. And while they were still talking about it, the baron of Montmorency, who had always held to the party contrary to the King’s, came from within the town, accompanied by fifty or sixty gentlemen, to join the Maid’s company, whereby the heart and courage of those who were right willing to return to (the attack on) the town were more sustained. And when they were drawing near, came the Duke of Bar and the Count of Clermont from the King who was at Saint-Denis, and begged the Maid that, without advancing any further, she return to the King at Saint-Denis and also, on behalf of the King, begged Alençon and commanded all the other captains that they were to come and bring the Maid to him. The Maid and most of her company were very vexed at it and nevertheless obeyed the King’s will, hoping to find their way to take Paris from the other side and cross the Seine by a bridge which the Duke of Alençon had had built across the river towards Saint-Denis; and so came to the King. . . . The Saturday following, some of those who had been before Paris, thought to go and cross the river of Seine early in the morning by this bridge, but they could not because the King, who had learned of the intention of the Maid, the Duke of Alençon and others of good will, during the night had the bridge demolished, and thus were they prevented from crossing. That day the King held council at which several opinions were voiced and he stayed in that place until Tuesday the thirteenth, still inclining to return to the (region) of the River Loire, to the Maid’s great displeasure.” (Q. iv, 25–29)
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