Saint Joan of Arc

by Vita Sackville-West

  fn19 Procès, Vol. I, p. 409.

  fn20 Procès, Vol. I, p. 441.

  fn21 Procès, Vol. I, p. 441.

  fn22 Procès, Vol. II, p. 17: Deposition of Jean Massieu.

  fn23 Procès, Vol. II, p. 17.

  fn24 Procès, Vol. III, p. 123.

  fn25 Procès, Vol. I, pp. 447–8.

  fn26 Procès, Vol. I, p. 451. It may be observed, also, that in the final sentence Cauchon says she pronounced her abjuration with her own mouth – per tuum proprium organum cum omni hæresi, vivæ vocis oraculo abjurasti.

  fn27 Procès, Vol. III, pp. 64–5: Deposition of Jean Monnet.

  fn28 At least one commentator on Jeanne does not agree with this interpretation of the Latin – The Rev Herbert Thurston, S.J., in Studies, September 1924: ‘Mr Shaw renders carcer perpetuas, to which Jeanne was sentenced after her recantation, as “lifelong prison.” This is, undoubtedly, the natural and obvious translation; but the phrase, I submit, is shown by sundry Inquisition records to mean simply a permanent prison as opposed to the makeshift buildings which were casually employed for the purpose. The sentence imposed confinement in a public jail of which there were a few belonging to the Inquisition, and determined nothing as to the length of the incarceration.’

  fn29 Procès, Vol. II, p. 14: Deposition of Guillaume Manchon.

  fn30 Procès, Vol. II, p. 376: Deposition of Jean Fave, ‘Domine, non curetis; bene rehabebimus earn.’

  fn31 Procès, Vol. II, p. 18: Deposition of Jean Massieu.

  fn32 Procès, Vol. I, pp. 452–3. It seems likely that this was the occasion on which she boxed Jeannotin Simon’s ears. See supra, Chapter 14, here.

  fn33 Procès, Vol. II, p. 21: Deposition of Jean Beaupère.

  fn34 Procès, Vol. III, p. 184. Deposition of André Marguerie.

  fn35 Procès, Vol. II, p. 19: Deposition of Jean Massieu.

  fn36 Procès, Vol. II, p. 14: Deposition of Guillaume Manchon.

  fn37 Procès, Vol. II, pp. 18 and 333: Depositions of Jean Massieu.

  fn38 Procès, Vol. II, p. 5: Deposition of Isambard de la Pierre.

  fn39 Procès, Vol. II, p. 8: Deposition of Martin Ladvenu. Jeanne, however, alluded to her body ‘which has never been corrupted,’ within a few hours of her death.

  fn40 Procès, Vol. I, pp. 455–7.

  17. The Last Act

  fn1 Procès, Vol. I, p. 468.

  fn2 This concerns the question whether Jeanne was visited in prison in the early morning by Venderès, Pierre Maurice, de Courcelles, le Camus, Loiselleur, and Cauchon, and, if so, what passed there between them. See Appendix G, here.

  fn3 Procès, Vol. II, pp. 3–4: Deposition of Jean Tontmouillé; and Procès, Vol. II, p. 8: Deposition of Martin Ladvenu.

  fn4 Procès, Vol. III, p. 191: Deposition of Jean Riquier. Riquier, a priest, says Maurice told him this.

  fn5 Procès, Vol. II, p. 14: Deposition of Guillaume Manchon.

  fn6 Procès, Vol. III, p. 55, and Procès, Vol. II, p. 8: Depositions of Jean de Mailly and Martin Ladvenu.

  fn7 Procès, Vol. IV, pp. 459–60: Clement de Fauquemberque.

  fn8 Procès, Vol. II, p. 19: Deposition of Jean Massieu.

  fn9 Procès, Vol III, p. 162: Deposition of Boisguillaume; and Procès, Vol. II, p. 320: Deposition of Nicolas Taquel.

  fn10 Procès, Vol. II, p. 15: Deposition of Guillaume Planchon.

  fn11 Procès, Vol. I, p. 473.

  fn12 Procès, Vol. II, p. 344: Deposition of Guillaume Manchon.

  fn13 Procès, Vol. II, p. 9: Deposition of Martin Ladvenu.

  fn14 Procès, Vol. IV, p. 459: Clement de Fauquemberque.

  fn15 Procès, Vol. II, p. 303: Deposition of Isambard de la Pierre.

  fn16 Procès, Vol. III, p. 53: Deposition of Guillaume de la Chambre. Jeanne’s words are in French in the text.

  fn17 Procès, Vol. II, p. 347: Deposition of Pierre Cusquel.

  fn18 Procès, Vol. II, p. 372: Deposition of Thomas Marie.

  fn19 Procès, Vol. II, p. 352: Deposition of Isambard de la Pierre.

  fn20 Procès, Vol. II, p. 375: Deposition of Jean Riquier.

  fn21 Procès, Vol. III, p. 191: Deposition of Jean Riquier. Jean Riquier is the only witness who gives this detail, but he is corroborated by the Journal d’un bourgeois de Paris (Procès, Vol. IV, p. 471), in the following terrible words; fut liée à une estache qui estoit sur l’eschaffault qui estoit fait de piastre, et le feu sus lui; et là fut bientost estainte et sa robe toutte arse, et puis fut le feu tiré arrière; et fut veue de tout le peuple toutte nue, et tous les secrez qui peuent estre ou doibvent en femme, pour oster les doubtes du peuple. Et quant ilz l’orent assez à leur gré veue toutte morte liée à l’estache, le bourrel remist le feu grant sus sa poure charongne, qui tantost fut toute comburée, et os et char mis en cendre.

  fn22 Procès, Vol. II, p. 352; and ibid., p. 7: Depositions of Isambard de la Pierre.

  18. Aftermath

  fn1 I will here add, hastily, in case of misunderstanding, that I have never had any dealings whatsoever with psychic matters; have never attended a séance in my life; have no acquaintance with any mediums or their controls; and I am, in fact, completely innocent of any acquaintance with any such experiments.

  fn2 Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. V, Part XIV, p. 522 (Trubner & Co., 1889): F. W. H. Myers, The Dæmon of Socrates.

  fn3 Surely no familiar phrase was ever so unintelligent or so generally misquoted as this one! What Carlyle really wrote was, ‘Genius, which means the transcendent capacity of taking trouble, first of all’ (Frederick the Great, Book IV, chapter iii). To quote it correctly, however, in no way redeems the imperceptive idiocy of Carlyle’s definition. The only word in the whole sentence which throws any light on the matter is the word ‘transcendent.’ Myers’ own definition comes, succinctly, far closer to the truth.

  fn4 In this connexion, it is worth noting that both musical and mathematical prodigies have given early evidence of their inexplicable gifts. It is scarcely necessary to quote the obvious example of Mozart. It is perhaps less generally known that Capablanca at the age of twelve was already the chess-champion of Cuba. It is probably something more than a mere coincidence which suggests some association between music and mathematics, extending possibly also to the very young child’s aptitude for the creation of pattern-pictures – an aptitude which is liable to diminish after the age of ten. Anyhow, it is a large subject, upon which our views must necessarily remain speculative and inexact for some time to come.

  fn5 F. W. H. Myers, Human Personality and its Survival after Death, p. 51.

  fn6 Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development.

  fn7 Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, Vol. XI, pp. 198–212: Andrew Lang, The Voices of Joan of Arc.

  fn8 C. Maclaurin, Post-mortem, pp. 34–65.

  fn9 Procès, Vol. III, p. 219: Deposition of Jean d’Aulon.

  fn10 Procès, Vol. III, p. 118: Deposition of Simon Charles: Dum erat in armis et eques, nunquam descendebat de equo pro necessariis naturæ et mirabantur omnes armati quomodo poterat tantum stare supra equum.

  fn11 The Rev C. C. Martindale, S.J., What are Saints? pp. 15.2–3.